CanadienneBacon
Explorer
Brue couldn't catch her breath. She drank a potion.
[roll0]
[roll0]
[D&D 5E] Securing the Alliance: An Adventure in Tethyr (IC)
Olrox17
Hero
Corilo's eyes lit up at the sight of such rich loot "Holy...guys, you need to see this. Gems, a chest, and I don't know much about magic, but that blade surely looks special to me!". He stopped speaking and started thinking. In his time as a mercenary, Corilo had learned a thing or two about lockpicking. "I...might be able to pick those locks, but what if there's a curse on the treasure, or something? I don't trust a place filled of dead people walking around".
Forged Fury
First Post
<<Game Over>> Stand by for a series of narrative posts describing the rest of the adventure.
Forged Fury
First Post
Clearing the Lounge & Tower
Boddynock walked over to the cases Corilo had indicated. "Interesting..." the gnome replied, gesturing with his fingers. "There looks to be the sense of once powerful wards, but they are no longer in place. The blade is most definitely magical. Given the residents we just evicted, I'm not sure if the original owner is still in control of this place."
Eyeing the blade, Lorenzo replied, "I could certainly use it, at least to help clearing the rest of this manor. We can try to return it once we're finished here."
Nodding, Corilo pulled out his lockpicks and quickly opened the case containing the weapon. The cleric, standing behind him, reached in and pulled out the rapier, marveling at the craftsmanship. The odd script running up the blade, however, was foreign to him. Brue, on the other hand, could read it. "It's elvish... Bloodthirst." The genasi cleric of Ilmater frowned and made a warding sign. Lorenzo didn't seem bothered and replaced his blade with the new one. "Should we be moving on, then?" Gnorth piped up, "It is good sword wants blood, no?"
Corilo approached the door to the next room and listened carefully, trying to determine if there were any more opponents waiting to ambush them. After a few seconds of silence, he shook his head. "Sounds quiet in there..." Checking the door, the scout quickly determined the door was unlocked and appeared to not be trapped. Turning the handle, he pushed the door open. As the features of the room came into light, he saw a diverse collection of adventuring memorabilia on display. Stone tablets, rare plants preserved in jars, the pelts and skulls of magnificent beasts, and curious baubles from foreign lands decorate the walls. Boddynock, still concentrating on his spell of detection, announced, "There is an aura of abjuration... the thread of magic tastes of the corruption of the bone naga. Probably a warning spell. Nothing else in the room is magical."
Gnorth walked around the room, examining the miscellany on the walls. "Very conspiring! Whoever erected this must have been quite the explorer." Boddynock frowned, "I really don't remember my parents mentioning Haedirn being an adventurer, but apparently he was based on what's in this room and the previous one."
Brue, typically impatient, said, "The staff doesn't appear to be here. Let's keep moving." Before Corilo had the opportunity to check the door, she pushed her way through the door. Collectively shrugging, the rest of the group follows along.
The door opened into a short hallway. To the left, the hallway ended in a dead-end. Directly across from the doorway was another door, albeit closed. The hallway extended further to the right. "I don't like leaving doors at my back," Lorenzo opined. Before Brue could barge through another door, Corilo slipped past the genasi and checked the door carefully. "Not trapped, although I'd be surprised if the door's are trapped. Someone used to live here. That would be a little dangerous..."
Opening the door revealed the base of the tower. In the center of the large circular room was a staircase that spiraled up through the ceiling. Along the walls were crates and barrels with various labels. Inspecting them, the barrels appeared to contain food and a variety of different drink, including barrels of mead and wine. Cracking open one of the crates, Gnorth announced, "Food not spoiled, good parenting!"
Lorenzo replied, "That's a bit strange. The undead don't need to eat. I guess the food could have been for the ogres, but why keep it in here, rather than their cave. Not to mention their diet seemed to consist of food that looked a lot more like us. Maybe we'll find out a bit more as we move upstairs."
Climbing higher, the party spied columns of small crates filling the sides of the second floor of the tower.
Each had an elvish glyph painted on their side, and appeared to be meticulously organized. As Brue read aloud each glyph, Boddynock quickly determined the nature of the room. "Alchemy supplies! Worth a modest sum on the open market." Lorenzo pulled open a drawer and sniffed, pulling away from the pungent scent. "Yeah, let's hold off on that until we figure out what's going on here."
Staring at the floor, Corilo mused, "The dust is pretty thick here. No footprints or anything. I bet whatever lairs in the building doesn't come up here. We'd probably be safe if we needed to take a rest."
Arms crossed, Brue responded, "Good to know, let's keep moving."
Climbing higher, this floor of the tower was mostly open, with a lush carpet and scattered feather pillows. Clusters of paper with hand written notes lay in neat piles of one section of the room. Along the wall was a ledge, displaying bottles of spell components - eyeballs, bits of metal, insect legs, fine powder, and other things.
As the light filled the room, Corilo cursed. The sound was followed by a hiss from the ledge and two sharp twangs the rest of the party recognized as the scout's hand crossbow. "Look!" he exclaimed. An odd creature was hiding behind vials of spell components. While now transfixed by two hand crossbow bolts, the party could still make out that the foul think was vaguely reptilian, winged, and no larger than a cat. Within its left eye, a distinct glimmer of a vibrant, purple rune could be seen upon its pupil. As it sagged down, still held up by the pinnning bolts, the creature dissolved into a puddle of goo, the rune winking out of existence. "Sorry," Corilo said, "reflexes..."
"Humonkeylus!" Gnorth yelled as he recognized the creature. "It's a wizard pet. Was! Was a wizard's pet. Good job, Coralo."
"That could very well have been a homunculus," Boddynock replied as he flipped through the notes. While he couldn't read the elvish script, he recognized the diagrams as spell prototypes. "This room must have been a magical study. It makes sense, they're usually removed from a main structure in case of... accidents." He frowned as he flipped through the notes, but held his peace. "Let's keep moving..."
Climbing to the next floor, it was quickly obvious that this was the final level of the tower. Reaching the top, the party first noted that the roof overhead was slotted, allowing a view of the open sky. One side of the room was dominated by an enormous looking glass - its cylindrical scope extended past the opening in the roof and pointed toward the dark heavens.
Boddynock moved over to the device and looked through the eyepiece. "Doing research on the tear's of Selune, it looks like." The tower was totally quiet. "Looks like a dead-end," Brue said. Corilo searched the rooftop, just to make sure, but found nothing. Agreeing that nothing further appeared to be gained here, the party descended back into the manor.
Boddynock walked over to the cases Corilo had indicated. "Interesting..." the gnome replied, gesturing with his fingers. "There looks to be the sense of once powerful wards, but they are no longer in place. The blade is most definitely magical. Given the residents we just evicted, I'm not sure if the original owner is still in control of this place."
Eyeing the blade, Lorenzo replied, "I could certainly use it, at least to help clearing the rest of this manor. We can try to return it once we're finished here."
Nodding, Corilo pulled out his lockpicks and quickly opened the case containing the weapon. The cleric, standing behind him, reached in and pulled out the rapier, marveling at the craftsmanship. The odd script running up the blade, however, was foreign to him. Brue, on the other hand, could read it. "It's elvish... Bloodthirst." The genasi cleric of Ilmater frowned and made a warding sign. Lorenzo didn't seem bothered and replaced his blade with the new one. "Should we be moving on, then?" Gnorth piped up, "It is good sword wants blood, no?"
Corilo approached the door to the next room and listened carefully, trying to determine if there were any more opponents waiting to ambush them. After a few seconds of silence, he shook his head. "Sounds quiet in there..." Checking the door, the scout quickly determined the door was unlocked and appeared to not be trapped. Turning the handle, he pushed the door open. As the features of the room came into light, he saw a diverse collection of adventuring memorabilia on display. Stone tablets, rare plants preserved in jars, the pelts and skulls of magnificent beasts, and curious baubles from foreign lands decorate the walls. Boddynock, still concentrating on his spell of detection, announced, "There is an aura of abjuration... the thread of magic tastes of the corruption of the bone naga. Probably a warning spell. Nothing else in the room is magical."
Gnorth walked around the room, examining the miscellany on the walls. "Very conspiring! Whoever erected this must have been quite the explorer." Boddynock frowned, "I really don't remember my parents mentioning Haedirn being an adventurer, but apparently he was based on what's in this room and the previous one."
Brue, typically impatient, said, "The staff doesn't appear to be here. Let's keep moving." Before Corilo had the opportunity to check the door, she pushed her way through the door. Collectively shrugging, the rest of the group follows along.
The door opened into a short hallway. To the left, the hallway ended in a dead-end. Directly across from the doorway was another door, albeit closed. The hallway extended further to the right. "I don't like leaving doors at my back," Lorenzo opined. Before Brue could barge through another door, Corilo slipped past the genasi and checked the door carefully. "Not trapped, although I'd be surprised if the door's are trapped. Someone used to live here. That would be a little dangerous..."
Opening the door revealed the base of the tower. In the center of the large circular room was a staircase that spiraled up through the ceiling. Along the walls were crates and barrels with various labels. Inspecting them, the barrels appeared to contain food and a variety of different drink, including barrels of mead and wine. Cracking open one of the crates, Gnorth announced, "Food not spoiled, good parenting!"
Lorenzo replied, "That's a bit strange. The undead don't need to eat. I guess the food could have been for the ogres, but why keep it in here, rather than their cave. Not to mention their diet seemed to consist of food that looked a lot more like us. Maybe we'll find out a bit more as we move upstairs."
Climbing higher, the party spied columns of small crates filling the sides of the second floor of the tower.
Each had an elvish glyph painted on their side, and appeared to be meticulously organized. As Brue read aloud each glyph, Boddynock quickly determined the nature of the room. "Alchemy supplies! Worth a modest sum on the open market." Lorenzo pulled open a drawer and sniffed, pulling away from the pungent scent. "Yeah, let's hold off on that until we figure out what's going on here."
Staring at the floor, Corilo mused, "The dust is pretty thick here. No footprints or anything. I bet whatever lairs in the building doesn't come up here. We'd probably be safe if we needed to take a rest."
Arms crossed, Brue responded, "Good to know, let's keep moving."
Climbing higher, this floor of the tower was mostly open, with a lush carpet and scattered feather pillows. Clusters of paper with hand written notes lay in neat piles of one section of the room. Along the wall was a ledge, displaying bottles of spell components - eyeballs, bits of metal, insect legs, fine powder, and other things.
As the light filled the room, Corilo cursed. The sound was followed by a hiss from the ledge and two sharp twangs the rest of the party recognized as the scout's hand crossbow. "Look!" he exclaimed. An odd creature was hiding behind vials of spell components. While now transfixed by two hand crossbow bolts, the party could still make out that the foul think was vaguely reptilian, winged, and no larger than a cat. Within its left eye, a distinct glimmer of a vibrant, purple rune could be seen upon its pupil. As it sagged down, still held up by the pinnning bolts, the creature dissolved into a puddle of goo, the rune winking out of existence. "Sorry," Corilo said, "reflexes..."
"Humonkeylus!" Gnorth yelled as he recognized the creature. "It's a wizard pet. Was! Was a wizard's pet. Good job, Coralo."
"That could very well have been a homunculus," Boddynock replied as he flipped through the notes. While he couldn't read the elvish script, he recognized the diagrams as spell prototypes. "This room must have been a magical study. It makes sense, they're usually removed from a main structure in case of... accidents." He frowned as he flipped through the notes, but held his peace. "Let's keep moving..."
Climbing to the next floor, it was quickly obvious that this was the final level of the tower. Reaching the top, the party first noted that the roof overhead was slotted, allowing a view of the open sky. One side of the room was dominated by an enormous looking glass - its cylindrical scope extended past the opening in the roof and pointed toward the dark heavens.
Boddynock moved over to the device and looked through the eyepiece. "Doing research on the tear's of Selune, it looks like." The tower was totally quiet. "Looks like a dead-end," Brue said. Corilo searched the rooftop, just to make sure, but found nothing. Agreeing that nothing further appeared to be gained here, the party descended back into the manor.
Forged Fury
First Post
The Warded Door, the Laboratory, the Study, and the Armory
Corilo led the party back down through the tower, hand crossbow at the ready. Reaching the door leading back into the manor, he paused and peered around the corner to the left, into the southern hallway. After a short distance, the hallway ended in a T-intersection with a door on the southern blocking wall. Moving forward, the crossbowman paused at the intersection and checked both ways. The new hallway was wider. To the left, a smaller hallway branched a short way from the T-intersection and another door was present along the southern wall somewhat further. Looking to the right, Corilo frowned. Whispering to the rest of the party behind him, he said, "There's a set of stairs leading down to the west. On top of that, there's a hallway leading south just before it. A smeared trail of blood connects the two."
"Might as well check it out," Lorenzo suggested and the party moved out.
The stairway ended at the foot of a small hallway. The smear of blood continued down the hallway until it reached a large, heavy, circular wooden door with two arcane glyphs glowing with magical power. Given how close the smear got to the door, it seemed likely it continued inside to whatever was behind that door.
Approaching cautiously, Boddynock spoke softly, "Let me see what I can see..." Using his still-extant spell, he examined the door with his arcane sight. "Strong abjuration. The door appears to be locked by these glyphs. But look," he said, pointing to a burned scar in the wood, "this looks like the glyph that was in the eye of that homunculus that Corilo killed. It appears to have been dispelled by the creature's death. I would bet that two more of those glyphs exist somewhere in this manor. If we destroy them, we can get inside."
Brue frowned, "Well, if the staff is in there, I guess we need to get in there as well."
Returning to the first floor of the manor, Gnorth said, "We should follow the blood, yes? Maybe there are still living people?" Silently nodding, Corilo followed the trail of blood south through the nearby hallway. The trail disappeared behind a door in the wall to the west.
Carefully inspecting it, the crossbowman nodded to Brue when he found no traps and determined that the door was unlocked. The genasi pushed the door open with her maul and stepped in the room, ready to do battle. The room had the makings of some kind of laboratory. Wooden desks were arranged against the walls bearing beakers and flasks of different colored liquids, elaborate crafting devices, and dozens of books thumbed open to marked pages, with notes scribbled upon them. A large shelf on the southern wall housed hundreds of bottles, each stoppered at the top and individually labeled. Other than that, it was empty of any opposition. The smeared blood trail itself continued through a door in the west wall.
As was his custom, Boddynock examined the notes and vials. "This seems to be the main alchemy laboratory. The room in the tower must have been for storage. Odd, I figure it would have been reversed. Alchemy is just as dangerous as spell research." Picking up a bottle resting on one of the desks, he read the label. Tossing it to Corilo the gnome said, "Here you go. Coat your bolts with that and they will be magically enhanced to overcome certain defenses. Might be useful..." The crossbowman nodded his thanks and proceeded to coat about a score of crossbow bolts, moving them to one of his extra quivers. By way of explanation, the crossbowman said, "I don't have too much trouble with the undead or ogres, I'll try to save these in case we run into tougher foes."
After a thorough search, the party came up empty handed in their hunt for another glyph. After having been assured that the next door was neither trapped nor locked, Brue pushed her way into the next room. The smell of decaying bodies made her stomach turn as she entered the room. Along the sides of the room were small bookshelves, comfortable looking chairs, and sitting tables with empty teacups and bare dishes.
The blood-smeared trail led to a heap of corpses piled in the middle of the room. The smear seemed to come out the other side of the pile and led to a door in the north wall. The corpses appeared to be mostly humans, male, some wearing light armor and others dressed like common folk. Undoubtedly, these were the unfortunate victims of the ogres’ raid on Port Kir. Inspecting the corpses, Lorenzo offered, "The armor looks like the Port Kir guardsmen. These must be the folk that were carried off by the ogres."
Boddynock added, "The ogres don't eat human flesh, so that makes a sort of sense. But why bring them in here at all?"
"There are no women." Brue stated. The rest of the party looked closely. Sure enough, of the dozen or so bodies on the ground, none of them were female. "None of the bodies in the cave were feline either." Gnorth added with a thoughtful look. After a second, the rest of the party grasped what he was trying to say. Frowning, Corilo added, "But we know for sure that the ogres grabbed at least one woman, the cook at the Triton's Tankard, and probably more. So where are they?"
Shrugging, Gnorth pointed to the blood smear leading to the door in the north wall. Opening it, the party uncovered what appeared to be a cloak room. The small, unlit room was roughly twenty feet from wall to wall. Along the sides of the room were hooks with traveling cloaks hanging from them. There were also an assortment of walking sticks, traveling bags, boots, and torches gathering dust and cobwebs. Another door was set against the north wall through which the blood smear continued. Pausing, Lorenzo said, "If I have my bearings right, I think this is the other entryway, the one the ogres had blocked off with those stones. I guess they dragged the bodies through here and piled them up in the other room, then took the female corpses downstairs?"
"We aren't going to be able to figure out that mystery, or get revenge for those dead people, until we find and destroy the last two glyphs," Brue said, anger written across her face. "Let's go..."
Returning through the laboratory and following the blood smear north into the hallway they had previously explored, Corilo offered, "The glyphs could be hidden in any of these rooms, we should probably check each one as we go." Approaching the first doorway they had spotted after searching the tower, the crossbowman checked out the door and gave a thumb's up. Brue shouldered her way into the room. Yet again, it appeared empty of threats.
The room must have once served as an armory. Weapons and armors of different ages and cultures lined its perimeter. An ancient elven shield was prominently on display, mounted in a showcase between two plate armor-bearing mannequins in the center of the room. Piping up, Boddynock announced, "There is magic emanating from the shield. Evocation, oddly enough." Before he could discern more, his spell finally collapsed, ending his arcane sight. "My spell has ended, but I was able to determine that the mannequins appear to be normal, or at least not magically enhanced."
Corilo moved forward to inspect the mannequins for traps while Brue inspected the weaponry. To her disappointment, the armor appeared to be largely ceremonial and wouldn't stand up to attack. It was, however, extremely well made and possibly ancient. Lorenzo's attention was on the shield in the middle of the room. "The mannequins don't seem to have any moving parts, so I don't think they're a trap," Corilo announced.
"That's good," Lorenzo replied, as he reached out to take hold of the shield, "I imagine this may provide a fair bit of protection." Corilo's eyes suddenly went wide as he finally noticed the faint sparks dancing around the edges of the shield. Reaching out, he grabbed Lorenzo's shoulder and yelled, "Wait!!!"
His warning was too late. As the cleric took hold of the shield, a massive bolt of lightning blasted out from the shield, catching Lorenzo full in the chest. The lightning arced through his armor and into Corilo's body. The main bolt carried through the cleric and ricocheted around the room, grounding itself through Brue's splint armor and boots. As one, the two humans and the genasi slumped to the ground amidst wisps of smoke and groans of pain.
At the doorway, Boddynock stood wide-eyed in shock. Gnorth having been outside the room guarding the hallway, walked up behind the gnome and asked, "Oh, did they decide to take rest?"
Corilo led the party back down through the tower, hand crossbow at the ready. Reaching the door leading back into the manor, he paused and peered around the corner to the left, into the southern hallway. After a short distance, the hallway ended in a T-intersection with a door on the southern blocking wall. Moving forward, the crossbowman paused at the intersection and checked both ways. The new hallway was wider. To the left, a smaller hallway branched a short way from the T-intersection and another door was present along the southern wall somewhat further. Looking to the right, Corilo frowned. Whispering to the rest of the party behind him, he said, "There's a set of stairs leading down to the west. On top of that, there's a hallway leading south just before it. A smeared trail of blood connects the two."
"Might as well check it out," Lorenzo suggested and the party moved out.
The stairway ended at the foot of a small hallway. The smear of blood continued down the hallway until it reached a large, heavy, circular wooden door with two arcane glyphs glowing with magical power. Given how close the smear got to the door, it seemed likely it continued inside to whatever was behind that door.
Approaching cautiously, Boddynock spoke softly, "Let me see what I can see..." Using his still-extant spell, he examined the door with his arcane sight. "Strong abjuration. The door appears to be locked by these glyphs. But look," he said, pointing to a burned scar in the wood, "this looks like the glyph that was in the eye of that homunculus that Corilo killed. It appears to have been dispelled by the creature's death. I would bet that two more of those glyphs exist somewhere in this manor. If we destroy them, we can get inside."
Brue frowned, "Well, if the staff is in there, I guess we need to get in there as well."
Returning to the first floor of the manor, Gnorth said, "We should follow the blood, yes? Maybe there are still living people?" Silently nodding, Corilo followed the trail of blood south through the nearby hallway. The trail disappeared behind a door in the wall to the west.
Carefully inspecting it, the crossbowman nodded to Brue when he found no traps and determined that the door was unlocked. The genasi pushed the door open with her maul and stepped in the room, ready to do battle. The room had the makings of some kind of laboratory. Wooden desks were arranged against the walls bearing beakers and flasks of different colored liquids, elaborate crafting devices, and dozens of books thumbed open to marked pages, with notes scribbled upon them. A large shelf on the southern wall housed hundreds of bottles, each stoppered at the top and individually labeled. Other than that, it was empty of any opposition. The smeared blood trail itself continued through a door in the west wall.
As was his custom, Boddynock examined the notes and vials. "This seems to be the main alchemy laboratory. The room in the tower must have been for storage. Odd, I figure it would have been reversed. Alchemy is just as dangerous as spell research." Picking up a bottle resting on one of the desks, he read the label. Tossing it to Corilo the gnome said, "Here you go. Coat your bolts with that and they will be magically enhanced to overcome certain defenses. Might be useful..." The crossbowman nodded his thanks and proceeded to coat about a score of crossbow bolts, moving them to one of his extra quivers. By way of explanation, the crossbowman said, "I don't have too much trouble with the undead or ogres, I'll try to save these in case we run into tougher foes."
After a thorough search, the party came up empty handed in their hunt for another glyph. After having been assured that the next door was neither trapped nor locked, Brue pushed her way into the next room. The smell of decaying bodies made her stomach turn as she entered the room. Along the sides of the room were small bookshelves, comfortable looking chairs, and sitting tables with empty teacups and bare dishes.
The blood-smeared trail led to a heap of corpses piled in the middle of the room. The smear seemed to come out the other side of the pile and led to a door in the north wall. The corpses appeared to be mostly humans, male, some wearing light armor and others dressed like common folk. Undoubtedly, these were the unfortunate victims of the ogres’ raid on Port Kir. Inspecting the corpses, Lorenzo offered, "The armor looks like the Port Kir guardsmen. These must be the folk that were carried off by the ogres."
Boddynock added, "The ogres don't eat human flesh, so that makes a sort of sense. But why bring them in here at all?"
"There are no women." Brue stated. The rest of the party looked closely. Sure enough, of the dozen or so bodies on the ground, none of them were female. "None of the bodies in the cave were feline either." Gnorth added with a thoughtful look. After a second, the rest of the party grasped what he was trying to say. Frowning, Corilo added, "But we know for sure that the ogres grabbed at least one woman, the cook at the Triton's Tankard, and probably more. So where are they?"
Shrugging, Gnorth pointed to the blood smear leading to the door in the north wall. Opening it, the party uncovered what appeared to be a cloak room. The small, unlit room was roughly twenty feet from wall to wall. Along the sides of the room were hooks with traveling cloaks hanging from them. There were also an assortment of walking sticks, traveling bags, boots, and torches gathering dust and cobwebs. Another door was set against the north wall through which the blood smear continued. Pausing, Lorenzo said, "If I have my bearings right, I think this is the other entryway, the one the ogres had blocked off with those stones. I guess they dragged the bodies through here and piled them up in the other room, then took the female corpses downstairs?"
"We aren't going to be able to figure out that mystery, or get revenge for those dead people, until we find and destroy the last two glyphs," Brue said, anger written across her face. "Let's go..."
Returning through the laboratory and following the blood smear north into the hallway they had previously explored, Corilo offered, "The glyphs could be hidden in any of these rooms, we should probably check each one as we go." Approaching the first doorway they had spotted after searching the tower, the crossbowman checked out the door and gave a thumb's up. Brue shouldered her way into the room. Yet again, it appeared empty of threats.
The room must have once served as an armory. Weapons and armors of different ages and cultures lined its perimeter. An ancient elven shield was prominently on display, mounted in a showcase between two plate armor-bearing mannequins in the center of the room. Piping up, Boddynock announced, "There is magic emanating from the shield. Evocation, oddly enough." Before he could discern more, his spell finally collapsed, ending his arcane sight. "My spell has ended, but I was able to determine that the mannequins appear to be normal, or at least not magically enhanced."
Corilo moved forward to inspect the mannequins for traps while Brue inspected the weaponry. To her disappointment, the armor appeared to be largely ceremonial and wouldn't stand up to attack. It was, however, extremely well made and possibly ancient. Lorenzo's attention was on the shield in the middle of the room. "The mannequins don't seem to have any moving parts, so I don't think they're a trap," Corilo announced.
"That's good," Lorenzo replied, as he reached out to take hold of the shield, "I imagine this may provide a fair bit of protection." Corilo's eyes suddenly went wide as he finally noticed the faint sparks dancing around the edges of the shield. Reaching out, he grabbed Lorenzo's shoulder and yelled, "Wait!!!"
His warning was too late. As the cleric took hold of the shield, a massive bolt of lightning blasted out from the shield, catching Lorenzo full in the chest. The lightning arced through his armor and into Corilo's body. The main bolt carried through the cleric and ricocheted around the room, grounding itself through Brue's splint armor and boots. As one, the two humans and the genasi slumped to the ground amidst wisps of smoke and groans of pain.
At the doorway, Boddynock stood wide-eyed in shock. Gnorth having been outside the room guarding the hallway, walked up behind the gnome and asked, "Oh, did they decide to take rest?"
Forged Fury
First Post
The Drawing Room, the Feast Hall, and the Library
"Ouch," Lorenzo muttered, rising to a sitting position. "Is everyone okay?"
Sitting up next to him, Corilo responded, "A bit tingly, but I think I'll live." He winced as he squeezed his loading hand, a charred mark burned into his palm where the lighting conducted through the cleric's armor into his hand.
Brue cursed mildly as she rolled over and climbed to her feet. "Ilmater's Wail, what was that?" she asked, grinding her teeth.
"That," Boddynock offered, cautiously moving into the room, "was the evocation magic I detected earlier. I don't think the shield itself was magical, just the trap surrounding it." The gnome looked slightly sheepish, but not all that apologetic.
Entering behind him, Gnorth frowned, "You guys find all the cool things. I'm pretty sure that shield is a mystique from one of the old Wealdath wars. Pretty cool! Are we ready to go?"
Frowning, Lorenzo stretched his shoulders and craned his neck until it made a cracking noise. "Perhaps we should rest a bit? But learn from my mistake, be careful what you touch..."
After taking a break to gather themselves, the party formed back up into their usual ranks and headed to the room just east of their present position. The door to the room stood slightly ajar. Pushing her way in, Brue paused to inspect the chamber. The room appeared to be a small sitting room, comfortably furnished but clearly neglected for some time. A closed door stood in the center of the south wall. The rest of the party entered behind her and fanned out, being careful not to touch anything.
After a short inspection, it appeared that the room had no secrets to reveal. Corilo commented, "Hmm... that's interesting. Look at the mantle over here, there are a few empty spaces without dust. Looks like someone must have taken a few things off the mantle not too long ago."
"A lootie?" Gnorth asked.
"Looter, you mean?" Lorenzo responded.
"Yeah, isn't that was I said?" Gnorth replied. "Someone was crazy enough to sneak in here with the zombies and ogres and skeleton snakes?"
"Well, they aren't here now, let's keep moving." Brue responded a bit impatiently. The lightning bolt did not seem to have improved her mood. The party gathered behind her as they exited the room through the south door.
Exiting the room, the party found themselves in a large east-west hallway, similar to the one to the north beyond the drawing room and armory. A pair of double doors stood close-by to the east. To the west, the hallway extended with regular openings in the southern wall. From the party's current position, they could make out several tables and chairs.
"I don't like the open space," Brue whispered, "too many avenues for attack. We should clear the west first."
Agreeing, the party moved into the nearest opening in the south wall, their magic light illuminating the area. Curiosity turned to dread when the light illuminated a horde of undead: four skeletons, three zombies, and no less than the zombified remains of two ogres! At the touch of light, the horde turned to face the party and started to shamble forward.
"Lorenzo! to me, form a line!" Brue yelled as she situated herself next to a table, hoping to keep the mindless undead at bay. With utter precision, Corilo fired two bolts cleanly into one of the zombie's heads, surprisingly dropping the creature. It did not stand back up.
Lorenzo moved into position on the opposite side from Brue raising his shield and calling on the grace of Tymora. "Luckless abominations, flee from the wrath of my Lady!" The cleric was pleased to see one of the ogre zombies, two of the skeletons, and one of the remaining zombies quail in terror before the icon. Gnorth grasped his hammer in two hands. Remembering the lesson learned in the previous battle, he dashed past the line and targeted one of the skeletons, bringing the creature to clattering ruin in one fell strike.
The remaining skeleton, armed with a shortbow, took aim and fired at Boddynock. The gnome was struck cleanly in the shoulder, grunting in pain. Fighting through it, the diminutive sorcerer conjured a bright red orb and tossed it at the still-threatening ogre zombie. The orb flew true and blasted into the creature's chest, catching the rags it wore on fire, providing the room with flickering illumination. The flaming ogre zombie lumbered forward and battered at Lorenzo, striking the cleric solidly across the chest and driving him to his knees.
The remaining threatening zombie squared up to Brue and pounded against her armor, bruising her badly. In retaliation, the genasi smashed the zombie with her maul, crushing the creature's chest. A living opponent would have been felled, but the zombie still stood.
Corilo continued raining bolts on the creatures they were fighting, careful not to use the coated bolts yet. Figuring the ogre zombie was the bigger threat, the crossbowman fired on it, feathering its torso. The lumbering creature paid the bolts no heed. In the flickering light, he caught sight of something at the back of the room that wasn't a cowering undead: the faint light of a growing purple glyph. Immediately in front of him, the Tymoran cleric had his hands full dodging the smashing limbs of the undead ogre. Sliding to his right, Lorenzo rose and brought Bloodthirst up in a wicked stab, piercing the ogre cleanly. While he knew he had hurt it, the weapon didn't seem any more effective than his other weapon.
Gnorth targeted the skeleton bowman, his hammer reducing the creature to a skeletal afterthought. "Rest in pieces!" he crowed. Behind him, the gnome sorcerer conjured a bubble of acid and launched it at the lumbering zombie. The acid burned into its decaying skin which bubbled and sloughed off onto the ground. Boddynock grinned fiercely.
Following up her earlier attack, Brue again smashed at the zombie before her. This time she crushed the creature's head, ending its unnatural existence. With nothing currently facing her, she moved up to flank the ogre zombie, providing her support to Lorenzo. The hulking zombie, still focused on the cleric and his holy symbol, attempted to crush the him. With nimble grace, Lorenzo slipped out of the way of the attack.
Seeing that the ogre zombie was well in hand, Corilo slipped past that melee, seeking the source of the glyph. Sure enough, he spotted another homunculus, now flying at full speed toward one of the openings to the hallway. Firing three shots in rapid succession, the crossbowman missed the first shot, but took the creature on the wing with the last two shots. Once again, the creature dissolved into a puddle of goo, the glyph in its eye fading from existence.
Back at the main melee, the remaining combatants all took swings at the ogre zombie. Gnorth bashed it with his hammer, but Lorenzo's blade was turned aside by a meaty backswing of the zombie's hamhock arm. Boddynock launched a bolt of flame at the creature, but missed badly. Given all the distractions, Brue waited for an opening before leveling a brutal swing at the creature. She was shocked when the ground exploded underneath the creature in time with her hit, strands of stone wrapping the creature tight and crushing the animating force from it. After a second, the strands receded into the ground and the ogre zombie's body collapsed for good. "That's a neat trick," Gnorth commented.
With the remaining undead huddled in the far corner of the room, the party took a second to recover themselves. Lorenzo suggested, "Let's take the remaining undead one at a time. Other than the ogre, I doubt they can withstand our combined efforts." Methodically, the party destroyed the remaining undead. The ogre zombie lasted a bit longer than the others, but fell after dealing one last solid hit to Lorenzo.
Pointing at the puddle, Corillo explained, "During the fight, I saw another one of those homunculus things with a glowing eye. I went ahead and killed it before it could get away." Inspecting the rest of the large room, the party quickly determined it was a feast hall, with several small tables flanking one long wide table with seating for about twenty. A single doorway stood in the western wall. Checking it out, Brue peeked inside. Shaking her head, she said, "Some kind of gallery, but I don't see the staff or another mage-pet in there. Maybe we should try the double doors at the other end of the hallway?"
Moving out from the western end of the feast hall, the party paused to check the western extent of the hallway. Oddly, it ended in a dead-end after a few dozen feet with the wall being entirely taken up by a large oil painting of a beautiful blonde elf woman wearing a ruby and turquoise necklace. "Who's that, I wonder?" Lorenzo asked, looking to the gnome. "I think her name is Lyonthel," Boddynock replied. "I never met her, but Haedirn always told my parents how she was doing. I believe they were betrothed."
With nothing of further interest in the hallway, the party returned to the double doors at the eastern end of the hall. Checking them over, Corilo nodded his head, giving the okay. Brue pushed her way into the chamber, revealing a library. The walls were lined floor to ceiling with decadent bookshelves, each filled with volume upon volume of leather-bound tomes. An extravagant desk was centered between two masterfully carved marble statues at the far end of the room. Strewn throughout the floor were many piles of books, each opened and stacked on top of each other.
Boddynock's eyes lit up at the sight of the books. Entering the room, he headed south toward the desk. Gnorth looking in the northern corner of the room, was the first to spot the homunculous. "This homonkeylous is mine, Corilo, I call bibs!" Dashing with his hammer held high, the half-orc cornered the hissing creature and splattered it against the wall, the glyph in its eye fading as it died. "Good job, Gnorth," Corilo cheered.
"My hand... it's stuck?!?" As one, the rest of the party turned to see Boddynock desperately trying to pull his hand away from the desk. Before they could react, the form of the desk became fluid, melting into a massive, toothy maw with the desktop becoming a tongue-like appendage. The jaws rose above the gnome's head and snapped down. With a desperate squeal, Boddynock was bit in half, the bottom portion of his robes floated to the ground while his two thin legs tottered for a moment before falling in opposite directions. The creature licked its wicked maw and undulated forward on a pseudopod, an unsatisfied hunger in its eyes.
"Ouch," Lorenzo muttered, rising to a sitting position. "Is everyone okay?"
Sitting up next to him, Corilo responded, "A bit tingly, but I think I'll live." He winced as he squeezed his loading hand, a charred mark burned into his palm where the lighting conducted through the cleric's armor into his hand.
Brue cursed mildly as she rolled over and climbed to her feet. "Ilmater's Wail, what was that?" she asked, grinding her teeth.
"That," Boddynock offered, cautiously moving into the room, "was the evocation magic I detected earlier. I don't think the shield itself was magical, just the trap surrounding it." The gnome looked slightly sheepish, but not all that apologetic.
Entering behind him, Gnorth frowned, "You guys find all the cool things. I'm pretty sure that shield is a mystique from one of the old Wealdath wars. Pretty cool! Are we ready to go?"
Frowning, Lorenzo stretched his shoulders and craned his neck until it made a cracking noise. "Perhaps we should rest a bit? But learn from my mistake, be careful what you touch..."
After taking a break to gather themselves, the party formed back up into their usual ranks and headed to the room just east of their present position. The door to the room stood slightly ajar. Pushing her way in, Brue paused to inspect the chamber. The room appeared to be a small sitting room, comfortably furnished but clearly neglected for some time. A closed door stood in the center of the south wall. The rest of the party entered behind her and fanned out, being careful not to touch anything.
After a short inspection, it appeared that the room had no secrets to reveal. Corilo commented, "Hmm... that's interesting. Look at the mantle over here, there are a few empty spaces without dust. Looks like someone must have taken a few things off the mantle not too long ago."
"A lootie?" Gnorth asked.
"Looter, you mean?" Lorenzo responded.
"Yeah, isn't that was I said?" Gnorth replied. "Someone was crazy enough to sneak in here with the zombies and ogres and skeleton snakes?"
"Well, they aren't here now, let's keep moving." Brue responded a bit impatiently. The lightning bolt did not seem to have improved her mood. The party gathered behind her as they exited the room through the south door.
Exiting the room, the party found themselves in a large east-west hallway, similar to the one to the north beyond the drawing room and armory. A pair of double doors stood close-by to the east. To the west, the hallway extended with regular openings in the southern wall. From the party's current position, they could make out several tables and chairs.
"I don't like the open space," Brue whispered, "too many avenues for attack. We should clear the west first."
Agreeing, the party moved into the nearest opening in the south wall, their magic light illuminating the area. Curiosity turned to dread when the light illuminated a horde of undead: four skeletons, three zombies, and no less than the zombified remains of two ogres! At the touch of light, the horde turned to face the party and started to shamble forward.
"Lorenzo! to me, form a line!" Brue yelled as she situated herself next to a table, hoping to keep the mindless undead at bay. With utter precision, Corilo fired two bolts cleanly into one of the zombie's heads, surprisingly dropping the creature. It did not stand back up.
Lorenzo moved into position on the opposite side from Brue raising his shield and calling on the grace of Tymora. "Luckless abominations, flee from the wrath of my Lady!" The cleric was pleased to see one of the ogre zombies, two of the skeletons, and one of the remaining zombies quail in terror before the icon. Gnorth grasped his hammer in two hands. Remembering the lesson learned in the previous battle, he dashed past the line and targeted one of the skeletons, bringing the creature to clattering ruin in one fell strike.
The remaining skeleton, armed with a shortbow, took aim and fired at Boddynock. The gnome was struck cleanly in the shoulder, grunting in pain. Fighting through it, the diminutive sorcerer conjured a bright red orb and tossed it at the still-threatening ogre zombie. The orb flew true and blasted into the creature's chest, catching the rags it wore on fire, providing the room with flickering illumination. The flaming ogre zombie lumbered forward and battered at Lorenzo, striking the cleric solidly across the chest and driving him to his knees.
The remaining threatening zombie squared up to Brue and pounded against her armor, bruising her badly. In retaliation, the genasi smashed the zombie with her maul, crushing the creature's chest. A living opponent would have been felled, but the zombie still stood.
Corilo continued raining bolts on the creatures they were fighting, careful not to use the coated bolts yet. Figuring the ogre zombie was the bigger threat, the crossbowman fired on it, feathering its torso. The lumbering creature paid the bolts no heed. In the flickering light, he caught sight of something at the back of the room that wasn't a cowering undead: the faint light of a growing purple glyph. Immediately in front of him, the Tymoran cleric had his hands full dodging the smashing limbs of the undead ogre. Sliding to his right, Lorenzo rose and brought Bloodthirst up in a wicked stab, piercing the ogre cleanly. While he knew he had hurt it, the weapon didn't seem any more effective than his other weapon.
Gnorth targeted the skeleton bowman, his hammer reducing the creature to a skeletal afterthought. "Rest in pieces!" he crowed. Behind him, the gnome sorcerer conjured a bubble of acid and launched it at the lumbering zombie. The acid burned into its decaying skin which bubbled and sloughed off onto the ground. Boddynock grinned fiercely.
Following up her earlier attack, Brue again smashed at the zombie before her. This time she crushed the creature's head, ending its unnatural existence. With nothing currently facing her, she moved up to flank the ogre zombie, providing her support to Lorenzo. The hulking zombie, still focused on the cleric and his holy symbol, attempted to crush the him. With nimble grace, Lorenzo slipped out of the way of the attack.
Seeing that the ogre zombie was well in hand, Corilo slipped past that melee, seeking the source of the glyph. Sure enough, he spotted another homunculus, now flying at full speed toward one of the openings to the hallway. Firing three shots in rapid succession, the crossbowman missed the first shot, but took the creature on the wing with the last two shots. Once again, the creature dissolved into a puddle of goo, the glyph in its eye fading from existence.
Back at the main melee, the remaining combatants all took swings at the ogre zombie. Gnorth bashed it with his hammer, but Lorenzo's blade was turned aside by a meaty backswing of the zombie's hamhock arm. Boddynock launched a bolt of flame at the creature, but missed badly. Given all the distractions, Brue waited for an opening before leveling a brutal swing at the creature. She was shocked when the ground exploded underneath the creature in time with her hit, strands of stone wrapping the creature tight and crushing the animating force from it. After a second, the strands receded into the ground and the ogre zombie's body collapsed for good. "That's a neat trick," Gnorth commented.
With the remaining undead huddled in the far corner of the room, the party took a second to recover themselves. Lorenzo suggested, "Let's take the remaining undead one at a time. Other than the ogre, I doubt they can withstand our combined efforts." Methodically, the party destroyed the remaining undead. The ogre zombie lasted a bit longer than the others, but fell after dealing one last solid hit to Lorenzo.
Pointing at the puddle, Corillo explained, "During the fight, I saw another one of those homunculus things with a glowing eye. I went ahead and killed it before it could get away." Inspecting the rest of the large room, the party quickly determined it was a feast hall, with several small tables flanking one long wide table with seating for about twenty. A single doorway stood in the western wall. Checking it out, Brue peeked inside. Shaking her head, she said, "Some kind of gallery, but I don't see the staff or another mage-pet in there. Maybe we should try the double doors at the other end of the hallway?"
Moving out from the western end of the feast hall, the party paused to check the western extent of the hallway. Oddly, it ended in a dead-end after a few dozen feet with the wall being entirely taken up by a large oil painting of a beautiful blonde elf woman wearing a ruby and turquoise necklace. "Who's that, I wonder?" Lorenzo asked, looking to the gnome. "I think her name is Lyonthel," Boddynock replied. "I never met her, but Haedirn always told my parents how she was doing. I believe they were betrothed."
With nothing of further interest in the hallway, the party returned to the double doors at the eastern end of the hall. Checking them over, Corilo nodded his head, giving the okay. Brue pushed her way into the chamber, revealing a library. The walls were lined floor to ceiling with decadent bookshelves, each filled with volume upon volume of leather-bound tomes. An extravagant desk was centered between two masterfully carved marble statues at the far end of the room. Strewn throughout the floor were many piles of books, each opened and stacked on top of each other.
Boddynock's eyes lit up at the sight of the books. Entering the room, he headed south toward the desk. Gnorth looking in the northern corner of the room, was the first to spot the homunculous. "This homonkeylous is mine, Corilo, I call bibs!" Dashing with his hammer held high, the half-orc cornered the hissing creature and splattered it against the wall, the glyph in its eye fading as it died. "Good job, Gnorth," Corilo cheered.
"My hand... it's stuck?!?" As one, the rest of the party turned to see Boddynock desperately trying to pull his hand away from the desk. Before they could react, the form of the desk became fluid, melting into a massive, toothy maw with the desktop becoming a tongue-like appendage. The jaws rose above the gnome's head and snapped down. With a desperate squeal, Boddynock was bit in half, the bottom portion of his robes floated to the ground while his two thin legs tottered for a moment before falling in opposite directions. The creature licked its wicked maw and undulated forward on a pseudopod, an unsatisfied hunger in its eyes.
Forged Fury
First Post
Avenging Boddynock & Unraveling the Mystery
Recovering from the shock of Boddynock's sudden demise, the party leaped into action. Corillo cursed the creature under his breath as he pierced its oddly malleable flesh with two bolts from his hand crossbow. Considering the fate of the gnome, he retreated back to the northern corner of the room to avoid the same fate.
Lorenzo called out, "The creature is a mimic. Once it has lost of the element of surprise, it is not so difficult to take down." The cleric had an interesting history with the creatures. Mimics, for some unknowable reason, had an instinctive need to spread their species across as great an area as possible. Their unparalleled ability to take on any shape made this immigration relatively simple. Once the Maztican sub-continent was discovered by the people of Faerun, the regularly trips across the ocean were too attractive for mimics to ignore. As such, Lorenzo was relatively familiar with the threat the creatures posed. Drawing Bloodthirst[/b], the cleric stabbed the creature deeply. Intriguingly, the blade took on a slightly pink hue as he drew it back from the creature's body.
Still in the northern end of the room, Gnorth stood in near shock over the gruesome death of the gnome. He had probably been closest to the diminutive little man and felt his loss keenly. With a frown and slit eyes, the half-orc drew his hammer and smashed into the thing, knocking it sideways. "For Boddynock! He will be revenged!"
The genasi leaped into action, swinging her already drawn maul at the creature's slavering fangs. Although she didn't like gnomes, especially those named Boddynock, she couldn't help but feel bad about the man's death, especially with gobbets of his flesh still hanging from the creature's teeth. With a desperate swing, she struck the mimic, but the creature's thick skin caused the attack to bounce off harmlessly.
The mimic extended a pseudopod from its side and smashed Lorenzo in the head. It's many eyes darted back and forth, apparently realizing that it may have bit off more than it could chew. Figuratively at least, the half-gnome meal it had just enjoyed rested comfortably inside its gullet.
The crossbowman took careful aim and shot out two of the mimic's eyes, forcing a keening cry from it. Corilo hastily reloaded his weapon. Both Lorenzo and Gnorth combined their attacks, one going high and the other low. The combined strikes were too much for the creature. The cleric's magical rapier apparently struck something vital deep inside the creature as it sagged against the blade, breathing out a death rattle. The creature's form became even more amorphous, flowing off the blade and puddling on the floor.
With the creature dead, the half-orc bard walked over to the gnome's legs, pushed them together, and covered them with the torn bottom half of Boddynock's robe. "Rest, my friend, everyone will hear of your tale." Turning to the group, a visible shaken Lorenzo said, "Let's finish this, Boddynock would have wanted it. We'll need to report back and let the Queen know she'll need to add another star to the wall." The rest of the group nodded, understanding the cleric was talking about the Queen's Wall of Honor, upon which were placed onyx stars for each Shadow Star lost while on a mission.
"Yes," Brue replied, "let's finish this. With the three mage-pets slain, that should correspond with the three glyphs that were on the door below." With a last look at the gnome's covered remains, the party exited the library and headed back to the stairwell.
The abjuration that was upon the door previously had vanished. The images of the glyphs were scarred into the wood of the door and three distinct piles of ash rested at the foot of it. The door hung open slightly, allowing light to pour forth from the gap it left within its frame. Approaching cautiously, Brue pushed the circular wooden door open.
The area was well lit by a glowing sphere hanging in mid air in the center of the room. For once, it was a time where you wished the lighting was a bit dimmer, given the gruesome sight. Nausea gripped the party as they took in the sights of this large sanctum. Scattered everywhere were humanoid body parts - arms, legs, fingers,
hands, torsos, heads even, laying about the floor, unfortunately reminding you of Boddynock's recent demise. Many were missing strips of flesh, or showed needlework stitching upon them. The room had an eldritch ritual circle emblazoned upon the floor and a large swath of blood stained across its center.
Standing at the far side of the room was an elf, dressed in a robe, laughing and staring up at something terrible beside him. A hulking monstrosity of stitched flesh, some six feet tall, stood rigidly there. Its face was vaguely elven, and female.
“My beautiful Lyonthel,” the elf said aloud, as he turned towards the party with madness evident in his eyes, “I thought I lost you. And just when I bring you back, these wretches come to take you away from me again. Show them! Show them, Lyonthel, the strength of our love. Show them the lengths I have gone through. Show them for me, my sweet.”
At Haedirn's urging, the monstrosity lurched forward.
Recovering from the shock of Boddynock's sudden demise, the party leaped into action. Corillo cursed the creature under his breath as he pierced its oddly malleable flesh with two bolts from his hand crossbow. Considering the fate of the gnome, he retreated back to the northern corner of the room to avoid the same fate.
Lorenzo called out, "The creature is a mimic. Once it has lost of the element of surprise, it is not so difficult to take down." The cleric had an interesting history with the creatures. Mimics, for some unknowable reason, had an instinctive need to spread their species across as great an area as possible. Their unparalleled ability to take on any shape made this immigration relatively simple. Once the Maztican sub-continent was discovered by the people of Faerun, the regularly trips across the ocean were too attractive for mimics to ignore. As such, Lorenzo was relatively familiar with the threat the creatures posed. Drawing Bloodthirst[/b], the cleric stabbed the creature deeply. Intriguingly, the blade took on a slightly pink hue as he drew it back from the creature's body.
Still in the northern end of the room, Gnorth stood in near shock over the gruesome death of the gnome. He had probably been closest to the diminutive little man and felt his loss keenly. With a frown and slit eyes, the half-orc drew his hammer and smashed into the thing, knocking it sideways. "For Boddynock! He will be revenged!"
The genasi leaped into action, swinging her already drawn maul at the creature's slavering fangs. Although she didn't like gnomes, especially those named Boddynock, she couldn't help but feel bad about the man's death, especially with gobbets of his flesh still hanging from the creature's teeth. With a desperate swing, she struck the mimic, but the creature's thick skin caused the attack to bounce off harmlessly.
The mimic extended a pseudopod from its side and smashed Lorenzo in the head. It's many eyes darted back and forth, apparently realizing that it may have bit off more than it could chew. Figuratively at least, the half-gnome meal it had just enjoyed rested comfortably inside its gullet.
The crossbowman took careful aim and shot out two of the mimic's eyes, forcing a keening cry from it. Corilo hastily reloaded his weapon. Both Lorenzo and Gnorth combined their attacks, one going high and the other low. The combined strikes were too much for the creature. The cleric's magical rapier apparently struck something vital deep inside the creature as it sagged against the blade, breathing out a death rattle. The creature's form became even more amorphous, flowing off the blade and puddling on the floor.
With the creature dead, the half-orc bard walked over to the gnome's legs, pushed them together, and covered them with the torn bottom half of Boddynock's robe. "Rest, my friend, everyone will hear of your tale." Turning to the group, a visible shaken Lorenzo said, "Let's finish this, Boddynock would have wanted it. We'll need to report back and let the Queen know she'll need to add another star to the wall." The rest of the group nodded, understanding the cleric was talking about the Queen's Wall of Honor, upon which were placed onyx stars for each Shadow Star lost while on a mission.
"Yes," Brue replied, "let's finish this. With the three mage-pets slain, that should correspond with the three glyphs that were on the door below." With a last look at the gnome's covered remains, the party exited the library and headed back to the stairwell.
The abjuration that was upon the door previously had vanished. The images of the glyphs were scarred into the wood of the door and three distinct piles of ash rested at the foot of it. The door hung open slightly, allowing light to pour forth from the gap it left within its frame. Approaching cautiously, Brue pushed the circular wooden door open.
The area was well lit by a glowing sphere hanging in mid air in the center of the room. For once, it was a time where you wished the lighting was a bit dimmer, given the gruesome sight. Nausea gripped the party as they took in the sights of this large sanctum. Scattered everywhere were humanoid body parts - arms, legs, fingers,
hands, torsos, heads even, laying about the floor, unfortunately reminding you of Boddynock's recent demise. Many were missing strips of flesh, or showed needlework stitching upon them. The room had an eldritch ritual circle emblazoned upon the floor and a large swath of blood stained across its center.
Standing at the far side of the room was an elf, dressed in a robe, laughing and staring up at something terrible beside him. A hulking monstrosity of stitched flesh, some six feet tall, stood rigidly there. Its face was vaguely elven, and female.
“My beautiful Lyonthel,” the elf said aloud, as he turned towards the party with madness evident in his eyes, “I thought I lost you. And just when I bring you back, these wretches come to take you away from me again. Show them! Show them, Lyonthel, the strength of our love. Show them the lengths I have gone through. Show them for me, my sweet.”
At Haedirn's urging, the monstrosity lurched forward.
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Forged Fury
First Post
Three Onyx Stars Set In Stone
As the monstrosity lurched forward, Haedirn darted to the edge of the chamber, cackling madly. "Yes, my precious! Destroy these insolent worms!" Leaping into action, Corilo swiftly calculated the greatest threat and fired two shots at the monstrosity. He cursed as the bolts struck, but appeared to do no damage. Glancing down at his quiver filled with special bolts, he reached down to reload the oil-coated ammunition. His preparation was interrupted by a scream from the elf wizard. "You will NOT touch her!" The crossbowman looked up just in time to see several magical bolts slam into his chest, blasting him back against the wall of the chamber.
Armed with his new weapon, Lorenzo interposed himself between the monstrosity and the rest of the party. Saluting the behemoth, the cleric stabbed the creature and struck a vicious wound. A guttural, but distinctly feminine voice, wailed in anguish. Gnorth waded into combat alongside Lorenzo, smashing at the creature. Unfortunately, his hammer simply rebounded from the creature's animated flesh. "That's not good..."
Brue joined the rest of her companions in engaging what was once Lyonthel, as well as several other women. Swiping with her hammer, she bashed in part of the creature's chest, the stitching ripping apart at the impact of the blow. In response, the creature smashed at the genasi with its arms. Deceptively lithe, Lyonthel's arms possessed inhuman strength and tore through the genasi's defenses, breaking several ribs. Brue gritted her teeth, but called on Ilmater to help her channel the pain.
Using his legs and the wall to push himself up to a standing position, Corilo fired two enchanted bolts at the creature. Flying true, the bolts pierced Lyonthel's hide. The monster swiped at the air, as if being swarmed by bees. Witnessing the damage Brue had just taken, Lorenzo channeled Tymora's grace and created an illusory duplicate of himself. Muttering under his breath, he channeled healing magic into the crossbowman.
Seeing his weapon had no effect, Gnorth withdrew, dodging a swipe from the monster, and charged the wizard, bashing him with his hammer. Haedirn cried in pain. "My Lyonthel, I'll protect you!" With hatred in his eyes, he pointed a finger at Lorenzo, spitting arcane words and conjuring a cloud of foul blackness. The blackness unerringly engulfed the real Lorenzo and, from within, the rest of the party heard a bloodcurdling shriek. The cleric's illusory double faded from view. The cloud quickly dissipated and all that was left was a desiccated corpse. Lorenzo's body fell to the ground, a cloud of dust puffing out from the dry husk.
Donkey Joté looked up from eating a tuft of grass along the coast. Something very wrong had happened and he knew his Master would not be coming back. Whining pitifully, he brayed at the moon and then returned to his meal.
"Fiend!" Brue cried, unable to disengage from Lyonthel. Swinging her hammer again with all her might, the genasi bashed the creature solidly. But still, the creature did not go down.
Realizing the true threat in the room, Corilo changed him aim to Haedirn. With precision, he fired two bolts, one hitting the wizard in the shoulder and the other grazing his knee, dropping him to the ground. Taking advantage of the wizard's inferior position, Gnorth gripped his hammer in both hands and with an orcish war cry, smashed the hammer down and crushed the wizard's skull. The monstrosity that was once Lyonthel made no indication that it even registered the death of her former mate.
Redoubling her efforts, Brue put all her energy into an overhand blow directed at the creature's head. Her aim off, she only struck a glancing blow to the creature's shoulder. More thread tore and the arm hung somewhat loosely, but was still in working order. A fact the creature proved when it leved a brutal backhand at the genasi. Corilo and Gnorth registered a very audible crack as the creature's palm connected with Brue's head. With her head twisted around backwards on her neck, the genasi's dead eyes stared blindly at Corilo as her body fell like a sack of bricks.
Their ranks decimated, the human and half-orc shared grim looks. They knew they couldn't retreat and let the thing loose on the world. Gnorth dropped his hammer and dashed toward the creature, sliding within its reach as he picked up Brue's maul from the ground. With a mighty swing, the half-orc smashed the weapon into the creature's knee, dropping it partly to the floor. Feeling a surge of power, his jaw dropped as he saw pillars of earth rise up and wrap around the creature, holding it in place.
With a determined look, Corilo calmly walked up to the once beautiful elf and fired two bolts into its eyes at point blank range, ending its threat forever. As the battle concluded, the chamber fell quiet, Gnorth's panting the only sound. The two remaining Shadow Stars approached the corpses of their former companions. Corilo gently twisted the genasi's head back around in the correct direction. Remembering their shared past, he whispered, "Thank you. I don't think I ever told you that..." Gnorth walked over to the husk that had been Lorenzo. He could think of nothing better to do than simply cover the remains, "Luck be with you in death."
Catching their breath, the two men inspected the room but did not find the staff. A door in the eastern wall, however, revealed a small bedchamber with a lit fireplace. Leaning against the wall stood a thin, tall staff. It appeared carved at first, but a close inspection revealed the wood had somehow been coaxed to grow into a variety of images along its length. "This must be the Heartwood of the Wealdath..." Corilo asserted. Nodding, Gnorth grabbed the staff, noticing a note tied to the length of wood. Pulling it off, he examined it.
Crumpling up the note, Gnorth tossed it into the fire and watched it burn to cinders. "Can't read Elvish," he shrugged.
FIN
As the monstrosity lurched forward, Haedirn darted to the edge of the chamber, cackling madly. "Yes, my precious! Destroy these insolent worms!" Leaping into action, Corilo swiftly calculated the greatest threat and fired two shots at the monstrosity. He cursed as the bolts struck, but appeared to do no damage. Glancing down at his quiver filled with special bolts, he reached down to reload the oil-coated ammunition. His preparation was interrupted by a scream from the elf wizard. "You will NOT touch her!" The crossbowman looked up just in time to see several magical bolts slam into his chest, blasting him back against the wall of the chamber.
Armed with his new weapon, Lorenzo interposed himself between the monstrosity and the rest of the party. Saluting the behemoth, the cleric stabbed the creature and struck a vicious wound. A guttural, but distinctly feminine voice, wailed in anguish. Gnorth waded into combat alongside Lorenzo, smashing at the creature. Unfortunately, his hammer simply rebounded from the creature's animated flesh. "That's not good..."
Brue joined the rest of her companions in engaging what was once Lyonthel, as well as several other women. Swiping with her hammer, she bashed in part of the creature's chest, the stitching ripping apart at the impact of the blow. In response, the creature smashed at the genasi with its arms. Deceptively lithe, Lyonthel's arms possessed inhuman strength and tore through the genasi's defenses, breaking several ribs. Brue gritted her teeth, but called on Ilmater to help her channel the pain.
Using his legs and the wall to push himself up to a standing position, Corilo fired two enchanted bolts at the creature. Flying true, the bolts pierced Lyonthel's hide. The monster swiped at the air, as if being swarmed by bees. Witnessing the damage Brue had just taken, Lorenzo channeled Tymora's grace and created an illusory duplicate of himself. Muttering under his breath, he channeled healing magic into the crossbowman.
Seeing his weapon had no effect, Gnorth withdrew, dodging a swipe from the monster, and charged the wizard, bashing him with his hammer. Haedirn cried in pain. "My Lyonthel, I'll protect you!" With hatred in his eyes, he pointed a finger at Lorenzo, spitting arcane words and conjuring a cloud of foul blackness. The blackness unerringly engulfed the real Lorenzo and, from within, the rest of the party heard a bloodcurdling shriek. The cleric's illusory double faded from view. The cloud quickly dissipated and all that was left was a desiccated corpse. Lorenzo's body fell to the ground, a cloud of dust puffing out from the dry husk.
Donkey Joté looked up from eating a tuft of grass along the coast. Something very wrong had happened and he knew his Master would not be coming back. Whining pitifully, he brayed at the moon and then returned to his meal.
"Fiend!" Brue cried, unable to disengage from Lyonthel. Swinging her hammer again with all her might, the genasi bashed the creature solidly. But still, the creature did not go down.
Realizing the true threat in the room, Corilo changed him aim to Haedirn. With precision, he fired two bolts, one hitting the wizard in the shoulder and the other grazing his knee, dropping him to the ground. Taking advantage of the wizard's inferior position, Gnorth gripped his hammer in both hands and with an orcish war cry, smashed the hammer down and crushed the wizard's skull. The monstrosity that was once Lyonthel made no indication that it even registered the death of her former mate.
Redoubling her efforts, Brue put all her energy into an overhand blow directed at the creature's head. Her aim off, she only struck a glancing blow to the creature's shoulder. More thread tore and the arm hung somewhat loosely, but was still in working order. A fact the creature proved when it leved a brutal backhand at the genasi. Corilo and Gnorth registered a very audible crack as the creature's palm connected with Brue's head. With her head twisted around backwards on her neck, the genasi's dead eyes stared blindly at Corilo as her body fell like a sack of bricks.
Their ranks decimated, the human and half-orc shared grim looks. They knew they couldn't retreat and let the thing loose on the world. Gnorth dropped his hammer and dashed toward the creature, sliding within its reach as he picked up Brue's maul from the ground. With a mighty swing, the half-orc smashed the weapon into the creature's knee, dropping it partly to the floor. Feeling a surge of power, his jaw dropped as he saw pillars of earth rise up and wrap around the creature, holding it in place.
With a determined look, Corilo calmly walked up to the once beautiful elf and fired two bolts into its eyes at point blank range, ending its threat forever. As the battle concluded, the chamber fell quiet, Gnorth's panting the only sound. The two remaining Shadow Stars approached the corpses of their former companions. Corilo gently twisted the genasi's head back around in the correct direction. Remembering their shared past, he whispered, "Thank you. I don't think I ever told you that..." Gnorth walked over to the husk that had been Lorenzo. He could think of nothing better to do than simply cover the remains, "Luck be with you in death."
Catching their breath, the two men inspected the room but did not find the staff. A door in the eastern wall, however, revealed a small bedchamber with a lit fireplace. Leaning against the wall stood a thin, tall staff. It appeared carved at first, but a close inspection revealed the wood had somehow been coaxed to grow into a variety of images along its length. "This must be the Heartwood of the Wealdath..." Corilo asserted. Nodding, Gnorth grabbed the staff, noticing a note tied to the length of wood. Pulling it off, he examined it.
Haedirn's Letter said:
Crumpling up the note, Gnorth tossed it into the fire and watched it burn to cinders. "Can't read Elvish," he shrugged.
FIN
