Chapter I: So, you all meet up in a tavern

[Stirling]

Vann Hector

Maybe he could get in but not out. He shows the others the trigger stone and goes to check out the corpse, taking any coinage and jewelry and identifying information. My guess he and the pair in the skeleton room where adventurin together but none made it out. They might have family that needs informing.

justifying corpse robbery

[sirravd]

The corpse looks relatively recent, perhaps two weeks old or so. It is that of a man, either human or half-elven. Even before death, he was clearly thoroughly emaciated.

He wears a tattered tunic of yellow and black and carries a shortsword in reasonably good condition. Apart from that, his only valuable possession is a pouch containing 30 platinum pieces.

Turns elapsed: 8

[Stirling]

Vann Hector

Jingles the coins and puts them in his cloak. He takes the sword adding it to his armoury. Yellow and black tunic, not my favourite fashion. He pats the skeleton on the head for luck.

Just for effect. I will stay in the secret room but close the door, trying to see if I can open it from inside. The room might come in useful if we need a panic room retreat.

Maybe even unpack all our goods and store them here? That way we don't keep dragging stuff to and fro like equipment?

[Bluetongue]

Harker

I do like the idea of making a hidey-hole. Of course no guarantee anyone else won't find it and take our stuff, unless you maintain a permanent presence here but that is for many experience levels later when we can have followers and retainers. For now, content with mercenary hirelings and returning to Helix. We should also deal with those skeletons before any attempt at camping inside the catacombs.

When you have finished with that room we can all go through this last room on the north side if Quall is happy that the trip wire, trap has maybe already been sprung previously.

We should enter I think Quall and Mal followed by Blaive and me.

[sirravd]

"Might've been sprung, might not," says Quall sheepishly, "I can't say. If ye wanna try it I won't argue with yer."

A gust of freezing wind blows through the corridor. After it's passed through, you realize that your torch didn't waver in the wind. Almost as though it only existed in your own minds...

Turns elapsed: 8

[Lance]

"Might've been sprung, might not," says Quall sheepishly, "I can't say. If ye wanna try it I won't argue with yer."

"Bloody newbies, get out of the way" Endor grumbles as he attempts to disarm the wire trap (maybe too late).

[sirravd]

Endor deftly cuts into the doorjamb, then saws through the wire. "Huh," Quall grunts with a clear undertone of grudging admiration, "not bad."

The trap now disabled, the party forces their way into the room. It is 20' x 20', dank, smelling of rot, and quite low––the ceiling is about 5', so nearly everyone has to stoop to enter. A rusty light crossbow, loaded with a bolt, is mounted on the north wall; the wire connects to it. Hundreds of alcoves, shaped as equilateral triangles with 6''-long sides, line the walls.

Turns elapsed: 9

[Bluetongue]

Harker

"Good job."

My feeling is it is like a honeycomb effect. What is in the alcoves. Papers, bones, burial cloths? I guess half could search, prodding and poking, looking for coins and gems. Be careful of creatures hidden like bugs and rats.

Say Mal, Quall and one other. The rest of us can explore past the east door.

[Stirling]

Vann Hector

So are this like triangular slots in shelves, like a pigeon box for letters?

The elf gives the other two searchers an arrow each so they can poke into the holes, protecting fingers from spiders and bugs. We have the lantern so fixing it to a piece if wire should shine even into the back of the alcoves.

"Okay, do this in order. Take a wall. North, East or West. Start in top left hand alcove and work from top to bottom. Repeat. We could do say 3 turns (half an hour), mark how far we got. Then swap over or come back later."

Hector takes the west, Mal north, Quall east alcoves.

"Half an hour long enough for you to search past the east door guys?"

[sirravd]

Alcoves in the wall, about 6'' deep.

The searchers are able to finish in 1.5 turns. The alcoves contain a variety of finger bones (and preserved humanoid fingers), and, scattered between them, quite a number of ancient gold coins: 108 gp worth in all.

Harker isn't able to force the east door on his first try, but a turn later it swings open. Beyond is a room 30' x 30', mostly square, door in the northern wall.

Turns elapsed: 9.5

[Bluetongue]

Harker

While the trio search the alcoves the quartet will check out the room. Is it empty?

One door in the north wall. Open it and look beyond.

[Lance]

One door in the north wall. Open it and look beyond.

Endor checks for noise and traps. Then disarms/unlocks as necessary.

[sirravd]

The room is indeed empty, so far as can be discerned. As you enter you hear a noise in the distance: tap-tom, tom-tap.

Endor hears nothing beyond the door, and discerns no traps.

Harker pushes the door open. (I'll just ignore "force doors" stuff from now on) Beyond: 10' wide corridor leading north, ends 50' out, 10' wide corridors splitting off from it and leading east at 10'-20' and 40'-50' beyond the door.

In total you have spent 2.25 turns in the room (movement + listening, looking for traps). Some of this was concurrent with searching the alcove room. So: Turns elapsed: 11.25.

Unfortunately, as you are preparing to leave, four creatures shuffle into the room through the door in the west: putrefied corpses with their eyeless faces twisted, as in a hunger for living flesh.
[1d6] = 4[1d6] = 5
They win initiative! Everyone make a Sanity save.

[Bluetongue]

Harker

so if they come through the west door it means they have shuffled down the corridor unseen and unheard past the guys in the alcove room.

"Zombies. Attack them". He draws his longsword and attacks the nearest creature.

Harker Sanity check vs 13. [1d20] = 16

Harker longsword melee [1d20+1] = 15+1 = 16 [1d8+1] = 8+1 = 9

[Stirling]

Vann Hector

sorry we must have shut the door as they shambled past.

"Well, we have finished searching here. Let's bag up the coins and catch up with the others." he says to the rogue and mage. He undoes the lantern from the wire and opens the door to the corridor.

[Hadarai]

Brother Blaive

Seeing the undead horrors shambling toward the party, Blaive holds his holy symbol aloft and recites some words of power to try and turn the monsters while retreating to the back.

Sanity Save vs 15: [1d20] = 17


Turn Undead: [2d6] = 5

[sirravd]

Vann Hector

sorry we must have shut the door as they shambled past.

"Well, we have finished searching here. Let's bag up the coins and catch up with the others." he says to the rogue and mage. He undoes the lantern from the wire and opens the door to the corridor.

oh no, I was assuming you'd already caught up to them

[Stirling]

well if I see them being turned and running back down the corridor I don't want to block their way so I will shut the door and let them pass, joining Blaive and the others when they herd them away.

[sirravd]

The rotting corpses are utterly unaffected by Brother Blaive's orison...

Ok, I'll let Stirling retcon whether he wants to have been in the 30x30 room or not when the s**t hit the fan. As for the rest of you, how are you positioned? Harker & Jacor in front, Endor and maybe Vann Hector in back?

[Stirling]

well rather than just going 'oh no we were all in the same room', I actually quite like the narrative that pictures Vann Hector, Mal and Quall searching the alcoves behind a door just slightly a jar as the others listen and trap find the second door in their room and open that. So we see the shadow of the zombies shuffle by the door from further down the corridor and enter the next room. Perhaps they came from one of the south doors or through a secret entrance, dug themselves out from behind the stone pile in the entrance room.

So Quall notes them shuffling by, we dim the lantern and stay hushed and attack them from behind next round.

Okay with that?