Session 11: Tomb of the Iron God, Part 11

(Apologies if I've forgotten anything. It's been a while since the game and I don't remember all of the details.)

The party return to the room to the north, which they didn't fully investigate before. Searching the alcoves reveals a few coins but little else. They decide to take the southernmost of the two west exits from the room.

This exit, after a short passage, opens into a small room; a dead end containing more alcoves, and dominated by a pile of decomposing goblin corpses. Rummaging through, they find about a dozen goblins in various states of decomposition, ranging from approximately a week old to a month old. All seem to have died violent deaths, mostly to weapon wounds but also to claw and bite marks. There are no trails along the floor or any other indication of how the goblins got here, and the party are unable to determine exactly what happened. The alcoves contain a necklace, but otherwise the room has nothing else of interest.

The party next take the other western passage from the previous room. This passage contains a branch to the north, and also turns north at the end. Taking the branch to the north, the party discover that it ends in a dead end. Taking the time to search it, they find a secret door that opens into the room with 100 alcoves that they'd already explored.

Backtracking, they head to the end of the passage where it turns north, and follow it. The passage continues for about 50 feet before opening into a room, but as the party step in, they are ambushed by a pack of skeletons that emerge from around a corner. As the skeletons charge the side of the party's ranks, a second pack of skeletons emerge from further down the room, for a total of ten skeletons. The party sustain some injury, but after a few moments of confusion, Iriellis and Flossaria hold off the creatures, allowing the rest of the party destroy them.

Searching the room, the party find more alcoves and a passage to the north. A search of the alcoves reveals nothing, but the party do find a large gem rattling around inside one of the skeletons' skulls. The north passage is a dead end; searching it reveals a secret door into a hallway the party had already explored.

At this point, barring any secret passages that the group may have missed, the lower catacombs are completely explored. Iriellis stops to think for a moment, and realizes that she no longer feels the same compulsion from the Iron God that she did before. Thus, the party assume that those skeletons must have been the last of the undead within the catacombs. They decide to head back to visit the Iron God.

Returning to the Iron God's chambers, they find them essentially unchanged from when they first visited. They speak with the Iron God, who confirms that the undead have been purged and that their mission is complete. It informs them that it is weak now, and intends to enter a period of sleep for a very long time. Thus, despite Arik's pleas, it cannot leave to go with him.

With the undead in the catacombs dealt with, Arik decides that there is no further use to exploring the monastery, as the Iron God will not leave to come with them. They return to the village of Asuna and rest for the night. The next morning, Hassan's caravan sets out, and they continue their journey towards the city of Viskha.