Conquering the Barbarian Altanis: Session 174
Adventurers
| Character | Race | Class | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ambros | Human | Cleric level 7 | Follower of Aniu, Lord of Time. |
| Beorg the Gravedigger | Human | Fighter level 5 | Inspired to adventure after burying several adventurers. |
| Ignaeus | Elf | Fighter level 4 / magic-user level 5 | A slightly weathered looking elf with dull blonde hair and chiseled features. Seeks wealth and knowledge. |
| Jacob Vin | Human | Assassin level 2 | Slick black hair, inconspicuous dress, youthful for his age, and of keen instincts. |
| Kenso San | Human | Fighter level 4 | An arrogant and self-assured sellsword wandering Wilderlands to prove he can best anyone. |
| Tam o' Shanter | Human | Cleric level 4 | A boisterous wine-lover of Losborst on a Great Crusade of the Grape. |
| Tarkus the Promising | Human | Cleric level 5 | Follower of Bachontoi, God of Red Wisdom. |
| Thorinda Bung | Human | Monk level 3 | She has blonde hair done up in a tight pony tail and wears light, loose suit. |
Redleaves 8th, Earthday
Tam laid on the cold dungeon floor; his muscles stiff and paralysed. Four ghouls vied for his tasty, juicy, grape-infused, flesh. Luckily for his Tarkus was divine enough to force the beasts to flee.
Having forced the undead into retreat, the adventurers regrouped at the t-junction. Ambros and Ignaeus joined them, having just arrived. Dung, formerly known as Agathon the Promising, and Wilbalt were relegated to carrying Stiff Tam.
Adventurers moved north, then left, and stopped at the doors. Corridor continued further right, connecting to the room with the gilded spider.
Forcing the door open resulted with another clash with esurient ghouls. Tarkus and Ambros spread their divinity upon the dead; Thorinda and Kenso each slayed one of the dead. Jacob, on the other hand, felt the cold claw of the dead, ending as stiff, if not stiffer, than Tam o' Shanter. Kenso killed one more, and others fled through the south doors.
By the west wall rested a wooden coffin on a bier. Ignaeus and Beorg inspected it. A single wrapped corpse that crumbled to dust after being frisked by the latter. Beorg collected some of the gravedust and rubbed it into his armpits. Then he took some more of it and added it to his satchel with squirming maggots.
South room had nothing but gnawed human remains. It connected to a corridor leading to the T-shaped junction where adventurers fought the undead.
Tam regained his facilities and was able to move on his own once more. Dung and Wilbalt were now tasked with carrying Jacob. Assassin stiffened up whilst holding bullseye lantern. The duo now pointed him in the direction of darkness, using him as human flashlight.
Party moved further north, then left past the gilded spider, then right to another t-junction. Right hand side led to the large chamber adjoining the sacrificial altar as well as another entrance into the spider chamber. Left hand path led to the hereto unexplored realms.
Thirty feet down were doors to the left; twenty feet on corridor to the right; another twenty feet down the corridor opened up into the chamber.
Blood-curling, heart-rending screams of pain and anguish could be heard from beyond the doors. Burping grunts and growls accompanied the screams.
Adventurers broke through the doors, weapons drawn. A dozen of orcs in a chamber, some thirty feet wide and fifty feet long, were torturing a child-sized creature. They were unsurprised.
Beorg came first, swinging his halberd. He skewered one orc and beheaded another. Kenso followed, decapitating two more. Ignaeus moved with elven grace, slaying four pig-faced beastmen. Beorg killed two more, offering them no grace. Others killed two more. The last two spawns of chaos fled through secret doors in the south-east corner.
Adventurers spread out. Some scavenged coins from slain orcs, some sought to help the victim of torture, and the elf sought secret doors in the corner.
Ambros knelt by what seemed to be a male gnome. He was stripped naked, bloodied and bruised. His fingers were mangled, his toes cut off. Both of his eyelids were severed. Gnome struggled to speak, so Ambros brought his to ear to mouth.
”... great treasure...” the gnome exhaled, barely audible “...chamber of painted walls!” he grunted, spitting blood. He was no more.
Ignaeus signaled to others that he had identified the portion of the wall that should swing open. This were a rather mundane secret doors. Party aligned behind him and readied themselves for a volley of arrows.
Initially the failed to push them open. On the second attempt, Ignaeus successfully forced them open, but Beorg lost his footing and stumbled straight in. He fell to the ground, amidst three dozen zombies savaging two orcs.
Before horrible (or delightful, depending on whom you ask) fate befell him, Ambros thundered and turned eight zombies to dust. Kenso and Tarkus moved in to help their ally. Remaining zombies turned around and attacked.
Tam was about to join as well, but he heard Dung call for help. North doors swung open and ten zombies limped in from the north. They almost tore Tam to pieces before they were turned back.
In the secret chamber Ambros kept dusting the zombies. Initial cockiness was replaced with slight worry as the cleric of Aniu and Forseti was dusting only one undead per round. Kenso was nearly rended to death before Ambros finally had proper divine intervention and turned a dozen of remaining dead to dust.
Adventurers exhaled as they just beat back nearly fifty zombies. Clerics healed the wounded—with more or less success—while others secured the chamber.
Party decided to investigate the secret chamber. It was empty, but did join to a very long corridor. Following it led to a dead end. Ignaeus investigated until he found another secret doors. The mechanism was the same as before—simple concealed swing doors.
“What!”
“We went up!”
Adventurers emerged in a thirty by thirty chamber on the first floor of the dungeon. The one which was full of zombies. The one where they turned the undead and then fled, sorry, retreated from.
“Let's go back down, there is nothing much left on this floor.”
And so they went down the long corridor, into the tortured gnome chamber, and then back into the corridor. Passageway to the right bent left at an angle and continued straight as far as the Jacob-lantern could shine. Ignoring that route and heading straight into the chamber ahead led to ten zombies that were turned earlier.
Ambros promptly dusted half of them, while Tam turned the other half. The latter were then vanquished by other adventurers. The chamber had nothing of interest. By now Jacob has recovered from the ghoul's gentle caress and was able to point lantern without assistance.
Party continued west, reaching a corridor going north and south. They opted to explore the latter. This led them to iron-bound doors.
“Dung!”
Kenso found one thing Agathon the Promising was truly promising at: forcing stuck doors open. As the youngest son of a blacksmith, Agathon had an iron grip and massive, functional, muscles. The boy got the doors open.
Before them was a chamber twenty feet wide and forty feet long. It was illuminated by two torches burning in sconces along south and north walls. All the walls were painted black. Heavy crimson curtain hung along the west wall.
Adventurers entered and spread out. Beorg poked the curtain. It swung open, as if on a spring, revealed a hideous demonic face painted on the wall.
Several of adventurers, best left unnamed, shattered in the face of such evil. They fled the chamber, shaking uncontrollably.
But that was not all.
Ambros felt that something more was off. At the corner of his eye he spotted shadows dancing! He turned around just in time as two living shadows attempted to jump him. Then he turned them with his awesome presence.
The shadow attempted to flee but were halted by Dung the Wide standing at the sole entrance into the chamber. To boy's credit, he did not cower nor flee. Ambros acted fasted and Dispelled Evil, vanquishing the shadows.
“Something is off here. I sense it.” Ignaeus's elven senses were tingling. There was something hidden in the chamber!
Several of the fleeers attempted to muster enough willpower to enter the chamber. Witnessing the demonic face completely broke Tam, Thorinda, and Jacob, rendering them completely unable to be anywhere close to the chamber. They stood around the corner, “watching our back.”
“Here!”
Ignaeus had detected the secret doors on the east wall. It was a subtle sliding mechanism operated by pressing a concealed flagstone. The elf pushed it down and felt a prick. Poison coursed through his veins. He survived, but suffered greatly.
Wall slid open.
A naked, hunched human, reeking of death and decay crouched in the middle of a twenty by twenty chamber. Wild hair barely concealed his baleful gaze. The monster growled as Ambros held forth his Gold Gavel of Justice.
Adventurers' eyes grew big as they eyed three iron chests by the east wall. Above each an item hung: a longbow, a quiver of arrows, and a broadsword in jewelled scabbard.
The hateful dead retreated behind one of the chests. Ignaeus shoot it, but it only growled backed. Kenso stood at the entrance of the chamber, blocking it.
Without anywhere to go, the monster lunged forth, but was turned back again. Adventurers backed off, creating space for the monster to exit the treasure laden secret chamber. It did so.
Ambros summoned natural light through Continual Light, forcing the undead the flee. But Dung was still at his old post, straight in the way of the undead! Either too brave or too stupid to step aside, he faced the monster.
Vile monster lunged at Agathon, but young boy dodged just in time and avoided fate worse than death. From now on it was all chaotic.
Tam, Jacob, Thorinda, and Wilbalt fled north, back into the room where they fought ten zombies. There they ran into nineteen skeletons. Tam turned four. Remaining fifteen closed in and ripped into the four adventurers.
Ignaeus took out his broke Volmorin's scimitar, a magical sword. Which was now nothing but a hilt and small jagged edge. Kenso closed in, well aware that there is little he could do but act as a distraction.
Beorg ran into the treasure chamber, pulled the sword on the wall out of its scabbard, felt like it was the best blade ever that he should never let go of, and rushed to face the dead.
Tarkus held up his holy symbol, but undead had nowhere to flee but through Agathon. Ambros rushed to the secret chamber, hoping to find something that can be used to vanquish the beast.
Agathon, dodged, and parried, and ducked. He escaped death thrice. Will he be able to do so the fourth time?
Poster by Lord Jubalon Flux.
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