The Skinsaw Murders Burnt Offerings Part One: Festival and Fire The Swallowtail Festival Five years after the church at Sandpoint had burnt to the ground, while a service was taking place, a new cathedral has been built. Today, it's hallowed ground will be consecrated in a ceremony and celebration, marking a new beginning for the town. The festival has drawn visitors from far and wide, with all but one of our heroes staying at The White Deer and so meeting in the bar; Wesh, a local fisherman, is staying on his boat. On the day of the festival, a large crowd of locals and visitors gathers outside the cathedral in buoyant mood, with several stalls selling alcohol and others offering free food - sponsored by the local inns. Mayor Deverin gives a light-hearted speech, welcoming one and all to the town and making weak politicians jokes. Sheriff Hemlock sternly provides the health and safety lecture, with particular reference to fire safety. Cyrdak Drokkus restores the mood with a rousing and possibly litigious speech about the absurdities of financing the great project that they are about to celebrate the completion of. Finally, Father Zantus thanks everyone for coming and declares the Swallowtail Festival to be under way. A little later, after sampling the wares of various stalls, our heroes reconvened at noon for the next stage of the festival. Father Zantus told the tale of Desna's fall to earth and her nursing back to health by a blind child, who she rewarded by turning into an immortal butterfly. At this point, a thousand swallowtail butterflies were released from a cart in the centre of the square, drawing cheers from the crowd and providing much entertainment for the children present. The afternoon passed peacefully in an atmosphere of quiet reverence, apart from the drunken behaviour of some members of the crowd. Goblins in the Streets As the sun set, Father Zantus called for order by using a thunderstone and prepared to consecrate the cathedral after reciting the Prayer of First Dreaming. Unfortunately, others in the crowd had decided to use the thunderstone as a signal for darker purposes and screams began to rent the air. Our heroes looked for the source of the trouble and swiftly found it - Goblins. Thorfinn ordered the crowd to go home and keep out of the way as the rest of the group headed for the small group of goblins. A brief combat ensued, with the goblins proving a tougher challenge than expected. As the last goblin fell, our heroes looked for any other problem and noticed a second group of goblins setting fire to the wagon of dry wood for the bonfire. This would not be a major issue apart from the fact that the wagon was parked next to a house made of wood. Realizing this may be a problem, they headed swiftly to the wagon and, as the heroes engaged the goblins, Zarlis and Aramir pushed the wagon to safer territory, taking some painful damage as they did so. Looking around again, the heroes saw one man and his dog under attack in front of the White Deer. They joined the fray and, with some near death experiences, were able to save a local noble, Aldern Foxglove, although his dog was less fortunate. With this combat, it appeared that the goblins assault on the town was vanquished and the heroes prepared to investigate the extent of the raid. Part Two: Local Heroes Aldern was profuse with his thanks for the rescue and asked the heroes to visit him in the next couple of days at the Rusty Dragon, a local hostelry near the quays. They checked that the situation was under control with the sheriff , who they discovered had captured one of the attackers. The interrogation of the little shifty blighter revealed little, other than the attack had been orchestrated by a 'longshanks' - a human! The next day, Thorfinn visited Father Zantus, finding him in a state of some anxiety - apparently, during the raid, a grave had been desecrated and the remains stolen. The remains were of Ezakien Tobyn, the previous religious leader of the town who had perished in the church fire five years previously. The Boar Hunt The next day, several of the party were surprised by the generosity of the local population, who viewed them as heroes after the horrors of the previous night. The following evening, the party headed to the Rusty Dragon to visit Aldern. He demonstrated his regard for them by offering them dinner and some pecuniary reward. He also invited them to go on a boar hunt with him in Tickwood, a nearby wood. After a degree of trepidation the heroes agreed to his suggestion  and arranged to meet him at the stables the following morning. When they met with Aldern and he realized that they were lacking in the horse department, his generosity overcame him again and he bought each of them a mount. They had a pleasant ride to the location selected for the hunt and spent a lot of time looking for a quarry. Finally, a boar broke from cover, nearly disemboweling a neater and the hunt was on. Immediately, most of the heroes got off their horses and began to flank the boar to avoid its escape. The hunt proved extremely dangerous, as several of the team were badly wounded, but finally the boar fell and dinner was caught. Thorfinn swiftly moved to the aid of the beater and stabilized him just in time. Aldern, meanwhile, did not seem to notice his servants wounds and was far more interested in the transport of the boar to town. That evening, they feasted on wild boar at the Rusty Dragon, prepared by the owner, Ameiko Kaijitsu. Monster in the Closet The next evening, as they sat in the White Deer, they were approached by a young lady in some distress, clutching a baby to her chest and with a young boy in tow. Addressing them as 'The Heroes of Sandpoint', she introduced herself as Amele Barett, wife of Alergast and mother of Aeren and Verah. She requested their aid and recounted a harrowing tale. For the last few nights, Aeren has been waking screaming and terrified, with stories of a monster living in his closet. Alergast searched the closet, finding nothing and the boys tale was ignored. However, this evening, they heard Aerens screams and the shrill sound of the family dog, Petal, crying out in pain. Rushing to Aerens room, they found Petal dead with a knife in his head and a goblin crouched over their son, trying to chew his arm off. The goblin dived back into the closet and vanished through a hole in the floor. As Alergast started to tear the closet apart, Amele panicked and ran to the only people she could think of to help her. The team immediately set off for her house, then came back and asked her where she lived. She accompanied them to the house and waited outside as they investigated. They quickly found Aerens room where Alergast lay, face down in the closet. As Wesh pulled him clear, an insane goblin burst from a concealed hole in the floor of the closet and stuck a very unhygienic knife in him. This was, however, the last thing the goblin ever did, as the team ganged up on him. Amele was horror struck by the death of her husband and the heroes turned her and her children over to the care of Father Zantus at the cathedral, as well as informing Sheriff Hemlock of the grim tidings. Grim News from Mosswood The following evening, their presence was requested, as the now official 'Heroes of Sandpoint', at a meeting with Mayor Deverin and Sheriff Hemlock. On arrival, they found that the reason for the meeting was that a ranger who spent her time scouting the surrounding area was in town, with grim tidings. Shalelu Andosana, the ranger, told them that the five goblin tribes of the area appeared to be working together, for a mysterious third party, and that this meant they were a considerable threat, as normally they kept themselves under control by inter-tribe feuding. Sheriff Hemlock request that the team stay in town for a while, as their presence as the 'Heroes of Sandpoint' appeared to calm the tensions in the town following the attack. He also said that he would go to Magnimar to try to secure further guards for the town in this time of danger. After the meeting, Shalelu stayed and talked to the party, telling them that they were also famous among the goblins. She gave them some details of the five local goblin tribes: Goblin Tribes: As she mentioned earlier, there are five major goblin tribes in the region. The closest to Sandpoint are the Birdcruncher goblins that live in caves along the western edge of the Devil’s Platter, although traditionally these goblins are the least aggressive of the five. To the south are the Licktoad goblins of the Brinestump marsh, pests that are excellent swimmers. East are the Seven Tooth goblins of Shank’s Wood, goblins who’ve secured a place for themselves by raiding Sandpoint’s junkyard and rebuilding the stolen refuse into armor and weapons. Further east still are the Mosswood goblins, likely the largest tribe but one traditionally held back by feuding families within their own  ranks. Finally, there are the Thistletop goblins, who live on the Nettlewood coast atop a small island that some say holds a passing resemblance to a decapitated head. • Goblin Heroes: Shalelu notes that goblins generally live short, violent lives. It’s unusual for a single goblin to achieve any real measure of notoriety, but when one does, it’s well-earned. Currently, five goblins enjoy the status of “hero.” Big Gugmut is an unusually muscular and tall goblin from Mosswood who, it is said, had a hobgoblin for a mother and a wild boar for a father.  Koruvus was a champion of the Seven Tooth tribe, who was as well known for his short temper as he was for his prized possession—a magic longsword sized for a human that the goblin stubbornly kept as his own (despite the fact that it was too large for him to properly wield). Koruvus vanished several months ago after he supposedly discovered a “secret  hideout” in a cave along the cliffs, but the Seven Tooth goblins remain convinced that he’s out there still, a ghost or worse, waiting to murder any goblin who tries to discover his hideout.  Vorka is a notorious goblin cannibal who lives in the Brinestump marsh, a “hero” mostly to goblins other than the Licktoad tribe. Ripnugget is the current leader of the Thistletop goblins and controls what the five tribes agree is the best lair. Bruthazmus, an infamous bugbear ranger who lives in northern Nettlewood and often visits the five tribes to trade things he’s stolen from caravans for alcohol, news, or magic arrows. Shalelu notes that Bruthazmus has a particular hatred of elves, and that they have fought on several occasions. To date, neither of them has managed to get the upper hand on the other, but Shalelu bitterly vows that she won’t be the first to fall in their private war. The next few days were spent in peaceful contemplation, accepting the adulation and thanks of the towns folk - apart from Zarlis, who became obsessed with the glassworks. Finding the glassworks locked up and seemingly empty, the paladin decided to find out all about it, lacking a more direct method of investigation known as breaking and entering. She started by asking around town and discovered the owner was Lonjiku Kaijitso, father of Ameiko, the woman who ran the Rusty Dragon. She visited the fathers house to find it locked up and empty and went from their to the Rusty Dragon, where she asked Ameiko about her father as she was worried about him. The net result of all this effort was to panic Ameiko, with unfortunate consequences later that night. The Missing Bartender The next morning, as the heroes ate breakfast, Zarlis was approached by an elderly Halfling woman she remembered from the Rusty Dragon as Bethana Corwin, a maid. Bethana told them that Ameiko had gone missing and that she had found a disturbing note in her room once she had plucked up the courage to enter. The note read: Hello, sis! I hope this letter finds you well, and with some free time on your hands, because we’ve got something of a problem. It’s to do with father. Seems that he might have had something to do with Sandpoint’s recent troubles with the goblins, and I didn’t want to bring the matter to the authorities because we both know he’d just weasel his way out of it. You’ve got some pull here in town, though. If you can meet me at the glassworks at midnight tonight, maybe we can figure out how to make sure he faces the punishment he deserves. Knock twice and then three times more and then once more at the delivery entrance and I’ll let you in. In any case, I don’t have to impress upon you the delicate nature of this request. If news got out, you know these local rubes would assume that you and I were in on the whole thing too, don’t you? They’ve got no honor at all around these parts. I still don’t understand how you can stand to stay here. Anyway, don’t tell anyone about this. There are other complications as well, ones I’d rather talk to you in person about tonight. Don’t be late. Tsuto Bethana also told her that the brother of Ameiko, Tsuto, was something of a local scandal as he was a half-elf and neither of his parents were elvish! With her worst fears confirmed, Zarlis pressed the rest of the group into service and they headed for the glassworks. Part Three: Glass and Wrath On reaching the glassworks, they found it locked and Nattie set about breaking in by picking the lock. As a crowd gathered, wondering why the heroes of Sandpoint were breaking into the towns major industrial plant, Zarlis and Thorfinn set about calming their fears in their own individual ways. Zarlis explained that they were looking for Ameikos father and that everything was alright, while Thorfinn was a little more direct. As the door opened, Thorfinn handed the remains of his breakfast to the crowd and they moved in. Wesh and Aramir started to head down a long corridor while Zarlis moved through a door to their left, discovering a gruesome room full of goblins and their handiwork: the remains of the glassworks workers, dismembered and partially covered in glass. As the combat started, Wesh continued down the corridor as the others went to the sore pressed paladins aid. One of the goblins left the room by the far end while the rest caused some difficulty to our heroes, badly injuring a couple of them. As Wesh continued to explore the rest of the complex, the heroes defeated the goblins and searched the area, finding Lonjiku dead and fully encased in glass. Passing through the door at the far end, they met up with Wesh, who was able to inform them that the rest of the area was clear. Left with only one door and some stairs leading down, Thorfinn lead them into the darkness. The others lit lanterns, torches and sun rods and followed him, causing him to move off down the corridor and round a corner to avoid them. As Aramir rounded a corner, he was hit by a crossbow bolt and he moved to attack Tsuto, who had fired it. Tsuto promptly shut the door he was standing behind and locked it. Meanwhile, Thorfinn had found the only place he could stand with no light sources near and Zarlis was busy opening crates in a dead end. After some confusion over whether to open the door and pursue Tsuto or open a locked door Thorfinn has discovered, the group set of in pursuit of Tsuto, leaving Thorfinn glaring at a door and Zarlis discovering that sand was one of the main constituents of glass. The pursuing party chased the half-elf for some time, finding a couple of side passages before reaching a dead end. After searching, they found a secret door into the goblins cave, fortunately empty and could see Tsuto rowing off round the coast in a jolly boat. Wesh, being a man of the sea, immediately dived in to give chase and swiftly disappeared round the headland. Tsuto beached the boat and disappeared into the forest. Recognizing a lost cause and being a little tired after such a long swim, Wesh promptly stole Tsutos boat and rowed back, where he found A'luna sitting on the beach below the cave looking at the stars in the morning light - they're mysterious, these elves! Eventually the party regrouped and found that Zarlis and Thorfinn had found Ameiko alive in the room Thorfinn had expressed an interest in. They summoned the mayor and arranged for the glassworks to be cleaned up, the bodies taken to the cathedral and the relatives to be notified. Catacombs of Wrath They headed back below ground to investigate the side passages, finding one blocked off. The other proved more interesting. Aramir, leading the party, saw an opening to the right and, peering in, saw a creature of nightmare and horror. Being a sensible sort, he immediately moved back to the others and warned them. Wesh moved forward and, seeing nothing in the cave, headed past it. The others began to file past as well when the hiding sinspawn charged them, causing a degree of consternation. After a brutal and near fatal combat, the dread beast was put down and the heroes regrouped to lick their wounds back up the corridor. The heroes retreated to cathedral and once more implored Father Zantus for aid. Repaired, after a fashion, they returned to the catacombs. After searching the guard sinspawns cave and finding little of interest, they continued down the passageway. The next corridor lead to a room with the floor covered with broken pottery and crumbled duty remnants. Moving on, down a dogleg corridor, they found a large room with what looked like a rough hewn altar to one side. After a heated theological debate regarding the rights and wrongs of desecrating it, Nattie lead them through a door at the far end, into a massive chamber where the strange, spiky runes on the wall, the large pool of water with a ring of human skulls in it and the mighty pulpit at the far end would normally have drawn their attention. However, Natties first comment was regarding the three sinspawn moving towards her. At her shout, Aramir, Thorfinn and Wesh moved to her aid, as Zarlis and A'luna prepared bows and healing. As the combat dragged on, it quickly became apparent that there was another being in the room - an occasionally visible Quasit,. As Wesh, Thorfinn and Nattie all fell unconscious against the sinspawns assault, matters looked grave in deed. However, the sinspawn were also taking casualties and, as the last fell, Aramir moved up the room to seek out the Quasit, moving to the pulpit. Meanwhile, various heroics and healing spells were restoring some movement to the comatose. As Zarlis joined the hunt for the Quasit, preparing her bow, they saw the Quasit appear, briefly, above the altar pool at the back of the pulpit, squeezing blood from its arm. Seconds later, a sinspawn stepped from the pool and attacked Aramir. A brief and potentially lethal fight ended as the sinspawn was ganged up on by the heroes. After healing as best possible, they moved on. A little further down the corridor was a statue, of a woman, her face beautiful but a mask of fury. She wears flowing robes and her hair is held back by an intricate headdress of hooks and blades. In her left hand is a book inscribed with a star, in her right a glittering metal and ivory ranseur. Moving on, the heroes opened a door at the end of the corridor and moved into a large room, with a raised wooden platform leading across it and cells dotted around the walls. Wesh and Thorfinn moved to the stone floor as the others mooched around a bit on the platform. Suddenly, A'luna and Nattie were attacked by two sinspawn, hidden under the platform. This battle was a little more short-lived, although part way through it, Zarlis noticed the Quasit trying to steal discarded equipment and managed to scare it off. The heroes healed a little and moved on, out of the room and along the corridor to the east. The corridor opened out into a torture and interrogation chamber, littered with the debris of machines of pain. Thorfinn stopped to examine three stone doors to the south, as the others continued a little way to the east., heading down a flight of stairs and into a room with square patches of floor, from beneath which came moaning sounds. As they entered the room, they came under attack from a monstrously deformed goblin and battle was joined. At the same time, Thorfinn found himself under assault from the Quasit and tried to grapple her. The goblin hurt several members of the team, but was quickly dispatched. The Quasit took a lot longer and proved herself a very dangerous foe. As the heroes gathered around the Quasit, with Aramir and Zarlis blocking her escape, Thorfinn set off to retrieve the ranseur from the statue. Nattie used her hook hammer to trip the Quasit several times, but the heroes found it difficult to injure the little blighter. As Thorfinn returned, Zarlis and the Quasit were locked in a deadly battle with the others gathered round to help, and the Quasit finally fell. Tehy spent some time using the ranseur to finish off the Zombies in the pits beneath the wooden covers and moved on. Down a corridor to the south, they found a spiral staircase blocked by a cave in and, a little further on, a strange room. Fifteen feet in diameter, the spherical room had several items floating in it and the walls had black electricity rippling across red metal walls. Thorfinn set off to consult Farther Zantus on this phenomena as the others searched what was left of the complex. Aramir and Nattie found a scroll in one of the rooms as Thorfinn and Father Zantus returned. After some debate, both theological and more earthy, Thorfinn ventured into the room and easily retrieved the various items from it, which were in turn taken from him by A'luna. With that, they returned to the pub to consider the omens and portents (or to see if the stuff was magical, anyway). Part Four: Thistletop The party spent the next two days wandering around town being Heroes of Sandpoint - apart from Thorfinn who continued his ongoing struggle to understand the ruins on the cliffs. As Zarlis and Nattie were strolling one day, they saw a poster offering 250GP reward for the return of a horse (colour random and indeterminate, but probably sort of browny bay) and headed to the Rusty Dragon to learn more. The two merchants they met said they had been set upon by goblins at the road ford across the Thistle River and had their warhorse stolen. Zarlis immediately set off to gather the team for a recce of the area but was surprised by Thorfinn wandering in to town with exactly the same destination in mind, having been informed by Father Zantus that his divinations indicated that this was where the remains stolen from the graveyard were. With that, they set off for the ford. The Druids Maze At the ford they found signs of a struggle but no sign of a horse having been lead away. With a little more research, they discovered wagon tracks leading to the coast and with no other leads, they decided to follow them. The tracks followed the river, leading to an impenetrable wall of thorny briars. Nattie pointed out that there was a poorly hidden door and, opening it, they found a goblin size tunnel stretching into the briars. This irritated the dwarf, since despite being 'vertically challenged', he still had to squeeze through, while Nattie kept running around all over the place. They move in, heading to the right. They soon found a hole in the ground, from which the sound of surf could be heard but wisely decided to leave it for now. As they moved in, they passed some dogs, tethered in a clearing who immediately started to bark. Shortly after, several members of the team noticed a thrush carrying a bloodstained white item in its talons heading down a corridor. They hastened to check it out, looking both ways. To the left they saw the coast and a rope bridge, to the right a Fire Pelt. Nattie took up the front position, with Thorfinn and Wesh guarding the rear, with Zarlis. As the fire pelt attacked, those at the back saw a figure, wielding a flaming sword step out of the wall at the back of the dogs compound and release two of the dogs. A few seconds later, he did it again. As the dogs fell to Thorfinns attacks and Weshs use of his reach weapon, Nattie beat the fire pelt. They were just congratulating themselves on victory when a figure stepped from the wall of the corridor and attacked Thorfinn (or it might have been Wesh). This combatant, a goblin druid, proved much more resilient than they hoped and the fight proved tricky, before their final victory. The exploration continued, with a messy skirmish against many raggedy goblins giving Wesh and Zarlis a bit of a workout, before they decided to rest for the night. Ripnugget The next morning, leaving A'luna and Aramir to tidy up the campsite, they cautiously spied out the bridge. After ascertaining that there was no obvious goblin activity atop the watchtowers, Nattie moved forward to inspect the bridge. Noticing some structural issues, she successfully made the bridge safe and the party advanced. Finding the way barred by fifteen foot gates, Nattie and (surprisingly, for a Paladin) Zarlis climbed over and unbarred them. They immediately instituted a plan to open as many doors as possible simultaneously and were lucky enough to find some goblins, which started a corridor fight. Just a victory looked certain, a fresh batch of goblins came out from the foot of the watchtower on the far side of the combat and cornered Nattie. This made the fight a little more complex, but the arrival of A'luna and Aramir, having done the cleaning, soon concluded it. They continued to clear out the complex, finding more goblins in a large throne room - these were accompanied by a warchanter and the chief, Ripnugget, who swiftly mounted his war Gecko (well, someone had to) and made ride by attacks as the other three goblins pressed forwards. The warchanter did his thing and the battle was going against the party for some time. However, as the goblin foot soldiers fell, the party began to target Ripnugget and managed to back him into a position of having to fight face to face - this did not go well for him. Searching around, they found the goblins food storage and, in the chieftains room, a silver holy symbol of Lamashtu, as well as the armoury. They moved on, finding a room with four more goblins (who were actually all dogs) which took very little effort to deal with. However, in a corner of the room was a large container, which Aramir swiftly ascertained contained the warhorse they were seeking. As the others backed out of the room and A'luna went to fetch grain from the food stored, Aramir opened the door and tried to calm the horse down - unfortunately, this did not go well and he ended up knocking it unconscious in the ensuing mess. After some effort, the horse was restored to consciousness and calmed down. It was resolved that Nattie and Zarlis would return it to town while the others waited. Thorfinn and Wesh remembered the other watchtower and went off to clear it out to relieve the boredom of sitting around, leading to a bit of a barny with some goblins who were a little lethargic having eaten too many pickles. Once the others had returned from dropping off the horse, the party set off downstairs, finding a large empty room. In accordance with custom, they opened two doors at once. One lead to a filthy room with empty cages in it, the other to a goblin recreation room, containing four goblin females and a large bugbear ranger, Bruthazmus. The fight was very brutal, as Bruthazmus used his 'wives' to defend himself and fired arrows at the party. For several rounds, the combat could have gone either way, until only Bruthaznus was left, facing the party with a flail in his hands. It did him no good and he soon fell before the might of our heroes. They moved on, after some healing, and Zarlis discovered a heavily armed man in a room off a corridor off the main chamber. At first, the fight went against him but a couple of truly mighty blows, including a smite evil, dropped the man as though pole-axed. Nualia They swiftly searched the other rooms in the corridor where Zarlis had killed Orik, finding little of interest apart from an everburning torch and some silk sheets. Moving back to the main chamber, they headed West, down a short corridor and into an empty cell block. A door to the North lead to the jailers old room and a set of keys for the cells. A second door to the North proved a little more eventful. Thorfinn opened it, to find a short flight of stairs leading to a second door into a temple. The temple proved to be guarded by two Yeth hounds, which gave off a fearful howl, causing Aramir to run randomly around the complex in fear. The rest of the party engaged the second hound and swiftly discovered that they could barely scratch it. Taking heavy damage, Thorfinn called for the retreat and Zarlis and Nattie followed him out of the room. Unfortunately, Wesh was already badly damaged and fell as they shut the door. Thorfinn immediately came up with a strategy for helping their fallen comrade and, pausing only to cast Sanctuary and Shield of Faith, he moved back into the room supported by Nattie. As the hounds had gone, Nattie quickly moved to the door into the temple and closed it, while Thorfinn ascertained that Wesh had gone the way of all flesh. Chastened and chagrined, they collected their fallen comrade and returned to Sandpoint, where they were welcomed by the citizens, who joined them in their mourning. The next morning, Father Zantus lead a huge open air funeral service for Wesh, the only home grown Hero of Sandpoint, and the mayor declared a holiday for the town. The rest of the day passed in a wake for Wesh. During the day, Thorfinn (and shortly after the rest of them) met Franck, a huge fighter who decided to join them, and, after a day of mourning, they returned to Thistletop. Exploring the rest of the complex, they made their way to the North West, finding the main entrance to the temple (and wisely ignoring it). Further on was a room with crude depictions of goblins on the wall, including one of a giant goblin in a cave beneath Thistletop. In the North West corner they found a room with battle plans for the recent raid on Sandpoint. Disturbingly, there also appeared to be future raids planned, incorporating more goblin tribes from the Northern Fogscar mountains, as well as creatures called sinspawn. The next room appeared to be the site of an archeological dig, and the woman working there showed her displeasure at being disturbed by casting Mirror Image and dying very quickly. Some stairs lead down from the room via a secret door in the western wall. The group decided to explore the rest of this level first and headed to the East, finding caverns which had not been worked, but which had a floor polished like glass. As they cautiously moved in, they were attacked by a bizarre mess of teeth and tentacles - a Tentamort. Being heroes, this did not un duly worry them and the poor little beasty achieved very little before being dispatched. Having run out of options, they headed down stairs, with Thorfinn leading the way. At the bottom of the stairs was a canted room, running down to the West and containing some badly damaged statues. Thorfinn moved to the door in the eastern wall and opened it to reveal a corridor. As he moved down the corridor, he felt a section of floor give under his feet and threw himself back, narrowly avoiding being trapped by the portcullis that fell from the ceiling. After waiting a while for the trap to reset, Nattie disabled it and they moved on. Thorfinn opened a door to the North and, on seeing a Yeth hound and its mistress, promptly closed it again. After some time spent preparing, the party opened the door again and moved in against the hound, with Franck proving himself a deadly warrior as they set about killing the hound. Thorfinn then showed that this is truly a time of miracles as he cast Hold Person on the woman in the room and it actually worked! The combat was short and very brutal. Pausing only to collect magical items and money from the corpses, they moved on. A bad case of the crab Moving South down a short corridor, they came to an l-shaped room. To the East was a carved circular stack of gold coins, which they quickly decided was a bit pointless. To the South, a pair of double doors carved with two skeletons reaching out to clutch a skull between them looked much more promising. The doors lead to a large chamber with several sarcophagi lining the walls. As they moved to investigate, three shadows leapt out and attacked them. Starting a theme for the night, Franck found himself badly mauled by the time the assault was over, with A'luna and Thorfinn proving most effective with their turning abilities. After some limited damage limitation using restoration (and a good nights rest), they moved on to the West. Finding two sets of stairs leading down, Franck and Thorfinn took one each, to find that both ended in doors. Selecting the first door, Nattie checked it for traps prior to Thorfinn reluctantly opening it. As they moved into the room, they saw that half of it was collapsed and was open to the sea, via an underwater passage. they also saw a giant helmet turn to view them. Disregarding this omen, Thorfinn pointed out that there was some sort of magic item in the water and Franck immediately stripped down and started to wade in. This was a bad move, as the giant hermit crab in the helmet attacked him, grappled him and knocked him unconscious. A grim and, at times, lethal combat ensued, as the frontline cycled through the team, with Zarlis getting Franck out of harms way and back on his feet. As the tide of battle ebbed and flowed, the party were sorely pressed, with more falling unconscious to the crabs horrific attacks. Finally, Thorfinn was grappled and pulled off his second miracle - a Sanctuary spell that actually worked! Shortly after, the crab fell and the party were left to rue disturbing it. After recovering for a short time, Franck recommenced diving into the sea to retrieve what was left of the treasury and they returned to town, talking to several sages and old adventurers and discovering that silver was what they needed to harm the Yeth Hounds. Purchasing silversheen, they returned to the temple were the hounds proved a pushover when armed with the right equipment. Once the battle was over, they were saddened to see that the bones they were sent tio retrieve had been burnt on the alter, possibly in some sadistic satanic ritual (or maybe not, who knows).

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