Adventure 5: Trouble in the Graveyard
Session 1
[A short session - this occurred at the end of session 2 for the previous adventure]. Having arrived back in Eversham following their escapades in Ridstock the party discover that there are rumours about the Eversham graveyard. Some have suggested that the dead are walking about after nightfall. They decide to investigate.
There is other information that the party gather. Digby Husbandry has now opened for business in Eversham - it looks like his opening deals are extremely good value. Also someone has turned over the home of the DeGarcy family; they were antique and fine art collectors, but not any more - it seems that someone has made off with the majority of their collection. This is beyond the normal activities of the thief guilds around that district so it would seem something big is going off.
Putting all that aside, the party do a little checking about Zombies, and get very misinformed about how to deal with them; so they pack themselves up with plenty of oil, and make for the graveyard, which is 30-40 minutes walk for a dwarf outside of town. At first they have trouble convincing the guard that they should be let inside to deal with the menace, but eventually manage to blag their way in, using Jim's skills to convince them.
At first the place is filled with interminable boredom, waiting for signs of unlife to show itself. Eventually, soon after midnight, the party are assaulted; by a group of skeletons. The party deal with them slowly but effectively, taking only minor damage along the way.
Session 2
Small groups of undead lead back to the mausoleums on the top of the hill. There are an awful lot of undead hanging around the graveyard - but no one has attempted to guess why they are around. Fighting a few more of the undead, the party went into one of the mausoleums which appeared to be open. Inside were more skeletons and zombies. Getting into the crypt and fighting the undead led to the discovery of a ghoul hiding in the darkness of a corner of the crypt - he surprised Formil who was attacked from behind - and was paralysed by the ghoul's bite.
Eventually the crypt was cleared of undead, but the party were pretty much spent. Insorce and Anoni were both badly hurt, and Randy was clean out of spells (and he'd been unusually effective). They were forced to retreat. Jim was almost tempted into grave robbery, but the steadfast attitudes of his friends persuaded him that graves are not for robbing. Getting to the gates of the graveyard was easy, the problem was getting through them as Jim found it impossible to pick the large padlock which held a chain around the large iron gates. The party (eventually) climbed over and retreated back to town where they spent two days resting and healing.
Jouneying back to the graveyard was pretty easy - the Militia guarding it were still in no mood to intervene if the party got into trouble, and the undead were still hanging around. The party headed for the heart of the graveyard; there are several larger family tombs at the top of the hill, and one appeared to be open - the tomb of the Bowdrick family. They were preparing to go inside when they were met outside the tomb by a small group of skeletons. Insorce checked inside the tomb while the others engaged the skels outside. Insorce successfully turned the group of zombies and skeletons inside, while the others made short work of the other threat. Everyone moved into the tomb, and the turned undead were mopped-up easily.
Session 3
Working their way down into the crypt, the party waded through wave after wave of zombies and skeletons. The only unusual aspect was an abandoned alchemical laboratory, complete with some equipment, abandoned benches and some empty chemical pots. Randy gathered up the pots he could find before they pressed further on. The zombies nearly proved too much with Formil falling twice and Mouse getting badly hurt too before the party withdrew. They didn't realise but they'd cleared most of the undead from the graveyard; they holed up in one of the tombs side rooms before heading back to town in the daylight.
Next, they decided then to go to their guilds and organisations for training, but really struggled to get enough cash together to get everyone instructed in their new skills; maximising their income seems like it's going to be a priority in the future. Training was finished on the 30th of Ulunacon, the day before the Midsummer Festival. They've yet to investigate what the pots once contained, or what their significance is.