Marpenoth 5th - Lost Mines of Karak Lode

Early this morning the heroes saw two guard towers of hewn stone set into the face of a bluff. Though worn by long years of sand and wind, the towers are clearly of dwarven construction, standing as strong as the day they were built. The party entered the structure once little Lozigee was able to bust open the door. All this happened as the troglodyte guards rained down on the group with a combination of javelin attacks and spells from the curse chanter.

Once the front door was opened the troglodytes moves up to fight them without the advantage of the arrow slits and murder holes and quickly the heroes put the smelly creatures in the dead book.

The group explored the upstairs level of the fortress and found guard rooms but could go no further as several north-bound hallways ended in portcullis.

The central courtyard was the next area explored and as the group tried to sneak through a carrion crawler jumped out of the sand and attacked while four harpies descended from above to make their lives miserable

Back downstairs the party discovered on the western side of the complex what was once storage rooms for ore and a stable for the mules used to haul ore from the mines. Some of those rooms had been converted to be the home of the Warden and the blue behir that the heroes killed back in Dunesend.

Back to the eastern side of the level the party ran across the guard rooms and dealt with a handful of human lackeys, two longtooth hunters, and an iron cobra guardian. This led them downstairs to the cells where they found a most peculiar person:

The southwest cell is occupied by an aged human male, his lined face sporting a snow-white beard to match his fringe of hair. He wears the garb of a simple desert peasant, and appears to have not been here long. Seven yellow canaries perch on his shoulders and hop around his cell. The Birdman whistles and chirps at his tiny charges. If spoken to, he simply nods and smiles.

The party did their best (outside of offering food and water) to the Birdman but he only smiled and nodded. The left the door to his cell open and continued on to the dwarven crypts. Where they were ambushed by a berbalang who kept spawning duplicates and eventually exploding them to do great deals of damage. The party finished them all off and breathed a sigh of relief.

The party, in much need of rest, closed the door to the crypt and camped for the night.