I Wouldn’t Send A Knight Out On A Dog Like That…

?? January 2023

## Adventurers Attending

* Bok
* Takeshi Castel
* Drake Young
* John Cartwright

## Mission Notes

A strange fellow with one hand turns up at The Guild, unkempt, wearing a ragged monk’s habit and carrying a bag filled with children’s books. Pulling out one book - The Terrible Tale of Tim the Mage - this man insists that the tale is true, that there was a Tim the Mage and there is a cult looking to free him from the prison in which Valdar the Valiant and his trusty mount Barney threw the mage.

After initial scepticism (slightly ameliorated by a second book - The Legend of Valdar the Valiant) our adventurers set out, accompanied by the strange one-handed man, to find the mausoleum of Valdar the Valiant. Laving the strange man by a standing stone and following the instructions from the children’s book, our adventurers trace a path marked by further standing stones to arrive as a great burial mound. Before getting the chance to investigate the apparent entrance to the mound, the adventurers are assailed by cultists. After defeating the cultists, our adventurers find on the head fanatic’s person another childish book, this one written in infernal that matches closely the story in the “Terrible Tale of Tim the Mage” except that the magician is called Master Timotheus and “The Mage of Death”.

Working out how to open the tomb, our adventurers proceed into the great barrow where they discover a large chamber filled with the grave goods of Valdar the Valiant as well as two guardian beasts that, when the door they guard is approached, attack. A long battle ensued, made more difficult by the tendency of the beasts to reanimate after apparently being defeated. Bok’s magical gentle repose and a temporary hole drawn with Takashi’s magic paints eventually put an end to the battle allowing the adventurers to investigate the bronze doors. After working out the opening mechanism, our adventurers enter the tomb of Valdar the Valiant and his brave steed Barney.

Investigations reveal a rough map carved on the rear wall and three scrolls containing the same map, a plan written in halfling (which turns out to be of a place called The Palace of Doors) and instructions for the use of a stone key. Recalling that a stone key was referred to in one of the children’s books the adventurers investigate further and discover a secret space at the rear of the sarcophagus (the trap for which Takesh sets off) in which they find the stone key.

At this point the strange one-handed man appears asking what they’ve found (he calls himself Matthew they discover). The adventurers get ever more doubtful but choose to give him a false key made in the likeness of the stone key by John the wizard. Matthew than grabs two of the scrolls (the map and the instructions for using the key) and magically departs confirming the adventurer’s doubts.

The adventurers, after further futile investigation, decide to return to Otha’s Rest to conduct further enquiries into the history and Tim the Mage and to establish the whereabouts of the Palace of Doors where, it is hoped - or maybe feared - that the terrible ring of death the mage wanted can be found.

## Loot

* Standard Level Xp & Gold
* “The Great Timotheus, Mage of Death”, a simple book written in Infernal telling this tale.
* Map showing (we think) the location of the Palace of Doors
* Stone Key

## Rumours

* Who is Matthew? And where has he gone?
* Where is the Palace of Doors and does it contain Tim the Mage or the terrible ring of death?
* Are there more cultists and where are they based?
* Are they helping or against Matthew?