Retribution

After a quick trip to town, the party return to the mines (Otter still hasn't seen fit to share his name with the rest of the party and so will forever after be known as "that elf!"). This time, the party manages to get the drop on the inevitable sentries/scouts and a brief slaughter ensues.

As a result, when the party enters the secret complex just off the mining tunnel, there is no twenty strong party of Goblin Legionaries. "Thank the Light for that", mutters Edgar before setting about the four unfortunates in the guard room. These four dead goblins are quickly joined by another four in the dormitory. With this, the party sneaks further into the complex, retracing the route taken on their earlier expedition, but avoid the dark room full of dire rats. The party quickly find the loot room, wherein the stolen silver shipment can be found (In four crates which have been nailed shut). We try to open them only to have Bill gleefully announce theirs no way we can take the lid off with bare hands. To which I crowingly holdup my character sheet with "crowbar" underlined several times. Bill acknowledges that even we five incompetents should be able to open a locked crate with a crowbar and lets us get on with it.

"We're rich!" Announce the others, "We're giving it back!" announces Edgar. "Can we at least claim a finders fee?" asks an exasperated (and disappointed) Worrick. Edgar thinks for a moment and concedes, "Sure, that sounds legal", but in any case it quickly proves to be a moot point as Bill explains that as a job lot the haul weighs about 15,000 lbs. Well, we HAD been thinking of coming back with a wagon or too, so that revelation was not exactly disappointing.

(15,000lbs worth of silver!!!!! Now that's what I call a finders fee!")

Alas, the noise of the lid being hammered shut (remember that hammer I bought huh?) brought unwanted attention in the form of two dire rats. We all suddenly realise just how much harder we are now we've reached second level when both expire without so much as scratching our armour.

We progress to the next room, which turns out to be a kitchen. With moving bags of flour. Oh okay. Hold on, what did Bill just say? Two seconds later, a particularly ratty squeak sounds out as Edgar shoots a flour bag with his newly acquired crossbow (traded in for the longbow when he became a cleric). A second dire rat shoots out of a second bag only to fall to an expert shot courtesy of good old Otter.

Huzzah!

Not long after, the party finds a secret room, its door protected by a poison needle trap. Worrick makes short work of the trap and soon the party enters a long thin room with a chest at the far end. Worrick carefully seeks out any traps. There are none, immediately making the party suspicious. Their suspicions only grow when the chest is opened to reveal: absolutely nothing.

Not having any of this, Edgar suggests there must be a false bottom. He's not TOO far wrong when Worrick announces he's found a secret button. When pressed, the chest recedes into a small alcove revealing a shining silvery bladed sword in a small niche beneath the chest.

Edgar is extremely chuffed and, as the parties second best melee type and the only one who uses a sword with any frequency, is immediately chuffed when the rest of the party allow him to claim the blade for himself. He is less chuffed, when he notes the blood-scribbled note attached to the blade. Especially when he realises it was left by a dying warrior who fell at the hands of the foul "demoness" who rules the mine!!!

At last, Edgar thinks, a challenge worthy of a knightly member of his Order. There could be some glory to be had from this foul little escapade after all! The remaining party members are not so optimistic. Sealing the secret door behind them, they mull over this new revelation as they rest.