The heroes manage to scrape together a long rest while barricaded in the guard room. Upon waking, they set to trying to open the magically locked door on the other side of the room. Doc and Vyreth give it the 'ol heave-ho! with Fhasys' crow bar to no avail. Talos, watching the brutes with great amusement, notices a fine blue glow emanating from the seams of the doorway and realizes that it's magically locked. He fumbles around his sack and procures his only scroll of Dispel Magic... but has a hard time letting go. The group discuss options and even entertain the idea of exploring the rest of the dungeon instead, but eventually sober up and dispel the lock.
The door swings open revealing a long, dark stonework tunnel with another--this time deeper--chasm splitting the ground. Fhasys impulsively takes a running leap, nearly loses her finger hold on the far ledge, but manages to scramble up. Doc, impressed with Fhasys' performance, follows suit... only to lose his grip and tumble down the cliff to the powdery ground below. He lands with a muffled "thud". The remaining heroes scrounge around for a rope and places to tie it up, but only find one such thing on the side from whence they came. Using his Mage Hand, Talos lifts the far end of the rope up to the ground level on the opposite side while Doc summons the last of his energy to scale up the cliff. Doc holds the rope securely for the other two as they high-tail it across the chasm.
The tunnel bends to the left, opening up into a wider tunnel adorned with stone pillars and an ornately carved stone doorway. Fhasys takes lead and absorbs a nasty poison dart trap for the group. They press onward toward the doorway. The door itself is a massive stone slab, polished with more infernal inscriptions, and Vyreth and Doc get to shoving the thing out of the way... but they push the wrong way. Nothing. The other two heroes decide to try the other direction and meet success! The door slides out of the way equalizing the air pressure between the two chambers with a back draft of stagnant air. The room is small, dark, and very cold, containing a decorated chest sitting next to a sacrophagus. Black wisps of smoke-like trails dance around the floor of the room, climbing up the walls and the sarcophagus. The heroes begin to feel the weight of dark emotions--hate and envy and despair begin to settle in. Talos discovers more infernal inscriptions along the lid of the sarcophagus reading simply, "Here lies Urzaan".
Doc jumps the gun and slides the cover off the sarcophagus, the room goes dark, and a tower of black smoke erupts from within forming the visage of a crowned, emaciated, undead king with hollow red orbs for eyes. Urzaan asks why he was summoned, but gets a glib response from the heroes prompting him to attack. The party engages in a brutal encounter with two shadows and the wraith, all of which drain max HP and STR upon contact. The heroes slowly wither away with every hit and begin to worry for their safety. The battle finally ends with the heroes (barely) victorious, struggling to stand and winded from the loss of constitution, and they search the chest. Clearly needing a rest, the heroes once again brave the dungeon depths and turn in. Their first long rest is broken by a couple wights banging at the door. They try and wait it out, hoping for the unwelcome guests to go away, but no dice... The heroes open the door and face the threat. Their second attempt at a long rest is broken by a couple more shadows and combat ensues once again. The party decides they've had enough healing to get by and huddle to figure out the next course of action.
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Monday, May 11, 2015
Episode 13, "Unearthing the Past" p1
Squinting to make out any detail in the pitch black hall, Vyreth realizes he's going to need a light source to be able to see a damned thing. Talos magically lights Vyreth's sword, and the scene opens up to all... The huge hall is adorned with tall, stone pillars on each side and a sarcophagus sits at the far end of the room guarded by some form of dog-like statue. Four sets of full-plate armor stand watch in the middle of the hall, arms resting on huge swords. Doc, after recognizing two of the sets as being roughly dwarf size, skirts around the side of the hall for a closer look and the rest follow suit. Doc inspects the armor and, once satisfied as to its quality and condition, decides to grab it on the way back out. The heroes, stressed from the desert journey and the encounter with the skeletons outside the tomb, decide to once again take a rest in the great hall.
While the rest of the party sleeps, Talos' curiosity overtakes him and he wanders toward the sarcophagus to inspect. Stepping on a hidden pressure plate just in front of the canine statue, a torrent of flame erupts badly singing his robe. The party is startled awake by the wave of heat and noise, and the suits of armor awaken--climbing off their pedestals advancing on the heroes in a slow, steady march. The swords they were once resting on also take flight and combat ensues.
The animated armors pack a wallop, and a couple of the heroes end up quite battered from their steel fists. Vyreth summons a pack of giant spiders to help the cause, and Talos blasts a bolt of lightning through two suits and a flying sword. Since the heroes decided (rightly so) to steer clear of the main floor and instead stick to the walls while crossing, they didn't run into the spiked pit trap lying in wait... but a spider did. With a loud metallic slam, the center of the hall opens up into a large pit, swallowing one of the spiders and locking it inside. The party watches with a mix of apprehension and relief knowing that it could well have been one of them.
Once the battle ends, Talos apologizes for waking the lot and gets to investigating the sarcophagus. Doc, in a moment of keen awareness, spots century-old foot prints in the dusty ground leading toward the sarcophagus implying prior visitors to the tomb. He goes to work sliding the heavy stone lid off and reveals an empty space inside. Fhasys pokes around inside for latches or levers and discovers that the entire base panel lifts out revealing a ladder down into a small, uninteresting room with a closed door.
Pressing onward, the heroes listen for activity beyond the door and upon hearing nothing, open the door into a long set of descending steps. The stairs eventually level into a slightly larger room split in two likely by geological movement. A 10' wide chasm stands between the party and the other side, and they set out to find a way across. While Fhasys, Vyreth, and Doc examine the drop itself, Talos spots some rock outcroppings on each side of the chasm along the northern wall and manages to lasso the far side with his rope creating a way across. Fhasys eagerly jumps down and attempts to swing her way across, hand-over-hand. Halfway across, she loses her grip and falls, her tether keeping her from hitting the ground but slamming her into the close wall instead. While dangling upside down waiting for her friends to pull her back up, she spots an old scroll laying in the dust and dirt. She asks to be let down instead and fetches the scroll. After a series of attempts, the entire party manages to make it across the chasm hand-over-hand while Talos opts to tight rope walk.
The crew comes to a tunnel junction and Doc once more spots the old footprints, now leading into a tunnel to the north. Instead of investigating the footprints further, they decide to take the path less traveled and head into the southern tunnel. The door is locked.
Fhasys fails an attempt at picking the lock, but Vyreth and Doc manage to force it open with a crowbar. They enter an old storage room complete with a small shelf, aged wooden barrels, and a chest. Fhasys immediately bolts over to the chest to see whats inside. She begins to open the lid, but the lid opens the rest of the way by itself revealing a huge maw of razor sharp teeth. The chest sprouts legs and tentacle-like arms, and lashes out at Fhasys. Combat ensues.
Once the mimic is killed, a search of the room reveals some trinkets: x7 refined crossbow bolts, a suit of chainmail, x3 potions of greater healing, a long green crystal of some sort, a pouch w/some gold, and an old black leather bound tome which instills knowledge of the Infernal language to Talos when read. Not a bad find!
The heroes continue through the closed door in the store room, out into another tunnel, and through a demolished doorway into what appears to be some type of guard room. At a table on one side of the room sits two long-since deceased humanoids face-down in their plates, and on the other lies an ornate tapestry flanked by two more suits of armor. Fhasys takes the lead into the room and triggers a tripwire, launching a poison dart into her side. Vyreth, captivated by the rug's craftsmanship, decides to investigate closer while Talos attempts to animate the corpses at the table.
As Vyreth strokes the soft fabric of the rug, it suddenly leaps into the air, wrapping itself tightly around Vyreth and suffocating him. The corpses stubbornly refuse to animate, to Talos' dismay, and his imp poofs into existence atop the table for a closer view. With a terrified shriek, the imp vanishes again and the corpses begin to breath long, guttural sighs. Combat ensues.
Two ghasts, two flying swords, and a rug of smothering later... The crew loots a pouch of gold and gems from the table and moves onward toward a locked door on the opposite side of the room. Doc attempts to kick the door in, but his foot is rebuffed by some sort of magical field. Talos, realizing that his spell book may be in dire need of retooling for this dungeon, suggests they use this room for a long rest. Doc bars the doorway they came in through as best he can and the party hunkers down for the night.
While the rest of the party sleeps, Talos' curiosity overtakes him and he wanders toward the sarcophagus to inspect. Stepping on a hidden pressure plate just in front of the canine statue, a torrent of flame erupts badly singing his robe. The party is startled awake by the wave of heat and noise, and the suits of armor awaken--climbing off their pedestals advancing on the heroes in a slow, steady march. The swords they were once resting on also take flight and combat ensues.
The animated armors pack a wallop, and a couple of the heroes end up quite battered from their steel fists. Vyreth summons a pack of giant spiders to help the cause, and Talos blasts a bolt of lightning through two suits and a flying sword. Since the heroes decided (rightly so) to steer clear of the main floor and instead stick to the walls while crossing, they didn't run into the spiked pit trap lying in wait... but a spider did. With a loud metallic slam, the center of the hall opens up into a large pit, swallowing one of the spiders and locking it inside. The party watches with a mix of apprehension and relief knowing that it could well have been one of them.
Once the battle ends, Talos apologizes for waking the lot and gets to investigating the sarcophagus. Doc, in a moment of keen awareness, spots century-old foot prints in the dusty ground leading toward the sarcophagus implying prior visitors to the tomb. He goes to work sliding the heavy stone lid off and reveals an empty space inside. Fhasys pokes around inside for latches or levers and discovers that the entire base panel lifts out revealing a ladder down into a small, uninteresting room with a closed door.
Pressing onward, the heroes listen for activity beyond the door and upon hearing nothing, open the door into a long set of descending steps. The stairs eventually level into a slightly larger room split in two likely by geological movement. A 10' wide chasm stands between the party and the other side, and they set out to find a way across. While Fhasys, Vyreth, and Doc examine the drop itself, Talos spots some rock outcroppings on each side of the chasm along the northern wall and manages to lasso the far side with his rope creating a way across. Fhasys eagerly jumps down and attempts to swing her way across, hand-over-hand. Halfway across, she loses her grip and falls, her tether keeping her from hitting the ground but slamming her into the close wall instead. While dangling upside down waiting for her friends to pull her back up, she spots an old scroll laying in the dust and dirt. She asks to be let down instead and fetches the scroll. After a series of attempts, the entire party manages to make it across the chasm hand-over-hand while Talos opts to tight rope walk.
The crew comes to a tunnel junction and Doc once more spots the old footprints, now leading into a tunnel to the north. Instead of investigating the footprints further, they decide to take the path less traveled and head into the southern tunnel. The door is locked.
Fhasys fails an attempt at picking the lock, but Vyreth and Doc manage to force it open with a crowbar. They enter an old storage room complete with a small shelf, aged wooden barrels, and a chest. Fhasys immediately bolts over to the chest to see whats inside. She begins to open the lid, but the lid opens the rest of the way by itself revealing a huge maw of razor sharp teeth. The chest sprouts legs and tentacle-like arms, and lashes out at Fhasys. Combat ensues.
Once the mimic is killed, a search of the room reveals some trinkets: x7 refined crossbow bolts, a suit of chainmail, x3 potions of greater healing, a long green crystal of some sort, a pouch w/some gold, and an old black leather bound tome which instills knowledge of the Infernal language to Talos when read. Not a bad find!
The heroes continue through the closed door in the store room, out into another tunnel, and through a demolished doorway into what appears to be some type of guard room. At a table on one side of the room sits two long-since deceased humanoids face-down in their plates, and on the other lies an ornate tapestry flanked by two more suits of armor. Fhasys takes the lead into the room and triggers a tripwire, launching a poison dart into her side. Vyreth, captivated by the rug's craftsmanship, decides to investigate closer while Talos attempts to animate the corpses at the table.
As Vyreth strokes the soft fabric of the rug, it suddenly leaps into the air, wrapping itself tightly around Vyreth and suffocating him. The corpses stubbornly refuse to animate, to Talos' dismay, and his imp poofs into existence atop the table for a closer view. With a terrified shriek, the imp vanishes again and the corpses begin to breath long, guttural sighs. Combat ensues.
Two ghasts, two flying swords, and a rug of smothering later... The crew loots a pouch of gold and gems from the table and moves onward toward a locked door on the opposite side of the room. Doc attempts to kick the door in, but his foot is rebuffed by some sort of magical field. Talos, realizing that his spell book may be in dire need of retooling for this dungeon, suggests they use this room for a long rest. Doc bars the doorway they came in through as best he can and the party hunkers down for the night.
Monday, May 4, 2015
Episode 12, "Plunging into Darkness"
Armed with a bag-full of artisan cakes, the heroes make their way back to the Bumblebrook Sanctuary to placate the fairy dragon (clearly frustrated by the party's lack of curiosity as to its name). The dragon pounces on the cakes, eating them all up like there's no tomorrow and then rolling around in the leftover icing. The cakes clearly made an impression! In exchange for the treats, the dragon shows Doc the path to find Peter (from the foothills by Quanlo, down through the Ragneron Forest, and near a lake). Doc struggles to recognize the terrain, but thinks he gets the gist and flings his recently purchased platinum coin at the dragon as a token of his gratitude. The dragon reflexively flies safely out of range of the flying coin, hisses, and vanishes out of sight, leaving the coin to fall haplessly back to the ground unattended. Curious reaction. With the disappearance of the dragon, the illusory terrain fades from existence all around the sanctuary revealing a plain old, grassy, overgrown marsh.
Since it's late evening and the party has a long ride ahead of them (to the desert tomb), they decide to park it at the Troublesome Troll for food and rest. During their dinner, the heroes overhear talk between two miners of some strange discovery deep within the Thanon mine... some sort of huge, ancient stone doorway blocking a newly dug tunnel. They get some much needed rest that night, and Talos awakens before dawn to the sound of a spinning coin falling close to his ear. Opening his eyes, it would seem a plain platinum coin has mysteriously found its way into his room. Talos inspects the premises for signs of intrusion but finds none, pockets the coin, and drifts off to sleep. His dreams are filled with wonderous imagery from a lush, overgrown ruin somewhere deep within a forest, and he's overcome with the desire to visit.
Over breakfast, Talos brings up the topic of the odd coin he found and Doc notices the similarity between this and his own coin. Rifling around in his pockets, Doc discovers that his own coin has gone missing and the two discuss just how it came to land in Talos' possession. Talos claims innocence and hands the coin back to Doc for safe keeping. The lot then begin discussing plans for the day. Most decide that catching the wagon out to the desert tomb sounds like the best thing to do first, and Talos mentions that he'd rather visit these ruins he'd dreamed about... overruled. The heroes head out of the town gates, meet the driver, and get to travelling.
The journey, according to the old man at the reigns, should take about 4 hours given smooth riding (ha). The driver is clearly wary of the journey and not looking forward to what may come of it, but the pay is good. An hour passes by uneventfully as the wagon heads NE away from the foothills and into the sandy desert, and with a few lurches and an exclamation or two from the driver, the whole thing comes to a stop. A wheel had gotten stuck in the hard, sandy, stone-ridden earth. The heroes pile out of the wagon to bitch and try and help push the wagon free of its bondage. Ultimately, after the driver sticks a wedge beneath the problem wheel, the crew manages to heave it free. This delay had cost them 2 more hours, and just as they started to ride again the lot is ambushed by a pack of giant hyenas! Combat ensues.
The driver manages to fend off a couple of the beasts with an old machete until they finally grow a pair and pounce, pinning him to the floor and nearly eviscerating him. Talos' imp dive-bombs the hyena nearest to its master, latching on to its side and stinging it with a nasty poison until it collapses. Showing a bit of its devious personality, the imp then decides to join the driver and three hyenas to "stir the pot" a bit. Eventually, the hyenas are slain, the driver is healed, and the crew gets back on the road.
The remaining couple hours pass by uneventfully, and the wagon rolls up to the site of a strange visual anomaly (the tomb). Large, neon-blue rimmed "bubbles" of space seem to swirl and rotate around the axis of some invisible hemisphere sitting atop the desert sand. When inspected closer, the bubbles appear more to be tears in the fabric of space-time, providing windows into a dark, moonlit landscape dotted with ruined ivory pillars and a sporting a great gaping maw of a hole protruding from the earth.
At first, some folks in the party are taken aback with the power and mystery of this place and consider heading back to Quanlo having had "investigated" the area thoroughly. Fhasys, feeling brave and restless, first wanders into the center of the bubble swarm for a looksee and then back out to attempt to jump through one of the bigger holes. Her first attempt ends up unsuccessful, but her second try vaults her through to the other side. Meanwhile, Doc discovers what appears to be a large humanoid lying face-down in the distance. Doc, Talos, and Vyreth head out to investigate and find what appears to be the scene of a small battle between a handful of red robed mages (identified as being from the mages guild of Quanlo) and a couple blighted ogres.
The rest of the crew ends up following Fhasys into the alternate dimension (through the bubble holes), and they all decide to set up camp for a short rest. Doc stands watch for the duration and the group is ambushed by 10 skeletons that burst from the hallowed grounds and attack. Despite a few knicks, the party makes it through unscathed. As the last skeleton falls, a great, foul mass of air belches forth from the opening in the ground filling the heroes with sadness and bitterness. Steeling themselves, they gather their gear and head down the tunnel leading into the earth.
After a long descent, the tunnel finally flattens out and dead-ends at a large onyx inscribed slab blocking the way. Talos, using his knowledge of lore and arcana, deciphers the inscriptions as being ancient dwarven and reads the text to his group; it's a poem dedicated to the nasty inhabitant of this tomb for which it was constructed, Urzaan. Whipping out a scroll of Dispel Magic, Talos releases the magical lock on the slab and Doc and Vyreth manage to slide it out of the way. Standing before a dimly lit great hallway lined with pillars and torches, the heroes spot a lone sarcophagus at the far-end and decide how to best approach.
Since it's late evening and the party has a long ride ahead of them (to the desert tomb), they decide to park it at the Troublesome Troll for food and rest. During their dinner, the heroes overhear talk between two miners of some strange discovery deep within the Thanon mine... some sort of huge, ancient stone doorway blocking a newly dug tunnel. They get some much needed rest that night, and Talos awakens before dawn to the sound of a spinning coin falling close to his ear. Opening his eyes, it would seem a plain platinum coin has mysteriously found its way into his room. Talos inspects the premises for signs of intrusion but finds none, pockets the coin, and drifts off to sleep. His dreams are filled with wonderous imagery from a lush, overgrown ruin somewhere deep within a forest, and he's overcome with the desire to visit.
Over breakfast, Talos brings up the topic of the odd coin he found and Doc notices the similarity between this and his own coin. Rifling around in his pockets, Doc discovers that his own coin has gone missing and the two discuss just how it came to land in Talos' possession. Talos claims innocence and hands the coin back to Doc for safe keeping. The lot then begin discussing plans for the day. Most decide that catching the wagon out to the desert tomb sounds like the best thing to do first, and Talos mentions that he'd rather visit these ruins he'd dreamed about... overruled. The heroes head out of the town gates, meet the driver, and get to travelling.
The journey, according to the old man at the reigns, should take about 4 hours given smooth riding (ha). The driver is clearly wary of the journey and not looking forward to what may come of it, but the pay is good. An hour passes by uneventfully as the wagon heads NE away from the foothills and into the sandy desert, and with a few lurches and an exclamation or two from the driver, the whole thing comes to a stop. A wheel had gotten stuck in the hard, sandy, stone-ridden earth. The heroes pile out of the wagon to bitch and try and help push the wagon free of its bondage. Ultimately, after the driver sticks a wedge beneath the problem wheel, the crew manages to heave it free. This delay had cost them 2 more hours, and just as they started to ride again the lot is ambushed by a pack of giant hyenas! Combat ensues.
The driver manages to fend off a couple of the beasts with an old machete until they finally grow a pair and pounce, pinning him to the floor and nearly eviscerating him. Talos' imp dive-bombs the hyena nearest to its master, latching on to its side and stinging it with a nasty poison until it collapses. Showing a bit of its devious personality, the imp then decides to join the driver and three hyenas to "stir the pot" a bit. Eventually, the hyenas are slain, the driver is healed, and the crew gets back on the road.
The remaining couple hours pass by uneventfully, and the wagon rolls up to the site of a strange visual anomaly (the tomb). Large, neon-blue rimmed "bubbles" of space seem to swirl and rotate around the axis of some invisible hemisphere sitting atop the desert sand. When inspected closer, the bubbles appear more to be tears in the fabric of space-time, providing windows into a dark, moonlit landscape dotted with ruined ivory pillars and a sporting a great gaping maw of a hole protruding from the earth.
At first, some folks in the party are taken aback with the power and mystery of this place and consider heading back to Quanlo having had "investigated" the area thoroughly. Fhasys, feeling brave and restless, first wanders into the center of the bubble swarm for a looksee and then back out to attempt to jump through one of the bigger holes. Her first attempt ends up unsuccessful, but her second try vaults her through to the other side. Meanwhile, Doc discovers what appears to be a large humanoid lying face-down in the distance. Doc, Talos, and Vyreth head out to investigate and find what appears to be the scene of a small battle between a handful of red robed mages (identified as being from the mages guild of Quanlo) and a couple blighted ogres.
The rest of the crew ends up following Fhasys into the alternate dimension (through the bubble holes), and they all decide to set up camp for a short rest. Doc stands watch for the duration and the group is ambushed by 10 skeletons that burst from the hallowed grounds and attack. Despite a few knicks, the party makes it through unscathed. As the last skeleton falls, a great, foul mass of air belches forth from the opening in the ground filling the heroes with sadness and bitterness. Steeling themselves, they gather their gear and head down the tunnel leading into the earth.
After a long descent, the tunnel finally flattens out and dead-ends at a large onyx inscribed slab blocking the way. Talos, using his knowledge of lore and arcana, deciphers the inscriptions as being ancient dwarven and reads the text to his group; it's a poem dedicated to the nasty inhabitant of this tomb for which it was constructed, Urzaan. Whipping out a scroll of Dispel Magic, Talos releases the magical lock on the slab and Doc and Vyreth manage to slide it out of the way. Standing before a dimly lit great hallway lined with pillars and torches, the heroes spot a lone sarcophagus at the far-end and decide how to best approach.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)