01.3 Logging Camp

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Carlton Blacks Mercenaries
Company members:-
Krachtig (Vervalsing Voorwerp de Meesten Krachtig) – Gnome Illusionist/Thief
Taran – Half Elf Fighter/Priest of Mannnanan Mac Lir, cousin to Carinne and Galvish
Carinne Rhianne Talynnart – Half Elf Ranger/Mage, Cousin to Taran and Galvish
Galvish – Half Elf Fighter/Thief, Cousin to Tarana and Carinne
Barrigan Stonebeak – Dwarf Engineer – Fighter/Priest

The Logging Camp

We had returned successfully from our previous task at the mine and manage to spend a day or two back at camp and spend a few coins before we are summoned for another mission.
We learn that rebels have taken over a logging camp. It is our mission, should we choose to accept it, to take the camp back over and get it producing again – seems fair enough.
We get our horses out and take a small group of spearmen/crossbow men with us.  Kalan Ghent leads us out for the two day trek to the camp.
We are barely halfway through the journey when Galvish (who has been scouting ahead) signals that something is amiss on the trail ahead.  Krachtig is also out in the treeline somewhere and is nowhere to be seen.  The party move off the trail into the woods to take on the unknown assailants whilst the foot soldiers take up a defensive stance on the trail.  The battle erupts with a group of orcs, after a brief exchange of missile fire, melee ensues, more of their reinforcements come on the scene and for a while Barrigan is hard pressed, being struck several times.  Eventually our superior fighting skills scare off the last remaining orcs who flee from the combat.  It would seem that this group have the same symbol as the goblins encountered previously, an orcs head with a cloven ear.
We finish binding our wounds and get back on the trail towards the lumber camp.  When we are several miles short of our destination we make camp and send out our scouts to reconnoiter the area.  They report back that the logging camp still looks active and the indentured loggers/prisoners seem to be roaming fairly freely, also that an excavation is taking place where they seem to have unearthed a stone structure to the North West of the camp.  We decide to use one of our invisibility potions to turn four of us invisible for a short time to enable a more detailed scouting of the area and to try and ascertain the numbers in the camp, this is done without a hitch and it would seem that there are in excess of 100 people in the camp.  We also find out that the excavation is to uncover a tomb where an ancient wizard from the rebels side is buried, it would seem that these rebels are hoping to uncover some powerful magics with which to use against the glorious Barelinian nation – we must stop this.
We rejoin with Kalan and outline the situation – to take on this unified force will be suicidal, but we must prevent them from entering the tomb where they seem to have nearly uncovered the entrance.  We decide to go in under cover of darkness and try and gain entry to the tomb to remove anything of use to the rebel marauders.
Using another potion of invisibility Barrigan, Carinne, Galvish and Taran enter the pit whilst Krachtig scouts the leaders hut nearby,  Using a silence spell cast on a coin the warriors rush down to the half dozen guards standing by the sealed tomb entrance, a fight ensues which is over quickly but not without some noise which seems to have awoken the camp, we quickly discern the entrance is trapped and locked but manage to negate these and gain entrance to the tomb just as an invisible gnome calls out he is coming and the camp is roused, we drag in an unconscious rebel and just in time close the tomb doors and the dwarf seals them with some earth magic – pah, nothing an umber hulk could not burrow through.
We question the prisoner who by now has come round and he makes some claim that they were going to resurrect the dead mage and sic him on our forces, we drag him along with us in this fetid tomb.
The first main room we come across has a bunch of old corpses strewn across the floor, bracing ourself for the worst we step into the room and as expected the corpses animate and attack us.  Barrigan does a marvelous job of turning the skeletons leaving us with a bunch of zombies to kill, this goes off fairly well with some wounds being taken by the party, then the dwarf starts laying into the skeletons which breaks the turning effect, we again lay waste to these foul creatures but take more wounds in the process.  In the meantime our prisoner has escaped and our gnome is gnowhere to be seen (as he was invisible) a short while later the now visible Krachtig wanders back wiping off his daggers blade – just been doing some sightseeing he cheerfully replies.
Not wanting to waste all our magic and being forced to spend time resting here we continue along the corridor and spike shut doors to barracks we pass.
We enter a room with sarcophagi and chests, as soon as we start dicking with things a bunch of shadows attack us and drain some of our strength, we then come to a trapped door, we backtrack the corridors and come to what would appear to be another trapped door possible leading into the same room beyond.  We disarm the trap and enter the room.  Inside lies a sarcophagus resting upon a raised dais, around the room stand statues in fierce warlike poses, in each corner lies a chest.  Upon investigation of the coffin it is covered in an unknown language and has the bas relief of a mighty wizard carved into the lid.  Taran fearing the worst ties some rope around several of the statues figuring that if they animate then this should slow them down a bit.  Then with the combined strength of Galvish, Krachtig and Taran the lid is slid off.  A hideous creature rises from the coffin and simultaneously the half dozen statues around the room come to life.  Galvish and Taran both strike the creature with their magic swords and shout out in panicky voices that their swords don’t seem to be strong enough to damage the creature, Barrigan rushes up with his mighty battle axe to combat the creature.  Taran rushes over to Carinne and battles the statues, their swords being somewhat dulled by these stony foes.  Barrigan is struck by the shadowy creature and cries out, this foul being has stolen some of the dwarfs life force.  Slowly the statues are taken down one by one and when Barrigan delivers the killing blow to the creature the last of them crumble to dust, we rapidly bind others wounds and bring Krachtig back from unconciousness.
The chests in this room are then explored, whilst trying to disarm a trap Galvish inadvertently triggers it and a poison gas cloud envelops the room, Taran was in the midst of mixing a dose to neutralize the poison and ends up having to quickly drink it down himself to avoid the ill effects.  He then steps out of the room as the other chests are opened, once more a gas cloud fills the room, but the others inside are made of sterner stuff.  Loot is gathered and the chests in the previous room are gone through.  Before we dwell here to long we must find another way out of this tomb.  Sure enough we slide the sarcophagus aside and a way out is found that meanders through long tunnels before emerging at a partially collapsed cave.  We emerge into the daylight and make our way back to our camp relaying what we have discovered to Kalan.  He points out that we still need to deal with these rebels who have taken over this logging outpost, but first we rest and recover our strength.