The End... (?)

Here ended the scrolls recording the Chronicles of Tekralh. Maybe, at some time in the future, new scrolls will be recovered detailing further adventures in this mysterious land...

Chapter 14: Red In Tooth And Claw...

The village of Larm was abuzz with tales of the return of Red the Ranger, long thought lost to the dungeons of White Rabbit Castle. Although he could recall little of his tortures - besides a strange black figure that he couldn't name - he had somehow escaped and made his way back to the village, where he was treated as a hero and put up in the Borderlands Tavern.

Naturally, he got talking to the village's current crop of adventurers - Norfel, Foden and Yves - and their hirelings, and so when the mayor again approached them with a job offer it seemed only natural for Red to be included in the deal.

A scout for Mayor Caius had discovered what he thought was the entrance to the Halls Of The Goblin King, but with the troops away fighting the Goblin Wars, a group of brave adventurers were needed to confirm that this hill-side fortress was home to the feared Goblin King.

Norfel, Foden, Yves, Red and their henchmen approached the mountainside entrance; a vast wooden door into the side of the mountain, set in a clearing and seemingly guarded by a single kobold. Red snuck through the woods opposite the entrance and used a small fire to attract the sole guard away from his post. He then ambushed the kobold and took him back to the others, where Yves interrogated the creature and learned the secret knock to obtain entrance to the fortress.

The group used the secret knock and the door was opened by a surprised goblin who was quickly run though and the party bundled into a vast entrance chamber. The design of the place suggested it had been built by dwarves, but beyond that the party could tell little else.

Having examined some semi-animated dwarven statues for a while, heard snoring from behind one door and sounds of orcish gambling from another the party crashed in on the orcs playing flach-wrrg and engaged in a bloody battle.

Four of the orcs fell quickly, unable to get to their weapons in time, and Foden took on the leader. The two were locked in combat for some minutes before the cleric subdued the tough orc and took him prisoner. Yves was again called in to conduct the interrogation and, spying the key on the orc's belt, discovered that the passageway from this guard room led - amongst other places - to a section of prison cells.

The only prisoners being held were a greedy halfling called Meriaboc and a rabid and beaten-looking bugbear, which Norfel put out of its misery with some well-placed arrows!

Meriaboc joined the group on the promise of immediate food and further sustenance when they got back to Larm.

At this point Yves, Foden and Norfel decided they had enough proof for Caius - with Meriaboc's testimony and the confessions from their two captives (the orc boss and the kobold guard) - and just made one further stop before heading back to Larm.

They checked out a room which the orc boss had called "water", which turned out to be a large storage cave with a subterranean lake to one side. Checking some large crates down by the water, Yves disturbed a giant spider which sprang at her - but missed. Red identified it as venomous and so - as one - the party decided to "run away".

Outpacing the spider they made it back to the main entrance hall and, although Yves was still drawn towards to the sounds of snoring, it was decided now would be a good time to head back to Mayor Caius.

Slipping back out of the fortress, the group made its slow way back towards the village where they were greeted as heroes. Meriaboc planted himself in the tavern, explaining that the party would cover his tab, while the two prisoners were taken away to the barracks for questioning.

The party congratulated themselves on another job well done!

Chapter 13: Smiting Sigyfel!

Brave adventurers Norfel the fighter, Foden the cleric and Yves the elf were approached at the Borderlands Inn in Larm by the son of Mayor Caius who explained that his father might have a job for them.

The mayor told them about a farmer who had been scared to death near the ancient tomb of cursed warlock Sigyfel and requested that our heroes recruit a band of men to sack the tomb and root out any evil that lurked within.

Having hired, and equipped, three local men-at-arms Churchill, Boggins and Erak, the adventurers hiked to the barrow where Sigyfel was said to be buried.

They camped outside before venturing down underground the next day... and almost immediately walked into a trap of scything blades, which wounded Churchill quite badly.

Their exploration continued into the darkened, subterranean corridors. The group methodically and slowly made their way down the central passageway of the tomb - hearing orcs down beyond the furthest bend.

That corridor the group blocked with broken wood and scraps they had found earlier, but then they advanced into a room of broken sarcophagi and were surprised by the sudden emergence of half-a-dozen skeletons.

However, without hesitation, the pious Foden strode forward and drove the creatures back until they shattered themselves on the far wall of their crypt in a bid to escape him.

In another corridor, where heavy velvet curtains concealed small side alcoves, Yves said off a trap by stepping into one of the alcoves and bringing the ceiling down - luckily she was nimble enough to dodge it.

Beyond that passageway though was a huge room, with three grotesque and obscene demonic statues standing vigil over an ornate, sealed sarcophagus. Tentatively the group prowled the edges of the room before Yves and Churchill had the courage to approach the stone coffin and, eventually, move its lid so they could see what was within.

As they did so, a powerful, clawed arm darted out of the sarcophagus, grabbed Churchill around the throat and smashed his head against the lid - knocking him unconscious - as a hideous ghoulish creature (the archmage Sigyfel returned from the afterlife by the dark forces he worshipped) arose.

The ghoul slashed at Yves and Foden, knocking the elf unconscious and rendering the cleric paralysed with it toxic venom.

Boggins was felled and Erak turned tail and ran, but heroic Norfel - who had considered running - having snapped his bowstring, lashed out with a lit lantern, dousing the ghoul in flaming oil. The creature screamed its hideous death wail and collapsed.

Norfel, having defeated the ghoul, slowly dragged his colleagues, two at a time, back towards their encampment and after about an hour of this activity those that had been infected by the ghoul's touch were beginning to recover, while the injured still needed some care.

The group camped outside the barrow for another couple of days before deciding to head back to Larm, where they were greeted like heroes and feted by the mayor.

After a a couple more days of rest, and having hired a couple of Churchill's friends - Devor and Caspa - the group returned to the tomb, only to find signs of activity.

They carefully ventured back inside and just as Yves was liberating a large gem and magical dagger from Sigyfel's sarcophagus, Churchill and Norfel - at the back of the party - were set upon by a pair of orcs and a shadowy humanoid. However, although the orcs wounded both of the rear guard, they were felled quickly and the cloaked man fled; Norfel tried to put an arrow in him before he disappeared from sight (out of the tomb) but missed.

Searching the rest of the tomb, the group found nothing of interest and returned to Larm.