Bands of Power - Game thread

This is the room as you see it. The squiggles indicate particularly large piles or groups of junk.



The stairs leading up are actually 30-40' up. You can tell there are no doors at the top, but cannot see anything in the space above. Through the double doors, you can see stairs leading down into the darkness.

The acrid stench in the air remains strong. You wonder how long you will have this smell in your noses when you leave.

The party congregates at the base of stairs. The even stone steps lead up and away a good 40'. The soft crackle of Borgo's torch is all that you hear.

Borgo pads up the stairs, near silently. Thak emulates Borgo's but without the practiced grace or complete silence. The little scout appoarches the top of stair stopping a good 10' from the top know his head would be silouhetted by the storchlight illuminating the stairwell. Waving Thak to stillness behind him, they both listen carefully for a few minutes.

After a few minutes, as their hearts slow they can hear something, but it's only the shifting of their companions below. Silence greets them from above. No weird knocking or shifting. No weird otherworldly keening. Only silence.

Braving a few more steps, Borgo peeks above the level of the entry into the space above. Where the torchlight spills out, he can see more bare flagstones but something immediately draws his attention. More dry bones. A pile lay about 5' from the lip of the stairs and perhap another small heap in the dimness to the right. Waving Thak to come up slowly, the Warrior creeps up beside he thief to a level so that their heads are even. Holding the torch high, a good 20' or so is illuminated.

You see at least 20' into the what must be another room. Your blood quickens as you spot at least three... no, four piles of bones similar to those you encountered below near the entrace to this place. There are no weapons visible, just the remnants of long dead dwaves. To the left about 15' from you on the stairs, you see a huge set of ornate double doors adorned with the now familiar geometric patterns and symbols of Ord. Carved into the wall of the along side each is a dwarven figure seeming to hold the doors upwright. Ahead of you in the dimness, you think you see what could be to exits, deeper areas of darkness; the one head larger than the one to it's right. To your right, the light ends in darkness after 20' or so. As you are on the stairs, you cannot see immediately to your right or left.

You stand before the entrance to what must be another room. The floor is littered with piles of bones, the skeletons of those who were the denizens of this place. There are also more paths ahead to investigate.

What does your brave and crafty company do? Borgo and Thak lead the investigation, waiting about 5' from the top of the stair. The remaining three stand clustered near the base of the base of the stair having been dragged up a few steps by the shrinking cresent of light from the torch Thak now carries. The encrouching darkness now hides the ruin of the limbed horrors from view.

Representation of what you see... The gray blobs, indicate where you think there might be something in the distance... areas of a deeper darkness. Your torchlight doesn't carry that far.

Borgo moves forwards to get a closer view of the bones. He can see that though there is no evidence of armor of any kind, he can see what could be scraps of long rotted cloth.

Hunched and wary, the Goblin moves with sword outstretched when a sharp thwack shouts out from the darkness to the right!

Borgo, give me a dex save as a bolt hurtles towards you from the dark. If you fail, you are struck a glancing blow by the bolt which clatters against the wall to the left.

Thak and Elspaeth flinch at the sound of a crossbow firing to the right, but their attention is quickly drawn to the once inert piles of bones as they quickly skitter and slide to form four wretched skeletons with menacing glowing eyes.

Thak instinctively reaches for the hilt of his greatsword, but stops when the torch he holds passes his face.

Lattremond and Berith hear sound but not so well. They do see the immediate change in the demeanor of those above as they perceive the threats to their lives.

The group is in mortal peril. Skeletons ahead! Unseen danger lurking in darkness?! What do you do?!

Light Sources:
Thak - Torch (9)

Initiative Order:
Borgo
Thak 3/7HP
Lattremond
BerIth 4/10HP
Elspeath
4x Skelies

Borgo isn't entirely sure about the origin of the bolt. It was either a trap or someone waiting silently in ambush. The source is completely obscurred in darkness at the moment. I'll indicate on the map the direction the bolt came from.

Borgo still has an action in case you weren't waiting on the above response. I'll narrate Thak's attack after your action.

Borgo isn't entirely sure about the origin of the bolt. It was either a trap or someone waiting silently in ambush. The source is completely obscurred in darkness at the moment. I'll indicate on the map the direction the bolt came from.



Borgo still has an action in case you weren't waiting on the above response. I'll narrate Thak's attack after your action.