Gygax & Greyhawk Session #9 - The Mighty Fishmen

 DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 1)
Solcha (Elf Fighter 1 / Magic User 1)
Skeff Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 1 / Thief 1) and his wardog Spot
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 1 / Fighter 1)

Jenny the Mule 

Date/Time

Planting 15 - midday to Planting 18 - morning

... Listening at the door, Skeff hears an indistinct voice in the next room. Opening the door, the party faces a man in wizardly robes and holding an elaborate staff. But they quickly suspected "The Mighty Amdor" is more sham than shaman. He is friendly and helpful though, explaining he is part of Dark Odo's crew who was 'left' here in this part of the dungeon. She and the rest of her henchmen (mostly thugs but with at least one cleric) are deeper in the complex of room. He also tells them about The Lichway, the long passage where the Salander buried their dead. Devoid of further use, Amdor is told to leave the dungeon and head for the nearby village of Vestvale. Which he does. 

Moving on to the double doors at the end of the rune hall, the party enters a hexagonal room where once more the strange whistling sound is heard and continues to be heard throughout their exploration. To the right is a bridge, with rails of human bone and posts topped with wax-encased skulls. It crosses flowing waters and also leads deeper into the dungeon. To the left is the tall statue of a vampiric figure, mouth open wide and fangs barred, pouring water from a jug into a floor gate. As the base of the statue is an inscription, the language of which changes to the readers native tongue:

Bathe, Salander, and restful

Ease your cares;

Til the Singer stills his song

Then rise to claim your wares 

Skeff searches and finds a silver key under the statue's hinged tongue. Then while searching the flowing stream under the bridge, the party is attacked by 4 ichthyoid humanoid creatures that scramble up out of the water. In a  drawn-out, bloody fight, Spot the Wardog is killed, as are two of the creatures. The remaining two flee back to the stream. 

The party wonders if they should cross the bridge, as they suspect it leads to The Lichway, a name that fills them with fear of legions of the undead. So Ranzel, still under the effects of a potion of speed, offers to run down the corridor beyond the bridge to get a rough idea of what is there, while hopefully being too fast to be caught by anything hostile. The ranger is successful in his sprint down a long wide corridor flanked with stone slabs, noting branch passages at the 1/3 and 2/3 points, as well as a more complex intersection at the halfway point.  At that halfway point he also observes a low platform on which stands a 15' tall skeleton, while at the far end of the passage is a low platform with a silver cage holding a creature that looks somewhat like a gorilla made of coral. But no undead are seen. 

However, the party decides to retrace steps and try another door they'd bypassed. This leads into a large chamber, filled with water to the level of the entrance. Another set of doors is seen on the opposite wall, and on the north wall there are signs that another door has been bricked over. The party surmises this is the other side of the door they saw on the dock when they first ended the dungeon. Careful search and rat abuse revealed the water is shallow around the edge, but in the centre is a deep pit filled with human skeletal remains. From the top of the pit they recover one skeleton with treasure; a weird bone and serpent mace, strange holy symbol (?) and a bag of gold. 

With wounds aplenty and healing spells few, the party decides to retreat to Vestvale to rest, recover and refit. There they find Amdor the Mighty, whom they decide to this time take back with them. They spend a few nights at the Black Stag Inn until fully hale and hearty again, and then prepare the head back to the tomb of the Salander ... 

GAINS

Snake Mace +1 

Weird holy symbol (?) 

364gp

10ep

2pp

KILLS/VICTORIES

2 Kuo-Toa

LOSSES

Spot the Wardog