Session Thirty-Four (Graveyard of Empires Summary)
Session 34
24th of Laureldon, morning underground in the sparring training room.
Chuq examines the next door for traps or noises beyond. Even though he detects nothing amiss, Lamia’s obviously does since her teeth are bared as she follows us through the door. Taking point, Thorfus cautiously approaches several intersections found along a north to south tunnel beyond the training room.
We search three rooms, two off western branches of the N-S tunnel and one eastern. We catalog 36 short swords with 24 hand axes in the first room, 20 javelins and 18 kobold spears in the next room and an uncounted number of crude clubs in the last. The compartmentalization stupefies us. We speculate the order was imposed by some other than the kobolds themselves.
The second western branch and the southerly end of the main passage lead into two different cenotes. Each showing signs of artificial modification, most significantly each have sloping ledges spiraling along the outside edge with tangential branches roughly corresponding to cardinal directions.
We decide to explore the southern cenote in force. Taking the first western branch from the ledge, we kill the three kobolds apparently guarding beyond a left hand turn to the south. These guards prompt us to follow this southerly route until we see daylight. Chuq scouts ahead silently until he finds an opening into daylight. We have found another natural cave entrance into the kobold warren. The party examines the adjoining clearing and surrounding forest from the cave entrance, then decide to return underground.
Returning to the south cenote, the next two branches off of the ledge seems to be abandoned nesting chambers similar to those we found off the great cavern. A lone kobold is surprised in the next southern branch. Killed quickly, we find his widow guarding two eggs further in the room. For her safe release, she agrees to escort us through the fighting room to the big room and then to the dragon temple to pursue her king. She says her king, Feldonmixis, smartly made plans to leave when the Starchie Boys and the Mercer Men invader their lair. Feldonmixis instructed his people to rally deeper in the woods so that they all can go to a “safer place”.
She leads us from the cenote to a wooden door at the end of a 20’ foot passage along the eastern edge of the large cavern. When asked, she says the kobold’s prisoners can be found through the southern passage from here. Her side of the deal fulfilled, she leaves the way we came.
Chuq retrieve the two Mercers teams guarding the two intersections near the barracks room. He returns with 10 combatants. Using a 10′ spear we open the door to the temple. Assaulted by a foul smell, we find kobold and human corpses littering the floor. Obviously these individuals slew each other. Across the chamber from us is an impressionistic bust of a dragon’s snout on the wall.
Orion aids the only survivor. Claiming he is from Vargen, he clutches a 5 inch metallic sphere. His name is Barnier Brocket. His tale is that he was sent by the Bargemen’s Guild to deal with the kobolds. Not explaining how his group made their way into the kobold’s inner temple, he recounts that his men fought the kobold’s here while he decided to grab the unoffensive sphere in the bust’s beak. His act triggered some sort of soporific. Which is why he can’t relate any other details about the combat. He suggests a reward from Rotho Waterman of the Bargemen’s Guild for the sphere and Barnier’s safe return.
Looting the bodies, we find short swords, cloaks, torches (8) and a week of rations on the human bodies, 21 gp plus some silver. The kobolds have 19cp. Within the altar before the idol are 27sp and 47cp.
The door to the south weakly resists opening. There is another door covered by arrow slits along the walls 20′ to the south. Thorfus looks into the slits and sees nothing of note. There is a modest wooden throne on the other side of the door. The throne is flanked on the eastern and western walls by breathtaking tapestries depicting a battle between dwarves and dragons. The tapestry to the east depicts Dragons overwhelming their dwarven foes. To the west the Dwarves are superior to the Dragons. Behind the tapestries are the arrow slit alcoves. Axel has to force the only door leaving this room. We find that it was barred from the other side.
Similar to the temple, there is a carved dragon head on one wall of what is a bedroom . There are odoriferous furs on the walls and on the bed. Chuq can open one of the two locked iron chests against the east wall. Within are 2 transparent clear and 1 opaque crimson stones and 200cp. Two of the mercer men lug along the unlocked chest.
Left to himself, Axel activates a movable tooth in the dragon carving. A door opens to a very small southerly tunnel which curves east. We have to crawl for 5 feet then the dwarves can stand with Chuq crouching. The tunnel ends in a wall. Thorfus opens a secret door he finds into a 20′ x 20′ room with table and chairs with two exits and a trap door. It is lower level tunnel that Asthon explored alone yesterday.
Chuq returns to the throne room to retrieve the Mercers only to discover Barnier is missing. Baewin does not have an explanation, she just shrugs demurely when pressed for an explanation. We leave with everyone and meet the dwarves in the trapdoor room. We all search the trapdoor tunnel and fine another cave entrance with a path going northwest into the jungle. It is now raining and we have no sense of where we are in relationship to our original entrance. We close the door and return to the trap door room.
We choose to explore to the north from here where the path slopes down. Finding another intersection with options to go north to a chamber or NW to a sharp curve, we deduce where these passages end and turn around and explore pass the boulder trap.
Travelling to an open doorway, we find a finished 30 x 30 room. Within are a cold fire pit, straw mattresses and another open door to the west. To the west is 60′ hallway with two doors to the south at 20′ and 50′ distance.
The first door way, enters a 30’ x 30’ room with rings on the walls with 16 dead prisoners shackled to the rings. There are 12 human corpses with the remaining all male dwarves. The furthest room has 18 dead bodies shackled to the walls. A woman elf is alive here. Crazed, she initially resists help. As we leave, she asks us to return. She explains the kobolds were not happy because of the waste but obeyed Barnier’s order to kill the prisoners. She was a member of Gundalsofus’ caravan to Midmark when she was captured. Thorfus had to break her free because Chuq could not unlock her manacles.
Returning to the barracks room, we take Adelard on a tour of the kobold lair to attest to our completion of the mission. He agrees for the sake of the fugitives, we should now return to Vargen. He shares our suspicion of Baewin’s alleged collusion with Barnier. The plan is to isolate her from her most loyal mercenaries lest she or they are Bargemen’s Guild agents.