[IC] Into the Darkness

The expedition begins as planned: a gathering in the weather gardens before first light, then heading south for some hours before angling away from the riverbed and toward the foothills south and east. The former flood plain gives way to dried up scrub with the occasionally stunted prickle-tree managing to thrive in scattered patches along the way.

In those days, the land of Saleska had no king. History left sparse records of previously notable conquerors and rulers, but these records weren't to be found sequestered in libraries and collections of scrolls. They were recorded as features in the land itself; cairns, tombs, old buildings, and such like, left to stand as silent witnesses to ages and civilizations gone by, now reclaimed by the dust of the Earth.

Kel-Berran's tomb now stands as one such monument, and probably the closest to the town of Finn's Crossing. It's carved into the recessed side of a canyon between two of the larger hills. Twin stone pillars frame the large double doors barring the passage into the ancient king's resting place; above them a large mural is cut from the red and white marbled sandstone of the cliff itself. It presumably once depicted the king in all his majestic glory, but time -- and possibly vandals -- has taken its toll. The figure in the deep-cut and larger-than-life mural has been missing its head and one arm since before anyone can remember.

Magnus, however, has other things on his mind as he pulls up his horse and signals the expedition to dismount. The shadows are growing long, but the light of day hasn't yet abandoned our trio to the night and its assorted dangers, leaving the huge doors clearly visible. Magnus is staring at them.

"Uh, guys? Remember that bit I told ye about the tomb being sealed up for ages because I didn't figure anyone besides us would be dumb enough to open it?" He gestures toward the two stone doors.

One of them is ajar.

---

The tomb of Kel-Berran is no longer sealed.

---

From a distance, Mart is struck by the imposing nature of the tomb. He knew the stories about Kel-Berran, but even so it was clear he had been a very influential individual. Would Mart ever be renowned like this? He could only dream...

"That doesn't bode well." Mart concludes when Magnus points out the open door. "Who else knew we were coming here?" What did this mean? Was someone on to their plan and trying to stop it? Was there another person with the same idea as Magnus? "Best be on our guard."

He dismounts and does a quick check of the area in front of the tomb.

"I see some kind of footprints here." Mart tells the others, pointing at the prints in the sand. "It's surely not human, but what creature it is I can't tell. Was more than one though." He says in a somewhat worried voice.

"I can hold the torch." He offers when Magnus offers. "If it comes to a fight, you two will likely need both hands." Mart, not being much of a fighter himself doesn't mind staying in the back to supply the others with light. Although, right now it meant that he was walking in first to light the way.

With weary hesitation he steps inside after Hastali confirms there are no traps.

Magnus hands off the torch and stands aside, taking one last look behind them to ensure they aren't being followed... and to give his teammates room to work.

As the doors are pushed further open, the fading light of day partly reveals the main tomb chamber, a somewhat modest size at 9x12 feet, give or take. An ornate sarcophagus sits in the center: polished stone with some inlaid silver, gold, and copper. The raised likeness on the lid was likely meant to resemble the king entombed within. There are a few recent scratches on the lid, but not enough to suggest it has been recently moved.

An empty groove bored into the lid is probably where the king's scepter once rested. While there are no other exits immediately evident, the shadows of an alcove at the far end of the chamber could bear further investigation.

Magnus enters the chamber last, his knife drawn in an overhand grip. He glances at the sarcophagus, curses under his breath, then adds: "I don't think this is quite what Arias had in mind."

Mart agrees. "Good idea. You never know what trickery is about."
As Hastali checks for hidden doors he uses the light of the torch to find out more about the alcove in the back. He approaches somewhat carefully as there could be clawed creatures about.

"Indeed!" Mart replies. "If I were hiding a scepter I wouldn't put it in the first room either." He concludes from what Hastali says. "We'll need to venture deeper."

He walks up to the stone panel. "You both get ready to attack whatever comes out. I'll open the way forward." He holds the torch in a way that will light up the inside and uses his other hand to pull at the panel. He tries his best to stay out of danger himself.

"Right. Except... I didn't think they were supposed to be hiding it." Magnus peers wistfully at the empty slot where the scepter should have been, then shrugs. "I suppose we'll have to find it, regardless. We've nothing to gain by returning with no treasure."

Sliding a hand over the sarcophagus, he then turns his attention to the alcove panel. The door is situated such that it slides to one side on some kind of track. It opens easily enough, at first, with the quiet scrape of stone against stone. Then it jams.

Magnus mutters and then shoulders his way into the alcove to help Mart force the door. It's cramped; not quite wide enough for the two to stand abreast, but they make it work. The panel resists at first, sliding partially back into place when the pressure lets up. It's as though something were pushing back.

A concerted heave convinces the panel to slide far enough open to admit them; as it gives way the party can hear a wet flop from the other side like a sack of something heavy hitting the floor. Torchlight spills into a large chamber, wider than the first. The walls and floor are too perfectly straight for this to be a natural cavern.

There appears to be a door to the far left. The misshapen body of a diminutive humanoid lays on the floor nearest to the now-open alcove door. And something in the periphery, where the shadows dance beyond the torchlight, skitters away. Heard rather than seen.

Mart bites his teeth while trying his best to get the panel open together with Magnus. Eventually he's relieved that they managed. Though he wonders about the pressure from the panel.

Before going in, he searches for a loose brick or piece of wood to put in the opening of the panel. If it were to slide closed again, at least there will be a sliver left to grab hold of.
"This place is starting to give me the creeps." He says quietly to the other two after hearing the sound of something scurrying away. Was it the clawed creature or just a rat? "I suppose that's to be expected from a tomb. None the less, I don't like it."

"Looks like there's a door in the back. I'll light the way." He says, torch in hand.

[ +- ] Map

Hastali follows the other two companions into the opening, after making sure the block Mart had placed is working.
Then, turning to Magnus and Mart, he tells them to advance cautiously toward the area where the creature disappeared. He does so, swinging his hammer at the ready.
"We can check what the corpse is carrying once we're sure we're not at risk of attack."

Magnus curses low under his breath as he nearly trips over the threshold when the door finally gives way. "Creepy is the right word for it," he agrees with Mart's comment. He nods to Hastali and advances into the room with him, knife still drawn and at the ready.

There is little in the way of loose debris near the doorway, but a loose bit of stone suffices. Whatever was in the shadows continues to retreat with the receding darkness, even as Mart holds the torch aloft. As the light spreads further into the room, the party can see that there is definitely a doorway on the left wall of the chamber, closed by a solid oak door. Aside from the previously secret alcove passage, it's the only other apparent exit from this chamber.

There appears to be some writing chiseled into the otherwise smooth floor of the chamber.

The skittering thing appears to be a spider the size of a small dog; it's halfway up the wall and makes a low hissing noise as the light draws closer.

Magnus freezes, stifling another half-mutter curse as his gaze shifts from the engraving to the spider-thing. "Never seen one of those before. Think it'll bother us if we leave it alone?"

Mart leaves the chiseled writing for what it is and instead focuses on the large spider. "Hmm.." He says while he racks his brain for any information on such a large spider. He's seen many spiders in his days exploring the swamp near his home but never this large. Most spiders are harmless to humans, though. So he's not all too worried right now.

He brings the light a bit closer to take a good look at the color and markings on this creature.

Hastali turns to Mart: "You, who are an expert on beasts and animals, can you tell us anything about this creature? How dangerous is it? Is there a way to handle it without having to fight it?"
It's not the first time Hastali has seen a giant spider. In one of the Hittish Empire's campaigns against the steppe tribes, he even saw them used as mounts. What spells those people used to control them has always remained a mystery.
But even if he's seen larger ones, that doesn't mean the bite of a spider that size isn't deadly. Perhaps it's also the cause of the death of the humanoid in the room.
Hastali remains on guard and doesn't approach the beast, waiting for Mart to say something about how to deal with the spider. But at the slightest sign of attack, he's ready to unleash the full force of his hammer upon the creature.
Meanwhile, he remains near the torchlight; apparently, the spider doesn't like fire. Hastali turns to Mart: "You, who are an expert on beasts and animals, can you tell us something about this creature? How dangerous is it? Is there a way to handle it without having to fight it?"
It's not the first time Hastali has seen a giant spider. In one of the Hittish Empire's campaigns against the steppe tribes, he even saw them used as mounts. What spells those people used to control them has always remained a mystery.
But even if he's seen larger ones, that doesn't mean the bite of a spider that size isn't deadly. Which is perhaps also the cause of the death of the humanoid in the room.
Hastali remains on guard and doesn't approach the beast, waiting for Mart to say something about how to deal with the spider. But at the slightest sign of attack, he's ready to unleash the full force of his hammer upon the creature.
Meanwhile, stay close to the torchlight; apparently, the spider doesn't like fire.

The spider isn't nearly so large as to serve as a mount as observed elsewhere, but it's large enough to sink its fangs if the party turns its back.

As Mart brings the light closer, the spider backs further up the wall toward the darkened recesses of the ceiling. It looks black and wicked in the semidarkness, though rust colored streaks can be glimpsed on either side of its body.

Magnus steps forward as well, staying within the circle of light. "Crypt Spider," he intones. "Got so used to living in the dark that they can't stand the light. Probably best to keep an eye on it just to be safe. Can't say as I've ever seen one that big before." He shudders as the thing creeps further up the wall. "And don't let that torch go out; it might see that as an opportunity for a three course meal!"


Giant Crypt Spider

"Indeed. It seems to fear the fire." Mart agrees. "I don't know this species in particular, but I suspect we should avoid being bitten either way." He looks at the cowering creature. "It probably won't risk attacking us head on unless we're restricted." He adds with some general spider knowledge. "Yes, closing the door will surely deny it entry to the next room."

"Perhaps we can drag the body back a bit so we can inspect it safely." Mart hands the torch to Magnus and tries to pull the body towards them and away from the spider.

[ +- ] Map

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"Son of a ...!" Mart shouts suddenly, as he pulls on the corpse. "Watch out, there's another one behind us." Did we miss that one when we came in? he thinks to himself. They were very focused on the noise in the back of the corridor, so it's not unlikely that they completely failed to notice this spider.

"Let's follow Hastali's idea and get into the next room, then close the door." He proposes.
In the mean time, he checks the body to see what killed it and if there's anything noteworthy on its person.

Given Mart's words, Hastali suggests proceeding to the next room. He suggests adopting a "safety" formation. He or Magnus (but Hastali suggests himself because he doesn't have enough confidence in Magnus's physical abilities at the moment) will enter through the wooden door. Mart will stand between them with the torch, and the remaining scout (as mentioned, Hastali suggests Magnus) will stand to monitor their exit from the spider room.
This way, they should be able to defend themselves from any spider attacks without turning their backs on them, while also protecting themselves from whatever they might find in the next room.
Before proceeding, however, Hastali waits for Mart to finish searching the corpse. He also waits for Mart to strip him of anything that might be useful as loot or for the continuation of the mission.

After this, he waits to hear what his companions think of his proposal.

Checking the body while Magnus holds the sputtering torch aloft to keep the spiders at a distance, Mart finds several sets of fang marks on the body. Given the creature's facial expression, it must have died in agony.Magnus lights up a fresh torch off the dying one and hands it back to Mart as Hastali calls out new marching orders. He shifts his dagger back to his main hand and watches for movement from the waiting spiders, muttering: "I hope whatever's on the other side of that door is easier to deal with than these monsters. I'm used to stepping on spiders, not fending them off with fire!"

The creatures do indeed inch along the walls toward the party as the pool of torchlight moves toward the side of the room with the door, but the fresh torch continues to hold them at bay.

Meanwhile, Hastali's check of the door reveals no evidence of traps, but it's locked shut. Options include:

• Spending some time to pick the lock (could burn an additional torch)
• Breaking the door down (could alert whatever's on the other side; can't shut a broken door)

Mart snatches up the brass key. He'll mention it to the others in the next room.

He takes the new torch from Magnus. "Give me that old torch too. I can use it as a cudgel." He tells him, taking the sputtering torch into his good hand. Having no real weapons himself, it'll might prove useful to him.

"A locked door?" Mart asks to confirm. "Here, try this key I just found on this person. It appears he's got big fang marks. I'd conclude that these spiders are indeed not friendly! But they do already have a meal ready for them. So they may leave us alone if we leave them with the body."

He hands the key to Hastali for him to try on the door. "Otherwise, if you think you can pick the lock, we'll try to buy you some time for it."
He jabs the torch at one of the spiders that had gotten a little too close for comfort.

Hastali turns to Mart and tells him to pass him the key. He'll try to open the door. Otherwise, he prepares to open it, keeping an eye out for what he'll find on the other side.

Hastali uses his torch to check for spiders on the ceiling or walls. He also looks around carefully to determine if there are any other threats. If there are no other threats, he then proceeds to enter the room and cautiously approach the sarcophagus. He inspects it without touching it to better understand what it is by looking at it up close.

"Go on." Mart tells Magnus to let him through the door. Then he follows behind, his front facing the spiders to keep them at bay with the flames of the torch. "Stay back, you two!" He calls out to the fanged creatures.

"Is it safe in there?" He asks the others, but he doesn't wait for an answer. Slowly he backs his way into the other room before trying to close the door with his foot.

Mart closes the door, keeping the spiders on the other side. "Alright. I don't think they'll get through." He looks at the others. "Everyone ok? If you need healing, I've brought some leeches." unfortunately for the leeches, it seems that nobody got hurt.

Then Mart turns his focus to the new casket. "Perhaps this one holds the artifact we're looking for." He brings his torch closer to get a good look. He searches for any interesting looking markings.

"Might as well." Mart replies to Magnus. "What do you think, Hastali?"
Mart takes a step back before anyone opens the casket.

Hastali approaches the cqsket with extreme caution and opens it with the utmost care. Ready to jump back as soon as he sees something strange happening.

Mart peeks into the casket and gives an impressed whistle. "Not a bad start, that." He's mostly interested in the potions "It's no scepter, but perhaps I can figure out what kind of potions those are."
He patiently waits before taking the items. Magnus is the expedition leader and he doesn't want to step on any toes.

Hastali lets out a crude exclamation of satisfaction in the Hittish language.
Then he suggests dividing the coins into three parts. As for the rest, he suggests that he and Mart divide the other items fairly randomly, since they might always come in handy, but mainly to spread out the weight. Specifically, he says he’ll take the garlic necklace (in Hittish tradition, vampire stories are among the scariest) and a potion.
Of course, he lets Mart analyze the potions before taking one.Then Hastali takes another look around, and if nothing particularly strange turns up, his suggestion would be to start cautiously inspecting the wooden door to try to figure out what’s hiding on the other side.

Mart is able to identify the vials as health potions, which may be quaffed to heal bodily injuries less severe than mortal wounds or permanent scars.

"Spreading out the weight sounds like a good idea," Magnus remarks. "No good hauling a fat pack around if you wind up tripping over your own shadow under the weight." He examines the room, content to let the other two work out how to split the treasure. Best to ensure nothing surprises them while their focus is on the box, after all.

The room for its part seems otherwise unremarkable. He leans against the wall, causing a loose brick to shift ever so slightly. The quiet rumble of stone sliding aside might or might not be audible behind the discussion around the treasure discovery.

---

"Looks to be two healing draughts." Mart tells the other two. "Not as potent as leeches but good to have when you're in need of quick recovery." He hands one back to Hastali. Then he looks at the holy symbol. "Not sure which god this symbol portrays exactly. Though I suppose it never hurts to have the blessing of a god with you." He pockets it and brings his attention back to the room where Hastali is inspecting the wooden door.

Hastali watches the hatch open.
Now deciding where to go will be complicated.
Hastali's methodical nature would lead him to continue exploring the entire upper level to "complete" it.
He shares this thought with his other two companions. But he says he's absolutely willing to proceed toward the hatch if the others offer good reasons.

"I can't shake the feeling that it might be a trap." Mart tells Hastali. "Then again, it could prove to be a shortcut of some kind." He too considers the options. "Let's at least check what's behind this wooden door before we rule out the other path."

Mart walks over and tries to see if the door will open easily. If it needs more strength, he's probably not the one to handle it.

Mart looks at the bones, visible in the distance. "I suppose my leeches wont do them any good anymore." He quips to lighten the mood then his face crinkles when the rat smell hits him. "The smell is quite foul here."

"What do you say, Hastali?" He asks his companion. "This way, or the hatch?" He's happy to leave the decision up to him.

Hastali's annoyance has substantially increased with this latest discovery of the non-linearity of the route.
He's realizing that exploring dungeons isn't like working with metals and mechanisms.
"I honestly can't find a good reason to continue one way or the other!"
"I suggest we continue through this door for now, simply because it's the official route."
"Mart, since you're mapping our route, also mark the secret trapdoor."
Then he tells the others that he'll go first. He suggests they form up again: himself, Mart, and Magnus (the other "beaten king") at the back, bringing up the rear.Hastali takes the lead and begins to head down the stairs with great caution. Checking for hidden cables or pressure mechanisms underneath the steps and, of course, checking the ceiling as well.

Mart nods in agreement. "Sounds logical." He again lights the way with the torch from his middle position.

Magnus is keeping a wary eye on the mysterious trap door he accidentally opened, but it's evident he doesn't trust it. "A look around the known paths first seems more sensible than running the place like a labyrinth from the old tales," he notes.

Lining up as Hastali suggested, the party ventures down the stairs past the door Mart just opened. It is, perhaps unsurprisingly, quiet save for the slap and scraping of their leather soles against the wrought stone under their feet. The stairwell takes them slightly past the pile of bones at the bottom. They appear to be human; other partial skeletons litter the chamber besides, tangled with knots of old spider webbing.

The chamber is wide, somewhat resembling the previous chamber with the text inlaid across the floor. This one, however, has no such text carved into the floor and its original purpose is, at first glance, unclear. An initial assessment of the chamber will reveal two immediate details: there is another heavy wooden door set in the wall straight across from the stairwell, and a second set in the wall to the right.

The first door is notable for being the evident site of a recent scuffle, with a familiar-looking giant spider laying curled up not four feet away from it. A flamberge style dagger protrudes from between its mandibles; the beast is quite apparently dead.

The dust in front of the other door is, by comparison, relatively undisturbed.

Magnus trails down the stairs behind the other two, peering into the gloom past the torchlight. Upon catching sight of the tableau near the far door, he exclaims: "What in the abrogated city of dust did THAT?"

Mart is at first more interested in the bones than anything else. "Why are all these bones here? Did these people get trapped down here?" He inspects them more closely as they move past. When he notices the torch sputtering, he takes another from his backpack to light it.Only after that he notices the scene in the chamber. "Oh my!" He exclaims. "Well it looks like those spiders can indeed be killed." He leaves the inspection of the scene to the others. "Magnus, do you have any idea how deep this tomb goes? At this rate we could be here for days."

Before choosing which path to take, Hastali waits for the results of Mart's inspection and the answer to the question put to Magnus. In the meantime, however, he moves to examine the spider's body and the door in front of it, looking for clues as to who might have passed that way.

Lining up as Hastali suggested, the party ventures down the stairs past the door Mart just opened. It is, perhaps unsurprisingly, quiet save for the slap and scraping of their leather soles against the wrought stone under their feet. The stairwell takes them slightly past the pile of bones at the bottom. They appear to be human; other partial skeletons litter the chamber besides, tangled with knots of old spider webbing.

The chamber is wide, somewhat resembling the previous chamber with the text inlaid across the floor. This one, however, has no such text carved into the floor and its original purpose is, at first glance, unclear. An initial assessment of the chamber will reveal two immediate details: there is another heavy wooden door set in the wall straight across from the stairwell, and a second set in the wall to the right.

The first door is notable for being the evident site of a recent scuffle, with a familiar-looking giant spider laying curled up not four feet away from it. A flamberge style dagger protrudes from between its mandibles; the beast is quite apparently dead.

The dust in front of the other door is, by comparison, relatively undisturbed.

Mart is at first more interested in the bones than anything else. "Why are all these bones here? Did these people get trapped down here?" He inspects them more closely as they move past. When he notices the torch sputtering, he takes another from his backpack to light it.Only after that he notices the scene in the chamber. "Oh my!" He exclaims. "Well it looks like those spiders can indeed be killed." He leaves the inspection of the scene to the others.

Magnus trails down the stairs behind the other two, peering into the gloom past the torchlight. Upon catching sight of the tableau near the far door, he exclaims: "What in the abrogated city of dust did THAT?"


"Magnus, do you have any idea how deep this tomb goes? At this rate we could be here for days."

Magnus, examining the scene of the apparent spider attack, looks up, frowns, and considers the question. "Historically, these tombs tended to vary in size and complexity, I think. Probably depending on the importance of who was being buried. Depending on the time frame, we should be looking at a single floor or a split level with several connecting chambers. The single floor theory is out, since we already found stairs in two places." He nudges a bone with his foot. It tumbles from the pile.

"I'd say this tomb's king ranks up there with the important ones, so that tracks. We may have to search two levels. No more than three tops if I know anything about these musty old tombs. I've never been in one, of course, but I've read a couple of books."The disturbance patterns in the dust combined with the proximity of the scuffle with the spider suggests whatever party came through before almost certainly used the door nearest the spider. The dust around the other door seems relatively undisturbed with no sign of it having opened recently.

Mart picks up the gem and gives it a good look in the torch light. "This might fetch a pretty penny." He says, showing the found treasure to Hastali. "We'll sell it once we get to a market." He puts it in his pocket for now.

"Three floors, huh? That's quite a bit. And we'll have to keep watching our backs from now on." He says to himself somewhat worriedly.

"These bones are definitely not recent additions. Likely that they were buried here when the tomb was built." He concludes from inspecting the bones. "Found anything over there?" He asks his companions.

Hastali extracts the knife from the spider and then says that if no one objects, he'll take the knife himself. Then, partly thinking aloud and partly turning to his companions, he wonders where best to proceed. "On the one hand, it's likely we'll encounter whoever killed this beast, and perhaps the sooner we do so, the better, if they're hostile, as I unfortunately believe they are likely." "The other road, however, is untouched and therefore must still contain its treasures." "What do you think?"

"Though I don't feel very happy heading into a fight... Mart says. "Perhaps it's best we take care of whatever it is that's come in here with us." He points to the door where that shows it's recently been travelled.

Mart is surprised by how many beings are down here in this tomb. He expected to fine one, maybe two opponents but four was more than he had hoped for. As the goblin creature approached he though This guy is fleeing. His companions have fallen and he's lost hope. Though he couldn't be sure, as he had no real knowledge of these humanoids, it seemed like a plausible conclusion.

Perhaps this fleeing goblin could become an asset to them. "We have been sent here to help you." He speaks out loud to the goblin. "Stand with us and we will be victorious!" He tried his best to bring resolve into his voice. Even if the creature didn't understand the words, it might understand the sentiment. To help with that sentiment, he makes a fist with his free hand and points his torch at a fungoid.

Mart himself is surprised that he managed to convince the goblin, causing him to lose focus for a second. But then he turns his attention to the fungoids. Of course they looked like mushrooms, was that at all useful to know? Could he remember anything of note about fungi right now? Like what they fear. They probably don't like fire, much. went through his mind.

While thinking about it, he waves the torch in front of him to hopefully deter the creatures.

"These are fungoids." Mart tells the others. "Nasty little creatures who live underground. They hate fire and bright lights. We'll need to deal with them."
As the fungoids get closer, Mart tries to jab one of them with his lit torch. "let's see if they're flammable."

Two fungoids move away from Mart's torch, barely avoiding the range of his jab. The lumpy one turns to engage Magnus, who doesn't have a torch while the mottled one heads for Hastali, who also doesn't have a torch. The tallest (and angriest looking) of them lurches in from behind the others, bringing his root/claw appendages up to rake Mart's torch away.

Magnus mutters an oath under his breath and raises his knife, stepping away slightly to give himself and Mart some room to move.

Mart tries to pull the torch away before the creature can knock it out of his hand. These buggers are smarter than he had thought. "No!" He yells as he shifts his stance into a defensive posture. "Attack now!" He shouts at the goblin standing behind him.

"COWARD!" Mart calls out to the fleeing goblin. The grip around his wrist hurts as the creature tightens its roots around the skin. However, Mart tries to turn the situation into his favor. He was now unavoidably in range of the fungoid's attacks, but at the same time it was in range of Mart's attacks.

Luckily he was still holding the flaming torch. With the mushroom so close to him, he jabbed the torch in its direction again, pressing it firmly under its mushroom cap head where the flames can easily burn its spores. Surely those would burn well. "Let go of me you fiend!"