Run Date: September 17th, 2022
This entire session was pretty much one long combat. It drives me to question whether the time consumed is a result of how I’ve run things, luck, generally newbie play, or what.
PCs
Richard(Sh): Lv1 Fighter
Arken(Pa): Lv1 Artificer
Rebel(Sa): Lv2 Monk
Graveyard Gamble 2: Ghost Merek Boogaloo
Richard’s player arrived late today and we had some fun conversation regarding the basics of CPR and first aid in the meanwhile. Once everyone was settled, we reviewed the various timings of arrivals and sorted out the PC party. Rebel, having been a couple days north of Riversmeet, hired a chain of horses to rush her home by Saturday afternoon(today’s session). Richard and crew had arrived in town a couple days ago after their little fiasco in the Red Water Sanctum, and decided to rest before making any attempts to hawk their gold and onyx. Arken, meanwhile, was impatiently waiting to head back to the Oldtown Graveyard.
At the beginning of last week’s session, Rebel had promised to help Arken recover a variety of potions he had given to the party a month or so back. In LFG, crafting potions and scrolls removes 1 point of Constitution until 2d4 weeks after the potion is consumed. The party he gave them to died in the graveyard without consuming any of them, and his formerly 16 CON was sitting around 12. Luckily, Arken was kind enough to let Rebel get a bath and some rest before heading out the next morning.
Sunday morning the party hits up a couple of henchmen, Hawk and Aishi, as well as old reliable Vance (he survived his heroic last stand, as barbarians somehow do). They head out to the Oldtown graveyard where Richard speaks with those on duty and gets some updates about the situation inside. It seems of late that the undead roaming the grounds have become more organized, and several have noted spotting a leader dressed like an old knight. Moreover, one of the night guards spotted a glowing violet light coming from the central mausoleum. It’s been about a month or so since the party’s last foray into this place, and their imaginations went wild with what could have happened in that time.
With the introductions finished, they entered the main gate and took a look around. Clear days are certainly better than dark nights, and the party could spot the patrols fairly well. With a bit of slow and stealthy movement through the hedges, walls, and graves; the group arrived at the entrance to the mausoleum. Their first obstacle lead to an immediate discussion of "let's get the hell out of here:" a door formed from the intertwining of many skeletal forms. At its center was a human skull. On its forehead was an arcane symbol. The group speculated as to whose skull it was while Rebel tried to convince the others to bounce.
What would an adventure be without a bit of danger? Rebel's argument lost in the end so she took it upon herself to at least see if she could figure out what was up with the "super creepy door." While not familiar with magic, she had spent some time with a Magic User in the past (Thorin). It seems that some of the knowledge rubbed off because she identified the marking as meaning "Lock" or "Seal." She was partially relieved that it was locked, but the others still wanted to press forward.
It was decided after a quick walk around that they'd go through the windows on the side of the mausoleum. Said windows were stained glass, and about two stories up. Arken lead the way with some accurate calculations and started breaking his way in. He spotted some shades fleeing the sunlight, and proceeded to hollow out as much as he could. This was the precursor to a long encounter.
Armed with Ghosteel, Rebel and Arken headed in. Their primary goal was to nail down a rope for easy traversal from both sides, but they had to avoid getting too close to the shades. Outside, the rest continued chucking rocks to let in more light. Unfortunately, all the noise attracted the attention of some patrols. So it began: a party divided, fighting on separate sides of a wall.
The fight started out rather well. They had spotted the approaching patrol soon enough that they could send a couple volleys into the mob (skeletons) before engaging in melee. In the meantime, the motes of sunlight forced the shades to strike Rebel and Arken with disadvantage. While Rebel was striking out with her Ghosteel tipped staff, Arken kept trying to taunt and bait the shades into the light. The outside crew did a solid job thinning out the patrol, but faltered a bit at the end with a couple missed slung rocks hitting the frontline in the back of their heads. Inside was more or less a stalemate with a few chips here and there.
Once the outside crew cleaned up, they went back to throwing more rocks and opened up enough holes to scare off the shades. However, Arken's taunting had called in another creature from an adjacent room: Merek. Some time ago, a henchmen had its life stolen by an evil spirit. After that, the henchmen became an enraged spirit. The last time the party was here, this wraith sapped the life from the party's magic user (Thorin). Rebel immediately recognized the wraith, but there was little to no chance of fleeing.
Meanwhile, the outside group ran into another complication. Their continued noise didn't summon only one patrol, but a hunched, gray-skinned creature moving around on all fours. This creature lunged at the nearest mark and paralyzed it with a vicious bite. Vance and Richard charged the thing, using their combined strength to drive it off their ally and into the ground. A round later, they bashed its skull in. During this time, however, the inside group was having some issues.
Merek was vicious, and each swing could drain the will from his enemies. Arken and Rebel stood their ground, taking advantage of their Ghosteel to ward off attacks and try to make strikes of their own (Rescues: Many). The outside crew managed to clear their obstacle quick enough to send Richard and Vance to tag in. Arken gave Richard his Ghosteel dagger and cracked open a vial of holy water. It nearly obliterated the creature, but not without cost. Rebel was severely weakened and Richard was using what remaining strength he had to press on.
Finally, Rebel decided she had enough of the staff work and channeled her spirit. If she was going to die, she would die giving everything she got. She rushed at the weakened Merek, and grabbed his head and incorporeal body. With a quick motion, she snapped the ghostly visage from its form, sending off Vance's old friend for good.
With the immediate threats finally settled, the group decided it was time to bounce. On the way out, Rebel did a quick look over the section she was in and spotted an old trophy case. While the glass had become opaque with old dust, it was still intact. She hesitated a bit because it was tucked in an alcove where the shades could reach, but overall decided to use the reach of her staff to bust the glass and fish something out: An old war medal. She knew there was more and gambled one more time: Another, fancier, war medal.
Enough was enough and the party still needed to mount a retreat. The inside crew used the rope to regroup with the others and they started their march back to the gates. They were not alone. Yet another patrol was coming up the hill behind them, and they still had a party member paralyzed. Rebel rushed to the gate while the others fell into rank to protect their not-quite-fallen. She summoned the guards for covering fire. The primary group managed to outrun the patrol behind them, but ended up in a race against a flanking force. Both would meet at the gates.
The tower guards didn't do half bad today, and managed to pick off a couple zombies from the incoming patrol. Arken took the opportunity to line up a shot on another one of the gray creatures and killed it outright. The thinning allowed the party to hit the gates and team up with the guards there to force the enemy back. So it was, to the group's surprise, that everyone survived a trip into the graveyard.
We had some time left so I did some back and forth roleplay with Rebel as she had the medals appraised. Turns out, she got really lucky (2 Treasure rolls; 50gp, 1k gp). The appraiser recommended a Tallurian jeweler with a penchant for collecting coins and old war memorabilia. Despite her roughed up appearance, she managed to make a convincing bargain and got a solid price.
Rewards
1100gp
5XP
The rewards were enough for Richard to get to level 2 and Rebel to level 3 (the first Lv3 so far). They're going to spend the week training.
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