Ghosts Old and New
The party navigates through more corridors and empty rooms. One, a mess hall where coin and bone dice and half-eaten food lay scattered on a table, the elf swipes the bone dice and the party collects ‘the pot’. They proceed. Finally, at the end of another corridor they come into a large empty hall with arcane symbols marking the floor in a circle. In the center, a macabre altar of human bones stood. On it rested a small black book which, on closer inspection, was found to be by cultists who worshipped Bafumet. No exits stemmed from this room and the group was about to turn back when suddenly, three ghostly entities appear. One was a big burly human, his belly slit open; A dwarf whose features where hidden by a helm bashed in from behind; and a female elf in robes carrying a staff, no evidence of the wound that felled her was apparent. Taken aback, the party braces for an attack but instead the human ghost intones “ We are fallen adventurers such as you seeking the selfsame quest you seek. What makes you think you stand worthy of success here where we three have fallen?” Reluctantly, all speak in his turn but after all the demonstrations of physical prowess and putting forth of arguments in the partys’ favor convinced the ethereal three. In the end, they grudgingly divulge what was needed to be found here: A knife, A mask, a bell and a book. They point the general directions where each is located and admonishes the party to take heed and place the objects on the proper runes at the same time. They vanish into the air as if they were never there.
Our heroes make camp and bed down for the night. Watches, as usual, were set. Yshven taking first accompanied by Khattal and Azchellac, Kurgan and Casval second, Quorbin third and Garrosh fourth. Everyone settle in as the first watchers stand guard. Well into the watch when everyone else was sleeping soundly, Azchellac breaks the silence “You know, Yshven…” he says. “Why should the both of us — Khattal and I, stand by, taking only a fraction of the loot when WE CAN MAKE OFF WITH ALL OF IT?” The two launch a treacherous attack against the lone dwarf.
In the morning, the party is surprised at the two corpses that appeared to be ‘murdered in their sleep.’ Confronted, the dwarf remains stoic about the whole affair and went about as if nothing of any import happened at all. The party leaves the two in their sleeping bags and forage on. Judging by the shapes, they appear to have been positioned in a very non-sibling-like manner but who was to say about the strange ways of tieflings.
Leave a Reply