They come upon what looks like an ancient, dwarf built hold. Heavily dilapidated, cracked flagstones with lichen and a partially collapsed roof dripping with water. They are immediately greeted by five skeleton knights. Their ancient, heavy armour is recognised by Otfried as belonging to the Teutogen tribe, which means the corpses are about two thousand years old.
On top of that, Mandred & Otfried sense a foul curse in the air. Ignoring the curse, Otfried explodes in a circle of holy fire, burning away armour & bones on the undead knights. The others make short work of the damaged undead.
The corridor goes left or right, the heroes go left and open a door that leads to a large dining hall. The end of the hall is decorated by the stone carving of a massive dragon's head. After some searching the crew finds a small hole with a corpse next to it. The hole is trapped but Felix manages to pull a lever inside it and with a rumble the jaws of the dragon open, revealing a crawlspace. One by one they squirm trough and emerge in a domed, round chamber beyond. It's walls are set with pale clay and in the middle of it is a dark pool, bones jut out of it at odd angles. The center of the pool has a dais to which is chained an ancient humanoid skull with large horns. There are several unholy symbols carved on it which Mandred recognises as chaos magic. He detects the chains themselves are magical in nature too. Having studied some forbidden tomes while in Middenheim, Mandred defines the use of the skull: an Oracle! However, without the ritual spell needed to activate it it is of no use. There are two more doors in the room.
They take a door that leads to the necromancer's alchemy lab. As they start searching the room a Banshee, accompanied by several spectres attack the heroes.
The fight against these ethereal undead is harrowing and leaves its mark on some of the adventurers but in the end they are victorious.
Searching the lab, they finds various potions, books and recipes for potions. They also see an ornate Thurible (an incense ball) which Felix secretly pockets. Mandred has the change to stock up on some of his magical ingredients.
Tomb of the Thaumaturgist
He was the first necromancer in the time of Sigmar. The murals are examined thoroughly and the heroes notice that the priest is always shown carrying an incense ball in a chain. They look at the statue and see that the item is missing, it looks like the priest should be holding it. Felix sheepishly produces it and places the item into the priests hands. There is a slight hissing sound and the release of magic. A secret door opens to a long staircase upwards. Beyond that are two suspension bridges, spanning an endless chasm. Once more, Felix disables the traps and the crew ventures deeper.
They come upon another door that leads to a corridor with two more doors. Taking the left door takes them to a dilapidated guard room. Once more the dead stir from their graves but regular skeletons are no match for the heroes' might. Beyond the guard room is another corridor but it's impassible because it collapsed into a fissure. the other end is visible but rather than trying to cross, the crew decides to investigate the rest of the dungeon first
Necromancer's Study
And so, the adventurers return to the entrance where they left an unexplored corridor.
Cult of the Foetid Maw
The adventurers ascend some rickety stairs that lead to a large room with several beds, tables and chairs. The room is occupied by Nurgle cultists. A shrine to Grandfather Plague sits in a corner, looking suspiciously like three large testicles.
As soon as they enter, the cultists cast spells, dissipating into a large cloud of angry buzzing gnat-flies and releasing noxious, foul vapours.
Lothar contracts the disease Neiglish Rot.
With the cultists fled, the heroes ransack the room, destroying any reference to chaos. They learn that this room is one of the sleeper cells for the Cult of the Foetid Maw.
The Temple of Bones
This is not Klaus Gurtelrose but rather The Priest who accompanied the ancient hero Pendrag which Klaus has chained to his will.
The Liche's magic is powerful and deadly but its ancient, brittle bones are no match for the adventurers battle-hardened tactics. Never the less after they defeated the Liche, several adventurers are badly wounded. They continue deeper into the complex.
To be continued...
Ps: during the ordeal and explorations, Otfried and Felix lost their mind. Felix and Lothar contracted a disease and Mandred gained another mutation.