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[What do you think, dear? Can you turn that crank?]
[Looks like a little brute force might do the trick]
[Don't be such a pessimist, my love. Give it a try]
Libitina marches up to the hand crank, and after banishing her scythe, grabs it with both her skeletal hands and slowly starts pulling on it. It creaks ominously as she slowly increases the pressure, and...
... it suddenly starts turning easily.
[See? I knew you could do it]
[Those dwarves really do know how to make things that last]
Mrs. Perkins and Sindarin try to fix the mechanism but they miss something. It takes Dorgen to come by and show them how it is done.
Then Libitina stops by and begins to turn the crank with ease.
After passing the bridge you keep going, and after 10 minutes you walk into the cave.
The natural cavern here was, at one point, shaped into a roughly rectangular room, but the volcano has started to reclaim it, and little of its former glory remains. From the southern wall, three tunnels lead further into the dark. Their arched shape and even distribution make it clear they were painstakingly crafted by the dwarves who once dwelled here, but curtains of thousands of dangling animal and humanoid bones show that someone or something else has taken up residence in the chambers beyond. Above the middle tunnel, a large Dwarven rune is carved into the wall. The rune means: 'Repose', soon a skull flies off the ground and shrieks at you.
Flaming skull flies forwards and spits fire at Granitt
Granitt's yells in pain.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
Skull yellow
➤ Mrs. Perkins
➤ Sindarin
➤ Brook
➤ Mandoo
➤ Dorgen
Undead red
Skull green
Aleksandr
Granitt
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[Yes. The flying skulls are a bit of a giveaway]
[Quite. Let's get started then]
Once again, the dynamic duo go into battle. Libitina closes with the enemy and strikes with her scythe as Mandoo casts his spells.
ବ୍ଲେଡ୍କୁ ତୀକ୍ଷ୍ଣ କର and "ଏହାକୁ ତୀକ୍ଷ୍ଣ ରଖନ୍ତୁ."
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As soon as the skulls start flying, Dorgen remembers that he's on the front lines, a place where he does not want to be.
Yep, this seems like danger all right. I think I'm better off in a supporting role, way over there."
Dorgen pushes back into the tunnel and ends up behind Sindarin.
"Looks like you could use a boost. Here you go."
Dorgen casts a spell and touches Sindarin's weapon of choice. It starts humming with magical power.
Dorgen moves towards Sindarin and enhances his weapon.
Mrs. Perkins animates her book which strikes at the skull, leaving a dent.
Sindarin moves out of the corridor, designates the skull as his pray and sends an arrow
Arrow strikes the skull.
Mandoo empowers Libitina who moves closer and strikes but misses.
Undead grows even bigger and begins to shine, air around it has a distinct foul smell.
Then he moves forwards.
The other skull flies forwards and spits at Granitt
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
Skull yellow
Mrs. Perkins
Sindarin
⠀⠀Brook
Mandoo
Dorgen
Undead red
Skull green
➤ Aleksandr
➤ Granitt
Granitt moves forwards and strikes with his axe leaving big dent in the skull.
Aleksandr boost and protects Imelia who moves forwards and strikes but misses.
The other skull flies away and spits fire at Libitina
Libitina is hit twice with fire which leaves massive burns on her.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
Skull yellow
➤ Mrs. Perkins
➤ Sindarin
⠀⠀➤ Brook
➤ Mandoo
➤ Dorgen
Undead red
Skull green
Aleksandr
Granitt
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[That's a paragon of understatement my love. That first hit almost sent you back to the Boneyard]
[Personally, I think the demented little carnium got lucky]
[Let's see what I can do to patch you up before it's too late]
Mandoo quickly applies some ointment to himself and funnels the resulting healing to Libitina as she strides over to flank and then slice twice at the skull attacking Granitt.
vs Flat-Footed
vs Flat-Footed
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Dorgen gasps as the skull nearly knocks out Libitina, but luckily Mandoo stays upright and patches himself up.
"I don't think we're ready for the big guy just yet. Let's see if I can delay it for a bit."
Dorgen rushes forward and weaves a spell, and suddenly a huge stream of water shoots forth from his hands. Dorgen nearly gets knocked back by the sudden pressure, but he carefully aims it at the big skelly.
Mandoo heals himself while Libitina moves and strikes twice the skull, but hits only once.
Skull explodes, bone shrapnels flies towards Libitina, Imelia and Granitt.
Dorgen sends a blast of water hitting the undead and pushing them away.
Mrs. Perkins heals Mandoo and moves the book.
Sindarin sends two arrows but misses, Brook tries to bite the creature but also couldn't find the right angle.
Large undead moves and swings at Brook
It leaves a massive wound
Then it increases the size of its aura.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
Skull yellow
Mrs. Perkins
Sindarin
⠀⠀Brook
Mandoo
Dorgen
Undead red
➤ Aleksandr
➤ Granitt
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The wounds were small but perhaps caution was advised.
"Let us not be so hasty to confront them directly"
Aleksandr moves to his companions side as she fires a ray at the large undead.
◆ Act Together
Aleksandr ◆ Stride
Imelia ◆ Strike
Aleksandr then heals Sindarin's wounded companion.
◆◆ Aleksandr Cast a Spell (Soothe)
Aleksandr moves and heals Brook
Imelia sends a bolt that strikes undead.
Granitt fails to dodge the damage and charges at the large undead
Then he raises his shield.
Yellow skull flies towards Granitt. He blocks the first strike, taking only some of the damage.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
Skull yellow
➤ Mrs. Perkins
➤ Sindarin
⠀⠀➤ Brook
➤ Mandoo
➤ Dorgen
Undead red
Aleksandr
Granitt
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[Very nice, dear. You hit it so hard it blew up]
[Good job dodging the shrapnel, though, but it looks like you picked up a couple of nicks there]
[Whoops! Hold on there my love; I feel a soothing presence flowing through me]
Mandoo turns to Mrs Perkins. "I take it we have you to bla..., uh, I mean, thank for that timely boost of energy, Mrs Perkins. Libitina very much appreciates everything you're doing for us."
[You set me up for that, didn't you?]
[I bet you don't]
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[Looks like Granitt has the big fellow's number. Maybe you should go after the last of the skulls]
[Don't forget about the final bang]
[Now, now. No need to get testy]
Mandoo says, "ଶିଲ୍ଡ ଉଠାନ୍ତୁ," and the space around him shimmers for a moment. Libitina strides up to the flying skull and gets into flanking position with Granitt. She's immediately assaulted by the large undead's stench...
...but is unaffected due to her lack of a respiratory system. Her scythe then whistles through the air as it's sharp edge slices twice at the skull.
vs Flat-Footed
vs Flat-Footed
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bludgeoning damage
Dorgen whistles appreciatively at how Granitt and Libitina go to town on the enemy. He decides to attack both remaining enemies at the same time. He rubs his hands together, creating sparks, then points at the remaining skull and the big skeleton, and electricity dances between them.
He then mutters a prayer and casts his Shield cantrip, just in case.
Libitina strikes twice the skull which explodes with a bright colors and shrapnel flying around. Mr's Perkins tome strikes the undead, but mostly provides distraction.
Dorgen see that the bones crack some more as a result of his previous spell and finishes off the large undead with a arc of lightning.
Undead tries to dodge the spell but can't move fast enough. It falls and stay still.
You spend a moment to heal.
You search that room and find several dead duergars along with the remains of a couple of crawling hands and flaming skulls. The duergars are badly burned. You believe that these remains account for the entire duergar raiding party.
You take a peek into the tunnels, you find that they lead to a dank, eerie, mazelike catacomb littered with discarded animal bones and covered in faded murals of long-dried blood. You take note of this location for Luna Aldred and save it for a later expedition, as instructed.
With that information, you head back to Luna ...
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After looking through the place thoroughly, Mandoo and Libitina are a little disappointed not to have come across the necromancer called Hedga.
[Yes. Most unfortunate really]
[Quite likely, but our orders were pretty clear on the matter: We were to leave such passages for a future expedition]
[Not only would that get us kicked out of the Society, but given how powerful a necromancer she seems to be, I doubt we could take her on our own. We'll need the Society's help on this one]
[Indeed. I'll put in a request as soon as we get back to the Lodge. In the meantime we should take care of that trap so we don't accidently fall into it when we return]
[Yes. Mrs Perkins and Dorgen might fit the bill. They seem handy]
Mandoo speaks up. "Looks like we're pretty much done with our mission then. All we need to do now is find that trap we heard about and disable it."
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When the fight is over, Dorgen fusses over everyone's wellbeing, then deflates as it is clear they're not going to find Hedga anytime soon.
"Yah, let's go back. Looks like not much interesting is left down here anyway. We've done enough, I say. Let the next team worry about that necromancer. After all this gloom, I think we've all earned a holiday in the sun.
When everyone makes ready to go back, Dorgen takes the front line to banter with Granitt and hopefully catch that trap with his Dwarven senses.
You head down the tunnel that should have the trap, you go slowly keeping your eyes open for signs of any danger. Finally, you find unstable rocks on the ground that when stepped upon would cause other boulders to begin to fall.
You begin discussing how to solve that problem when Mrs. Perskins pulls out a ball of wool and stuffs it between the stones stabilizing it enough for the trap to not go off.
You come back without any troubles and get a good night sleep in the Inn. Luna Aldred inform you that people, prospectors, lumberjacks and locals were waiting to hear about your expedition.
Luna Aldred taps her fork against a glass to call for quiet in the crowded dining area. As the conversation dies down, she motions the party toward the front of the room. "I have some wonderful news," she says. "Our Pathfinders who went into Droskar’s Crag have returned, and they assure me you are no longer in danger of being hunted by duergar raiders. But don’t take it from me. I’ll let them tell the story!"
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Dorgen sits down and starts prattling on about all the magic forces at work here animating all the skeletons, and makes an educated guess at how strong Hedga could potentially be. He goes into the nitty-gritty of necromancy and probably loses a lot of people, but he uses big words that sound very impressive.
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As they approach the Inn, Mandoo bids farewell to Libitina.
[I think it best if you don't come in with me my love. You're likely to frighten the locals]
[Your new ward?]
[Well then, I wish her luck]
[Take care. I'll call you if I need you]
[Love you too, Tina]
Libitina fades away as they reach the Inn for a good night's sleep. The next morning, Luna presents them to the crowd in the main room. Mandoo addresses the assembled locals in turn.
"What our Venture-Captain says is true. We entered Droskar’s Crag and came back alive to tell the tale. The duergar raiders were not so lucky. We found their bodies scattered throughout the Crag. It appears that they uncovered some ancient evil during their excavations and perished at its hand. We too battled some of its minions and vanquished them, but we did not find their master; it escaped us and fled deeper into the Crag. Until we can return with another party to root out this new danger, I must insist that no one enter Droskar’s Crag. The town is in no danger as long as it is not disturbed."
"With a little luck, that should lessen their fears."
People listen with interest and quickly begin to chat among themselves, a bartender comes to you and passes a sealed bottle of top-shelf Gold Falls Ale (worth 1gp).
Luna smiles and nods her head "Nicely said, well done. I will prepare next mission to explore further parts of the ruins. Maybe we will go after Hedga herself."