After a two-day rest in Frostmark, the party returned to continue
exploring the tower ruins. Ambrose was attended this time by two
fighting-men, Sturdoon and Rolgrim, on lease from Ajax's Mercenary
Company.
They continued into an as-yet unexplored area of the dungeon,
discovering a wide underground stream. Laying in it, face up, was a
dead adventurer. His throat and legs had been gnawed on, and he was
missing his left arm. Asher, thinking he may be close to finding his
statuette, walked into the stream to investigate, but was attacked
by three alligators who darted out from under the dark water. He
leaped aside, to the opposite bank, but dropped his lantern in the
process. As the party shouted and attacked the alligators by the
light of Thom's lone torch, Asher stood some distance away, in the
dark. He heard shuffling noises from behind him and thought that the
enemy he could see was the wiser course, so he ran back across the
stream to join the fight.
Ustos and Ambrose were wounded in the fight with the alligators, but
in the end the party was victorious. The shuffling sounds turned out
to be four shambling zombies, who doggedly pursued the party back
down a tunnel towards the entrance chamber. Ustos was not able to
turn the creatures away, so the party retreated and fought from a
distance with their bows, eventually killing all four.
They returned to the stream, where Asher searched the body of the
adventurer and the others examined a small room from which the
zombies had attacked. Asher found his statuette, and a potion
bottle, while the party discovered a man-sized statue of a wizard
holding a jeweled amulet.
The party returned to town, paying a tidy sum to learn the
properties of the amulet, which was said to protect it's wearer from
enchanted creatures. Asher returned the statuette to Rake at the
Empty Purse, and was provisionally welcomed into the Dark Brother's
Band, although no more information on that guild was forthcoming –
he was told to wait for some contact.
## Referee Notes:
Bows in OD&D are quite deadly at short and medium range, with the +2
or +1 to attack rolls and two attacks per round for stationary
archers (presumed since the missile weapon rates of fire come from
Chainmail). The party used this fact to good effect by drawing the
zombies down a narrow corridor that opened into a larger room,
giving them space to launch missile attacks as the zombies moved
into view. Note I don't allow long-range shots underground with
bows, only with crossbows.
