Green Pass Campaign II, Session 3: Bring Torches!

This session stopped in the middle of a dungeon, so technically no treasure has been recovered and thus there's no experience to award. But I'll still write up the story as far as it's gone.

May 27 through June 10, Caudex Annales, 70 AUP
With Zegzinu and Reed both out of commission for at least a week to recuperate from injuries, the rest of the party elected to divide attention between collecting information from the captured bandit lieutenant, and trying to unravel the mysteries of the various items recovered from the camp. After a few days travel up through the notch to Centerpost, the non-injured portion of the team sought out a sage at the cathedral's scriptorium and library. After carefully lying in wait to find a discerning lady who would appreciate his combination of loremastery and musicianship, the bard Piper finally coaxed his mark (a certain young scriptrix, Fridaswith) into providing a discounted analysis of the sword, staff, and censer.

The staff was a fairly minor clerical tool (staff of striking +1, double damage on command word "suffer", unknown charges), but the censer was a peculiar relic of ancient Thulian ritualists, capable of empowering summoning spells with the spilled blood of innocents. After some deliberation, the party elected to leave it at the keep's chapel, as a weapon of last resort in retaliation for any external assault. The potion (Climbing) and scroll (Ward against Elementals) were also identified and stashed for future use. Renata's sword was deemed free of any curse, and recommended for discovery through personal use. (By the end of a session of use, it should be plausible to identify the precise bonus as a +3.) The party returned to Balewood with a hired priest-militant, a few days of rations, a grappling hook, and an extra horse and cart. The gnome Finkle submitted an extensive list of dubious shopping items (itching powder, "fun" mushrooms, snake-in-a-can) to the local ruffians' syndicated for custom procurement. Local room and board were paid by exchange of bardic services. A final check to determine exactly how many broken hearts the bard left behind indicated the answer was: one.

Meanwhile, interrogation of the bandit sergeant revealed that he was a recent hire in the aftermath of some minor disaster, that the disaster had resulted in a treasure being stashed somewhere in the depths, and that Renata had some kind of sponsoring authority funding her operations. He generally seemed alarmed by the prospect of running afoul of her, even after his capture.

After setting out again, the party set up camp on the road and ascended back to the barrows. A few experiments in acoustics convinced the party that the barrows themselves might be partially connected, or at least a few of them were. Unfortunately the clanging roused a procession of zombies out of the depths, which by good fortune were promptly turned en masse by the clericical henchman Brother Bartimaeus with no additional effort required. They reversed course without breaking stride and marched right back into the underground depths.

Exploration of an iron-bound barrow revealed a crypt barren of nearly anything but elaborate traps, the second of which claimed the mage Malcolm as he was distracted by a magical aura, and nearly dashed him to pieces in a spiked pit. After being hauled out, it was clear that he was in no shape to fight or run, and the lizardish gladiator packed him up onto his scaly shoulders. The treasures of the barrow included an enchanted ring, an oddly glowing gem recovered by Finkle's unseen servant, and some spare silver coinage. The members present also pried off an extensive collection of valuable gems (at least 1500 gp worth) from the pillars (minus whatever the opportunistic Meros decided to pocket for his own clandestine personal share).

The band then gathered courage for a direct assault on the depths with the treasure map in hand. Descent into the barrow revealed a massive rampart of skulls and debris below the entry chasm, and they could easily drop into the room below. From that point forward they advanced as a narrow column. First they discovered a room with a strange impish idol and several offerings of bagged coins, which the bard extracted with maximum paranoia using his grappling hook, and even then only after the patrol of a toy soldier proved uneventful. Meanwhile, you-don't-know-I'm-a-nighblade Terra Daystar quietly wandered away to explore a secret passage, which lead gruesomely to a small closet filled with wet human scalps. Apparently something in the depths was hunting grave robbers, a piece of information she elected to conceal as "too disturbing" to be worth troubling the mood of the rest of the party. Besides, it's more fun to be surprised, right?

The only other nearby door revealed the obligatory room full of giant rats, which gladiator Zegzinu squashed with effortless zeal (well, aside from one that was merely stunned which Finkle requested for a pet). With a clear path marked on the map, the adventurers opted to conscientiously observe the time-honored tradition of wandering off in exactly the opposite direction...