Session 5
General Summary
Before heading to the Bryce Mausoleum, the party decided to hire a rogue, since Belle was still indisposed. Feng and Mrek went to call on Lord Halfrigger, while Ludwig and Slint asked Zed at the Ruddy Fishwife. Feng and Mrek were received by a servant and discovered that Halfrigger's estate, while lacking any guards, was immaculately clean despite the party the night before. The servant informed them that Lord Humbert was still asleep, but went to wake him. She returned a few minutes later with Maldris instead. He was displeased to see the adventurers again, but was willing to give them the name of a contact who might help them in the mausoleum—for a price. Initially, Maldris wanted the name of the family whose tomb the party was delving, saying that all information had a value. Feng refused to break Lord Bryce's confidence, however, and Maldris eventually settled for 10gp. He told them to call on Fredegar Filthyfingers in the merchant's district, and to mention his name. Meanwhile, Zed told Ludwig and Slint about Bertram Boffin, a halfling rogue who came into the Fishwife every day for a pint of ale and chowder at lunch. Per Zed, Bert was an adventurer for hire. Feng and Mrek found Fred's shop, an upscale place specializing in home security for the wealthy. After some convincing, and the mention of Maldris's name, Fred agreed to accompany the party for 7gp (his usual 4gp daily rate plus a 3gp rush fee, since the party was heading out that day). Feng gave him 10gp and told him to meet them at the Fishwife when he was ready. Bert came to the Fishwife at lunchtime as usual, where Slint and Ludwig spoke with him. It just so happened that his plans for the afternoon had fallen through, so he agreed to accompany the party for 2gp plus dinner once the job was done. At this point, Feng and Mrek arrived, then Fred. The two rogues seemed to have a rivalry, or at least a familiarity with each other; Bert mentioned that they'd met at a "professional conference" and suggested that Fred had a poor reputation. Regardless, the six set out for the necropolis outside Volscia Mera where the Bryce Mausoleum lay. They entered the tomb and set out down the central hall, where a casket popped open to reveal a crumbling skeleton with a rusted sword. An alcove across the hall held a matching casket, but this one contained a wooden skeleton cleverly painted with lime to look real. Slint discovered a secret door in the back of the casket, leading to another hall. Off this hall was a dust-choked room with a black stone floor. After defeating two dust mephits, the party found that the floor was made up of cenotaphs for the many Bryces who died with their bodies unrecoverable. At the back of the room was a a flagstone with the name "Breckin the Black," whom Ludwig and Mrek recalled as an adventuring rogue who was killed by his party after trying to steal a jeweled dagger from them. The party lifted the stone (after Fred disarmed a nasty scything blade trap on it) and descended a chute into a sort of subbasement, where they discovered a statue of Breckin the Black, aka Breckin Bryce, labelled "Still Our Brother." Fred said the statue was safe, but Bert insisted that he had a bad feeling about it, so Mrek used a vine whip to snatch the jeweled dagger from the statue's hip. This set off a lightning trap, but no one was harmed. Feng wrapped up the dagger in his blanket. Back in the main floor of the mausoleum, Slint found another secret door at the end of the hallway. This led to an octagonal room with a statue of an older woman dressed as an adventuring cleric of Aru, with a strong resemblance to Lord Stephen. When Mrek entered the room, the statue animated, laying one hand at the base of its neck and pointing to an eastern door with the other. At its feet was a rose carved from jade, which Feng took and stowed with the dagger. The party took the eastern door and discovered two smaller chambers, one for Claudia Bryce and the other for Stephen Bryce. Claudia's tomb was painted with murals of unicorns and flowers and contained a stone casket with a child's remains. Stephen's room was empty. From there, the party found another octagonal room with a statue of an older man holding a rifle, with a golden coronet on his head. Mrek vine-whipped this as well, then Slint used his glaive to push down a lever on the wall of the room. A resounding clunk sounded, and Feng noticed that the open pit trap in the main hallway closed. The party crossed the now-closed pit to a third octagonal room, this one with a sarcophagus carved to resemble a woman in wizard's robes with a silver scepter. The floor was wet, and there was a strong saltwater smell in the room coming from a door to the west. Mrek took the scepter, which Feng wrapped up, then Slint went through the door into a lowered chamber with about three feet of dirty salt water covering the floor. The water leaked in from a crack in the north wall. In the center of the room was a hunched shaped underwater, which Slint examined. It turned out to be a disguised sea hag, which the party dispatched after a short fight. Feng killed the hag with a charge of his horns, and Mrek, in giant frog shape, swallowed her body...
