Chronicles of Andren Keep, by Tibbald the Librarian

The Chronicles of Andren Keep

Preface

It is with utmost curiosity that I take the task to chronicle the events surrounding Andren Keep.  Our collection of books is meager at best, and the stipend I receive is far more a courtesy of the Castellan than any earned payment of a service I provide.  Thus, I deem it appropriate to use my gift as a scribe to keep these aged hands from losing their precision.

I.

I have seen many groups of odd bands venture forth for gold and glory, but I have seen few so fortunate as the one that departed on Monday, January 11th.  Whether their tales are to be believed or not, the amount of wealth they recovered in an afternoon's time is absolutely astounding.  They returned with bags of coin and jewels, and more interestingly, with a weapon of note that was ancient enough for me to not recognize.  Even so, the inscription on the blade was an easy decipher.  Alberranoc, literally "Change Ender." Paired with the depiction of a serpent burying its fangs into the neck of a wolfman, I informed Toly, the wielder, that it was likely the bane of many lycanthropes.

Perhaps more astounding was the fact that each of those who left returned in one piece.  Some jeered in disbelief when Merk, the Dwarf, boasted that he survived the venom of three serpents.  Osmond reportedly avoided the lunging strikes of five cobras at once, to which some rightfully criticized him for getting close enough to draw their ire. 

Frederick's countenance had gone from mischievous to grave and fearful.  I could scarcely get a word before he fled to the Temple.  Albert was much more forthcoming.  He told me that Frederick had been possessed by one of many evil spirits that haunted the crypt's halls, but the holy men, Michael and Odrick, held them at bay until they could be sent to the life beyond.

Nickar visits the library often, and his wordless frenzied studying suggested that he found something of interest.  Jonathon, who Nickar affectionately calls "Moose," hovered for an hour or so before Nickar angrily tossed him out.  I curiously took a peek outside an hour later.  Surely enough, Moose was still waiting patiently.  Moose professes that he's still just a farmer and not a bodyguard. An odd relationship.

With their profound luck, I would be surprised if this lot did not set out once more.  I eagerly await their success.  Perhaps there's aught to be learned of this crypt.

II.

Some set off with great excitement. that Wednesday, the 13th.  A mostly merry band.  For the sake of posterity, I gathered their names from the survivors: Robin, Delg, Buck, Percival, Emery, Nathan, and Frederick.  They ventured to a fort southwest of Vernham, after hearing that some farmers had been slain.  Admittedly, young Buck was so spirited that I could not help but record his words verbatim, after asking him several times to slow down.  He said:

"We had our dwarf look ahead with his heaty vision, and we covered him in shite to cool his body temp so he wouldn't be seen by others with heaty vision (my idea)

We found some dark elf like beings in the sewer. Jumped them an took their stuff. Then we found the exit to what looked like the keep proper above. There's a stairway down deeper in the sewers as well

Trapdoor from the sewers seemed to lead us to a large central room in the base of the keep. There we faced little scaly reptiles with their bug pets!

We held our own, till we were met with arrows all around. We couldn't squash the bugs worth shite. Then that's when it happened...

We lost the dwarf! Surrounded and overwhelmed! I did what any noble thief would do and grabs whatever was next to me and bailed

I got two reptile eggs, thirty gold a pop. Seeing that this'll last me a good while back home I called it quits. Whatever else happened is up to the others that survived.

It seems the little reptile men are growing a farm of bugs and more reptiles. It's an infestation if I've ever seen one. We were outnumbered! Beware the fools that return to site A! Bring friends, or at least friends you won't mind losing to cat sized beetles!"

Though only a few returned to the Fort that day after regrouping and getting supplies, Emery and Robin returned without Nathan, Frederick, and Percival.  They returned with heavy hearts and seemingly empty hands.

III.

On January 18th, a rather large group left for the nearby crypt once more: Sir Michael and Odrick of the nearby Church of the Unconquered Sun, Toly, Nickar (and Moose, of course), Merk, and Jolken.  As per usual, the group left with a number of dogs, but this time, live chickens as well; this was an interesting choice that the local farmers were appreciative of. Perhaps even more notably, they left with a large group of laborers with pickaxes.

Thankfully, they all returned in tact.  Nickar informed me that the workers cleared out a large amount of debris that was blocking the entrance to the lower levels of the crypt.  He said that inside, there were piles of gold and an enormous pool of water filled with serpents.  Nickar reported that Moose took a vial of snake venom they had already procured and coated the tip of a spear with it, then threw it at a giant serpent that emerged from the water.  The serpent had been caught with a large noose on a rope deployed by Sir Michael, who worked with others to pull the serpent's head down to striking range.  Sir Michael nearly perished, by all accounts, as he was thrashed into the pool of water, which immediately began sucking him downward.  It was only through fighting the downward pull of the water, grabbing a pole extended by his allies, and their concerted efforts at dragging him out of the water that Sir Michael survived.  The serpent later succumbed either to the venom, to the wounds, or to both.

I can attest to the enormity of this creature, as they returned with its head.  One fang had been removed, however, as apparently this was used to open a door to the next floor downward.  That floor was far more labyrinthine than the ones they had previously described, and was thick with strong webbing.  Nickar reported that the group employed the liberal deployment of lit oil flasks to burn away not only the webbing, but thousands of potentially deadly spiders as well.  In the process, they inadvertently incinerated what appeared to be an enormous spider, recovered a dried out corpse clutching a magic wand, and gathered a hefty sum of valuables in addition.

Regrettably, I knew of no way to identify the magic wand in particular, but I was able to name its owner. "Enrithax."  Though the name sounds familiar, I lack the resources at this time to identify them properly.  Regardless, it was refreshing to see them all return in one piece after this unfortunate events of the prior week at the fort.

IV.

I know little of what transpired on the expedition to the fort on January the 20th, but the entire crew returned alive and had some gold to spare.  Their names: Jolken, Emery, Dexter, Olunt, Hadrian, and Rourke.

V.

Jolken, Nickar (with Moose), Archibald, Michael, and Odrick returned from this delve on January the 25th, though sadly, Toly and Osmond perished by rabid wolves.  It was not a surprise to me to see that the luck of the tomb expedition had shifted, since the night of the 18th, there was a foul omen I overlooked out of fear of succumbing to superstition.  It was a night of no sleep. Inexplicably, every hound of the keep howls, winces, and growled in the direction of the Tomb. The trainers reported they all seemed to be increasingly agitated with each day that passes.  So far, that has continued to be the trend.

This time, the group spent more time searching the floor that they had previously burned away the webs and spiders on.  They explored a much cleaner hall, which quite nearly resulted in being dissolved in this enormous nigh-invisible acid creature.  Fortunately, the pole they were using took the brunt of the surprise assault, and they pelted the creature with flaming oil.  It was from an unexpected encounter with a group of wolves that Toly and Osmond met their fates, but the remainder slew several, learning in the process that strangely enough, the holy men had some sway over the wolves, who otherwise would fight to the very last as if possessed.  They continued on, disarming a trap in which a tripwire sent a wall of spikes swinging their way.  Later, some of their dogs fell into a pit, which they used the now-disassembled wall trap to cover, then pulled it back such that a collection of murderous statues plummeted downward after chasing them.

VI.

Again, I know little about what transpired on January 27th.  Jolken, Olunt, Emery, Dexter, Hadrian, Briggs, Rourke, and Archibald set off that day, along with mules and carts.  They returned with poor Rourke and Archibald's bodies mauled by what was described as large, glowing insects.  When asked, Olunt told me, "the buggers had dug more pit traps than last we where there, expect them at the foot of every door."  A generous donation was made to provide Rourke and Archibald with very nice tombstones and funeral services.  Though the tombstone is as of yet not ready, the plan was shown to me. It looked like this, which was a rough mapping of the fort, as I was told.

A peculiar choice, but I was assured that Rourke would appreciate the gesture, as it could spare others the fate he suffered.

VII.

On February 1st, Dakath, Merk, Dexter, Jolken, Moose, Nickar, Odrick, and Michael departed the Keep.  It brings me great pain to discover that Moose is no longer among the living.  Nickar reported the following:

"The most recent foray into the crypt of the serpent brought us past the curious obelisk which broke through the surface during the interims of our trips there.  The clerics must have sensed a presence there,  so they produced fonts of blessed water, and immersed it.  Surely one's spirit breathes aether from beyond, because no sooner had they done this than a cantankerous shade of a man arose from it, seemingly driven out by the water, choking, as it were.  It spouted a few obscenities at the party, then faded back to its pitiable afterlife.

We continued to the top of the structure which housed snakes and dead which refuse to maintain the dignity to remain at rest.  The inscription at the entrance explained that the inferior servants of these buried rulers would linger as guardians of sorts.  We'd found remains of snakes, and soon dispatched more of the ensorcelled wolves.  Clearly a force beyond them is at large in this ruined pile, and we must prepare an appropriate greeting for it.

We continued down to the second floor, back to the intersection which branched out to our left and right.  The left had earlier contained droppings and bone fragments, but now at the corridor's bend, there lay the corpse of a wolf, grievously wounded from a blade and gnawed upon by fearsome fangs, it would seem.  The right branching went but a few feet, it at all.  It seemed a curious bit of architectural design, so we decided for the elf to inspect for a cunningly hidden entrance.  One was found!  We opened it and proceeded through, and discovered nothing but a few coppers.

At the bend of this corridor, a concerning statue of a wolf, shown frozen in motion, gave us pause.  After some discussion, we encouraged a chicken to wander ahead after some prompting from our hounds. A heavy blade fall ended the clucking, so we threw a torch down the hall, whereupon a massive silhouette shone against the wall.  Our dweomers readied, the thing beyond turned to attack and in an instant, the party ended the threat.  An examination of the aberrant form revealed it to be warped by some enchantment. A large but otherwise unremarkable axe was its weapon, and upon its body it wore a suit of too-small, filthy and  somewhat rusting armor.

Around this time, entities without substance appeared in the corridor, and unfortunately my best friend Moose was slain by these foul things.  The divine repulsion of the clerics' power, augmented no doubt by the tragedy of our fallen comrade, caused the shadow creatures to flee.

We had decided to collect the few bits of copper coins we had found, and made our way back out of the crypt.  We chanced upon a large but dim fellow, one of an unfortunate visage but handy with a sword.  He called himself Bull, and I knew that beyond his simple exterior, there beat a heart of gold.  He was welcomed into our party with welcome arms, and we headed back to the keep, where we would rest and plan our next move."

It's an incredible shame that Moose fell victim to the Tomb.  One grows accustomed to the losses of violent men living violent lives, but a simple farmer is another thing entirely.  I did not relish the idea of delivering the bad news to his family, but it had to be done.  This "Bull" creature was a hideous sight, but under Nickar's word that it means no harm, it seems a watchful eye should be enough.

VIII.

It seemed that a group meant to venture off, on February 3rd, but some continuous loud noises in the forest spooked the horses, and it took the entire day to catch them all.