Aric, waiting by the rope bridge, is astonished to see a badly-wounded Chile burst out of the main gates, run around a corner and hide. When Bother appears a moment later and hides in the bushes on the opposite side he knows it is time to draw his bow.
Seconds later an ugly Yeth hound appears in the doorway sniffing the air – without hesitating Aric fires one of the bugbear’s magic arrows at it but it bounces off harmlessly. With a little healing from Bother Chile tries to batter the dog while the other monk tries to fry it with lightning bolts. Only the bolts seem to have any effect and that is minimal.
The situation worsens when a furious Nualia arrives. Casting a spell she steps through the door and attacks. The monks engage her while Aric backs slowly across the bridge firing at the dog. Eventually his determination pays off and with a whimper the beast falls into the sea, but by this time Nualia has incapacitated Brother Bother. Gol’den Chile, buoyed by Bother’s last bit of healing, tries to hold Nualia off but – eyes focused on Aric – she casually cuts him down.
She steps onto the bridge. Aric tries a shot but can’t pierce her armour and the shimmering magical field which she has summoned around her. Badly wounded himself he flees across the bridge to try one last shot from range and she charges in pursuit, but neither Aric nor Nualia have counted on Chile.
Not quite done for, the barely-conscious monk uses the last of his strength to yank out the rope securing the trapped bridge. With an infuriated yell Nualia is just able to grab the rope as the planks disappear from under her and is left dangling in mid-air screaming obscenities at Aric, who takes his time to finish her off with arrows. She follows her dog into the sea.
Aric makes his way across the ropes as fast as he can towards the dying monks. He arrives just in time to administer a healing potion to Bother, who is then able to aid everyone with his final healing auras. Somewhat refreshed the group decides to investigate what Nualia was up to.
Heading back down to the lower levels and jumping over the polished area they examine the round room. Apart from a lever behind the font which causes mechanical sounds in the corridor there is little of interest so they head south into a large L-shaped hall. At the south end are large doors carved with skeletons while at the east is a strange pillar carved to look like a huge pile of gold coins. Detecting illusion magic here the party decides to retire to the round room to rest and recuperate. At some point in the night they hear dog-like sounds outside the door but Chile has wisely sealed it shut with pitons and they have an undisturbed rest.
The next morning they set forth to try the skeleton doors. These open into a large domed chamber containing several sarcophagi and another statue of the stern glaive-wielding man. As the group are inspecting these, three incorporeal shadows emerge from the walls and attack. Fortunately no-one is caught off-guard but even so, Aric is hit several times and has much of his strength drained. The party’s weapons don’t seem to affect the creatures and with only Bother’s bursts of positive energy seeming to do any minor damage the group makes a fighting retreat. As the last one leaves the room, the shadows fade back into the walls…
Experience: 1,067 each (including 267 which you should have received last session for defeating the trap).
Session maps:
