13thNov2019
Deeper down...
Whilst we were following the winding stairs down, we had a quick look at the object we bought from that rat in the alleyway back in town. Seems like it has some unlocking effect against traps. We decided to hand it over to the Olivia to use should she see fit. It may come in useful, it may not. As far as I'm concerned, it's much more fun to throw your enemies into the traps in the first place.
The stench of death and rotting flesh gets thicker as you kick past the corpses of your foes and head deeper into the underground burial site. Guided by the muffled sounds of conversation, you find your way through the maze of crypts and burst into a small room full of hard-faced bandits, all with bows at the ready.
They’re clearly guarding something. You must be in the right place.
But now we have these guys in front of us to deal with. They seem a competent bunch. But here's the issue I have with deactivating traps. It's better to deactivate them with your enemies. Case in point. They were standing right behind some traps, so I chose to go to the side, threw a smoke bomb to disorientate one of them, dragged her through a trap and proceeded to slice her throat. Game over in one fell swoop. I didn't even break a sweat.
Meanwhile our erstwhile Spellweaver seemed to be on a mission to dash through the door. Whilst I was busy with my target, the other two seemed to be chopping up the remaining targets. I did notice an arrow go whizzing past my ear, but I wasn't really worrying about that. It was only after Olivia opened the inner door that I started to take notice of our surroundings.
You open the door to a large crypt littered with coffins. At the back stands your quarry. He fits the description, but there is something previously unnoticed in his eyes—a dark otherworldly force.
"Who are you to think you can interrupt the work of the Gloom?" A dark energy engulfs his hands as he speaks. "I will show you what you are dealing with!"
So here is the thief of the papers, flanked by a couple of archers. Boy does he look tough. After a brief discussion between us ("Take out the archers"), we decided that the best option would be to eliminate the ranged attacks first. I dashed across the room and poisoned the more experienced of the archers. She was not happy. But that only lasted a short while before she died of this and other wounds.
Meanwhile our little Vermling did his whistling trick and brought forth the Rat Swarm again. They don't move very fast, but they sure do make a useful addition to our trio.
But that Commander fellow, he kept jumping around and opening up doors, letting in some more of the the living dead. They literally were falling apart before our eyes, so we concentrated on some of the larger ones and let the others break apart before we could deal with them.
Not only was he door happy, we was muttering spells under his breath and bringing forth animated skeletons again. Same as we saw up above. Mind you, they did seem to be a little more focussed on the Rat Swarm to worry us too much. They Rat Swarm ended up just sitting in the middle of the room and gradually gnawing away at the bones. Meanwhile we all started picking on the Commander.
Splinter was going at him like a crazy thing, and eventually killed him. But it took a toll on him and this time it was his turn to collapse to the floor exhausted. I was picking up loot off the floor (gotta get those coins), and Olivia seemed to be paying close attention to the the last shuffling corpse... and she turned and ran off into the other room.
Funny that. I didn't expect her to turn tail and flee. But no, she'd got a plan after all. She had spotted that the corpse was falling apart and thought that instead of trying to kill it, she'd dash off and go and get the papers and have a look in the chest in the far room. And lo, the corpse crumbled into a heap. We were left with piles and bones, rotten remains and our poor Vermling crying over the scattered remains of his rat friends.
Sifting through the carnage left by the battle, you find a cache at the back of the room containing the scrolls you were hired to collect. You can’t help but rifle through them a bit, but find that the writing upon them is in some unknown archaic language. One thing that does jump out at you, however, is a map of the northern countryside. A bend in the Still River is clearly marked as a point of interest. Contemplating whether you want to find out more about this so-called "Gloom," you decide that the spot could be a point of interest for you, as well.
But that can be forgotten for the moment. You pack up the papers and head back to Gloomhaven to collect your reward.
Meeting Jekserah once again at the Sleeping Lion, you hand over the papers and are paid the agreed-upon amount.
"You know," she whispers to you softly under the bustle of the tavern. "If you’re interested, I may have another job for you. A tribe of Inox in the Dagger Forest has ransacked a couple of my caravans headed to the Capital."
"I told the militia, but they do nothing," she spits. "I can point you in the direction of their encampment. If you can make an example of them, I will pay you even more."
She places a crude map of the forest on the table and stands up, her jewellery clinking with the movement. "Come find me when it is done."
So we get paid. Hey, that's what we were hired to do. So now we have a little coin in our pockets, I think it's time to go shopping. I'm sure spending all this gold is making the city traders a lot more prosperous, even if it does make us a lot poorer again. Ah well, new toys to play with for next time.