We meet Melveck (“Mel”) the gate guard who takes our 5 cp deposit and wishes us success. Somehow, the other side of the gate feels…different. I had never realized how protected I felt. The very air Upwell scratches at my skin as if it’s seeking a vulnerability. The dark is darker. A feeling of being threatened, leaving safety for danger.
We smugly bypass level 1 where the other new Gravedigger teams seek their fortunes. Armed with Naomi’s cap, we seek Goldcrest Passage and a 4-pillared hall where we’ll locate the secret door she told us about. I hope it’s worth the 40% of treasure we’ll be giving up. An untouched claim was very attractive.
We’re slow at first, learning each other’s strengths as a group. Rrorgild and Giovanni share their Dungeoneering and History expertise. J’iveon and I keep watch. If something worth searching appears, J takes care of traps and locks.
The level has lots of curves. Very pretty architecture, but very bad lines of sight for threats.
We find the room we’re seeking, but it’s blocked by lots of debris. J squeezes through and alerts us to the many rats there. They gathered because the junk concealed a dead body. One with 2 crossbow bolts in the front. We’ve made note of the fletching of the bolts for later. Wonder if Naomi will recognize it?
J makes short work of the secret door. And we’re in!
A side passage leads to a location where someone camped. Quick search of room. Found an armor repair kit. A pair of copper candle sticks, worth 5 gp each. Then we take the other direction and face 6 Simple Dead.
Beyond them, we find a crypt kept apart by an iron grillwork including 2 sarchophagi. the first is empty and the second contains a Simple Dead.
We fight 5 more Simple Dead which wander through while we rest.
Onward. 10 Crypt Spiders with nasty poison. The poison attack reoccurs every 10 minutes or so.
Onward. 2 Tangles which are grotesque bits of sinew and muscle.
We find a fine crystal decanter worth 10 gp and a silver medallion worth 15 gp.
In a side passage, we find an open sarcophagus whose lid is carved to look like a Weeping Woman, Isidora Fidalgo, who died at age 19, “survived by Beloved.” Her tomb lid has a fine lace veil worth 6 gp.
Later we learn Isidora Fidalgo was the youngest daughter of a middle-class farming family. According to the stories you uncover, Isidora was meant to marry the scion of a wealthy mine-owner, a young man named Artur Arnaut.
The night before the wedding, Isidora’s body was found at the bottom of a mine shaft owned by the Arnauts. Artur simply disappeared, and supposedly was never seen again. The mining family paid handsomely to keep the whole thing quiet, including a fine interment for Isidora.