Eldor, the Elf    (npc)
Whisper the Hobbit Thief (Mark - not present)
Philgo the Philgosopher (Dan)
Mace Blackstar, Fighting Man (Mike)
Malus Thunderhammer, Dwarf Fighter (Chris)
Trygvie the Elven Mage (Steve)

We last left our intrepid heroes in a corridor in the crypts underneath an overgrown complex that was at least partially occupied by Goblins.  There was a door to the north, a locked door to the south and the hall west went back to where they had come from.

They entered the door to the north and saw a dark and very dusty room.  Four figures slumped around a table and racks of wine bottles were on the walls.  Mace prodded one of them with his sword and the skull rolled off of it’s shoulders and fell to the floor; they had obviously been dead a long time.  On closer inspection, they saw a parchment, winebottle and cups on the table under a heavy layer of dust.  Two of the skeletons were dressed in rusty platemail, one was dressed in rotted leather and the last wore a dusty, tattered robe.
Mace blew the dust off of the parchment and saw it was a map, showing much of the level they had already explored as well as a few secret doors they had been unaware of.

Trygvie found a potion bottle and dagger in the pouch on the dead man dressed in robes.  Two rotted out knapsacks on the floor were full of gold coins.

After searching the room for secret doors, the players went to the locked door.  Mace and Malus both failed to move the door with their shoulders, so they retrieved weapons from the dead in the wine room and used those to hack out the lock on the door.  Inside the room was a stone statue of a snake with human shoulders, arms and hands and a snake head.  A book sat on a podium before the statue.  The book proved to be a “Tome of Understanding.”  Philgo put it in his pack.

A door south from the room led back to the steam filled gorge so the players retraced their steps back towards the ghoul crypts.  On the map they had found in the wine room, a secret passage was marked.  The players located the passage and followed it into a large store room filled with boxes, barrels, sacks, bundles, etc.  A search showed that most of this stuff was ordinary trade goods -- food, cloth, tools, grain, etc., but no precious metals or money were found.

They went south through a normal door out of the supply room and into a new part of the complex.  The halls here were less dusty and musty.  A long series of turns to the right ended up at a Goblin dormitory.  The players kicked in the door and killed 12 sleepy goblins.  Another room led back into the steamy crevasse.  As they headed back, they defeated a horde of squeaking giant rats.

They retraced their steps and chose the left hand passage.  Opening a door, they saw 6 goblins torturing a human tied to the wall.  The players attacked immeadiately, killing several goblins with missile fire and engaging the rest with hand weapons.  A door in the wall behind them opened and four orcs burst forth.  After a fierce battle in which both Malus the Dwarf and Eldor the elf were wounded, three of the orcs lay dead at their feet.  The last orc ran down a set of stairs

The man tied to the wall proved to be none other than the Cleric Wilbered the Silent -- last seen in Runestone Castle and presumed dead.  Wilbered revealed that his comrades -- a dwarf and a mage -- were held prisoner in the dungeon below.  The players found a note written in Orkish in the room that the orcs had emerged from.  It was addressed to someone named “Astrugon” from “Goblinlord Snurk.”  Snurk indicated that plans were in place for the attack on Signpost and Nibblott following the assasination of Sven.  Apparently the note was a message the orcs thaey had just killed were supposed to deliver to this “Astrugon” person.

The players debated returning to Signpost to warn Sir Sven, but Wilbered asked them not to abandon his comrades.  They resolved to attempt a rescue.  They armed Wilbered with some cast off armor and Mace Blackstar gave him a mace.  Wilbered healed Malus the Dwarf and Eldor the Elf drank a healing potion.

The players proceeded down the stairs and came to a passage that branched left and right.  They went left and entered a small parlor-like room with table, chairs, fireplace, etc.  They proceeded on and found a small cell, unlocked, with a simple bed and latrine bucket.  The next door they opened revealed a bedroom with three bugbears that immeadiately attacked.  The fight was fierce but brief.  The players found some gold as well as some leather armor, weapons, etc.  They took along a ring of keys and a battle axe.  The next door was another cell that held a single human prisoner.  This prisoner introduced himself as Cullen De Filch and asked to join the party.  Cullen revealed the leather armor, thieve’s tools, etc., found in the other room were his.  The party returned mosr of his things except the gold.

The last door opened into a small cavern where the players heard the sound of running water.  Since they didn’t think this was the right way, they turned around and went back the way they had come.

They began to follow another passage south.  A door opened onto a torture chamber where four goblins fed a fire beneath a bubbling pot of oil and a folorn looking human peeked out of the grille in a cell door.  The players attacked the goblins and defeated them in short order.  They released the human and discovered, to their joy, that he was none other than Mandrake the Mage; recently lost in Runestone Castle, and, like Wilbered, had been presumed presumed dead...

The session ends here.