***See bottom of this post for XP and GOLD info.*** The party ventured into the depths of the Palace once more, their journey into the mountains uneventful. When they arrived, the group decided to open and explore the right-most set of doors at the entrance. Upon opening it they discovered recessed into the doorway a wall made of dark green stone, with the jackal-headed figure of Anubis carved in bas-relief. Mi'Gron decided he would search the wall, carefully placing canvas upon his hands, but when the poor dwarf touched the wall he was suddenly struck dead with no mark of injury upon his body. Lucien, having remembered the story that the dwarven adventurer blacksmith had told the group when they first arrived, called out for the aid of Anubis, and pleaded for Mi'Gron's life. Suddenly, the wall undercame a transformation opening up into some greater cosmic dimension upon which the party could look upon. The great form of Anubis came alive and responded to the plea, saying that Mi'Gron did not live his life well, and that Anubis would not aid one that took such delight upon inflicting suffering on others. The great ebony doors then closed, and the audience with the god was at an end. The group then ventured into the left-most set of ebony doors and entered the Palace proper. Three additional characters joined up with the party at that point. The party ignored the painting and mirror as they passed through the corridor, only stopping to poke the carpet with a 10ft pole. The group entered the first door leading south, leading to the room formerly inhabited by goblins and their two-headed mutant goblin leader. They found and opened a secret passage in the room revealing what appeared to be a prisoner's cell. They also revealed and opened a secret door to the west revealing torture implements and prods. Finally the group opened a third secret door leading to the south and discovered a room containing a vicious and deranged rust monster restrained by a rope connected to the ceiling. Ka'Gron decided it would be a good idea to shoot it in the face with his crossbow, while another party member tried to feed it (ineffectively). The rust monster struggled against its bonds and went into a berserk fury after being hit by the bolt; snapping the thick rope that held it. The rust monster viciously attacked Ka'Gron, who fled the room. Larcen the thief move behind the rust monster during the battle, and attempted to pry loose an odd stone block from the the wall in the corner but did not succeed. When Ka'Gron fled the room, Larcen attempted to climb the other half of the rope hanging from the ceiling in order to stay out of reach, but his hands slipped and he fell. The rust monster turned to attack Larcen in a frenzy, but tripped over its legs and antennae, knocking its head against the hard flagstone floor with such force it was rendered stunned. The thieves in the group quietly came back into the room and began stabbing between the rust monster's rocky carapace, their weapons disintegrating into flakes of rust in their very hands. Eventually the beast recovered and was able to viciously bite Ka'Gron, nearly killing him, and rendering his platemail armor into useless rusted debris. The monster slain, the group pried loose the ill-fitting stone block in the wall and discovered a narrow 5ft wide by 5ft tall secret passage, with a large treasure chest sitting near the opening. The group then spent what felt like two hours rolling up the loot from the chest, finding several thousand silver coins, 29 gemstones, and 21 pieces of jewelry; worth over 100,000 gold pieces. The goblins probably were not even aware that the passage existed, and no one knows how long the chest must have lain in that dark passage; but the coinage found was of unfamiliar design, that even the long-lived Dwarves of the colony did not recognize the profile of the Nubian Queen printed on the face. The group was able to return to town with the treasure, resting once overnight on their journey back. ------------------------------------ All who participated in this adventure brought home their share of 8,305 gold pieces. Experienced earned was even more, however there are limits to how much XP a character can receive in a single adventure; if you were level 1, you receive enough xp to bring you to 1xp point away from level 3 (this makes you level 2). The rule is that you can't level more than once from an adventure, and all excess experience points are lost. If you were a level 1 fighting man you are now level 2 and have 3,999 xp. If you were a level 1 magic user you are now level 2 and have 4,999 xp. If you were a level 1 cleric you are now level 2 and have 2,999 xp. If you were a level 1 thief you are now level 2 and have 2,499 xp. The group expressed interest in purchasing one of the warehouses on the south end of town; this particular warehouse contained an old unused stable, warehouse space, and a boat house that could lower a small boat into the water from underneath the piers. I'll put up a separate post about the initial purchase price, maintenance costs, retainer costs, and taxes imposed by the mayor.
