Day 71: The Oracle, the Skeleton, and the Rakshasa

As before, I have sketched a map of this area and noted significant events and locales. The unholy alliance between the wardens of death and those dedicated to the pursuit of evil grows stronger. We have overcome orc priests, ghouls, and, of course, more skeletons.

I have also noted on the map where I met and embraced my worst fears – face to bony face. Upon approaching a chest, I failed to discover a pit trap and fell into the waiting clutches of a great bluish skeleton. Having no where to run and no other recourse, I grappled the thing. I must have been quite a sight to my companions – eyes squeezed shut, screaming at the top of my lungs, and hugging the great skeleton for all my life. We were able to defeat the foul thing, and it is likely that my terror-enhanced grappling saved my life.

We encountered a skull oracle with a taste for magical items. After feeding it, it identified the items that we were looking for – the elven king’s money purse, and the queen’s comb. The oracle was also able to locate the items – several levels down in the possession of a group of priests.

Finally, we battled a majestic guardian of evil, a Rakshasa. Unable to damage the demon, Cerin encased the demon within a wall of ice while I foraged through its treasures for some item to help us defeat it. Finding a powerful magic ring, I used it to “steal his life” – and in so doing not only defeated it but became the bearer of its power and its form. I still recall wielding awesome magical energies, holding sway over lesser beings, and the taste for destruction. Fortunately, my companions escaped my wrath with the one magical item capable of restoring me, a soul gem that encased a fairy dragon. Upon releasing the dragon, they were able to impose upon it to restore me to my normal form. I remain forever in their debt.

Thus ends the diary of Falon Shimeron – aside from some unsubstantiated claims of felling an unsuspecting rust monster in a single shot and falling victim to a paladin vampire. But that’s the stuff that other stories are made from.

Day 61: Rappan Athuk – Level 3

Our greatest success was discovering the tomb of the fabled arch mage Spiegal. Atop a great column of stone, sixty feet above the subterranean hunting grounds of a great purple worm, I discovered the merest shade of difference in the stone. Not even the faintest hairline lent the trapdoor to discovery. Bearing protections instilled by the others in the group, I withstood triggering numerous traps to finally open the mage’s white marble casket. Lying inside, undisturbed on the mage’s corpse, were a robe of the archmagi, a staff of power, and counterspell ring. Knowing no other safer place to rest and recover, we remained in the tomb several days until we were once again ready to venture forth.

On our next crossing of the sandy cavern floor, the floor erupted and the great purple worm attacked us. But we were not the tasty bite-sized snacks that it was anticipating. Though Frip, Ji, and myself were swallowed, we fought the beast from without and within. When the monster lay dead, Frip also lay lifeless. We have returned to Brindinford to revive him.

Day 52: Rappan Athuk – Level 2

I have sketched a map of this area and noted significant events and locales. The place is rife with decaying ruins of humanity – skeletons, ghouls, and ghosts. The only living things we encounter – rats, ogres, and a single human – seem to have formed some uneasy alliance with the wardens of death. The man, though alive, was quite mad and attacked us immediately. Apparently if this place can’t steal a life, it will settle for a mind or a soul. It is thoroughly and completely evil.

I have never known such terror as that I encountered upon facing the elite black skeleton. Though Aranthis and Ji’Etah were able to destroy it, I was no help. My blind panic took me far from the battle before it even began. I must find a way to conquer my fear of these fleshless fiends!

Day 50: Rappan Athuk – Level 1

This day was spent overcoming minor obstacles and traps. Grog lost his boots to a green ooze. Of particular note is that we found a skeleton sitting upright in a chair with a deck of cards on its lap. The grisly corpse was covered in ants, but posed no threat. Beyond a room housing an empty coffin, we located a set of stairs leading us deeper into the dungeon – but we elected to continue exploring this level before descending further. Toward the end of the day, while exploring some natural caverns, we came upon a horde of rats, wererats, and direrats. Though we faired well against the beasts, we were daunted by a wandering gelatinous cube and were forced to beat a hasty retreat. No doubt it wanders there still.

Day 49: The Entrance to Rappan Athuk

After a trip by boat to the location specified on the map, we have found ourselves at a graveyard, complete with three mausoleums. True to the rumors, rat holes permeate the place, and there is indeed a well that bores into the darkness. We have survived an attack by eight gargoyles that jumped from the walls of one mausoleum and a giant black skeleton entombed in the same crypt.

Based on the statuary, it seems obvious that this was once a sacred place that now stands defiled. Though the crypt itself is trapped, we have discovered a key within the statue of a dwarf that will allow us passage to the dungeon below it.

Day 48: Maps & Rumors

Having returned to Brindinford, we have purchased a map – reputed to describe the location of a Cult of Orkus, in a dungeon known as Rappan Athuk. Cerin feels that this cult is somehow affiliated with the theft of the royal elven family’s personal items and resulting curse. We also turned up the following rumors…

• A mushroom under a bridge can restore health
• The corridor of white stone is cursed
• There are no monsters on the fourth underground level, but lots of gems
• There are many tunnels dug by giant rats, but some lead to nowhere
• Use the underground rivers
• The entrance to hell is deep within a maze – swim through a pool of water
• Don’t go down the well