Session — 06/04/989–06/05/989
Tomb of Golun Thun, Return to Strangeways
The tomb did not feel finished with them.
The party lingered in the throne room of the Tomb of Golun Thun, the air still thick with the smell of blood, mold, and burned magic. A human body lay sprawled on a table in the northeast corner—foreign to Strangeways by dress alone. The dark clothing was torn, limbs missing, the violence done to him casual and cruel. On his arm, carved into the flesh, was a symbol none of them recognized. Beside him lay an ivory object etched with unfamiliar script and a crumpled scroll.
Behind the throne sat a heavy chest. A bed rested in the southeast corner—recently used.
Before pressing further, Gideon Kael and Zel Cunningham spoke quietly. His concern over her magic had not faded, but neither of them wished to have that discussion here, surrounded by the dead. They agreed to table it—for now.
Zel examined the scroll. It was strange—its text printed backward, circular in layout, suggesting some kind of stamping or printing device rather than handwriting. The words resisted interpretation, even for her. Whatever it was, it was not meant to be read easily.
Corwin Thorne turned his attention to the chest. His picks slipped inside the lock—then pain. A hidden needle struck him, poisoned. He recoiled, weakened, the venom already draining his strength. Inside, however, the prize proved mundane: forty gold pieces.
Mol Potts moved quickly, producing an antidote. Leda Gebhart, meanwhile, crouched beneath the bed and pulled free a worn leather-bound book. It was a farm ledger—accounts paid and debts settled—belonging to Abraham Grogan (Dead). The implications were troubling.
Then the door burst open.
Ooby the Goblin
A lone goblin leapt into the room—panicked, armed, and immediately outmatched.
The fight barely qualified as one. Corwin failed to trip him, Leda’s magic knocked him off balance, and the goblin dropped his weapon in terror. Gideon tied him up as Zel loomed, terrifying enough without casting a spell.
The goblin surrendered.
His name was Ooby the Goblin.
He admitted defeat cheerfully and immediately attempted to ingratiate himself. He called the party Longshanks, introduced Zel incorrectly several times (“MeMe ImZel,” then “Just Zel,” finally “Le Zel”), and informed them that two more goblins had been looting nearby.
Despite Leda’s protests that keeping a goblin was a terrible idea, Ooby was—for the moment—useful.
The party moved on.
Singing Goblins and a Very Large Dog
Beyond the next set of doors, combat erupted again.
A massive, mangy dog lunged first, biting Gideon and forcing him to fight off poison. Two goblins followed—one a warchanter whose irritating battle songs echoed through the halls.
The fight was brutal and close. Leda was critically struck. Gideon was driven down to a single hit point, standing only through stubborn refusal to fall. Mol’s healing—minimal as it was—proved vital. Zel’s magic cracked through the chaos, and Ooby shouted unhelpful commentary from the sidelines.
In the end, the dog fell, the goblins followed, and the chanting stopped.
Gideon needed rest. The party took twenty minutes to recover while Corwin worked with the scroll. This time, he succeeded—the text was Elvish. Fragmentary. Something about treasure.
Ooby reappeared wrapped in a dark cloak far too large for him, nose sticking out. Mol confirmed his antidotes would not last forever. Ooby explained that the webs ahead were filled with hand-sized spiders—and that he had never gone past them.
Spiders, Secrets, and the Dead Below
The spiders attacked as expected—poisonous, swarming, unpleasant. Zel warped space to scatter them, Leda struck, Gideon finished the job.
Beyond the webs, Mol gathered Zandrite Mushrooms, useful in healing mixtures. Leda transformed into a small roach and scuttled ahead, discovering a natural cave that gave way again to worked Elven stone. She found a hidden panel—a secret door.
Inside was a sloping chamber with a brackish pool, thick with mold and foul-smelling liquid gathered around a pillar. Something was wrong here.
They rested. Refocused.
Then the dead began to rise.
Three Elven corpses pulled themselves from the water, their bodies bloated and decayed. The fight was desperate but controlled—Zel’s lightning, Leda’s water magic, Mol’s alchemy, Gideon’s sheer endurance, and Corwin’s precision finally put them down.
The crypt fell silent once more.
Rats and Retreat
Choosing the longer path back, the party encountered a pile of boxes—one of which twitched.
The rats were enormous.
The fight was chaotic, ugly, and quick. Corwin was bitten. Gideon cut them down. Zel and Leda drove them back. When the last rat fell, there was nothing left to find.
No treasure. No answers.
Exhausted, wounded, and running low on supplies, the party chose to sleep in the Elven crypt.
That night, Ooby offered to cook. Gideon attempted to extract more information from him. Ooby responded with rudeness—and then ran.
He did not come back.
Return to Strangeways
By morning, they returned to Strangeways.
A notice had been posted forbidding entry to the Grogan house.
At Town Hall, tensions flared. Ophelia Gebhart (Mayor), Leda’s mother, berated her daughter openly—criticizing her friends, her choices, and hinting heavily at marriage. Leda’s father stood nearby, uncomfortable. Garrick Thorne (Constable), the constable, listened carefully.
Corwin explained everything.
Gideon retrieved Zel, who had been packing to flee. Zel returned and delivered the facts—fast, precise, relentless. The mayor was impressed. The constable believed them.
Finally, they returned to Desmond (Clerk), the head clerk.
Their probationary charter was accepted.
He asked one final question.
“What is your group called?”
Next Session Reminders
-
The party has a name to choose
-
The Grogan ledger raises new questions
-
Ooby is loose in the wild
-
Elven magic is no longer buried