Arendel’s Serpent's Skull Journal. (Complete! 06/25/13, With Pictures!)
Session 58.
Kuthona the 7th (Cont.)
Max managed to open one of the sets of adamantine doors and we entered a short hallway. Waiting at the other end in a large chamber was a Serpent-Folk wizard and two snake-like metal constructs. I sent one of the constructs off to a random plane with my Prismatic Spray while the other resisted whatever effect it was struck by.
We rushed into the chamber to confront the Wizard, but he quickly Teleported out, leaving us to destroy his remaining construct.
We had a short debate about where to go, as there were multiple exits from the room. We chose a short set of stairs leading down. It led to a guardroom with two Serpent-Folk guards and their pet snakes. They were defeated and, deciding that this was not the direction we wanted to go, we returned to the central chamber and chose another exit.
This time we entered another large chamber filled with Serpent-Folk guards, their pet snakes and, not just the wizard that escaped us, but his mate as well. We quickly discovered they were both wizards. Ace was quickly knocked out and would have died had Taraz not saved him with a Breath of Life prayer. Max quickly shut the doors and we took a few moments to recover.
When Max cast the doors open once again, the two Serpent-Folk wizards cast Fire and Cold at us. Ace indicated he had had quite enough and ran off to summon some creatures to heal himself up. The rest of us entered the room to confront the hoard of enemies before us. Though we were able to defeat them, our resources had reached a point where we had to rest, especially if more foes like these await us.
We searched the room, which appeared to be a large, well-stocked library. We noted a large Teleportation Circle inscribed in center of the room and chose to leave it alone for now.
It appears the two Serpent-Folk wizards were packing up most of the important stuff, because in a number of magical containers we found a plethora of magical tomes, spellbooks and scrolls. Add to this, the trove of magical items they were wearing and this room has probably netted us the single largest treasure haul we have ever had. We just wonder, were they fleeing or moving?
In any case, we quickly packed it all up and made plans to Teleport out. We must find an allied priest for the next step in our plan…
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End of Sesssion 58.
More Beer? Listen, we're trying to focus here!
So, we're making our way slowly but surely through the Temple to stop.. some Cleric (whose name escapes me)... from returning Ydersius to life. We are going to take a quick break first though. It should be very quick thanks to a suggestion from Max's player.
Next game, Tomorrow! So hopefully you'll see an update soon!
Session 59.
Kuthona the 7th (Cont.)
We Teleported back to Kalabuto and found a friendly Cleric to cast Nap Stack on our little group. Once we were rested and a few errands were knocked out, we were back at the Temple within three to four hours.
Our first order of business was to find out where the Teleportation Circle went. Ace was able to activate it and we found ourselves in a tomb with a single stone sarcophagus. Within was a single Serpent-Folk corpse, obviously once a high ranking priest in the Temple of Ydersius.
Finding nothing else of interest, we activated the circle once again to return. We tried another set of double doors and found ourselves in a war room, filled with maps and plans. We found a map of the Temple showing a set of stairs descending in the north east corner. We gathered together and I Dimension Doored us all to the chamber at the top of the stairs.
Within that chamber was a large floating serpent head with many writhing snakes hanging down where its body should have been. It was accompanied by two Iron Golems. The mere sight of the serpent creature set our minds reeling, confusing two of our group. K’Azbu and Kay’Es both succumbed to the mind numbing effect. Kay’Es, in his confusion, attacked me before I was able to turn myself invisible and get away. Once the floating serpent head was destroyed, the effect went away.
We believe this creature was the remains of the Herald of Ydersius. As Ydersius met his fate at the hands of Savith, so too did his Herald suffer.
Descending the stairs, we were confronted by another hoard of Serpent-Folk guards and their pet snakes being led by a heavily armed and armored Troglodyte. We had wondered if Max was particularly sensitive to the stench of these creatures, but he seemed to tolerate this creature’s quite well. Well enough to get close and kill it in any event.
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Dang those are some smooth maps! Paper minis are of good quality and help root the campaign's baddies in a unique way- I highly recommend them for any campaign, especially if your 3D mini collection is sparse.
Vyr-Azul is the high priest bent to bringing Ydersius back to Golarion. Vyr-Azul, hyphen and uncomon vowels, the curse of adventurers across Golarion! - DM Soanso
Vyr-Azul is the high priest bent to bringing Ydersius back to Golarion. Vyr-Azul, hyphen and uncomon vowels, the curse of adventurers across Golarion! - DM Soanso
End of Session 59
Armed with our new magic items (lots o' good stuff was pilfered from the Serpent-Folk Wizards in session 58) and refreshed from our Nap Stack we reentered the Temple for what we hope is our last push toward the Grand Finale.
Having confronted a significant guardian (The Herald of Ydersius) I'm pretty sure we're on the right track.
MundinIronHand thought it was pretty funny that Kay'Es's best attacks (a Crit and an Unconfirmed Threat) were made against Arendel thanks to the Madness (Confusion effect). Pretty much every other roll he made that night would have missed. Luckily I had Stoneskin up and he failed to confirm one of his two threats, or he probably would have dropped me.
No game tonight, next session (I think) will be next week with a make up game the following week.
Session 60.
Kuthona the 7th (Cont.)
We exited the main corridor through another set of adamantine doors and beheld a strange sight, a great hall with columns on either side. Each wall was lined with statues of Serpent-Folk, probably the high priests of the temple. Down the middle was a curving, emerald green pathway set about five feet below the level of the rest of the floor, as if a great serpent had slithered down the center and compressed the stones of the floor.
Using Detect Magic, I noted that each of the columns had a Sepia Snake Sigil inscribed at the bottom and Ka’Azbu told everyone to avert their eyes since reading the runes could set off the sigils. The Double doors at the far end were sealed in some way, possibly by rubble on the opposite side. Off the great hall were a number of egg shaped rooms, probably quarters for the priests, but the entire area had seen little, if any, use in recent years. We returned to the main corridor and turned a corner to find a hall writhing with venomous snakes.
Ace cast Incendiary Cloud to clear the way. As it burned away the snakes, a Marilith put in an appearance and cast Blade Barrier in an attempt to slow our advance. Max determined that she was an Illusion, which I quickly dispelled. We then began hunting for our hidden opponent. We didn’t have long to wait. Just as Max ran forward (through Ace’s Incendiary Cloud) and discovered all the snakes were illusions as well, she appeared once again in almost the same location as her dispelled image. While she was able to resist an attempt by both Ace and me to Banish her, she was unable to resist the arrows and blades of the rest of our group.
Through doors at the end of the Marilith’s guarded hall, we entered an area with yet another guardian. A huge undead serpent, a Hollow Snake, slithered in a hall filled with the shed skins of massive snakes. I was able to disintegrate it just as it was about to snatch Max up into its life draining coils.
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End of Session 60.
Too bad the picture of the Marilith came out a little blurred, but that was the photo of her illusion. I guess didgital cameras are so adveanced they can even detect illusions.
A lot of combat makes for short entries... That will probably be how it goes for the last two entries. Yes, there are only two sessions left to post in this campaign (and we have already played one of them, which will be posted soon), though there may be an after action journal, so maybe three.
We're pulling together our stuff for Rise of the Runelords and may even get to a little character interaction stuff if there is time leftover in the final session of Serpent's Skull. GM Soanso says his Bard will pick up the Journal for the next game and I'll try to insert a GM perspective from time to time.
Session 61.
Kuthona the 7th (Cont.)
Continuing the theme of guarded halls we encountered a number of Serpent-Folk guards and their “guard snakes”. This time they were led by a high ranking warrior wielding a Dire Flail. He swore that we would not be allowed to pass. Once they were all defeated we moved on.
The next chamber appeared to be our goal. The High priest stood upon a raised dais chanting over a huge petrified serpent skull. He was obviously anticipating our arrival, as three summoned tyrannosaurs advanced upon us. A huge albino snake guarded the clerics flank. We also noted a massive acid scarred chasm that lead to gods knows where.
While Ace worked on Dismissing the tyrannosaurs, they rest of us moved in to engage the cleric. The high priest flew away from us as his pet snake moved in. I quickly cast Fly upon Max to allow him to give chase and then incinerated the snake with a Meteor Swarm just as it tried to swallow Taraz.
Isolated from the rest of the party, Max was taking quite a beating, so I quickly Teleported Taraz and myself closer to him so that he could be healed. Both Max and Kay’Es reported strange scraping and distant thunderous sounds from the pit. This did not bode well. Feeling we needed a little time to get ready for what was to come, I cast Maze upon the priest. While Ace Summoned a few tyrannosaurs of his own, we healed and buffed.
As the seconds ticked by, we heard the scraping sound from the chasm getting louder. Then, a huge skull headed Serpent-Folk crawled out of the chasm. An Avatar of Ydersius had joined the fray.
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