Rappan Athuk: Gargoyles in the Graveyard

Session played on 1/28

Nick the Pike, Fighter 5
Lady Eiric, Magic User
Karl, Dwarf
Darryl, Cleric (NPC)

The party, accompanied by the freed prisoners return to the keep without encounter save for some thumping in the middle of the night. Also Karl, in possession of the glowing green gems, falls under a curse. He becomes sallow skinned, and his hair and beard seem thinner and dryer. Darryl and Lady Eiric determine that the gems are cursed. Darryl removes the curse from Karl, but the gems will take more effort.

Back at the keep it’s market day, and the party goes searching for info/rumors. Nick spends his time listening to stories in the bar, including from a group of dwarves who decided not to explore the local megadungeon after hearing that “any who enter will become slaves to darkness” which, frankly, sounds like hogwash. A young boy warns Nick not to go down the well, and a trader tells of a cloister dedicated to Tsathogga the frog demon to the north. Karl and Lady Eiric spend their time looking for ways to restore Karl’s health. Rumor that there’s a seal of power that might help lies deep in the dungeon. Not the most helpful of clues.

After finding out what they could, the party takes Nick and his hirelings, as well as Biffin though the portal back to the barn on Lady Eiric’s estate. After spending a few days removing the curse from the gems, they’re sold in town, and the party heads to the site of the mausoleum, the best known entrance to the megadungeon.

The valley of the mausoleum is a great graveyard with 3 main buildings. The great mausoleum to the south, a pair of lesser mausoleums to the east and west, and a well at the northern end of the area. Starting with the well, an everburning torch is dropped down. It falls about a hundred feet, before landing in shallow water. Watching for several minutes, nothing comes to investigate.

Moving on, the party goes to the middle of the graveyard, and spends a moment looking at the dwarven statue. Nick pours one out, while Karl drinks one in his honor.

Off to the side mausoleums, they’re checked out, but found to be locked up tight. Then to the main one. Much more ornate, with a gaudy skull motif and gargoyles perched above. When the door is tried, the gargoyles attack! More powerful than any Nick had faced before, they possessed the ability to magically hold anyone that they managed to grab with both claws. Darryl was first, followed by Biffin, then Nick Darryl and Biffin were both lifted from the ground, but Karl managed to catch them when Lady Eiric blasted them out of the sky with her magic missiles, saving them both from too much falling damage.

A few minutes after the death of the last monster, the magical effect began to wear off. The gargoyles were checked over, and their jet eyes removed.

Gains: 12 jet eyes
Kills: 6 gargoyles
Losses: