CHAMPIONS OF KRYNN: CATACOMBS OF DOOM!

Personal Note:
Sometimes, life can throw you a few curve balls you don't expect.  I hoped to have more time these last two weeks to keep up with this blog, but school has disagreed and slammed me with work.  I'm still able to post on the weekends for the moment, though.  I suppose that's better than nothing.  Even still, due to my time restrictions, this entry is shorter than the others.  I hope that won't continue to happen...


The party, after having fought their way through a hidden temple in the ruins of Throtl, has found themselves in the dank and crumbling catacombs below the city.  Hot on the trail of Baaz Draconians who have fled with bronze dragon eggs, the party knew they would need to put some speed into their pursuit while trying to remain cautious.  Not an easy task.

In fact, the party is ambushed almost immediately...

This is not the way you want to start things off.

Curses fly as swords swing into action.  Certainly the rest of the evil forces down in the catacombs would be swarming over the party in moments.  The party had to dispatch these warriors as quickly as possible.

As it turns out, the party was able to do just that.  One by one, the evil warriors fell to their weapons until only one remained.  The last one threw up his arms in surrender and the party interrogated him.

The interrogation revealed nothing, save that others would try to slow the party down and keep them from reaching the Baaz Draconians carrying the dragon eggs.  Lord Benjamin upheld his beliefs as a Solamnic Knight and prevented any harm from coming to the warrior, but insisted that he be tied up so that he could not warn his comrades.

The party left him behind and slipped further into the catacombs.  They knew that others would be after them shortly.  There was no more time for stealth and no more need to be too cautious.  The Baaz Draconians had to be located before they could escape.

It didn't take long for an evil cleric to show up.  He brought skeletons and trained giant rats with him.  He laughed in defiance as he ordered them to attack.

Rats and Skeltons!  Oh my!

Wil Dhargon wondered aloud how the cleric managed to train giant rats to do his bidding, but all he heard in response was more laughter from the cleric.  Unfortunately for the cleric, though, his laughter would be short lived as the party ripped through his allies and left him standing alone.

The cleric spit out a curse of vile hatred and charged.  The party, left with no other option, killed him before he could do any damage.  The battle was over.

On his body, they found a half destroyed letter.  It looked as though the cleric had attempted to burn it recently, but didn't finish the job for some reason.  It read:

"We have contacted the minotaurs.  They will help us.  I must go to Gargath.  It is rumored that there is a dragonlance stored there.  We must secure the keep and find the treasure room that is hidden there.  The map of the keep shows those places where we believe the secret door may be located.  Give the map to your officers and..."

At that point, the letter ended, having been burned away.  Someone in these catacombs had a map of where the author of the letter was heading next, and the party needed to find it.

A nearby noise caught the party's attention.  Lord Benjamin shouted a warning and bashed down a nearby door, fearing an ambush...

Found you!

Instead of an ambush, the party found Baaz Draconians trying to quietly sneak out of the area with the remains of some of the dragon eggs.  The party fell on them quickly and ended their miserable lives with swift blows and spells.

The eggs carried by these draconians weren't the eggs the party sought, as these had already been corrupted.  Still, the party reckoned that maybe this group of Baaz Draconians might have split from the original group.  Perhaps the real dragon eggs weren't too far away.

Kavina Do'Arden suggested that the party continue their pursuit.  The longer they waited, the further the dragon eggs got from being rescued.  The rest of the party agreed this was wise and continued onward.

Myrtani?

Not far from where the Baaz Draconians had been, the party surprised a group of warriors arguing in the hallway.  They mentioned Gargath...the same location that had been in the cleric's burned letter, and someone named Myrtani.  Was that who was leading these forces?

The warriors caught wind of the party eavesdropping on them and rushed to attack.  Tamera Beldon lamented that no one ever seemed to want to be diplomatic and that all things seemed to end in bloodshed.  But, given no choice, she lofted her heavy flail and joined the rest of the party in defense.

The warriors quickly found their backs against the wall as the party pressed them, and went down quickly, swinging wildly and shouting in anger.  The last one gurgled a curse with his dying breath and fell at Lord Benjamin's feet.

With some searching, the party found a map of Gargath on one of the warriors.  So, this was the place where this Myrtani fellow was going?  Janessa Waylan took the map for safe keeping, even though Wil Dhargon wanted to add it to his collection.  Janessa promised the kender that he could have the map after the party was done using it.  That seemed to satisfy him.

NEXT: The party continues the pursuit of the draconians...