Saberstrath Campaign, Session 5: Pay No Attention To The Mummy Behind The Curtain

November 7-8, Caudex Annales, 70 AUP

Anatolia, mystic oracle

The party overheard a tavern rumor about a hidden tomb in a great chasm somewhere in the forest. After paying a nominal fee for the exact location, a few interested members of the party formed up into a small group of the living (and a larger group of the dead) to investigate. Zelmar had been hunting for a henchman, and after he turned up an oracle from the Niobraran deserts to the southwest, the party waited an extra day to allow her to complete a prophetic vision before setting out. The chasm was incredibly narrow, more like a rift that had opened during some sort of cataclysm, rather than a canyon formed by natural erosion.

The hidden mummy lord

The location proved to be the site of a tomb that had been carved into the cliff wall centuries in the past. Descending down the wall on ropes (several hundred feet of joined rope!), the found a pillared terrace with a single entrance. The entrance led into a twisting passage with unnaturally cut walls, warded by eternal silence. The passage was deserted as it led past ancient tableaux showing the preparation of corpses for preservation. Disturbingly, the corpses did not appear to be very human, but instead looked like hunched and neckless creatures with broad mouths and no noses -- not human, and not any of the more common sorts of beastmen either. The party progressed in the middle of a long column of skeletons and dwarves.

In the next room, the party encountered walls of skeleton sentries that clattered into action, barring further passage. As the first waves of skeletons clashed with one another, the party heard the report of scraping sarcophagus lids in the room beyond. The battle was soon joined by four mummies and the foul chanting of an unseen fifth. As the battle with the mummies progressed, strange magics began to emerge from the doorway: a cloudkill spell, a summoned cave kraken, and a massive earth golem that scraped huge gouges in the ceiling.

After clearing a path to the burial chamber, the mummy lord was discovered and dispatched. The chamber was mostly empty, but a bit of searching turned up a door hidden in the corner -- a secret treasure hoard!

Roster

• Zelmar Krackiss, 5th level fright knight
• Anatolia, 4th level bladedancer
• Viserion, 4th level white dragon
• Oin "Dirtface" Orinson, 5th level dwarven sapper
• Sir Robin Silverfall, 5th level spellsword
• Herrohnin, 5th level summoner, and his scads of spooky scary skeletons
• Sir Rock Boulder Fist, dwarven 5th level summoner

Not appearing in this adventure:

• Tu'a'than, 5th level spriggan
• Frigodria, 5th level paladin
• The very young white dragon, Namazu, who is off monitoring the frost giants

Casualties

Lots of skeletons and spirit dwarves

Treasure
4000 ep
4000 gp
1000 pp

Crown: 30,000 gp
Mask: 8000 gp
Fan: 6000 gp
Ceremonial dagger: 6000 gp

Total value: 66,000 gp

Note: This stuff is hard to sell, so you don't actually have this much gold until you find a buyer. This value is just a claim against the share of treasure.

Magical items: sword +1, flametongue, short sword +2, short sword +1, sword +1

Total gold per member: 11,000 gp

Experience

Killed: mummy lord [5400 xp], earth elemental [3300 xp], cave kraken [1560 xp], 4 mummies [4x460 = 1840 xp], 14 skeletons [14x13 = 182 xp]
Total: 12282 xp

Total experience from treasure: 66,000 xp
Total experience from kills: 12,282 xp
Total experience from exploration: 0 xp
Total experience: 78,282 xp
Total experience per member: 13,047 xp