Session 0033 - Delving Deeper into the Tomb

Roster

List of characters who's player was in attendance

Player characters who's player is attending the game start with 1 Hero Point, and can get more during the session.

Absent

List of characters who's player was absent

Player characters for missing players do not start the session with a hero point, and can not get any more during the session.

Session Log

Summary

The session beings with four skeletal warriors attacking the party from their flanks. The skeletons get bottled up in the narrow passage from the burial chambers to the doorways into the hall, but put up a good fight. They use shields to good effect, blocking numerous blows and showing skill with their swords as they manage to effectively injure several party members before they are eventually all destroyed. The party are forced to retreat and rest up before returning to explore. They search the crypts, the stone altar and a passageway that leads to a steep staircase heading down into a cave-in that blocks a closed door. The rest of the session is spent with the characters working over five hours to clear away the debris blocking the door.

Details

When combat with the skeleton warriors began Alicia stands next to the southern doorway while Harbek stands by the northern doorway. The skeletons move quickly and attack each of them, hitting Alicia but missing Harbek. Each skeleton warrior uses the same tactic - raising their shields, and moving in to slash with their longswords.
As combat begins, Alicia holds her ground while Sarroxtíoð squeezes in with Harbek to attack the skeleton attacking him. The dwarven oracle eventually moves out of the way to let the half-orc take the warrior on directly. He uses his Divine Lance cantrip against the undead for the rest of the combat, finishing by protecting himself with a Shield spell.
Both Eriana and Ferdinand begin the combat trying to tumble past the skeletal warriors, but the undead are nimble and their initial attempts fail. Meanwhile, Leodegar does what he can trying to shoot his hand crossbow at the undead, but his attacks are not terribly effective.
Both swashbucklers and Alicia attack the skeleton in the southern doorway and begin to wear it down. It blocks blows with its shield, absorbing attacks from both swashbucklers. Its shield ends up getting destroyed by repeated blows. After a couple of rounds of combat Alicia is convinced by Ferdinand to back away and let them get at the skeleton. Up to that point she has not had much luck hitting with her arbalest, but has been able to defend her allies from attacks by the skeletons. She did manage to hit the one fighting Sarroxtíoð, causing the familiar bluish glow of vitality energy around it that continues to injure the skeleton during the combat.
Eriana is able to tumble past both skeletons in the southern room and then gets in a one-on-one fight with the other skeleton in that crypt while Ferdinand and Alicia manage to lure the other one out into the hallway.
As this is going on, Sarroxtíoð continues to fight the skeletal warrior in the northern doorway. He struggles to connect with it, and when he does it protects itself by partially deflecting the blows with its shield. At one point the half-orc is critically hit and left staggering, struggling to attack effectively. He also manages to fumble with his longsword and has to resort to bashing at the skeleton until he is able to regain his grip on the weapon.
Eriana finds herself in a tough fight, and gets badly wounded defending herself while standing on a sarcophagus in the southwest corner of the southern chamber. Ferdinand notices and bounds in to offer help. The skeleton he helped lure into the hallway gets destroyed and Alicia is also able to move in to help. As the skeleton fighting Eriana turns to attack Ferdinand she unleashes a bolt from her arbalest that hits it squarely and destroys it.
The skeleton in the northern doorway is also finally destroyed after doing a fair bit of damage to Sarroxtíoð and the second skeleton in that crypt quickly moves up to replace it. Fortunately the barbarian is tough, and despite struggling in melee effectively manages to keep both undead in the northern crypt occupied the entire combat.
With everyone else freed, they are able to help him fight the last undead. Heedless of her own safety Eriana runs up to the last skeleton warrior and manages to critically hit and destroy it.
Reeling from their wounds, the party decide to leave the area and return to the crypt farther along the outdoor path to the south. That is where they spent the previous night, so they feel relatively safe there.
Once back in that crypt both Alicia and Harbek use their curative magic to get everyone back up to full health. This takes a little over an hour. Afterwards they all return to the hallway where the fight took place.
They begin by searching the stone altar and the nearby alcoves. Ferdinand checks out both and does not find anything of interest, and can find no secret doors in the alcoves. The stone bowl on the altar appears to be part of it, carved from the same rock with fine runes carved on the outside of the bowl. There is water in the bowl, but nobody is interested in trying it.
Leodegar examines the altar and the bowl but learns nothing.
There is a passage nearby that leads to the north for about 20 feet before turning east. Sarroxtíoð follows it and sees that immediately after the passage turns to the east it follows a steeply descending set of stairs that end in a cave-in.
There are no other doors of passages leading out of this area. The rest of the party search the two burial chambers thoroughly, opening each sarcophagus and finding only old skeletons with rusty armor and weapons. There are skulls on shelves and a few urns but nothing valuable is found in either chamber.
006-Sarroxtíoð heads down the steep steps to take a closer look at the cave-in and spots a crushed skeleton partially frozen in ice. He digs it partially free and chips away at the ice and finds a silver necklace on the body, which he takes and adds to the party treasury.
Eventually the rest of the party join him and they notice that the top of a door can be spotted beyond the ice and rubble.
They decide to dig it free, spending the next five hours with the aid of a shovel owned by Eriana to clear the bottom of the staircase and expose the door. The debris is distributed in the upper hallway, spilling partially onto the stairs but they ultimately manage to get the door clear.