"If you've got a hacksaw in your kit, go for it Rodi. I'm not liking our chances of busting welded iron bands with a crowbar."
Mikos sighs, mumbles something about proper tools, and gives Keg's crowbar a try.
"Much as I'd love ta watch ya jump up'n down on this bar, Rodi, let's see if we can all get on it at once."
Up close, you see the sarcophagus is marked with the name: Kalast Tynall.
Mikos and the Keg work at the crowbar. The metal band doesn't budge at first, but on a second go, it pops off of the sarcophagus with a ringing pong.
The heavy stone lid suddenly flies off towards Mikos and the Keg!
A withered corpse dressed in rotted finery and ancient armor springs up from the opening, snarling with rotted black teeth. Its hands smoke with necrotic energy.
Mikos dodges the flying lid as the crowbar rattles on the stone floor. He quickly draws his falchion and hacks at the dead thing. "Get back in your BOX!"
The Keg smashes the dead thing with his hammer, "Let go of the poor man's soul, ya evil bastid!"
The Keg hides under his shield as the coffin lid flips over.
Mikos and the Keg both avoid the heavy sarcophagus cover and it crashes to the floor. Mikos reacts immediately, slashing his falchion. The undead ducks the first swing but Mikos cuts it deeply with a quick reverse.
The Keg clips the sarcophagus with his hammer swing and it deflects his strike.
Kalast whispers something in Necril and lashes out with its glowing claws.
;
;
"Nope." Mikos sidesteps the claw swipe and aims to destroy the undead thing.
"What did he say?!" Rodi shouts out, then strides forward and attacks!
for damage!
for damage!
The Keg goes for a deflection eating a few points of damage but the necrotic energy grabs him.
; fail
The Keg tosses aside his shield and then takes a wild, near blind swings. With his off hand he casts chill touch touching the foul dead thing.
Ben moves and fires his bow, but the undead ducks the shot a second before impact. Rodi moves up and stabs, missing once but then driving his rapier through the thing's knee.
Mikos hacks away with the falchion, clipping it once. The Keg dumps his broken shield and touches the undead with a spell. It shrugs off the magic.
Kalast continues his hoarse whispering and claws at the Keg and Mikos.
;
;
Mikos is alarmed and slightly distracted by Keg dropping his battered shield. The evil dead presses its advantage to tear into the warrior with a boney claw. Mikos' assault grows slightly more desperate as he feels the icy touch of the grave!
Rodi keeps stabbing!
for damage!
for damage plus an additional crit damage!
for damage!
Chill touch again. Fort DC18 same as above.
The Keg shrugs off the draining effects this time as he smashes back.
Ben fires three rapid shots, pinning the undead once in the side. Rodi keeps stabbing and finds another weak spot in its defenses.
Mikos cuts it weakly, but enough to knock the undead slightly off balance. Before it can recover, Mikos hits it with a powerful reverse swing, cleaving deep into its torso. The undead emits a fading wheeze as the unholy energy fades from its eyes and hands. The withered corpse slumps back into the sarcophagus.
Searching the area, the only thing of value you find is a platinum and gold pectoral. Studded with small diamonds, it is clearly a valuable piece of jewelry.
Mikos looks a little pale as he inspects the gash that the undead thing gave him. "I really think that we should have just left that locked up, Keg. I feel a bit drained. You got a prayer or something to fix it?"
The flash of diamonds perks him up a bit though. "Well, that helps a little. Speaking of loot, let's hit that wardrobe on the way out."
"Eh, we're gonna have to sleep it off, old man. Ain't ready to start treatin that, although got me some old scrolls and some herbs, may be able to eventually come up with something in the future."
He sighs as he looks back at the coffin, "Freeing that poor fool's soul was one of the best things we done today, Mikos. Thank ye for helpin' me make that right."
"You can thank me properly when we get back to a proper tavern, Keg. Come on, Rodi. Let's get that wardrobe open so we can get out of here." Pectoral secured, Mikos leads the group back to the Priestess' Chambers and reclines on the bed to supervise the wardrobe unlocking.
With some time and effort, you finally manage to break open Tarrin's locked wardrobe. Inside, you find an assortment of outfits, ranging from outdoor leathers to noble finery. There is also a small chest containing 45 gold, 125 silver, a pouch of six onyx pieces, and another spire transport token.
Among Tarrin Dars's things you find a black-bound ledger detailing the Splinters' banditry, but also notes about blackmail and other illicit activities between Fort Inevitable and Thornkeep. Amid the collection of mostly minor misdeeds are details of a plot using bandits and thieves from Thornkeep to infiltrate caravans coming up the Crusader Road in order to fleece them of money and valuables. The effort is apparently led by the infamous brigand, Loscar Redcape.
Particularly damning is the connection to Fort Inevitable. The notes imply that Signifer Oritian Hast, the ranking officer of the Order of the Gate, is feeding the crusader information to the bandits in a scheme to undermine Lady Commander Drovust.
There is deep breathing and the faint snuffle of a snore from the supinate swordsman on the bed until the faintest creak from the opening wardrobe is heard. "Jackpot!" Mikos sits upright and chuckles appreciatively as gold and semi-precious stones are revealed.
He takes in the little black book sneering. "There you go. I knew there had to be some crooks among those overly-armored hypocrites. I think we're overdue a visit to Thornkeep." His fingers dance over the goblin falchion. "This sword has enough heft, but it does not compare to the balance and agility of an Aldori blade. I need to recover my own blade and I have a suspicion that Thornkeep is the place to look. Once I have her back, you'll see some proper swordplay, my friends."
Mikos grunts. "Well, Rodi and Ben are looking clean and injury free. How about you both walk up? Keg and I'll take the easy way up."
Can someone just ferry a token back?
"Aye, let's head back to town, check on Mikos missin' lover and then we kin return for th' blind date with th' baddy."
Rodi shrugs. "Sounds good! Ben, maybe you can tell me about that radical diet you've been working on..."
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"Eh?" Ben masticates the dwarven herbs and spices in his rolled up tea leaf. "Nothing to it, keeps you awake and helps ya crap. Dwarven bread can bind ya up something fierce if you're not taking a regular laxative. Don't you go chewing any of these now, first of all I sometimes save them for later and second if you live off nuts and berries this'll blow right through you like a minotaur in a sewing shop."
Rodi's eyes widen. "Wooooow." They breathe out, staring at the leaves with awe and a little terror.
Using the spire transport, you teleport up to the surface. The sudden pressure change makes your ears pop. You climb the stairs and emerge into the fresh open air. After being underground for a day, you find the night darkness somewhat disorienting.
The spire clearing is a still and quiet as when you last came through.
Mikos scratches his greasy beard. "What do you think about checking out the markets in Thornkeep. Should be more fun than Fort Hell."
"I am down for Thornkeep.'
Mikos thinks a moment. "Do we know where that tannery is? You know the one with the cousin or whatever that was being enslaved there. Remember that hunter asked us to check on the situation. I think the hunter was from Thornkeep. I don't know if I would normally want to get involved, but it'd give us a grateful contact up there."
Navigating the twisting ravines and tangled depthos of the Echo wood in the middle of the night would be difficult at best, so you camp out until morning, which comes up gray and overcast. You backtrack along your now-familiar path, eventually linking up with the old wagon track and following it out the grassy hills north of the Fort Inevitible.
You approach the fortified town in the middle of the afternoon, just as the cloud cover begins to break before a chill northerly breeze. Back inside the town, locals on the street and around the market notice your passing, and you catch nods of approval and whispers, curious of your exploits in the ruin.
You're able to learn about Drurn's Tannery easily. It lies just to the east of the town.
"Let's sell some gear, requip and go check on freeing this indentured servant quick as we can. We can head out to Thornkeep after we've done right by the boy," The Keg is all business, no hint of his normal joviality.
Its in the spreadsheet