The stairs down to the catacombs was a simple switchback. Lanterns lit with silver flames illuminated the catacombs. These everburning lanterns were a simple magic, providing heatless light with the illusion of flame. They were commonly used, it was true, but I had never heard of them being used so thoroughly before in a tomb, as though trying to drive back all trace of shadows. Usually, people wanted to give the dead at least some shade to sleep in.

Other than the silver light, the most notable thing in the surprisingly clean and dry chamber we found ourselves in was a statue of marble inlaid with silver. I was only passingly familiar with religions, but it was obvious that the statue depicted the three phases of Selune, the child, the maiden, and the crone. Only, in this statue, the crone was in the center spot. Fitting for a house of the dead, I supposed.

As we spread out at the bottom of the stairs, we were startled by a chorus of ghostly wails approaching us. Through the wall of what had to be one of the lesser crypts, five shadowy shapes emerged, their black forms appearing to be orcs with cruel blades. Not all the wraiths had followed Brathik as she tried to distract them, it seemed. No matter, we would cut our way through them, regardless.

Initiatives

Siora

Vestele

Melinda

Frostmane

Wraiths

W2’s Will Save (Shadow Evocation): 1d20+6 = 9 (Fail)

W2’s Ref Save (Fireball): 1d20+4 = 15 (Fail, full damage)

50% miss chance: 1d100 = 72 (Hit)

W3’s Will Save (Shadow Evocation): 1d20+6 = 12 (Fail)

W3’s Ref Save (Fireball): 1d20+4 = 13 (Fail, full damage)

50% miss chance: 1d100 = 5 (Miss)

W4’s Will Save (Shadow Evocation): 1d20+6 = 19 (Fail)

W4’s Ref Save (Fireball): 1d20+4 = 8 (Fail, full damage)

50% miss chance: 1d100 = 17 (Miss)

W5’s Will Save (Shadow Evocation): 1d20+6 = 19 (Fail)

W5’s Ref Save (Fireball): 1d20+4 =17 (Fail, full damage)

50% miss chance: 1d100 = 95 (Hit)

Siora’s Shadow Evocation (Fireball): 10d6 = 27 (Fire)

Siora uttered a curse as the wraiths approached, and quickly cast a spell of shadow that turned into flame as it exploded, engulfing four of the incorporeal creatures. Unfortunately, two emerged from the pyre unscathed, though the other two looked far the worse for the wear. “I’m not going to be much use against these things.”

Vestele’s Rebuke Undead: 1d20+2 = 10 (7 HD or lower creatures)

Rebuking Damage: 2d6+9 = 16 (total HD rebuked)

“Don’t worry, sister. That’s why I’m here.” Holding her holy symbol in hand, Vestele looked at the closest of the undead, and decreed, “BY THE POWER OF MALCANTHET, STAY BACK!” Three of the wraiths, including one of those that had been burned by Siora’s spell, cowered as Vestele’s channeled divine power swept over them.

Melinda’s Concentration check: 1d20+24 = 41 (Success)

Melinda’s attack roll (W1): 1d20+22 = 33 (Touch) (Hit)

50% Miss Chance: 1d100 = 100 (Hit)

Vitriolic Chain damage: 7d6 = 25 (Acid)

Melinda’s attack Roll (W2): 1d20+22 = 25 (Touch) (Hit)

50% Miss Chance: 1d100 = 59 (Hit)

Vitriolic Chain damage: 12 (Acid) (Dead)

Melinda’s attack Roll (W3): 1d20+22 = 33 (Touch) (Hit)

50% Miss Chance: 1d100 = 1 (Miss)

Seeing a cowering wraith in my face, I did the only natural thing. I blasted it with a bolt of acid. My strike hit, and then chained to the cowering burned wraith, destroying it. But when the blast chained again, it slipped straight through the undead creature. “Damn it all! These things are going to be a pain!”

Frostmane’s attack (W5): 1d20+24 = 42 (Hit)

50% Miss Chance: 1d100 = 93 (Hit)

Bite Damage: 1d8+17 = 22 (Dead)

Frostmane darted around the side of the statue, and bit the shadowy wraith who had been burned by Siora’s false fireball. The wraith wailed in frustration as it was sent to a final death. “These things make my skin crawl. Let’s kill them quickly!”

W4’s Attack (Melinda): 1d20+5 = 17 (Touch) (Miss)

The force of five wraiths had quickly been cut down to three, and two of those were stuck, forced to cower in awe of Vestele and her demon goddess. The last approached me, swiping at me with its shadowy sword. But the creature was too slow, even with its incorporeal form, to hit me. Their touch was legendary for its debilitating effects, but that only mattered if you were touched!

Siora’s attack (W3): 1d20+14 = 21 (Hit)

50% Miss Chance: 1d100 = 65 (Hit)

Damage: 1d6+2 = 7 (Piercing)

Siora’s attack (W3): 1d20+9 = 15 (Hit)

50% Miss Chance: 1d100 = 5 (Miss)

Not wanting to waste more spells on these creatures, Siora put an arrow to the string of her shortbow, and fired, striking the wraith cowering in the back. The shot hit center mass, but that meant nothing to an undead, of course. Her second shot was on target, but unfortunately passed through the creature, victim to its incorporeal nature.

Vestele’s Attack roll (W3): 1d20+13 = 15 (Hit)

50% Miss Chance: 1d100 = 68 (Hit)

Damage: 1d8+1 = 5 (Piercing)

Vestele followed her sister’s lead. She couldn’t approach the wraiths without releasing the ones cowering from her, but she could shoot them with impunity. And so, she brought her crossbow up, and fired a bolt into the wraith her sister had just hit, further wounding it.

Lingering Acid Damage (W1): 2d6 = 8 (Acid) (Dead)

Melinda’s Concentration check: 1d20+24 = 39 (Success)

Melinda’s attack roll (W4): 1d20+22 = 26 (Touch) (Hit)

50% Miss Chance: 1d100 = 60 (Hit)

Vitriolic Chain damage: 7d6 = 23 (Acid)

Melinda’s attack Roll (W3): 1d20+22 = 33 (Touch) (Hit)

50% Miss Chance: 1d100 = 53 (Hit)

Vitriolic Chain damage: 11 (Acid)

I smiled as I saw the acid left by my last attack burn away one of the cowering wraiths. But I didn’t have time to celebrate, just yet. Turning my attention to the wraith that could still fight, I unleashed another blast of acid, striking it in its spectral chest, and chaining the blast to the last of the cowering wraiths. Still, I reminded myself not to let my guard down. If there was one lesson I had learned, living on the tundra, it was that it only took one mistake to bring total destruction upon yourself.

Frostmane’s Frost Breath: 4d6 = 18 (Cold)

50% Miss Chance: 73 (Hit)

W3’s Ref Save (Frost Breath): 1d20+4 = 12 (Fail, Full damage) (Dead)

W4’s Ref Save (Frost Breath): 1d20+4 = 8 (Fail) (Fail, Full damage) (Dead)

Frostmane, seeing that the only wraith capable of moving had its attention focused squarely on me, darted partway into one of the corridors, and turned back to face the wraiths. He breathed in deep, and then unleashed the frost breath I hadn’t seen him use in what felt like forever. It was enough, though, because both wraiths wailed and faded away into nothingness.

Your party has defeated 5 Wraiths!

Melinda gains 0 xp.

Frostmane gains 0 xp.

Siora gains 0 xp.

Vestele gains 0 xp.

I took a breath as the last wraith crumbled away. It was a little sad that we didn’t gain any XP or loot from these things, but, then, we weren’t exactly fighting creatures that truly pressed our abilities. “All right, let’s look around, and see if we can find a way to turn on the moon before any more wraiths show up.”

Siora’s Search check: 1d20+23 = 33 (Success)

Siora moved closer to the statue. “I think I know how we unlock the moonlight, or whatever. There’s a space here, in the Crone’s chest.”

We gathered close to see, and, sure enough, there was an indentation in the statue, across the crone’s chest. It was not immediately obvious, since the indentation was in the shape of a Selunite symbol, but, now that Siora mentioned it, it was obvious that something belonged there. No doubt, the key that the ghost mentioned was probably a holy symbol of Selune, that we would have to place on this statue.

Frostmane looked around at the doors leading off this central chamber. One, in particular, stood out, being made of stone like the rest, but inlaid with silver. Standing before the door, he chuffed. “This must be the tomb for the most important guy here.”

Siora’s Search check: 1d20+23 = 37 (Success)

Siora’s Spellcraft check: 1d20+18 = 28 (Success)

Siora moved forward. “There looks to be a key hole here. I’m not finding any signs of traps, but the lock doesn’t look like one I can pick. There are some runes around it. I think it is an arcane lock spell.”

Well, that was inconvenient. Looking at the beguiler, I asked, “Do we need to find a way to dispel it? Or is there some way to bypass the spell?”

Siora frowned. “I think the key, if we find it, will be attuned to allow it into the lock. Finding it would probably be easier than trying to undo the magic on the lock. And, before you ask, it will probably be much easier than burning through the magic to blow down the door.”

“Fair enough. I also don’t want whatever curse might come down on us from desecrating the temple if we can avoid it. Especially since the Selunites are the ones who hired us to come out here. Any ideas on where we’ll find the key?”

Vestele cleared her throat. “If this is the tomb of the first priestess of the temple, then the key to access it will most likely be in the possession of the reigning High Priestess. Or, in this case, the vampire we promised to look for so we can free all the souls trapped here.”

I looked around at the other doors in the catacomb. “All right, then, I guess we start knocking on doors, and see who we find. Anyone have an idea on where to start?”

Frostmane nosed the door opposite the locked one. “The other doors aren’t marked, but this one should be bigger than the others, given by how the doors are placed. Probably someone important. Or a vampire.”

“Well, only one way to find out, I guess.” I took a breath, and pushed on the door. Despite it being stone, it swung open as though it were on well-oiled hinges.

Inside, the room was lit by another silver-flamed lantern, illuminating a stone sarcophagus. The walls were unadorned, but piles of personal effects were scattered about the room, like someone had moved their things from a normal room down to this tomb. But that wasn’t what stole my attention.

Standing by the lone coffin in the room was a tall, pale-skinned elven woman, who was just finishing strapping on a suit of full plate armor. No doubt, our brief fight, as well as talking in the hall outside the door had alerted the vampire (for she was clearly no mortal being) to our presence. Interestingly enough, the armor she wore bore the symbol of Selune, despite the priestess having ‘fallen’ to undeath.

“WHO DARES DISTURB THE TEMPLE OF THE MOONMAIDEN’S GLORY?”

The vampire’s voice resounded through the stone rooms, full of righteous anger. I would have been more impressed if she weren’t a vampire, who still hadn’t cleaned up the mess of all the wraiths and other undead about the place. Squaring up to look at her, I said, “I am Melinda Eriksdaughter, Twice-Born servant of Auril Frostmaiden, here to hunt the spawn of Malar. Either aid me, or be destroyed.”

“YOU DARE?!” The vampiress screamed in fury. “You dare threaten me in my own temple? I may be tainted by the ritual that has kept this temple safe for all these years, but I am still a servant of the Moonmaiden!”

Siora chuckled. “Not your most diplomatic moment, Mel.”

I glanced back at her, and shrugged. “Eh, I could have tried being nice, but I’m not really feeling it at the moment. They’ve spent hundreds of years just sitting in their crypts, not doing anything about the condition of their temple. Don’t really think I can bring myself to care about their feelings, honestly.”

The priestess apparently did not enjoy the idea of being ignored, either. With a screech, she threw herself forward. “Enough of this! DIE, HEATHEN SCUM!”