Savage Hyboria Forgotten Islands: Episode 4 "The Tomb of Voltannox" Part 1

 A week had passed since the pirates joined the former slaves on what they were now calling "Lighthouse Island".  With Raka the Vendhyan's talent for learning languages the entire party was able to learn enough of the Argosian tongue to communicate basic ideas.  This aided them greatly in making plans for their mutual survival.  The language of Argos was chosen because according to the pirate member of the party it was the most common language spoken among the pirates and that even some of the natives had learned it in order to trade with the pirates.
Once they had gotten comfortable with communicating with each other they decided to investigate the island marked on the treasure map they had found in the abandoned camp earlier.  It was decided that they would all leave Lighthouse Island after burying their cache of weapons and supplies under the flagstones of the ruined lighthouse.  Even though they journey to the island was expected to last only a few hours they packed a weeks worth or provisions.  Heimdall convinced their prisoner Aziz to join them.  Aziz was more than happy to trade loyalties and explained that he was only working for Balooka because he was indentured to the slaver.  Ahemed and Dalla scoured the beach looking for anything that might help them on their journey.  They found several oars and a small sail that had washed ashore from shipwrecks.
When they had finished their preparations they set out at night to better avoid encounters with slavers and pirates.  It was also agreed that they would sail around the eastern edge of the island chain to their destination which would make a slightly longer journey but would help them avoid the island that Balooka was camped on.  Dalla was the most experienced sailor among them so it was she who manned the rudder.  The wind was blowing in a favorable direction and they made good time.    

 They had just reached the next island to the north and east when several fish men of the same type they had encountered earlier attacked them.  Being powerful swimmers the creatures were able to jump from the water directly onto the deck of their raft.  Only the massive mutant in their party had to crawl aboard.
Rozlynn immediately cleaved one of the smaller fish men in half with a mighty blow then moved to help Heimdall with the larger beast.  The massive creature lashed out at her with his club and dealt her a serious wound.  She returned the favor with a slice from her weapon.  

 The raft pitched and swayed as the battle was joined.  Heimdall raised his scimitar and with a mighty blow split the mutant's skull open spilling it's brains out on the deck.  It's lifeless body sank back beneath the waves.  The rest of the warriors fought desperate against the vile creatures killing several but as they killed one it seemed another would hurl itself from the water onto the deck.

 Eventually however the creatures were all killed an no more sprang at them from the ocean.  Mon Tau, Dalla, and Rozlynn had all been wounded in the fighting.  Alenna skillfully bound their wounds such that they were able to continue on their journey.
The rest of the journey passed uneventfully although they encountered some rough waters it was nothing they could not handle.  

At last they arrived at the island where they could see several small huts at one point along the southern shore.  They could see no lights or fires at this small village nor see any signs of life so they landed their raft on the beach and crept into the village to investigate.
It was dark and it was difficult to tell but it seemed as if the village was abandoned.  They decided to light torches so they could get a better idea of what had happened.  Inside the huts the crude belongings of the villagers had been scattered and broken.  They also found dried blood splatters in all of the huts.  In the hut at the center of the village they found some Argosian weapons and shields and another scroll case.
Inside the case was they rest of their map along with an account written two month previous by a Argosian pirate captain named Melampos.
The account described his expedition to the island and their search for the "Tomb of Voltannox".  He described how the natives at the village had warned him not to venture to the ruins because of all the evil spirits that resided there.  He described the dangerous trek through the jungle that cost him some men and of the ruins where he found and account of the Acharonian Priest King Voltannox.  He described how he lost several more men that night when they were attacked by "beast" who dwelt in the ruins.  When he had finally found the tomb he described that he had only a dozen men left.  Inside the tomb however he lost more men to ingenious traps and horrible monsters which caused him and his men to flee for their lives.  There were no more entries to describe how the account ended up back at the village.
The party decided to wait until morning to investigate further.  What they found in the morning did nothing to settle their fears.  They discovered the tracks of strange dogs in and around all the huts.  The track were at least as large as a wolf but strange.  It seemed as if these creatures had attacked the villagers and drug them from their huts into the jungle for some strange purpose.  Heimdall also noted that it appeared that each of the creatures was injured in some way due to the unnatural disposition of their tracks.
Despite the obvious dangers the party decided to press on to the ruins to see what they could discover about the tomb and it's treasures.

To be continued.....

Notes:  Well this was a short session but I had planned that this particular adventure would probably take three session to resolve.  The next session will probably involve the trek through the jungle and exploring the ruins while the final session will involve exploring the tomb itself providing the party survives.