As they investigate the organ room and muse about the possibility of this being a magical gateway, the aforementioned druergar bid them farewell. They are convinced that the kling in question is not nearby, so they decide to retreat and depart the area.
The group lingers and begins an earnest exploration of the many closed doors and unmapped passages. They find acolyte’s quarters – ransacked. They find donkeys made of beer barrels and brooms – interesting. They find a room full of frescos that detail the life and times of the king in question – also ransacked. They find many more such places, most of them ransacked by the now-departed druergar. A few areas are undisturbed. In one they find a small army of terracotta dwarves and an armory’s worth of high quality weapons. In one room they find a pair of animated suits of dwarven mail that prove extremely resilient to spells but eventually fall to the ole hacknslash master known as Goldpiece. Exploration from this area leads them to a room where the four chief dwarven gods loom over the chamber occupants. They also find a tuba mouthpiece, so all the instrumentation of the organ room seems ready to go.
Onward they search, passing several gates – one of which they are certain they have seen the other side on one of the uppermost levels – and eventually finding a ransacked tomb of a dwarven king. Alas! No arms. In fact…nothing at all. Grrrr. No wait! Secret door!
Beyond the door, another tomb. This one is undespoiled and quite lavish. The sarcophagus is forced open and the body of a draven male (the king in question?) is discovered within. Alas, the remnants of a mole are found within the king’s pelvis…so…that is kind of disturbing.
But wait, there’s another secret door. Beyond that – another tomb. This one is far more plain, but seems more authentic. Once more, the lid is removed and the linen-wrapped body of a dwarven sized corpse is located therein. A shield lies across his feet. It chooses Justicar as its next bearer as the rest of the group scoop up the find and tote the body back to the grand temple.
A tricky mage with slipper shoes and a floating disc lets the group bypass the tricky golem trap and they deploy the king’s hands against the door from the relative comfort of a floating disc.
Beyond the doors is a large room with a tapestry on one wall and a carved archway on the other. There is a palpable sense of divinity here, and a certain heaviness as one comes to realize the sheer volume of rock and dirt that lies above them. The group determines that the archway is activated by invisible creatures and that is quickly put to the test. Indeed, when an invisible creature stands before the arch, the interior becomes translucent and somewhat ghostly. It is surmised that this is a gate that will lead…somewhere. After a minute, the archway returns to normal but the party must now ponder some momentous choices. Or not.
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