Session 40: The surprise amigos

## The first floor

As the entrance guards run after Ixxy, giving access to the Tomb complex, Glunn scouted ahead, following Eppa's directions and attempting to draw as little attention on the party as he could. He stumbled into two unaware Gronoc villagers who seemed to have been tasked with serving the undead, he remained hidden and they did not investigate the noises Christopher made, probably out of fear for what lurked in this place.

And lurked it did, for an abomination of black ooze and long-decayed bodies crept up on the party!

Initial trepidation gave way to constant offence after the creature proved, if not initially hostile, definitely harmful, as it grabbed onto Eppa and attempted to assimilate him into it's mass. Slightly battered, but victorious, even claiming the destroyed core of the creature, the party decided to hide in a room to prevent converging patrols from finding them. They find a room of empty coffins and body-sized sconces with unmoving occupants and spend some time there.

Unfortunately their second attempt at stealth leaves much to be desired as a patrol consisting of a banner-wielding Wight leading a group of crossbowmen took notice of Christopher. The undead proved capable of using a facsimile of military tactics, their banneret empowering and directing them into creating distance and shooting at the vulnerable bard.

His allies, still hidden, surged forth and Glunn went melee, dispatching their leader and getting surrounded as Eppa and Christopher took potshots from range. The patrol perished, but our heroes quickly realized that they had overstayed their welcome on this floor, and wisely decided to continue to the second one.

## Vrisko has a bad day

As they reach a junction Eppa's arcane eye spell scouted earlier. The party decide to take a stealthy approach to attempt to dispatch the necromancer lurking in a previously seen laboratory, yet what she says gives at least one of them pause.

Vrisko is upset. Upset with her job, boss and prospects.

Eppa takes a leap of faith and decides to engage her in conversation, to see if some kind of common ground could be found. He initiated nerdtalk, showing interest in her work and magic. Vrisko on her end warned him of the futility of his infiltration and probable demise at the hands of her compatriots. She did not seem to care overmuch about the party's actions, but was still duty bound to stop them, so she attempted a compromise: if Eppa were to fight and defeat her prototype skeleton (dubbed Torren) then she would have plausible deniability with her boss.

*Relevant term: "Times of convergence" a time soon to come upon us, at least according to Vrisko, in the mythos created by Grondmeer, it would be the time for him and his armies to awaken from their undying citadel and take a chaos riddled Skyhope by storm, reclaiming what once was Goblin lands.*

A parody of combat occurred as the skeleton powered itself up by combining multiple magics at once, only for Eppa to dispel it with a swipe of his hand and a muttered prayer. An obvious oversight of her design revealed, Vrisko told Eppa to do away with her undead creation, allowing for a fatal blow to land to destroy what was probably years of her work. Defeated, she retreats to a deeper part of her labs.

## Scouting the way

The party decides to split up slightly.

Glunn quests towards the mausoleum, exploring the last room they currently have direct access to. He finds an undulating red ooze that sloshes in the semi transparent walls of the room, seemingly trapped. Of interest are small ritualistic daggers and an ornate and clearly magical altar that dominates the centre of the room. The opaque surface also seems to have small round holes.

Eppa and Christopher explore the hidden door and the locked one. They discover the mechanism that opens the first and a possible way of opening the second, pending a successful ritual bypass.

They decide to take their chances with the hidden door, but as it slides open they realize they are in for a fight, as undead fighters face them from the darkness.

The battle is brief and contained sound-wise. As the undead are not allowed to spread out and begin combat in a bad position. Uncoordinated they fall and a hidden corridor becomes available to the party. They gather all the bodies inside and take a rest in the darkness.

They decide to emerge from the other side of the corridor, finding a surprised undead wizard and his two mummies on the other side. Once again surprise proves to be the party's greatest strength as the fight is quite one-sided, despite the numerous combat encounters they have faced without resting properly.

From it they find: 3 Books of Interest to Christopher, level 3 spellbook, staff with black orb, 6 anti-life potions (4d4+4), an orb that unlocks the sealed door, a silver tray with assorted silver medical implements, 1 amphorae of embalming fluid and 2 of wine.

After unlocking some doors the party hear about the possible plans of Surven, who has about had it with Glunn's shenanigans. Oddly enough Vrisko covers for them, saying they fled after they fought her. She also talks about the importance of not rattling the boat too hard for the villagers, as they will be required for some purpose.

With more rooms becoming available and the day having taken its toll on them the party take a well deserved long rest in the hidden corridor.