Oh What A Goose I Am (Session 4)

Summary

After resting safely beneath Caldwell Castle, the party used a recovered key to open a locked door. Inside was a featureless chamber containing a cabinet overflowing with treasure and surrounded by a pale green-blue glow. When Auriel approached it, she vanished in a flash. The others followed and were transported into a sealed crypt containing ten stone sarcophagi and a decorated circle in the floor. With no visible exits, the party began opening the sarcophagi in search of a way out.

Some of the sarcophagi held treasure, including large quantities of silver and electrum, while others released hostile skeletons. During the first battle, Auriel’s flail broke, forcing her to fight with her bare hands, and she eventually punched one skeleton apart. Mira fought from atop a sarcophagus while Stinky tried smoking her pipe, became sick, and threw up. The party also recovered three potions, a pale blue piece of chalk, a spyglass, flint and steel, an apparently blank notebook, two bracelets, and five valuable gems.

Another sarcophagus contained a scroll of Tenser’s Floating Disc, a treasure map, and instructions for escaping through the southern cavern by pacing and chanting “Owah Tagoo Siam.” When the party opened another sarcophagus, the circle in the center of the crypt began glowing green. Stinky immediately jumped into it and vanished. Mira followed, after failing to catch him, and the rest of the party entered the circle and returned to the underground passages.

Following the treasure map, Faela and Elanduil discovered loose stones concealing a wax-sealed wooden crate. Inside were two hundred fifty gold pieces, one hundred twenty silver pieces, and three gems worth fifty gold pieces each. After confirming that nothing remained in the last two sarcophagi, the party traveled to the southern cavern. They paced while repeating the strange phrase until it sounded like “Oh, what a goose I am,” causing part of the rock wall to disappear and reveal a hidden corridor. The passage led outside, where they emerged into daylight and retrieved Bill, the war donkey, before returning to the Hook and Hatchet Tavern.

Clifton Caldwell welcomed the battered party, accepted their report that his castle had been cleared, and paid the remainder of their promised three-thousand-gold-piece reward. Before they could celebrate, a breathless scout arrived with troubling news from the north. The valley of Haven had fallen beneath an unnatural darkness and mist, caravans had disappeared, and raiding parties bearing the markings of dark forces were emerging from the mountain passes. Fearing for Caldwell Castle and the surrounding borderlands, Clifton asked the party to investigate the silent Palace of the Silver Princess and stop whatever was spreading from the mountains. They accepted.

To prepare them, Clifton equipped each adventurer with magical weapons, armor, and storage items from his family collection. Mira received a silent bow and enchanted archery equipment; Herbert gained a magical staff and protective vestment; Elanduil received an enchanted shortbow and bracers; Lex was given a sword effective against evil and a magical shield; Faela received a seasonal staff and Ironwood armor; and Auriel gained a flail called the Breaker of Chains and a protective amulet. After returning property belonging to Clifton and keeping the treasure won from enemies and the crypt, the party left Bill, the war donkey, in Clifton’s care and prepared to travel north toward Haven and the Palace of the Silver Princess.

This is where the session ended.

Please start the recorder!

Exp: To minimum for second level

Gold = 456 each

Detail

After completing a safe rest beneath Caldwell Castle, the party prepared to continue exploring. They had found a key in the trapped chest during their earlier search, and they decided to try it on a locked door they had been unable to open. Lex listened at the door but heard nothing. With Auriel nearby carrying the light, he unlocked the door and pushed it open.

Beyond it lay a round, featureless chamber. In the far northeastern corner stood a tall cabinet overflowing with uncut gems, jewelry, and sacks of shining coins. A soft pale green-blue glow surrounded the treasure. Auriel approached it carefully, but as she reached toward the wealth, the light flashed and she vanished. When the others moved closer to investigate, they disappeared as well. Mira, Stinky, and the rest of the party ultimately followed, each vanishing in the same green flash.

The group reappeared, one after the other, in a large, cold rectangular chamber containing ten massive stone sarcophagi arranged with four along one wall, three along the opposite wall, and 3 next to each other on the far end. Weathered, solemn figures were carved into the heavy lids. A decorated circle resembling an old family crest was inscribed in the center of the floor, but the room had no doors, windows, cracks, or obvious exits. The party searched the walls, ceiling, floor, and exteriors of the sarcophagi for a hidden way out, but found nothing.

With no other option, they began opening the sarcophagi. Lex was uncomfortable disturbing the dead and prayed before each attempt. Auriel and Faela prayed once knowing that they would likely have to open a few of them. Lex and Auriel first opened one just far enough to confirm that it contained skeletal remains, then closed it again. Another contained no body, but held about one thousand silver pieces. The party emptied it and checked for a false bottom or passage, but found none.

When they opened another sarcophagus, two skeletons emerged and attacked. One struck Lex and the other wounded Auriel. During the fight, Auriel's flail broke, leaving her to fight with her bare hands. Elanduil, Lex, Faela, Mira, and the others battled the undead while Herbert held back. Mira leapt atop one of the sarcophagi to attack, while Stinky picked up the pipe she had been smoking and tried smoking it. The party eventually destroyed both skeletons, with Auriel bringing one down with her fists. Stinky got sick and threw up.

Inside the opened sarcophagus, the group found a sack containing three potions, a pale blue piece of chalk, a spyglass, a pristine flint and steel, and a leather-bound notebook. The notebook appeared empty, and Herbert took it along with the chalk to examine later. Another sarcophagus contained one thousand electrum pieces.

The next sarcophagus held several papers. Herbert identified one as a scroll of Tenser's Floating Disc. The party also found a map marked with the location of hidden treasure and a set of written instructions explaining how to escape: in the southern cavern, they had to pace while chanting the magic words, “Owah Tagoo Siam.”

The group continued opening the remaining sarcophagi. Two more skeletons sprang from one of them, but this time the party destroyed the undead quickly. Within that sarcophagus they found two bracelets and five gems. Three of the gems were worth one hundred gold pieces each, and the other two were worth fifty gold pieces each. Another sarcophagus contained one thousand one hundred silver pieces.

When they opened the next sarcophagus, the decorated circle in the center of the chamber began glowing green. Stinky immediately jumped into it and vanished. Mira tried to grab him but missed, then followed him into the light. The rest of the party entered the circle as well and were transported back to the underground passages.

Using the map they had recovered, the party returned to the marked location. Faela and Elan searched the wall and found loose stones hiding a rotten wooden crate sealed with hardened wax. After checking it for traps, Elan broke the wax and opened it. Inside were two hundred fifty gold pieces, one hundred twenty silver pieces, and three gems—a carnelian, a smoky quartz, and a lapis—each worth fifty gold pieces.

Before leaving, the party considered whether they had fully cleared the underground complex. They returned to the crypt and checked the two unopened sarcophagi, but found nothing else. They then made their way to the southern cavern described in the instructions. There they paced and repeated the strange phrase until the words sounded like, “Oh, what a goose I am.” As the final words echoed from the cave walls, a section of solid rock shimmered, became translucent, and vanished, revealing a dark corridor.

The corridor ended at a heavy wooden door overgrown from the outside by dense brush. The party forced it open, pushed through the tangled growth, and stepped into daylight at the base of Caldwell Castle's walls. Relieved to see the sun again, they returned inside long enough to retrieve Bill, the war donkey. They loaded their recovered goods onto him and made their way back to the Hook and Hatchet Tavern.

Clifton Caldwell was waiting anxiously at a corner table. When the battered but victorious party entered, he leapt to his feet and asked whether his estate was finally secure. Lex confirmed that the castle had been cleared of walking corpses, bandits, and other dangers. Clifton praised their work and gave them the remainder of the promised three-thousand-gold-piece payment.

Before they could celebrate, a dusty and breathless scout hurried into the tavern after a hard ride from the north. Clifton listened to the scout's report, became deeply concerned, and led the party into his office so they could speak privately. He explained that he had bought Caldwell Castle in hopes of escaping the growing chaos of the borderlands, but the danger had spread farther than he feared.

The scout reported that the valley of Haven had gone completely dark beneath a strange, unnatural mist. Trade caravans entering the valley had not returned, and raiding parties were beginning to emerge from the mountain passes. Their banners and markings matched rumors concerning dark forces mobilizing in the wilderness. Clifton warned that if whatever had taken hold of the Palace of the Silver Princess was not stopped, his newly reclaimed castle and the surrounding borderlands would soon be threatened.

Clifton asked the party to take the northern road into Haven, discover why the Palace of the Silver Princess had fallen silent, and stop whatever was spreading from the mountains. He offered to pay their original retainer and cover their travel expenses. The party agreed to undertake the mission.

Because the palace was ancient and whatever had broken its seals might not yield to ordinary steel, Clifton opened his family's private collection and equipped the party for the journey. Mira received the Whisperwind Bow, the Bracers of the Silent Horizon, and a quiver of holding. The bow made no sound when fired and could help her remain concealed, while the quiver could hold as many as one hundred arrows without becoming heavy.

Herbert received the Staff of the Starburst and the Vestment of the Paradoxical Performer. The staff served as a magical weapon and could create a blinding flash once each day, while the vestment offered magical protection. Elanduil received the Shortbow of the Vanguard's Blindside, another quiver of holding, and the Bracers of Sly Vanguard, which protected him without the weight and noise of metal armor.

Lex received the Order's Blade, a magical longsword especially effective against evil, and the Shield of the Dawn, which bore the emblem of a rising sun. Faela received the Staff of the Shifting Seasons and the Hide of the Ironwood, a suit of magically treated bark and soft deer hide. Auriel received the Breaker of Chains, an iron flail shaped like shattered manacles, and a bronze Amulet of Retribution that offered protection and could flare with brilliant light.

Clifton also gave Herbert, Lex, Auriel, and Faela bags of holding so that recovered supplies and treasure would not burden them. Lex then told Clifton that the party had recovered property from the castle that should be returned under their agreement. Clifton arranged for people to help bring it in, but allowed the party to keep treasure taken from defeated enemies and from the crypt beneath the castle.

With their work at Caldwell Castle complete, the group decided that Bill would be safer remaining behind rather than accompanying them into another dangerous fortress. Lex entrusted the retired war donkey to Clifton, who promised that Bill could live on the castle grounds and be well cared for. The party then prepared to rest, organize its newly acquired equipment, and depart along the northern road toward Haven and the Palace of the Silver Princess.

This is where the session ended.

Please start the recorder!

Exp: To minimum for second level

Gold = 456 each