Frostgrave treasure tokens!

Our Frostgrave project is moving right along I got a set of treasure chest done yesterday for treasure tokens.  I have had these lying around for a couple of years from the first time I dipped my toe into Frostgrave.  Unfortunately my work schedule didn't allow me a lot of gaming time back then and my group wanted to play D&D so these got boxed.  I have a few other treasure tokens I have been using from D&D dungeon dressings but I wanted a nice set of chest so here they are.  Four of these are from a Mordenheim accessory kit, One is a Reaper Bones chest and treasure pile, the other is an old chest I had from a box of random minis with a book and scroll from the Mordenheim kit.  I really like the size of the smaller chest better but for now the Games Workshop chest will do. 

Pictures of my new Frostgrave terrain being used in game.

 The Black Magic Craft inspired walls project has spiraled into a whole new set of terrain for Frostgrave and other fantasy games. 

 We made several simple ruined corner structures that could be assembled into ruined structures.  These are made from cork tiles.  At first we were going to make very basic walls but they ended up looking too simple so we decided to add block structures to the corners which made them look a lot better. 

We made a large number of rubble piles from torn and cut pieces of cork tile.  A lot of these were made from the off cuts and odd pieces from the other projects.  Cork works extremely well for this type of construction.  It takes several types of glue well and it paints very easily.  

We also added some play sand to the rubble piles to give some more texture.  You can see some of the cork showing through on the rubble piles in particular but because it is a natural product it works well.  The warm tones look pretty good and help add some character to the cool grey rubble. 

We've done a lot of building with cork tile in the past but I think this has been one of the more successful projects.  We used tacky glue of the rubble walls and arched wall setions but hot glue on the corner ruins and simple ruined buildings.   

We played this particular game on a 4x4 foot table but I hope to make a 3x3 and 2x2 foot play surface.  I plan to build those surfaces with at least 2 inch sides and add arched details to the sides so I can use them as raised sections of the city on the 4x4 table.  We will also be building staircases out of cork tiles to place alongside the platform sections when they are used in that fashion.

This is just the start of the Frostgrave ruins project for us.  Next we plan to build some of the specific buildings for the scenarios in the core books.  After that we will build some more multi level ruins and some more intact structures.  Eventually we hope to start on terrain for the various scenarios in the supplements.  

Since we have a decent collection of painted Fantasy figures we don't have to worry as much about having miniatures for warbands but we do plan to build some specific warbands in the future.  We also need to address of few of the "Creature" need that we don't have covered but like the warbands we have a pretty good jump of those issues as well.  

My wife and friends and I have been very impressed with Frostgrave and other games by Osprey Games.  The miniature agnostic nature of their games is a great draw for people with a collection like ours.  The potential to bring back figures from dead games is also a major boon.  We've had the game for a couple of years not but we have only played it off and on.  I think after a couple of test games we will be kicking off a campaign and I will be posting more battle reports.  We may even start streaming the games and posting edited game videos on Youtube.  

Black Magic Craft Ruins Painted.

 I got the Black Magic Craft style modular ruins I made from cork tile painted up.  I've had them painted for about a week now but I kept forgetting to post the results. 

 I based coated them with a Rustoleum Deep Forest Green then I sprayed them down with a medium grey from the top at a 45 degree angle.  This kept the cooler green color in the shadowed areas.  After the medium grey I dry brushed on Apple Barrel Granite Grey for the high lights.
 

 I'm really happy with the way these turned out.  My wife has finished another set and we hope to have another set and a set of accessory pieces to go along with them. 

Although we are building these walls as part of our Frostgrave ruins set they will be useful for a number of role playing games and table top miniature games.  I have several other projects in progress for our Frostgrave ruins so I will be posting more about those soon.  

Black Magic Craft inspired Modular Ruins.

 I recently moved and when I did I moved into a much smaller home than the one I was living in.  I ended up keeping most of my miniature collection but I gave most of my terrain to my daughter and her boyfriend to use in their D&D games.  As luck would have it I was able to rent some studio space in the town I moved to for an insanely low rate so I decided since I had crafting space and playing space again it was high time to start re-building my terrain collection.

One of the YouTube channels I follow is "Black Magic Craft"  which is an excellent DIY terrain making and gaming channel that details projects with both advanced and beginner techniques.  A while back I saw him do a set of simple ruined walls which he could also use and Dungeon walls and I though it would be a good first project for my new studio.  You can find the Video here: 

 The guy at "Black Magic Crafts" does a lot of his building with XPS foam and a hot wire cutting table.  I don't have this kind of tool but I do have my trusty cork tiles and Xacto knives.  I made my first set of ruins out of one 12x12 inch cork tile.  You can get these for about $7.00 a pack at Walmart here in the U.S. and about $9.00 at Hobby Lobby or Lowles.  I find it to be a good material to work with for numerous projects.  I usually use either hot glue or tacky glue as my primary adhesive for this material.  For this project I choose tacky glue because it allowed me to adjust and even remove sections of the wall as I was building them.

The most tedious part of course was cutting the bricks out of the tile.  I chose to make my bricks 1/4 inch by 1/2 inch.  The tiles are not quite 1/4 inch thick so you need to keep that in mind when laying the brick patterns or it will throw your build off.  

My wife also made a set using similar methods.  Here she is laying the bricks out.  I would say our bricks are around 20% smaller than the foam bricks used in the original project but because the cork already has a natural texture we were able to skip the steps involved in adding texture.  It's also okay if some of your bricks are slightly thicker from side to side than others because they actually improves the texture of the wall.  I felt like this was not exactly a speedy project but I have done much more tedious builds.

I have perhaps 6 hours in this build so far and I feel like I can probably stop once I have used up one package of four tiles.  Our primary interest in making these walls is to get some terrain together for Frostgrave which is usually played on a 3x3 foot table.  We also plan to make some static ruin buildings and other features so we don't need to cover the entire space with these ruins.  I also feel like that will give me enough walls that if I ever want to use them as Dungeon walls I'll have enough for the amount of Dungeon I normally place on the table.

I'm pretty excited to get these painted.  I still need to add a bit of sand texture to the bases and some of the wall areas.  I think I may make three tiles worth of sets like this one then make some interest pieces out of the last tile in the pack.

Based on the amount of time I have in on these I estimate I'll have the build finished in another six hours at most with probably three hours of painting time.  That's a bit of a long build but it will produce a large amount of terrain so I think it will be worth the time investment.

July Painting with Games Workshop Contrast Paints and Reaper Miniatures.

I finally accomplished one of those hobby goals that every painter swears they are going to start doing.  I finally finished a batch of miniatures I ordered before making my next order.  I got this order of Reaper Miniatures at the end of June and I just finished painting them before the end of July which was my goal.  It's only 17 miniatures but that's pretty good with my schedule. 

I used the new Games Workshop contrast paints over a dry brushed under painting like I did on my Death Guard Plague Marines. I like the contrast paints but they are really expensive.  They work well for this technique but they take some getting used to.  I don't think they make good paints for beginners because of the amount of brush control they require and that fact that you need to think about layers in reverse like you do when painting with watercolors.  You can't just fix a problem by painting over it unless you paint your primer layer back first.  In that respect they are very unforgiving for a new painter but they are very similar to the glazing technique I have been using a lot lately so for me they work.  It's convenient not to have to mix up the glazes before painting and the have a better pigment ratio than my own glazing technique.  They do require some getting used to but I think I'm getting better with them. 

I did paint a batch of minis with Contrast paint in June.  About 8 mostly Wizkids unpainted minis for D&D and Pathfinder.  I never got around to posting them but some of them turned out really nice. 

 I really like these two new Bones Black minis from Reaper.  They are the Crimson Herald and the Dreadmere Wight. I think I would like to get some Zombies and paint them up with the Nurgle flesh green color I used here to make some minions for this pair. 

I knew when I saw the Herald figure how I wanted to paint him and I'm really happy with the way he turned out.  I was able to use the GW contrast paints to pretty good effect by glazing the pink color over the green color where the tentacles transitioned from green to pink.  I also added some pink stippling which I think really gave the model some atmosphere. 

These are some old Reaper lizard men but I really like these sculpts.  For some reason they just give off a classic lizard man vibe. 

I like the way the contrast paints worked on these as well.  They seem to really shine on creatures and other organic models.  I tried to stick with the classic lizard man green look here.  

This was the free promo figure for the month of June Garghuk the Ogre.  This mini was an awesome sculpt and a lot of fun to paint.  He's simple but still looks really nice and his details are well defined.  The pose was not complicated so it was easy to get a brush around the model.  If I was doing a "learn to paint" class I would strongly consider using this model. 

I had a little trouble using the contrast paint on the skin tones because of the large surface but it wasn't too hard to get the problems worked out.  I really like the way the Snake Bite Leather and Gor Guntha Fur turned out in particular. 

 These are a combination of the Bones Black Dreadmere Mercenaries, the Dreadmere Ranger, and Fruella Dreadmere mercenary packs.  The later two are metal minis.  Of course these all have a similar style so I thought I would paint them up as an irregular unit.  I think they would make a good Sheriff and Posse or a Ranger and Woodsmen.  Some group of NPCs that might be encountered in a dark forest. 
 

 I did have a little trouble with the contrast paints rubbing off the coats on these minis while I was painting them.  I've had this problem with other glazing techniques as well. 
   

These are a couple of metal Reaper figures from the Dark Heaven line.  Brother Roberto, cleric and Erick Paladin Initiate.  I liked the medieval fantasy feel of both of these minis.  They looked like they would make good companion pieces.  The cleric is really quite well dressed.  I painted him up to look a bit like a traveling Jesuate but he could be done us as more of a cardinal.    

The priest was the hardest to paint with the contrast paints.  The bottom parts of his over robe got really dark because I tend to do my dry brushing lighter at the top and darker at the bottom.  I had to go back in a paint in highlights then glaze them again with the grey contrast paint to get the details.  I really enjoyed painting the armor on the paladin but it didn't photograph very well.  In fact both of these models look a lot better in person but that happens some time.  I think they are quite worthy of my tabletop however so over all they were a success.  

I still have pretty mixed feelings about the GW contrast paints.  I feel like they play to my style pretty well and I have enough experience to handle them but I think a lot of new painters will be frustrated by them.  A lot of the darker tones really need to be thinned down and it's really hard to tell the difference between the browns in particular until you use them a while.  Some of the colors shift quite a bit when you thin them as well.  You really have to be able to block in large areas on a mini in one go to make these work which takes good control and if you are not careful they rub off pretty easily.  The skin tones are also kind of hard to work with.  I was fine to use my dry brush technique on the male models that I wanted to look ruff but I had to paint light grey back onto the face of the one female model I did this month to avoid giving her a five o'clock shadow.  Since I've been using similar techniques for a while I was able to predict this.  All in all I'm happy with them but buyer beware for those unfamiliar with using glazing techniques.   

My new favorite bases!

Recently I've started basing most of my miniatures on wooden bases instead of metal or plastic ones.  Wooden bases take glue and paint very well so my bases don't get chipped.  I've had a lot of problems in the past with the edges of my bases chipping even when I sand the sides to get the metal and plastic bases more grit.  I've also had sand and even flocking and static grass chip off the tops of minis from time to time when the glue chips off the plastic bases. 

For standard 28mm minis I've been buying these 1 inch wooden bases from Woodpile at Hobby Lobby.  They come 12 to a package for $2.00 a package.  I really like the finished rounded edges.  They are about as thick as a Games Workshop round base although not quite so these Reaper Miniatures figures don't gain too much height on them compared to the other miniatures in my collection.  The wood grain edges even look kind of nice.  I like having some texture to the sides of my bases but I usually don't like to have a lot of texture overlapping onto the sides so these give me a nice amount of texture which as I said earlier also helps hold the paint.  I've found them to be far superior in every way to plastic bases.  

The Tree of Shame

I made this tree for an up coming Dungeons and Dragons game.  It's based on a tale from Arthurian legends.  The skeletons are shown for scale.  I was really happy with the way it turned out since it was fairly simple to make.

Years ago I made three wire frame trees from bailing wire.  They sat unfinished in a box for over a decade.  One of them was covered in green floral tape which is something I had used in the past on wire frame trees.  I mounted the tree on a cork board base then used Gorilla Glue hot glue to create texture on the structure.

I didn't want to use plastic shields for the tree because now that Games Workshop has stopped making Warhammer it's harder to find good shields cheap so I picked up a package of fake finger nails from the Dollar tree and cut them into shield shapes with a pair of scissors.  I had to mark the shield shapes by scoring into the nail with an Xacto knife because I could not draw on them. 

I dipped them in very hot water to help flatten them out.  This distorted some of them a bit but that was okay since they were suppose to look battered and distressed anyway.  I then mounted them on square dowels and painted them with black spray paint. 

I painted the shields with some quick and dirty heraldry.  I didn't get too precise with the painting since I planned to weather these.  It's handy to look up the rules of heraldry if you wish to depict it realistically.  I've studied it since I was very young.  My interest in medieval armor and knighthood led me into Dungeons and Dragons and the Society for Creative Anachronisms. 

If you have less knowledge of heraldry you should Google "Heraldic rolls" or "Rolls of Arms" which are medieval records of Coats of Arms.  These are a great reference not only for ideas but also the medieval style heraldry is easier to depict than modern versions that you might find if you just Google Heraldry. 

Here are the shields weathered up.  I wanted them to look pretty battered and a bit moldered from hanging on a tree for long periods of time.  

I can't wait to use this project in my next D&D game.  It should prove to be an interesting encounter.  

       

So what should Bards sound like? Three songs by Ayreheart

So I found these guys when I searched for the traditional Scottish ballad Twa Corbies.  There is probably a version of this song for every day of the year but this is by far the best and most evocative version I have ever heard.  They also didn't shy away from singing it in Scots which makes it rime better. 

Anyway I thought this was also an excellent example of what a masterful bardic performance would be like and just a great inspiration for many fantasy and historic games. 

The World of Tellus: A sandbox world for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition

Tellus: A sandbox world for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition.

How things came to be......

The world of Tellus is connected to our own world through several hidden crossings.  It is a world where many of the the gods of Earth originated.  A world of fairies and monsters and magic.  It is also a desolate death world beset by undead abominations populated by the scattered remnants of broken empires.    

Humans, as we know them, are not native to Tellus.  Millennia ago humans were created on Tellus by the younger gods.  They lived a pampered life of plenty.  The younger gods doted on their children and the humans of Tellus grew decadent and lazy eventually dying out.  The elder gods banished the younger gods to Earth where they were told to try again at creating humanity in a land less fertile and comfortable.  

Having learned their lesson the younger gods set about to re-create the race of man on Earth.  Instead of pampering humanity they allowed their children to suffer or prosper largely by their own devices giving minor gifts only to those who sacrificed and prospered.  Civilizations rose and fell and for the most part the younger gods were content to observe from afar guiding these civilizations but never interceding on their behalf in a major way.  The younger gods eventually grew bored with their creations and completely negligent of humanity.

Realizing that their gods had abandoned them humans began to search for new paths to salvation and enlightenment.  New religions sprang up and took hold gaining followers by the thousands and millions.  Still the younger gods ignored mankind content to exist in their own demi plains and squabble among themselves.  That was until their powers started to diminish and they themselves began to die.

Turning their attention back to mankind they soon realized that they could not stop the spread of these new religions so they developed a plan.  Despite many centuries of neglect there were still a number of humans devoted to their worship.  The younger gods began to move their human worshipers back to their home world.  At first in secret but then openly.  Seeing that these humans were much stronger and more independent than than the original children of the younger gods the elder gods allowed this migration and even suggested lands where humanity could colonize and prosper.  The younger gods altered the memories of the humans making them believe they had lived on Tellus for their entire lives but allowing them to retain something of their own identity.  For over a thousand years the younger gods brought their followers from Earth to their homeland until very few of their followers remained on Earth.        

Humans settles Tellus and some of them became quite prosperous.  In particular the humans of the Roman Empire who created an empire of their own.  The Agustian Empire grew strong and their gods grew stronger along with them.  There was a problem however.  The elder gods had their own children who had lived on Tellus far longer than even the original humans.  Many of these “elder” races embraced the new humans and helped them prosper even allowing themselves to be absorbed into the human kingdoms and empires.  Others however resented the humans.  Of all the elder races that clashed with humanity none were as powerful nor malicious as the dark elves.  

The dark elves hated all the other races of Tellus but they hated humans most of all.  Eventually their Witch King decided that he could no longer ignore the human threat.  The exact date has been lost to time but approximately two centuries ago the Witch King developed a magical plague that would weaken all the other races of Tellus and allow the Darks Elves to dominate the world.  The Witch King gathered powerful members of every race to be sacrificed at a great volcano in the heart of the Dark Elf lands called “The Great Cauldron”.  As the Witch King was performing the sacrifices he approached the last sacrifice, a human priestess of Minerva known only as Laelia, he was surprised when she attacked him having broken free of her bonds during the ritual.  The two wrestles with their bare hands above the volcano.  Their struggle was brief and the they fell into the lava setting off the powerful magical energy of the ritual and causing a chain reaction.  The volcano erupted with such magnitude that nothing but a smoldering crater remained.  Tens of thousands of dark elves died on the spot and the ash from the eruption blacked out the skies.  A great darkness descended on the world as the Witch King’s plague spread.  For decades the combination of the Witch King’s plague and the great winter brought on by the volcanic ash devastated the world.  

Slowly however the lands and races of Tellus began to recover but the world is still plagued by wandering undead caused by the plague.  Civilizations are broken and scattered, trying to rebuild and recover lost knowledge.  This time has come to be called “The Ghost Age”.    

Notes: This is a "sandbox" world I am creating for my local gaming group. As we adventure my players will help me flesh out this world. Their actions will have direct impact on it's development. I will be posting game reports here as well as projects I am doing for my games.                 

Venturing back into Dungeons & Dragons

Like a lot of table top gaming nerds I started out playing Dungeons & Dragons.  I was 11 years old the first time I tried to run "The Keep on the Borderlands" using the basic D&D rules.  I was the DM and as what happens to most DMs I have been a DM/GM pretty much most of my gaming career.  Now 31 years later I am taking a much more experienced crew back to the Castellan's Keep on the Borderlands to explore the Caves of Chaos and the surrounding ares using the D&D 5E rules which seem to be the best set of rules since 2nd Edition AD&D.

I've already ran one session where my party ventured to the Borderlands and scouted out The Cave of the Unknown but were forced back to the Keep after being attacked by a Wolf pack at the cave entrance.

I've started working on a set of miniatures for the party.  Hopefully I'll have them ready to go for the next session.    

Savage Hyboria Forgotten Islands "The Tomb of Voltannox" Part 4

After several uneventful hours following an old path through the jungle the party came to the entrance of the Tomb of Voltannox.  Outside of the tomb were the desiccated corpses of several Argossean pirates.  Mon Tau lit a torch they had prepared and peered into the open tomb entrance.  "There is a small anti chamber here with several more bodies" he said.  "Let us press on then.  Whatever killed them is no longer here" Heimdall urged.  "Wait!" said the Hyrkanian "Look the floor of the room is littered with darts.  The room must be trapped".  

The tried unsuccessfully to move through the room using the discarded Argossean shields.  Several of the party members suffered minor wounds in the attempt so they were forced to retreat.  After tending their wounds Rozlynn spotted some stonework sticking out of the hill several feet above where the ceiling of the room would end.  "Look up there.  I see some stonework sticking out of the hill." the Aesir woman pointed at the stonework.  Racket climbed up the hill and cleared away some of the jungle foliage covering up the stonework.  With a hammer and spike they found among the corpses he managed to remove one of the stones.  Several bronze darts fell out of the hole he had created.  "I think I have found something" the Argossean said.  Racket pulled several more stones away and even more darts fell out.  "Yes there is some kind of magazine up here that must be feeding the darts into the room.  

 After spending over and hour removing thousands of bronze darts from the magazine that fed the room they party managed to enter the tomb without further problems.
 

 Beyond the anti-chamber there was a room with ten marble slabs on the floor.  As they entered the room a spectral form rose out of each slab.  "Ghost!" Heimdall exclaimed.  Aleena held her holy symbol above her head "In the name of Mitra I banish you!".  White light flashed the room and several of the ghost screeched and vanished but the rest attacked the party.  "Our weapons have no effect on them!" Rozlynn cried.  "We must destroy their corpses!  I believe that will stop them." Aleena explained.  The ghost lashed out at them each blow causing great fatigue as their spectral claws seemed to rend their very spirit.    
"Hyrkanian help me!" Heimdall called.  Mon Tau and Heimdall began pushing the marble slabs aside revealing the mummified remains of the ghost enclosed in sarcophagi beneath the stone.  Heimdall smashed the skull on one and a ghost shrieked and vanished.  Light again flashed from the holy symbol of the priestess and more ghost vanished.  Eventually they banished all the ghost but were so fatigued by their ordeal that they were forced to rest in the chamber for several hours.
  

 The next chamber they entered was large with a higher ceiling than the other chamber.  Lying in the middle of the chamber was a giant skeleton.  As they pressed forward the skeleton rose to it's feet and laughed a deep disembodied laugh.  As the party formed a defensive line the giant surged forward.

 The giant brought it's massive blade down on Heimdall.  The blow knocked the northman to the ground and left him wounded and stunned.  With a war cry Rozlynn attacked the massive skeleton with such fury that it too was knocked to the ground and damaged.  "Racket, Raka, try and get the next door open!" Aleena cried.  The Argossean and Vendhyan rushed to the opposite door which was covered in locks and began to try and pick them.  

 Again the giant stood and engaged the party.  Heimdall, Aleena, Rozlynn, and Aziz fought in hand to hand with the giant as Mon Tau fired arrow after arrow at the beast.

 Rozlynn suffered a deep wound from the massive blade the giant wielded and Aleena was also injured but eventually Heimdall smashed the creatures skull in with his two handed ax.

 The next chamber was small and unoccupied so they decided again to tend to their wounds and rest for quite some time.  Almost two days had passed since they reached the tomb.  They were starting to run low on provision so they decided to press on.  Rozlynn was still suffering from her wounds so she decided to switch to her bow.

 The next chamber was as large as the Giant's chamber but instead of a single foe they saw no fewer than twenty skeletal warriors ranked up on the other side of the room.  As they stepped into the room the creatures eyes began to glow.  "Sheildwall!" Heimdall cried.  The party formed a tight line.  Rozlynn and Mon Tau drew their bows.

 Again Aleena held her holy symbol aloft and shouted "Begone!".  Several of the undead warriors burst into pieces and several more were knocked to the floor.  Mon Tau and Rozlynn targeted the skeletal archers and dropped two more of the undead creatures.

 Undaunted the skeletons rushed forward.  One of the creatures lashed out at Racket wounding him and knocking him down.

 Even as they destroyed the first wave of skeletons more recovered from Aleena's wrath and charged into the party.  Heimdall was knocked to the floor but uninjured.

 The battle was intense but did not last long.  the final skeleton went down in a flurry of blows.  Only Racket had been wounded and his wounds were not serious.

 There was a locked door beyond the skeletons and above it there was an incription indicating that any who entered would not survive.  The door was locked.  Racket picked the lock and opened the door but then noticed something strange.  "Look there seems to be some kind of mechanism here in the door jam.  I think there is a stone plate that will slide down and trap us in here when we enter the room.  "Ah I see it too" Raka said.  Heimdall reached out and pulled the wooden door from it's hinges.  He then wedged the door into the opening to keep the stone slab from falling.
The door at the opposite end was also locked so Raka and Racket entered the room to have a look at it.  As they passed through the room several iron bars shot out from the side walls and ceiling trapping them in that half of the room.  Moments later green gas began filling the room from vents above the door.  Racket and Raka worked quickly to open the locked door but they were overcome by the gas before they could do much.

 Heimdall started to rush to his companions aid.  "Wait!" Aleena shouted. "You will need to protect yourself from the gas".  Aleena took some bandages from her pouch and wet them down with water.  The two Aesir tied them over their mouth and noses before entering the room to free their companions.  They hacked the iron bars away and managed to pull their friends out of the room to safety.
Aleena knelt down to check them.  "They are still alive" explained the priestess "I will try to revive them but they will need rest".  Aleena pulled some herbs from her pouch and began working to heal her friends.
After several hours Racket was well enough to continue and the gas in the chamber had dissipated.  Raka however had no recovered and Aziz elected to stay behind to tend to her.
When they returned to the door they saw it was not only locked but inscribed.  Raka translated the inscription: Here Lies Voltannox the Priest King.  Aleena blessed their weapons and Racket picked the doors lock and they entered the chamber.

 Inside the chamber they saw a large stone throne.  Sitting on the throne was and armored corpse with a purple cloak and a large elaborate staff reading and ancient scroll.  The corpse stood up.  "Fools!  How dare you disturb Voltannox!"  Voltannox pointed his staff at the party and spoke an foul sounding incantation.  Immediately they were engulfed by a spider like web.

 Aleena pulled free of the web and with a cry of "Mitra!" she charged the unholy priest.  Light flashed from here holy symbol causing Voltannox to recoil in horror as the priestess knocked him against his throne with such force that the Priest King and his throne were knocked to the floor.

 With a scream Voltannox stood pointing his sword at the priestess of Mitra.  A green bolt shot from the blade striking Aleena in the chest.  She stumbled as magical energy crackled across her body.  Heimdall ripped himself from the web and charged forward.  He brought his blade down on the Priest Kings shoulder wounding him and knocking him back before the priest could strike Aleena.

 Mon Tau fired an arrow into the undead priest chest and as Racket and Rozlynn charged forward Aleena stabbed Voltannox through the heart.  With a screech the Priest King cried out "You have not defeated me!".  A spectral form rouse from the corps and flew up through a grate in the ceiling cackling with hideous laughter.
Underneath the throne was a hidden chamber filled with; coins, jewels, scrolls, armor, and weapons.  The armor and weapons were damaged with age and in this state unusable until they could be repaired.  The party gathered their treasure then returned to the large room guarded by the skeletal warriors.

There they found two more locked rooms leading off to the side.  One room was filled with rotten provisions but the other held three large bowls filled with gold coins.  "Ah more treasure!" Heimdall exclaimed as he strode forward and reached into one of the bowls.  Mon Tau reached out and grabbed the Aesir by the wrist.  "Not so fast my friend.  Things as not as they appear.  Look one of the coins is a false one covered only with a think layer of gold foil.  I have seen these things in my travels.  The powder concealed under the foil is a dry acid that will eat the flesh from your bone".
The party carefully sorted through the coins and were able to recover several hundred real ones.  They packed up their treasure in baskets from the provision room then left the tomb.  "Now we are rich castaway slaves and wanted pirates" Mon Tau said.  "I suppose that is better than being poor slaves" Racket laughed.

Notes:  Well again this report is based on a game we played at the end of last year so the details are not very accurate but this is basically how the session went down.  Just before this session I had awarded experience and my wife Michelle took the "Holy Warrior" edge for Aleena her priestess of Mitra.  This worked out very well for her especially in the room filled with the skeletal warriors as many of them rolled a one which destroyed them.  A number of the others were also shaken making that encounter far less dangerous.  It was a pretty long session and fairly difficult.  I know the gas chamber was even more difficult than the way I wrote it up but I didn't remember the details well enough to portray it exactly as it happened.  Hopefully I will have our last session for this campaign up in a day or two.  We just played that one of a couple weeks ago and it was a short session so it should be at least a bit more accurate.