Is This the End?
After taking a short rest near the bone pile, the party decided to venture back out and down the unexplored corridor. Ahead, down the tunnel, was a green glow, which Sir Sig attempted to test for danger by throwing copper… which turned out to be glowing fungus on the ceiling. While walking through the tunnel, the ranger noticed a pit in the middle of the room just as the paladin was stepping into it, and Thaminor grabbed him just in time! Pix dropped another copper down the pit, and never heard it hit… so he lowered a dagger down on a rope. In the next cavern, a waterfall of mist fell from a crack in the ceiling, and skeletal remains were highlighted by the bone sconces on the walls–promptly lit by the paladin. When no other path presented itself, Sig tied a rope to himself, tossed it to Thaminor, and stepped into the mist!
As he was drawn up the mist, off the ground, one of the skeletal remains animated and attacked (and was defeated)! Sig found himself in a cavern above, with a malevolent voice in his head beckoning him down another tunnel. When he didn’t go down that tunnel, a shadowy creature attacked! Meanwhile, back down below, Thaminor attempted to pull Sig back down… and got a detached rope. Thaminor knew he had to save his friend, and stepped into the mist himself. Another skeleton rose from the mist, to be battled below while Sig fought the shadow. As each consecutive party member entered the mist, another skeleton arose. Eventually, T’Sai was the last to emerge from the room now full of skeletons below.
Down the tunnel, the party found a room with stairs at the far end that led to a black pedestal. On this pedestal sat a red pillow, upon which sat a golden crown. T’Sai and the party checked out the room and found no traps, only what appeared to be a cut out of the stairs (but no apparent way to move them). The party decided to have Thaminor use Mage Hand to lift up the crown, and drop it into Pix’s Handy Haversack. As soon as the crown lifted off the pillow, everyone in the room was hit with metal spikes from the outside walls, and the stairs descended to become stairs down into another tunnel.
This tunnel lead to another cavern, with an amazing sight: Two giant skeletons stood like sentinels near a bridge composed wholly of bone. On platforms in their chest cavities, two huge bonfires burned. The flames from these fires reached high into the air, dancing against the collar bones of the giants. Each holds a wicked looking polearm at the ready. The bridge, which reaches out across a sea of swirling greenish mists, was an intricate creation of many various types of bones. Skulls adorned the femur railings while the floor was a mesh of many different bones. This bridge lead to a ghastly looking skeleton of huge proportions. Its backbone disappeared into the swirling mists of the chasm below. A landing of bone was suspended in the huge skeleton’s rib cage with a spiral staircase inside.
As soon as the party stepped on the bridge, the giant skeletons attacked–they were defeated in short order. Descending the spiral staircase, the party came to a room with an old hag on a throne of bones. The old hag fixed her gaze upon the party, and the throne transformed into yet another giant skeleton, with her inside its rib cage! The entire party banded together, defeating first her skeleton, then her. A crown rolled off her head, and a black smoke began spreading from it. Sir Sig picked up the crown, as the smoke coalesced into a gaunt old man in black robes. Identifying himself as Daglan, he thanked the party for killing his descendant Radaga. Demanding the return of his property (his crown), he offered the party the reward of Radaga’s treasure and to be transported home. After a brief exchange, the paladin returned the crown… after which a black aura formed around him. He smiled, teleported to a corner of the room, and made a gesture that caused the throne to slide to the side and reveal a treasure room. “Choose quickly, for once you do, you shall be returned home.”