The big man in the mask would not stop trying to buy her. Charlotte told him no, in words nobody could mistake, and he called her “Feisty!” as if she had made him an offer. So she took a flask of jellied oil out of her pack and threw it at him, and it caught.
After that it was a fight, for a little while, and there were seven of them and four of us, and it was not a fight we could win. He stood in the hall burning and screaming and did not fall down, and he shouted, “Men to me,” and went off to the south with the fire still on him, and his men looked at their leader and at Omen and Anister, and went after him.1
Anister wanted to send something after them. He set his torch down, put one of his wax arrows to it, and drew, and held it there burning on the string so the man could see it. The torch went out when he set it down, and the arrow guttered and died while he was still holding it. He said he would remake the lot of them when we got to town.2
I was hurt worse than Anister, so I asked Silvanus for myself first. I told him the slavers were giving us time to strengthen ourselves and I meant to use it. He answered. Then I went to Anister and asked again. I said he was wounded and the slavers were waiting in ambush, and that he was a fellow ally of nature. Silvanus answered that too.3
The stairs out were past the place the slavers had gone. We did not think they had gone far. A man who wants to sell you does not give up because his hair caught fire. They would be at the top of the stairs, waiting for us to come up into them. So we went the other way, further in, and hoped they would get tired of waiting.
The tablets#
Down the west hall there was a portcullis to the north, heavy, with a yellow curtain behind it rotting on its threads. I said yellow is usually bad. Charlotte asked how bad. I said the kind of mold that kills you when you breathe it. I have breathed it. I know.
There was a door ajar to the south. Inside, in the middle of the room, was a pile of clay tablets broken to pieces, stacked as high as my waist. A couple of hundred of them. We went in and shut the door behind us, and Charlotte shut it louder than she meant to.4
I stood against the door. If the slavers came, they would come through it, and I am the strongest of us and I wear the most iron. The rest searched the pile for traps and found none, and then went through it properly, piece by piece. Every tablet was blank. Not worn smooth. Blank, and broken as if someone had used each one up and thrown it on the heap. Someone had used a great many of them. Anister said that was disturbing. I agree with him.
At the bottom of the pile Omen found a short sword with a silvered blade. Anister has the most room in his pack, so he carried it.5
When we came to light the next torch, Omen gave Anister his last one and said to save mine for getting out.
The feast#
North again, past the portcullis. There was something like an altar ahead. I said there is usually a pit in front of an altar.
There was no pit. There was a mummy.
It was crouched over a dead man in furs, a barbarian, and it was eating him. We had peeked out of the door and listened before we went, and heard nothing. It had been eating a whole man in the dark without a sound. I do not know how. It looked up at us and hissed, and came, and we were not ready.
It went for Charlotte first. She went down under the first blow, and her torch went down with her.6
Then it went for Anister, because Anister had the other torch. We have met this mummy before. Anister hit it with a torch then, and it remembered him, and it remembered fire. It struck him twice, and he went down. When his torch hit the floor we were in the dark.
It tried for Omen and missed. Then the second time it did not miss.7
It caught me once. I felt it go in, a cold, rotten kind of wound, and I felt the rot try to take hold and fail. Then there was nobody standing but me, in the dark, with the mummy.8
Alone in the dark#
I could not see it. I could not fight what I could not see, and I could not run where I could not see. I put my sword on the floor, because I had one hand for a torch and the other had my shield on it, and I got a torch out of my pack and lit it by feel.
It lit. I did not like what I saw.
It swung at me three times. The first went in deep, and the rot came with it, and I threw it off. The second went in, and the rot took hold, and I felt my legs start to go, and I do not know what kept me up except that I was not ready to lie down beside them. I stood. The third blow I got the shield in front of, and the shield broke. It is the second shield that mummy has broken on my arm.9
So I ran. There was nothing else to do. Charlotte and Anister and Omen were on the floor behind me, and I left them there.
The stairs#
The slavers were at the top of the stairs, as we had thought they would be. I had made up my mind on the way that if they were, I would run straight through them yelling “mummy,” and if the mummy followed me up, it could have them. I came up the stairs and caught my foot on something that set up a racket, and every one of them knew I was there.
They were in the niches where the dead lie, all along that room, waiting. They came out. I did not stop. Two of them swung at me as I went past and both missed, and I do not think they had expected a man in plate to come up the stairs that fast with half a shield hanging off him.
They chased me for about ten minutes, and then they gave up. I stood outside and breathed. It was past five in the evening. I walked back to Helix in the dark, and I do not remember much of the road, only that it was terrifying, and that nothing came out of it.10
There was a celebration on in Helix. There were people in the street laughing. I was the last of my company, and I did not know if I would see any of them again.
Who came back#
Anister came back.
He came in later, in rough shape. The rot had got into his left arm, and it has gone black and veined from his hand to his shoulder, as if it had been dead a long while. He will carry that. But he is alive, and he had the silvered sword with him, because he was the one carrying it.11
Charlotte did not come back. A man put a price on her that same day, and she set him on fire for it. She died in the barrow, but she died free.
Omen did not come back. Omen had been with us two nights. He gave Anister his last torch and told us to save mine for getting out. I did get out. I would rather he had kept it.12
The new ones#
We put the word out that we were short of people, and two of them came. One was a dwarf woman named Phaedra who said she was a bard. The other was a halfling girl named Kikki, a wizard, who goes everywhere with a broomstick between her knees. When she walks, she rides it. She says “vroom” a good deal. I do not ask.13
I asked them, before they said anything else, whether they had heard what happened to the last company. And whether they had always wanted to see a mummy. They did not seem to find it much of a recommendation. Somebody said maybe we would not go that way for a while. Somebody else said it was one of the few places left that had not been picked over. There is always something down there that will kill you. It is only a question of how well it does it.
I did not buy a new shield. I did not have the money. Nimue bought me the last one.
Maza#
We had the sword to look at and a potion to sell, a potion that lets you hear what other people think. Maza buys potions. Maza also does not like us much.
His sign says “Go away,” as it always does. Phaedra went up and called him great and powerful and said we had business with him, and the window crashed open overhead and he looked down at her and said, “Ah, finally someone who knows about me and my greatness.” He let her in.
I whispered to her in Dwarven that she had done well. Maza told me to shut up.14
He gave her seventy-five gold for the potion. She had argued for it about as well as she argues for anything, which is not by being clever. He said she was clearly not bright, but she was sweet, and that was enough. We split it four ways.15
He asked after Riyou. He always does. He wants to pick her brain. None of us has told him she went down a hole in the barrow and never came out, and none of us told him that day either. I asked him how many questions exactly he meant to ask her. If it were three, I said, that might be arranged. He did not follow me. I am not sure I meant it.
Then Anister paid him ten gold and held out the sword, and Maza cast his spell over it, and looked up at Kikki in the middle of it and sneezed. The spell went off in his face. It singed him all over and he coughed up smoke and he is missing a few teeth now. He said he was very sorry, and very embarrassed, and that we had already paid and he was not trying to cheat us, but he could not cast today. He said the arcane was running wild, and he wagged his finger at Kikki, and said something about the moon.16
We came back the next day. He cracked his knuckles and tried again and it did not work again. He asked us to leave the sword with him, and said he would have it done by tomorrow, and if he could not do it himself he would take it to someone who could.
Kikki offered to help him, wizard to wizard. He said he would teach her what he knew for a price, and that he hardly knew her. But he liked her. He said she was smarter than the other two, and pointed at Phaedra and at me. He asked her to bring him rubbings of any writing she found in the barrow, arcane writing, and said he would trade her a scroll for them. I told him about the broken tablets. He said if they were broken and blank they had been used, and were no good to anyone. Phaedra gave Kikki a scroll case, a quill and ink, and three sheets of parchment. They were Nimue’s.17
Tomorrow is a holiday, the day the Duchy keeps for its independence. There is to be a party at the Strumpet, and a bigger one at Ironguard Motte, and fireworks maybe. We will leave the sword with Maza and go to the party, and the others will stand me a bed, since I have nothing.
The mummy is loose in the halls now. We let it out. I hope it goes deeper and stays there.18
The recording starts at 21:00:56, about 23 minutes into the session, so the first exchange of the slaver fight that ended the 2026-10-13 session has no audio. The Roll20 log for that stretch: initiative Charlotte 21 (a natural 20), Anister 21, Omen 17, Bancroft 15; Charlotte Charisma 7 (14 on the second die), refusing the leader, who took it as encouragement (“Feisty!”); Charlotte Dexterity 19 to throw the flask of jellied oil, with a natural 20 on the second die that the GM’s first-die rule discards; Bancroft Dexterity 19; and Bancroft’s Shield of Faith: 15 against DC 11, a success (natural 1 on the second die, discarded), +2 AC. The account of the refusal and the oil is Matthew’s, from the table. Afterward Anister talks about arming himself with “those arcane fire things you threw,” and Jenni explains Anister’s threat as “I have more flaming bottles of fire, the ones that hit your boss.” The GM rolled two d6s for Jenni in this window (2, 2). Bancroft says at 21:04 that he is “more hurt than he is,” so he took a wound in the unrecorded part. ↩︎
One of the wax-and-cloth arrows Anister made the night after the 2026-09-15 session, to have fire for this mummy. Setting the torch down gently was his action and the torch went out anyway; the GM rolled the arrow’s burn time and got the minimum. “It burns for a certain amount of rounds… I’ll guarantee you, I rolled the lowest you could possibly roll.” Anister: “Remind me when we get into town that I remake these arrows ‘cause they’re useless.” The GM: “It’s not personal.” ↩︎
Cure Wounds on himself: 19 against DC 11. The healing die is not called out on the recording. Cure Wounds on Anister: 19 against DC 11, 6 hit points. Bancroft was at 14 going into the mummy fight. Shield of Faith in this game ticks down by Bancroft’s actions, not by time; the GM had it at two actions left at 21:22. ↩︎
The GM had Charlotte roll the hourly encounter d6s through the night: 2, 4, 5, 5, 3, then a 5 for Bancroft’s walk home. Charlotte’s Dexterity check closing the door: 9, and the party heard it shut. Jenni: “Oh, fuck, I made noise.” Holding a door shut is a Strength check, which is why Bancroft took the door. The yellow-mold scars are from an earlier death check; Matthew listed his scars at the table later in the night: a dent in the head that matches the dented helmet, the yellow-mold scars, a permanent neck bruise from being strangled, puncture wounds. His Constitution has gone from 12 to 8. ↩︎
Trap search, ten minutes: Wisdom Anister 12, Omen 12, Charlotte 16, no traps. Full search, twenty minutes with Bancroft on guard: Charlotte a natural 1, Omen 18, Anister 7. Omen’s 18 found the silvered short sword; the GM put its value at about 20 gold. Silver is good against werewolves “and stuff.” The tablets are “runic tablets,” clay, about a foot by a foot and a half, every one blank. The room is difficult terrain now. One XP each, which took Charlotte to level 2: d4 for 3 hit points, 5 total, no talent at that level, and a portrait from the GM, who reminded Jenni a roustabout wears a straw hat. Omen’s torch went to Anister as torch number two. ↩︎
The mummy is the one from the 2026-09-15 session, let out of its sarcophagus when Bancroft turned the lid. The GM: “you guys unleashed him. So he’s now wandering the hallways as a wandering monster.” It was not rolled; it was there. It had surprise. Rot Touch on Charlotte (+8): 28, a natural 20. Jenni spent her golden luck token on a reroll: 13, still a hit against her AC 11, 9 damage, down. Charlotte’s Constitution against necrosis: 20, so the rot “doesn’t take hold.” Jenni had sent the GM her new portrait minutes before: “The worst part is I just sent Jeff my picture.” ↩︎
Rot Touch on Anister: 28, a natural 20, then 21 on the reroll for the second hit, 8 damage. graham meant to roll Constitution and rolled Charisma by mistake, a natural 20 to no purpose; the real Constitution: 12, a fail, zero hit points. The GM on why it chose him: “he remembers what you guys did to him with torches.” graham: “I wasted like three torches on him.” The GM rolled d6 for the third attack, 1-3 Omen, 4-6 Bancroft: 2. Against Omen: 10, with advantage, a miss against his AC 14. Mummy initiative 18. Round two: Omen hit (15), 4 damage, Constitution 12, a fail, zero hit points. ↩︎
Round two against Bancroft at AC 16 with Shield of Faith gone: 11, a miss; 21, a hit, 4 damage. Constitution against necrosis: 18, made. The GM: “Bancroft, you’re alone in the dark with the mummy and everyone else is toast.” The house rule is that a downed character who makes the death roll is assumed to have made it out somehow, which is why the GM let the fight run with Bancroft alone. ↩︎
Lighting a torch meant dropping sword or shield; Matthew dropped the sword. Wisdom check to light it, with disadvantage in the dark: 16 and 12, so 12, against 12. The GM: “That’s exactly what you needed.” Bancroft kept a Turn Undead in reserve, without disadvantage now that he could see it, but never got a turn to cast it. Three Rot Touches at AC 16: 22, 8 damage, Constitution 17, made; 17, 3 damage, Constitution 11, failed (a natural 1 on the second die), which under necrosis would put him straight to zero. Luck token on that Constitution: 19, a natural 20. He took the 3 and stood at 3 hit points. Third attack: 22. Matthew shattered his shield to cancel it. The first shield went to this mummy on 2026-09-15; Nimue paid the 15 gold for this one in the 2026-09-22 session. Evasion d100: 21, roll low, success. ↩︎
Wisdom against the alarm trap at the top of the stairs: 4, triggered. Nobody surprised. Bancroft 15, the boss 3, the minions 4. No tactical map; the slavers were waiting in the alcoves of the skeleton room. The GM allowed two of them a swing as he went past, +1 to hit against AC 15 without the shield: 7, 9, both misses. Evasion d100 against a group of seven: 38, success. Matthew’s plan going up: “I’ll just run straight through them. Not like attacking them. Just yelling, screaming, waving my hands,” and “if the mummy gets up there, then they get to fight the mummy while you run.” The GM had Jenni roll the d6 for his walk home: 5, safe. ↩︎
Death checks for the three left in the dark, rolled from Helix: Anister Constitution 19, survives. He rolled before the GM was ready and the GM let it stand; graham thanked him for that at the end of the night. One XP (“death teaches”), Constitution now 14, and his first scar: “a raking claw filled with necrosis,” left arm black and veined, rotted from hand to shoulder. graham, on whether scars should raise Constitution instead: “I think our con should go up because it makes us more resilient.” The GM: “listen, I’m with you.” graham also asked again about rolling enemy hit points; the GM uses the book numbers, not maximums. ↩︎
Charlotte Constitution 6, luck reroll 6, dead. Omen a natural 1, then 3, dead. nikki: “This is my first full session with him. And I died.” Omen had played about half an hour of the 2026-10-13 session. Charlotte Akimeg joined on 2026-09-08. The GM, at the end: “That was not a total party wipe, but… half of the people died.” On mummies in Shadowdark: “holy crap, they’re crazy.” Jenni later: “Bancroft, because he’s stayed alive the longest, he’s become a beloved character, which means he cannot die.” The GM: “Plot armor.” Bancroft is fourth level. ↩︎
Phaedra is nikki’s new character: dwarf bard, neutral. The random name Roll20 offered was “Asteriskipiv Privenok,” which nikki said “looks like a Welsh name.” Stats: Str 13, Int 5, Wis 14, Dex 11, Con 13, Cha 14. The GM: “Wow, you’re dumb. You should be a wizard.” Background d100: 100, roll twice and pick: 55 locksmith, 10 barber; she took locksmith. Hit points d6 with advantage (4, 1) plus two for being a dwarf. She keeps Omen’s 6 XP. Talent 2d6: 8, two points to stats; 40 gold. Bard rules are the current playtest bard, with the GM ruling mesmerize as a Pied Piper effect, not paralysis: the target can see its surroundings and follow at half speed, and damage breaks it. Kikki is Jenni’s: halfling wizard, neutral, courier background (d100: 25), modeled on Kiki’s Delivery Service, with a big bow and a broom. “Her past was working for a bakery shop as a delivery girl.” She doesn’t actually fly. Stats: Str 11, Int 12, Wis 8, Dex 12, Con 10, Cha 11. Hit points d4: 4, max. 5 XP. Spells: Light, Mage Armor, Magic Missile. Talent 2d6: 8, advantage on casting Mage Armor. 45 gold. Both new characters inherit what their predecessors left in their rooms in town; what was on Omen and Charlotte is still in the barrow. Matthew’s pitch to the new hires: “Before you say anything, have you heard what happened to the last group?” The GM: “You’re not really selling me, sir.” ↩︎
Phaedra’s Charisma check with advantage: 16 (5 on the other die). Matthew: “I whisper in Dwarven, ‘Awesome job, Phaedra. You’re the best.’” The GM, as Maza: “Shut up, Bancroft.” On Maza and Bancroft: “He wants as little stupid as possible.” Maza now charges the Tuesday group 15 gold for Detect Magic against the Monday group’s 10, “You guys must have insulted him in some fashion,” though he quoted 10 at the counter. ↩︎
The potion of Detect Thoughts came out of nikki’s chest in town. Phaedra’s Charisma check to sell it: 13, straight, no advantage; the GM ruled her bard’s diplomacy training does not cover haggling. 75 gold, 18 each and 21 for Phaedra. The GM: “you’re clearly dumb, but you’re also sweet.” ↩︎
Anister paid the 10 gold and held out the sword. The GM’s roll for Maza’s Detect Magic: a natural 1. The second day: 5, another failure. The GM: “I can’t believe I’ve rolled a one and a five.” He asked whether Matthew had taken a job at Roll20 to skew his rolls; earlier, Jenni had pointed out Roll20 was hiring a senior infrastructure engineer. Matthew: “I haven’t even applied yet.” The three-questions line is Speak with Dead, which turns out to exist in Shadowdark (“Up to three yes or no questions”). Riyou was Jenni’s character before Clarisse and Fantasia. The GM: “You never told him Riyou was dead. He does ask about her every time.” And: “No, you can’t metagame like that.” ↩︎
Kikki’s Charisma check: 19. Maza: “Definitely smarter than these other two.” The offer: arcane text rubbings from the Barrowmaze in exchange for a Detect Magic scroll. The scroll case, quill, ink and three parchment came from Nimue, nikki’s mage who died in the stingbat fight at the end of the 2026-09-29 session. ↩︎
The holiday is the Independence Day of the Duchy, with a party at the Brazen Strumpet and a larger one at Ironguard Motte, “the seat of the duchy.” The GM ended at about 23:56, on the morning of the second day in town, with the party leaning toward leaving the sword with Maza and enjoying the festival. No XP at the end of the night beyond the sword and Anister’s death XP. Bancroft has no shield and, by Matthew’s account, very little gold; the others offered to cover his room. Two lost to the mummy tonight; Nimue, before them, to stingbats. ↩︎