Ch. 6: One More Time Around

[Zhym]

McCloud powers his lantern into the hole and then pokes his head in to look around. He sees a small 3'x3' crawl space that leads south and east. To the south, the crawl space goes about 10' or so before it ends. To the east, it turns north after about 20'.

Screen Shot 2015-10-01 at 11.02.12 AM.png (119.89 KiB) Viewed 700 times

-----
Status: Urdak (Dwarf F10): 15/75; McCloud (F6/MU6/T10): 12/40; Skarlos (C10): 29/56
Effects: None

[tkrexx]

"Excellent searching my gifted friend"

Urdak looks around for McCloud's gifted friend. Who ya talkn' to, Halfn-Elfn Cloud? Mayhap we findn sommat down heern.

[Stirling]

"Into the breach once more go the valiant 3", or so the epic poem says. McCloud quotes some remembered verse. He will tie his sack of goodies to drag behind his feet and enter the crawl space, lanthern being shone before him.

" south ways seems to dead end but perhaps another exit. We can investigate that if this unknown and unseen path proves fruitless". McCloud will continue east, poising to check the floor to inspect for more see-saw tiles or rat droppings, water and sewage, would hate to be heading down into the tomb sewers..

[tkrexx]

Aye, dat's d'problem wid mines, Urdak agrees. Sometimes ya been in soup ya not plannin' on.

[Zhym]

McCloud leads the way east and then north down the crawl space. After about 50', it turns back east, ending in a small door that opens into the bottom of a spiked pit. After you crawl into the pit, the doorway behind you vanishes into the wall, with even the dwarf unable to find any trace of its existence.

You climb out of the pit and realize that you are in the entry hallway!

Screen Shot 2015-10-04 at 1.53.51 PM.png (312.82 KiB) Viewed 676 times

Walking carefully around all the other pits, you make your way finally out of the tomb. You squint and shield your eyes against the light of a sun you have not seen for days. The occasional bite from the mosquitoes and green-headed flies that infest this area remind you that the skull-shaped hill from which you emerged is in the middle of a vast swamp. As your eyes adjust to the light, you make out the shapes of two huge slabs of solid mithril lying flat on the ground next to the entrance. Further away, a few abandoned crates and the long-cold ashes of peat moss fires are the only signs that anyone else had ever been here.

You have emerged from the Tomb of Acererak alive! Few men can boast of such a feat. You have accumulated many treasures of sorts both valuable and powerful, though one of you has also acquired an unwanted cursed weapon. In the mithril doors, you have enough wealth to buy several kingdoms, if you can find a way to transport them and sell them.

But several days of swamp lie between you and civilization. And then there is the matter of your mission. You were sent here to retrieve the skull of the wizard Acererak. That skull was the last hope against a curse that was draining the life essence from the royal family of Overking Ivid IV. You failed in that mission. The royal family is certainly doomed to die soon, if they are not dead already. If agents of the king catch you, you will most certainly die in excruciatingly interesting ways.

So here you are, in the middle of a vast swamp, days travel from civilization, heavily injured, with a death sentence on your heads. You are also fabulously wealthy, at least in theory, and in possession of artifacts of power and might. You will likely need all of them if you are to survive.

Good luck!

The End.

Thanks everyone! It's been fun! Nice job surviving, you three.

[tkrexx]

Massive stroke of luck surviving. Thanks for the game, Zhym!

[saalaria]

Cool - thanks for picking this game up Zhym!

[Stirling]

Well bless me, I expected another door and tumbling perhaps back into a corridor somewhere close to the throne room. Hey Urdak and Skarlos we are alive and free and gloriously wealthy.

Now if that interplanetary amulet could just transport us and the doors out of the swamp....


Having survived all and with all his under kilt kit still intact, McCloud will ask the DM that adventurers all time favourite question....

"Can we level up now?"