Buddy the 2^nd-level human monk (500 EXP) – Hugo

Lola the 1^st-level human cleric of Ashanna (500 EXP) – Amy

Cecil Rumbottom the 1^st-level gnome rogue (500 EXP) -- Dawn

The Adventure:

After a couple weeks off to recuperate from the encounter with the bad cannibal man, three of the adventurers decide to return to the Hollow Leg Tavern's dungeon. They decide to explore a corridor they'd ignored early on. Well, ten feet into this corridor, they trip the scythe trap. Oops. Wounded but undaunted, they carry on. Down one branch of this corridor, they find a door with a magic mouth spell upon it, warning them that proceeding beyond it is very dangerous. So they open the door and proceed. A second door awaits them shortly thereafter; it's locked. They can neither pick the lock or break the door down, despite Buddy's mighty muscles.

At the very end of this section of corridor, they find an open 20' pit, 10 feet across. There's a metal bar going across the corridor, over the pit, just asking to be swung on. Beyond the pit is a short corridor opening up a room with something moving inside it. As the brave adventurers gauge how best to jump across the pit, they see the creature, and the creature sees them. It's another of the ghastly beasts that they defeated in their first adventure, in the basement of the tavern. The heroes fire slings and crossbows at it; in its mindless rage, the creature tries to jump the pit itself, but misses the bar completely and falls. Wounded, but not killed, it waits at the bottom of the pit. Cecil and Buddy finish it off with crossbow bolts before they do anything else.

After pondering using a rope to catch the bar, they decide to just jump, grab the bar, and swing across. Buddy goes first, and finds that the bar is not attached well at all. He catches the bar, which gives way. He is able to twist and grab the edge of the pit without falling in, but it's a near thing. He hauls himself out. Next, Cecil the gnome tries the running broad jump, and falls into the pit. Then Lola the human tries to jump, and falls into the pit. Neither is seriously hurt. Buddy pulls them out of the pit. Then the party gathers some small treasure from the creature's room.

On the way back, they realize they have to jump the pit again. This time, all three of them clear the pit without falling in.

Next, the party goes back to the spot where they found the fake monster, and break down the door there. They find a long, windy corridor. At the end of the corridor is a large room with another, larger, fake monster made from crates and furs. Lola ignores the magic mouth roars and walks up to it. As she grabs the furs to unmask the fake, the room is filled with hellacious screams, and the "monster" begins to move on its own.

In a flash, four animated screaming skulls (undoubtedly the ones missing from the various corpses strewn about the dungeon) attack the party. And one of the crates, seemingly with a mind of its own, joins the attack! The screaming affects the party's concentration, sometimes causing them to stop and clutch their ears to block out the noise. One by one, they smash the skulls, and finally, Buddy and Cecil smash the animated box into smithereens. They find one of the other boxes has gold in it, gold they gladly take with them as they decide to return to the surface.