It was this meeting that the fecal matter hit the oscillation device. Through a number of bad decisions and split party - a few over zealous wandering monsters coming in, and just poor luck, we managed to carve out a possible TPK.
The group also met their first level draining undead - wights. Two at first, they killed them but the wights managed to kill off two of the party - which meant they will rise as wights.
Upon escaping to the surface it was just stunned and exhausted expressions amongst the players and a feeling of despair.
Write up follows:
Using the light of the wheel we noted that the side corridor preceded some 12 paces and then turned at a crisp 45 degree angle to the right. No signs or marking anywhere. Zeta and Tranis worked their lit up wheel forward to the turn, the party pacing behind with care, and looked onward, seeing another 10-12 paces and then another 45 degree to the right. The corridor was also showing more sign of work, the walls becoming smoother, the ceiling and floor more square edged.
At the next corner, the changes to the passage continued until there were no longer any features or signs; the entire place looking almost like it was poured into place. The passage only went 7 paces or so before turning to the left.
Once more Zeta and Tranis made their way to the front, peering around to see what was beyond here. The passage went 10’ and then opened to some chamber at least as large as our light source went and then beyond there. There were either paintings or ink drawings on the walls, starting just before the entrance of the room. From what we could tell they were of Hades and in some he was standing with the other Olympians, in others he was working with his adherents.
We rolled the wheel back and Zeta gave the chamber a good look with his infravision, surprised to see it was warming up from the current 65 through the entrance area all the way to 100 or so at the far end of his mission. There was nothing else in the room. From there we brought the wheel back to illuminate the area and tested waving our hands and arms past the entrance. There was an odd tingling sensation to be sure, but that was it.
Upon finally stepping into the room that we felt a sort of increase in temperate, maybe a handful of degrees. And when we left, we cooled off again over time. Through a variety of trials and errors, we discovered that the further one went into the chamber, the ultimately higher the temperature reached.
We could not see enough of the room so the decision was made to unrope the wheel and send it rolling into the room. The light spell on it should illuminate more of the chamber and let us not get screwed over or caught up in anything we weren’t ready for. So we pushed the wheel in, it rolled almost 25’ and then fell over. The chamber was almost 50’ long and there was another exit on the far side that made a turn to the right, some sort of slope leading down and away.
Zeta was once again picked to check the area out, eventually getting across the chamber with exaggerated care. It grew very hot, 100 plus. He doused his entire waterskin across his body to keep the metal buckles and braces from possibly burning his skin as we as to provide some relief. From what he could see the corridor sloped 20 degrees for 12 or so paces and then turned to the right where the corridor fed into a set of stairs going down.
We talked about our options at length, deciding at long last on two things: 1) we wanted to get the wheel back so we walked into the hot room and rolled it back to the entrance. 2) Zeta could check further but he must bring someone and that person shouldn’t be wearing metal armor. Auri volunteered and the two of them drew weapons and made their way across the room. It did indeed grow warm and then hot, the two of using only their infravision to provide any sight as they walked. The rest of the party watched as they disappeared into the dark and were gone, everyone readying weapons and gear.
Zeta and Auri made their way to the stairs, made sure there was no issue, and began walking down slowly. According to their infravision, the corridor went down steps before coming to another left hand turn with another sloping set of corridor going down. They proceeded with care, moving quietly and surely.
And then something flared near Auri from both walls, momentarily spoiling their heat vision. It came from a pair of Hades’ painted faces, two glyphs, briefly illuminating the stairs. And revealed at the limit of Zeta’s vision (who was the rearmost of the two), an eight count of skeletal figures coming out of a secret room from the “heat room” and heading their way. Seven of them armed with spears and a few shields raced towards the two friends, while the last one withdrew a sling and hurled a caltrop bag at the entrance where the rest of the group was.
Shit. Auri and Zeta swapped positions ready to assault the onrushing undead. The rest of the group backed up, not wanting to get assaulted by the undead in the room (that they still could not see). They did let the wagon wheel light roll forward and fall upon the caltrops, briefly making a bridge over them should the party need to assault forward.
The undead were held back on the stairs by a mix of Auri and Zeta’s skill, noting that one of them was fighting very skilled, dodging blows left and right. Zeta let fly an arcing bottle of holy wine but it was intercepted and laid down with care.
And then Auri killed one of the skeletons. And it exploded.
Sonovacrap.
The blast was like a hammer blow, but the broken bits of bones and raining pelvis pieces only affected the two living friends. The undead were unfazed, instead only continuing their press forward. Tactics needed to be changed. Auri swapped to a spear and began thrusting backwards to the back row of skellies instead, her spear all but useless on their lack of fleshy forms.
The slinging skellie hurled a flask of oil at the rest of the group who was huddled around the corner, unsure still of what they were fighting. But they did hear another secret door open up and another 8 skellies fill the room. A 2nd slinger joined the first and some spear users blocked the way. Liscinia made her way to the front with her tower shield and the party was lining up to bring the rain of blunt arrows down on the skeletons.
But then Funis and others in the back of the party heard running feet…and ghouls came around the corner to attack our rear.
Funis went down in a spray of blood, paralyzed by the ghouls’ attack, and out rear main fighter was out of the fight.
The group was split in two, and one of our groups was now assaulted on both sides. Crossbow bolts and arrows peppered the ghouls while Pawn was brought up front to turn the skeletons arranged against us there. Marcus and Pecheri tried to get behind Liscinia and her tower shield, only barely getting into place when a THIRD secret door opened and 8 more skeletons came out! Now three slingers against the main group and 5 other skellies, while Auri and Zeta were being forced down the stairs by the combined strength and assault of the skeletons there.
For long agonized minutes it was a slog against the press of undead with our spear, sword, and spells; most everyone running out of whatever resources they had. However it became unsustainable after Liscinia and Marcus were forced to give ground against the advancing undead from the skeleton room, forced back around the corner after one of the slingers hurled a hot coal into the oil soaked floor and the blast sent everyone scurrying back.
Auri and Zeta had no choice, the press of undead was too much against them, so they turned and RAN further into the dark and down the slopes and steps until they were deep deep under the ground. Where their infravision picked up a door. A door that Zeta opened, they both charged into the room beyond, and Zeta slammed closed. Where Auri fumbled for a locking bar and slid it home.
Two friends alone in the dark, undead spears and bodies bashing at the door beyond. And they just realized they had been poisoned from the door. Zeta fell over choking on his own blood while Auri stumbled to her knees and fought off the toxic effects. She managed to get a candle lit and tried to administer to Zeta…but the proud half-elf, confused and yet still making his way in the world, died in her arms.
And with the door opening, it triggered an alarm spell which summoned MORE undead from further in the complex. And this time it was 4 ghoul looking creatures, except two of them had an air of confidence about them. We reshuffled our line in order to hold them off, and Flimflam cast Magic Fang on Whosea for the upcoming fight. Marcus whipped out Whipztar’s grimoire and reading from the enchanted tome called out “EMPTY” where the room with skeletons that were attacking our flank…just emptied. The wheel disappeared, the bodies disappeared, it all went empty.
And the undead hit our back line again. It wasn’t just ghouls, it was something more. As evidenced when weapons just bounced off their hide. As evidenced by the disdain it had for the party. As evidenced by the life draining ability it had. We had to break free and go, and go now. Ghouls were dropping more of the party. Marcus lost a level, Sanford lost a level, Pawn lost a level and DIED by a Wight! Then Sanford was torn apart and Scripinius our linkboy was drained by a Wight and DIED! Quintus was killed. Whosea was drained and then…Funis and his paralysis wore off.
The Light footman with his enchanted mace waded into the back of the Wight’s, slamming at them at the same time that Flimflam and his enchanted cudgel and Whosea and his enchanted…teeth hit the front. It took magic weapons to take them down, along with a flurry of disrupt undead and magic missiles we punched a hole through and the party decided to run. Liscinia and Funis held the rear as the party hoisted our paralyzed brethren (Geld and Caeteccius) and we charged out of here.
We reached the bridge and were crossing when we heard our pursuers coming back after us again. So Liscinia and Funis dragged first one wagon base bridge back over the pit and let it fall…and then the second. The last thing the two hirelings saw were a host of skellies on the other side…and our one time companion and Halfling priest Pawn standing there – the priest having blood all over his form, and black eyes staring with undead malevolence and confidence at us retreating. And still the party ran on.
And now in the wagon room we had four zombies to contend with! Fuck! Marcus pulled out his book again and consulting Whipztar’s tome, selected FLIP – turning the busted wagon up and over and ONTOP of three of the zombies! Nice! They were pinned which allowed Funis to do battle with it long enough for the group to get past and away and then keeping up the rear.
We climbed wearily up the slope, through the incense room, and into the store room. From here we navigated the slope up, Tranis using rope all the way back down to help us pull ourselves up. And the wandering monster gods were against us even more as one, two, three of the pale and bloated carrion crawlers crept into the Hades room and tried to attack our ranger.
Flasks of oil held two of them back and one of them made it through as a torch was hurled and others came up to help. It caught on fire and tried to attack us but Flim, Whosea, Liscinia, Tranis, and Marcus all held it off and slayed it while we made our way to the front and escaped at long last into the evening cool air of the Griffanus Estate…with half our members gone or missing or dead.
We lost Scripinus, Quintis, Sanford, Pawn to wights and other undead. Zeta and Auri are unaccounted for, chased further into the dungeon by a host of pursuing skeletons (Of those two, Zeta has dies from Poison and Auri is weak and in a single room without exit, used as some sort of flensing chamber where the local necromancer take flesh from the body).
Escaping to the night air, low on spells or empty, with two of our members paralyzed and some of us level drained by the wights: Flimflam, Whosea, Tranis, Marcus, Pecheri, Geld, Vestanus, Funis, Liscinia, and Caeteccius.
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Meet 71, Adv 4, 1/10/15
Talking undead.
Whenever it happens, no matter the group, it always freaks the group out. Mindless undead, snapping teeth, rotting bodies - they can take - but put a voice to that and it raises the "what the fuck is that" level to those that face it.
I have had ghouls talk and spectres merely moan. Whatever the situation, it always manages to drive the party to distraction.
Write up follows:
The group had discussed leaving getting to a split decision on pressing on “one more room” and cutting now, with a few more votes landing on staying and see what else we could find. So we spent more time binding cuts and applying splints, while Flimflam redispensed healing berries to those who needed it. Eventually we were prepared and new lights were lit before we set off once more.
We decided not to take the southern corridor that led to some cramped passage with the sounds of zombies behind it, instead going north and east. The ground was sloped here, perhaps 15 degrees, and went beyond the limit of our lights, although Zeta informed us that according to his infravision, there was nothing “living” down there to concern us. So he went first, picking his way with care, but his spear rang off the wall and he clattered noisily…which drew the attention of a trio of deathdogs from somewhere further along the corridor.
Our scout beat a hasty retreat ahead of the multi-headed canines, just in time for Pecheri to blow two of them up with a pair of detonation arrows…wounding the third terribly in the process. A short volley finished it off and we considered ourselves lucky to have avoided a possibly deadly situation.
Once more Zeta went down the hall until his torchlight revealed…3 humanoid figures hunched over the death dogs and eating the carcasses raw. And one of them said, in discernible Common, “Douse the light.”
Fuck.
Our scout kept them talking and focused on the dead deathdogs, imitating that he was a necromancer’s apprentice to someone they supplied as Karstimis. After stuffing their face they shouldered one of the carcasses and allowed Zeta to retreat while they pressed on back the way they came.
The party waited and discussed…talking undead? Pawn suggested possibly they might be wights? Holy crap…seriously? The long and short of it…based upon what they had said, they might be heading back to the necromancer, which we assumed was the dwarf. And should follow them. Right…follow them.
Terrific.
So we picked our way back down the slope (bloody stains, no undead or deathdogs) and took the turn to the left, following it a bit further until we arrived at a large chamber. There was a set of stairs going up on the right wall, and along the north, 9’ above the ground, was a corridor heading in that direction. No ladder was visible. There were small natural alcove where candles had once burned (although 2 were still there), giving some minor light. Dog shit and old bones abounded.
We looked and noted that there were bloody drips and stains heading towards the corridor 9’ above the ground, leading us to understand the undead had gone that direction. We wanted to follow, but not risk any problems. We checked the base of the floor under the passage and noted fallen rock there. Lots of it. None larger than 25#. But there were enough pieces there to identify that whatever it was was at one point in time a statue of a pony. Broken now, but at one time, life sized.
Zeta opted to climb and check it out, inching his way up the wall until he arrived at the top. More blood stains here, a corridor heading straight and sloping upward before turning to the left. That and lots of horizontal scratches on the walls between 2 and 4 feet in height.
No one trusted it.
So we positioned ourselves along the base and room, weapons out and watching with care. Zeta went along, testing the ground until he arrived at the slop and went up a few feet. The corridor continued along at 30 degree angles and then turned to the left – not a 90 degree turn, but a curve to the corridor. Right. Fucking trap. He was out of here.
It was when he turned around though that there was s button on the ground, right in the center of the corridor. It wasn’t there before, but it was not. 6” diameter, iron looking, shiny, sticking up 3” tops. Right. Not going to touch the damned thing.
And then Auri who was at the base of the passage with Quintus, saw a button there as well. Quintus wanted to touch it – I mean they made it, and it’s a button, it must be touched! No one would let him. And Zeta’s button seemed to glow red when he tried to step around it, making him even more concerned.
But it was Caeteccius who saw another button, this one at the base of the steps on the eastern wall, and not knowing about the other two, said, “That’s peculiar,” and touched it.
Zeta heard something groan up the passage and he turned the run back to the deathdog room (stomping on the button along the way) as there was an unholy racket suddenly sounding behind him. Auri and Quintus’ button suddenly glowed red and they did NOT push it. BUT they saw Zeta JUMP out of the passage, getting hit from behind and then rolled over by a 9’ wide, 4’ diameter, pointed ended cylinder that crashed with a terrible racket and then rolled to a stop at the other side.
They dragged Zeta out of the way (down to a single hit point) and then heard heavy noises on the stairs. Coming down was a crude approximation of a 5’ tall figure with reversed hooks for hands hanging out of its arms. The statue was of solid stone and trundled along the path the stone had crushed, dragging the hooks on the floor as if it would be picking up anything. Then it went to Auri’s button and pressed it with his head. And then faded away.
Ok, now what the fuck? We suspected it went to the dwarf which was going to make someone wonder where it came from and why it was triggered. Also, what about the wights? Other deathdogs? Now what the hell? We suspected that the statue came from the stairs and NOT from the passage above us. So when it was done and had to come back here again, it would take the stairs. So if we take the stairs we could be on our way to the necro/dwarf.
We looked. At the top of the steps was another dwarven looking hook handed statues. We checked it out, steps went up, crossed 20’ or so of ground, and then went down again on the other side. Simple. Two more dwarven statues up there on that side. Ok. Went to check further and the top step clicked when it was stepped on. Fuck. Brought up broken rock to mimic Zeta’s weight and pulled him off, step rose again. But nothing happened. We spent 20 minutes discussing it and decided to take the stone step apart.
It was a bit heavy, so we flipped it up and onto the landing in order to see what mechanism was under the step in the first place. Spring loaded pressure sensitive pistons and a 4 setting rotating place marker. Ok, but WHAT does it do? We spent 15 minutes trying to figure it out, but didn’t know what it all meant. So we decided to shelve it for now, allowing Zeta to pick his way across the 20’ expanse to the other side. So there went our scout, stepped one foot over the edge of the landing…triggered a pit…a fell 20’ to the bottom.
Hurt badly, he twisted his back and lay there for a few seconds…and 4 spears thrust out of the walls at the 3’ height and skewered the air where he would have been if he was standing. Holy crap! And then the cover closed.
The group spent no time in getting together a plan to bring Zeta free. A light spell was placed on a rock, two spikes were readied, and finally a chunk of the removed stair itself was lifted up – and when the trap was triggered, they filled it with light and then disabled the trap mechanism by jamming it open. Rope was tossed down to Zeta who was hoisted up and more goodberries were eaten…and then the party backed away as the trap mechanism was smoking and giving forth little bits of flame. We waited at the bottom of the stairs until the damage seemed to stop (Zeta was healed) and then crept up to check the area out again.
The pit was 9’ wide by 8’ long, taking up just under half the surface of the 20’ corridor. Quintus was sure there would be another pit on the other half of the corridor and no one disagreed with our sorcerer. But how could we cross now?
That’s when the party decided to go back to the wagons where the Matriarch/Patriarch once were and using their tools, disassemble enough of the wagon’s base planking to create a bridge of sorts to cross the open pit and the assumed next one. Before we did anything though, we distrusted the one remaining dwarven statue on this side, so the party used some poles and crowbars…and tilted it over until it fell 20’ to smash at the base below.
From there it was easy to span the first pit, where the group then did the same with the second (after verifying it did exist…and breaking it). Which led us to discuss how to avoid pit traps in the future. We needed some sort of weight heavy enough to trigger it, but nothing that would get any of us hurt.
What resulted was taking off one of the solid wagon wheels from the wagons (80# plus), string rope through the axle hole, make a sling of rope longer than the radius of the wheel, and use Zeta’s pole as a guide holding it upright over the wheel while the party trundles it forward. Finally a light spell was centered on the wheel and we were ready.
We crossed the bridge, went down the next stairs, but our noises had attracted a 6 count of skeletons who came up to assault the party. And Pawn turned them! Which was a surprise because some of the party members were convinced that Pawn was conning the group and really had no clerical powers at all. 5 of the skeletons ran back down the corridor and to the left and the remaining one was finished off with a four count of attacks. From here we decided to use our “wheel plan” and go follow the skeletons in the direction they had run off to and either kill them, or if not, hopefully find the necromancer/Hades priest there.
Whenever it happens, no matter the group, it always freaks the group out. Mindless undead, snapping teeth, rotting bodies - they can take - but put a voice to that and it raises the "what the fuck is that" level to those that face it.
I have had ghouls talk and spectres merely moan. Whatever the situation, it always manages to drive the party to distraction.
Write up follows:
The group had discussed leaving getting to a split decision on pressing on “one more room” and cutting now, with a few more votes landing on staying and see what else we could find. So we spent more time binding cuts and applying splints, while Flimflam redispensed healing berries to those who needed it. Eventually we were prepared and new lights were lit before we set off once more.
We decided not to take the southern corridor that led to some cramped passage with the sounds of zombies behind it, instead going north and east. The ground was sloped here, perhaps 15 degrees, and went beyond the limit of our lights, although Zeta informed us that according to his infravision, there was nothing “living” down there to concern us. So he went first, picking his way with care, but his spear rang off the wall and he clattered noisily…which drew the attention of a trio of deathdogs from somewhere further along the corridor.
Our scout beat a hasty retreat ahead of the multi-headed canines, just in time for Pecheri to blow two of them up with a pair of detonation arrows…wounding the third terribly in the process. A short volley finished it off and we considered ourselves lucky to have avoided a possibly deadly situation.
Once more Zeta went down the hall until his torchlight revealed…3 humanoid figures hunched over the death dogs and eating the carcasses raw. And one of them said, in discernible Common, “Douse the light.”
Fuck.
Our scout kept them talking and focused on the dead deathdogs, imitating that he was a necromancer’s apprentice to someone they supplied as Karstimis. After stuffing their face they shouldered one of the carcasses and allowed Zeta to retreat while they pressed on back the way they came.
The party waited and discussed…talking undead? Pawn suggested possibly they might be wights? Holy crap…seriously? The long and short of it…based upon what they had said, they might be heading back to the necromancer, which we assumed was the dwarf. And should follow them. Right…follow them.
Terrific.
So we picked our way back down the slope (bloody stains, no undead or deathdogs) and took the turn to the left, following it a bit further until we arrived at a large chamber. There was a set of stairs going up on the right wall, and along the north, 9’ above the ground, was a corridor heading in that direction. No ladder was visible. There were small natural alcove where candles had once burned (although 2 were still there), giving some minor light. Dog shit and old bones abounded.
We looked and noted that there were bloody drips and stains heading towards the corridor 9’ above the ground, leading us to understand the undead had gone that direction. We wanted to follow, but not risk any problems. We checked the base of the floor under the passage and noted fallen rock there. Lots of it. None larger than 25#. But there were enough pieces there to identify that whatever it was was at one point in time a statue of a pony. Broken now, but at one time, life sized.
Zeta opted to climb and check it out, inching his way up the wall until he arrived at the top. More blood stains here, a corridor heading straight and sloping upward before turning to the left. That and lots of horizontal scratches on the walls between 2 and 4 feet in height.
No one trusted it.
So we positioned ourselves along the base and room, weapons out and watching with care. Zeta went along, testing the ground until he arrived at the slop and went up a few feet. The corridor continued along at 30 degree angles and then turned to the left – not a 90 degree turn, but a curve to the corridor. Right. Fucking trap. He was out of here.
It was when he turned around though that there was s button on the ground, right in the center of the corridor. It wasn’t there before, but it was not. 6” diameter, iron looking, shiny, sticking up 3” tops. Right. Not going to touch the damned thing.
And then Auri who was at the base of the passage with Quintus, saw a button there as well. Quintus wanted to touch it – I mean they made it, and it’s a button, it must be touched! No one would let him. And Zeta’s button seemed to glow red when he tried to step around it, making him even more concerned.
But it was Caeteccius who saw another button, this one at the base of the steps on the eastern wall, and not knowing about the other two, said, “That’s peculiar,” and touched it.
Zeta heard something groan up the passage and he turned the run back to the deathdog room (stomping on the button along the way) as there was an unholy racket suddenly sounding behind him. Auri and Quintus’ button suddenly glowed red and they did NOT push it. BUT they saw Zeta JUMP out of the passage, getting hit from behind and then rolled over by a 9’ wide, 4’ diameter, pointed ended cylinder that crashed with a terrible racket and then rolled to a stop at the other side.
They dragged Zeta out of the way (down to a single hit point) and then heard heavy noises on the stairs. Coming down was a crude approximation of a 5’ tall figure with reversed hooks for hands hanging out of its arms. The statue was of solid stone and trundled along the path the stone had crushed, dragging the hooks on the floor as if it would be picking up anything. Then it went to Auri’s button and pressed it with his head. And then faded away.
Ok, now what the fuck? We suspected it went to the dwarf which was going to make someone wonder where it came from and why it was triggered. Also, what about the wights? Other deathdogs? Now what the hell? We suspected that the statue came from the stairs and NOT from the passage above us. So when it was done and had to come back here again, it would take the stairs. So if we take the stairs we could be on our way to the necro/dwarf.
We looked. At the top of the steps was another dwarven looking hook handed statues. We checked it out, steps went up, crossed 20’ or so of ground, and then went down again on the other side. Simple. Two more dwarven statues up there on that side. Ok. Went to check further and the top step clicked when it was stepped on. Fuck. Brought up broken rock to mimic Zeta’s weight and pulled him off, step rose again. But nothing happened. We spent 20 minutes discussing it and decided to take the stone step apart.
It was a bit heavy, so we flipped it up and onto the landing in order to see what mechanism was under the step in the first place. Spring loaded pressure sensitive pistons and a 4 setting rotating place marker. Ok, but WHAT does it do? We spent 15 minutes trying to figure it out, but didn’t know what it all meant. So we decided to shelve it for now, allowing Zeta to pick his way across the 20’ expanse to the other side. So there went our scout, stepped one foot over the edge of the landing…triggered a pit…a fell 20’ to the bottom.
Hurt badly, he twisted his back and lay there for a few seconds…and 4 spears thrust out of the walls at the 3’ height and skewered the air where he would have been if he was standing. Holy crap! And then the cover closed.
The group spent no time in getting together a plan to bring Zeta free. A light spell was placed on a rock, two spikes were readied, and finally a chunk of the removed stair itself was lifted up – and when the trap was triggered, they filled it with light and then disabled the trap mechanism by jamming it open. Rope was tossed down to Zeta who was hoisted up and more goodberries were eaten…and then the party backed away as the trap mechanism was smoking and giving forth little bits of flame. We waited at the bottom of the stairs until the damage seemed to stop (Zeta was healed) and then crept up to check the area out again.
The pit was 9’ wide by 8’ long, taking up just under half the surface of the 20’ corridor. Quintus was sure there would be another pit on the other half of the corridor and no one disagreed with our sorcerer. But how could we cross now?
That’s when the party decided to go back to the wagons where the Matriarch/Patriarch once were and using their tools, disassemble enough of the wagon’s base planking to create a bridge of sorts to cross the open pit and the assumed next one. Before we did anything though, we distrusted the one remaining dwarven statue on this side, so the party used some poles and crowbars…and tilted it over until it fell 20’ to smash at the base below.
From there it was easy to span the first pit, where the group then did the same with the second (after verifying it did exist…and breaking it). Which led us to discuss how to avoid pit traps in the future. We needed some sort of weight heavy enough to trigger it, but nothing that would get any of us hurt.
What resulted was taking off one of the solid wagon wheels from the wagons (80# plus), string rope through the axle hole, make a sling of rope longer than the radius of the wheel, and use Zeta’s pole as a guide holding it upright over the wheel while the party trundles it forward. Finally a light spell was centered on the wheel and we were ready.
We crossed the bridge, went down the next stairs, but our noises had attracted a 6 count of skeletons who came up to assault the party. And Pawn turned them! Which was a surprise because some of the party members were convinced that Pawn was conning the group and really had no clerical powers at all. 5 of the skeletons ran back down the corridor and to the left and the remaining one was finished off with a four count of attacks. From here we decided to use our “wheel plan” and go follow the skeletons in the direction they had run off to and either kill them, or if not, hopefully find the necromancer/Hades priest there.
Monday, January 19, 2015
Meet 70, Adv 4, 1/3/15
The party ran into a single ghoul tonight. It was mixed in with the zombies and did not to attract attention to itself as they all crept closer until it was withing touch distance. And then it struck, fast, sure, and direct. And in two rounds it had taken our the two strongest attackers in our front line.
Ghouls are soft targets and don't have tons of hit points, but for low level undead the 3 attacks per round and paralyzation can spell the difference between a long fight with zombies...and a possible TPK.
Write up follows:
We once more drew into marching order and proceeded with care towards the south east corner of the room, here, a set of stairs wound their way down, curving to the right and left as the brought the group even further beneath the earth. Zeta and Tranis used every skill at their disposal to make sure that the trip down was without issue and no unseen traps or pitfalls were waiting for us. It meant we were travelling slowly, but it made the party feel much safer for the trek.
At the bottom of the steps, the corridor ran straight for 40 feet and then jogged to the right briefly. About halfway down, there was a strange rippling in the ceiling as if it was wending cloth – odd folds and ripples like water or strained silk. In addition, the ceiling itself was sliced from one end to the other across the passage and dropped 4 inches in a perfect cloven line. No one trusted it.
We used poles, spears, and eventually physically getting close to check it out – learning that the stone was not seamed and neither was any sign of tool marks. Where the hell did it come from and why was it left like this? No one knew.
Past here at the end of the straight run of the corridor was…a bolt. A 12” long, 1” wide carriage bolt, the type used in a wagon or cart along the axle, was just lying there. Where did it come from…and why was it there?!? The group decided to toss pieces of the broken shield (from upstairs) at it to see…and although they knocked it aside a few times, it behaved as only a bolt should and nothing untoward happened. We added it to our belongings and then moved on.
The corridor beyond the turn was to the limit of the torch range and beyond, and sloped downward at 20 degrees, making the traversing of it potentially difficult for our less sure-footed party members. There was also a growing scent in the air, moist and redolent of old flesh and rot. The slope was checked with care, a second torch moved along to get a better sense of the size of the corridor. It went maybe thirty feet and then turned to the left. There was a wetness on the back wall and ceiling that trickled very slowly down to the floor and made a slightly scummy greenish pool of god knows what was growing on the surface of that water at the corridor’s end.
No one wanted to touch it.
However, the trip down the slope was going to be difficult for too many party members and we wanted to make it safer – and make sure no one would touch or hit the water. So we wanted to use rope to help everyone get down. But there was nothing to tie the rope to, so the party knew they were going to have to hammer in spikes. One at the top, one at the bottom – and then tie rope to each one – making a railing of sorts to help the group make the trip from top to bottom. So they split the spikes, 4 went down to the bottom (3 to keep watch, 1 to hammer), and the rest of the group was to stay up top and listen as one of member drove in the other spike.
And then they hammered. They tried to synchronize their blows and were mostly successful – but the echoes did run through the subterranean system and eventually after tying the rope to the top and bottom, the group heard the distant sound of shuffling feet coming from back the way we had originally come. Zombies – and many of them.
We all drew ourselves back up slope and drew up into fighting order, maximizing our impact with spear users as well as bow guys. We had our cloistered priest, Pawn, up near the front in order for a sudden turning and the group waited near the bottom of the stairs, allowing for a sizable field of fire and melee. And they came. Zombies – 8 of them.
Arrows fell on the undead in a rippling wave right after the Halfling priest tried calling out to Demeter to turn them away (failed). The zombies ignored the effects and closed until they were in range of our spears – which slammed into the wave with sure and practiced ease. And then it was axe and sword play – with once more Caeteccius leading the way with his debilitating war axe. The zombies did not progress any further down the hall and those that were there, although striking at the party repeatedly (whittling hit points away), were held in place and slain outright one after the other. Until at long last (12 solid minutes!), the final zombie hit the ground and stayed down.
We bound our hurts and healing was dispensed. From here we went back to the slope and made our way down into the dark, using the rope railing we made and keeping ourselves far and free from the filthy water, we proceeded with care down the hall (thirty feet or so) until it opened to a room. However, just at the entrance of this chamber (larger than our torch light could illuminate), the ceiling and walls had that same rippling sort of wended wet silk, twisted watery look to them – as if the rock itself had been twisted out of shape in the past.
The chamber had two other ways out (North West and South west on the south wall), dimly seem in the gloom. But the room was taken up by two wagons that had dumped over and partially torn to shreds. Four skeletal oxen were still in the rotted leather traces at the yoke of each wagon and there was a mass of broken wood, canvas, boxes, barrels, and charnel. We didn’t see any bodies (besides the oxen) but given the sheer amount of destruction and potential cover in the chamber, it wasn’t that surprising.
Zeta opted to check out the room first, picking his way quietly along the southern wall, watching carefully at every shadow, nook, noise, and outcropping. It was when he was more than half way towards the southeastern wall that he espied some movement on the other side of the wagon and a number of figures (bloody, rotting, and dead) stood up. It seemed to be some merchant family and their guards (who were at one point riding in the wagon) gathering themselves up and getting ready to assault the group.
Two of the zombies bend down and grabbed broken sticks (to use as clubs) and some wreckage of wagons (to use as shields) – but them stayed in one place and banged them together rhythmically for some reason. Making noise. Continuously. To attract more fucking undead. Damn it.
The rest of them surged forward, the Patriarch (heavy set older male in his 60’s) and the one we labelled the Matriarch (portly woman also in her early 60’s) holding back for some reason, meaning 4 of them assaulted the party. Pawn stood his ground between Auri and Caeteccius, calling on Demeter to help him to turn the undead from assaulting us.
The prayer didn’t have any noticeable effect, although Pawn did say that he felt some resistance (as if the place was blessed by Hades for some reason). What did happen next though was one of the undead tore through Auri with multiple strikes and bite, paralyzing our strongest fighter and dropping her to the ground. This made the battle open for one of the zombies to grab Pawn and HURL him behind and OVER the wagon – where he hit with a crunch and then fell over in pain.
Fuck – ghouls, and smart zombies. And here came the Patriarch. We fired bolts and arrows, a well-placed shot striking the Matriarch and knocking her on her ass. One of the zombies was smashed hard and sent reeling backwards against the side of the wagon, back broken – unmoving. Nice!
And then Caeteccius, our next strongest and debilitating fighter, was rent by the ghoul and paralyzed. Two minutes; our two strongest assaulting members paralyzed.
We shifted all our blows, stabs, shots, and spells to the ghoul next, finally dropping him in place. Pawn managed to roll into a ball of pain, turn his attention to the two noise making undead – and turn them. Failing. Which made the two zombies turn their attention to the wounded Halfling – without armor.
And we then heard the sound of howling coming from down the northeast corridor. Lots of howling – and getting closer. Just great.
The party redoubled their efforts to bring the battle to the zombies, satisfied with the ghoul down that it would get easier. Spells were sent flying (a real showing of Quintus and his magic missiles), our target split between the Patriarch and Matriarch next. Pawn rolled into the corner of one of the wagons and a summon monster spell shot out next, supplying some cover for our priest. As 2 two-headed dogs charged into the room. Fuck me, Death Dogs.
Flimflam quailed at their site – blessed animals of Hades – two devastating bites that can crush steel and the foulness of their saliva and teeth can cause leprosy. Ok, new threat – everyone target the Death Dogs.
Pawn ran for the southeastern corridor, one of the death dogs hot on his trail, we don’t know if he made it because his screams faded away over distance and the death dog came back around to snarl at the group.
And then the Matriarch placed her hand on the first zombie we killed. Black energy filled it – and it stood the fuck up again! Fully animated and ready to attack the damned party. And the Matriarch was now looking towards the fallen ghoul next. Ok, NEW new threat – everyone target the Matriarch again!
We stabbed and thrust and surged forward. Funis made his way towards the front and more arrows were shot, Pecheri taking a chance on using one of his precious detonation arrows against an intervening zombie. But the Matriarch fell 4 feet shy of the ghoul and we redoubled out attacks on the rest of the group. A crossbow bolt knocked a death dog down and two spear blasts took out the Patriarch next.
But out hit points were fading and the number of painful wounds were climbing as fatigue took its toll on the group. Eventually the number of useful spells dwindled and we were hard pressed in the 15th minute of combat to finally drop the last zombie with a crushing blow by the mace wielding Funis. The battle ended and we heard silence.
Our quarry HAD to know we were here, and he had to be marshalling his forces to slow us down or finish us should we press on. What do we do? Leave? Stay? It was already around 12 and half of the party was down. We were going to need a day at least in the hospice and even then, although our hurts would feel better, the scars would remain. As for treasure? We found a single barrel of zinc ore. 70 odd pounds of it.
We opted to leave after binding our wounds and were going to break the news to the rest of the group (hirelings and henchmen) as to our plan and what was to follow next.
Ghouls are soft targets and don't have tons of hit points, but for low level undead the 3 attacks per round and paralyzation can spell the difference between a long fight with zombies...and a possible TPK.
Write up follows:
We once more drew into marching order and proceeded with care towards the south east corner of the room, here, a set of stairs wound their way down, curving to the right and left as the brought the group even further beneath the earth. Zeta and Tranis used every skill at their disposal to make sure that the trip down was without issue and no unseen traps or pitfalls were waiting for us. It meant we were travelling slowly, but it made the party feel much safer for the trek.
At the bottom of the steps, the corridor ran straight for 40 feet and then jogged to the right briefly. About halfway down, there was a strange rippling in the ceiling as if it was wending cloth – odd folds and ripples like water or strained silk. In addition, the ceiling itself was sliced from one end to the other across the passage and dropped 4 inches in a perfect cloven line. No one trusted it.
We used poles, spears, and eventually physically getting close to check it out – learning that the stone was not seamed and neither was any sign of tool marks. Where the hell did it come from and why was it left like this? No one knew.
Past here at the end of the straight run of the corridor was…a bolt. A 12” long, 1” wide carriage bolt, the type used in a wagon or cart along the axle, was just lying there. Where did it come from…and why was it there?!? The group decided to toss pieces of the broken shield (from upstairs) at it to see…and although they knocked it aside a few times, it behaved as only a bolt should and nothing untoward happened. We added it to our belongings and then moved on.
The corridor beyond the turn was to the limit of the torch range and beyond, and sloped downward at 20 degrees, making the traversing of it potentially difficult for our less sure-footed party members. There was also a growing scent in the air, moist and redolent of old flesh and rot. The slope was checked with care, a second torch moved along to get a better sense of the size of the corridor. It went maybe thirty feet and then turned to the left. There was a wetness on the back wall and ceiling that trickled very slowly down to the floor and made a slightly scummy greenish pool of god knows what was growing on the surface of that water at the corridor’s end.
No one wanted to touch it.
However, the trip down the slope was going to be difficult for too many party members and we wanted to make it safer – and make sure no one would touch or hit the water. So we wanted to use rope to help everyone get down. But there was nothing to tie the rope to, so the party knew they were going to have to hammer in spikes. One at the top, one at the bottom – and then tie rope to each one – making a railing of sorts to help the group make the trip from top to bottom. So they split the spikes, 4 went down to the bottom (3 to keep watch, 1 to hammer), and the rest of the group was to stay up top and listen as one of member drove in the other spike.
And then they hammered. They tried to synchronize their blows and were mostly successful – but the echoes did run through the subterranean system and eventually after tying the rope to the top and bottom, the group heard the distant sound of shuffling feet coming from back the way we had originally come. Zombies – and many of them.
We all drew ourselves back up slope and drew up into fighting order, maximizing our impact with spear users as well as bow guys. We had our cloistered priest, Pawn, up near the front in order for a sudden turning and the group waited near the bottom of the stairs, allowing for a sizable field of fire and melee. And they came. Zombies – 8 of them.
Arrows fell on the undead in a rippling wave right after the Halfling priest tried calling out to Demeter to turn them away (failed). The zombies ignored the effects and closed until they were in range of our spears – which slammed into the wave with sure and practiced ease. And then it was axe and sword play – with once more Caeteccius leading the way with his debilitating war axe. The zombies did not progress any further down the hall and those that were there, although striking at the party repeatedly (whittling hit points away), were held in place and slain outright one after the other. Until at long last (12 solid minutes!), the final zombie hit the ground and stayed down.
We bound our hurts and healing was dispensed. From here we went back to the slope and made our way down into the dark, using the rope railing we made and keeping ourselves far and free from the filthy water, we proceeded with care down the hall (thirty feet or so) until it opened to a room. However, just at the entrance of this chamber (larger than our torch light could illuminate), the ceiling and walls had that same rippling sort of wended wet silk, twisted watery look to them – as if the rock itself had been twisted out of shape in the past.
The chamber had two other ways out (North West and South west on the south wall), dimly seem in the gloom. But the room was taken up by two wagons that had dumped over and partially torn to shreds. Four skeletal oxen were still in the rotted leather traces at the yoke of each wagon and there was a mass of broken wood, canvas, boxes, barrels, and charnel. We didn’t see any bodies (besides the oxen) but given the sheer amount of destruction and potential cover in the chamber, it wasn’t that surprising.
Zeta opted to check out the room first, picking his way quietly along the southern wall, watching carefully at every shadow, nook, noise, and outcropping. It was when he was more than half way towards the southeastern wall that he espied some movement on the other side of the wagon and a number of figures (bloody, rotting, and dead) stood up. It seemed to be some merchant family and their guards (who were at one point riding in the wagon) gathering themselves up and getting ready to assault the group.
Two of the zombies bend down and grabbed broken sticks (to use as clubs) and some wreckage of wagons (to use as shields) – but them stayed in one place and banged them together rhythmically for some reason. Making noise. Continuously. To attract more fucking undead. Damn it.
The rest of them surged forward, the Patriarch (heavy set older male in his 60’s) and the one we labelled the Matriarch (portly woman also in her early 60’s) holding back for some reason, meaning 4 of them assaulted the party. Pawn stood his ground between Auri and Caeteccius, calling on Demeter to help him to turn the undead from assaulting us.
The prayer didn’t have any noticeable effect, although Pawn did say that he felt some resistance (as if the place was blessed by Hades for some reason). What did happen next though was one of the undead tore through Auri with multiple strikes and bite, paralyzing our strongest fighter and dropping her to the ground. This made the battle open for one of the zombies to grab Pawn and HURL him behind and OVER the wagon – where he hit with a crunch and then fell over in pain.
Fuck – ghouls, and smart zombies. And here came the Patriarch. We fired bolts and arrows, a well-placed shot striking the Matriarch and knocking her on her ass. One of the zombies was smashed hard and sent reeling backwards against the side of the wagon, back broken – unmoving. Nice!
And then Caeteccius, our next strongest and debilitating fighter, was rent by the ghoul and paralyzed. Two minutes; our two strongest assaulting members paralyzed.
We shifted all our blows, stabs, shots, and spells to the ghoul next, finally dropping him in place. Pawn managed to roll into a ball of pain, turn his attention to the two noise making undead – and turn them. Failing. Which made the two zombies turn their attention to the wounded Halfling – without armor.
And we then heard the sound of howling coming from down the northeast corridor. Lots of howling – and getting closer. Just great.
The party redoubled their efforts to bring the battle to the zombies, satisfied with the ghoul down that it would get easier. Spells were sent flying (a real showing of Quintus and his magic missiles), our target split between the Patriarch and Matriarch next. Pawn rolled into the corner of one of the wagons and a summon monster spell shot out next, supplying some cover for our priest. As 2 two-headed dogs charged into the room. Fuck me, Death Dogs.
Flimflam quailed at their site – blessed animals of Hades – two devastating bites that can crush steel and the foulness of their saliva and teeth can cause leprosy. Ok, new threat – everyone target the Death Dogs.
Pawn ran for the southeastern corridor, one of the death dogs hot on his trail, we don’t know if he made it because his screams faded away over distance and the death dog came back around to snarl at the group.
And then the Matriarch placed her hand on the first zombie we killed. Black energy filled it – and it stood the fuck up again! Fully animated and ready to attack the damned party. And the Matriarch was now looking towards the fallen ghoul next. Ok, NEW new threat – everyone target the Matriarch again!
We stabbed and thrust and surged forward. Funis made his way towards the front and more arrows were shot, Pecheri taking a chance on using one of his precious detonation arrows against an intervening zombie. But the Matriarch fell 4 feet shy of the ghoul and we redoubled out attacks on the rest of the group. A crossbow bolt knocked a death dog down and two spear blasts took out the Patriarch next.
But out hit points were fading and the number of painful wounds were climbing as fatigue took its toll on the group. Eventually the number of useful spells dwindled and we were hard pressed in the 15th minute of combat to finally drop the last zombie with a crushing blow by the mace wielding Funis. The battle ended and we heard silence.
Our quarry HAD to know we were here, and he had to be marshalling his forces to slow us down or finish us should we press on. What do we do? Leave? Stay? It was already around 12 and half of the party was down. We were going to need a day at least in the hospice and even then, although our hurts would feel better, the scars would remain. As for treasure? We found a single barrel of zinc ore. 70 odd pounds of it.
We opted to leave after binding our wounds and were going to break the news to the rest of the group (hirelings and henchmen) as to our plan and what was to follow next.
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