Adventurers
- Alfredward (Dwarf 5) and Tarvyn (Magic User 3)
- Asher (Fighter 4)
- Dulo Chaec (Magic User 3)
- Koko (Cleric 5)
- Mandras (Dwarf 4)
- Rarder (Fighter 5)
While Rarder had now paid his debt to the gods, the party were conscious that Alfredward still needed to slay a powerful undead creature to halt his sapping lifeforce. Therefore, after a night’s rest, they set off once more for the barrow-riddled mountain.
Cutting their way through a gaggle of walking corpses emerging from the mist, the party located their previous way in to the Barrowmaze and descended down into the depths again. They scurried through the familiar corridors, stopping only when they came to a room which had apparently had a small collapse overnight, a hole in the ceiling and masonry and a lot of dry sand covering the floor.
The party’s dwarves edged in to see how safe the place was for walking through, and the sand coalesced into several angry forms intent on beating them into a pulp. The rest of the adventurers piled in and dispersed these forms just in time to save Arnd, the formerly rescued dwarf and now fully-paid up retainer, from an early work-related death.
After determining the room was still structurally sound enough to work as a passage, the party marched on and explored down a new branching set of corridors. After fending off a flock of stirges while their front rank clambered out of a hitherto unnoticed pit, they came across a collection of rooms with bust up pieces of furniture and ceramics.
Amongst the detritus they found the remains of some broken tablets and Tarvyn, the third-level magic user with nought but Read Languages in his arcane armoury, joyfully cast his spell and set about piecing the jagged slabs together. As he did so, the rest of the party suddenly found themselves being pelted with bits of debris and rubble. There was no visible attacker, but bits and pieces rose from the ground and hurled themselves at the adventurers. Tarvyn’s mutterings suddenly had him enveloped in a shiny aura which seemed to protect him from the flying rubbish, but the party decided to retreat back up the corridor to reassess their options.