Conquering the Barbarian Altanis: Session 143
Adventurers
| Character | Race | Class | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ambros | Human | Cleric level 6 | Follower of Aniu, Lord of Time. |
| Ignaeus | Elf | fighter level 5 / Magic-User level 4 | A slightly weathered looking elf with dull blonde hair and chiseled features. Seeks wealth and knowledge. |
| Tikatu | Human | Druid level 1 | A dirty little ma with dark and dirty skin, wearing loincloth with no back. “What will be, will be” is his favourite aphorism. |
| Kho Rimbo | Human | Magic-User level 1 | A knife throwing wizard extraordinaire. Covered in ritual knife scars. Cuts himself whilst casting. Prone to being sarcastic. |
| Dalkanarion | Human | Fighter level 5 | A youthful specimen in full strength, full of purpose, bluster, and eagerness to prove himself. |
| Tobias Lindflags | Hobbit | Thief level 1 | A sixth-born son standing to gain nothing from inheritance, so he set out to make his own fortune in the world. |
| Helmuth Mithaft | Human | Fighter level 1 | A bold mercenary with glorious red beard and pearly facial hair. |
Meadowlark 1st, Airday
Spreading out in the X shaped chamber, the adventurers split between investigating the marble statues and guarding the stairs leading further down. Following the blood trail led them to this chamber. It continued down the stair.
The statues of naked men armed with spear and shield. They had nothing of value on them, although the did find remnants of a long deceased adventurers with two rotten sacks of coins. Judging them to be too heavy to carry now, the party left them where they are.
Dalkanarion burst into the chamber, ready to dish out some pain. He rode hard from the Cedarwade Keep, having left it in capable hands of Jace. He was joined by another massive specimen, the notorious mercenary Helmuth Mithaft.
Emboldened by fresh meat slabs for the front line, the adventurers descended into the darkens. Blood trail split to the right and left. Left trail led them to several dead ends, most filled with grisly remains of ghastly ghouls.
Ambros recognised two of his fanatic followers. So he ordered his living followers to drag out the remains of his deceased followers.
Moving north, following the right hand path, led the party into an octagonal chamber filled with gnawed bones, an defiled scraps. The air was humid. To the north was a round chamber, in essence a pool with circular gangway running around. Iron rungs were spaced nearly a hand apart, making it a real risk that small, elegant foot—like the ones of a hobbit or elf—could easily slip through and sink into foetid water beneath.
To east was a most curious long corridor. Every ten feet was a ten by ten iron grate, flanked by an alcove to the sides. Beneath each grate was dark water within arms' reach. While most of the adventurers discussed how to traverse the weird corridor, Tobias listened attentively.
He heard sounds as if something was breaking the water surface, but it was at irregular intervals and he could not see anything in the darkness. He informed the party.
Having throughouly discussed their course of action, the adventurers decided to avoid stepping over the grates in case they break under the weight of heftier members. They would go two by two, each stepping into the alcove on the side, and then stepping on the solid ground beyond the grate.
Ambros commanded a squad of heavy footmen to guard the octagonal room while they move down the corridor. In other words, they were to protect the rear so adventurers are not caught in a difficult position in the corridor.
Party crossed a total of five grates before reaching the end of the corridor. And what a sight it was! Wood doors, covered with painted and carved symbols, runes, and pictograms! These were obviously of more recent make, and not how the doors were made.
As Ignaeus and Ambros approached the doors to investigate them closer, junior adventurers, who shall be left unnamed, hid in the alcoves by the grates, “just in case.” Dalkanarion and Helmuth stepped to the side, into the corridor leading south, down to the steep staircase.
The inscriptions were magical, no doubt about it. They were also entirely unreadable. Ignaeus was unwilling to doff his armour in order to cast Read Magic. Ambros did spot an overly-elaborate cursive script. It was very similar to the script on the scroll he had read before. The one that rendered himself and Dalkanarion hairless. The one that turned two of his colleagues into charcoal. Naturally, he read it.
The script read:
“Klekless Racoba”
Silent gasps could be heard.
Have they finally found the fugitive wizard?
Paranoia set in.
What's with the grates?
What's with the runes?
The doors must obviously be trapped!
What to do? How to open them?
Alarmed yelling disrupted adventurers' contemplation.
Tikatu the pygmy was first to see the horror that befell Ambros's squadron.
Desperate screams supplanted yelling as a pack of feral ghouls tore through the heavy footmen. The latter were completely surprised.
“Begone in the name of Aniu! Begone in the name of Forseti!” Ambros bellowed, holding the golden gavel up high.
Undead cannibals fled in presence of such awesome divinity. They left a gory scene behind them. Not a single footman was left standing. Tikatu and Tobias could hear sounds of splashing water as the monsters fled.
“Let's just pour all the oil we have on the doors. Then we burn them down.”
Everyone agreed. Once the doors were well oiled, the adventurers returned to the octagonal chamber. They avoided the grates on their way back. Looking at the pool to the north did not reveal any floating ghouls. Quiet splashing could be heard from time to time.
Illustration by Brulligrum.
Ambros found that four of the footmen were still alive, albeit paralysed. They were dragged into the corner and left there to recover.
Dalkanarion, Helmuth, and Ignaeus decide to lift the grate closest to them, to form a sort of barrier in case something comes at them down the long corridor. Elf was tasked with looping a rope through the rungs. As soon as he pushed the rope down one of the rungs, three pairs of rotted arms emerged from the water and clawed at him. Being an elf he was not susceptible to the perils of ghoulish caress, so he just shrugged them off. The plan was abandoned.
Tobias was trusted with the task of hitting a large, immovable plank at hundred feet. He wrapped an oil soaked rug around his arrow tip. Then he lit it. Finally, he shot it straight down the corridor, hitting his target true.
The doors caught fire. By the time they burnt down, the surviving heavy footmen have regained their facilities. Whole party moved onward, sidestepping grates as before. Ignaeus took the rearguard. Four heavy footmen were assigned to watch the south corridor leading down the steep staircase. Others investigated the chamber up ahead.
The room was finely furnished. Large, plush carpet dominated the center. A solid bed was to the south. Heavy oak writing desk was to the east. Tall closet was next to it. North wall was lined with wooden shelves. There were another doors to the north too, and they too were covered with symbols and arcane lettering.
Besides the furniture, room was almost empty. There was no mattress nor lining, nor pillows, on the bed. Shelves were bare, besides three leather bound tomes and a dozen of scroll cases. Writing desk was completely bereft of anything. Wardrobe was empty too.
Three ghouls dared to exit the foul water. They crawled and started chewing on their victims ankles. Ignaeus had spotted them—courtesy of coin enchanted with continual light that was left behind in the octagonal chamber—and forced them to retreat by peppering them with arrows.
Tikatu bobbed through the wizard's chamber, uttering the words of power. Several objects were wreathed in soft, purplish light, detecting as magical. A dozen scrolls lit up. The door frame and hinges on the northern doors. Something inside the second drawer of the writing desk.
Seeing how violently mundane the carpet is, Helmuth gingerly rolled it with his polearm. Confirming no traps beneath it, he rolled it completely and then secured it with rope. It was a heavy carpet, even for absolute unit like himself.
Tobias opened the drawer. Then he pried open the false bottom. And there he had seen the source of pale purple light. A gold ring with a polished emerald gem. The hobbit took the ring, slid it on his finger, and vanished.
“Oh no, not again.”
What else will the adventurers find—or lose—in the chamber of the fugitive wizard?
Discuss at Dragonsfoot forum.
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