Chapter I: So, you all meet up in a tavern

[StevetheNPC]

Filbert Brushhollow

Suddenly, a hushed voice pierces through the fog from behind the party. "Lo, friends. I mean no harm." A halfling slowly appears, his hands both raised above his head as if to show his friendly intentions. "I am Filbert, from the north, sent by my village to investigate this cursed Barrowmoor. It looks as though you're doing the same. Perhaps we might work together?" He holds steady, waiting for someone to give their reply.

[Bree-yark]

Jacor scans the area, particularly the direction opposite of where the halfling came from, thinking it might be a trap. Satisfied that he is alone, Jacor addresses the newcomer.

Greetings Filbert, I am Jacor. It seems that you have either navigated this bog on your own, or you followed us here without us noticing. Either way I am impressed. Working together could be mutually beneficial.

[Hadarai]

Brother Blaive

The cleric tended up and held his breath as he saw a figure emerge from the fog before relaxing at the sight of the halfling. "Oh thank goodness" he whispered to himself while Jacor and the stranger conversed. "More hands do make less work, I would say the same to be true while exploring."

[ginnymack]

Since morning Mal had not said much. Her head throbbed relentlessly from all the drink and so she suffered in silence as she marched on with the others. With the appearance of a wandering halfling, Mal was grateful for the brief respite.

"Well met, Filbert," she said, offering the halfling a short yet warm smile. Mal took the moment to take a swing of sweet, delicious wine from her 'skin. Hair of the dog, she thought before plugging it. "I've always believed in a halfling's luck. Maybe his arrivial is fortuitous, eh? Perhaps we should let Filbert pick which mound we should check out."

[Bluetongue]

Harker nods approvingly at the arrival of Quall the mercenary thief and the halfling Filbert.

"Maybe then if there is no consensus to search either of these barrow mounds we could follow the path another hundred yards and explore elsewhere. Though we should not dwell about."

[StevetheNPC]

Filbert says, "Well, let's see, as he moves just slightly ahead of the front of the group. "Maybe I can see which of the two seems more or less traveled. Filbert brushes the cloth of his cloak to one side, and kneels down to get closer to observe the mucky terrain.

Searching for Tracks [1d100] = 66

[sirravd]

Filbert is unable to see any recent tracks toward either of the two mounds.

[Bree-yark]

Jacor

We don't have too much information to go on right now, and not much time to explore. I say we go to the nearest mound and have a look.

[Lance]

Jacor

We don't have too much information to go on right now, and not much time to explore. I say we go to the nearest mound and have a look.

"I agree. If we dally too much longer, another halfling might show up." Endor chuckles.

[Stirling]

Vann Hector


"So nothing to see and nothing to hear. Dead quiet. Let us hope the mist and eerieness is nothing more troubling than that."

The elf follows Harker's direction as he pointed to the eastern mound. We have enough hammers and picks for half the team to weigh in knocking through any walls or doors. The others guard and search and swap over every hour as a suggestion.

Coming to any significant ruin or tomb, Vann Hector could check for secret entrances.

[StevetheNPC]

Filbert turns and smiles at Endor, nodding his head as though to say "I agree." He retrieves his short bow, holding it in his left hand. "I'll keep a watch out for any trouble," he whispers as he tries to find a spot where he can take up a position to help defend the group, if necessary.

Over the course of the digging activities, Filbert will try to come up with any excuse to avoid having to participate in the physical labor, suggesting that his "keen halfing eyes" are best suited for keeping watch, or slinking off into the fog to investigate that noise that no one else seemed to hear.

[ginnymack]

Having been indentured to a wizard since childhood, Mal is no stranger to hard, physical labor. She'll taker her turn with pick or shovel if need be. Otherwise Mal will nervously glance about with her crossbow ready.

[sirravd]

The path goes along for some distance to the east. The mound is somewhat off the path.

The fog rapidly becomes far thicker. The mound was visible, albeit blurry, from a few hundred feet; now visibility is hardly fifty feet. You see no other mounds as you proceed.

The mound is about eight feet in height, and overgrown with noxious purple ferns––save for its entrance, which is sealed with a thick slab of stone.

[Bree-yark]

Jacor

Looks like this one is sealed up, which means whatever treasure was buried is probably still there. Shall we bash this down and have a look inside?

[Lance]

Endor nods "Aye, the sooner the better." He looks around nervously at the thickening fog, loaded crossbow at the ready.

[Hadarai]

Brother Blaive tries to make a quick sketch of their path going by whatever small landmarks he can identify, "Cursed fog...I just know I'm going to be redoing all this work a couple of times when this mist lifts." He stops to think for a moment on all of the ghost stories he had been told in his youth and adds a little dejectedly "If it ever does."

Getting to the mound and seeing that it is still sealed the cleric let's out an excited "whoop!" doing his best to keep his voice down. "First discovery and it's undisturbed how fortunate! It wouldn't hurt to peek inside right? Even if we scout further ahead, maybe even just having the seal broken would be enough to dissuade others from even bothering to look." Never being one for physical labor Blaive will still try his best when his turn comes up.

[Stirling]

Vann Hector

"Okay. Let's do this." Not too concerned about what may be perceived as 'grave robbing', especially as the team cleric also takes a turn. The elf grabs a miner's pick and begins to hack at the seam of the stone.

"Perhaps we can loosen the join and lever it open a little."

[StevetheNPC]

Filbert kneels down to inspect the noxious purple ferns, taking care to stay an arms length away from the unknown flora, to see if he spots anything out of the ordinary with them - odors, movement, noise. If he does see anything out of order, he'll warn the rest of the group to "Watch out!"

If everything looks to be in order, he'll try to find a good spot to keep watch for anyone, or anything, that may try to approach the party while we are hard at work opening the sealed portal.

OOC: Is the mound such that Filbert, with his little halfling legs, could scale to the top and gain a good vantage point for standing watch? Does the fog appear to be any more or less heavy at the top of the mound?

[sirravd]

The ferns seem to be merely noxious, not poisonous. Alas, the fog is no thinner atop the mound.

Vann Hector begins hacking at the stone, the sound jarringly loud in this eerie environment. Unfortunately, the stone appears far too hard for a miner's pick to be efficacious.

[Lance]

Unfortunately, the stone appears far too hard for a miner's pick to be efficacious.

"And there's your reason for the undisturbedness" Endor grumbles.