You’d spent an uneventful three weeks in the city, but did find a house to rent.  You decided on a 4-bedroom flat in Midtown.   Needing to pay for rent and other supplies, you looked for work, and Iltumar, per usual, sent a job your way.

You met with Rosalyn Graylock over lunch, and she was looking for a team to go find her son Ritter’s body.  He was killed in the labyrinth a week ago.  As compensation, she offered her son’s map to the unexplored area where his body lie, and the treasure he had found — a half-dozen pearls that were expected to be on his body.  Before leaving, you met with Damien Klaver, the only survivor of the trio of young men.  He gave you vague details of the path his group took, and what to expect.

Once supplied with healing potions, you headed off from the Undercity Market through the tunnels.  You reached a breach in the passage, as your new map suggested you would.  Beyond it a pile of boulders were intentionally placed so as to hide the way forward.  You moved them aside and continued.

Eventually you arrived a stone door with a coiled serpent symbol inscribed above it.  Ritter had fancifully named this the “Vault of Serpent Monks” on his map, and you had no better name.  The symbol had greater meaning for Raelen: it matched the one that was left behind when his family’s caravan was attacked years ago.  This was the group he had sworn to exact vengeance on.

Entering the “vault”, it became obvious that it hadn’t been used in years.   The “Serpent Monks” no longer resided here, but the area might reveal clues for Raelen’s quest.   The place was occupied though, which created a new mystery of what was currently going on within.

You entered and were immediately set on by goblins and kobolds.  Raelen fell into a pit trap, and the goblins used the cover of pillars to frustrating effect.  But in the end they were no match for you.   Beyond the battle you found a cache of mining supplies, purchased from the business “The Sign of the Shovel”, per the labels on the crates.

In an adjacent room you found what looked like a recently dug-up chest.  It was strange in appearance: semi-organic.  The chest and lock had been damaged, and was only secured by a chain which Phen easily removed.  Inside you found a square ring with gouges in it, a metal globe, and a nail, both with obvious unnatural properties.  Some experimentation revealed the metal globe to be a small bomb or grenade.

At the end of a long hallway, you found a huge chamber in the process of being excavated.  Phen and Yasin scouted stealthily, and were able to make out a group of goblins and kobolds digging away at the chamber, guarded by a gnoll, and, oddly, a dwarf you had seen before at Linech’s compound.  Surveying the scene, you decided this wasn’t a fight you wanted right now.  Although you were curious as to what they were doing, it was not directly related to your task at hand: recovering the young man’s body.  

Returning to the path that Ritter took, you fought your way through darkness and zombies, and eventually came around to battle a gnoll torturer and yet more goblin and kobold minions.  Your aim was true and that battle very brief.  The only worthwhile discovery was one lone goblin prisoner:  it was Splug, the same goblin you had rescued from the ratmen house a more than a month ago.  He was again grateful for rescue, and shared some details of this place:  He told you that Ritter’s body was in an unfinished cavern portion of the complex, and, indicated that the gnolls here reported to a dark elf.  

You let Splug go, and went to the caverns.  Although bothered by a slime of some kind, you simply outran it.  You also found a small pond with a skeletal body and an unblemished shield.   Again, you decided, this was not a quest for now.  You headed out of the complex with Ritter’s body, cashed in your reward, and planned for a return trip into the vault in the next few days.