Now, with a chance to look around, we see that our bugbear assailants were wearing very mismatched armor. Probably mercenaries, not organized. The party found a beautiful obsidian mace among the corpses, as well as a very nice halberd. Menka stashed the obsidian mace in his pack, though the party left the halberd behind as it was too difficult to lug around (and no party members used halberds).

Noting our terrible luck previously attempting to rest in this general area the party decided to forego resting for further cure spells (Kyril had 2, Menka was completely out). We decided, instead, to travel east toward the door at (1).

Lycovyne suggested that we may be entering an empty room. Laughter ensued. Flint checked the door for traps but did not find them. Hearing no noise beyond the unlocked door, we opened it and walked through into a room reeking of animals and old sweat. Busted furniture and filth-laden bedrolls all over. This is where the ‘help’ slept, and they were ready for us, attacking as soon as we entered.

• initiative loss
• Gonchar was first in line so the bugbears attacked him, but missed
• Arkadios missed twice
• Flint tries to climb walls, misses by 1’, falls on his head
• initiative win
• Gonchar hits twice, kills
• the second bugbear, seeing all his butchered fellows behind the party, surrendered
• bugbear, 21 HP

The slain bugbear held 45 gp. Lycovyne questioned the remaining beast in its own guttural language. The bugbear’s, not Lycovyne’s.

Where is Melios?
“He is through the door to the south (3). We gave him a bucket of water, he turned it into wine.”
Where is Alu Alethra?
“I work for her - you don’t need to find her. She will find you.”

Kyril bound the bugbear securely and we left him bundled in a corner. Flint again checked the door for traps and, again, did not find them. Forming a line, with Gonchar in the lead, we opened the door. It lead into a rough-hewn tunnel with steps leading down into inky blackness.

Father Hadrigan, I Presume#

With Gonchar in the lead, we wandered down the hallway and entered a small jail containing 3 cells. As soon as we entered light flooded the jail (one of the occupants unhooded an item glowing with continual light). Father Melios, filthy, disheveled and unhealthy, inhabited the first cell from the right. The middle cell was inhabited by a human male. The leftmost cell was inhabited by an elf, lying face down on the floor. Dead or unconscious.

“Oh, it’s you.” said Melios. “Glad to see you.” The human male began to pay close attention.
“Say hello, Ulland.”
“Hello.”
“The elf is dead.” continued Melios. “I was unable to reach him to heal his wounds.”

Ulland told the party he was hunting in the woods around The Arm when he was captured by a large party of bugbears and brought to this underground labyrinth as a sex slave and plaything for Alu Alethra. His preferred weapon is a bow and he would be glad to be let out so he can help us find Alu Alethra and take her out.

Apparently the elf was tormented and tortured by Alu as well. He was dropped in his cell one night barely conscious, no one came to feed him and Melios could not reach him so he perished.

Melios said very little about how he was captured and imprisoned, stating only that Alu is a powerful, charming broad with a very strong hold over him. He also stated that he has no interest at all in tracking her down. Kyril handed him (Melios) a large bottle of wine and he cured himself somewhat.

“Screw her. Let’s just get out of here. This one” pointing at Ulland “has a map to a roaring treasure up North. Let’s go find that instead.”

We told Melios about Aiken’s presence at The Arm.

“What? Well now, let’s hook up with him and head North! Screw my family, keep that brooch for yourself. By the way if you know the password for it it allows you to influence people…”

The whole party failed, with aplomb, to pick the lock to Melios’ cell as it was magically locked. Then, the whole family failed to bend the bars to the cell. It fell to Menka to pull apart the bars and free Melios, praise Thoth! Melios told us that Ulland’s cell was not magically locked and Flint was able to pick that lock. Once freed, Melios handed Ulland the bottle of wine and Ulland healed considerably. Kyril then cast cure light wounds on Ulland and he was indeed back on his feet.

Ulland Sigurdsson is a ranger, and a follower of Uller. Once we got back up to the stairs Ulland started pulling bits and pieces of armor and equipment off the bound bugbear. Preferring a bow ( especially his bow) he would use whatever he could find for now. Lycovyne lent him his long bow. ( yes?)

We told Melios we were down there to take out Alu Alethra once and for all. He shook his head and once more told us he had no desire to see her again. Unable to convince us to head North and leave her behind, Ulland and Melios both point to the door at the western end of the hallway to find the brooch.

Leaving Flint behind as rear guard (Melios stayed behind as well), the party walked through the door at (4) and entered a kitchen.

Approaching (5) and the locate object spell did indeed fire halfway down the hallway. Right after firing the spell expired. Clearly, the brooch lies through the door at (5) and down. Flint joined us in the hallway, saying that everything was eerily quiet behind and that Melios had bolted, stating that he really didn’t “want to see that evil bitch.”

The Inner Sanctum#

Flint checked for traps at the north and west doors at (5), finding none. Hearing nothing behind, and finding neither door locked, we (Gonchar) opened the door at the western end of the hallway. It opened into a large, ornate bedroom. The room is huge (50’ square) and filled with sculptures and paintings of comely women who all seem to be the same creature with small wings and smaller horns. Menka cast find traps (30-minute duration).

Backing up through the door and entering the door to the north, we entered what Ulland referred to as “the fun room”. Find traps did not illuminate any traps in the fun room. Kyril cast detect magic believing the brooch should be emanating magic ^{[The secret word for today is *hungmonculous*.]} . Kyril did indeed detect magic in the direction of the other room. We went to check for secret doors in the bedroom and examine the room more closely.

Almost certainly securing for himself a massive experience bonus, Menka suggested moving the bed to one side. Arkadios and Menka moved the bed, finding a hatch with a trap door below it. Flint checked the hatch for traps, finding none. He also could find no means to open the hatch as all that is visible is its outline, no handles or other features.

Lycovyne cast knock on the hatch and it popped open. We noted that the hatch could be opened and access with the bed put back in place. It seemed the better part of prudence to not alert anyone following us to our direction so we pulled the bed back and scuttled under it to the hatch.

The hatch lead downward to a passage 5’ wide leading west. Find traps illuminated nothing. Menka cast bless just as an alarm sounded somewhere ahead. The passage opens into a truly massive underground chamber, colder than everything else around it. Apparently filled with sarcophagi. Evil, ice cold, gray fog was rolling toward the party.

Menka cast protection from evil. Lycovyne crapped his armor. Flint climbed walls.

A familiar female voice greeted us thusly: “You should have gotten out while you had the chance. Now you’re all going to die.”

Ain’t They All Witches Inside?#

Zombies crept out of the foggy darkness, 10 total. Menka managed to turn 5 of them, praise Thoth!

• Arkadios rolled a 1 and broke a fingernail
• Ulland killed 1, missed a second zombie
• Arkadios attacked again, this time with a natural 20 doing 6 points of damage
• Gonchar attacked, also with a natural 20, and kills a zombie
• Sons of Kyuss joined the fray, of course
• a zombie attacked Arkadios, missed
• Arkadios failed his save vs. fear and fled the scene back through the passage east
• Ulland took 8 points of damage but made his save vs. fear
• Kyril hit for 4 points
• Menka heard a female voice saying “come here” but resisted
• Lycovyne cast flaming sphere and a zombie and a Son burst into flames
• Kyril hit a Son for 16 points with a natural 20
• Gonchar hit for 13 points, killing a Son
• Lycovyne, after leaving the room with the DM for a minute, returned to the table but walked away from the fight, following Arkadios eastward along the passage. The flaming sphere stood still.
• Menka hit a zombie for 8 points, killing it, praise Thoth!
• a Son lunged at Gonchar, missing him, as did one of its fetid, disgusting worms
• Flint climbed down from his vertical perch, attacked a Son for 5 points
• the Son retaliated but missed
• Flint hit it again for 5 points
• Kyril doused a Son in oil
• of a sudden, the whole party started moving much more slowly, with the exception of Gonchar (due to his ring of free action)
• Arkadios, apparently on his way back, attempted to grapple with Lycovyne to keep him from leaving the area (in the 5’ wide passageway?)
• a Son missed Kyril, and another one missed Flint
• Gonchar killed a Son for the second time and Kyril immolated it
• Gonchar got hit for 24 points by magic missiles from out of nowhere
• Menka hit a Son for 9 points, killing it - he and Flint set it on fire
• all zombies and Sons killed
• 2 Sons of Kyuss, 28 HP each
• 5 zombies, 10 HP each
• 5 other zombies turned by Menka

As the party regrouped, a web came out of nowhere, ensnaring Ulland. Kyril made his save and was only partially ensnared. Gonchar had a sudden change of heart and calmly turned around and walked up the hallway after Lycovyne and Arkadios. He made it out of the crypt and up the ladder into the bedroom, only to walk directly in to Melios who, laying hands upon him, quoth “Dispel!! Go kill that bitch!!!”.

A simulacrum of Gonchar appeared in front of Menka and attacked him with its long sword, doing 8 points of damage. Menka used storm voice, flattening the partially ensnared Kyril, while Alu Alethra assumed her true form, laughed in Menka’s face and flew off, up and toward the far, unseen end of the crypt, thus beginning a merry chase through the sarcophagi.

Menka headed to the end of the passageway, warning everyone to stay back. Menka stayed in the crypt near the entrance while Kyril began trying to cut Ulland free from the web. Kyril made his save vs. charm and did not “burn the webs”.

• Alu Alethra appeared and attacked Kyril (long sword) for 8 points
• Kyril hit back for 5 points
• With her flanked, Menka attacked her for 11 points
• far behind, Flint feather fell down the ladder to the passageway
• initiative loss
• Alu Alethra hit Menka for 9 points
• Menka missed
• Kyril cast summon insects
• initiative win
• Menka hit the demon bitch for 9 points
• summon insects 2 hp damage
• shrieking with pain and rage Alu Alethra leapt back into the air, and the insects stuck with her
• the rest of the party returned to the scene of the battle
• Alu Alethra was nowhere in sight
• Arkadios and Kyril were trying to cut Ulland loose
• initiative loss
• Alu landed on Gonchar, did 6 points of damage via drain energy
• Gonchar hit her for 13 points and, as she leapt into the air again, hit her for 1 more (ouch!)
• initiative win
• party moved up, following her further into the crypt
• Menka hurled a non-magic hammer at her, hitting her, but it bounced off
• round 4 (for the summon insects damage?)
• Ulland hit Alu with an arrow
• Lycovyne cast lightning bolt from a scroll - bad roll, and she made her save - she took 7 points of damage
• initiative win
• Ulland missed
• Kyril fired off 2 volleys from his wand of magic missiles doing 25 points of damage total, all of which she shrugged off due to magic resistance, bitch
• Lycovyne cast fireball from a scroll for 27 points, she saved for half possibly
• she fell to the floor from the top of a sarcophagus, dead
• Ulland broke through to the front and hacked her into charred, blasted pieces
• Alu Alethra, Alu-Demon, 37 HP

On what was left of her person we found:

Alu Alethra’s belongings

• long sword, undamaged
  • +2 long sword (Lycovyne)
• ring
  • Ring of Jumping (Arkadios)
  • 4x per day
  • 13 charges
  • Arcana III.C.2 pg. 93
• ring
  • Ring of Protection +2 (Flint)
  • DMG III.C pg. 130
• large horn
  • Horn of Fog (Menka)
  • Arcana III.E.7 pg. 101
• the Hadrigan brooch (in its box, we did not say “Hadrigan”)
• brooch/periapt
  • Periapt of Healing (Flint)
  • unique item – heals 1-8 HP per use
  • 4 charges
• dagger
  • +3 dagger (Flint)
  • +1 dagger (Flint → Kyril)

Our fight with Alu Alethra and her evil minions had brought us all the way to the far end of the crypt. A set of large double doors were in this far western wall. Flint checked these doors for traps. Finding none, he opened the door. The door opened into a 20’x30’ room containing 2 large chests and and an upright sarcophagus.

The sarcophagus contained a skeleton wearing a very nice robe. Von Hraelock, I presume? Both chests contained poison needles in the locks, which Flint was able to disarm.

Von Hraelock’s Treasure

• 460 gp (in the left chest)
• wand (right chest)
  • Wand of Fireballs
  • 9 charges
  • UA III.D.2 pg. 96
• ancient robe (stolen from the skeleton of von Hraelock?)
  • +2 Cloak of Protection (Menka)
  • DMG III.E.2 pg. 141
• Pouch
  • Dust of Disappearance
  • 6 pinches
  • DMG III.E.2 pg. 143 (note special duration)
• 5 gems
• necklace
• 2 potions/flasks
  • Philter of Love – DMG III.A pg. 126
  • Potion of Speed – DMG III.A pg. 126

Kyril cast detect magic. Everything we claimed from Alu Alethra’s corpse radiated magic. The pouch, 2 flasks, wand and ancient robe from the treasure chests radiated as well. Leaving the treasure room and entering the crypt we found Father Hadrigan standing over Alu Alethra’s charred, dismembered remains.

“Proud of you. I could not have brought myself to do it. Let’s go back to The Arm and get drunk.”

On the way out of the subterranean chamber we searched around in Alu Alethra’s fun room, finding shackles, chains, a bed and a dresser which had been ravaged by other thieves. Ulland flat-out refused to enter this room. In it we found:

Alu Alethra’s “fun room”:

• 3 potions
  • Potion of Heroism (F) – DMG III.A pg. 126
  • Philter of Persuasiveness – DMG III.A pg. 127
  • one non-magical
• 2 gems
• necklace

We then began the long walk back to the hatch in the hops garden of the Kleen compound. We climbed back up the ladder and returned to the surface. Inebriants abounded, the party was still in full swing. Melios had returned with us and looked like absolute hell. We left him with the drunken crowd with assurances that “we never saw him” and would not reveal him to his family.

Back at the Ranch#

Not wishing to deal with the partygoers again, we approached the nearest stone wall, Kyril cast stone shape and created a portal through which we could exit. We then made it safely back to The Friendly Arm. As soon as we entered the Arm we were accosted by Johann Hadrigan and the oriental merchants. Pushing our way through them, the party made its way to the suite of rooms reserved upstairs to rest and ID. Ulland asked the party for a few gold pieces to put himself up at the Arm and the party helped him out.

Menka went in search of High Priest Thornos (Anu Sekar’s replacement) to inform him of our victory over the alu demon. The High Priest was not entirely interested…

Finally safe, sound, fed and swilling ale and in our suites, and after a little rest, Menka cast 3 cure light wounds on himself and 2 on Gonchar. Kyril cast 2 cure light wounds on Ulland and 2 more on Gonchar.

Monetary treasure from Alu Alethra and von Hraelock’s tomb:

• very large gem
• 5 pretty valuable gems
• 2 gems
• 759 gp (von Hraelock, orcs and bugbears in the prison)
• valuable necklace
• necklace