Skull Quest 1 - The Castle, Sub Level 2

A faint stench it noticeable. The stairs end in a large room. A second flight of stairs leads up to the level above. A large table and four chairs are in the center of the room. Seated at the table are 2 humans and orc and a goblin. The four are drinking and playing cards. One of the humans is smoking a pipe.

A faint stench is here. The guards will battle the intruders. Each of them is armed with a small horn. They will sound their horns and retreat if the battle goes badly. There are six visible exits from this room including the stairway up.

The goblin holds the key to the dungeon cells. He also has some minor magical ability. A spell or two.

Other treasure: 24 gold and 12 silver (in the pot), 4 tankards, 1 ale keg.

A horrible stench is noticeable in this area. Decaying flesh, sweat, excrement, garbage and tobacco mixed together. The stench at the iron door is overpowering.

The stout iron door is 2 meters tall and 1 meter broad. It is well made and fits against the stone precisely leaving almost no gap between the two. A tiny square window in the upper half of the door allows you to see in. A sliding bolt is in the wall, next to the door, half way up.

The door opens with a loud squeak. Inside, you find mounds of garbage piled high sitting in putrid water. Large white worms writhe in the garbage. Rats scurry away from your light.

Something large in the back slithers away from the light.

The players will have to use light sources to see in. Inside, you see mounds of garbage and hundreds of rats feasting. Something in the back slithers away from the light. The sliding rod in the wall is a simply bolt lock handle. There is a handle on each end. If the players open the door and step inside, the floor is actually filled with squishy liquid about two feet deep. A large square shaft is visible in the ceiling with cracks (from doorways) letting light in. The shaft goes up at least fifty feet (three, possibly four levels).

The large white worms are bore worms and will attack any unprotected flesh.

The large thing in the back is a 12 foot snake feeding on rats.

Rats scurry away from you as you approach. The hall is lit by flickering torches set in sconces on the walls spaced 20 feet apart. The corridors are lined with heavy, stout oak doors. Small windows in each with iron bars. A large letter is painted on the outside of each cell door in pale yellow paint. A, B, C, D, E, etc.

Each door is locked from the outside with a heavy pad lock. Except for those mentioned below, all cells are empty or just have corpses long dead in them.

A - Lord Stuart Henricsen, human male, long curly dark hair, beard and mustache, well built, about 45 years old. A human paladin and knightly lord. Very experienced. The paladin came across the witches coven awhile back and slew several of the witches. Death Masters. He was captured in the end. His pride got the better of him. He’s consumed with guilt over his failure and the fact that his arrogance has made his people suffer (his group was captured right along with them). He can tell the players a lot about the internal workings of the castle. 

B - Jessik . Paladin squire - A young, inexperienced fighter, Age 16. Fat young boy.

C - Nevits, Paladin's personal manservant. Age 74. Thin, frail old man with wispy grey hair.

D - Kyra, Human girl, age 17, blonde, green eyes, gorgeous. The young farm girl was captured while out retrieving lobster cages. Her father lives in Ballerus. She was taken back to the castle and has been raped several times.

E - John Taylor, Human, shipbuilder and mariner. Lives in Ballerus. Human male, about 65 years old, grey hair and neatly trimmed beard, slim build, looks like Roy Schreider.

F - Krodose, A full blooded ogre and battle hardened veteran. Captured while exploring ruins. Refused to join them.

G - Angus, dwarven smith/miner/stone worker and a good warrior. Was taken ill by disease from a wound by one of the undead. Was kept alive as possible slave. Is almost healed. Was traveling with the other dwarves when they were captured while traveling through Mercia. His wife was killed (died of the undead disease). Now, he's mad and wants to KILL.

Square wooden table, two chairs (one of them is broken), a large flat stone pedestal with a manacle and chain bolted at each corner. A long wooden table with a variety of wicked looking instruments - shears, blades, hooks, knives, spikes, saws and metallic pincers. A large coppery cauldron hangs from a tripod structure in the center of the room above a small, circular fire pit. Blood stains and body parts litter the floor.

The corpse of an elf, three weeks dead, is in the corner.

This room is empty.

A large stone wall about three feet high encircles a shaft that penetrates the floor. The hole is dark.

With the light shining down the hole, you see it goes all the way down to the large cave below. The light is reflected back from water below. The well shaft is about two feet in diameter.

A large pulley and bucket system on a tripod is suspended above the well. Three buckets on floor.

The well shaft opens up inside the cave on the inner side of the portcullis. A grum or elf could fit through the shaft easily. A human with some difficulty. The larger races cannot fit through.

This long, rectangular chamber is very cold and still. Cobwebs and dust cling to everything. This chamber is filled with fifteen stone sarcophagi lined up in a row. All fifteen are open, their lids leaning up against the bases. All fifteen are empty.

If someone takes a close look inside, they can see satiny pillows with definite impressions as if left by a lying corpse. This ancient chamber once held the mortal remains of warriors and nobles of Traxxian origin. These corpses had lain quietly for many centuries until the witch and her followers came. She used the corpses to add to her army of undead. All treasure from this room has been taken already.

This page last updated Wednesday, December 24, 2008. Copyright 1990-2009 David M. Roomes.

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