Oakwood was indeed able to “borrow” the Menhemes holy symbol without issue. The crypt was in the original dungeon under the town. There were several options for access but we elected to use the first one, under the Fish Market. There was no issue sneaking past Zug, the snoring orc cook and getting through the locked door into the basement. We pushed aside the barricade and were back in the caves. It was like high schoolers returning to daycare. Thankfully the crypt was only a couple bends away. The room still radiated evil. When we entered, the skeleton guards re-reanimated. However, now that we were 5th level, they were dispatched quickly. Oakwood suggested that maybe we should bury the bones elsewhere so we wouldn’t have to fight them a third time. The GM mentioned something about disturbing the bones of the ancestors and that once the evil was dealt with, they’d be fine. As a half measure, we removed their swords and short bows at least. We surrounded the sarcophagus and Oakwood placed the Menhemes holy symbol on the recess. Lines of power appeared on the lid which then flew off, revealing a terrifying undead creature in the twisted form of his long dead relative. And she was in no mood for talking.
To add insult to injury, the skeleton bones reanimated as Oakwood feared but as Flaming Skulls so removing their weapons did no good. As is the case for a lot of these Bad Baddies, it emitted a Fear aura. TerStegan missed his save but only took Fear 1 due to his Fighter bravery. He attacked the undead. When she went, she tried to control TerStegan’s mind with another Will save, but he saved. (This fight could have gone south fast if he missed it.) Everybody went on their turn, saving against the Fear as best they could. The Skulls started flying around, causing chaos including persistent fire damage. On her second round, she crit Clarisa with a mental attack and she was dropped. Around then, Brisco showed up and did a 3-action heal which damaged them, helped us and brought Clarisa back. However, she was still prone so the Skulls attacked her and knocked her out again. Xeelie was also getting battered and used a scroll to do another 3-action heal and brought her up again. This heal took out two Skulls which exploded in fire. But thankfully the damage was modest and by then Oakwood had his 5 points of fire resistance zone up for those near him. Meanwhile, TerStegan pretty much took out the undead by himself. When she fell, they all fell.
Her cloak was a Cloak of the Hunter which Oakwood Menhemes took. It gives +2 to stealth rolls and a couple Ranger powers. Hunt Prey which for an action, gets you +2 to Seek and Track that prey. Plus, no penalty for the second range increment. And then Hunter’s Edge: Precise which gives +1d8 damage on your first attack on that prey. Attack, not strike which means it works with Impulses? There was no other treasure. Brian assumed we healed up. We debated about the bones. The evil was still present but much less. We decided it was the evil of Belcora’s ritual and once we lifted it (and defeated her?) it would be clear. We choose to leave Otari’s bones in the crypt with her bones so that they’d be together when this was all over. We Mended the lid as best we could. We then debated our next course. We could head to the Gauntlight immediately (once Oakwood returned the holy symbol) or we could hang around town for a week in case there was trouble prior to the election redo and watch Xeelie build magic items. No one wanted to deal with the election anymore and everyone wanted to head towards 6th level ASAP. So, for better or worse, we left town. Truthfully, we’d most likely be returning battered and beaten before lunch anyway. To the dungeon.
Brian allowed us to show up at the room we needed to be at for the ritual. (Someday we need to fix those teleportation circles.) Once again, we had to make a Will save against Fear for just being there. As we approached, a bunch of Flicker Wisps emerged from the stone in the center of the room. Same as last time. They are a pain because they are immune to magic. TerStegan started swinging. Oakwood put a Timber Sentinel next to him. They mostly attacked him because they could get flanking. Their attacks weren’t too high but they hit enough to use up the tree’s 30 hit points before the end of the round. But with TerStegan’s sweeps, Xeelie’s attacks and some trident throws from Briscoe, it was over pretty quick. We distributed the items, Xeelie cast the ritual and the barrier was cleared. Before going down to the next level, Oakwood suggested we check in with the spirit of Otari. We had promised to keep him posted. He was still there. He was pleased to see we had the items and were able to remove the barrier. He was sad to hear that we had to fight to get the cloak. He said he felt something and thought maybe he could move on. But he didn’t seem to be in any hurry. Hopefully he can be reunited with his lady love under the town that bears his name when he’s ready.
Down the stairs we came into a large circular chamber. There was a spiral staircase winding down out of sight with an ancient iron handrail. However, it was mostly empty air in the middle with the stairs clinging to the edge. On this level were 3 doors at each compass point. Oh, and a Gibbering Mouther. It hadn’t noticed us yet and we briefly considered slipping past it. But we’d have to fight it eventually so let’s get to work. Once initiative was rolled, we faced its Will based Confusion aura. Clarisa went first, got confused and randomly attacked Xeelie. At least that only lasts a round. TerStegan went next and charged it. On his way, two snail-like aberrations emerged from the corners. He ignored them and hammered the Mouther. After a couple rounds with TerStegan, it decided to run through him and get at the rest of the heroes. However, TerStegan saved against the movement and then crit it with the Reactive Strike as it went by. (I think that was its engulf power which caused us so much trouble before.) It didn’t last too much longer after that. The other two monsters were dispatched soon after. Basically, we used hero points to save against their worst effects and it wasn’t too hard. We stopped there for the night. Brian assumed we’d take 10-20 minutes to heal up. And then we’re back to opening doors.
