Session 27: The Winding Way Report

General Summary

The party now well rested from their sleep within the abbey's basement move to the room with the altar. Here they pass through the secret door and make their way into the maze beyond. Immediately they come to a halt and a surprise. The undead seem to be just standing along the east wall. Despite their terrifying visage they are not hostile. A bit of thinking on why this could be the party puts two and two together. The cult is called the Cult of the Gold Medallion, coincidently they removed a gold medallion off of one of the priests and Ganbold started wearing it out in the open. Could this be a item to control them? Attempts were made but to no success. None the less it seems the undead will ignore them for now within the maze. A blessing for sure given as they travel through the maze they are met with a plethora of traps both magical and non magical. A bit of an arduous trek, and with many wounds sustained they manage to find a room with a massive crystal minotaur blocking a hallway. Diala sends her owl to try and scout out further however, the crystal minotaur becomes hostile and attacks her owl. Killing the owl in the process.   Its only seconds later when the minotaur arrives in the hallway with the party, it lets out a very human sounding moo and charges the party, unfortunately dropping into the spike pit the group put between it and themselves. A quick fight later with the creature and they manage to destroy it. Looking it over they decide to come back and try to remove some of the crystal at a later time.   As they travel through the hallway the minotaur was guarding they meet many more traps, false doors, and even an illusion. They come face to face with another large gilded door. Quite suspect in nature given how this maze has gone so far they push forward anyways in hopes of finding the treasure room. Like many doors this one is also trapped. Jorin takes a face full of poison, but he manages to hold fast against its effects, they party pushes into the room finding chests, urns and a large strongbox. Some chests are open and the party can see jewelry and coins spilling out. In the center a large green stone statue of a beautiful Elf. Ganbold and Elitessa do not recognize the exact visage, but it is only moments later Jorin fires a crossbow bolt into the room, in attempt to hit one of the chests. He has heard stories and he is not trusting of the room presented to him. Unfortunately for him it was not the chests that would attack but the elven statue, as it's face spins to reveal a dreadful fanged masked. The battle to commences is difficult with Diala almost falling in combat. The statue is tough, fast, and strong. The party manages to scrape out a win despite the heavy damage.   Searching the room after the jade statue is defeated they first check the strongbox. Diala goes and attempts to open it. However she sets off the trap within and is sprayed with a deadly amount of poison. She falls over unconscious barely clinging to life. If not for a quick intervention from Elitessa. The party would have lost their Halfling Wizard. Now with her back on her feet. Ganbold checks the chest. It is now open and within are rags, bits of metal and a note that reads "Dear thief: A lot of work for nothing, wasn't it?" Further inspection of the room also shows all the coin and jewelry are fake. There is no treasure. The party searches the room however and luck be it. They find a secret door located behind the strongbox. After deciding to take an hour's rest to catch their breaths the group pushes forward. Here they find two more doors, they gingerly open the southern door and find another hallway beyond. As they gather up and open the second door they find a square room that appears to be lined with iron filled with bags, chests, and urns. Suddenly 2 humanoid forms seem to come from behind the 2 granite pillars within the room. These figures are built for combat and seem to be made of the same material as the room. "Iron Golems" some of the party believe they now face. A truly famous and deadly construct that guards the most powerful of individuals treasure rooms. A creature they would not be able to face. However they push on realizing they may have no choice.   Thankfully Dialla recognizes these are not true "Iron Golems" but Iron Statues. A construct used by spellcasters when they can't afford to build a proper Iron Golem. With almost a sigh of relief the party manages to destroy these two statues. They check the room finding the true treasure hoard. Adding some coin to their pockets, a bunch of jewels, a couple potions of healing, mithral plate armor, and even a bag of holding to carry all their spoils and future spoils. They check the south hallway just to be sure and make their way back to the surface. The party now must make their way back across the island, through the Skull Dunes and return to The Rancor. Where they can go and report a mission complete.

Rewards Granted

• The party achieves level 6!