HRE Campaign Session 18
Published:
10/04/1631 – 10/6/1631:
Mad Tim, Cröde, and Magnus set out to find the lonely barrow West of Bruckstadt. After a days travel on the Wetterstrasse and a restful night of sleep, they find a set of eight barrows, only one of which remains undisturbed. As they inspect the eight barrow, a little boy warns them off, mentioning evil spirits dwelling in the earth.
Undeterred, the group breaks the stone slab barring entry. Frederick the Fair (Retainer) stumbles back as an iron nail grows out of his forehead. The group enters a narrow, earthy corridor.
Past a teleportation trap that nearly killed Magnus (he still feels the ants crawling over his body), the party discovers the entrance to the main tomb. Etched in stone, a giant is seen smashing his foes with a large sword.
When they enter, they discover a skeleton sitting on a large throne wearing a cruel iron crown. A large, rust-brown sword is leaning against the throne and a bronze cauldron is sitting in the center of the room. As the group enters, the skeleton rises. Most of the group is paralyzed in fear. A disembodied voice calls for a sacrifice. Mad Tim dissembles to gain time as the others’ paralization wears off. He shoots a magic missile at the terrifying creature. This spurs the skeleton into action. It lurches forward and takes Barbara’s (Retainer) head off. The group retreats after a failed turning attempt by Magnus, but not before the giant skeleton cuts Frederick in half. The party decides it prudent to leave the barrow for now.
The venture further West on the Wetterstrasse and rest on Moorbach. A small town, abutting the Schwarzmoor. In the Golden Goose Inn they pick up some dark rumors about the nearby moor. They hire two more retainers (Cagna the Adept and Anzor the Weird) before moving to explore the swamp.
They advance into the cold moor. During their first night in the fen, they are attacked by a large constrictor snake. The party quickly gathers their belongings and flees with haste. They are able to shake the snake, but get briefly lost in the swamp. The next morning they are able to re-orient and explore the swamp for signs of the Cloister of Joz-Quatl. As luck will have it, they find a set of two buildings and some ruins perched on a stony island in the middle of a swampy lake. They carefully approach and send their hireling thief to explore. The Eastern building seems abandoned. The thief thinks they are still valuable sin the building, but felt as if being watched when exploring. The Western building seems to function as a monastery.
The group devises a plan: they will approach the front door to distract the monks, while Cagna sneaks in from the back to steal valuables. They are welcomed by two priests and a retinue of four armored acolytes. The building seems to house a temple to Joz-Quatl. The priests welcome them warily. They party tries to get an audience with their leader, Abbot Grosso, but he seems occupied somewhere else. The group mentions the tome Magic of the Toad, which draws the priests attention, who offers 5,000 gp for it. The group makes a non-committal offer, possibly to return possibly with the book. While the group was conversing with the priest, Cagna successfully snuck into one of the backrooms–a well appointed personal chamber. She glimpsed several valuables in there but had only time to grab a nice Turkish carpet (200gp). The group returns to Moorbach to hatch a plan.