DM (Dungeon Master):
You arrive at the place indicated by the mayor of Darkmouth. Weatherbeaten headstones and long forgotten graves are visible among the brush. Clearly the villagers have long ago stopped tending the place. Beyond the farthest headstone is a thick, impenetrable wood and beyond the wood rises a sheer cliff. It is in the face of this cliff that you see a large doorway carved from the stone. Heavy, rotten wooden doors seal it off from the outside. This must be the crypt that the mayor spoke about. Off to the right you see a strange stone formation. Large monolithic stones are placed upright in a circular formation and another is placed horizontally across every two, making a circle of stone doorways with another single, flat stone in the center. Each stone doorway is high enough for a person to easily walk underneath.
What do you do?
Kastan:
So it’s like Stonehenge?
DM:
I don’t know this Stonehenge you speak of, but yes, just way smaller and more intact.
Nimui:
It’s a sacrificial altar, isn’t it?
DM:
I can’t say…
Nimui:
I knew it!
Kastan:
I use my tracking skill to look for signs of recent activity.
DM:
Kastan proceeds to investigate the area, drawing upon years of survival and tracking experience to discover the slightest sign of activity.
Kastan succeeds an ability check with a critical hit.
He finds tracks among the headstones. To his experienced eye it is clear that there are three individuals and they moved toward the crypt door.
Nimui:
The kidnappers!
Kastan:
They might just be innocent people, we should proceed with caution and see what their deal is.
Nimui:
They’re kidnappers, we should go and kill them.
Ribs, son of a butcher:
Grunt.
Leia:
I agree with Kastan. They might be innocent. Let’s try to sneak up to them and find out.
Kastan:
Okay, I pick the crypt door’s lock.
DM:
Are you sure?
Kastan:
Yes.
DM:
Treading lightly and careful not to make a sound, Kastan sneaks over to the large, wooden doors. He takes out a lock pick from his pack and sets to work on the lock with the kind of ease that only years of experience can allow. Something is amiss. Kastan finds no tumblers for his pick to lift or turn. Trying to get a better idea of the inner workings of the lock, Kastan tries to peek inside the keyhole. In doing this he leans forward against the door. It gives way with a creaking sound and swings open. Kastan, left off balance, falls forward into the doorway and lands flat on his face. Kastan looks like an idiot and everybody sees. It is at this point that he realises he should’ve checked to see if the door was unlocked in the first place.
Kastan:
Ah, just as planned…
DM:
Of course. Moving on..
Beyond Kastan, who is still on the ground trying to hide his tears and stop the bleeding from his nose, you see stairs leading down into semi-darkness. Dust motes can be seen floating around in the light that now poured into the doorway. Despite the low light you seewhere the flight of stairs end. The hallway also ends a short way after that and a closed door can be seen on the right.
Leia:
Can we peek through the keyhole?
DM:
That sounds like something people can do.
Nimui:
I look through the keyhole!
DM:
Nimui sneaks up to the door and peeks through the hole. The room beyond is lit by a large fire in its middle. Three figures are sitting around it, two of them are near the door while the third is next to a large pillar near the other end of the room. The figures seem to be clothed in robes of some kind and are engaged in conversation. You cannot make out what they are saying, though.
Nimui:
We should sneak in and kill them.
Kastan:
Maybe we can sneak past them without them noticing?
Leia:
Yes, we still don’t know if they’re innocent or not.
Ribs, son of a butcher:
I will break the door and use it as a shield.
Everybody else:
Brilliant!
DM:
So I guess you do that.
Ribs, son of a butcher, moves up to the door and readies himself. Everybody else gets behind him.
Ribs must now succeed a strength check to complete the action.
Ribs, son of a butcher, fails the check.
Ribs, son of a butcher, summons all of his strength and throws his weight against the door. The door creaks slightly but holds its ground. The rest of the group, prepared to follow Ribs into the room, crashes into Ribs’ back and trips over themselves. Ribs, thinking that the door was weakened, throws himself against it once more. The door does not move. Frustrated, Ribs kicks the door and this time it slowly swings open making a long, drawn out creaking sound that echoes through the next room. you see the three figures in the room on their feet with weapons at the ready. The closest two both have a club while the farthest has a bow nocked and ready.
Kastan:
Uh, this isn’t the bathroom…
DM:
Everybody roll initiative and prepare for battle.
Now that you have an idea of the back and forth dialogue of the game, I will continue relating it as a story.
An arrow flies past Ribs’ head and embeds itself in the door. Kastan, most dexterous of the group, slips into the room and makes for the nearest figure. He swings his dagger and connects. The figure staggers backward grasping a bleeding gash on his chest. Nimui readies her staff and storms the other figure. She swings but he dodges the blow. The previous enemy swings his club at Kastan and deals a glancing blow. Ribs, son of a butcher, readies his club and advances on the figure next to Kastan. He swings with all his brute strength while the figure is still recovering from his own swing and connects with bone crushing brutality. A sickening crack echoes through the room and the figure falls backward, gurgles and becomes still. The farthest figure retreats a few steps towards a door in the far wall, notches another arrow in the process and loose. The arrow strikes Kastan in the arm. Leia, taking cover in the doorway, aims her bow and loose at the farthest enemy. The arrow misses and shatters against the wall. The remaining club wielder, seeing his comrade laying dead on the stone floor, launches into a desperate attack. He swings his club at Nimui in blind desperation but she nimbly deflects the attack with her staff. Kastan sees the bowman retreating towards the door and moves to intercept him. Meanwhile Nimui swings her staff at her exhausted opponent and deals a fatal blow to the side of his head. Before his limp body even hits the ground his only remaining comrade, seeing that they are defeated, makes a dash for the door. Ribs, son of a butcher, sees that there is no hope in chasing him down. In a rare moment of inspiration Ribs kicks the brazier with all his strength and sends blazing coals flying at the fleeing figure. Flaming coals rain down on the man, blinding him and setting his robes ablaze. The man, now screaming in agony, flails blindly trying to put out the flames. As he struggles Kastan finally catches up to him. He grabs at the man and catches a fistful of burning robes. The robes tear off the man as he struggles and, freed from the fire, he makes a desperate dash for the door, somehow evades more attempts to seize him and disappears as the door slams shut behind him.
With the battle over for the moment the team takes the time to regroup. Wounds are bandaged, and healing spells cast. With their wounds wrapped and tended, the adventurers take in their surroundings. The room they find themselves in is much larger than they had expected. Leather sleeping mats are arranged around the fire and one could tell by the items littered around the floor that there are more than three people who call this place home. The walls are covered by strange hieroglyphs featuring human figures in various acts of reverence. Strange monsters and shapes also appear and a symbol like a seastar with one large eye in the middle is repeated throughout the engravings.
Next up: The Crypt part 2