Previously in our story...
"Sometimes, some moments, you can actually feel the universe shift. Whether it's because you're on the right path, the wrong one, or merely causing history to be written by your steps in the sands." - Cora
.oOo..oOo..oOo..oOo.
"She is the one who sent you here, we want her dead." the mages said, pointing the demon prince toward KelLyn with condescending smirks of triumph.
Those smirks were short lived, however, as the warriors of the party immediately turned their attention to dealing with them personally. They began moving backwards into the billowing smoke in an attempt to use that as cover against the coming fight, but Shalev and Ishmael both engaged to prevent their escape.
The demon prince took a step forward, and apologized to KelLyn before reaching out to try and remove her heart. KelLyn quipped glibly that she was "90 percent sure she didn't need her heart anyway," and began quickly reading the Protection from Demons spell scroll that we had picked up earlier in the explorations.
Lan and Osman began a summoning together, and Fife stepped directly between KelLyn and the demon prince, taking his role of bodyguard literally, as he threw a spear toward the mage who had spoken the order for KelLyn's death. I fired an arrow at the other mage, but missed due to the cover of the smoke, and quickly fired a second shot, this time hitting, but doing no damage. Fife's aim was, as it always is, true to mark, and the spear pinned the first mage to the floor. Shalev took the opportunity to grab the pinioned body and throw it off of the spear and away, before drawing his sword and striking the head clean off of the second mage.
Killing the mages did not release the demon, much to the party's consternation and immediate realization that the demon was not controlled by the two that came through with him, and capricious enough to continue toward the original goal of killing KelLyn.
Near Lan and Osman, a gate began to open as a result of their combined efforts in summoning. The army of fae that it revealed took one look in to see the demon prince, looked at Lan and Osman like the two of them were out of their minds, and promptly closed the gate. Nonplussed, the two of them immediately began summoning again, not to be deterred by the setback, and seemingly oblivious to the refusal of the fae.
Ishmael, recalling the fight with the dragon, eased his way around to flank the demon prince, and began to climb the 14 foot tall creature. Shalev moved in to attack, aiming for the demon's knees as the demon again tried for KelLyn's heart.
Fife, using the momentum and weight of the demon to his advantage, stabbed the demon's hand with the flamestrike spear. The defense was successful, and the spear actually managed to cause damage to the demon, causing him to recoil in surprise and giving KelLyn the chance to finish reading the protection spell which crumbled into dust upon completion.
I, realizing that I would probably be more hindrance than help in this fight, moved over to search the bodies of the two mages in hopes that I might find something that would aid in banishing the demon back to it's home plane. I saw that one of the poor fools was still struggling to breathe, and quietly put him out of his misery. Searching the remains lent only a handful of miscellaneous components, however, and nothing else of real value.
Ishmael continued his stealthy climb, and Lan and Osman finished their latest summoning, this time creating a vortex from which a strange creature emerged. It looked like a skeletal humanoid made purely of dust and rocks. At that moment, Shalev located and began reading the Banish Unholy scroll that we had found in an attempt to return the demon to it's home plane.
KelLyn began to visibly gather her willpower in preparation of continuing with her formidable defense against the demon; and the demon, seeing that Fife was still standing between them, reached out to swat him aside. Fife made an attempt to dodge out of the way, but wasn't quite fast enough, and was thrown against the far wall and wounded. Lan tried to control the strange skeletal dust elemental that she and Osman had summoned, but failed, and the creature turned to attack them both.
Another fairy portal opened up then, a result of yet another attempt to summon from Lan and Osman. A hand reached through the new portal, handed Osman an ash wand, and then withdrew, once again closing the portal behind it. Osman looked at the wand curiously, but then realized that the dust elemental was attacking him, and turned to focus his attention on dispelling the creature.
Shalev completed reading the Banish Unholy spell, and the demon prince screamed and turned to run out of the room, throwing Ishmael clear of his back in the process. Shalev then turned and cast a quick dispel undead at the elemental attacking Lan and Osman, causing it to collapse into a pile of filmy dust before it could reach them.
I moved over to check on Fife, who had bounced off of the far wall, and found him injured enough to require healing. I gave him one of the draughts of pure healing which was enough to get him back on his feet. KelLyn tried then to peer through the still-open portal that the mages emerged from earlier, and she saw faint figures moving on the other side. She rolled a copper piece towards the portal to see if it was two-way, but discovered that it would not allow things to pass back through.
The demon prince peered around the corner of the doorway, said with mocking laughter "I can't believe you fell for that!" and then opened up a gate to the neutral plane in the center of the room. Lan tried to disenchant the portal, in hopes that it would collapse, but failed, and the spell rebounded into Ishmael. He shimmered for a moment, but appeared otherwise unaffected, though I heard him mutter something about feeling physically stronger. Osman also attempted to destroy the gate, but he also was unsuccessful, and he retreated toward the edge of the opposite hallway to get out of the way.
Two wraiths emerged from the neutral gate, and Shalev moved to attack them as KelLyn worked to try closing the gate so that nothing else could come through. The demon prince laughed again and opened a second gate to a Lawful plane, and I heard Shalev curse darkly. Fife took a moment to examine the smoky gate that the mages had originally emerged from, but could not go through.
I was keeping myself well clear of the fray, knowing that it was too tight of a space for me to really be any use. The hidden stairway to the lower levels was still to be found, and so I used my skills to try and locate it. Instead of the stairs, however, I discovered a low frame of mist on the far wall, where 4 translucent gold ravens worked to drag the bodies of the two mages we had killed through the misty portal. I silently crept closer to the misty portal, following the strange ravens, and saw three more mages through the mist, chanting and piecing the bodies of their fallen companions back together again. I carefully tried to reach through the area where I had seen the ravens pass, and discovered that I could do so without harm. There was a thick pedestal or reading stand of some sort on the mage's side of the misty opening, and I used it as cover to stay out of sight in order to give myself time to contemplate what my next actions could be.
Osman suddenly remembered the magical lock that we had taken from the desk in the captain's quarters earlier. He took it out and tossed it towards the neutral gate, and newly forming lawful gate, and it landed on the floor in the middle of the two. He then tried to shoot the lock with an arrow, hoping that the impact would cause the lock to explode and destroy the gates, but he missed, and the arrow skittered across the floor harmlessly.
Ishmael stepped forward then, and with an odd look of concentration on his face, he reached out to try to push the smoky gate closed as if it were simply a door that needed to be shut. He pushed on the gate with an unbelievable strength, and the fabric of the entire universe flexed around him in a visible and nauseatingly physical ripple in reality. Everything stopped for a heartbeat, and we just stared at Ismael in awe. He kept up his attempt for another moment, completely unaware that what he was doing was normally impossible, and intently focused on his task.
Shalev's attacks on the wraiths were unsuccessful, and he found himself unable to hit them directly with his sword. Osman failed another attempt to hit the lock, and KelLyn still worked frantically to close the gates that were forming around us.
Two evil knights emerged from the Lawful portal, and Ishmael, seeing that his attempt to close the smoke gate wasn't working, abandoned the effort and moved over to deal with them. The demon prince, seeing that we had still not been defeated, said something uncouth and began opening a third gate, this time to the plane of fire. Lan cast a pacify spell on the wraiths, convincing them to leave Shalev alone, and KelLyn began casting a spell to try once again to destroy the gates.
I reached again carefully through the strange mist-portal that I had discovered, and felt some papers on the reading stand. Keeping a wary eye on the chanting mages and the strange ravens, I grabbed the paper and pull it back through the portal without being detected. I looked at what I had grabbed and saw a piece of paper with an odd multidimensional writing on it. I thought it looked similar to what I had seen KelLyn working with when she used Fyrewerian, and was able to make out some part of it that said "varanuraman also known as ermaralurazar". I tucked it safely into a pocket, and then ducked out of the way just as Osman was finally able to successfully strike the magical lock with a heavy arrow.
The lock exploded, as hoped, with an implosion of magical energy that caused the gates to buckle, and the knights and wraiths to disappear. KelLyn's spell completed successfully, and the buckling gates were completely destroyed. As soon as the gates crashed down, I ran over to KelLyn to hand her the scrap of paper that I had filched from the pedestal in the misty room. She glanced at it curiously saying that it looked like the demon's name and that this could be most helpful, and began studying it in more detail. While she studied, I moved back over to see what else I could find in the misty room, but found that I could no longer reach through the portal when my hand met cold stone.
The demon prince, hearing the explosion, looked around the door frame again and blinked in surprise to see us all standing there mostly unharmed. He grumbled "well hell" and then withdrew around the corner once again opening another gate across the doorway. Tobias and Ishmael who had charged toward the demon the second he showed his face, instead found themselves amidst six red-robed figures emerging from the new portal.
Tobias, reacting with a speedy reflex, shifted his attack toward the first of the robed figures, swinging his mace with deadly precision. The impact of the mace caused it to explode, however, sending shrapnel flying and causing minor damage to everyone within range. Ishmael shrugged off the damage from the mace, and reached out to snare one of the other robed figures in a crushing bearhug.
Lan and Osman moved towards the rear of the room and worked together to begin, once again, summoning something from fae. Fife, seeing new targets in the robed figures, threw a spear at one of them as Ishmael, Shalev, and Tobias engaged with the others.
The demon, hearing that we were not dying in agony as he had hoped, reached through the purple portal and began moving his arm in an obvious incantation to open yet another gate. Seeing the rest of the party otherwise occupied, I snatched up the flamestrike spear and ran over to stab the demon in the hand, hoping to disrupt his concentration. My strike was true, and the spear caused enough damage to the demon to cause him to jerk his hand upward just as he finished the incantation before withdrawing his hand with a cry of surprised pain. The portal which he had been trying to open on the floor underneath us instead opened up to a gaping, starless void in the ceiling.
Expecting another attempt from the demon, I waited there by the new portal, poised to strike him again when he reached back through. Instead of another attack, however, the party heard the demon begin cursing vehemently against something on that side of the portal.
The demon's cry of pain, and the now cavernous hole where the ceiling once was, was enough to cause all of the other robed figures in the room to stop and stare, giving the party members the opportunity to attack them. Fife's spear hit one of the robed figures, and the spear exploded much like the mace did, sending shards everywhere, and causing enough damage to knock me unconscious.
Tobias continued to grapple with the robed figures, moving them away from where I lay on the ground, and Shalev stepped in with a furious cry to strike all of the robed men with a flurry of attacks. Shalev's attacks were lethally accurate, and with each strike against the strange foes, he gained a little more precision and a little more of the deadly calm that he shows when he is focused so. His brooch of Ma'at began to glow visibly with gathered energy, and his strikes were the only things that were obviously doing damage to the creatures they fought. He told me later that during the attacks he felt a power stir within his sword, and felt that he would be able to access it, if he could figure out how to do so.
Lan and Osman's summoning spell completed successfully, and again, a gate to fairy lands opened up to reveal that army of fae waiting beyond. A voice cried out that "they had already provided help, and what more could they do!" before tossing a hawthorne bush out into the room and pulling the gate shut behind them.
Shalev continued his attacks on the robed figures, his brooch glowing brighter with each successful strike, when suddenly he paused and took a step backward. His eyes narrowed in concentration, and he tilted his head to one side as he observed something only he could see. He continued this appraisal for a moment, and then grinned - much like I have seen Amit look right before he pounces - and stepped in to renew his attacks, seeming now to somehow know exactly where to hit them and how to do the most damage.
Tobias, seeing that I was still down, ran over to pick me up and carry me out into the hallway where Lan and Osman were waiting and attempting, yet again, to summon something together. Fife ran to retrieve the flamestrike spear, and he also retreated out into the hallway. Ishmael, seeing the robed figure that he had trapped in a bearhug was no longer moving, dropped the body and grabbed for the next nearest enemy with the intent of tossing them up into the vast emptiness above us. The rest of the robed figures began to converge on Ishmael, and Shalev moved in to protect him and renew his attacks against them.
KelLyn decided then that reading the strange scrap of paper was getting her absolutely nowhere. Throwing both her caution and her reading to the wind, she tucked the scrap into her robes and grabbed the dragon scale she had imbued with power shouting "I have had enough!" to where the demon hid behind the portal.
There was a tremendous crashing noise, followed by what sounded like some sort of explosion behind the portal. A brass censer, incandescent with magical energy, tumbled through the portal, billowing incense smoke around the already hazy room. A huge gust of wind followed the smoking brazier, and we could hear the demon shouting in an odd language. We caught a glimpse through the faltering portal to see the demon prince engaged in a violent argument with a djinn. KelLyn's spell completed at that moment, and a beam of energy shot from her hand through the portal to strike the demon square in the chest right as the djinn also punched him in the face.
Ishmael, who was still grappling with the robed figures, picked one of them up over his head and threw it into the void above him. As soon as the robed figure vanished through the void portal, the remaining figures shrank inward and disappeared. Shalev, now freed from his defense of Ishmael, looked into the room where the demon and the djinn fought. He moved over to the wall next to the doorway, and closed his eyes in concentration once again as he focused his will on determining the best ways to defeat the demon prince.
Lan and Osman's summoning spell completed then, but there was no effect, the fairies evidently deciding that they had done quite enough. A clam did appear in front of Lan, though, and she took a moment to enjoy the delicacy humming softly and happily to herself before moving over to check on me. I was still unconscious, and so she performed a basic first aid which was enough to wake me up again. Osman shrugged and looked at the hawthorn bush tossed into the room earlier. On a whim, he picked up the bush and threw it at the portal across the doorway. KelLyn cast a dispel to also attempt to close the portal, and her spell caused the portal to begin to buckle so that when the hawthorn bush struck, both portal and bush disintegrated completely, clearing the doorway into the room beyond.
Fife, noticing that the brazier was still smoking on the floor, picked it up and began gently swinging it, watching the incense billow out of it with a somewhat dazed look on his face. We looked into the now visible chamber beyond to see the demon and the djinn locked in a massive battle of wills, gusts of wind still blasting through the doorway. Ishmael, seeing the demon so occupied, charged in to attack the demon, in an attempt to break it's concentration. His first hit did not have any visible effect, though it looked like he struck with the force of a mountain, so he swung again.
Tobias moved in as well, swinging at the demon with his mace, and Shalev continued to concentrate on finding weaknesses in their defenses. KelLyn walked over near the demon and began tracing circles in the floor, drawing power in with each concentric ring she created.
Still wounded, I remained by Amit, but when I moved to go back into the room with the void-ceiling, Amit rigidly remained behind, staring up into the void with clear concern. I still needed to find the hidden stairs, though, so I ventured carefully into the room to see what I could find. The further in I moved, the further away Amit creeped, edging backwards until he was against the wall on the northern end of the hallway. This was odd behavior for him, and seeing that he had backed himself into a wall, I returned to his side and tried to ease his obvious worry.
Shalev straightened up then, and suddenly turned to Fife with a shout that should he stop swinging that censer, the djinn would kill him. Fife, wide eyed, nodded his understanding, and kept swinging the brazier in a high arc. Each complete swing of the censer made the djinn visibly more resolute, as if Fife were adding his willpower to the ongoing battle between the demon and the djinn. Ishmael continued to hit the demon prince again and again and again, but though the hits fell like hammers, they had very little visible effect. Shalev stepped forward and swung his holy avenger down towards the demon with a cry, hitting the demon's arm at the wrist and shearing off it's hand with a crackle of energy. Ishmael, seeing the new wound on the demon, began striking the stump of the arm instead.
The demon's hand fell into the center of the circles that KelLyn was creating, and she looked at it with a smirk saying "Yep. That will do." She reached down and picked up the hand of the demon, and began drawing power the same way she had when she leached the essence of the dragon down into a single scale. Sparks began to radiate off of the circle around her from the sheer amount of power she was calling up.
I was still over with Amit, checking the wall behind where he crouched. and I noticed that when he shifted position, the wall behind him seemed to warp. Osman created some goat parts with a spell in order to try to get Amit away from the wall, and he was successful in distracting the great cat. While Amit kept Osman busy creating food for him, I checked the wall again more carefully to reveal, at last, the hidden stairway to the lower levels. I opened the door to see a spiral staircase made of stone leading down into the darkness. I lit a torch to see what I could observe - if anything - about the stairs themselves, but could not make out much in the way of details.
Back in the main chamber, KelLyn continued to pull power with a shower of sparks, drawing the essence of the demon down into it's severed hand. Ishmael continued his hammering attacks on the demon's arm, and Shalev swung his holy avenger once again in an attempt to sever the demon's other hand.
The demon and the djinn were still locked in a massive battle of wills, but the pain of it's wounds plus the added benefits to the djinn were finally enough to overpower the demon. The djinn laughed in wicked triumph and with a wave of his hand banished the demon back to it's home plane. The djinn then reached down, plucked the hand out of KelLyn's grasp, and squeezed, distilling the remaining essence of the demon down into one single scarlet gemstone which he handed back to a wide-eyed KelLyn with a "congratulations. This is what remains."
He then turned his attentions to Fife, who was still swinging the censer. He pointed at Fife and said sternly that he would not serve him. Fife shook his head quickly, still swinging the incense, and replied that he didn't want him to. The djinn then demanded that Fife order him to go and Fife hastily agreed that he was free to go. The djinn nodded once, and then vanished, and Fife dropped the brazier - now extinguished - with a sigh of relief. KelLyn agreed to identify the brazier, and an argument broke out among the party members as to whether or not it should be left here or taken with the party. Shalev and KelLyn actually agreed with one another that the thing should be left alone, thinking that Fife or Osman might not be able to control anything that could be summoned, and that was enough to make the others pause and consider; but Lan eventually won the party over agreeing to be responsible for the relic.
I called the party's attention to the now revealed passageway down to the lower levels, and we all agreed that we should rest here and recuperate before venturing further below.
The demon prince is vanquished. Ironically now imprisoned within a stone that he himself gave KelLyn the power to create. KelLyn is happy, Ishmael is reveling in his newfound strength for however long it may last, and the rest of us are tired. Shalev immediately went into a meditative prayer, sitting with his sword gently placed across his knees. I know not what his goddess revealed to him during that fight, but it was profound. I can see a change in his demeanor, his confidence, and his power. He is much changed from the wayward wanderer that I encountered so long ago. I am happy to see that he is growing and learning well.
As for what lay below us? We know that Sacatha still awaits, but beyond that, it still remains to be see what we may face. I only hope that we can continue to work together as we have, to make it out of this place alive.
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Into the Tomb of the Lizard King - Part 4: KelLyn gets a visit from karma
Previously in our story...
Time moves differently underground. Unending darkness broken only by the light we create from our torches and camp fires. No way to tell sun rise and sunset aside from our natural rhythm.
I look forward to being done with this place. The dank walls, dripping hallways, and ceaseless miasma of evil makes me weary. We still have no idea about what we might face ahead, or how much more there is to this. I miss the touch of sunlight on my face. I miss being dry. I miss the touch of green, growing, healthy things around me.
My thoughts wander again and again back to the Maker, and the tree that he had been sustaining. How much time is left? How much longer can the roots of the tree survive? Is it even possible to restore it? It is difficult for me to reach out to the sacred here. It feels distant, probably as a result of so much wrongness.
The sooner we can deal with Sacatha and return to the surface, the better.
.oOo..oOo..oOo..oOo.
Once back in the main camp area, KelLyn turned to Shalev and quietly asked if he would like to help her destroy the book that she had picked up in the library a few days prior. He looked at her with some suspicion, but agreed to help her get rid of it, mentioning too that it might be a good idea to leave it here in the room with the other treasure, just in case carrying it around might prove harmful. She agreed, and placed the book in one of the empty chests
While the rest of the party rested and recovered the damage done from the exploding book, I decided to scout out the narrow corridor underneath the trap door we had discovered in the room we used as a base camp.
The hallway was slim enough that movement was slightly restricted, and very dark. I do not have my Tobias' ability to see in the dark, so Shalev followed as quietly as he could a little way behind me carrying a torch. After only about 50 feet or so, I came upon a wooden ladder that lead up to another trap door.
The small square door was not trapped, but the lock was quite a complex little puzzle. After more than a few moments the lock gave, and I slowly and silently opened it upwards. I spent a moment listening for movement, and hearing none, peeked up into the room to see what was there. I saw three moderate piles of debris: one of coins, one that looked like a whitish pile of bone, and another pile of leaves and plant debris. As I looked, I gently extended my senses out into the room to see what they could tell me. I smelled the ever-present scent of moldering decay and swamp and death, rusted metal, decomposing plants, and humidity, but nothing more. As I observed the room cautiously, the pile of leaves began to move slowly over. The moment it began to move, I withdrew from the room, closing the trap door behind me.
I told Shalev what I had seen, and on a whim asked if he could bring me an arm or a leg off of one of the bodies of the enemies we had slain. He left the torch with me, and came back after a moment with a handful of various limbs. I tossed one up into the room to observe if the plant pile would pose any threat. To my confirmation of curiosity, it shambled over and consumed the limb noisily. I tossed another up to keep it occupied while I thought, extending my druidic sense again to try to determine what this was. It looked like a plant, but sensed more like an animal, which was confusing. I have never run across a creature like this in all of my years, and Shalev had no experience with what this could be either. I tried once again to reach out to it directly, but got neither sense of intelligence nor alignment in the beast.
I tossed another limb up to the creature, and then made my way back down the ladder to where Shalev waited. Loathe to kill such an extraordinary creature, but wary of the danger that it might pose to us, I asked if he would mind using his skill at handling animals to help control it while we scouted out the rest of the room. He agreed, and with sudden inspiration, laced the remaining pile of limbs with three of the sleeping potions that he had picked up from our travels. He made a quick jog down the corridor to inform the rest of the party on what we found, and what we planned to do, then made his way back over and up the ladder. The mound of plant-animal crawled over to the pile of limbs and devoured them, showing no obvious effects from the potions that laced them. It moved again toward Shalev, and as he made it chase him around the room, we could see the effects of the potions taking effect in the slowness of it's movements.
Ishmael came up the ladder at that point, and upon seeing the strange creature, attempted to use his shield to scoop underneath it in order to topple it over. This proved to be a mistake, however. The moment he got within reach of the thing, three tentacles lashed out from underneath it to wrap around Ishmael in order to pull him underneath where the mouth of the beast was. Ishmael pulled back to try to dodge the vice-like arms, but was not able to get out of the way in time, and was entangled. Seeing this, and seeing no other alternative, I reluctantly drew my sword to help free Ishmael. I hit the creature, but as I did, I felt the bulk of it's mass shift to direct the force of my weapon downward, causing my sword to glance off of the floor. I mumble a curse as I retrieved my blade and noticed the damage done to it, knowing that it will most likely be impossible to repair.
Shalev continued his attacks, and Ishmael continued to struggle to get free. Tobias joined the fray then, tossing a torch at the creature, but it fizzled out in a puff of steam with no effect. I made an attempt then to use my druidic abilities to exhaust the thing, and saw that it had moderate effects on the speed of it's movements. Shalev managed to free Ishmael then, Tobias attacks the creature just as new tentacles emerge from beneath it. I called then on the destructive side of my druidic powers, in an attempt to destroy the beast from the inside. I felt the spell hit the thing successfully, but there was no visual effect.
Fife also joined the fight then, spending a moment to study the creature in an attempt to find a weakness. Ishmael took up the task of leading it around the room, and called down to KelLyn - who had come down the hallway and waited at the bottom of the ladder - to tell us what she saw when he lead it over the opening at the trap door.
In an attempt to get out of the way, as I could do nothing else at the moment, I moved over near Shalev and we made our way over to the other two piles in the room to discover that the whitish pile was indeed bones and rusting pieces of useless armor. The other pile was a small pile of copper coins, as well as a handful of a strange reddish coin that appeared to be made of iron. The room was small enough that I could not use my bow without risk of injuring one of the other party members.
Ishmael moved to lead the mound over the opening of the trap door, and I could hear KelLyn's voice down in the hallway, but could not make out what she was saying. At that moment, Fife moved to attack, having finally found a weak spot to strike. He speared the creature, and it convulsed spastically and collapsed in a heap of rotten bile and ooze down the trap door and all over poor KelLyn who had no idea what happened until it was too late.
Shalev found a scroll tube buried under the pile of copper, and I found an empty potion tube, but nothing else could be found in the remaining mess. Ishmael wondered aloud how such a creature got up in this little out of the way room, as it could not have fit through the trap door.
The ooze and ick made KelLyn understandably very irate, and she grumbled about causing harm to the first person that came down the ladder. Shalev made his way down the ladder, and seeing her ire, and her current state of being covered in mess, hastily held up the scroll tube to show it to her. It was enough to keep him from getting punched in the face, and we all made our way back over to the main room to rest and to allow KelLyn to clean herself off.
Once we were ready to continue, we made our way over to the main worship area to examine the door that Shalev had seen behind the tapestry. Fife stepped forward to check the door for traps, and finding one, attempted to find a way to open the door. He could find no way of gaining entrance, however, and I also checked the area there to discover a very old latch where a lever used to be. The mechanism was extremely complex, and I spent quite a bit of time examining it. I was eventually able to pick it open, but when the panel slid ajar, a wall of debris from the hallway behind it fell into the room. I still had my hands occupied with the locking mechanism, and was unable to dodge out of the way of the falling rocks. I was only slightly injured though, and Lan came over to check my wounds, determining that there was no major hurt.
Being in this room still made me feel nauseated, and so I turned to leave in order to go out so that I could meditate. I stopped abruptly, however, and stood stone-still when I saw a huge winged being standing in the doorway. He said with a voice rumbling with amusement "well, that door is blocked."
The rest of the party turned to see, and I could see Shalev readying to attack the being outright. I noticed that it had not attacked us, but simply observed, and I held my hand out to stay Shalev's action. I asked the demon politely if it knew of another way down to the next level, he said that he did. He said somewhat grumpily that he was trapped here, since the person who summoned him here had been killed - referring to the dark paladin that Shalev had killed earlier.
Shalev asked the demon his name, and the demon laughed at the naive question, saying that he knew well the power of names, and would not be so easily fooled. He also said that he wanted nothing more than to go home, and would be willing to trade information for the favor. I looked at KelLyn and Osman, and they in turn looked through the book that Osman had pilfered from the library room. KelLyn found a spell that would allow her to return the demon to his home plane, and she shared the information with Lan who had the magical capability to perform the spell.
We all moved over to the summoning chamber - the circular chamber where the robes still hung on the wall hooks. KelLyn created a circle for Lan, though whether for protection or extra power, I am not certain. Lan was able to successfully cast the banishing spell, using sulfur from Ishmael's stores, and the powdered diamond from the alchemist's lab as components. The demon looked somewhat surprised that she knew what she was doing, and only slightly impressed that she was able to perform the complicated ritual. Before the demon departed, he turned to Ismhael and said:
"In the Hall of the Patriarchs, on the southern wall is a door you can not see. Underneath that is the passage to below."
With his part of the bargain fulfilled, the demon vanished, and we looked at each other with a little relief that everything had gone so well. Lan made quick note of the name of the demon, which had appeared in front of her in a flash as the gate sealed itself, saying that you never knew when such information might become useful. The party made it's way over to the dead-end hallway where the remains of the paladin still lay in a heap of crushed metal. I examined the room again, but discovered nothing more than we had before. I went out then to the southern wall to check, and found the secret door, as the demon promised, but could find no obvious mechanism to open it.
Lan and Shalev took a moment to examine the remains of the paladin, and they discovered a ring of mangled keys, a crushed holy symbol, and a signet ring. I ask KelLyn if she has a spell for opening, thinking that this door might be like the one we found in the alchemist's room. She said that she did not, and then Shalev asked if she just wanted to destroy it. She almost squealed out loud with glee, and happily did just that. The door fell into a pile of crumbled pebbles, to reveal a passage going off to the left and right.
We followed it around to find the pile of rocks blocking the way through to the temple, and then traversed back the opposite direction to find another door. It was not trapped, nor was it locked, and it opened into a room with doors to the north and south.
Fife checked the north door first, and yelled out in surprise as the door fell off the wall to wrap itself around him, not a door at all, but some form of creature that could mimic the appearance of other things. The party rushed over to try to find a way to remove the creature without hurting Fife in the process.
Lan, KelLyn, and I all cast spells to see if we can remove the creature, and the other party members try pulling and tugging to tear it away. I managed to wound the creature, and KelLyn's spell finished it off. We moved Fife to safety, and checked finding him uninjured, but covered in slime. He spent a moment cleaning himself of the corrosive ichor, and while he recovered, I checked the other door to find that it was also fake. I discovered a hidden door on the eastern wall, leading to a dead end with another hidden doorway, and another room with fake doors.
Fife poked all of the doors at a distance with his spear, not willing to repeat the battle with the mimic. All of the doors toppled over to the floor, and he urged KelLyn to set them all on fire. She did so, and the doors began producing an unusually large amount of smoke. The room quickly filled, so we went through the one real door back into the hallway. Shalev insisted that the hidden door was BELOW, and should be here in this room somewhere.
So KelLyn worked to put the fires out, extinguishing the flames, but producing more and more of the billowing smoke. Ishmael sang his songs of water to help her in the process, but still more smoke clouded the area.
At that moment, a circle of fire appeared in the center of the room. Two men, dressed as mages, stepped through the circle with a demon prince in tow. The very demon prince that KelLyn had gated through to the Fyrewerian mages who had made themselves a nuisance to her before. They stated grimly, pointing directly at KelLyn: "SHE is the one who sent you here. We want her dead."
Time moves differently underground. Unending darkness broken only by the light we create from our torches and camp fires. No way to tell sun rise and sunset aside from our natural rhythm.
I look forward to being done with this place. The dank walls, dripping hallways, and ceaseless miasma of evil makes me weary. We still have no idea about what we might face ahead, or how much more there is to this. I miss the touch of sunlight on my face. I miss being dry. I miss the touch of green, growing, healthy things around me.
My thoughts wander again and again back to the Maker, and the tree that he had been sustaining. How much time is left? How much longer can the roots of the tree survive? Is it even possible to restore it? It is difficult for me to reach out to the sacred here. It feels distant, probably as a result of so much wrongness.
The sooner we can deal with Sacatha and return to the surface, the better.
.oOo..oOo..oOo..oOo.
Once back in the main camp area, KelLyn turned to Shalev and quietly asked if he would like to help her destroy the book that she had picked up in the library a few days prior. He looked at her with some suspicion, but agreed to help her get rid of it, mentioning too that it might be a good idea to leave it here in the room with the other treasure, just in case carrying it around might prove harmful. She agreed, and placed the book in one of the empty chests
While the rest of the party rested and recovered the damage done from the exploding book, I decided to scout out the narrow corridor underneath the trap door we had discovered in the room we used as a base camp.
The hallway was slim enough that movement was slightly restricted, and very dark. I do not have my Tobias' ability to see in the dark, so Shalev followed as quietly as he could a little way behind me carrying a torch. After only about 50 feet or so, I came upon a wooden ladder that lead up to another trap door.
The small square door was not trapped, but the lock was quite a complex little puzzle. After more than a few moments the lock gave, and I slowly and silently opened it upwards. I spent a moment listening for movement, and hearing none, peeked up into the room to see what was there. I saw three moderate piles of debris: one of coins, one that looked like a whitish pile of bone, and another pile of leaves and plant debris. As I looked, I gently extended my senses out into the room to see what they could tell me. I smelled the ever-present scent of moldering decay and swamp and death, rusted metal, decomposing plants, and humidity, but nothing more. As I observed the room cautiously, the pile of leaves began to move slowly over. The moment it began to move, I withdrew from the room, closing the trap door behind me.
I told Shalev what I had seen, and on a whim asked if he could bring me an arm or a leg off of one of the bodies of the enemies we had slain. He left the torch with me, and came back after a moment with a handful of various limbs. I tossed one up into the room to observe if the plant pile would pose any threat. To my confirmation of curiosity, it shambled over and consumed the limb noisily. I tossed another up to keep it occupied while I thought, extending my druidic sense again to try to determine what this was. It looked like a plant, but sensed more like an animal, which was confusing. I have never run across a creature like this in all of my years, and Shalev had no experience with what this could be either. I tried once again to reach out to it directly, but got neither sense of intelligence nor alignment in the beast.
I tossed another limb up to the creature, and then made my way back down the ladder to where Shalev waited. Loathe to kill such an extraordinary creature, but wary of the danger that it might pose to us, I asked if he would mind using his skill at handling animals to help control it while we scouted out the rest of the room. He agreed, and with sudden inspiration, laced the remaining pile of limbs with three of the sleeping potions that he had picked up from our travels. He made a quick jog down the corridor to inform the rest of the party on what we found, and what we planned to do, then made his way back over and up the ladder. The mound of plant-animal crawled over to the pile of limbs and devoured them, showing no obvious effects from the potions that laced them. It moved again toward Shalev, and as he made it chase him around the room, we could see the effects of the potions taking effect in the slowness of it's movements.
Ishmael came up the ladder at that point, and upon seeing the strange creature, attempted to use his shield to scoop underneath it in order to topple it over. This proved to be a mistake, however. The moment he got within reach of the thing, three tentacles lashed out from underneath it to wrap around Ishmael in order to pull him underneath where the mouth of the beast was. Ishmael pulled back to try to dodge the vice-like arms, but was not able to get out of the way in time, and was entangled. Seeing this, and seeing no other alternative, I reluctantly drew my sword to help free Ishmael. I hit the creature, but as I did, I felt the bulk of it's mass shift to direct the force of my weapon downward, causing my sword to glance off of the floor. I mumble a curse as I retrieved my blade and noticed the damage done to it, knowing that it will most likely be impossible to repair.
Shalev continued his attacks, and Ishmael continued to struggle to get free. Tobias joined the fray then, tossing a torch at the creature, but it fizzled out in a puff of steam with no effect. I made an attempt then to use my druidic abilities to exhaust the thing, and saw that it had moderate effects on the speed of it's movements. Shalev managed to free Ishmael then, Tobias attacks the creature just as new tentacles emerge from beneath it. I called then on the destructive side of my druidic powers, in an attempt to destroy the beast from the inside. I felt the spell hit the thing successfully, but there was no visual effect.
Fife also joined the fight then, spending a moment to study the creature in an attempt to find a weakness. Ishmael took up the task of leading it around the room, and called down to KelLyn - who had come down the hallway and waited at the bottom of the ladder - to tell us what she saw when he lead it over the opening at the trap door.
In an attempt to get out of the way, as I could do nothing else at the moment, I moved over near Shalev and we made our way over to the other two piles in the room to discover that the whitish pile was indeed bones and rusting pieces of useless armor. The other pile was a small pile of copper coins, as well as a handful of a strange reddish coin that appeared to be made of iron. The room was small enough that I could not use my bow without risk of injuring one of the other party members.
Ishmael moved to lead the mound over the opening of the trap door, and I could hear KelLyn's voice down in the hallway, but could not make out what she was saying. At that moment, Fife moved to attack, having finally found a weak spot to strike. He speared the creature, and it convulsed spastically and collapsed in a heap of rotten bile and ooze down the trap door and all over poor KelLyn who had no idea what happened until it was too late.
Shalev found a scroll tube buried under the pile of copper, and I found an empty potion tube, but nothing else could be found in the remaining mess. Ishmael wondered aloud how such a creature got up in this little out of the way room, as it could not have fit through the trap door.
The ooze and ick made KelLyn understandably very irate, and she grumbled about causing harm to the first person that came down the ladder. Shalev made his way down the ladder, and seeing her ire, and her current state of being covered in mess, hastily held up the scroll tube to show it to her. It was enough to keep him from getting punched in the face, and we all made our way back over to the main room to rest and to allow KelLyn to clean herself off.
Once we were ready to continue, we made our way over to the main worship area to examine the door that Shalev had seen behind the tapestry. Fife stepped forward to check the door for traps, and finding one, attempted to find a way to open the door. He could find no way of gaining entrance, however, and I also checked the area there to discover a very old latch where a lever used to be. The mechanism was extremely complex, and I spent quite a bit of time examining it. I was eventually able to pick it open, but when the panel slid ajar, a wall of debris from the hallway behind it fell into the room. I still had my hands occupied with the locking mechanism, and was unable to dodge out of the way of the falling rocks. I was only slightly injured though, and Lan came over to check my wounds, determining that there was no major hurt.
Being in this room still made me feel nauseated, and so I turned to leave in order to go out so that I could meditate. I stopped abruptly, however, and stood stone-still when I saw a huge winged being standing in the doorway. He said with a voice rumbling with amusement "well, that door is blocked."
The rest of the party turned to see, and I could see Shalev readying to attack the being outright. I noticed that it had not attacked us, but simply observed, and I held my hand out to stay Shalev's action. I asked the demon politely if it knew of another way down to the next level, he said that he did. He said somewhat grumpily that he was trapped here, since the person who summoned him here had been killed - referring to the dark paladin that Shalev had killed earlier.
Shalev asked the demon his name, and the demon laughed at the naive question, saying that he knew well the power of names, and would not be so easily fooled. He also said that he wanted nothing more than to go home, and would be willing to trade information for the favor. I looked at KelLyn and Osman, and they in turn looked through the book that Osman had pilfered from the library room. KelLyn found a spell that would allow her to return the demon to his home plane, and she shared the information with Lan who had the magical capability to perform the spell.
We all moved over to the summoning chamber - the circular chamber where the robes still hung on the wall hooks. KelLyn created a circle for Lan, though whether for protection or extra power, I am not certain. Lan was able to successfully cast the banishing spell, using sulfur from Ishmael's stores, and the powdered diamond from the alchemist's lab as components. The demon looked somewhat surprised that she knew what she was doing, and only slightly impressed that she was able to perform the complicated ritual. Before the demon departed, he turned to Ismhael and said:
"In the Hall of the Patriarchs, on the southern wall is a door you can not see. Underneath that is the passage to below."
With his part of the bargain fulfilled, the demon vanished, and we looked at each other with a little relief that everything had gone so well. Lan made quick note of the name of the demon, which had appeared in front of her in a flash as the gate sealed itself, saying that you never knew when such information might become useful. The party made it's way over to the dead-end hallway where the remains of the paladin still lay in a heap of crushed metal. I examined the room again, but discovered nothing more than we had before. I went out then to the southern wall to check, and found the secret door, as the demon promised, but could find no obvious mechanism to open it.
Lan and Shalev took a moment to examine the remains of the paladin, and they discovered a ring of mangled keys, a crushed holy symbol, and a signet ring. I ask KelLyn if she has a spell for opening, thinking that this door might be like the one we found in the alchemist's room. She said that she did not, and then Shalev asked if she just wanted to destroy it. She almost squealed out loud with glee, and happily did just that. The door fell into a pile of crumbled pebbles, to reveal a passage going off to the left and right.
We followed it around to find the pile of rocks blocking the way through to the temple, and then traversed back the opposite direction to find another door. It was not trapped, nor was it locked, and it opened into a room with doors to the north and south.
Fife checked the north door first, and yelled out in surprise as the door fell off the wall to wrap itself around him, not a door at all, but some form of creature that could mimic the appearance of other things. The party rushed over to try to find a way to remove the creature without hurting Fife in the process.
Lan, KelLyn, and I all cast spells to see if we can remove the creature, and the other party members try pulling and tugging to tear it away. I managed to wound the creature, and KelLyn's spell finished it off. We moved Fife to safety, and checked finding him uninjured, but covered in slime. He spent a moment cleaning himself of the corrosive ichor, and while he recovered, I checked the other door to find that it was also fake. I discovered a hidden door on the eastern wall, leading to a dead end with another hidden doorway, and another room with fake doors.
Fife poked all of the doors at a distance with his spear, not willing to repeat the battle with the mimic. All of the doors toppled over to the floor, and he urged KelLyn to set them all on fire. She did so, and the doors began producing an unusually large amount of smoke. The room quickly filled, so we went through the one real door back into the hallway. Shalev insisted that the hidden door was BELOW, and should be here in this room somewhere.
So KelLyn worked to put the fires out, extinguishing the flames, but producing more and more of the billowing smoke. Ishmael sang his songs of water to help her in the process, but still more smoke clouded the area.
At that moment, a circle of fire appeared in the center of the room. Two men, dressed as mages, stepped through the circle with a demon prince in tow. The very demon prince that KelLyn had gated through to the Fyrewerian mages who had made themselves a nuisance to her before. They stated grimly, pointing directly at KelLyn: "SHE is the one who sent you here. We want her dead."
Monday, February 23, 2015
Into the Tomb of the Lizard King - Part 3: KelLyn discovers exploding runes..the hard way
Into the Tomb - Part 2
Past the doors you cannot find,
Down the steps you cannot climb,
Across the river of nothingness
You’ll find your way.
Beware the marksman and his prey.
Shun the royal brides.
Then find the place I lie in eternal feast.
Past glories I despise
The light of vengeance fills my eye.
Treasure I give my servant dragon,
Guardian loyal of this, my reborn feeding lair.
- riddle found on a scrap of paper in the first level of the tomb of the Lizard King
.oOo..oOo..oOo..oOo.
Once we made it back to the room we had set up as a base camp, the party relaxed for a while, using the time to rest, recuperate, and discuss our next moves. Since all of the supplies had been moved from the kitchen, pantry, and wine cellar to this room, we took some time to go through the various foodstuffs, and enjoyed a decent meal as well as opening up one of the casks of wine. It was a welcome reprieve from the travel rations, and having a good meal did much to improve our spirits. While we ate, a discussion broke out about whether we should venture down into the lower level via the trap door in this room, or if we should instead continue to explore this level first.
The consensus was that this level should be cleared completely before going down, so after we had rested, Lan used her new sight to see what living things she might be able to see still on this level. She said that she saw a large winged humanoid figure, possibly a demon of some kind, walking across a room some distance away. I took the opportunity to scout ahead, using stealth and skill to remain undetected. I checked the doors for traps, and explored down the corridor until I came up on what was obviously a place of vile worship. Simply walking into this room made me feel nauseated, so I returned to the party to let them know what I had found.
The rooms revealed appeared to be the captain's quarters, as the furnishings were simple, but of obviously better quality than those found in the barracks. There were two chests in this room, and Ishmael knocked the hinges off to open them without setting the needle traps off, to reveal about 800 silver and several standard sets of clothing. There was nothing else of note in this room, and we continued to explore, discovering a common room, and then finally the worship area.
The worship area, for that is clearly what it was, was repulsive. The idol in the center of the room boasted the repugnant face of the demon god that we had seen elsewhere, and the altar was soaked with congealing blood. The tapestry on the wall was disturbing in it's intensity, and depicted scenes of utter cruelty. The sheer evil here overwhelmed me, and I got physically ill. I said a quiet prayer to my god and goddess to ask for guidance, but the act of simply thinking their names was enough to cause the evil to pulsate in a nauseating fashion, making me ill all over again.
After I recovered myself, I urged everyone to either destroy everything here or leave now. They helped me move out of the room, promising that we could come back and destroy everything once the lizard king was dealt with. Further explorations revealed the central room for the priests, where incense burned on the table, and robes hung from hooks on the walls. Again, I resisted the urge to destroy everything here, and we eventually discover a small library.
The theme of the books in the library was primarily evil, and more than a few of the books were specifically about dealings with the undead. The subject matter of the books here was enough to make my skin crawl, and I wonder yet at what we still may face. Much to my surprise Shalev and Osman took a few books off of the shelves. Shalev chose a book about identifying undead, probably in hopes that it might reveal clues about what we face, and potential weaknesses it might have. Osman chose two books, one on summoning demons, and another on knowing the true names of the undead. KelLyn immediately went to look at a book that was chained to a pedestal in the center of the room. She began reading the book to herself, and then as she read, her eyes widened, and she made an audible comment about taking the book.Ishmael offered to cut the chain for her, and immediately an argument broke out between the party members about it. Rather than listen to them bicker and snipe at each other about it, I left the room to keep watch in the hallway for potential enemies, continuing to scout quietly ahead.
It is KelLyn's choice, ultimately, about her path. Her desire for power may eventually be her undoing, but she must be aware that all power has a price. If she is willing to pay that price, then so be it. Shalev is concerned for her, though she sees it more as an annoyance and the two of them argue and misunderstand each other on a nearly constant basis. He has taken her actions quite personally on more than one occasion, and he is quite concerned about what might happen should she delve into the darker arts. He feels, rightfully so, that she is not always careful with her power, although he does forget at times that she is responsible for her fate, and not him. If she ignores the signs and warnings that she gets, and pursues her quest for power to it's ultimate end, then that is her choice, not his.
My efforts to scout ahead revealed nothing further, so I returned to the library to see that KelLyn had indeed taken the book, and Shalev was glaring at her pointedly. I raised an eyebrow in silent comment, and then informed the party of the rooms ahead that I had discovered. One of the rooms proved to be a second captain's quarters, again with two chests with more basic clothes and about 1000 silver.
We decided to carry the empty chests as well as the treasures we had found so far back to the base camp before continuing our explorations. We checked our belongings there, made sure that the trap door was still secure, and then went back out to the hallway I had discovered.
There were several rooms here, and after checking the doors for traps, Ishmael opened the first one to show a small room where a black robed man was studying. He looked up in alarm and began to chant, and Shalev and Ishmael immediately rushed in to attack. Shalev's attacks missed, and the robed man was able to cast his spell successfully. Ishmael succeeded in his attack, and smashed the desk into the man in the chair, pushing it into him. The priest looked surprised that he was hit by anything at all, and Ishmael continued his bludgeoning attacks on the furniture. Shalev swung again, and missed again much to his frustration. The priest shouted out an alarm, and the other four doors opened as the priests inside them curiously stuck their heads out into the hallway to see what was going on. Upon seeing us there, they all stepped out into the hall and began casting various spells. They never got the chance. Tobias, pulling both of his maces, raced down the hallway in a deadly wave of attacks. KelLyn reached out to touch the closest priest, casting a spell with her contact. Osman shot an arrow at the next closest priest. Fife speared the priest in the back of the hallway, and I used my bow to put an arrow in the other's face.
The priest in the room with Ishmael and Shalev tried then to cast a drain life spell on Shalev. Shalev's brooch flared to life, protecting him completely, and causing Shalev's aura as a paladin to pulse in a flex of spiritual muscle that we could all feel. The priest went wide-eyed, and began casting yet another spell, and Shalev rolled out of the way, and out of the room. Fife and I used the opening to our advantage, and were both successful with spear and arrow, hitting the offending priest in the face as Ishmael simultaneously charged bodily into the priest, taking him out finally. The other priests go down easily after that, and both bodies and rooms are empty of anything of interest.
There is a gruesome painting at the end of the hallway, but though I examined it closely, I couldn't find anything of note. It was a hidden door, however, and when we turned away from it to head back down the hallway, it opened silently and an armored man stepped through. The only warning we had was when KelLyn suddenly fell over, apparently dead. Shalev ran over to her, to remove her pack, thinking that it was the book she picked up from the library that had caused her collapse. As he shoved it away from her, he glanced up to see the dark paladin looming in the shadows. Ishmael rushed to give her a potion, and Tobias grabbed her and dragged her into one of the now empty priest's quarters. Lan and I followed to try to find out why she had collapsed, and see what we could do to save her.
As we moved out of the way, the armored man threw a stick at Shalev which changed into an adder in midair. Shalev didn't even blink at the deadly serpent though, and it fell harmlessly to the floor as he charged at the enemy shouting that he hadn't worked so hard at not killing KelLyn only to have someone else do it. He swung his holy sword, aiming the powerful blow a the armored man's neck. With a screech of metal, the strike hit home, shearing through the thick metal gorget at his throat, and killing the unholy paladin with a single dreadful impact. The unholy paladin fell to the floor, and Shalev used his foot to pry his sword from the remains. He swore softly when he saw that the deadly strike had damaged his blade, but stopped short when he heard the sound of crumpling metal. He looked down in time to see the armor of the unholy paladin crumpling and cracking, shrinking in on itself and crushing down into nothing. The implosion covered Shalev in the gory remains of what was left behind, and he shook the blood off of his blade with an irritated sniff.
Meanwhile, Lan, Tobias and I were struggling to save KelLyn. Lan and Tobias worked to keep her alive, while I tried to locate the reason for her collapse. Shalev walked in then, covered in gore, and showed me the stick that had turned to a serpent. I recognized the description Shalev gave of the poisonous reptile as an adder, as they were fairly common back home in the desert, and was quickly able to pull together the components for an antidote. Once I was able to get the antidote down her throat, the results were fairly immediate. She regained consciousness, and was quickly able to be up and about with no lasting effects from the toxin. As soon as she was awake she rushed over to the book she had acquired from the library, flipping through pages and muttering to herself about inept spell casters and something about an attempt against her, when suddenly she exclaimed loudly "a lich?! They were trying to make me a lich?!" and began both laughing and swearing sulphurously.
None of this made much sense to the rest of the party, however, so we let it go as the mysteries of magic users, and went in to examine the room that was revealed by the secret door. This was the paladin's personal chamber, and it boasted opulent furnishings and a basin of water, and a small alter to the demon god. Shalev purified the water in the basin, and then used it to clean some of the gore off. He commented that the carpeting in this room was quite valuable, and we rolled it up to add to the treasures we had already discovered. He then took some time to tear down the tapestries on the walls, eventually revealing a hidden door. Fife offered to check for traps, and I let him take point. He found no traps, but the lock on the door proved to be beyond his skill, so I took care of the lock to reveal a small vault with three chests.
The chests held:
KelLyn offered to use her slate to identify the scrolls, and was successfully able to identify the first one as a scroll of protection from demons. The second, however, had some sort of enchantment upon it, and as soon as it touched the slate, it drained all of the magic from it. KelLyn went white with fury, and we all wisely left the room, lest in her anger, she lash out at the rest of the party. We carried the treasures - the carpet, the plates, and the scrolls (safely back inside the ivory casings) back to base camp.
Once back at base camp, we deposited the rug and plates near the chests, and sat down with some relief to rest. Shalev took detailed measures to make sure that he was clean after being coated in such gore for most of the day, and the rest of us followed his example, taking the time to refresh ourselves as necessary. Watches were set, and the first two passed uneventfully. Shalev and I were on third watch, and during the small, quiet hours, we saw a group of 4 robed figures approaching us. As soon as they saw us, their eyes glowed red, and fangs extended from their mouths. They glared at us, and Shalev slumped over in an enchanted sleep. They looked with surprise at the fact that I had not also fallen over, and it was the last act they had a chance to make. I shouted to the rest of the party, and drew my sword. Bow and arrow would have proven useless here, so outnumbered. I swung the sword in a deadly arc, hoping to take one or two out before having to seriously engage. My worry proved pointless, however, as my aim was truer than even I knew, and the arc of the sword screaming through the air took all four out with deadly precision. The corpses were identified as some kind of were-creature, and they had nothing of interest on them, so they were drug over to the room where KelLyn had ignited the volatile fires earlier in the adventures. The room was still radiating with heat, and when the bodies were thrown in, they burned to ash.
The rest of the night passed uneventfully, and the next day we go to explore the remaining rooms of this level of the tomb. In one of the rooms, I discover a hidden compartment containing a chest, and Shalev, having taken note of the traps we had previously faced, wrapped a heavy tapestry around the chest to remove it safely.
He felt the impact of four darts, but the tapestry proved enough of a protection, and there was no harm done.
Inside the chest was:
Ishmael helped to appraise the jewelry, and claimed one of the brooches for himself, which he put on.
The next room was hidden behind a secret door covered by the bas relief of the demon god, much like the entrance to the tomb in the dragon's lair. The room revealed appeared to be some kind of study, with a sturdy desk. The desk had one drawer that continually re-locked itself, and after several attempts at unlocking it, I finally gave in, and stepped back so that Ishmael could gleefully smash the desk to pieces. The drawer, now easily accessible, contained written notes that looked like spell research. We called KelLyn over, and she grabbed up the notes, looking through them with surly interest. One page held a scrawled riddle on it:
Past the doors you cannot find,
Down the steps you cannot climb,
And across the River of Nothingness
You’ll find your way.
Beware the marksman and his prey.
Shun the royal brides!
Then find the place I lie in eternal feast!
Past glories I despise;
The light of vengeance fills my eye.
Treasure I give my servant dragon,
Guardian loyal of this, my reborn feeding lair.
After reading it out, Osman asks to see the page, and then spent a moment translating it into the language of the lizard men. He mentioned with some amusement that when translated thus, it actually rhymed, but nothing else was revealed by changing it to it's intended language. Once the desk was reduced to rubble, there was nothing else in the room, save a pair of heavy gold candlesticks, which Ishmael picked up and placed in his pack.
The riddle is interesting, and I feel as if it might shine some light on what might still lay ahead of us. With all of the traps we have discovered so far, and the pervasive evil that this entire place, it would not surprise me if more lethal traps awaited us. It bears researching more, I think, and serves as a warning - to me at least - of what may lie ahead. While we have a relatively safe space here in this room, I will try to teach my party members how to move more quietly. To be more aware of their surroundings, and to step carefully is going to be an essential skill for everyone. We have been incredibly lucky so far, in that our raucous explorations have not brought more enemies down on us, and I do not relish finding out what else may be out there the hard way.
The next room we discovered was some kind of alchemical laboratory. Long, low tables lined the walls with bottles and vials of components and powders. Most of it was fairly commonplace, and of no interest, but we did find one vial of powdered diamond, which KelLyn pocketed. The southern wall of this laboratory boasted a secret door, but I could find no way to open it up. I asked KelLyn to take a look at it, and she cast a simple spell to discern how the mechanism worked. After a moment, and in a fit of amused irony, she pulled out the unidentified scroll and touched it to the wall, draining it of magic, and causing the latch to release.
The room revealed was pitch black, and not even Tobias, with his dark vision could see inside. KelLyn discerned that it was a magical darkness, and cast a spell to revoke the magic inside. The darkness fell away, and showed a man in a black robe at the far end of the room, reading from a scroll. Ishmael immediately charged in like an angry bull, and hit the unprepared magic user with all of the force of a battering ram. The robed man was crushed by the impact, and KelLyn found the whole scene terribly amusing. Through her tears of laughter she revealed that he had, indeed, been casting a spell, but that it was defense against magic, not against brute force. So he never even saw it coming. As she recovered herself, chuckling and chortling the whole time, Shalev took a piece of tapestry and waved it around in an attempt to find trap wires or other hidden things. He was successful in revealing an invisible chest in one corner.
KelLyn easily removed the invisibility, still chuckling to herself, and we check the chest for traps. While we do that, she goes over to check the robed man to see what he may have had on him.
The robed man had a cloak, a ring, and a wand on him.
The chest contained:
3000 silver pieces
500 gold pieces
500 platinum pieces
a book
Since KelLyn's slate was drained of power, she used her magic to basically identify the objects as being magical. The ring was spelled with move/control human with a subrealm of water. The cloak was spelled with move/control magic. The wand was spelled with create mind. The book was spelled with a variety of things, but primarily with destroy magic with a subrealm of fire.
Shalev cautioned her to check the book before she read anything, but KelLyn ignored him, reading the title of the book regardless. The book was spelled with some kind of explosive rune, and the second she read it, it exploded, injuring Ishmael, Fife, KelLyn and myself. KelLyn gave me a potion to bring me back to health, but sadly the book was completely destroyed.
KelLyn shrugged and commented that it was no big deal, but I could see that the loss of potential power and knowledge was a pain to her. She claimed both the cloak and the wand, and then stalked away in an increasingly bad mood. I added the ring to the stash of treasures to be checked later, and the party decided that since there were injuries to be healed, that we would go back to base camp one more time before venturing beneath to the lower levels and beyond.
We still have not revealed the main passageway to the lower levels, but in our conversations about the events of the day, Shalev remembered seeing a door underneath the tapestries in the center worship area with the idol of the demon god. Perhaps that is the way we seek. There is still the trap door under the room we use as base camp, and the narrow corridor beyond. There is still the prowling demon figure that Lan saw. There is still Sacatha himself, wherever he may lie.
Much to be done, and much to do. The pile of treasures we have discovered grows exponentially, and I can't help but wonder how we will transport it all back to the count. We each get our share, of course, but the vast majority should go towards rebuilding this broken town, and rekindling hope in the beleaguered folk here.
But that will be after we escape this wretched tomb, and if we survive the battles to come.
For now, I will say a prayer to my god and goddess for continuing to watch over us. I feel the press of the evil here like a constant ache, and I need their touch and reassurance in my mind. Like a child who runs to her parents when they've had a nightmare, I wish to do nothing more than to run to them for comfort and protection. During my meditations and contemplation, I will continue to ask for their guidance. They may not be able to reach me here, but I will still continue to do what I can.
Past the doors you cannot find,
Down the steps you cannot climb,
Across the river of nothingness
You’ll find your way.
Beware the marksman and his prey.
Shun the royal brides.
Then find the place I lie in eternal feast.
Past glories I despise
The light of vengeance fills my eye.
Treasure I give my servant dragon,
Guardian loyal of this, my reborn feeding lair.
- riddle found on a scrap of paper in the first level of the tomb of the Lizard King
.oOo..oOo..oOo..oOo.
Once we made it back to the room we had set up as a base camp, the party relaxed for a while, using the time to rest, recuperate, and discuss our next moves. Since all of the supplies had been moved from the kitchen, pantry, and wine cellar to this room, we took some time to go through the various foodstuffs, and enjoyed a decent meal as well as opening up one of the casks of wine. It was a welcome reprieve from the travel rations, and having a good meal did much to improve our spirits. While we ate, a discussion broke out about whether we should venture down into the lower level via the trap door in this room, or if we should instead continue to explore this level first.
The consensus was that this level should be cleared completely before going down, so after we had rested, Lan used her new sight to see what living things she might be able to see still on this level. She said that she saw a large winged humanoid figure, possibly a demon of some kind, walking across a room some distance away. I took the opportunity to scout ahead, using stealth and skill to remain undetected. I checked the doors for traps, and explored down the corridor until I came up on what was obviously a place of vile worship. Simply walking into this room made me feel nauseated, so I returned to the party to let them know what I had found.
The rooms revealed appeared to be the captain's quarters, as the furnishings were simple, but of obviously better quality than those found in the barracks. There were two chests in this room, and Ishmael knocked the hinges off to open them without setting the needle traps off, to reveal about 800 silver and several standard sets of clothing. There was nothing else of note in this room, and we continued to explore, discovering a common room, and then finally the worship area.
The worship area, for that is clearly what it was, was repulsive. The idol in the center of the room boasted the repugnant face of the demon god that we had seen elsewhere, and the altar was soaked with congealing blood. The tapestry on the wall was disturbing in it's intensity, and depicted scenes of utter cruelty. The sheer evil here overwhelmed me, and I got physically ill. I said a quiet prayer to my god and goddess to ask for guidance, but the act of simply thinking their names was enough to cause the evil to pulsate in a nauseating fashion, making me ill all over again.
After I recovered myself, I urged everyone to either destroy everything here or leave now. They helped me move out of the room, promising that we could come back and destroy everything once the lizard king was dealt with. Further explorations revealed the central room for the priests, where incense burned on the table, and robes hung from hooks on the walls. Again, I resisted the urge to destroy everything here, and we eventually discover a small library.
The theme of the books in the library was primarily evil, and more than a few of the books were specifically about dealings with the undead. The subject matter of the books here was enough to make my skin crawl, and I wonder yet at what we still may face. Much to my surprise Shalev and Osman took a few books off of the shelves. Shalev chose a book about identifying undead, probably in hopes that it might reveal clues about what we face, and potential weaknesses it might have. Osman chose two books, one on summoning demons, and another on knowing the true names of the undead. KelLyn immediately went to look at a book that was chained to a pedestal in the center of the room. She began reading the book to herself, and then as she read, her eyes widened, and she made an audible comment about taking the book.Ishmael offered to cut the chain for her, and immediately an argument broke out between the party members about it. Rather than listen to them bicker and snipe at each other about it, I left the room to keep watch in the hallway for potential enemies, continuing to scout quietly ahead.
It is KelLyn's choice, ultimately, about her path. Her desire for power may eventually be her undoing, but she must be aware that all power has a price. If she is willing to pay that price, then so be it. Shalev is concerned for her, though she sees it more as an annoyance and the two of them argue and misunderstand each other on a nearly constant basis. He has taken her actions quite personally on more than one occasion, and he is quite concerned about what might happen should she delve into the darker arts. He feels, rightfully so, that she is not always careful with her power, although he does forget at times that she is responsible for her fate, and not him. If she ignores the signs and warnings that she gets, and pursues her quest for power to it's ultimate end, then that is her choice, not his.
My efforts to scout ahead revealed nothing further, so I returned to the library to see that KelLyn had indeed taken the book, and Shalev was glaring at her pointedly. I raised an eyebrow in silent comment, and then informed the party of the rooms ahead that I had discovered. One of the rooms proved to be a second captain's quarters, again with two chests with more basic clothes and about 1000 silver.
We decided to carry the empty chests as well as the treasures we had found so far back to the base camp before continuing our explorations. We checked our belongings there, made sure that the trap door was still secure, and then went back out to the hallway I had discovered.
There were several rooms here, and after checking the doors for traps, Ishmael opened the first one to show a small room where a black robed man was studying. He looked up in alarm and began to chant, and Shalev and Ishmael immediately rushed in to attack. Shalev's attacks missed, and the robed man was able to cast his spell successfully. Ishmael succeeded in his attack, and smashed the desk into the man in the chair, pushing it into him. The priest looked surprised that he was hit by anything at all, and Ishmael continued his bludgeoning attacks on the furniture. Shalev swung again, and missed again much to his frustration. The priest shouted out an alarm, and the other four doors opened as the priests inside them curiously stuck their heads out into the hallway to see what was going on. Upon seeing us there, they all stepped out into the hall and began casting various spells. They never got the chance. Tobias, pulling both of his maces, raced down the hallway in a deadly wave of attacks. KelLyn reached out to touch the closest priest, casting a spell with her contact. Osman shot an arrow at the next closest priest. Fife speared the priest in the back of the hallway, and I used my bow to put an arrow in the other's face.
The priest in the room with Ishmael and Shalev tried then to cast a drain life spell on Shalev. Shalev's brooch flared to life, protecting him completely, and causing Shalev's aura as a paladin to pulse in a flex of spiritual muscle that we could all feel. The priest went wide-eyed, and began casting yet another spell, and Shalev rolled out of the way, and out of the room. Fife and I used the opening to our advantage, and were both successful with spear and arrow, hitting the offending priest in the face as Ishmael simultaneously charged bodily into the priest, taking him out finally. The other priests go down easily after that, and both bodies and rooms are empty of anything of interest.
There is a gruesome painting at the end of the hallway, but though I examined it closely, I couldn't find anything of note. It was a hidden door, however, and when we turned away from it to head back down the hallway, it opened silently and an armored man stepped through. The only warning we had was when KelLyn suddenly fell over, apparently dead. Shalev ran over to her, to remove her pack, thinking that it was the book she picked up from the library that had caused her collapse. As he shoved it away from her, he glanced up to see the dark paladin looming in the shadows. Ishmael rushed to give her a potion, and Tobias grabbed her and dragged her into one of the now empty priest's quarters. Lan and I followed to try to find out why she had collapsed, and see what we could do to save her.
As we moved out of the way, the armored man threw a stick at Shalev which changed into an adder in midair. Shalev didn't even blink at the deadly serpent though, and it fell harmlessly to the floor as he charged at the enemy shouting that he hadn't worked so hard at not killing KelLyn only to have someone else do it. He swung his holy sword, aiming the powerful blow a the armored man's neck. With a screech of metal, the strike hit home, shearing through the thick metal gorget at his throat, and killing the unholy paladin with a single dreadful impact. The unholy paladin fell to the floor, and Shalev used his foot to pry his sword from the remains. He swore softly when he saw that the deadly strike had damaged his blade, but stopped short when he heard the sound of crumpling metal. He looked down in time to see the armor of the unholy paladin crumpling and cracking, shrinking in on itself and crushing down into nothing. The implosion covered Shalev in the gory remains of what was left behind, and he shook the blood off of his blade with an irritated sniff.
Meanwhile, Lan, Tobias and I were struggling to save KelLyn. Lan and Tobias worked to keep her alive, while I tried to locate the reason for her collapse. Shalev walked in then, covered in gore, and showed me the stick that had turned to a serpent. I recognized the description Shalev gave of the poisonous reptile as an adder, as they were fairly common back home in the desert, and was quickly able to pull together the components for an antidote. Once I was able to get the antidote down her throat, the results were fairly immediate. She regained consciousness, and was quickly able to be up and about with no lasting effects from the toxin. As soon as she was awake she rushed over to the book she had acquired from the library, flipping through pages and muttering to herself about inept spell casters and something about an attempt against her, when suddenly she exclaimed loudly "a lich?! They were trying to make me a lich?!" and began both laughing and swearing sulphurously.
None of this made much sense to the rest of the party, however, so we let it go as the mysteries of magic users, and went in to examine the room that was revealed by the secret door. This was the paladin's personal chamber, and it boasted opulent furnishings and a basin of water, and a small alter to the demon god. Shalev purified the water in the basin, and then used it to clean some of the gore off. He commented that the carpeting in this room was quite valuable, and we rolled it up to add to the treasures we had already discovered. He then took some time to tear down the tapestries on the walls, eventually revealing a hidden door. Fife offered to check for traps, and I let him take point. He found no traps, but the lock on the door proved to be beyond his skill, so I took care of the lock to reveal a small vault with three chests.
The chests held:
- 50 gold plates
- 20 platinum plates
- 2 ornate ivory scroll tubes with ivory stoppers
KelLyn offered to use her slate to identify the scrolls, and was successfully able to identify the first one as a scroll of protection from demons. The second, however, had some sort of enchantment upon it, and as soon as it touched the slate, it drained all of the magic from it. KelLyn went white with fury, and we all wisely left the room, lest in her anger, she lash out at the rest of the party. We carried the treasures - the carpet, the plates, and the scrolls (safely back inside the ivory casings) back to base camp.
Once back at base camp, we deposited the rug and plates near the chests, and sat down with some relief to rest. Shalev took detailed measures to make sure that he was clean after being coated in such gore for most of the day, and the rest of us followed his example, taking the time to refresh ourselves as necessary. Watches were set, and the first two passed uneventfully. Shalev and I were on third watch, and during the small, quiet hours, we saw a group of 4 robed figures approaching us. As soon as they saw us, their eyes glowed red, and fangs extended from their mouths. They glared at us, and Shalev slumped over in an enchanted sleep. They looked with surprise at the fact that I had not also fallen over, and it was the last act they had a chance to make. I shouted to the rest of the party, and drew my sword. Bow and arrow would have proven useless here, so outnumbered. I swung the sword in a deadly arc, hoping to take one or two out before having to seriously engage. My worry proved pointless, however, as my aim was truer than even I knew, and the arc of the sword screaming through the air took all four out with deadly precision. The corpses were identified as some kind of were-creature, and they had nothing of interest on them, so they were drug over to the room where KelLyn had ignited the volatile fires earlier in the adventures. The room was still radiating with heat, and when the bodies were thrown in, they burned to ash.
The rest of the night passed uneventfully, and the next day we go to explore the remaining rooms of this level of the tomb. In one of the rooms, I discover a hidden compartment containing a chest, and Shalev, having taken note of the traps we had previously faced, wrapped a heavy tapestry around the chest to remove it safely.
He felt the impact of four darts, but the tapestry proved enough of a protection, and there was no harm done.
Inside the chest was:
- a bag of silver (about 3000 pieces)
- a bag of gold (about 4000 pieces)
- about 200 platinum pieces
- 6 gold brooches (worth approximately 500 gp each)
Ishmael helped to appraise the jewelry, and claimed one of the brooches for himself, which he put on.
The next room was hidden behind a secret door covered by the bas relief of the demon god, much like the entrance to the tomb in the dragon's lair. The room revealed appeared to be some kind of study, with a sturdy desk. The desk had one drawer that continually re-locked itself, and after several attempts at unlocking it, I finally gave in, and stepped back so that Ishmael could gleefully smash the desk to pieces. The drawer, now easily accessible, contained written notes that looked like spell research. We called KelLyn over, and she grabbed up the notes, looking through them with surly interest. One page held a scrawled riddle on it:
Past the doors you cannot find,
Down the steps you cannot climb,
And across the River of Nothingness
You’ll find your way.
Beware the marksman and his prey.
Shun the royal brides!
Then find the place I lie in eternal feast!
Past glories I despise;
The light of vengeance fills my eye.
Treasure I give my servant dragon,
Guardian loyal of this, my reborn feeding lair.
After reading it out, Osman asks to see the page, and then spent a moment translating it into the language of the lizard men. He mentioned with some amusement that when translated thus, it actually rhymed, but nothing else was revealed by changing it to it's intended language. Once the desk was reduced to rubble, there was nothing else in the room, save a pair of heavy gold candlesticks, which Ishmael picked up and placed in his pack.
The riddle is interesting, and I feel as if it might shine some light on what might still lay ahead of us. With all of the traps we have discovered so far, and the pervasive evil that this entire place, it would not surprise me if more lethal traps awaited us. It bears researching more, I think, and serves as a warning - to me at least - of what may lie ahead. While we have a relatively safe space here in this room, I will try to teach my party members how to move more quietly. To be more aware of their surroundings, and to step carefully is going to be an essential skill for everyone. We have been incredibly lucky so far, in that our raucous explorations have not brought more enemies down on us, and I do not relish finding out what else may be out there the hard way.
The next room we discovered was some kind of alchemical laboratory. Long, low tables lined the walls with bottles and vials of components and powders. Most of it was fairly commonplace, and of no interest, but we did find one vial of powdered diamond, which KelLyn pocketed. The southern wall of this laboratory boasted a secret door, but I could find no way to open it up. I asked KelLyn to take a look at it, and she cast a simple spell to discern how the mechanism worked. After a moment, and in a fit of amused irony, she pulled out the unidentified scroll and touched it to the wall, draining it of magic, and causing the latch to release.
The room revealed was pitch black, and not even Tobias, with his dark vision could see inside. KelLyn discerned that it was a magical darkness, and cast a spell to revoke the magic inside. The darkness fell away, and showed a man in a black robe at the far end of the room, reading from a scroll. Ishmael immediately charged in like an angry bull, and hit the unprepared magic user with all of the force of a battering ram. The robed man was crushed by the impact, and KelLyn found the whole scene terribly amusing. Through her tears of laughter she revealed that he had, indeed, been casting a spell, but that it was defense against magic, not against brute force. So he never even saw it coming. As she recovered herself, chuckling and chortling the whole time, Shalev took a piece of tapestry and waved it around in an attempt to find trap wires or other hidden things. He was successful in revealing an invisible chest in one corner.
KelLyn easily removed the invisibility, still chuckling to herself, and we check the chest for traps. While we do that, she goes over to check the robed man to see what he may have had on him.
The robed man had a cloak, a ring, and a wand on him.
The chest contained:
3000 silver pieces
500 gold pieces
500 platinum pieces
a book
Since KelLyn's slate was drained of power, she used her magic to basically identify the objects as being magical. The ring was spelled with move/control human with a subrealm of water. The cloak was spelled with move/control magic. The wand was spelled with create mind. The book was spelled with a variety of things, but primarily with destroy magic with a subrealm of fire.
Shalev cautioned her to check the book before she read anything, but KelLyn ignored him, reading the title of the book regardless. The book was spelled with some kind of explosive rune, and the second she read it, it exploded, injuring Ishmael, Fife, KelLyn and myself. KelLyn gave me a potion to bring me back to health, but sadly the book was completely destroyed.
KelLyn shrugged and commented that it was no big deal, but I could see that the loss of potential power and knowledge was a pain to her. She claimed both the cloak and the wand, and then stalked away in an increasingly bad mood. I added the ring to the stash of treasures to be checked later, and the party decided that since there were injuries to be healed, that we would go back to base camp one more time before venturing beneath to the lower levels and beyond.
We still have not revealed the main passageway to the lower levels, but in our conversations about the events of the day, Shalev remembered seeing a door underneath the tapestries in the center worship area with the idol of the demon god. Perhaps that is the way we seek. There is still the trap door under the room we use as base camp, and the narrow corridor beyond. There is still the prowling demon figure that Lan saw. There is still Sacatha himself, wherever he may lie.
Much to be done, and much to do. The pile of treasures we have discovered grows exponentially, and I can't help but wonder how we will transport it all back to the count. We each get our share, of course, but the vast majority should go towards rebuilding this broken town, and rekindling hope in the beleaguered folk here.
But that will be after we escape this wretched tomb, and if we survive the battles to come.
For now, I will say a prayer to my god and goddess for continuing to watch over us. I feel the press of the evil here like a constant ache, and I need their touch and reassurance in my mind. Like a child who runs to her parents when they've had a nightmare, I wish to do nothing more than to run to them for comfort and protection. During my meditations and contemplation, I will continue to ask for their guidance. They may not be able to reach me here, but I will still continue to do what I can.
Friday, February 13, 2015
Contemplate Balance
Balance is a state of harmony, that gives you a clear perspective on what is important in Life.
So what is important in mine?
The balance of which the Mystics speak has nothing to do with the mundane concepts of good & evil. It is the balance of one's Spiritual Life with one's physical life, and balancing the emotional life with the intellectual life. The balance is the attainment of harmony on all planes of your being.
So what is important in mine?
There is a big difference between contemplation & meditation, but often the two are confused. In contemplation, one takes an object or principle, and one focuses upon it. Your concentration becomes immersed in the object of contemplation, until you become one with it. Contemplation is a great tool for discovering truth.
Meditation is very different. In meditation one relaxes the mind. There is no object in meditation. That would be contemplation. Thoughts, images & other sensations may enter your mind, but you pay no attention to them. The point in meditation is to gain control of your mind, ignoring all the whirling thoughts that fly around within it.
The meditation technique that I use, is to focus my consciousness upon my consciousness, and to completely disregard the objects of my consciousness. This isn't easy. The mind likes to be in control, so when you try to meditate, the mind will conjure up all manner of mental phenomena to distract you.
But, if you can learn to merely sit, when you sit; to control your mind in stillness, rather than allowing the mind to lead you around & around, you will discover that the mind can become a most obedient & efficient tool.
Learning how to control one's own mind is one of the greatest problems you will ever encounter, but that solution will also be your greatest triumph. The mind is incredibly powerful. Your thinking processes attract all of the conditions that occur in your life, so mastery in this area should be a key priority. Beliefs about yourself & your capabilities, determine what you can do. All that is required is my will, to learn & do the things that I desire, and then exert the actions that will release those things into happening.
It begins with Meditation.
.oOo..oOo..oOo..oOo.
Meditation is very different. In meditation one relaxes the mind. There is no object in meditation. That would be contemplation. Thoughts, images & other sensations may enter your mind, but you pay no attention to them. The point in meditation is to gain control of your mind, ignoring all the whirling thoughts that fly around within it.
The meditation technique that I use, is to focus my consciousness upon my consciousness, and to completely disregard the objects of my consciousness. This isn't easy. The mind likes to be in control, so when you try to meditate, the mind will conjure up all manner of mental phenomena to distract you.
But, if you can learn to merely sit, when you sit; to control your mind in stillness, rather than allowing the mind to lead you around & around, you will discover that the mind can become a most obedient & efficient tool.
Learning how to control one's own mind is one of the greatest problems you will ever encounter, but that solution will also be your greatest triumph. The mind is incredibly powerful. Your thinking processes attract all of the conditions that occur in your life, so mastery in this area should be a key priority. Beliefs about yourself & your capabilities, determine what you can do. All that is required is my will, to learn & do the things that I desire, and then exert the actions that will release those things into happening.
It begins with Meditation.
.oOo..oOo..oOo..oOo.
I miss my home.
The warm, shifting sands of the deserts are a long way from this fetid, evil swamp. I miss the feel of the sun on my head, and the sand under my feet. The arid feel of warm breezes, and the dry smells of sun-baked earth.
There are moments where I wonder if leaving the desert was worth it, and I also wonder now at what awaits my eventual return.
Or even if I will return.
The desert I left will not be there, for that is the way of the desert. Ever changing. My choice remains before me to return to those silken sands, or to make my home elsewhere. The forests near the edge of Qualton call my name. The young entlings in Basil's gardens. The great forest at DruidHome also speaks softly to my memories.
I also miss the sigh of the leaves in the trees of those forests, the cool shade of giant sweeping branches, and the aching sweetness of soft grass against my feet. The smells of life, of green, growing, healthy things.
Perhaps I will seek a place of balance between the two. Desert and Forest. There are oasis aplenty between the heart of the desert and the edge of the wildlands. Or perhaps I will find somewhere new. For who knows what still awaits, in the adventures ahead? Or where my god and goddess might lead me to go?
The warm, shifting sands of the deserts are a long way from this fetid, evil swamp. I miss the feel of the sun on my head, and the sand under my feet. The arid feel of warm breezes, and the dry smells of sun-baked earth.
There are moments where I wonder if leaving the desert was worth it, and I also wonder now at what awaits my eventual return.
Or even if I will return.
The desert I left will not be there, for that is the way of the desert. Ever changing. My choice remains before me to return to those silken sands, or to make my home elsewhere. The forests near the edge of Qualton call my name. The young entlings in Basil's gardens. The great forest at DruidHome also speaks softly to my memories.
I also miss the sigh of the leaves in the trees of those forests, the cool shade of giant sweeping branches, and the aching sweetness of soft grass against my feet. The smells of life, of green, growing, healthy things.
Perhaps I will seek a place of balance between the two. Desert and Forest. There are oasis aplenty between the heart of the desert and the edge of the wildlands. Or perhaps I will find somewhere new. For who knows what still awaits, in the adventures ahead? Or where my god and goddess might lead me to go?
Monday, February 9, 2015
Into the Tomb of the Lizard King - Part 2: Osman learns about traps
Into the Tomb - Part 1
"Oh go on, open the footlocker. It's safe enough."
.oOo..oOo..oOo..oOo.
We rested for a time in the room where we had killed the clerics, barring the door, and setting watch while we recuperated from the fight. Shalev used his powers as a paladin to cast a healing spell on me, which was enough to bring be back to full capability.
While we convalesced, we examined the equipment that the clerics had carried in greater detail. KelLyn used her magic to identify the items of interest, and she discovered
"Oh go on, open the footlocker. It's safe enough."
.oOo..oOo..oOo..oOo.
We rested for a time in the room where we had killed the clerics, barring the door, and setting watch while we recuperated from the fight. Shalev used his powers as a paladin to cast a healing spell on me, which was enough to bring be back to full capability.
While we convalesced, we examined the equipment that the clerics had carried in greater detail. KelLyn used her magic to identify the items of interest, and she discovered
- a ring imbued with the magic to create fire
- a ring imbued with the magic to destroy fire
- a scroll of Protection from magic with 1 day duration
- a staff aligned with the cleric's pantheon which will strike at those it is pointed at with divine power (has an unholy feel to it.)
The rest of the armor and weaponry was exceptional quality, but otherwise unremarkable. Tobias, Shalev, and Osman claimed a mace each to use as a backup weapon if necessary, and Osman also claimed one of the sets of chain mail armor, though wearing it hampered his movement somewhat. Shalev took the ring with the magic to destroy fire, wearing on his left hand ring finger.
After rechecking that everyone was mostly healed and able to continue, we ventured out of the room and continued to explore the tomb. The next rooms we discovered were the kitchen, pantry, and wine cellar - all of which were fully stocked. Since Osman was making a rudimentary map of our findings, we earmarked these rooms to return to later to restock and resupply.
Continuing our not-so-stealthy explorations, we discovered a basic armory that held only low quality weapons, and it was speculated that this was where the lizard men were equipped from. Further down the hallway was a door that lead to a barracks with 10 sleeping men. A whispered argument broke out among the party about whether or not Kellyn should put them to sleep, or if we should just kill them outright. I had no problems killing them outright, but it was argued against, and KelLyn went to the door to try to cast a sleep spell. The moment she began to cast, she was shot with an arrow by one of the men in the rear of the room who had been awake and watching the party argue. The arrow did no damage to her, thankfully, due to her incredible strength, and only succeeded in making her angry. Osman immediately returned fire, and KelLyn threw off the sleep spell an began to cast in Fyrewerian, using the word we had all come to recognize for "fire."
As she was casting, Tobias used his speed to dash into the room and brain the second guard at the rear of the room who was also awake, and then dash back out to safety before KelLyn finished her spell. I shot both of the enemies with arrows as well. Fife and Lan stepped out into the hallway to guard against potential rear attacks, and KelLyn's spell detonated with cataclysmic effect. The fireball in her hands turned incandescent and liquid, a hovering ball of fluid, flaming destruction. She released the fireball into the room with an almost negligent flick of her hands, and Shalev rushed to yank the door closed to protect us from the backlash of the explosion.
Good thing he did, too, because an instant later the room, the doors, and everything inside was vaporized in a thunderous clap of white hot implosion. KelLyn turned to us then, and we saw that her eyes had turned a strange amber color as an after effect of the spell. She shrugged with a small smile and sauntered away from the smoldering room with a disdainful sniff. The fearsome flames had done their work well, and there was nothing left in the room at all except for a doorway (which had been concealed previously) to the main hallway. The stones were radiating so much heat that we could not enter the room, and so the party continued on, following the hallway around to another door which lead to another set of barracks.
This barracks was much larger, holding cots and small footlockers for twenty-four guards. I could hear snoring coming from the door at the other end of the room, and I used my stealth to walk silently through the room to the other side, where I discovered one lone soldier, sleeping on the floor where he had rolled out of bed. I took him out silently and without effort, and motioned to the rest of the party that I was going to check the door as well. Shalev then attempted to make his way over to me to act as back up should it be needed.
Alas, though, my diligent student has much to learn in the ways of stealth, however, and only succeeded in making a tremendous amount of noise. I looked at him in exasperation, and shook my head resignedly before trying the door. Thankfully it only lead back out into the main hallway, so no harm done. I should probably remind him gently that I am quite capable of avoiding situations if I am undetected, and while his effort to protect me was appreciated, he needs to trust that ability if I am going to be on point checking for traps and using my stealth to scout ahead.
Since there was nothing else of note on the one soldier that I killed, it was suggested that we go through the footlockers and personal chests here to see what else we might be able to find. I warned that they might not be safe, and that they shouldn't be touched until I had a chance to check them for traps. Despite my warning, however, Osman foolishly began opening the footlockers, and set of the poison needle trap within the third one that he opened. The needle pierced his finger, and he immediately stiffened and collapsed in death like coma. KelLyn, Lan, and I instantly went to work trying to keep him alive. KelLyn and Lan worked together to preserve his body and prevent the poison from spreading any further. I went into a deep meditative ritual to work to remove the poison from his blood and bring him back from the brink of death. The poison was virulent and strong, but after an entire day, an entire bag of the priceless salts from the deep desert, and a bottle of the highly potent moonshine from the farmers, I was able to draw enough of the poison out of his body to revive him; though it nearly exhausted me to do so.
While KelLyn, Lan, and I were striving to save Osman's life, Shalev and Tobias stood watch, and Ishmael and Fife returned to the room where the clerics were to retrieve the armor and weapons that were left behind. They made a horrible racket as they returned, seeming not to care who they might alert to our presence, and the raucous din disturbed a mass of flying rat-like creatures that Fife said were bats. The bats chittered and chirped and flew out down the hallway, presumably to the swamp outside, for we didn't see anything else of them after they flew past.
When they returned, I wearily thanked KelLyn and Lan for their assistance, and told the rest of the party that morning would tell if I were successful in saving Osman's life. I took the poultice that I had made with the salts and moonshine, and threw it into the still smoldering room of the opposite barracks, where it instantly vaporized into a lethal green cloud of smoke. I returned to the room, to do one final check on Osman's progress, said a sincere thanks to my god and goddess for their guidance with the attempt, then sat down and retreated mentally into the deep meditations that work as restful sleep for me.
Morning showed that I was indeed triumphant. Osman was groggy, and having some trouble moving his left arm, but he was alive and awake. Shalev used his daily gift to cast a healing spell over Osman, and I said a second, quiet prayer of thanks for the success of the work. Osman asked what had happened and Shalev told him of the poison, that I was somehow able to neutralize it, and then of his healing spell that brought him up to mobility. I raised an eyebrow, but let it pass. I do not think he meant to leave out the exhaustive work we did to make sure he woke up in the first place, and I was still weary enough to just let the oversight be. Osman is still very weak, and will unfortunately be relegated to healing naturally for a period of time. I warned him that he should not over tax himself, and that healing would take time. There are plenty of small tasks within the party that he can do to help regain his strength, and help him feel useful while he improved, but that when we found ourselves in battle, his safest place would be back behind us all.
Ishmael used his hammer to knock the hinges off of the remaining footlockers in the deserted barracks, and searching the containers revealed 2 decent sized bags of various gems, and 40 silver pieces. We added these to the stash of things we had found before, and since Osman was weak, but mobile, we decided to push on, keeping him near the rear of the party in a more protected position. Perhaps he has learned his lesson to check first, then act? We shall see.
Shalev made a motion to cast another detect evil spell, but I cautioned him against casting it again, as we already knew there was evil in this place, and reminding him that every time he cast the spell, it rang like a bell to any who might be searching for us. He agreed with my counsel, and before we continued our explorations, I cast a quiet druidic ritual to bless the party moving forward. I felt like my god and goddess answered my request, and I thanked them for their aid. I do not know exactly what the blessing did, but here, in this place, every boon counts.
As before, I scouted somewhat ahead, searching for traps and listening at doors. The next hallway we discovered had doors to the left and right, and when I listened, I heard muffled voices to the right. I motioned to the party members, and stepped out of the way as Shalev kicked the door in to reveal a group of 7 men in armor, playing dice around a table. Shalev immediately moved in to attack, and Tobias - much to my surprise - began to berate him for foolish action, despite the fact that 6 of the armored men were also moving to attack. I wonder at the sudden venom that Tobias showed Shalev. His actions were no different than they had been in previous encounters, and undeserving of such vitriol. I also wonder if Tobias and Shalev need to have words with one another when this is through. Tobias should know better, that there is no reason to be jealous, and that taking out his frustrations on Shalev was unwarranted, and poorly timed.
KelLyn moved to cast sleep on the 7th man, and he turned to grab a trident to attack her in return. Tobias moved into the room to group brawl the 6 others, in an attempt to divert attention off of Shalev's attacks. I used my bow with success to put two arrows into the 7th man, who was apparently the leader of the crew. While KelLyn was casting, Ishmael stepped between her and the leader, acting as a physical block if needed. The leader's attack was successful, though barely making it past Ishmael's guard, and it was enough to interrupt KelLyn's spell. Thankfully, there was no ill-effect from the disruption, save KelLyn being doused with water from an unknown source.
Fife took the opportunity to throw a spear at the leader then, and Shalev engaged with the rest of the group using his ability to do multiple attacks with great success, wounding four of them. KelLyn stepped around Ishmael, and laid her hands on the leader's armor, saying the Fyrewerian word for "Fire!" The leader took a panicked shot at her face in an attempt to break her formidable concentration, and I retaliated by throwing a dagger in his, diverting his awareness long enough for KelLyn to successfully complete her spell. Where her hand had rested against the leader's armor, a red-hot handprint appeared, and his eyes went wide when he realized that all of his armor was heating quickly to uncomfortable levels.
Shalev and Tobias remained engaged with the other 6 men, when out of nowhere, a leprechaun appeared. The little man took one look at the table, and the gold laying there from the dice game that had been in progress when Shalev kicked the door in. The leprechaun said aloud "You're right, there IS a lot of gold here." and then promptly vanished, taking all of the gold with him. All 7 of the men we were fighting stopped and stared, then started running towards the door to try and locate all of their missing gold. Fife kicked the door closed, preventing their escape, and used the opportunity to throw an oddly shaped dagger at the leader.
His aim was, as it always is, deadly true, and the dagger pierced the leader's armor where the glowing handprint had melted through, and embedded up to the hilt. KelLyn had the leader up by the throat, and both Ismael and Shaelv took successful swings against him while he was held immobile, earning a purring comment from her that she felt loved right then.
I drew my sword then, and closed for combat, as my arrows were useless at close range. The sword cut through the air with a scream of shattering sound, and blue waves sparked down the blade as I swung at the nearest foe. My cut was true, and cleaved through the air, and the foe in front of me, as if I were slicing through butter. The whole room stopped to turn and look at what the sound had been, in time to see the person I had attacked fall into two pieces, as I slung blood drops off of the gently curved blade. I took a moment then to look at the graceful blade with new admiration. I had never used it in combat before, and it felt as if it were an extension of my own body, a part of my arm, and I smiled a deadly smile as I re-engaged, moving and turning with effortless, lethal grace, blue waves of energy sparking along the blade, and across my body as I did.
Tobias kneecapped one of the fleeing men, and used a second attack to take him out completely. KelLyn then threw the body.. or what remained of the body, as Shalev and Tobias' attacks took both knees and head off.. of the leader at the rest of the fleeing men, screaming out "I AM THE MAGE!" with a battle cry that made them all nearly wet themselves. After that it was short work to kill the remaining soldiers, and we did so quickly. Fife had backed away, into the closed door, staring wide-eyed at me, and he opened the doorway to continue out into the hall, when he suddenly stopped short, feeling the garrote there at his neck where Osman and Lan had strung the wires across the entrance to prevent escape.
He gently felt along the wire until he came to the edge, where he carefully worked to remove it before he hurt himself on it. Lan and Osman helped him remove the wire, letting him keep an arm's length of it when he expressed interest in it, quipping still wide-eyed that if he were going to be successful as a body guard that he would have to take the enemies out before we even got there.
The weapons and armor of the men we had fought was all but destroyed completely, and nothing save the trident remained of interest in the room. KelLyn used her skills to identify the weapon as a pre-Fyrewerian artifact used by an underwater civilization (which Lan confirmed with more than a little disdain in her voice.) It was enchanted to be used under water at speed, and would give the wielder an idea of their opponents actions. Fife and Tobias both expressed a keen interest in the weapon, and so KelLyn handed it to Fife saying that they would have to work out who got it between the two of them.
Shalev spent some time removing wall hangings and searching the rest of the room, revealing a latch hidden behind one of the tapestries. He took one look at the latch, and stepped away hastily, saying with wary amusement, "See Osman, this is how you get to the treasures without dying." and looked my way in a plea to check it for traps. I chuckled bemusedly, and checked the latch thoroughly revealing a door into a rather gaudily appointed bedroom. This was apparently the leader's resting place, and had rather horrid paintings on the walls, mismatched rugs, and a sword in a scabbard that hung over the shabby bed. KelLyn once again identified the weapon as being a cursed bastard sword. The wielder would attack all in an opposing army with great vigor. Fife commented that it was a "suicide" sword, and the description of the curse leads me to believe that the horrid thing should be destroyed.
We checked the rest of the room, and when we rolled the carpets aside, discovered a trap door. I picked the lock to the portal, and opened the door to reveal a 20 foot rope ladder leading down to a hallway that is only about 5 foot across. This, then, is the way to the next level of the tomb. I closed and re-secured the door, and the rest of the party agreed that we should set this room up as a secure base for the time being. Shalev, Ishmael, and KelLyn worked to move all of the food supplies from the kitchen and pantry into this room, as well as the barrel of water, and one barrel of wine. We cleared out space on the floors, and made a rather comfortable camp using the carpets and bed hangings, as well as other furniture we found there in the room.
We will rest here, resupply, and then make the decision on whether or not to finish exploring this floor, or venture down into the dark.
I do wonder, cautiously, at the seeming emptiness of the tomb so far. The groups that we have encountered have been small parties, and I fear that the bulk of our enemies still lie before us either in undiscovered rooms, or below us. For who knows how deep this decrepit tomb delves beneath the odious swamp? The supplies that were in the kitchen, and the layout of the barracks suggest much larger numbers than we have currently encountered. The noise that the party has made has been enough that it should have alerted others to our presence, and yet we remain - so far - unmolested in our explorations, save for those groups we have encountered individually. But why would they not attack? I feel like the bats should also be a clue, but I have nothing in my memory, or in any legend that says what they might foretell.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)