Adventure 2004 August 14

Hedraday, 20th of Taner, probably evening.

"Hedraday, 20 of Taner, 150AV, possibly evening"

"You knew should have made that left turn at Albadia..."

"Following fast on the heels of the retreating ratmen, you've found yourself in some unused part of their underground complex. Sure, the sign saying 'Danger, Do not Enter' might have been a clue, but on the other hand, it could just have easily been a ratmen trick."

"In any case, you've bested the devious traps laid by whomever original built this (literally!) Belsameth damned place, and won what looks to be some powerful and expensive loot. Now, it's back to the ratmen, and Chern, and the dead eaters and the skeletons...ugh. You'd think it would be more difficult to hide a dead titan."

"And speaking of ratmen and traps, maybe the ratmen meant to lead you down this way. Why bother with you directly, when they could just let the ancient evils do their dirty work? That sounds just like a ratmen plan. Won't they be surprised when they discover that you've survived the firetrap, and the deadly statue, and the devil!"

"Tanil's Arrow! You're really going to take them unaware this time!

Telryn suggests resting a while so he can identify the things we found. Miriel and Goldpetal would like to rest also, but Miriel is worried about the raising of Chern. We finally decide to try. The time passes peacefully. When Miriel wakes up, she wants to get started right away, but Telryn wants to identify things first. He checks first to see if anything is magical.

The short sword is a +1 keen short sword. The bracers are bracers of archery. The yellow potion is a potion of locate object. The red potions are potions of Khadum's blood. The black potion is a potion of undead control. The greatsword is a +1 greatsword of mighty cleaving. The duck gives the user freedom of movement and water breathing. It may have other properties. It is activated by a word of power, "duck," in a language we don't know.

Goldpetal suggests creating water in one of the tapestries from the walls. Darmaon takes the short sword, Chuck gets the bracers, Paks takes the greatsword, and Telryn takes the scroll and potions. He creates the water and we fill our waterskins, sloshing quite a bit in the process. The tapestry is ruined.

Miriel insists that we get moving quickly. Goldpetal suggests that Miriel ask Madriel where we should go, but Miriel suggests that Paks would have a better chance of detecting the evil. Paks says that she did meditate on this while sharing guard duty, but got no signs. We know it must be down, so we head back that way. We fix the fire trap on the way, allowing it to be triggered again. Miriel expresses doubt, but the others think it is a good idea.

We listen at the door but don't hear anything. Paks and Goldpetal try to help Chuck open the door, but fail. They try again and again, but there is too much rock on the other side of the door. We realize there just isn't room, and try to re-spike the trap again. Darmaon succeeds pretty easily. Goldpetal finally tires of trying to open the door and casts a stone-shaping spell to create a person-sized hole in the stone next to the door. Paks tries to look through the hole and sees nothing, even with the light of the dagger. She moves all the way into the room, but can't see anything. She starts to work her way across the room carefully, since she can't see anything and the floor is quite slippery.

She is not very far into the room when she is attacked by four swords, which she senses are the hands of two skeletons. She calls out to the party that it is slippery and dark.

Paks hears something being thrown into the room, and with a sudden whoosh, the floor is on fire, but the room is still swathed in darkness. In the passageway, we feel the air dragged past us into the room. Chuck starts through the hole in the stone wall, but sees flames flickering out of the room. He calls to Paks to get out and moves back. Telryn waits for something else to happen. Paks tries to move on through the fire, away from the rest of the party, but she falls, and the skeletons try to attack her, but miss. She swings at the skeletons and hits one. Miriel calls out to Paks and asks if she needs help, but Paks calls back that she just needs light. Darmaon waits as well.

One skeleton hits Paks, the other fumbles and falls down. Paks swings at the one that fell and hits it, but swings again and hits. Goldpetal casts Endure Element (Fire) on Chuck, but Chuck doesn't know what the spell was. Telryn backs up. Chuck assumes Goldpetal did something useful, and heads back in towards the flames. The flames hurt a little, but don't seem so bad. He continues moving towards Paks, and the flames burn him. He pulls out Hoarfrost and swings at the skeletons, hitting one. Paks begins to crawl towards the exit. The skeletons swing at her and miss, the one still standing falls. Chuck swings at it, but misses in the darkness.

Paks crawls out of the room on fire. Miriel runs back to the tapestry room and starts dragging the wet tapestry. Darmaon follows her to help. Chuck hears the skeletons standing up. They swing at him, and one of them hits. Goldpetal casts a spell on Paks. Telryn moves back and tries to help Paks put herself out. Chuck yells "Hoarfrost" and attacks twice, but misses in the dark.

Paks rolls on the floor to put out the fire. With Telryn's help, she succeeds. Goldpetal casts a spell on himself. Telryn casts Divine Favor on Paks. Chuck draws his second sword and swings with both, but misses in the dark again. Paks stands up and casts Cure Light Wounds on herself. Miriel and Darmaon get back with the tapestry and put it over Paks to cool her down. It sizzles on the hot armor.

The skeletons swing at Chuck; one fumbles and falls down again. Chuck takes an attack of opportunity and hits it. Goldpetal moves into the room and runs into a prone skeleton. He tries to grapple it. and misses. Telryn pats Pax and says "Go get 'em!" Chuck hits one skeleton with his short sword. Paks falls while trying to rush across the room.

The skeletons swing at Goldpetal and Chuck, hitting once each. Goldpetal claws and bites, but misses. Telryn tries to figure out how long the grease will last, but on inspecting it, realizes that it is normal grease. Just as he says this, it stops burning, as it all burns off. Chuck swings at the skeletons and hits twice. Paks stands up and moves across the room.

The skeletons swing at Chuck, but miss. Miriel waits. Darmaon moves into the room and starts moving along the wall. The skeletons swing at Chuck and Goldpetal, hitting Chuck. Goldpetal claws and hits. Chuck swings twice and misses in the darkness again. He swings once more and misses. Paks gets to the door and opens it. She can see a stairway. She starts climbing the stairs. She calls back for us to ignore the skeletons and follow her.

Miriel moves in and starts feeling along the wall. A skeleton hits her as she passes. Darmaon moves out of the room into the light behind Paks. The skeletons swing at Goldpetal and Chuck and hit. Goldpetal moves along the wall. Chuck swings and hits one of the skeletons.

Miriel keeps moving along the wall towards the door. Chuck swings and hits. Goldpetal moves along the wall to the door and exits the room. He bumps Miriel on the way, but luckily she doesn't have the reflexes to swing at him before he is past. Telryn moves through the room, the skeletons swinging at him as he passes. Chuck swings and misses.

Paks heals Goldpetal. Miriel moves out of the room. Darmaon admires his sword. The skeletons swing at Chuck and one hits. Goldpetal sits down and licks the blood off of himself. Telryn moves along the wall. Chuck tries to move out, and the skeletons swing at him. Paks heals Miriel and checks the others. Miriel looks around for mystic signs, but just sees a stairway going up.

The skeletons move towards Chuck and swing at him. Goldpetal continues licking himself. Telryn finally gets out and shouts to Chuck that he is out. Chuck continues to move towards the door. Paks waits for an enemy to come into range. Miriel waits for Chuck. Darmaon checks for traps on the door.

The skeletons catch Chuck and swing at him. Both hit. Goldpetal licks himself. Telryn pulls out his wand of magic missile and watches the door. Chuck tries to get out and the skeletons swing at him again, hitting once. He heads or the stairs. Miriel looks at him bleeding and immediately heals him.

Goldpetal claws and bites at the skeletons. Telryn waits for Paks to kill the skeletons. Paks swings at the most injured skeleton, destroying it, and cleaves through to the other. She swings again, but fumbles, trips, and tosses her sword aside. Telryn shoots his magic missile at the skeletons. Goldpetal walks over and starts licking Chuck's wounds. Paks casts Cure Light Wounds on herself.

Paks moves back across the dark room to get her pack. Darmaon checks further for traps and doesn't find any. He says the door is unlocked. Paks tries opening the door. She can't get it open, so she asks for Chuck's help, but they don't manage it. Two spears fly at each of Paks and Chuck. They miss Paks, but one hits Chuck.

We see four skeletons with spears, a diseased rat man, and a skeleton piggybacking on another skeleton, all hiding behind a short wall constructed of bones.

Chuck steps up and draws his bow, shooting at the rat man but missing. The four skeletons throw spears at him; one hits. Paks steps up and swings at the rat man. From behind the skeletons, gray batlike mosquito creatures appear and attack Paks. They aren't the normal black; they look decaying. One hits each of Chuck and Paks. Paks is paralyzed. The skeleton with the skeleton on his back casts a spell. A charnel stench arises from the ground. Darmaon attacks with his short sword and just barely hits a stirge. Miriel tries to turn the undead, holding her holy symbol high. As she says "Begone foul creatures!" the skeleton mage holds up an amulet and clearly tries to turn us as well. The two stirges closest to Miriel poof into dust. Goldpetal moves in so he can see what is going on. As he is about to cast a spell, the rat man in the corner pulls a rope, and sacks of goo fall on the people in the corridor. Most dodge, but Paks is stuck to the floor. Goldpetal casts Flame Strike on the group. Two of the skeletons die, but we can see translucent skin burning on them as they die, so they're clearly not just skeletons.

Chuck puts away his bow, gets out Hoarfrost, and strikes at the stirge on Paks, but misses. The skeletons throw spears at Chuck and Darmaon. They hit Darmaon. Telryn magic missiles the skeleton mage. Paks is still paralyzed. The stirge on Paks drains her. The other one attacks her as well and latches on. A ghostly hand that was lurking behind the skeleton mage flies out and a black bolt of negative energy shoots out towards Telryn, hitting him. Darmon attacks with his short sword and hits the stirge on Paks, smashing it and spattering Paks' blood all over. Miriel turns the stirges again and blasts the last stirge out of existance. The rat man takes out a scroll and starts chanting in Dark Slytherin. A swarm of hornets appears in the hallway.

Chuck moves through the wall of hornets, getting stung repeatedly. He climbs over the wall of bones and the skeletons swing at him, but miss. He attacks the skeletal mage, but misses. The skeletons with the spears attack Chuck and one hits. Telryn magic missiles the skeletal mage. The skeleton on top of him falls apart, but he seems basically fine. Paks is still paralyzed. Chuck is hit by the spectral hand with a wraith touch. He skin shrivels and he falls. Darmaon is being attacked by the hornets. He moves forward and grabs Paks to drag her out. Miriel casts a Searing Light at the necromancer. Goldpetal casts a swarm of rats on the necromancer.

Chuck lies on the ground. The skeletons grab Chuck's body and start dragging it away. Telryn magic missiles the necromancer. Paks is still paralyzed. The necromancer flees up the hallway. Darmaon drinks a potion of Cure Light Wounds and chases after the rat men. Miriel casts a Sound Burst at the two skeletons dragging Chuck and knock 'em over dead. The disease rat man bolts away. Goldpetal moves through the hornets and jumps over the bone wall to Chuck. Goldpetal can't tell if Chuck is alive or dead, but he might just be alive, though he's all shriveled as if he has aged 100 years (human). Telryn gets out a wand of burning hands and starts burning his way through the wall of hornets.

Goldpetal turns into an elf and looks Chuck over. Miriel runs through the hornets, getting stung, and looks at Chuck. She casts a Lesser Restoration on him, and he looks a little better. She heals him, and he is conscious, but still looks really weak. Paks overcomes the paralysis. We go to rest, Chuck casts Alarm, and Miriel meditates on Restoration, then rests. We try to rest for four hours, but after an hour, Chuck sees a rat man poking his head around the corner and looking at him. The rat man sees the watchers and bolts.

Miriel casts Restoration on Chuck, Darmaon, and Goldpetal. Miriel suggests following the necromancer, as he is the most likely to be headed back to the raising of Chern. The vote is 4-2 to head after the necromancer. Chuck grabs his lighted dagger. Goldpetal tries to read the titanspeech scrawled on the walls and seems entranced by it. After a while of his ignoring us, Chuck and Paks try to pick up the panther; he roars at them and returns to staring at the walls.

Goldpetal attacks Chuck. Chuck pulls out the darkness stone, but it has no effect. Then Goldpetal walks away again. Chuck and Paks step in front of him. Goldpetal bites Paks. Chuck tries to subdue Goldpetal. Miriel and Paks feel that the room is very unholy. Paks tries to subdue Goldpetal, but misses. Darmaon tumbles past the passageway and looks down. Darmaon tries to subdue Goldpetal. Miriel casts Remove Curse on Goldpetal, but it has no effect. Darmaon succeeds in subduing Goldpetal.

Paks goes down the hallway and looks in both directions, but doesn't see anything.