Episode 17: "Centipedes sense cowardice like stink on a monkey"
Campaign Date: Imperial Year 487, Vay 11th
GM: Dave Nelson
Characters:
Einar, priest of Gorm, level 5, human (Pete Zollers)
Hildrun, son of Frithman, human, rune master, level 7, (Mike Miller)
   Baldric, rune smith, level 5, trollson (cohort)
Gudwig, human, ranger/rogue, level 1/5 (Toby Miller)
   Borhil, human, runeweaver, level 4 (cohort)
Vilegar, sorcerer, level 5, human (Andrew Smith)
Skar, barbarian, level 5, human (Chuck Tillinghast)
Olaf and Baldy, humans, fighters, level 4 (Justin Fernandez)
Othere, son of Rathgar, human, brewmaster/barbarian, level 1/4 (Bob Laforge)

Log:
Vay 11th, Crypt of Guthmund the Tall
Although they had previously opened the crypt doors, the party retreated and returned to the caves of Order of Guthlac. In the morning, their hoped-for reinforcements arrived: Othere, Skar, Olaf and Baldy. Leaving Sven behind to guard the horses, they moved back into the crypt and burst in. They killed several trolls guarding the main entrance. Searching the entrance hall, they found a secret keyhole with a magical trap. Gudwig attempt to disarm the magical trap on the door, but merely trigger it and vanished.

Searching some nearby rooms, the party decided to call upon the gods for divine intervention to save Gudwig. It was Skar’s impassioned plea that moved Harr’s heart, and so Skar stumbled upon a gemstone containing the magically trapped soul of Gudwig. Gudwig was soon released to rejoin his comrades.

Next they stumbled upon the main Troll barracks of the Brotherhood of the Crawling Death. A fierce fight broke out in which nearly a dozen troll-spawn were killed, but in which Baldric and Olaf were also slain. Gudwig used foul witchcraft and grievous tumbling to move about the battlefield unscathed and invisible, until Hildrun stumbled into him and accidentally shoved him into a slippery tunnel-shoot that landed him alone and desperate far from the party.

Eventually, the party came to his rescue (after first rolling a severed dwarf head they had found and illuminated down the shoot). They party made quick work of a pack of Hell Hounds in the cave at the bottom of the shoot. Moving onward, they stumbled upon a gigantic Trollish centipede from the netherworld. The Trollish Brotherhood of the Crawling Death had been worshipping this beast as a symbol of their god. Apparently, trollish centipedes can sense cowardice like stink on a monkey, and so when Gudwig shamefully refused to join the fight against this beast, it leapt forward and mauled him badly, causing him to flee into a corner like a frightened little girl. The beast was soon killed.

After climbing back out of the caves below the troll barracks, the party moved on to a guard room of the Brotherhood and engaged in a brisk fight against a half dozen more trolls who were killed before they could raise the alarm. Quickly advancing, the party found a Troll chieftain and his gargoyle and goblin bodyguards. In this fight, Skar, Othere and Einar endured a blast of cold from the troll chief and kept fighting, and Vilegar, thus far famous only for his summoning of magical combat goats, showed much courage in rushing into the thick of the battle with his spear. After defeating this group, the party finds a secret treasure room, which, among other things, contains the magic key to the Crypt proper, which was guarded by the magic trap. They rush back to the crypt door, insert the key and watch the stonewall give way.

TO BE CONTINUED