Date: 5/13/2018
Attending:
Jake, Wes, Joey, Aaron, Justin
Absent: Dave
– Mother’s Day
Start Time: 7:15
p.m.
Just as the
party is about to go down the stairs, Osbert halts the group, and says “I won’t
be going. I am a new man and my former life is behind me – but I do not want to
face the temptation that may be found in these ruins. As there have been
redcaps in the area and some of the mercenaries from Evershade fled rather than
be slain or captured, someone should stand guard.”
After some
minor heckling and accusations of cowardice the party agrees to let Osbert sit
the temple ruins out. Jace expresses concerns that this may foil the party’s
attempt to bluff through the meeting or ritual they expect to find. Norris then
points out that that is an assumption on their part. “It does not look like
anyone has been down these stairs in quite some time. What if the purpose was
for Benzu to find or release something? Or even just open this door? We don’t
even know if we can close it again.” A quick examination reveals that Norris is
correct, and the secret door cannot be closed.
The party,
being stalwart adventurers, presses on anyway and descends into the depths of
the underground ruins. Khalo and Jace lead the way using darkvision, the rest
following behind some 40 feet with Soromir’s hooded lantern. At the bottom of
the stairs is a corridor. The walls floor and ceiling are made of cut
rectangular stones and are covered in dust, mold, and slime. Cobwebs drape down
and bridge angles where walls and ceiling meet, and the air has a pungent moist
mustiness odor and taste.
The party
goes down the hall for about 60 feet where it ends in a “T” intersection.
Opting for the right-hand path they move on, when Khalo hears a low moaning and
shuffling getting closer. Soromir comes forward with the lantern and the party
braces themselves for whatever arrives. Two dwarven mummies stumble into the
15’ cone of illumination from Soromir’s lantern. The party slays the undead
horrors, but Jace contracts a powerful disease Norris identifies as mummy rot.
The party
retreats up the stairs and makes camp near the ruins. They rest for the
remainder of the day, through the night, and into the morning. Every 8 hours
Norris tries to cure the mummy rot, and fails while Jace rots away, until the
last attempt is successful. The party returns to the ruins.
Once again
in the musty halls the party pushes on past where the dwarven mummies were
found. Coming to another “T” intersection they once again choose the right-hand
path. While wlaking down this new corridor it is noticed that a 5 feet long
section of wall doesn’t look to be the same construction as the rest of it.
Cleverly concealed it was probably unnoticeable when the hall was kept up, but
now the growth pattern of the mold highlights differences and seams that would
otherwise be invisible. Jace uses his wand of Detect Secret Doors and is able
to find the opening mechanism. Opening the hidden door, a short 4 foot
depression is revealed, with another door.
This door is
circular and made from a single piece of metal. A hand wheel is mounted in the
center. The party compares notes and realizes that this door is almost the
exact same as the one Blackbriar opened on the Isle of Demos so many weeks ago.
The only difference is that one was etched and inscribed with runes and sigils
and the door in front of them is plain and unadorned.
The party
opens the door.
Beyond is a
hall radically different from the one they are standing in. Each wall, the
floor, and the ceiling seem to be made from a single slab of polished black
basalt. Dust lies on the ground but no mold or cobwebs are on the walls. The
air is drier and has a faint antiseptic smell to it.
Walking in
the hall goes a short feet and dead ends in a large circular room. The ceiling
is domed, and a large glass half hemisphere is mounted upside-down in the
center of the ceiling. A dark opaque red liquid fills 1/3 of the hemisphere;
the remaining 2/3s are streaked with a dried brownish red residue. Glass and
copper tubing of various sizes comes out of the base of the hemisphere and
drapes before disappearing into the walls and ceiling at various points.
The
circumference of the room is a collection of alchemical worktables littered
with beakers and jars, collapsed and rotting bookcases, and six intermittently
spaced glass cylinders running floor to ceiling at a slight angle and capped at
the foot and hear by metal apertures. The cylinders are large, three feet in
diameter, and are filled with a pale yellow liquid. Floating in the liquid are
six bodies, 1 per tube, each desiccated and in various states of damage – one
missing an arm, another’s whole body cavity is open and empty, etc… What is
consistent is that they are all male, and the face of each has been sliced off
in a perfect rectangle from chin to scalp, exposing the skull.
In the
center of the room resting on 4 metal posts is a metal tube stretched
horizontally across the supports. It is about 7 feet long and 3 feet in
diameter, and the top section seems to be a hatch of some kind with a latch on
the side. Large tubing rise out of the floor and are mounted into the thing,
and a faint pumping noise, along with the gurgling of fluid is heard.
The party
first inspects the cylinders. There is one dwarf, one human, one elf, one
gnome, one Halfling, and one orc each. Other than that they cannot determine
any information. Orenthal examines the one intact bookcase and finds that most
of the books crumble to dust when touched. One does not. Flipping through it he
sees a language that he can’t identify much less read, but looks similar to
elvish and sylvan. Casting read magic he comes to a page he can read through
the spell. It is titled “Analysis and Procedures of attaching the Warlord’s
Additional Limbs.” It then goes into a detailed description of a bio chemical
and magical process which Orenthal barely understands (at his first read in his
defense). It seems to be attaching a construct arm to a dwarf, and fusing it to
the spine in some fashion.
As Orenthal
reads he realizes the bottom half of the page is a magical trap. He is able to
resist (made his save versus permanent Feeblemind spell) but once the trap is
sprung the ink slides off of the pages of the book. Orenthal pulls out his
journal and furiously tries to write down everything he remembers.
Next the
party congregates around the central metal tube. Khalo hacks one of the pipes
open spilling what seems to be the liquid from the hemisphere above. Some of it
touches Khalo’s skin and he is overcome with memories that clearly belong to
someone else. A different droplet provides different memories, a distinctly
different source (person) from the first. Otherwise the liquid seems to be
blood.
Suddenly
Orenthal chooses to open the hatch on the metal tube. A hissing noise causes
him to jump back as a thick gas is released from within. A figure sits up in
the tube.
It is tall,
perhaps seven feet if standing, and rail thin. It’s skin is a pasty grey color,
and it is completely hairless. The one remaining ear is elvish in appearance,
but far longer than a typical elf – extending an inch or two higher than its
head. A black metal apparatus is mounted into its right face, covering or
replacing its mouth, right eye, and right side of its head. Where its mouth
would be is a black metal mesh in a frame. Its right eye is gone as is half its
nose, and the socket is deep with a pale purple pinpoint of light deep
within. The black metal continues down
into its torso and its right arm has been replaced with a mechanical one – a
thin insectine limb that ends in a three pronged pincher instead of a hand. Its
clothes are alien in design and cut. The one good eye spins 360 degrees in its
socket before coming to rest on Orenthal.
It says
something than no one understands. Orenthal tries to respond in common. The
being then casts a spell, and then speaks in clear common to Orenthal. The
conversation is disjointed and stilted, but it indicates that this is not its
world, that it was not at rest but entombed, and that centuries had passed.
Khalo asks several questions that seem to be ignored. It gets out of the tube
and stands. It casts another spell which Orenthal identifies as some sort of
messaging spell, similar to sending but that can cross planes. Khalo,
frustrated at being ignored, attacks the being, stabbing it with his spear. The
party, now in initiative, lays into it, and slays it quickly.
Orenthal was
upset and Khalo and he begin arguing – Khalo defending his choice to attack and
Orenthal lamenting that more information had not been retrieved, assuming that
they could have leveraged the fact that they released it into being allies.
Suddenly a
portal – specifically from a gate spell – opens in the room. Only Khalo is in a
vantage point to see within – and he looks and the runs from the room full
stop. The rest of the party bolts with him – asking no questions. Orenthal is
the only one who doesn’t immediately run – instead he peeks around the edge of
the gate.
He sees a
vast hall made of polished red stone, with support columns in a line. Walking
towards the gate is a figure like the one they just slew, except this one’s
metal parts are different – having a metal band that comes over the top of its
skull and surrounding (and replacing) both eyes. One either side of it is a
large circular creature floating about three feet off of the ground. The
creatures seem to be all head, enormous toothy mouths under a massive central
eye, nine other eyes arrayed on individual stalks branching out of their heads.
The tall grey elf like thing was conversing with one of the eye things as they
walked. Orenthal flees.
Exiting the
room they shut the circular metal door.
After waiting for 30 anxious minutes, they open the door and cautiously
enter. The room is completely empty. Furniture, tubes, hemisphere, liquid, all
gone leaving bare black rock. Even the dust is missing.
They
re-enter the regular temple halls and turn right. It goes for a short way and
then dead-ends in a square room. It is empty except for a pedestal in the
center with a small wooden box on top.
The party
approached and Khalo picks up the box. No trap goes off. He hands it to
Orenthal who opens it. Within is a deck of cards. The characters are confused,
the players hyperventilate, and the DM chuckles. Orenthal pulls the deck out,
flips it over, and thumbs through the cards. It is a non-magical oracular deck
used in divination, similar to a real world tarot deck, with art that is Nerull
themed. The characters shrug, the players angrily accuse the DM of “just
messing with us!”, the DM laughs (if anyone just stumbled on this via the
internet and doesn’t understand the references here, look up “Deck of Many
Things.” It’s a game wrecking artifact that players can’t resist).
They retrace
their steps, passing by the secret door and the side hall that leads outside,
continuing on until they reach another “T” intersection. Once again they go
right, and it dead-ends in another room. This one seems to be an old barracks,
with moldy bedframes and rotting mattresses. A quick, rogue-less search reveals
nothing of interest and they go the opposite way. Hearing movement down this
hall, Orenthal sends Icarus to get Osbert, temptations be damned, and the hall
continues but they find an ornate door in the walls. Khalo throws it open just
as Osbert joins the group (along with Icarus), and they see a worship hall with
pews and an altar. A ghoulish priest is leading 25 other ghouls in a silent
worship service to Nerull. The party prepares to charge.
End of
Session
500 XP
