In search of Hrothgurtun's tomb...

Huddled in the cells in the dark centre of the mekillot wagon the captured people of the small village beside the muddy oasis listen to the silence of the night. Even the old ashik was quiet, seemingly listening intently for something. After what seems like an eternity of quiet the old ashik shakes his head, looks around the dark slave pens and once again starts to tell his tale.

Having pulled himself away from the fight with his useless legs dragging behind him, Arthur quickly quaffs a Weezer honey and waits a moment for it's healing properties to kick in. As he feels his injuries repair themselves he slowly climbs back to his feet ready to charge back into the fray. The whole statue sweeps with it's mighty greataxe and the powerful strike cleaves straight through Miloch's right leg, the Human warriors collapses backwards away from the melee. Kank swings again with the Greathammer of Galaxyl and smashes a large chunk out of the bisected statues arm, but the stone guardian continues to attack.

The powerful Dwarf, Arthur, smashes the statue that had attacked Miloch in the back, as Scar drags the screaming Miloch back towards Balboa. As Scar looks back towards Balboa she sees three ghostly apparitions floating down the stone steps and almost upon Balboa. Scar shouts a warning and the surprised Mul spins just in time to see the taloned fingers of all three wraiths swiping at him. He is fortunate that only one of the wraiths lands it's attack, but he still feels his strength draining from him as the icy touch of the grave passes right through him. Scar quickly decides that the stone guardians pose the greatest threat and so charges back in to attack them.

Balboa attacks with his iron banded mace, but his weapon passes clean through the wraith. The three wraiths attack Balboa again and the weakening Mul feels his strength and stamina wain as their clawed hands passes through his flesh. Realising that he will need a magically enhanced weapon to hurt the wraiths Balboa calls upon the powers of the earth to enchant his iron banded mace, but his call falls upon deaf ears. The wraiths attack again, but this time Balboa shakes off the effects of their strikes with his indomitable will. Feeling the sands of battle shift, the unbowed Balboa summons the power of the Gnomes and enchants his mace with a bludgeon spell.

The stone guardian strikes Arthur with it's greataxe, but the Dwarf's enchanted armour deflects most of the blow. Arthur counterattacks with a mighty swing of his metal Troll maul and staggers the animated statue. Scar sees the Sword of Kemalok glance off of the statues rocky armour while Kank is parried, the bisected statue then punches the big Mul in the chest and he is forced to retreat a few paces. Arthur then hits with his second swing and the statue finally collapses into a pile of un-animated rubble. Scar takes the opportunity to summon her inner power and enchant the Sword of Kemalok, Kank swings again with his greathammer but once again he sees his attack parried by the arm of the bisected statue, but his attack does distract the stone guardian enough that Arthur can swing hard at it and yet again his massive Troll maul smashes the statue into pieces.

Ferulah leaps to Balboa's side and attempts to attack one of the wraiths, both of her paws pass straight through the spectral being, which then claws her back and the big feline feels her intelligence diminish as the ghostly claws pass through her flesh. Scar spins on her heel and reaches out to touch the hindquarters of Ferulah, the warrior women summons her inner power and casts an ironhand spell of the mountain lioness. Ferulah launches an attack at the wraith and is pleased when both of her forepaws feel some resistance when passing through the ghostly apparition. Balboa hits another of the wraiths and sees the spirit diminish slightly.

The wraiths attack again, but this time the Company shake off the effects of their attacks. Balboa counterattacks with his iron banded mace and strikes again with a beautiful flourish. Both Ferulah and Balboa are hit by the wraiths, Ferulah feeling her intelligence slipping away as Balboa feels his strength being drained. But the members of the Company of the Cloaked Inix rally and all three of them land their attacks against the apparitions. But the wraiths hit again and the weakened Balboa struggles to hit back.

Arthur steps to Kank's side and administers first aid to the big Mul, while he grabs a Weezer honey from his kit and downs it. Kank climbs back to his feet and tests out his freshly healed leg, he and Arthur then charge into the battle against the wraiths. Kank grabs Balboa by the scruff of the neck and hauls him out of the fighting line and steps into the breach. The wraith just passes straight through the big Mul and continues to pursue it's attack on the smaller Balboa, but in doing so it opens itself up to being attacked by both Arthur and Kank.

With all six of the Company now able to engage the three wraiths it does not take them long to gain the upper hand. Ferulah is the first to dissipate one of the spirits, but not before her intelligence is dimmed once more by the wraith's attacks. It is Arthur who finishes the last two of the wraiths off, hitting one and then the other with sweeps of his metal Troll maul. Everything goes quiet, as quiet as a tomb, the only noise being the heavy breathing of the Company.

The Company rest for a short moment, Ferulah licks Miloch's severed leg and the Human warrior starts to feel a tingle in his bloody stump and the limb starts to regenerate as the mountain lioness' magic takes effect. Scar moves through the Company administering first aid, but no one is able to do anything about the effects of the wraith attacks. Arthur decides to investigate the corridor while the others rest, he passes the door and gets as far as the two empty alcoves that had previously housed the statue guardians. Beyond the alcoves he can see a large room with a large shaft descending dominating the centre of the room so that there is only a six foot pathway running around the edge of the room.

After fifteen minutes, Balboa gets up and calls upon the Gnomes of the earth to show him all that is magical in the area. He discovers that the remains of the stone guardians are still imbued with magic, as is the red sand within the bowl, but nothing else shows up as magic, including the door. Balboa inspects the stone door but can detect no way of opening it, he calls over Kank, who seems to have some kind of insight into these things, and the big Mul walks over and almost immediately points at a small depression in the relief carvings next to the door. Balboa presses the centre of the depression and with a click the door swings open. Beyond they can see stairs descending and turning right into the darkness.

Before they head down the stairs they agree to investigate the new shaft, Balboa lowers a lantern and approximately seventy foot down they can see an entrance in the south side of the shaft. Agreeing that they will come back to the shaft the Company head through the door and down the stairs, with Scar taking the lead. The steps open up into a fifteen foot square room with another set of stairs continuing out via the opposite wall, in each corner of the room is a large urn. Each urn is filled with a different coloured sand. Brown, blue, light grey, and red. Balboa inspects them and says;

The sands represent the four elements! I believe that if I draw an earth rune using one of the sands it will mark us as friends and disable anymore stone guardians.

The rest of the Company look at Balboa with a new found respect, and the earth priest grabs a handful of brown sand and as he meticulously traces out an earth rune he utters the prayer to Gnoriath the Earth mother etched into the back of his amulet. When he has finished, the devout Balboa looks up and says;

We should continue downwards!

The stairs continue downwards opening up into a large room dominated by a large stone statue of a Dwarf holding a greataxe. Scar steps into the room and is relieved when the statue does not animate. The company quickly search the room but it is Balboa who finds a secret door behind the statue, he also finds the opening mechanism which he triggers and the secret door swings open revealing a corridor running several feet to the back of another door. Balboa walks along the corridor and opens the door to find that it opens up into the shaft, forty foot from the top.

Balboa ties a rope about his waist and Ferulah and Kank lower him down the twenty five feet to the opening within the shaft. When Balboa looks in he can see that it is a tomb cutting containing a single sarcophagus shaped out of a dark green, almost black stone. Balboa steps into the tomb and steps up to the sarcophagus, he shines his lantern on it and can make out that the Dwarven runes read;
DREZDIN SKART
Balboa steps back to the edge of the shaft and lowers his lantern. About ninety foot down, at the very edge of what he can see, Balboa believes that he can see another entrance. Ferulah and Kank lower the brave Balboa down into the darkness, and when he gets to the ten foot wide passageway, almost one hundred and seventy foot from the top of the shaft, he is shocked to see the it is guarded by two stone statues in alcoves either side of the passageway. Balboa shouts to be hauled back up and the muscles of Ferulah and Kank strain as the pull him back up the shaft.

The Company agree that they need to rest up before engaging with any more animated statues, and so they hunker down in the secret corridor. While they rest, Balboa brews a healing herb tea and passes a cup out to everyone. They grab a few hours sleep and when they awake, the effects of the wraith attacks have passed and they all feel ready to move onward. Balboa calls upon the Gnomes of the earth and molds a strong hook at the edge of the corridor. He then takes a couple of handfuls of the brown sand from the urn and is lowered by Ferulah, while Kank is lowered by Arthur and Miloch alongside him to provide some protection.

When they reach the passageway, both step in and can see the statues of two Dwarves in archaic armour carrying obsidian shields and one handed warhammers. Balboa draws out an earth rune in the entrance to the passageway and then Kank moves forwards beyond the statues where he finds a set of stairs descending. Balboa calls upon the Gnomes of the earth to reveal to him any magic, he can see that both statues are magical and that there is a source of magic coming from the end of the stairs. Before moving forwards they wait for the others to join them, they then move down the stairs and can see a corridor running left with a door opposite the end of the stairs. Balboa says that the source of magic is coming from beyond the door.

Kank steps off of the stairs and looks to his left where he sees that it opens up into a massive room, only half of which is revealed by the light of the lantern. The walls of the room are decorated with scenes of battle, and Balboa believes that the room is thousands of years old. The scenes show a Dwarven hero defeating creatures of Nurkel-Malia mistress of Disease, including gigantic diseased humanoids. Kank recognises carvings of both Hrothgurtun and Galaxyl amid many other heroes in the carvings. Along the walls of the massive room are four niches, but it is not possible to see what lays within.

Balboa opens the door and the room beyond contains another bowl filled with red sand, the members of the Company file into the room and Balboa once again performs the ceremony of the earth rune with the magical sand. When he has completed the ritual, the bold Balboa leaves the side room and walks straight down the centre of the massive room towards the grand staircase. As he passes the alcoves he can see that each one contains a shroud wrapped body, it is then that he feels pain in his leg as an obsidian bolt buries itself in his flesh. Balboa staggers backwards and the mechanical sound of a heavy crossbow being cranked sounds around the room.

While Scar first aids Balboa, Kank walks forwards and examines the floor. The big Mul walks a zig zag route across the centre of the room, placing ceramic pieces each time he turns to mark his path. He makes it to the top of the stairs without incident and can see a forest of carved columns at the bottom of the stairs, as well as two more staircases leading down. Kank descends the stairs, closely followed by the rest of the Company, and when he reaches the bottom he can see that the far wall is a massive slab of black stone.

Balboa moves forwards to the top of the next set of steps and, followed by Kank, descends to a corridor that seem s to run around a massive black cube of stone. In the each corner of the passageway is positioned a ten foot statue of a Dwarf bearing a mighty greathammer, the Dwarf is one that they have seen before. It is the likeness of Hrothgurtun. The faithful Balboa walks straight past one of the giant statues and down another set of steps to the northern corridor, he can see an adjoining passageway and so he heads forwards to investigate. As he gets to the edge of the passageway a huge iron blade swings down from the ceiling straight at his head.