The Quest finale.

This tale picks up from here............The Quest continued.
The fight with the Carrion Crawler went well for the party, Beska (the MU) fired off a magic missile which hurt the creature, sending it scurrying up the left hand wall towards the ceiling before Trebbelos (the Elf) sent an arrow straight into its head! As soon as the monster crashed to the floor Krago (the Dwarf) laid into it with his battleaxe, finishing the the fight.

As soon as they regrouped, the adventurers set off back to the room containing the chest.
Beska and Krago decided provided the brains and brawn to tackle the chest, while Pendora (the Cleric) and Trebbelos checked the two other doors in the room.

Beska couldn't see any obvious "clever" ways to get the lid open, so signaled to Krago to try and smash it open - one flex of his muscles later and the Dwarf gave a grunt as he swung his axe, splintering the lid of the chest and giving them access to the contents.
The chest mainly held a stash of paperwork - signed contracts, business agreements and figure tallies (including lists of debtors and the amounts they owed). There was however a leather pouch containing what must be the best part of 5000gp worth of gems. "This will expenses" laughed Beska as he and the Dwarf went to check how the other two were doing with the doors.

Trebbelos could hear nothing behind his door, but neither could he open it. It was securely locked, and the metal construction looked as though it would resist their best efforts to break it open.

Pendora was having better luck though - all quiet behind this one, and it was unlocked!

The door opened to reveal a short corridor leading to an ascending flight of stairs.

Making their way to the top of the steps, their luck held, as the door facing them was also unlocked. Opening it an peering inside, they could only see an empty room with no further exits.
Deciding to enter the room to have a thorough look inside, the group were shocked when a howling Wight materialised in the room!

The immaterial creature aimed a vicious swipe at Trebbelos, who managed to dodge the blow while Krago tried to cleave its legs away with a swing of his axe - only to see the blade pass harmlessly through the apparitions appendiges.
Pendora raised her holy symbol before her and cried "Begone Foul Beast!" as she attempted to 'turn' the undead being. The Wight dissipated with a shrieking howl as it returned to the plane from which it had appeared. "Praise be to Sigmar", the trembling cleric uttered (she needed an 11 on 2D6 for the success!) as she kissed the holy relic.

Beska was sure there was more to this room than met the eye, he was also more than a little reluctant to retrace their steps yet again, so he instructed the party  to check the walls - "Look for anything, a loose stone, a tiny opening.... anything"

His hunch proved right, and it was he who found a secret door cleverly built into the wall opposite to where they'd entered the room!
Once a loose stone was pushed inwards to provide a hand hold, the door slid open sideways to reveal another, identically sized chamber. This one DID have a normal door in the far wall, while both side walls were lined with sarcophagi.

Having a good look around revealed nothing more than that all of the interred remains bore the same family name.

The door was once again unlocked, but this time as it was carefully cracked open, the adventurers eyes were assailed by bright sunlight!
Relieved to feel the kiss of fresh air on their skin, they stepped out blinking against the brightness from the crypt they'd just been standing in

and found themselves in a HUGE graveyard!

To the West, they could hear the unmistakable sounds of a city, so set off along the well tended pathways............ totally unaware of the intense malicious  gaze that followed them!

As they approached the sound of civilisation, they could see that the entire cemetry was surrounded by a wall, so they headed towards the nearest gateway......

....before stepping out of the tranquility of the graveyard and into the bustle of the street - where two members of the watch were just passing!
Beska cleared his throat - "Excuse me sirs, my companions and I are lost, could you tell us where we are?"
"Hmmph, we can that., since you've just left the City of the Dead by this particular gate, you are just off Sammerin's Street and are on the intersection of the North and Trades Wards."
"But of WHERE, and are we anywhere near The Empire??"
"This is the city of Waterdeep sir, but I'm afraid I know of no inn or tavern by that name."

Beska thanked the watchmen and quickly motioned to his companions to follow him off down the street, leaving the City Watch to their 'business' before arousing any suspicion......... but how could anyone think "The Empire" was the name of a drinking establishment - just how far away from home are they??

And with that thought, Beska, Pendora, Trebbelos and Krago set off to find themselves a tavern after their recent exploits, where they could find food, drink, and hopefully find out where in the world they are!

Quite late with this post, but hobby related doings have been ticking along splendidly - just not really "post-worthy" before this point. I DID have a draft treatise on where I thought I was going with my choice of rules - but the good folks over on The Game Cupboard blog are to thank for a re-think on that one, and this AAR is the result.
Many thanks for visiting, and your comments or critiques are as welcome as ever.