Stonehell: Snakes in the dark...

Session 88 was played on 2/2

Eiric, wizard 7 (Kat)
- men at arms (Holdred, Adonis: elf model)
-torchbearer (Wennick)
Brie, wizard 4 (Apprentice to Eiric)
A-A-Ron, Thief 6 (Henchman) (stayed in town)
Orpheus, Human Fighter 6 (Henchman)
Darryl, Cleric 6 (Henchman)
Karl, Dwarf 7 (Julia)
- Hobart (dog, lvl 1)
- men at arms (Nargos, RelBex)
Lex the Cheeseman, Fighter 4 (Henchman)
Koltic, Cleric 3 (Chris)
- Grishnaz, Goblin
- men at arms (Remo, elf pirate)
Kili, Dwarf Cleric 3 (Matt)
Lucrecia Thief 2 (Henchman)

In town, Eiric researches what it would take to create a magic dress, Remo the pirate and Adonis the elf merc are hired to replace Mulligan and Vol, and everyone else hangs out in town.

Heading into the box canyon, a clicking sound echoes off the walls, and as they near the back they can see a mass of scarab beetles covering the rock face around the entrance. Opting not to risk the swarm of bugs, they left the canyon and hiked out to the narrow cavern that the hobgoblins used to enter the 2nd level of the dungeon.

Circling around through the halls toward the grand stairs that lead up to the (former) Kobold Korners, they encounter a mob of mixed undead. Kili and most of the henchman flee in terror from the heartless, while Darryl turns the skeletons and zombie to dust. Karl, Orpheus, and Lex all charge in blades swinging. Darryl manages to turn 2, who run off into the dark. Brie and Koltic finish off the one that slipped around to get at the more squishy members of the party.

After finishing off the Heartless, they retrace their steps and collect their lost hirelings. Making their way around to the stairs, they head down into an unexplored area of the 3rd level of the dungeon!

At the bottom of a long flight of stairs they come to a large room  with a shallow reflecting pool that takes up most of the floor space. In the middle of the pool is a 10' rusty iron cube standing on one corner. Their flickering torchlight barely illuminates some motionless forms to the north… statues. Possible victims of the medusa? Watching carefully to the north, Karl pokes the green water, getting his pinky wet. Nothing bad seems to happen, so he splashes into the pool, and starts turning the cube clockwise. It spins easily.

Unknown to the party, their not so subtle or quiet exploration of the room catches the attention of Skelmis, who alerts his mistress Lachesis. She orders him to carefully follow, invisible, and if the opportunity presents itself, to burn them. She’ll be following with Tusk and Rufus to charge in and mop up after.

The party decides to head away from the statues. The corridor turns and opens into a grant, but empty hall. Eiric gives Lucrecia the ring of invisibility and sends her to scout back to make sure the medusa wasn’t following. Skelmis watched it all, and luckily for Lucrecia, Lachesis hadn’t yet started following. Lucrecia returned and reported what she (didn’t) see.

Moving on, the party makes it to the pillared hall with the great bronze double doors. Investigating the room, they discover a pair of secret nooks. The first is empty, but the second contains a bag of coins, and some jewelry. The excitement of the find causes everyone to cluster a little too closely together. Skelmis takes this opportunity to drop a fireball in the middle of the party.

Screams of the dying, the smell of charred flesh, and black smoke fill the room. When the smoke clears, Skelmis is dismayed to see how many are still standing, especially the wizards. His focus shifts to the angry dwarf charging across the room toward him, and in that moment Eiric unleashes a lightning bolt right in Skelmis’ face, and down the hallway… He barely survives, and briefly his mind clears, as with the death cry of Lachesis the charm binding him breaks. Then Karl’s hammer smashes into his skull.

Tusk died with his mistress, but Rufus survived, and charged in, clubbing Karl back into one of the room’s pillars. Orpheus slams his spiked shield into the ogre’s flank, and then sinks his sword into the burnt flesh of the ogre’s neck. The ogre gurgles up some blood, and falls dead…

Gains: Bag of coins and jewelry
Kills: Skeletons, zombie, heartless, Skelmis, Lachesis, Rufus, Tusk
Losses: Holdred, Adonis, Wennick, Hobart, Nargos, RelBex, Grishnaz, Remo