Road to a Barrow

The party completed their return trip to Johkan with Nuna, the advisor to the former Moonless Tribe's War Chief, telling them of the affairs of the Moonless Tribe. The party learned of an adjacent tribe, the Willow Tribe, which was of a more peaceful nature.

Upon arriving back at Johkan, rewards for the destruction of the bridge were collected and the Moonless Tribe were situated outside the walls temporarily. Negotiations were undertaken and eventually a temporary space for the Moonless Tribe near the abandoned cemetery was secured. The Grey Society told the party that Tyrus had gone to negotiate with the Goblin tribes under the city but no one had heard from him in several days. In discussions with the town council, led by Lady Saldor, the party learned that researchers in the White Keep had identified a possible stash of magical weapons within two days of Johkan southwards near or at the Mound of Sorrow. It was hoped that the party could retrieve them to aid in the defence of the city before the advancing Hobgoblin hordes arrived. The barrow where the weapons were stored was supposedly the final resting place of heroes who had once defended the city in a previous age before the most recent sacking of the city some 500 years ago.

There was a brief spate of shopping, mostly for healing potions and a breast plate or two. Then it was time to hit the road again. Jokhan's preparations were well underway as the threat to the city was now apparent. Sharptooth of the Moonless Tribe, son of the former War Chief, joined the party seeking to earn himself a bit of respect that was, so far, sorely lacking.

The cleaned up wagon was loaded with supplies and the remainder of the demolition materials. Most of the party rode in the wagon, Lucky Luke driving, while Savario rode his horse. The country-side, tall dry grass disappearing over rolling hills, passed quickly as the wagon trundled along the well worn road south, following the river to the coast.

Following the River South from Johkan

At a broad bend in the river, eight Lizardmen and a Giant Lizard ambushed the wagon. They were quickly dispatched and their corpses were loaded into the wagon... the rest of the party was now on foot. A burnt out wagon was found in the rushes along the side of the river, all ready stripped of anything of value. Looting of the Lizardmen's corpses turned up 250 worth of gold, presumably from the previously ambushed wagon.

Lizardmen Attack

After cleaning up a bit, the instructions to the barrow led the party down the road a ways and then into a broad valley. The road trickled away to a cartway and then nothing more than some disturbed grass. Looking ahead, a low hill sat at the centre of the valley, grass growing over its summit, with the sun sinking and shadows growing long in the valley.

A survey of the hill resolved that there were no features of particular interest excepting a shallow sunken area on the far side of the hill. Lucky Luke, Grunt and Tordek hauled out shovels from the wagon, left over from the demolition work on the bridge, and set to excavating the area. By the time Lucky Luke had lifted more than a couple shovel fulls out of the way, the two dwarves had cleared the area, leaving a tidy six steps down into the earth and bracing around the excavation to prevent any collapse. Revealed, was a circular stone doorway mounted in a rough stonework frame. The doorway was split into four quadrants.

A few false tries to muscle through the door and the party figured out that four seperate people were required to push on the door; one for each panel. At that moment a voice sounded in their minds

   "Let all who pass be tested and found fair.
          Take that which is offered and nothing moare."

With that the portal swung open revealing stone stairs downwards into the barrow and a passage beyond. The passage was one and a half shoulders wide and, once the party arrived at the bottom of the 20-odd stairs, was found to be a packed dirt passage. Lucky Luke and Savario scouted ahead and Luke quickly spotted two holes, one on either side of the tunnel at shoulder height. After some investigation and no bright ideas, the party carried on. A similar set of holes were found 40 feet down the passage. The holes were six inches in diameter and carried back into the wall some 12 feet or so.

The party carried forward and as the last of the party passed the second set of holes, gunk started to pour forth, disgorging onto the floor in a large pile. The piles picked themselves up and started moving towards the, now reversed, party. "Mud Grue!" shouted Sellwyn, quickly identifying the half-elemental creatures.

[Roll initiative!]