Week 3 - Crypt of the Damned

Using the map found in the Barrow Lair, we started our journey to located the bend in the Still River that had been marked. Walking along some foothills we entered a narrow valley and found a landslide of rocks blocking our way. No choice really, we all got our hands dirty and backs sore trying to move the rocks and clear our path. This was hot and exhausting work (Road Event: 29 - Discard 2 cards each).

Upon reaching our destination and as we started our search of the area, the Bandit Commander's question from the darkness in the Barrow Lair was heavy upon our minds; "Who are you to think you can interrupt the work of the Gloom?"

A few hours of searching revealed the entrance to the ruins of an ancient crypt (Map Location #4: Crypt of the Damned) half covered in moss and ivy. This history of this place is old and dark - so we descended a set of grimy stairs with caution. At the bottom of the stairs we stumbled across a large party of Bandit Archers and Living Bones. One of the Bandits suggested we had made a mistake in coming here...

Near the start of the fight Zephir opened up a devastating Icy Blast which Muddled and weakened all our opponents. Mal Drake pulled off a cool maneuver by stabbing a Bandit and dragging his opponent onto a nearby trap. The rest of our enemies fell quickly, the Bandit was wrong, we knew exactly where we wanted to be...

The second chamber was more of a challenge. Jax appeared not to think so and charged right in, perhaps a bit recklessly because the rest of us all paused to evaluate the tactical situation. We encountered some new enemies: Cultists. Unfortunately he took quite a beating until the rest of us were able to storm in behind him. Jax is not one to piss off, in his rage he pulled off  an amazing combo (10 HP) attack and turned one of the Cultist's summoned Living Bones to dust with one hit.

This fight went on for quite some time and we were all pretty beat up when we entered the third crypt chamber. New enemies: Earth Demons, these guys are creatures of pure elemental energy , enraged and demonic. Fortunately, it seemed Crush had caught some of Jax's rage and delivered a couple of massive attacks. His attacks shifted the balance of power in our direction and we did eventually defeat the Demons.

Most of us were nearing our exhaustion level by this time and a quick discussion ensued regarding our ability to continue into the last chamber.  Jax made some compelling arguments that suggested a retreat at this time was likely our best option, but Crush and Zephir both thought we ought to continue on. Mal spoke up and claimed he was too close to exhaustion and could not help much in the fight for the last chamber, but he would catch up to us and investigate the chest and some of the bodies in this room. Bad decision, the chest was trapped and Mal ended up getting Poisoned.

The fourth chamber held new horrors again: Wind Demons and more Cultists. This was indeed a battle with all the resources we had left within us. Jax went down, Mal was down and Crush was drawing his last breath when we finally dropped the last combatant. Unfortunately we did not have enough resources to examine the Chest in this room, we barely got out of the Crypt of the Damned alive.

Upon reflection, it seemed we had interrupted some sort of ritual here, these elemental demons belong on another plane. The Cultists were no doubt responsible for pulling them through to this plane. On an altar where Mal fell, there was a wealth of scribblings, from what looked like an ancient civilization, about these rituals. Among the scripts we found notes on a couple of other places of power in the area. One appears to see heavy use by the Cultists the other is marked as being overrun by vicious undead. It looks as though we can either attack the Cultists (Map Location 5: Ruinous Crypts) or help them by clearing out their enemies (Map Location 6: Decaying Crypt).

We beat a hasty path back to Gloomhaven for some much needed rest and recovery. On a trip to New Market for some supplies a Valrath Merchant's stall had an interesting sea chart prominently displayed. He noted our interest and asked us to make an offer for it, he promised it showed a location of wondrous and untold riches. (City Event: 08)  Mal Drake couldn't resist and offered him 20 Gold on the spot. (Lose: 20 Gold, Map Location: 93 - Sunken Vessel,  Party Achievement: A Map to Treasure)

Returning from New Market the Whiskey Bandits spent some time repairing gear, doing some training (Mal Drake, Jax & Crush Level Up) and discussing if we wanted to help or fight the Cultists. There were definitely pros and cons to both paths. Ultimately Jax said it best "Cultists are evil", Crush nodded agreement and it seems the matter was settled.

Peace,
Brent

Week 2 - Barrow Lair Conclusion

Our search for our quarry and the documents continues.... The stench of death and rotting flesh got thicker as we kicked past the corpses and headed deeper into the underground burial site.

Guided by the muffled sounds of conversation we came upon a small room and a handful of Bandit Bowmen - we were thrice Cursed (Scenario Special Rules: Add 3 Curse cards)!

Fortunately, we managed to make short work of them and they went down quickly. Somewhat alarming Zephir seemed really eager during this fight and opened the door to the next chamber before the battle was concluded, why was she being so reckless?!

The next chamber proved to be a bigger challenge and started with a question asked of us from the darkness "Who are you to think you can interrupt the work of the Gloom?" We found our Quarry! and two of his Elite Bandit Bowmen body guards. The Bandit Commander immediately jumped to a door and quickly opened it unleashing a few Living Corpse monstrosities on us.

The fight was ferocious and the battlefield cramped due to several Sarcophagus littering the room. The Bandit Bowmen were taking their toil and making the most of their ranged attacks. It also did not help that the Bandit Commander managed to summon a couple Living Bones skeletons. Mal Drake could have ended the battle at one point, but for some reason stayed her hand and let the Bandit Commander open the second room. I suspect greed for the chest inside was the motive, we assume it was not for the two Living Corpses also in the room.

The Whiskey Bandits did prevail, but just barely. In the end, Crush and Jax both fell, Zephir was drawing her last breaths and Mal was pretty tapped out. We did find the documents and managed to revive our fellow mercenaries and depart the Barrow Lair (Map Location #2).

We did peruse the documents we discovered and found a map with the location of the Crypt of the Damned (Map Location #4) and some writing in an unknown archaic language.

Once back at the Sleeping Lion we hooked up with Jekserah, handed over the papers and she paid us our reward of 10 Gold each. (Scenario Reward: 10 Gold and +1 Prosperity) She seemed pleased by our work and suggested we might be interested in another job regarding a tribe of Inox that has apparently been ransacking her caravans headed to the capital. She unrolled a map  that showed the Inox Encampment (Map Location #3). Jax and Crush wanted to pass on the extra job and seek out the Crypt of the Damned instead, Mal didn't seem to care one way or the other and Zephir seemed more drawn to the Dagger Forest. We will go to the Crypt of the Damned.

We decided to celebrate before heading off, after all we mercenaries just got paid! It was truly a marvelous night (City Event #15) with much drinking and storytelling. (Zephir Leveled Up) Heading back to our rooms we took a wrong turn into an alley and Crush tripped over a mutilated corpse making a lot of noise. A City Guard heard the noise at the end of the alley, turned, saw the body, drew his sword and asked "What did you do?" The Guard clearly thought we were responsible for the man's death.

We tried to explain that we had been drinking and were on our way home when Crush tripped over the already dead body. The situation got worse when the guard yelled and more guards showed up eyeing us with suspicion. Fortunately, Jax noticed that none of our weapons matched the man's wounds and the leader of the guards agreed with him. They eventually agreed to let us go (Lose 2 Reputation), but it looks like we will have to work to restore some trust and our reputation a little.

On our way to the Crypt of the Damn we came upon a hard-looking mercenary sitting on a patch of grass. (Road Event #28) He was looking weary and asked if we had a spare Stamina Potion we could sell him. Mal Drake had one he was willing to part with and the man (oddly) gave each of us 5 Gold for Mal's generosity.

Peace,

Brent

Mercenary Backstory - Mal Drake the Human Scoundrel

"Gloomhaven is a dump. Not that it doesn’t have its upsides. The law enforcement is a joke. It has a lot of potential for growth. Growth means money and opportunities. I have yet to pay for a meal or a drink and the rent to have a space of my own isn’t horrible. I met some “adventurers” that might be able to provide some muscle for my own investigations, so for now we are “friends”. This is why I am really here, because here is where all leads to figuring out who Xorn is and what power he/she/it can provide me point.

We got a job to chase some paperwork from some fancy girl. We managed to even make a few extra coins before we left Gloomhaven in pursuit of this paper rogue (not positive this helmet is a good fit though). We got surrounded by a bunch of Inox thugs just after leaving town, apparently the people of Gloomhaven are not well liked by the indigenous Inox.  I thought having an Inox Brute in the group would have helped more than it did, no challenge of a fight to the death or anything exciting. We managed to lie our way out of a battle, but for some reason it seemed that the Inox and the Spellweaver were uncomfortable with that, although the Vermling didn’t seem to mind. At least the group isn’t full of boring, handsy humans that like to slave away to barely eke out a living through honest work or adventuring to champion some joke of a noble cause.

We reached the bandit lair and I decided to take it easy and size up the group and its capabilities. Never slacking enough to not be a valued part of the team, but letting them do the brunt work with their might, spells and weird stuff. The Mindthief seems to favor poisons and I am interested in seeing what I can learn from “him”. I really thought I was going to clean up money wise with this group, but the Brute claimed more money than I was expecting… and to avoid scrutiny I certainly am not going to call him out for it. At first it was pretty boring, thugs and some bowmen… but I was surprised to see some living dead which might lead to something more interesting. The bones went down too easy to offer real promise, but where the dead walk Xorn rumors stir. I am sure I can steer things in the right directions as I learn more. "

Daniel Hammond wrote this up - Thanks Dan!