Returning to Bremel

August 29, in the year 670 by Kingdom reckoning. Approximately 4:00 PM

Words are said and the body of Kheldru A'dune is returned to his ancestors. Draymun thinks it a fitting burial for a dwarf: being cremated underground.

Dwos, you feel a tingling sensation at the nape of your neck but as much as you look around, you see nothing. During the rest of the day, the sensation diminishes until you convince yourself it has gone.

As you leave the dungeon, Caris and Dwos stop short and look around. The scenery has changed. There are mountains to the West and you are in a forest. This isn't the same place you entered a century ago.

The trip back to Bremel is easy enough. You spend the first hour walking on unmarked trails through the wilderness but as the trees thin, you pick up the main southern road into town and the going is easier. You pass a few carts, laden with the last of the summer produce, bound for the market. The peasants give you a wide berth. All together, you walk at a leisurely pace for about 4 hours.

Those familiar with the village of Bremel find it much the same as they left it.

You are at the southern gate of Bremel. What would you like to do?

Underground, After the Fall of Kheldru A'Dune

August 29, in the year 670 by Kingdom reckoning. Approximately 11:00 AM

Since you guys are discussing your options, unless someone has a problem with it, I'm going to assume the party has regrouped in the room that was formerly covered in webs. The room that you entered through a long, webbed hallway. The room with a hole in the floor and another exit that is currently unexplored.

The options before the party are:

1. Leave.

2. Continue on in the spider's lair, either by climbing up the hole in the ceiling or by exploring one of the two natural tunnels out of the black widow's warren.

3. Continue down the hallway from the room you are currently in.

4. Return to the dark, descending hallway past the vault where you found Caris and Dwos.

5. Continue north from the intersection Kring and Tom discovered.

6. Something else I haven't though of.

As far as book-keeping goes, I need someone to keep track of the party's loot and either split it up to be carried or designate a treasure-hauler.

Further, as you are chatting and arguing about your future course, Dwos has the unmistakable sense that you are all being watched.

Underground, The Webbed Hall

August 29, in the year 670 by Kingdom reckoning. Approximately 10:30 AM

The party encounters no trouble making its way back to the intersection discovered by Tom and Kring. As Caris turns left and down the webbed hallway she catches a whiff of fresh air coming through the open door in the foyer.

No traps present themselves to Caris' searching eyes as the party makes its way slowly down the hallway. The webs are thick and growing thicker and while the Dwarves are mostly spared, the taller members of the party are constantly stopping to wipe clumps of web out of their eyes and hair. More than once Tom's torch catches a wisp of web on fire and the husks of dead bugs break the silence, crackling in the heat.

After 30 feet, the webs have grown almost thick enough to obscure all vision beyond 10 feet. Caris walks with one hand on the wall and swipes her short sword ahead of her to cut through the thickening cloak of webs. At 40 feet from the intersection, Caris stops short as the wall stops and the hallway opens into what you assume to be a room. However, the webs are so thick and choking, you can only currently see 5 feet ahead of you in any direction. 

There is no sound to be heard except a scuttling at the edge of your hearing. It may be your imagination playing tricks on you. 

Draymun cringes as a small, shiny black spider drops from the ceiling onto the back of Krings neck.

What will the party do?

Underground, The Party Consults

August 29, in the year 670 by Kingdom reckoning. Approximately 10:00 AM

After their more or less separate scouting ventures, the party meets up outside the door of the vault. Tom carries a lit torch. Kheldru and Draymun catch Tom and Kring up on their activities and Tom and Kring do the same.

Inside the vault, the two figures remain static. There is no sound but what the party makes. Peering down the unexplored hall one sees only darkness.

Use this post for discussion and when you're ready, let me know what you want to do.

Underground, Kheldru and Draymun

August 29, in the year 670 by Kingdom reckoning. Approximately 9:30 AM

You walk in the dark, Draymun in the lead. Kheldru follows behind, having recovered his mace. This passage is also five feet wide and covered in worked stone. You idly consider the craftsmanship and know that it is first rate and must have taken years. When you have gone about 40 feet down the passage you notice ahead of you a barely perceivable change in the pattern of the stone blocks on both sides of the wall.

What would you like to do?

Underground, Tom and Kring

August 29, in the year 670 by Kingdom reckoning. Approximately 9:30 AM

You nod to your companions and begin to trudge down the corridor to the right. Ghalen, being a dwarf, is helpful enough to mention as you leave that you are going due north. Kring is in the lead and Tom follows with a torch. The hallway is still five feet wide but the walls are covered in worked stone instead of carved out of bare rock.

The passage continues for 40 or 50 feet and then you are confronted by a four-way intersection:

The path in front of you continues on into the darkness.

The path to the right goes for 10 feet and ends in a wooden door.

The path to the left goes for 20 feet and then is obscured by webs.

What would you like to do?

An Unexpected End

August 29, in the year 670 by Kingdom reckoning. Approximately 9:00 AM

Tom pushes the door and it swings open easily. The light from the torch Kheldru is carrying illuminates yet another long, dark hallway. Tom advances carefully, following what he assumes to be the brothers' tracks and looking closely for traps. After 45 feet the passage takes an abrupt 90 degree turn to the right and then continues on for another 20 feet.

Then the passage abruptly ends in a stone wall.

Underground, The Group Forges Ahead

August 29, in the year 670 by Kingdom reckoning

After some short deliberation, the party continues on down the passage with Draymun in the lead, Ghalen, Kring and Kheldru following and Tom, having retrieved his pole, in the rear carrying a torch.

The passage continues on for 60 feet before making a hard right. Draymun listens closely and hears nothing, he peers around the corner and sees a 15 foot passage that then opens into a large room. Draymun moves forward to stand in the doorway.

The room is 20 by 30 feet and is vaulted, rising to 25 feet in the middle. It is dark but you can make out the shape of old furniture, tapestries hanging from the ceiling and other signs that this was once a richly appointed living space.

To get more information, someone will have to move into the room. I have Draymun standing in the doorway, Ghalen and Kring behind him in the passage then Kheldru and Tom around the corner still.

You estimate it is about 8:30 in the morning.

The City of Bremel

August 29, in the year 670 by Kingdom reckoning

Bremel is an old town, even for the Kingdom. It was founded nearly 500 years ago when gold and kyanite were found in the nearby hills. Bremel is the last trading post before the wilds of the mountains and the population is more than used to get-rich-quick schemers and adventurers who never return from the mountains. As such, the citizens of Bremel have developed a stand-offish attitude toward each other. After all, in the frontier, it's just easier not to get attached.

There is a single road through Bremel, coming from the capital city of Ashmont to the northeast and leading out of town straight south toward the Expanse and eventually, the sea.

Interesting spots about town:

The Worg's Nest is the dirtiest, meanest tavern in town. Run by a barely civilised half orc female named Gretch.

Cryptic's Den-The Elf who calls himself Cryptic runs an underground magic ring that offers scrying, fortune-telling and seances. If you get caught dabbling in the affairs of the dead or spying on the wrong people, you'll be facing some powerful wizards with powerful agendas.

The Church of Torag is the oldest building in town. As soon as the city was founded, Dwarven missionaries built the Church in hopes of converting the miners. The architecture and gold inlay is a sight to be seen and blessings are to be had by stout adventurers who further the goals of the Church.

---

You have all been called to the bedside of an ancient dwarf name Euri who you are each acquainted with in your own way. He tells you that he is dying and wants to tell you a story from his youth. He was hunting with his brother and they stumbled upon an old stone staircase opening out of the ground. They ventured into the depths and found rooms, carved into solid stone, that held all sorts of treasure and wondrous items. They found one room to be covered with a thin green mold and when his brother, Rahti, touched it he began to spasm and shake. Euri, fearing for his life, dropped the loot he was carrying and ran out of the dungeon. When he regained his courage and went back for his brother, the staircase was gone. He has spent the last century of his life visiting the site, waiting for the staircase to re-appear. He is convinced that the staircase will open today, a century after it closed on his brother. Now that he is too old to venture back into the depths, he begs you to go and return with the bones of his brother. He assures you that the treasures you find will more than compensate you for the danger you face.


You will all start together in the forest west of town, looking down a dark and ancient stairway completely overgrown with ivy and moss. Please post your character introduction and tell me what you'd like to do.