Nightwick Abbey Session 4

Last night's session was the first in over a month.  It wasn't a very action packed session, largely due to time constraints.  We had a bit of catching up to do and quite a bit of time was spent cracking jokes and goofing off.  This is in some sense part of the game, and as long as the participants had a good time then who cares?

The party consisted of:
Ffraid -- A Neutral Cleric  (A quick note: I'll be using the RC's idea of Druids and Paladins, and it is Ffraid's intention to become a Druid once she hits level 9)
Wodewick -- A Lawful Cleric
Slick -- A Thief
Cornwell -- A Magic-User
and their five followers

The village of Nightwick was a bit busier than usual.  Several merchants were setting up stalls and selling goods not normally available in the village.  Some investigation revealed that this is part of an annual fair that lasts only for a few weeks.  The merchants attempt to sell as many goods as they can before winter comes to the mountains and the snow makes travel dangerous.  Several of the party members restocked their supplies, and Slick the thief was able to obtain several magic arrows.  He also cut a deal with a group of Froglings who offered to brew him some potions that an adventurer might find useful if he would come back next week and purchase them.

After this, the party set forth for the abbey once again.  They found that the advancing cold had an adverse affect on the strange vines that spread from the abbey.  A group of Hobgoblins lay in ambush for them inside the ruins, but after trading bow shots for a few rounds, the Hobgoblins fled.  The party took the opportunity to pursue and managed to slay the whole lot of them before they made it inside the dungeons.

The party had originally planned to check out the are where they slew the Hobgoblin leader in the last session, but something about the dungeon caused them to change their mind.  The entirety of the abbey seemed to creek and moan like an old house (only louder).  The players guessed that this must be because something in the dungeon changed.  One of the players suggested that they return to a landmark room and explore out from there, and so they headed to the circular room which once contained the Orcish black mass.  Here they were attacked by a number of skeletons in decrepit armor, but the party one initiative and the clerics were able to turn them.

They moved into an as yet unexplored room that contained a large tapestry.  This tapestry depicted Sword Brothers in a desperate battle with demonic-looking pagans, but when the light flickered the image seemed to warp to depict undead knights slaying innocents.  Behind the curtain was a small hallway leading to a library manned by zombies in monastic habit.  These set upon the adventurers, and after a hireling was slain and two of the party came within inches of death, they fled back to the surface.  The confluence of strange happenings caused one of my players to say "This place is weird. What the hell did these guys do?"

Next week will hopefully be more active, though if we discuss Mr. Bill some more, that's ok too.