Follows:
FIFTY TWO
(I/C)
“Before anyone messes with the head, or hammer, or anything,” Lyra said, “please let me look at the bodies first, ok?”
“Oui, Madame,” Wyn said, eyeing the remains of the medusa. “Zo? Cut off zee head?”
Abraxas nodded. “Anyone have an Axe? ¿Si?¿No? ¡Off wit her cabeza!” Wyn held out his woodcutter’s axe to the Fighter who took it with a smile.
“If I may interject some of my worldly wisdom into this conversation?” Brendon asked while Lra was looking over both bodies. “I have to admit I don’t have the knowledge in the realm of magics that,” he motioned to the Magic User, “Lord Lannis has, nor the grace of my god coursing through my veins as Lady Lyra or even the vast amount of history that Wyn’d possesses…But,” he pointed to the gorgon, “I do know if that thing isn’t truly dead and we leave it here for the greenskins to awaken, than we deserve the pain it will bring us.”
There was some grumbling and conversation, the two camps being Abraxas and Lannis who went back and forth with destroying the head to keeping the head until the Cleric held her hand up and moved away from both bodies. The conversation petered out and she said after examining them (<Wis +2 cleric, White 14), “Well, they are both very very very dead.”
“Thanks for that,” Lannis muttered.
“Can it.” She pointed at the cleric, many places on her face and neck. “Here, here, and in at least a dozen other places, the skin has been punctured and torn. Now she died and had her life force sucked out of her 30 years ago to power some spell, but I think she was dying before that. The medusa, specifically her HAIR, snake hair? Lots of snake hair? Bit her. Like a dozen times.”
“Is it poisonous?”
Lyra nodded. “Very. So she fought the Medusa, and struggled with her, and trapped them both in this room, and she was PARTIALLY turned to stone,” she moved the leg armor aside and showed the limbs below had been petrified – not mummified, “and this bad assed elven priestess closed to within touching distance to probably hit the gorgon with a spell and then finished her off with a hammer blow to the face.”
“Was it just one blow?”
Lyra shook her head no. “Uh uh. This gorgon has a number of broken bones under the skin, the two of them were fighting for a while. The hammer blow to the face was the last bit.” She moved the gorgon’s shirt to the side and pointed at an area on its upper chest. “And there is this.” There, on the lax and mummified hanging skin was a burned brand and tattoo showing the number 10, with a stylized “L” right below it. “She’s been numbered.”
“Iz zhere 9 more of them?” Wyn wondered.
“I don’t know. I doubt it. And remember – this was thirty years ago, and it seems whoever was here at that time had been killed, mummified to power the spell.”
At this point Abraxas has Wyn’s axe, Kovid handled the fighter’s sack and placed it over the medusa’s head while Wyn slid the hammer back and Brendon and Lyra lowered the priestess backwards and to the floor while everyone gave small prayer on her passing. Then, once clear, Abraxas brought the axe back and swung it hard, aiming for the gorgon’s neck (>+5 to hit, Blue 18) the axe striking dead on and (1d6+2 damage, Blue 6: 8 damage and off!) severed the head in a single blow! “Yaah!” he yelped as Kovid upended the sack and wrapped it closed.
“Now beat it to a pulp,” Lannis offered.
Meanwhile Kovid picked up the war hammer from Wyn and looked the weapon over (<Int +2 dwarf crafting, Yellow 12). “Well?” Brendon asked.
Kovid took the end of his cloak and proceeded to wipe the weapon down, removing crud, dirt, and smearing the tarnish below. He smacked it against the floor twice where it gave forth a pure sounding deep ringing call. The dwarf whistled, smiling. He took a tiny bit of oil and rubbed it into the weapon’s head while continuing to wipe it clean, peering at it as he did so. “Well, this is a very nice war hammer. Considering it is elven made. The weight it damned close to perfect, and this isn’t commercial grade iron, no by Thor’s Fuckstick, this is silvered steel.”
“Like the dagger we found?”
“Same or better.” He showed the brilliant metal below the area he had been working clean. “See? And there are markings on the weapon. Lots of moon symbology.”
“Theystra,” Lyra offered.
“I would imagine so.”
During all this, Abraxas and Brendon had gone to the back of the room where they lifted the book shelf away from the wall and slid it to the side. Brendon gave it a look (>Find, red 60) but the two of them could tell that nothing had been back there for decades or longer. Instead, the scout bent down to the crate that was marked to hold the “Eye of Ishtari” and brought it out of the cramped area.
Lyra and Abraxas joined him while Lannis who had been thumbing through the gouged book tilted his head and thought (<Int -10 penalty, Pink 6) about it. “Wot you think, Monsieur?” Wyn asked him. “I was going to Detect for ze magic, non?”
“Yeah, good idea.” Lannis tapped the book again. “It’s one of 4, in fact it’s number three. But the goddess’ name had been scratched free, and the pages are inked and bleached to make the reading impossible.” He looked around the room. “One, Two, Three. Morrigann, Theystra, Ishtari.” He looked back at Wyn, “Where’s the fourth goddess?” He tapped the book. “Something about the book just feels…prickly to me.”
“Let’s see what we can see, no?” Wyn began waving his arms, building up the power of magic until it reached a crescendo and burst out from the elf, flying around the room. The silver hammer started radiating crackling lights, as did the 4 potions and the atomizer of poison. The three prayer books and the fourth defaced one ALSO had a faint aura about them, lesser than the other items but still noticeable. In fact there was a flow running through all 4 books that seems to connect them all together. Looking further around the room, Wyn was also able to tell that all 3 statues had the faintest of magic on them as well. And there was a joining between the three statues similar to the 4 books.
But…there was also a reach, and stretch of the spell, as if there was a break in the magic connecting the three statues – as if there was a 4th one that just wasn’t here. And to Lannis and Wyn’s eyes, the connection of the three statues had a sickness, a weakness to the enchantment on them that seemed to diminish the spell.
“I would guess, the fourth missing one is why it looks like this.”
“I would agree, Monsieur Lannis.” Wyn looked around bothered. “The magic on these statues…and these books is very old, centuries easily, non? Why remove one?”
They were mulling it over while Brendon was giving the crate with the missing Eye a serious look about when he was able to lift the entire padded insert base free in a single piece. “Ahha!” he said, “Secret area.”
At the bottom was a piece of parchment with some elven writing on it. Lyra lifted it free and held it up. “Lannis? Wyn? Can either of you read this?”
Lannis tapped the elf on the shoulder. “You keep that spell going, I’ll check it out.”
“Hey Kovid,” Brendon asked, “Come south with me a bit, I want to check out the corridor a bit more. Bring your new toy.”
“Ha, my new Magic Toy.” He swung the hammer once, liking the feel and het to it.”
The two of them went a bit further, listening (>Listen Red 88..>Listen Yellow 10) but hearing nothing. The corridor went south at least another 25 paces or so and still went on into the gloom.
Meanwhile Lannis picked up the paper, and after making sure all was good, proceeded to read it:
“The Sun Rises in the Dawnlands
It is our charge to keep the Darkness at bay
By the Bounty of the Princess of Grain do we feed the hungry warriors
By the Brilliance of the Moon Goddess do we illuminate the shrouding dark
By the Children on the Queen of Monsters do we fight the devouring hordes
By the Love of the Wanting Mother do we balance the weave of magic
The balancing power of the four watch over the elven nation and protect its people from harm
The Dawnlands in return promise to ever hold the hordes of Jector in the Dark.
May the Eye of Ishtari make real the will of the prism crowned
When the jeweled Light’s shine is needed most.”
Time now is 8:40.
Good job!
Explore XP: 15 per person. 2 areas – 30 xp.
Treasure xp: 6 books @ 25 per: 150 divided
Bonus xp: Secret room, medusa, priestess, hammer, clues: 500 divided.
Lyra add 158 xp
Everyone else add: 148 xp
Ok, who is taking potions? Box they were in as well? Leaving it or taking it? Medusa head in the bag? What the plan?
Crate that had the Eye of Ishatari – you have the paper from the crate. Passage goes south from here. Spell has 15 more minutes left, Wyn. There is a goddess missing in the statue room, but a book is there. What next?
No comments:
Post a Comment