Welcome to the latest chapter of our Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) campaign, set in the legendary world of the Forgotten Realms.
This blog is a living novel, a raw, unfiltered chronicle of our adventures, told through the eyes of those who lived them. Each story is based on a true D&D session as played, with no add-ons or changes made by the authors. Our session reports offer unique, in-character perspectives on the perils, triumphs, and unforgettable moments that define our journey.
Our story follows an unlikely trio of heroes:
- Finn, the streetwise Halfling Rogue with a knack for finding trouble (and exits).
- Jonathan, a devoted Halfling Priest standing as the moral compass of the group.
- Inez, a striving Gnome Wizard whose arcane mastery is often or not the saving grace.
Today’s chronicle is told from the perspective of Inez. Step into her mind as we recount the magic, mystery, and unexpected turns of our latest quest.
Session #16 as told by Inez
Dear diary,
Just a quick note, as we are sitting here between the remains of mummies, bandages, ointments and above all, a terrible stench! By some means we have made it through all kinds of traps, ruses and pitfalls. And we did end up fighting each other, and though this ended well in a way, it did not wrap up our problems in bandages. Allow me to explain this to you!
Waking up refreshed after days of exhaustion was a welcome start of the day. Neither the hard ground nor the cold marble I lay on nor the idol had kept me from a deep sleep. For all that, being woken by the sound of a man urinating into a pool of sizzling green acid water did not improve my mood. Add to that two halfling companions with an empty stomach, who no matter what I tried were only interested in how to find something edible for breakfast. With one (you know who) pointing out that one of the cubs had fattened and flourished on their diet of rats, and would make for a nice morning snack! “Just be careful that you don’t end up on their plate! Though I think you're safe for the moment, you’ve got the shins of a kobold, there’s no meat on you!” My rogue companion’s body had thinned down overnight, most likely the powers of the potion had worked out. A bit of a shame, those abs were worth looking at, dear diary.
After our not so friendly conversation settled down, Jonathan as always stepping in, we finally concentrated on opening the big door with the key we had found before. Basically, because that’s all we had. “Let me check the door for hidden dangers, before you open it.” Finn investigated both door and its lock; “It’s safe.” “You’re sure?” “Look, I’ve given the lock a proper introduction. It’s been ‘twittled’ quite thoroughly and is ready for your grand entrance, my princess!” His riposte made me lose all caution and prudence. That pesky halfling! Flanked on each side by a halfling man, I placed the key and gave it a resolved spin. There was the first deep click of the day, followed by a long whine of the door as I pushed it open slowly. Sticking my head through, to see what was lying behind it.
Behind me I heard some turmoil and I stepped back from the door, only to find Finn licking one of his fingers, looking suspiciously unsuspicious. Jonathan gestured that he would take the lead, stepping past me through the door, waving his torch in front of him. Finn followed behind him, Gregot, the cubs and me pursuing the two men. Behind the door we found a corridor that widened smoothly to accommodate six persons to walk side by side. Both floor and walls were tiled in a sober functional way, no decorations or pictures as in the room with the baths. Still the floor was clearly divided in segments and planes, marking out sections with mosaics divided by bands with plain tiles. Just in front of us the first mosaic part started, revealing small runes, tiny and fragile, impossible to read. What did not help were the traces and stains of soot that covered the patchwork.
Trying to decipher the delicate runes, I kneeled down and started rubbing and scratching the soot away. “Stop that, it could be a trap!” The shrill voice of Finn caught me off guard. “Don’t move, let me examine this first. Frozen in my movements and plans, I watched him studying the floor and walls. Then trying to grab one of the cubs, that totally unimpressed, bit the rogue in his finger. “What are you doing?’ I asked. “Nothing, nothing, just an idea. Wait, wait, there it is!; Finn was now pointing at a stone on the side of the wall. It did not look like much, yet had a slightly different colour and texture than its immediate neighbours. “Let me try this”; he now pressed the stone that retracted into the wall until a loud click was heard. “It’s probably safe now, I'll hold it in place.”
That was all Jonathan needed, with confident still careful steps he wandered off, crossing the first section. After a sigh of relief, I bit my lip and started walking. Trying to look calm and composed, every step made my heart beat a little louder. “You’re here!” I heard Jonathan’s voice, as he tapped my shoulder, stopping me in my tracks. Otherwise I would have probably continued blindly. As I turned around, Gregot made his pass, trailed by the cubs. One of the owl bear younglings stopped halfway, not moving a step further. No matter how I pleaded or pressured it, it did not move. Neither did Finn's curses and threats make the critter move an inch. Only when Jonathan clapped his hands, the cub finally continued and made his pass. Like Mielikki and her unicorns, the priest connected to all animals.
All of us were now standing on the second divider, except poor Finn, who was still keeping the stone in place. As soon as he let go of the brick, nothing happened. Jonathan and I watched in horror as he stood up and made a run for it. Using his strange powers, a purplish glow appeared around his hand, then the rogue seemed to create a tunnel around himself, warping his path. Appearing suddenly beside us, luckily safe and irritatingly pompous. The two halflings were celebrating our passage as if they had slayed a dragon. “You did notice that the stone did not move then you left it?”;my remark was completely ignored by the two. As always, the smaller a halfling's accomplishment, the larger the noise he feels compelled to make about it dear diary. Yes, I do have to admit, they saved me from that trap, diary, whose side are you on anyway?
Two steps further started the next adorned floor section. Further on we could now distinguish the stone double door that closed off this room. Peculiar in construction and decoration, all kinds of tree-like and tree-men-like creatures were sculpted on the doors and the walls around it. Like Gregot had ordered a monument to be erected for ancestors and family! Looking at the treant I noticed that it had grown, both in size as in clout. Its twigs and branches were more chunky and firm. At least someone in our company was blossoming (pun intended, dear diary).
The next section we had to cross consisted of tiles forming a nine squared grid as my teacher doctor Vexora had drawn so many times during my lessons. Each of the nine small squares had its own abstract patterned mosaic, perfectly aligned and sized. Nowhere a gnomish imperfection could be found, this must have been created by all too serious folks like dwarves or elves. Once more I kneeled down to investigate, this time making sure not to touch anything or even stick my hands out! Unmistakingly some of the nine tiles would trigger a trap, while some would lead us safely to the other side. At least, that was what all the myths and novels tell you...
Gesturing, Finn made it clear that he had a plan. Out of his backpack he picked up a pouch that had some serious weight, attached a piece of rope to it, then dropped it on the leftmost stone of the first row. Nothing happened. The same ritual for the second stone, same result. Then the rogue dropped the bag at the third stone. Before any of us could react, the biggest and meanest of the cubs (which I call ‘Finn’ to myself.) jumped at the bag, landing on the stone, snatching the bag, returning it to Finn. “That stupid goose is ruining my plan! If you can’t control them, we better eat them!” Both the cub and I were not impressed.
A smile cropped up on the face of the rogue: “Here, wobblepaws, fetch!”; throwing the pouch to the farthest tile on the left. The cub once more spurted away, chasing the bag, taking it in its beak, ending its move at the far side of the grand square. There it sat, the rope of the pouch bungling above the square from its snout to Finn’s hands. Just as I was starting my grievance towards Finn on his abuse of the cub, the critter decided that this was rather a fun game and yanked the rope! Making Finn fall forward, landing facedown on the left three tiles!
Setting off the trap, the tiles dropping away, taking Finn with them in a second drop down!
A long series of curses, obscenities and profanities addressed to the full pantheon of Gods, three Owl Bear cubs and a certain gnome lady, made clear that Finn was still alive. Looking down from the edge, I could see him standing in a deep pit, meters below me. The walls of the hole were rectilineal and smooth, almost polished, so climbing out was out of the question. Neither was reaching out to Finn, our small folks arms did not have the length to reach out. “Help me to get out of here, so I can prepare dinner using these hellish hatchlings rejected by Tiamat!”; Finn was yelling at me while attempting to climb out. “How can we help you, what’s your plan?” “The plan is to get out and have a nice dinner with you, little princess, then I will present you with a nice warm fur coat!”“Hurry up , hurry up!”; Finn’s voice all of a sudden reached two tones higher; “Water is flowing in, flowing in fast! And there are fishes in it, they’re biting!!”. Looking down confirmed his alerts. I had to come up with a solution.
Kneeling down on the edge, I concentrated, trying to ignore the yelling of the halflings and shrieking of the cubs. From the inside of my coat I plucked my spell book. Opening it, the book’s pages moved by themselves, whispers from both book and idol making up a strange incomprehensible dialogue, pages stopping at the right spell. Breathing in I touched the symbols with my left hand finders, closing my eyes, guiding the arcane energy with my right hand towards Finn. As the power of the spell touched him, raising him up, he started to resist, trying to wrestle himself loose. Only by focusing intensively, governing energies and sufferer, I managed to plant the rogue on the opposite edge, next to the cub. Then I let go of the spell and energies and let myself plunge backwards gently. Allowing myself to lay down for a moment to catch my breath.
When I looked up Finn was holding four fishes. And trying to punt the cub sitting next to him. Once more the critter was unimpressed, jumping up, evading the kick and snatching one of the fishes in a fluent move. “Come, we’ll walk over to Finn”; Jonathan was offering his hand to pull me up. “But are you sure how you can get there safely?” “Oh yes, just step by step.”; and with that, the priest started walking over the middle file of tiles. Making it to the second tile. A click could be heard, and three tiles fell down together with poor Jonathan. The halfling made an even harder drop, hurting his head. However, no curses could be heard coming out of the pit. “Are you alive?” was all I could come up with. “Yes, a bit bruised. And my hole is filling up with water as well. And there are fishes here too, but they seem to be friendly.” Some minor curses indicated that Finn had lost his rope and pouch previously, not being able to help Jonathan out of the pit.
So once more I kneeled down and concentrated. The book was there, I still had enough energy to pull in and control the arcane powers. This was going to work. This needed to work. And it did, other than Finn Jonathan did not jiggle and I managed to lift and place him safely on the other side. The halfling had managed to catch five fishes in the process, two of those he used to lure the two other cubs to walk over. Followed by Gregot, who walked the right file of tiles without problems. Reasonably this would mean that the third path was safe.
After two steps, the right tiles collapsed underneath me! Sort of prepared my fall was not that bad as that of my two companions, nonetheless I found myself bruised at the bottom of another pit. Pulling myself together I again concentrated, ignoring the cold water streaming in and fishes nibbling at my skin. (I have endured worse scrubbing in the bath house of Nook, dear diary!) Though I successfully lifted both halfling men just before, rising myself and floating around while steering and controlling the spell was something different. And while Jonathan was picking four fishes hanging from me, I was thanking Azuth and Mystra, breathing in and out deeply to push away my panic. And was it my imagination or did the spell book murmur an endorsement into my ear?
Our company was now standing halfway down the hall. The cubs were on one side, presumably waiting for the three of us to roll out some new entertainment. Gregot stood next to them, whatever the treant was doing, somehow he had a calming effect on the Owl Bear youngsters. And on us as well, which was a good thing too. The lack of food did not bring a positive mood, and I found the two halflings discussing the option of eating the fishes we’ve just caught: “The critters ate them, and they are fine. We even have to fight them off, otherwise they would have eaten them all!” “But they also ate the shimmering rats! And these fish are glowing too. Same color as the big rats! Don’t think that these fish are blessed by Chislev.”; it almost worried me that Jonathan took his role as priest more seriously than his cravings. “Does not matter, I’m gonna try one!”; with that Finn used his torch to roast one of the fish. Just a bit too close and too long, resulting in a terrible taste, for Finn, and smell, for us all.
The repelled looks on Jonathan and my face did nothing to hold in Finn, on the contrary: “That was the best fish I’ve eaten for quite some time! I’m gonna have another one.””But what if it makes you sick?”; I tried. “Well princess, not all of us had a cook to prepare our meals, in the streets of Nook I’ve had worse.” Well, that settled it, another fish went into the flame, and even a third one. The gastronomic feast ended with a loud belch and spit sent into all three pits. “Are you finished? We’re very grateful that you shared your appreciation for this meal with us. Remind me of requesting my parents to invite you to a formal dinner when we’re back in Nook.” ”Don’t think it’s a good idea to have your folks present when we’re on a date. Aside from that, great idea to invite some from dinner, these stupid feather-farts look rather hungry.” Thereupon the rogue took three of the fishes and threw them forward onto the next section. My cries came too late and had no effect anyway, the three cubs rushed ahead, rolling and tumbling, snatching the bait, swallowing up the fishes, ending their attack run in the middle of the next section.
Nothing happened. No trap went off. The floor composed of many tiny tiles and bricks, all of these inscribed with tiny runes, did not quiver nor tremble. No click was heard. Three cubs were happily sitting across, watching us, waiting for more snacks. “You did that on purpose, you harpy halfling! If the trap had gone off, it would have killed them!” “And we would have missed them dearly, almost as much as your nosy nose!” Glowing red with anger and insult, I was saved by Jonathan: “Finn! Inez! We must work together to survive this. Chislev would say: ‘Do not bend the branch, for it will break!”; placing a hand on Finn’s and mine shoulder.
In spite of that, my anger slipped away as slowly as the air out of a gnomish zeppelin. Breathing slowly to calm down, I stepped back and watched Finn probing the quarter and walls carefully, crawling along its border like a rusted clockwork spider. “Can’t find any traps. There’s nothing mechanical installed here.” Swallowing a wisecrack, I took my turn to investigate this section. The tiny runes on the stones were a work of beauty and skill, too small to be readable, yet their power was radiant. Using a spell to search out magic traps, I saw the whole section light up greenish. Looking round the door in front of us and the previous two traps all lit up, the whole place was overdone with arcane constructs! Whoever had constructed this, had some serious resources at their disposal!
Gathering around, Finn and I shared our observations, Jonathan’s eyes lit up: "Adventure! Let’s do this.””What? Where are you going?; I stumbled, watching in horror as the priest once more just started strolling onto the tiles, Gregot sitting on his shoulder. “Probably his head was totally shaken up in the fall.”;Finn added. But to our astonishment, Jonathan, Gregot joined by the cubs made it without any troubles. “Just tap, feel and listen. You’ll find out what tiles are good and which are bad!”; Jonathan waved to us; “Come on! It’s safe and easy, Chislev will guide you!” “You hear, Chislev will guide you. I’ll take his word for it, but will trust myself instead of a god.”; Finn took his staff and embarked on his path, tapping the tiles, changing course every now and then till he reached Jonathan. “Your turn Inez, I’ll point out your path!”;the rogue was yelling at me. Praying to the gods and cursing the two halflings, in other words, in full trust of the expertise of my two companions, I too got going. And to my surprise and relief some frustrating minutes later I made it too. “You see, when you just listen to me for once, you’ll make progress and stay safe!” Pesky halfling!
Just in front of the door was the last of the four sections, compared to the other three, tiled with monotone triangular wedges. All triangles pointed towards the door, resulting in a complex pattern still fitting in a rectangular segment that was less deep than the first three sections. The other difference was that this piece of floor had been the only one not gleaming of magic energies. While Finn was checking for snares and ambushes hidden in floor or door and Jonathan was feeding Gregot with some water, I dug up the key we found yesterday. Comparing its size with that of the lock, even from this distance, I surmised it was unlikely that this would fit. “Clear, no traps in this part, and probably not in the door.” "Probably? What kind of reassurance is that?" “The kind that keeps smart folks alive and sharp. Folks who know when to choose between a friend and a malignant monster, or three!” “Indeed, not a very hard choice in this case. Speaking of friends, what does Gregot make of all these tree folks depicted on this door?”; I asked very guardedly, not wanting to provoke the halflings concerning the treant this time. “Gregot, did you notice the statues on the wall and on the door?”; Jonathan asked the creature on his shoulder. “Door!”;was the reply of the small tree-man, not very helpful at all.
“Were you truly thinking that the same key would fit this door? Hopefully your father’s money chests and safes used different ones!” “Of course, I just had to be sure! A rogue like you would not have had a chance trying to rob our office!”; annoyed again I stepped back: “Please dear sir, show us how a rogue of renown handles a basic lock like this.”;set in motion by my taunt, Finn kneeled in front of the door, eying the lock. Which looked kind of primitive, compared to the door of the room with the baths. The rogue was searching in his pouch, parading all kinds of strangely shaped tools in his hands, sticking and poking some of them into the lock, then switching for another utensil. Clearly seeking acclamation as much as a good result, which both were not coming his way.
“There it goes!”; Finn stated, a strong click was heard, and Finn was gone! “Finn?”; I whispered, looking around mystified and fearful. I do admit I had wished him away more than once this day, dear diary, hopefully my magic skills had not outgrown me? “Where did he go?”; Jonathan asked me, looking as confused as I was; “Did he go through the door?” The priest pointed at the door, still closed. The moment he touched the door, pushing it slightly farther, Jonathan too vanished!
“Jonathan? FInn? If this is a cheap halfling trick, I am really gonna be very annoyed!”;panicking I looked around, but no sight of the men. Just Gregot and the three critters stood by me, not looking worried at all. “Alright”; I said to myself; “You’re on your own now, everyone is depending on you and probably Jonathan and Finn are in trouble.Think!” My intentions were hampered by the cubs. The disappearance of Jonathan and the chilling feeling that was hanging in the air made them restless and agitated. Jumping against me, even snapping at me. “Stop this now!”; I raged, stunning myself and the critters; “Sit down, quietly, hush!”
Taking the spell book in my left hand, it opened up, but did not seem to decide what page to show. Pages kept flapping, until I used my right hand to find the spell to summon a helper. Fixating on this one, I felt the arcane servant arriving, steering it towards the door to open it. To no avail, the door did not open. Downhearted, I let the creature go, releasing the spell. Turning back to the spell book, it now flipped open a new spell. “Is this the one I should use?”; I whispered to the book. “Yes”;it could be my stressed imagination, I was sure the book whispered an answer.
“Well then, let’s try this.”;applying myself to this spell, reading it painstakingly, then speaking its words and moving my hands carefully to form the correct gestures. Summoning an artificial third hand, guiding it as if it was my own towards the door, forcing the lock, forcing the stone gate to open. Overcoming my fears I stepped through, holding a torch in front of me, the spell book in my other hand. Another step, broadening the opening of the door further, leaning in to look around the corner.
In the back of the room some torches were burning attached to the walls. I could distinguish six figures standing with their backs towards me. No time to look long though, the six turned around as one, like figures in a gnome clockwork. Then the mummies started moving towards me! Not that I had ever seen one before, but these creatures, wrapped in dirty white bandages, met all the marks, including moving slowly and erratically, but still towards me! As they did, most of them appeared large, more or less human sized, too large and close for comfort. This time I did not call on the cubs, instead defending myself. Book in left hand, energies in right hand, panic in mind, I let go of a fire bolt toward the closest one. Scorching it as the coil of flames hit!
In the light of the fire, I could distinguish how one mummy’s plaster was falling off and how from its insides the limbs of Finn emerged! “Finn! Help me!”;I immediately regretted my selfish scream, still and all it worked, as the rogue came to his senses and joined the frail. His magic loaded fist lighting up purplish, striking and whacking mummies. And getting hit himself as well, as the bandaged freaks lashed out. One of them made its move towards me, toppling over in front of me. Instinctively I shot another bolt at the fallen one, hitting it. Hearing Finn yelling something towards me, not being able to understand what he’s trying to tell me. Sneaking around my legs, the owl bear cubs appeared, attacking the mummy lying smoking in front of me.
“Stop hitting it, it’s Jonathan!”; out of nowhere Finn dropped on top of the maltreated mummy in front of me, pushing the cubs away. The mummy moaned frightfully, not sounding like Jonathan at all. All of this made the cubs hide away behind me and me considering if I could hide behind them. Doubting what to do, I targeted the next mummy appearing larger that the others coming for me. Praying its bandages did not contain my companion, when the brute went down burning.
Meanwhile Finn was fighting two of the mummies coming at him, dropping into the one he was sitting on, as the bandage construction caved in. A terrible stench escaped from the inside of the mummy, a series of curses escaped from the mouth of the rogue! “That’s not Jonathan!”; I shouted; “Where is he?” “He must be inside that one!”; Finn pointed at the one reaching for me. “You’re sure?” “Must be!”; Finn reacted, trying to get up and out of the remains of the mummy. “Ouch!”; I complained; “That one just hit me!” A fast stab of Finn finished off my attacker: “My bad, Red.” Pesky halfling!
Looking around, I found that Finn and I had taken care of the mummies in the sense that body parts, bandages, oil leakages and burning remains were lying around in the room. In my mind a terrible thought took over, accompanied by the laughter of the idol resonating in my skull: Had I killed Jonathan? Was he in one of those scorched and fuming remains? Tears welled up in my eyes looking at Finn probing the mummy cadavers. "He's here, I found him!";Finn was pulling at the loose ends of a pile of bandages. "Careful, easy does it.";the voice of the priest came from the inside. Jonathan was alive! In the time I needed to turn away and get rid of my tears, Jonathan with the help of Finn managed to free himself from the package. He was alive, but bruised and wounded. "I'm so glad that you're alive. Both of you!"; I had to stop myself kissing and hugging the halfling men. "Oh, where's Gregot, you really need his help!";as always, the little tree-man was already there, somehow sensing that one of us was in need of his help. With the use of two of its leaves and arcane powers, Gregot patched up Jonathan. And yes, dear diary, I’m still jealous of its powers, I admit.
And so here we are, in a room that is evidently in use to prepare mummies. On shelves attached to the walls all kinds of plaster, rolls and rolls of bandages, bags of salt, all kinds of balms and oils and all kinds of scary looking tools were stored. Large urns were placed on the floor, miraculously none were damaged in our fight. Remarkably, there are no magical items to be found here, still the place is brimming with a nasty, almost biting, magic atmosphere.
And that’s where we are now, dear diary. Both my stamina and my magical reserves are low, but we’re still standing. Jonathan and Finn don’t have any recollection of how they ended up as mummy. <> Don’t dare to think about who or what is in charge of this place. Don’t dare to think about how I almost killed Jonathan. Don’t dare to think what we’ll find around the corner. But we’re still alive and together, so hope I’ll be able to write to you soon, dear diary!
