Barrowmaze – Session 7

I haven’t used this blog for anything useful in a very, very long time (arguably ever), so I might as well use it to store my session recaps for the lunchtime D&D game I’m running at work. I’m using The Black Hack with Labyrinth Lord along with The Race Hack and Additional Things to run Greg Gillespie’s Barrowmaze Complete. I’m doing something like open table, since not everybody can show up every week.

This week’s game was shortened with a new player, but we were still able to make a good bit of progress.


Adventuring Party:
Kärl – Level 1 ShieldBreaker Dwarf
Wollus – Level 1 Sensitive Conjurer
Nine-Toe Jimmy – Level 1 Dungeoneer Thief
Sven – Level 1 Pit Fighter Warrier
Grancis – Human Torchbearer
Inghas – Human Man-at-Arms
Balde – Human Man-at-Arms
Geoffrey – Human Man-at-Arms

Winter came to the Duchy of Aerik with no warning. A frigid cold swept over the marshes, mountains, and forests, making travel all but impossible. The locals called it the “Migration of Prod”, blaming it on the coming and going of a frozen god of old. Blizzards were common, and food stores were stretched thin as the Winter dragged on. For almost six months, the light of the sun barely reached Nexus. Eventually, Silvanus saw fit to drive off the invading Prod, and Spring came to the people of the duchy.

With Spring came adventurers. The usual crowds of miscreants, grave robbers, ne’er-do-wells, freebooters, and other unsavory types descended upon the small town as they did every year. One newly-arrived wildlander, Sven, saw fit to join the adventuring party who had bedded down at The Brazen Strumpet through the long Winter, and they were not long in town before heading to the Barrowmoor to return to their plundering.

Outfitted with picks and sledgehammers, they decided to breach one of the mounds they had passed over before for lack of equipment. They made short work of the sealing slab, which shattered as it hit the ground beneath it. Inside the mound, they found a dry tomb containing five eight-foot-tall statues of beautiful women with gems for eyes. Cautious, curious, and expecting to find a tomb rather than a statue hall, they searched for secret doors, finding one behind a western statue. Inside, they discovered the tomb that they sought, infested with over a dozen giant rats. Neither group was startled by the encounter, and the adventurers slammed the door shut, sealing the rats in. They couldn’t resist the temptation of what they had seen within, however – something had reflected the light from Grancis’ torch, and they wanted it. Rather than conduct a head-on assault, they formulated a plan: using the statue as an anchor, they rigged the rope to keep the door from opening more than a few inches. They additionally placed caltrops to slow movement should the door be freed. Finally, they re-opened the door. As the rats struggled to open the door, the party was able to dispatch them all, one by one.

Eventually, only one rat remained, black in color and more than twice the size of the others. Jimmy landed a shot at it, causing it to charge the door. It overestimated the size of the opening and got its head stuck, allowing the party to attempt to crush its skull. It seemed an easy kill, but nobody was able to exert enough force to end the giant rat. Wollus’ attempt to seal the door with the rope backfired, and the rope snapped, allowing the rat to escape the tomb. Its freedom was short lived, as the party was able to dispatch it without much effort.

With the immediate threat dealt with, they entered the tomb to investigate. Inside the rat’s nest, they found a sizable amount of coinage, as well as a sealed scroll case. The burial alcoves had been searched through already, though it was not obvious as to whether it was the rats or human hands that had done the searching. Satisfied that they had recovered everything of value from the tomb, they returned to the entryway to reevaluate the statues. One at a time, Wollus checked the statues for magic and, not finding any, gave Jimmy the go-ahead to ascend the statues to remove their ruby eyes. Jimmy made it up the statues with the aid of Kärl and, in all, recovered 8 rubies from the four outer statues. The statue at the rear, with large black opals for eyes, was not yet despoiled when Grancis informed the party that a rival gang of tomb robbers was approaching.

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