Just in the Nick of Time

I arrived just in time to find that the others had killed a vampire and were now searching the room. We found a couple of books that appeared to be magical. Obegard opened the book only to be greeted by a trap that burned his insides. Fortunately for him, I was right there, and I used my healing magic to keep him alive. We asked Borrow nicely to try to find out if the others had traps, and use his knowledge to disable him. He seemed to go about it half heartedly and not to my surprise, managed to trip another trap on a different book. This one turned him into a toad. We all had a good laugh about it, and fortunately for Borrow, I again had the necessary abilities to change him back. Borrow didn't seem very grateful at being turned back into a halfling.

We moved down a floor, which contained 4 rooms, each with deadly traps. We somehow stumbled into all four, since Borrow was not the most reliable of trap finders. There was a central chamber connected to the four outer rooms, and even though we weren't able to find a way to open the doors, we smashed our way in with our weapons. However, we were quite disappointed with what was inside: some sort of wraith attacked us, and for our trouble getting past the traps, we only managed to find some sundries worth a modest amount.

We continued going down, and at the next floor, we came across a room with a giant dragon skeleton. I detected the taint of evil in the skeleton, which meant that it probably wasn't just for decoration. We cautiously approached the skeleton, and that's when it suddenly sprung to life! Durthen was the furthest in the room, and with it he paid with a couple of bites across his side. He was dismayed that his own attacks had little effect on the beast--the bones were stronger than steel! To make matters worse, the skeleton also began using some foul magic that allowed it to take flight. At this point, Obegard began getting scared and saying that we should run, ditching the villagers that had been captured here. I had none of that, as I began casting my most powerful spells -- calling upon all the power of my deity to strike down this vile beast. The others managed to keep the thing busy while I did this, and after I was finished, I walked forth and with blows that would crush an ogre, I destroyed the skeleton, smashing it to bits.

We quickly ran downstairs, and destroyed a "Gravedirt Golem" that was protecting a control room for the prison. We located the villagers, though it appeared that we were too late to save the men of the village, who had been slain and used for foul experimentation. Through trial and error, we managed to open the room with the villagers. With our mission complete, we began retreating from this dark lair.