Mysterious Tower

?? November, 595
Part I

Sometime before their venture into the underground lava tubes below Cauldron, our heroes had an opportunity to pursue glory and treasure. What follows is this previously untold tale:

After the adventure of the Lucky Monkey, and while Jenya is doing the initial investigation into Triel, the party decides to follow a lead they have and a treasure map taking them to the Mysterious Tower left behind by some crackpot mage and hidden in the wilderness a few days from here.

After an uneventful journey, the party finds the 30-foot tower erected among the ancient ruins of an old keep. The tower appears to shimmer with a blue force field and they notice something flitter between the field and the tower.

As they approach the ruins a trio of giant beetles emerge from their nest and attack the party. Salla is sprayed with some fluid but it has no effect on the stout dwarf. Alastriel quickly sleeps two of the creatures while the third is slain, leaving several easy kills for the group.

The party proceeds to enter the keep but is met with the spector of what they guess is the remains of the old wizard. The apparition appears bound to the tower, but is so frightful that msot of the group is scared off, and forced to retreat into the surrounding woods. Baxtor and Kyladrian seem to be the only ones unaffected and encourage the group onward. Again, the presence of the ghost fills everyone with so much trepidation that they cannot continue into the ruins. It is decided to explore around the perimeter of the fort for an alternative approach to the tower.

A sinkhole is found in one of the corners and Kyladrian moves closer, nearly slipping and falling in. Tossing a rock down the hole, he determines that it is a 40 foot drop down to the bottom. A set of rods have been driven into the hole at various depths, possibly providing a way of getting down.

The party continues its investigation around the keep and encounters another giant beetle, this one with 2 large horns protruding from its nose. Sonja is pierced a few times, but the creature is soon killed. Searching through its nest does not reveal anything of interest.

Nothing else is found so the party once again tries to brave entering the keep through a breach in the wall. This time, all but Salla and Sonja are able to summon the courage to enter. Sonja remains behind and begins to sob. When Alastriel comes back to comfort her, she breaks down and apologizes that she is not able to follow her into the vicinity of the haunted tower.

Meanwhile, Baxtor, Kyladrian, and Serro continue searching around the inside of the keep and they find an open trap door that has not been hidden very well. Bracing themselves for a last push, the group finally manages to get past the walls and descend down a chute into a worked tunnel.

Exploring the underground structure reveals an old armory and a series of archways leading to a caved-in tunnel. There is a space at the top of the pile, and Baxtor is able to see that the tunnel continues further past the blockade. Kyladrian notices a set of tracks that, based on prior experience, he believes belongs to a nasty creature called an otyugh. Leaving the rubble for now, the group explores a prison area, and is beset upon by a creature with 3 legs and 2 tentacles that matches Kyladrian's description of the foul otyugh. The creature is defeated, but not before lashing Kyladrian with its tentacles and biting him with its voracious maw.

The party continues into a tunnel that has been roughly carved into the earth. In one area they encounter 2 of what Sonja calls "owlbears", and in another a mother owlbear protecting her young. Though the first 2 are slain, the mother is left to her nest as the group pushes past into the next room. This area reveals a section of the tower, even at this point surrounded by the blue force field which extends 6 inches beyond the tower.

Back to the rubble, and the top of the pile is cleared out so they can proceed. Next is a large chamber with several coffins, skeletons, wall paintings, and a large statue of an old crone in the middle. Baxtor senses something magic on one of the skeltons and also an evil presence beyond the chamber. He approaches the statue and the coffins jump to life, attacking the party and positioning themselves to block the other two exits. Not long after the strange coffins are destroyed (and after Serro takes a few whacks to the head by a coffin door), skeletons start pouring into the room from the southern exit. Though they are many, they are eventually beaten down. Baxtor's call to his god is of no use, but the other fighters in the group are able to do their share of the work in disassembling the animated corpses.

Searching the room, Baxtor and Alastriel discover that one of the unanimated corpses carried a few magic items (a shortsword and a steel shield), as well as a curious page from what appears to be a journal. The journal has a drawing of a wooden sword and a few quotes about the meek and how you should kneel before them. 4 keys are also found carved from several of the finger bones of the skeletons.

The group passes a room full of several pillars carved into visages of crones kneeling and carrying others on their backs. They enter a room with a statue set into an alcove. The statue depicts an old blind and crippled man. Salla takes the magic sword and approaches the statue, kneeling in front of it (obviously). At that time, a loud click is heard, and everyone save Kyladrian jumps backward. Only Salla (who had knelt) and Alastriel (who has Legolas-like reflexes) is able to avoid the sweep of a swinging blade that arcs across the room. Most are okay, but Sonja is clearly hurting, and she downs 2 of her potions before she can pass out. Not more than 30 seconds later, the statue slowly sinks into the ground, revealing a featureless stone wall behind it.

After exposing the trap that Salla had set off, Kyladrian examines the wall. It is Salla that finally discovers the secret door built into the wall, but no one can determine how to open it. Spending more time exploring this and the adjoining room does not bear fruit. In another unexplored room, the party finds the coffins of the 10 skeletons empty except for a curious wooden statuette placed in each box, which Baxtor takes.