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JollyDoc's Curse of the Crimson Throne: Updated 1/29/10
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<blockquote data-quote="JollyDoc" data-source="post: 4934471" data-attributes="member: 9546"><p>TOMB OF HORRORS</p><p></p><p>“Ha!” O’Reginald barked at his companions as they stood panting in the courtyard, having narrowly escaped the clutches of Mithrodar and his spectral minions. “I told you! I warned you!”</p><p>“Alright, you’ve quite made your point!” Kat snapped angrily. “We made a choice, and it was a mistake, but we’re all still here, so let’s move on!”</p><p>“Just wanted to say I told you so,” the wizard grumbled under his breath. </p><p></p><p>There seemed no other alternative but to return to the donjon’s sealed doors. </p><p>“So how do you propose to circumvent this dilemma?” Sial asked sarcastically as the group stood before the portals. In response, O’Reginald pointed one finger at the doors, spoke a word, and sent a thin green beam at one of them, reducing it instantly to dust. Sial’s face twisted in a grimace of distaste and he turned quickly away. </p><p>Ratbone moved to the fore of the group and peered inside the door. The floor of the foyer beyond was tiled in blood-red marble. An altar that resembled a skull, its lower section wrapped in iron chains, and its top cut off flat to form a level surface, stood in an alcove to the east. A ten-foot diameter pool of what appeared to be stagnant water, its rim fashioned of white marble, sat in the western alcove opposite the altar. Ratbone stepped across the threshold, but as soon as he did, he doubled over and grunted in agony as some unseen force violently shoved the one-ton shapeshifter backwards onto the balcony. </p><p>“Hmm…,” Sial quirked one eyebrow in amusement. </p><p>Kat stepped to the doorway and passed her hands over it.</p><p>“There is a powerful enchantment here,” she said, “a Forbiddance.”</p><p>“May I?” Laori asked, moving to Kat’s side. “This is a holy place of Zon-Kuthon. Perhaps the way will open to His faithful.”</p><p>Kat shrugged and gestured the elf forward. Laori stepped past her…and passed easily through the door. When Kat examined the portal again, she found that the Forbiddance was gone.</p><p>Once inside, Laori, Sial and Asyra genuflected before the altar, and then each of them used the spiked barbs on their chains to slice open their palms. They went to the pool and dipped their hands into the filthy water, washing the blood clean. </p><p></p><p>A second set of doors on the opposite side of the shrine opened into what seemed to have once been a common room. A worn by colorful carpet covered most of the floor, and a number of wooden tables and comfortable chairs were spaced about the chamber for informal gatherings and meals. A small kitchen had been set up by a low stone fireplace alongside a cupboard that held some dishes and utensils as well as a few desiccated remains of foodstuffs. Strangely, a half-dozen figures were seated around one of the tables, as if in deep discussion. They wore black robes that appeared rotten and threadbare with age. They turned in unison when the doors opened, and it was only then that the companions saw that their gaunt faces and empty eye sockets were translucent, as where the trappings they wore. They shrieked when they sensed the living life force of the intruders and rose, claw-like fingernails bared.</p><p></p><p>The specters flew among them, their touch numbing with the preternatural cold of the grave. Sial, reasoning that the spirits would obey him as a devotee of Zon-Kuthon, tried to rebuke them, but to no avail. They showed no preference, nor discrimination in whom they assaulted. So the Zon-Kuthonites found themselves fighting hand-in-glove with the K.I.A. With the two forces fighting in unison for the first time, they managed to destroy the wraiths one-by-one. As the last one faded from existence, Michael, Sial and Laori tended their allies in silence, a sense of shared responsibility overriding animosity.</p><p>_______________________________________________________</p><p></p><p>The donjon seemed largely abandoned, yet untouched by the passage of the centuries. Given the nature of the numerous empty rooms the allies encountered, the structure obviously served as Kazavon’s personal temple to Zon-Kuthon. Yet there was still a brooding presence in the air, almost as if something…waited. Then, they came upon a chamber that seemed shrouded in writhing shadows. A large, humanoid figure stood motionless deeper in the room. Ratbone crouched, his hackles raised as he stalked slowly forward, waving his companions behind him. As he drew closer to the figure, he realized it was in fact a statue of a cloaked figure with a skull for a head and a spiked chain dangling from its eye sockets…a representation of Zon-Kuthon. The druid relaxed slightly…until he saw a second, smaller figure step from behind the statue. It to was humanoid, its body wrapped from head to toe in filthy bandages. An ornate, archaic pectoral hung from its neck, and an elaborate head dress topped its turbaned head. Ratbone snarled and swung a massive paw at the frail-looking mummy. His eyes widened a moment later when the undead priest grabbed his hand in mid-swing with a vice-like grip. Suddenly, a battle cry roared from behind the druid as Herc rushed to his side. The big mercenary bull-rushed forward behind his shield…and the mummy deftly side-stepped his charge. The creature then raised its free hand and began tracing a luminous sigil in mid-air. Laori cried out in agony as she saw it, her body wracked in agonizing pain. Katarina quickly conjured a mass of darkness to veil the symbol, while at the same time sending the roiling cloud to envelop the mummy lord. The dark tendrils tried to wrap around the priest’s arms and legs, but to no avail. </p><p>“To Hades with this!” Raelak barked. </p><p>The ranger then loosed a barrage of shimmering arrows, skewering the mummy with each shot. The creature howled and recoiled from the assault, and that was when Ratbone pounced. The druid clamped his jaws down on the mummy’s neck and proceeded to shake the priest like a dog with a bone. He slung his head, flinging the mummy across the room. As it attempted to rise, a lance of pure sound from Kat’s hand obliterated it into a cloud of dust.</p><p>____________________________________________________</p><p></p><p>Finally, after searching the donjon for what seemed like hours, Katarina found a well-hidden door secreted in an out-of-the-way corner. Behind it was a narrow flight of stairs that led down. At the bottom was a long hallway which ended at a pair of large double doors. </p><p>“The chapel,” Sial whispered reverently. </p><p>Ratbone glowered at the priest over his shoulder before he pushed open the doors. The vast chamber on the other side was floored in gray slate and supported by thick pillars of obsidian. Torches mounted on the pillars burned, yet their flames were strangely dim, barely illuminating the cathedral-like space. The pillars themselves were decorated with skulls and bones…tiny white pinpoints of light seemed to dance in the eye sockets of each. To the northwest, a tall statue of a skull-headed man dressed in dark robes stood behind a black marble altar, on which lay heaped mounds of ashes, bits of bone, and a single skull, its teeth and eye sockets set with glittering gemstones. Jagged, barbed chains dangled from the statue’s eye sockets. Thick black curtains hung from the walls of the chamber. </p><p></p><p>Cautiously, Ratbone moved towards the altar.</p><p>“Careful,” Kat warned from behind him. “I sense a strong magic presence beneath that skull.”</p><p>The druid nodded and continued forward. When he reached the altar, he tilted his head quizzically as he regarded the odd skull. Then he reached out and simply picked it up, dusting off the ash as he did so. A moment later, the skull floated out of his hand and hovered in the air before him. The ashes and bone on the altar began to scatter as if up in a small vortex. </p><p>“Get back!” Herc shouted as he moved up beside Ratbone, swinging his sword as he came. The blade struck the skull solidly, but rebounded off as if it had struck a stone wall. </p><p>The large gem in the skull’s right eye socket began to glow red. Farther back in the chapel, Raelak felt a power seize him. It was not his body that was seized, but his soul. For the briefest of moments, he felt his spirit leave his flesh, but then just as quickly, he was wrenched back, yet he felt…drained, and so very, very tired. Feeling like his arms could barely move, he lifted his bow and fired. The arrow struck the skull directly in the frontal bone…and bounced harmlessly off. Ratbone bared his fangs, seized the skull with both hands, and bit down on its cranium savagely. He felt a satisfying crack between his jaws before it wriggled violently in his grip again.</p><p>“Hold it still for just another second!” Herc shouted.</p><p>The big merc then slammed his shield forward, simultaneously bringing his sword down in an overhand chop. The blade struck the skull directly across the fracture Ratbone had created, and the bones shattered into a thousand pieces, the priceless gems skittering across the floor, their light going dim. In the distance, a final chain snapped, and a soul-freezing roar shook the foundations of Scarwall. Mithrodar was free…</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="JollyDoc, post: 4934471, member: 9546"] TOMB OF HORRORS “Ha!” O’Reginald barked at his companions as they stood panting in the courtyard, having narrowly escaped the clutches of Mithrodar and his spectral minions. “I told you! I warned you!” “Alright, you’ve quite made your point!” Kat snapped angrily. “We made a choice, and it was a mistake, but we’re all still here, so let’s move on!” “Just wanted to say I told you so,” the wizard grumbled under his breath. There seemed no other alternative but to return to the donjon’s sealed doors. “So how do you propose to circumvent this dilemma?” Sial asked sarcastically as the group stood before the portals. In response, O’Reginald pointed one finger at the doors, spoke a word, and sent a thin green beam at one of them, reducing it instantly to dust. Sial’s face twisted in a grimace of distaste and he turned quickly away. Ratbone moved to the fore of the group and peered inside the door. The floor of the foyer beyond was tiled in blood-red marble. An altar that resembled a skull, its lower section wrapped in iron chains, and its top cut off flat to form a level surface, stood in an alcove to the east. A ten-foot diameter pool of what appeared to be stagnant water, its rim fashioned of white marble, sat in the western alcove opposite the altar. Ratbone stepped across the threshold, but as soon as he did, he doubled over and grunted in agony as some unseen force violently shoved the one-ton shapeshifter backwards onto the balcony. “Hmm…,” Sial quirked one eyebrow in amusement. Kat stepped to the doorway and passed her hands over it. “There is a powerful enchantment here,” she said, “a Forbiddance.” “May I?” Laori asked, moving to Kat’s side. “This is a holy place of Zon-Kuthon. Perhaps the way will open to His faithful.” Kat shrugged and gestured the elf forward. Laori stepped past her…and passed easily through the door. When Kat examined the portal again, she found that the Forbiddance was gone. Once inside, Laori, Sial and Asyra genuflected before the altar, and then each of them used the spiked barbs on their chains to slice open their palms. They went to the pool and dipped their hands into the filthy water, washing the blood clean. A second set of doors on the opposite side of the shrine opened into what seemed to have once been a common room. A worn by colorful carpet covered most of the floor, and a number of wooden tables and comfortable chairs were spaced about the chamber for informal gatherings and meals. A small kitchen had been set up by a low stone fireplace alongside a cupboard that held some dishes and utensils as well as a few desiccated remains of foodstuffs. Strangely, a half-dozen figures were seated around one of the tables, as if in deep discussion. They wore black robes that appeared rotten and threadbare with age. They turned in unison when the doors opened, and it was only then that the companions saw that their gaunt faces and empty eye sockets were translucent, as where the trappings they wore. They shrieked when they sensed the living life force of the intruders and rose, claw-like fingernails bared. The specters flew among them, their touch numbing with the preternatural cold of the grave. Sial, reasoning that the spirits would obey him as a devotee of Zon-Kuthon, tried to rebuke them, but to no avail. They showed no preference, nor discrimination in whom they assaulted. So the Zon-Kuthonites found themselves fighting hand-in-glove with the K.I.A. With the two forces fighting in unison for the first time, they managed to destroy the wraiths one-by-one. As the last one faded from existence, Michael, Sial and Laori tended their allies in silence, a sense of shared responsibility overriding animosity. _______________________________________________________ The donjon seemed largely abandoned, yet untouched by the passage of the centuries. Given the nature of the numerous empty rooms the allies encountered, the structure obviously served as Kazavon’s personal temple to Zon-Kuthon. Yet there was still a brooding presence in the air, almost as if something…waited. Then, they came upon a chamber that seemed shrouded in writhing shadows. A large, humanoid figure stood motionless deeper in the room. Ratbone crouched, his hackles raised as he stalked slowly forward, waving his companions behind him. As he drew closer to the figure, he realized it was in fact a statue of a cloaked figure with a skull for a head and a spiked chain dangling from its eye sockets…a representation of Zon-Kuthon. The druid relaxed slightly…until he saw a second, smaller figure step from behind the statue. It to was humanoid, its body wrapped from head to toe in filthy bandages. An ornate, archaic pectoral hung from its neck, and an elaborate head dress topped its turbaned head. Ratbone snarled and swung a massive paw at the frail-looking mummy. His eyes widened a moment later when the undead priest grabbed his hand in mid-swing with a vice-like grip. Suddenly, a battle cry roared from behind the druid as Herc rushed to his side. The big mercenary bull-rushed forward behind his shield…and the mummy deftly side-stepped his charge. The creature then raised its free hand and began tracing a luminous sigil in mid-air. Laori cried out in agony as she saw it, her body wracked in agonizing pain. Katarina quickly conjured a mass of darkness to veil the symbol, while at the same time sending the roiling cloud to envelop the mummy lord. The dark tendrils tried to wrap around the priest’s arms and legs, but to no avail. “To Hades with this!” Raelak barked. The ranger then loosed a barrage of shimmering arrows, skewering the mummy with each shot. The creature howled and recoiled from the assault, and that was when Ratbone pounced. The druid clamped his jaws down on the mummy’s neck and proceeded to shake the priest like a dog with a bone. He slung his head, flinging the mummy across the room. As it attempted to rise, a lance of pure sound from Kat’s hand obliterated it into a cloud of dust. ____________________________________________________ Finally, after searching the donjon for what seemed like hours, Katarina found a well-hidden door secreted in an out-of-the-way corner. Behind it was a narrow flight of stairs that led down. At the bottom was a long hallway which ended at a pair of large double doors. “The chapel,” Sial whispered reverently. Ratbone glowered at the priest over his shoulder before he pushed open the doors. The vast chamber on the other side was floored in gray slate and supported by thick pillars of obsidian. Torches mounted on the pillars burned, yet their flames were strangely dim, barely illuminating the cathedral-like space. The pillars themselves were decorated with skulls and bones…tiny white pinpoints of light seemed to dance in the eye sockets of each. To the northwest, a tall statue of a skull-headed man dressed in dark robes stood behind a black marble altar, on which lay heaped mounds of ashes, bits of bone, and a single skull, its teeth and eye sockets set with glittering gemstones. Jagged, barbed chains dangled from the statue’s eye sockets. Thick black curtains hung from the walls of the chamber. Cautiously, Ratbone moved towards the altar. “Careful,” Kat warned from behind him. “I sense a strong magic presence beneath that skull.” The druid nodded and continued forward. When he reached the altar, he tilted his head quizzically as he regarded the odd skull. Then he reached out and simply picked it up, dusting off the ash as he did so. A moment later, the skull floated out of his hand and hovered in the air before him. The ashes and bone on the altar began to scatter as if up in a small vortex. “Get back!” Herc shouted as he moved up beside Ratbone, swinging his sword as he came. The blade struck the skull solidly, but rebounded off as if it had struck a stone wall. The large gem in the skull’s right eye socket began to glow red. Farther back in the chapel, Raelak felt a power seize him. It was not his body that was seized, but his soul. For the briefest of moments, he felt his spirit leave his flesh, but then just as quickly, he was wrenched back, yet he felt…drained, and so very, very tired. Feeling like his arms could barely move, he lifted his bow and fired. The arrow struck the skull directly in the frontal bone…and bounced harmlessly off. Ratbone bared his fangs, seized the skull with both hands, and bit down on its cranium savagely. He felt a satisfying crack between his jaws before it wriggled violently in his grip again. “Hold it still for just another second!” Herc shouted. The big merc then slammed his shield forward, simultaneously bringing his sword down in an overhand chop. The blade struck the skull directly across the fracture Ratbone had created, and the bones shattered into a thousand pieces, the priceless gems skittering across the floor, their light going dim. In the distance, a final chain snapped, and a soul-freezing roar shook the foundations of Scarwall. Mithrodar was free… [/QUOTE]
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