The Tribulation of Deadsnows: Session 7

Characters: Gibbie, Aine, Fenia, Melvin, and Buddrick

-Day 20-
The party headed back to the house in the woods and encountered a dwarf eyeing the hidden pathway. Fenia played some sneaky tricks on him with her spells. Annoyed and cautious the dwarf introduced himself as Buddrick. He was a paladin of Mathammor Duin, the local dwarven deity of travel and exploration. He stopped in at the hospice near Deadsnows and was told by the Overseer about all of the dangerous activity plaguing the region. He also learned of the Misty Ridge Explorers and their efforts. He sought them out to join forces and combat a mutual foe. The party gladly accepted the help of the paladin.

They then arrived at the woodland house and Buddrick was overcome. His ability to detect the presence of evil was overwhelming him. This was certainly an evil and heinous place that needed to be purged from the land. Before entering the house, they explored the smaller building next to the house. They found what appeared to be a jail house with several corpses hanging from chains in the cells. Fenia wanted to leave the foul place but Buddrick wanted to burn the corpses to offer them proper respect and to prevent them from being used for vile purposes. Fenia grudgingly agreed. Melvin stood on Buddrick’s shoulders and undid the manacles that held the corpses in the air. Gibbie gathered deadwood to build the pyre. Soon they incinerated the corpses and Buddrick offered a prayer to Marthammor to guide their spirits on their last travel.

They then went into the house and the first floor was again empty. They went upstairs and discovered, that once again, the room with the vile jack-o-lanterns was intact. Buddrick was angered at the sight of such vile creations and destroyed everything in the room with his great warmace.

They then went into the next room and discovered more piles of clothing. Cautiously, they entered the room but they were not attacked. In the next room they spotted the broken remains of the floating brain. They went back downstairs and proceeded into the basement. It was pitch black and only Buddrick’s keen dwarven eyes could pierce the blackness. Buddrick spotted something strange on the floor and walked up to prod it with his mace. It suddenly leaped up and attacked him! The creature appeared to be the shed skin of some humanoid. It wrapped Gibbie and then Aine in its ropey tendrils and nearly squeezed the life out of them. Buddrick rushed to Aine’s aid and invoked his paladin power to heal with laying of hands and restored much of her vitality. Once Gibbie was released, he too aided with healing spells.

Through much effort the party was able to slay the powerful creature. Buddrick proved to be a powerful ally with his healing abilities and hefty warmace. They decided to leave and rest once again, having exhausted much of their healing power fighting that skin like creature. When they left the house, a pack of vicious animals with elongated jaws assaulted them. They were no match for the powerful group and were quickly dispatched.

The party returned to the bridge.

-Day 21-
The party returned to the house and combed the upstairs again. Buddrick was frustrated with the reappearance of the vile pumpkins. He barged into the room and smashed them once again. When they went downstairs, they heard a door slam back upstairs. Buddrick rushed upstairs to investigate but the others were hesitant. They just wanted to get through the house and be done with it but Buddrick was determined to discover the source of the house’s trickery. He walked up to the pumpkin room, which now had a closed door, and opened it. The heinous creations mocked him once more. In a rage he burst in and smashed them all. But this time he stayed in the room and shut the door.

Melvin crept upstairs to watch the spectacle. When Buddrick failed to exit the room, Melvin strode forward with concern. He opened the door to discover that the pumpkins were intact and that Buddrick was missing!

Suddenly, Buddrick was encased by blackness. He felt like he was suffocating. He struggled and broke free of the earth. He sat up and looked around, bewildered. It appeared that he had just emerged from a shallow grave behind the house. He looked beside him and saw similar “graves”. He leapt up and spat on the loose dirt. He barged back toward the front door with typical dwarf bluster and was assaulted by a horde of vile jack-o-lanterns on the porch. He stomped across them, trampling and smashing them all on his way to the door. He stormed into the house and met up with his allies in the basement.

The floorboards creaked upstairs and Buddrick rushed to them to intercept any foes that were on their way. But nothing happened Buddrick stood guard in front of the stairs as Melvin worked to pick the lock on the door. The floor above them creaked again but this time something came down the stairs. One of the vile pumpkins was astride a thin body of vines. It lurched toward the bottom. Buddrick readied his mace but Fenia let fly with a ball of acid and intercepted the pumpkin, melting it where it stood. It collapsed on Buddrick and he eyed the gnome illusionist with annoyance as slime dripped down his face.

With time, Melvin got the lock open. This time, Buddrick was the one to boldly stroll forward. He was covered in darkness again. Everyone stared forward with confusion as Buddrick had simply disappeared.

Buddrick sat up out of the grave with a huff. Something was behind him this time. He turned to see a simple headstone that read “Here lies Buddrick”. He lurched to his feat and knocked the stone over with a growl.

Stomping back to the front of the house he stopped and looked around for any of the mocking pumpkins. He looked this way and that way, with squinting eyes. With a nod and a snort, he walked in through the door and stiffened. A pumpkin sat in the middle of the floor. Instead of smashing it this time, he picked it up and walked down into the basement once again. The others were relieved to see their ally but annoyed with the pumpkin he brought down with him. Buddrick set it down on the floor and it melted into a puddle of blood. They all watched with disgust as it happened. Buddrick poked his finger into the goo and then promptly wiped it off on his leg.

Cautiously, they all walked into the hallway beyond. Melvin picked the lock on a second and then third doorway. They came into an underground cavern with a river pouring in through a hole in the wall and running down into a whirlpool at the back of the cave. Light shone down from above. They investigated and surmised it was the well behind the house.

They discovered a tunnel and proceeded down. Buddrick’s keen dwarven senses, detected their decline into the earth. After a ways, they came upon a small pillar with a black orb atop it. They walked into the room and a chilling voice loudly whispered, “Speak the word”.

Not knowing “the word”, a black wispy figure rose up out of the floor. It appeared to be a wraith! It attacked the party and it appeared that they might not defeat the dark spirit. But Buddrick’s hefty warmace proved powerful yet again, as he was able to beat the spirit into submission. Gibbie ran about with Buddrick’s healing wand, hoping to damage the wraith with its powers but he failed to land a solid blow on the creature for most of the battle.

The group decided to set up camp in room with the black orb.