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The Durnhill Conscripts
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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 7372163" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 11: CATACOMBS OF DESERVED REST</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Galen Thorne, human paladin 4</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Kaspar Hardstrike, elf monk 4</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Orion Nightsky, halfling rogue 4</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Syngaard, human fighter 4</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 14 March 2018</p><p></p><p>- - -</p><p></p><p>It had been several days since the conscripts had been summoned through their rings, but this time the summons was different. For one thing, it was the middle of the afternoon; Skevros often summoned his adventuring band the first thing in the morning, which Syngaard found irritating to no end - especially when he wasn't over his morning hangover. For another, rather than have his troops assemble in <em>The Enchanted Flagon</em>, their normal meeting hall, this time the king's adviser told them to meet up at the Temple of Hieroneous.</p><p></p><p>"Well, that's weird," Syngaard said aloud to himself, heading to the front desk to let <strong>Matron Katarina - "Mama Kat"</strong> to those who knew her - know that he was needed at his "other job."</p><p></p><p>"You take care of yourself," Mama Kat advised - or possibly threatened; it was sometimes difficult to tell with her. But the bald fighter responded with a "Yes, Ma'am," all the same before heading over to his room to gather up his gear and find his way over to the Temple of Hieroneous.</p><p></p><p>Not surprisingly, Galen was already there - the paladin had probably been somewhere in the temple when the summons arrived - as were Kaspar and Orion, the latter with her riding dog Carl already tied by his reins to one of the posts at the temple's front entrance. Even less of a surprise was Daleth's habitual absence. "What, Wizard-Pants too busy to meet up with us again?" Syngaard asked the group.</p><p></p><p>"Skevros no doubt has him assigned to other duties," guessed the halfling.</p><p></p><p>"I'm starting to wonder about them two," Syngaard grumbled. "That damn elf hardly ever goes out into the field, and yet we keep giving him a share of the treasure."</p><p></p><p>"That's hardly true," argued Orion. "Sure, we gave him that <em>metamagic rod</em>, but who else among us was going to use it?"</p><p></p><p>"Ain't about using it," countered Syngaard. "We coulda cashed it in, split up the money 'tween those of us who put our lives on the line. Works for me."</p><p></p><p>"If you are all gathered together, I will escort you to the Holy Mother," said an approaching page wearing a tabard with the symbol of Hieroneous stitched into the chest with silver thread.</p><p></p><p>"Ha," snickered Syngaard, looking over to his paladin companion. "We're gonna go see your mom." Galen's face darkened at the disrespect to the leader of his paladin order, but said nothing, not wanting to argue in front of a mere page.</p><p></p><p><strong>Mother Valorie</strong>'s office was sparse, as befitted a no-nonsense paladin leader. "Come in," she welcomed the group gruffly, getting straight down to business. "I have a quest for you."</p><p></p><p>"What's it pay?" demanded Syngaard immediately.</p><p></p><p>"You will likely find your reward at the completion of the quest," sniffed the elderly warrior. Despite the office environment, she wore a full suit of plate mail armor and had a longsword resting over her right shoulder.</p><p></p><p>"Don't much like bein' paid in 'likelies'," muttered the fighter, gaining him an elbow in the knee by Orion. She glared up at the scarred fighter, her face showing the disdain she felt for his disrespectful attitude.</p><p></p><p>"We have a recent initiate to the order, one <strong>Melvior</strong> by name," continued Mother Valorie. "He went missing yesterday. His room was searched, at which time in was unearthed he was a secret follower of <strong>Wee Jas</strong>, Goddess of Death and Magic."</p><p></p><p>"How did he enter your ranks?" asked Kaspar. "Do you not investigate the backgrounds of those who would join your order, examine their auras with magic?"</p><p></p><p>"We do," scowled Mother Valorie. "There are, however, magical means to mask one's true affiliations - as was likely done in this instance. In any case, I have had a vision, Galen, of you and your companions putting the dead back to rest within the catacombs. I believe the two incidents - my vision and Melvior's disappearance - are related. Therefore, you are tasked with bringing Melvior to justice and, if necessary, putting the raised dead back to rest."</p><p></p><p>"Why us?" asked Syngaard. "Can't you take care of this yourself?" Galen looked horrified at the fighter's rudeness; Orion shook her head sadly and looked down at her feet, wishing she were elsewhere.</p><p></p><p>"Because I am currently in the Baator's Breath Mountains, keeping an army of devils at bay," snapped Mother Valorie. "I appear to you here as a projection, a sending." Syngaard knitted his brow and walked beside the armored woman, testing her claims by putting his hand right through her side and back out again. Sure enough, she wasn't really there. "Well, that's kind of disconcerting," he muttered to himself.</p><p></p><p>"Galen, lead your troops to the catacombs, and see to your quest!" ordered the older woman to her charge.</p><p></p><p>"At once, Holy Mother!" acknowledged Galen, bowing his head before the leader of his order. He then led them from her office; behind them, she snapped out of view as the elderly paladin focused her attention on her own immediate problems.</p><p></p><p>"So where are these catacombs?" asked Kaspar. "Beneath the temple?"</p><p></p><p>"No, replied Galen, heading to the stables to fetch his warhorse, Seneca. "It's outside the city walls, in the hills at the edge of the kingdom."</p><p></p><p>"Well that just figures!" griped Syngaard. "More trudging around the damn place! I don't suppose your mom's gonna lend us a wagon or nothing?"</p><p></p><p>"That is correct," snapped Galen, a little tired of the bald fighter's attitude. "If you don't wish to 'trudge around the place' all the time, I suggest you set aside some of your accumulated earnings for a good horse of your own."</p><p></p><p>"Or, you know, an ass: something more your speed," offered Orion, mounting her riding dog at the temple's front entrance. Carl's tongue lolled happily as the halfling settled herself onto the saddle; he knew this meant they were going on a trip!</p><p></p><p>"Already got one ass in this group - don't need another," countered Syngaard.</p><p></p><p>On the way to the catacombs, Galen described their layout. There was a central chamber just inside the double doors, with passages on either side leading back to another large chamber in the back. The walls of the side passageways housed numerous crypts of slain paladins, and there were six raised crypts in the main chamber as well housing holy remains.</p><p></p><p>"This 'putting the dead back to rest' business - is that what I think it is?" asked Syngaard.</p><p></p><p>"That would rather depend," offered Kaspar, "on what you think it is."</p><p></p><p>"Smashing skeletons, cutting down zombies, that sort of thing."</p><p></p><p>"Then I imagine you are correct."</p><p></p><p>"Are you okay with this?" asked Orion, looking over at Galen astride his warhorse. "These are the members of your church we'll be fighting."</p><p></p><p>"These are the animated remains of members of my church we'll be fighting," corrected Galen. "Merely their remains; their souls will have long since departed this world to Hieroneous's realm in the afterlife. The bones are of no consequence: I'm more concerned with the twisted Wee Jas follower who would so desecrate the catacombs for his own evil purpose."</p><p></p><p>Upon arriving at the catacombs, the group saw the stone door that once kept the burial complex sealed up now lay shattered in remnants on the ground. "This bodes ill," said Kaspar, stepping inside the doorway and allowing his eyes to adjust to the gloom of the chamber within. He could see six figures standing in the room, each the skeletal remains of those who had been interred in the six crypts in the first chamber. They each carried the sword they had wielded in life; upon the elf's entrance, they turned their heads his way and prepared to attack.</p><p></p><p>Galen leaped from Seneca's broad back and ran to the open doorway. Beside him Orion remained in Carl's saddle, staring at a dark object sitting upon an altar in the back of the chamber, trying to make out what it might be. Galen blocked her view as he strode into the chamber, his holy symbol of Hieroneous held aloft. "Begone!" he commanded, trying to focus a blast of positive energy through his Hieronean symbol. But try as he might, he couldn't summon up the holy energy to turn these animated undead bones.</p><p></p><p>Kaspar had no such problem, though - he leaped up and kicked out with his foot, smashing the skull from the head of the nearest skeleton; it fell to the floor in a clatter of unconnected bones, its sword falling beside its no longer animated remains. The other five skeletons rushed up to attack Kaspar and Galen, but the monk easily dodged their strikes and the paladin brought his shield up in time to deflect their sword-blows.</p><p></p><p>Syngaard pushed his way past Carl and Orion and sent his enchanted morningstar crashing down upon the skull of the closest enemy. It, too, fell to pieces under the force of the blow. Encouraging her riding dog to enter the fray, Orion swung out with her <em>flaming short sword</em> but failed to bring down her foe; the flaming blade slid along the bone of the skeleton's raised forearm to deal minimal damage. Carl snapped his teeth at the skeleton's leg, but it dodged out of the way at the last moment.</p><p></p><p>Not sure what was preventing his turning attempt to fail so miserably - it couldn't be his own relative lack of training, surely? - Galen pulled the <em>sword of Zehkar</em> from his scabbard and cut down a skeleton, the blade easily snapping its vertebrae in half in a single stroke. Beside him, Kaspar's hardened fist destroyed another of the undead, leaving only two skeletal combatants in the central chamber. They struck out again at the monk and the paladin, with no more success than their first attacks had garnered.</p><p></p><p>Syngaard struck the skeleton Carl and Orion had been fighting, scoring a glancing blow that failed to bring it down. Orion and Carl's attacks likewise failed to connect, but Galen finally destroyed it with his longsword. Meanwhile, Kaspar and the last skeleton were trading blows and failing to connect; Syngaard brought it down with a skull-smashing attack from the side.</p><p></p><p>"Check out the skull!" Orion called out. Syngaard looked down at the smashed skull at his feet in puzzlement, then looked back at the halfling and saw she was pointing to a black skull sitting on top of the altar to Hieroneous in the back of the chamber. The scarred fighter approached the <em>darkskull</em> with his morningstar raised. "It's evil," said Galen, using his aura-sensing vision on the wooden skull.</p><p></p><p>"Good enough for me," replied Syngaard, bringing his morningstar crashing down on the <em>darkskull</em>. But while he thought he'd have crushed it, the carved skull merely slipped off the altar and skidded across the floor, seemingly undamaged. However, the mere touch of Galen's sword caused it to burst into flames. He brought his blade down hard upon the flaming skull, destroying it permanently with his second strike.</p><p></p><p>Orion had yet to dismount from Carl. "We have two exits," she said, indicating the passageways on either side of the central chamber. "This way," commanded Galen, indicating the passageway to the east and activating a sunrod from his pack. After 10 feet the corridor took a turn to the right and continued on deeper into the hillside. Standing down that corridor were two more skeletons - but these wore plate mail armor as well as wielding their swords.</p><p></p><p>"Freeee uuuus!" one skeleton moaned as it approached, bringing its longsword to bear. Galen instinctively brought up his holy symbol and tried to turn the approaching undead, failing miserably for a second time. By then both skeletons were on the conscripts, attacking Syngaard and Galen in the front line of the group. The paladin deflected the incoming blow with his shield; Syngaard followed suit with his morningstar, blocking the sword-strike. Kaspar struck out from beside the bald fighter, getting in a solid blow but failing to drop the skeleton. Orion and Carl likewise tried sneaking in attacks from behind Galen, but they were in too tight of quarters to be very effective.</p><p></p><p>Falling back on his sword - he was much more adept at swordcraft than turning undead, it seemed! - Galen stabbed at the skeleton before him, piercing his armor but doing little to damage the skeleton beneath it. The one facing Syngaard struck out with its sword, and while it missed the fighter it did catch Kaspar unawares - the undead forces had finally made their first successful attack. Blood from the wound spilled from Kaspar's side, staining his robes.</p><p></p><p>Pushing past Syngaard, the monk attacked the offending skeleton with a flurry of blows that had it falling to the floor in a cacophonous clatter of bones and metal armor. Galen and Syngaard soon brought down the other one, and then the group continued on down the hallway.</p><p></p><p>The passageway made another right turn and opened into another larger chamber, roughly the same size as the room in the front. The floor in this room was scattered with the broken remains of shattered bones, however - it looked like somebody had been in battle with animated skeletons already in here. Then Galen noticed movement from the back of the room; turning his head, he saw in the light of his sunrod a skeletal figure standing over a black-robed body. Thin, skeletal bones jutted out from the skeleton's back, the undead remains of birdlike wings, minus the feathers.</p><p></p><p>The skeletal figure turned its head in the direction of the paladin and Galen got a good look at him. He carried a blood-soaked blade in his right hand; at his hip hung a scabbard that glowed like molten gold. "Zehkar, my friend," the skeleton spoke in a raspy voice, "free me from this cursed existence, before the rage of undeath overtakes me." His skeletal wings stretched wide as he spoke.</p><p></p><p>Orion was unsure what to do in this situation: it was an animated undead creature, but it seemed to be friendly. Should they kill it? Or was it like Skevros: undead but still somehow alive? The halfling opted to let one of the others make the decision for her.</p><p></p><p>Galen happily obliged by stepping forward, slashing sideways with the <em>sword of Zehkar</em> as he did so, scoring a hit across the winged skeleton's bony chest. Kaspar and Syngaard followed suit, each attacking from a different direction so they ended up flanking the undead foe between them. Only then did Orion spur Carl forward into combat - although neither the halfling nor her riding dog were successful in their attacks.</p><p></p><p>The skeleton seemed to be struggling against itself. "Hurry!" it commanded. "I know not how much longer I can resist!" Galen's eyes picked up its aura: a brilliant gold, but with specks of deep black flickering in and out of existence, threatening to engulf it. The paladin could sense that the remains of this winged creature were fighting off the evil that normally animated such undead beings.</p><p></p><p>The conscripts attacked for all they were worth, striking from all four directions - for their adversary had not made the slightest effort to prevent being surrounded by its foes. But then its aura turned fully black, and it got in three attacks against Galen in an unexpected flash of swordplay, nearly dropping the paladin to his knees. Having seen how much punishment the undead thing dealt to Galen and realizing there was no way she could withstand such a frenzy of attacks herself, Orion backed Carl out of combat.</p><p></p><p>A voice suddenly spoke in the back of Galen's head, calling for him to try turning the skeleton. Doubting his abilities along those fronts, Galen nonetheless did as instructed; this time, the positive energy flowed smoothly through his body and the holy symbol of Hieroneous, channeling into the golden scabbard at the winged skeleton's hip. The scabbard burst into a pillar of golden flames, turning the winged skeleton into a fine ash. The flames then coalesced into the spectral form of a half-celestial bard. "Thank you for freeing me," he said to the assembled group. Then, looking at Galen, he informed the paladin that the scabbard once belonged to his friend Zehkar. "It is yours now," he said, handing it over. Taking it, Galen felt a surge of power coursing through the longsword in his hand, and realized the <em>sword of Zehkar</em> had just gained in power once again.</p><p></p><p>However, seeing that battle was now apparently over, Syngaard high-tailed it over to the corpse of the black-robed figure - Melvior, no doubt. First, Syngaard made sure he was dead - yep, although the fighter had been willing to finish the deal had he still been clinging to life. Next up: perusal of potential treasures, just like "Galen's mom" had said. Melvior had a masterwork club by his side (not as cool as Syngaard's morningstar), along with a fancy tome (who needs books?), an empty lead box (pointless!), and an unholy symbol of Wee Jas (useless - was there nothing of potential value on this worthless piece of scum?). Then Syngaard noticed a gem lying on the floor by the slain traitor's head; a quick scrabbling unearthed three more nearby, each a different color.</p><p></p><p>"I know what these are!" Syngaard cackled to himself. He remembered stories about magical stones that flew around your head, providing all sorts of benefits. Holding them in his cupped hands, the fighter raised them up by his scarred face and called out, "Fly!" When that didn't work, he tried "Go on!" with a similar lack of success. He tried moving his cupped hands over and around his bald pate, and it wasn't until he finally tossed them up in the air that they started circling his head. Syngaard immediately felt stronger, tougher, quicker - even a bit more cunning than ever. "Now we're talking!" he chortled.</p><p></p><p>By then, though, the others had caught up to him. Realizing there was no way to surreptitiously continue to use floating colored stones that orbited your head, Syngaard caught them back up in his hand and displayed them to the group. Galen cast a wary eye upon the rest of the traitor's belongings, noting that while the tome itself did not radiate an aura of evil, it was filled with rituals a divine spellcaster could use to bind the souls of the dead to their mortal remains, creating a more powerful than normal form of lesser undead.</p><p></p><p>The group, by consensus, divided up the four <em>ioun stones</em> among the group - including, Syngaard was irritated to note, setting one aside for Daleth, a pink rhomboid that would make the elven wizard tougher in battle. "Scrawny little guy needs all the help he can get," Syngaard rationalized, secretly pleased that if the elf was getting magical goods he hadn't even earned, at least he was getting the girly pink stone! Syngaard's, on the other hand, was the same shape but a pale blue, and increased his physical strength. Orion got a deep red sphere that made her even quicker than normal (and the tricky little squirt was already quick enough for Syngaard's tastes), while Kaspar got the incandescent blue sphere that helped focus his mind. Galen opted not to take one, opining that his upgraded sword and new scabbard were reward enough.</p><p></p><p>Since their quest was to put the catacombs back to rest, Galen insisted they check out the other side passageway, and sure enough, there were two more armored skeletons wielding their longswords from life - that damned Melvior had been a busy little bad boy! The skeletons charged the group, to little effect; Galen focused a turning attempt through his new scabbard, and successfully sent the undead fleeing. "Great!" groused Syngaard. "Now we gotta go chase after 'em!"</p><p></p><p>Orion sent Carl fleeing across the back chamber, racing down the eastern passageway to go cut off the fleeing skeletons before they could get to the now-open doorway to the outer world. Syngaard threw his <em>javelin of returning</em> at a skeleton as it fled; it did little damage but returned dutifully to the fighter's hand as normal. Kaspar managed to not only keep pace with the fleeing skeletons but actually overtake them; he punched one in the back of the skull, nearly - but not quite - toppling it headfirst onto the stone floor of the corridor. Syngaard charged the other one, dealing a bit of damage but likewise failing to drop it.</p><p></p><p>Behind them, Galen tried a different tactic: he focused healing energy through his scabbard, forming it into a beam of healing energy that he sent into the back of one of the skeletons. The positive energy overflowed the undead thing's necrotic system, causing it to explode into dust.</p><p></p><p>The other one fled past Carl - who snapped at it ineffectually as it passed him - and Orion, whose attack with her <em>flaming short sword</em> likewise missed. Kaspar, in a burst of speed, got in a hardened punch, but still the fleeing skeleton refused to fall. Syngaard couldn't catch up to it and thus resorted to his magical javelin again in an act of desperation. As he had suspected, the undead thing survived the attack; javelins aren't ideal weapons to use against skeletons. Finally, Galen repeated the strategy that had destroyed the first skeleton, and it was equally successful this second time.</p><p></p><p>Their job completed, the group decided - against Syngaard's vote - to bring Melvior's body back to the temple of Hieroneous. "I ain't carrying no dead body!" the fighter complained.</p><p></p><p>"You won't have to," reassured Galen, balancing the corpse over his warhorse's saddle. "But I won't leave him in the catacombs - they're reserved for actual followers of Hieroneous, not traitorous impostors."</p><p></p><p>When the conscripts eventually returned to the <em>Enchanted Flagon</em> for a few cold ales after a job well done, Skevros - after hearing a description of Melvior's robes - black, with blue trim - confirmed that those were the traditional robes worn by members of the Necromancers Guild in the Azure Glade.</p><p></p><p>"What?" sputtered Syngaard. "More of those Azure Glade creeps?"</p><p></p><p>"<em>I</em> was originally from the Azure Glades myself," Skevros reminded the bald fighter with a frown.</p><p></p><p>"Oh, I'm aware," muttered Syngaard, returning his attention to his ale.</p><p></p><p>- - -</p><p></p><p>Logan laid out the Catacombs of Deserved Rest using a series of our Dungeon Tiles. Since Galen would already have known the layout, there was no need for us to discover it room by room, so they were all already in place when we started gaming. Logan used plastic skeletons from our old Hero Quest game for all but the half-celestial bard skeleton, which got a D&D Miniature robed skeleton to represent it.</p><p></p><p>Logan designed the scabbard to allow Galen a means of healing the rest of us at range, using turn attempts - a resource going untapped in adventures not involving undead. Since Galen can turn undead six times a day, that ability is sure to come in handy. I thought that was a rather clever bit of magic item creation on Logan's part. And the <em>sword of Zehkar</em> is now an <em>undead bane</em> weapon, which suits Dan just fine.</p><p></p><p>Galen, Kaspar, and Syngaard all reached 5th level at the end of this adventure, while Orion is so close that she'll undoubtedly make it to 5th level after our next outing.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 7372163, member: 508"] [B]ADVENTURE 11: CATACOMBS OF DESERVED REST[/B] PC Roster: [INDENT]Galen Thorne, human paladin 4[/INDENT] [INDENT] Kaspar Hardstrike, elf monk 4[/INDENT] [INDENT] Orion Nightsky, halfling rogue 4[/INDENT] [INDENT] Syngaard, human fighter 4[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 14 March 2018 - - - It had been several days since the conscripts had been summoned through their rings, but this time the summons was different. For one thing, it was the middle of the afternoon; Skevros often summoned his adventuring band the first thing in the morning, which Syngaard found irritating to no end - especially when he wasn't over his morning hangover. For another, rather than have his troops assemble in [I]The Enchanted Flagon[/I], their normal meeting hall, this time the king's adviser told them to meet up at the Temple of Hieroneous. "Well, that's weird," Syngaard said aloud to himself, heading to the front desk to let [B]Matron Katarina - "Mama Kat"[/B] to those who knew her - know that he was needed at his "other job." "You take care of yourself," Mama Kat advised - or possibly threatened; it was sometimes difficult to tell with her. But the bald fighter responded with a "Yes, Ma'am," all the same before heading over to his room to gather up his gear and find his way over to the Temple of Hieroneous. Not surprisingly, Galen was already there - the paladin had probably been somewhere in the temple when the summons arrived - as were Kaspar and Orion, the latter with her riding dog Carl already tied by his reins to one of the posts at the temple's front entrance. Even less of a surprise was Daleth's habitual absence. "What, Wizard-Pants too busy to meet up with us again?" Syngaard asked the group. "Skevros no doubt has him assigned to other duties," guessed the halfling. "I'm starting to wonder about them two," Syngaard grumbled. "That damn elf hardly ever goes out into the field, and yet we keep giving him a share of the treasure." "That's hardly true," argued Orion. "Sure, we gave him that [I]metamagic rod[/I], but who else among us was going to use it?" "Ain't about using it," countered Syngaard. "We coulda cashed it in, split up the money 'tween those of us who put our lives on the line. Works for me." "If you are all gathered together, I will escort you to the Holy Mother," said an approaching page wearing a tabard with the symbol of Hieroneous stitched into the chest with silver thread. "Ha," snickered Syngaard, looking over to his paladin companion. "We're gonna go see your mom." Galen's face darkened at the disrespect to the leader of his paladin order, but said nothing, not wanting to argue in front of a mere page. [B]Mother Valorie[/B]'s office was sparse, as befitted a no-nonsense paladin leader. "Come in," she welcomed the group gruffly, getting straight down to business. "I have a quest for you." "What's it pay?" demanded Syngaard immediately. "You will likely find your reward at the completion of the quest," sniffed the elderly warrior. Despite the office environment, she wore a full suit of plate mail armor and had a longsword resting over her right shoulder. "Don't much like bein' paid in 'likelies'," muttered the fighter, gaining him an elbow in the knee by Orion. She glared up at the scarred fighter, her face showing the disdain she felt for his disrespectful attitude. "We have a recent initiate to the order, one [B]Melvior[/B] by name," continued Mother Valorie. "He went missing yesterday. His room was searched, at which time in was unearthed he was a secret follower of [B]Wee Jas[/B], Goddess of Death and Magic." "How did he enter your ranks?" asked Kaspar. "Do you not investigate the backgrounds of those who would join your order, examine their auras with magic?" "We do," scowled Mother Valorie. "There are, however, magical means to mask one's true affiliations - as was likely done in this instance. In any case, I have had a vision, Galen, of you and your companions putting the dead back to rest within the catacombs. I believe the two incidents - my vision and Melvior's disappearance - are related. Therefore, you are tasked with bringing Melvior to justice and, if necessary, putting the raised dead back to rest." "Why us?" asked Syngaard. "Can't you take care of this yourself?" Galen looked horrified at the fighter's rudeness; Orion shook her head sadly and looked down at her feet, wishing she were elsewhere. "Because I am currently in the Baator's Breath Mountains, keeping an army of devils at bay," snapped Mother Valorie. "I appear to you here as a projection, a sending." Syngaard knitted his brow and walked beside the armored woman, testing her claims by putting his hand right through her side and back out again. Sure enough, she wasn't really there. "Well, that's kind of disconcerting," he muttered to himself. "Galen, lead your troops to the catacombs, and see to your quest!" ordered the older woman to her charge. "At once, Holy Mother!" acknowledged Galen, bowing his head before the leader of his order. He then led them from her office; behind them, she snapped out of view as the elderly paladin focused her attention on her own immediate problems. "So where are these catacombs?" asked Kaspar. "Beneath the temple?" "No, replied Galen, heading to the stables to fetch his warhorse, Seneca. "It's outside the city walls, in the hills at the edge of the kingdom." "Well that just figures!" griped Syngaard. "More trudging around the damn place! I don't suppose your mom's gonna lend us a wagon or nothing?" "That is correct," snapped Galen, a little tired of the bald fighter's attitude. "If you don't wish to 'trudge around the place' all the time, I suggest you set aside some of your accumulated earnings for a good horse of your own." "Or, you know, an ass: something more your speed," offered Orion, mounting her riding dog at the temple's front entrance. Carl's tongue lolled happily as the halfling settled herself onto the saddle; he knew this meant they were going on a trip! "Already got one ass in this group - don't need another," countered Syngaard. On the way to the catacombs, Galen described their layout. There was a central chamber just inside the double doors, with passages on either side leading back to another large chamber in the back. The walls of the side passageways housed numerous crypts of slain paladins, and there were six raised crypts in the main chamber as well housing holy remains. "This 'putting the dead back to rest' business - is that what I think it is?" asked Syngaard. "That would rather depend," offered Kaspar, "on what you think it is." "Smashing skeletons, cutting down zombies, that sort of thing." "Then I imagine you are correct." "Are you okay with this?" asked Orion, looking over at Galen astride his warhorse. "These are the members of your church we'll be fighting." "These are the animated remains of members of my church we'll be fighting," corrected Galen. "Merely their remains; their souls will have long since departed this world to Hieroneous's realm in the afterlife. The bones are of no consequence: I'm more concerned with the twisted Wee Jas follower who would so desecrate the catacombs for his own evil purpose." Upon arriving at the catacombs, the group saw the stone door that once kept the burial complex sealed up now lay shattered in remnants on the ground. "This bodes ill," said Kaspar, stepping inside the doorway and allowing his eyes to adjust to the gloom of the chamber within. He could see six figures standing in the room, each the skeletal remains of those who had been interred in the six crypts in the first chamber. They each carried the sword they had wielded in life; upon the elf's entrance, they turned their heads his way and prepared to attack. Galen leaped from Seneca's broad back and ran to the open doorway. Beside him Orion remained in Carl's saddle, staring at a dark object sitting upon an altar in the back of the chamber, trying to make out what it might be. Galen blocked her view as he strode into the chamber, his holy symbol of Hieroneous held aloft. "Begone!" he commanded, trying to focus a blast of positive energy through his Hieronean symbol. But try as he might, he couldn't summon up the holy energy to turn these animated undead bones. Kaspar had no such problem, though - he leaped up and kicked out with his foot, smashing the skull from the head of the nearest skeleton; it fell to the floor in a clatter of unconnected bones, its sword falling beside its no longer animated remains. The other five skeletons rushed up to attack Kaspar and Galen, but the monk easily dodged their strikes and the paladin brought his shield up in time to deflect their sword-blows. Syngaard pushed his way past Carl and Orion and sent his enchanted morningstar crashing down upon the skull of the closest enemy. It, too, fell to pieces under the force of the blow. Encouraging her riding dog to enter the fray, Orion swung out with her [I]flaming short sword[/I] but failed to bring down her foe; the flaming blade slid along the bone of the skeleton's raised forearm to deal minimal damage. Carl snapped his teeth at the skeleton's leg, but it dodged out of the way at the last moment. Not sure what was preventing his turning attempt to fail so miserably - it couldn't be his own relative lack of training, surely? - Galen pulled the [I]sword of Zehkar[/I] from his scabbard and cut down a skeleton, the blade easily snapping its vertebrae in half in a single stroke. Beside him, Kaspar's hardened fist destroyed another of the undead, leaving only two skeletal combatants in the central chamber. They struck out again at the monk and the paladin, with no more success than their first attacks had garnered. Syngaard struck the skeleton Carl and Orion had been fighting, scoring a glancing blow that failed to bring it down. Orion and Carl's attacks likewise failed to connect, but Galen finally destroyed it with his longsword. Meanwhile, Kaspar and the last skeleton were trading blows and failing to connect; Syngaard brought it down with a skull-smashing attack from the side. "Check out the skull!" Orion called out. Syngaard looked down at the smashed skull at his feet in puzzlement, then looked back at the halfling and saw she was pointing to a black skull sitting on top of the altar to Hieroneous in the back of the chamber. The scarred fighter approached the [I]darkskull[/I] with his morningstar raised. "It's evil," said Galen, using his aura-sensing vision on the wooden skull. "Good enough for me," replied Syngaard, bringing his morningstar crashing down on the [I]darkskull[/I]. But while he thought he'd have crushed it, the carved skull merely slipped off the altar and skidded across the floor, seemingly undamaged. However, the mere touch of Galen's sword caused it to burst into flames. He brought his blade down hard upon the flaming skull, destroying it permanently with his second strike. Orion had yet to dismount from Carl. "We have two exits," she said, indicating the passageways on either side of the central chamber. "This way," commanded Galen, indicating the passageway to the east and activating a sunrod from his pack. After 10 feet the corridor took a turn to the right and continued on deeper into the hillside. Standing down that corridor were two more skeletons - but these wore plate mail armor as well as wielding their swords. "Freeee uuuus!" one skeleton moaned as it approached, bringing its longsword to bear. Galen instinctively brought up his holy symbol and tried to turn the approaching undead, failing miserably for a second time. By then both skeletons were on the conscripts, attacking Syngaard and Galen in the front line of the group. The paladin deflected the incoming blow with his shield; Syngaard followed suit with his morningstar, blocking the sword-strike. Kaspar struck out from beside the bald fighter, getting in a solid blow but failing to drop the skeleton. Orion and Carl likewise tried sneaking in attacks from behind Galen, but they were in too tight of quarters to be very effective. Falling back on his sword - he was much more adept at swordcraft than turning undead, it seemed! - Galen stabbed at the skeleton before him, piercing his armor but doing little to damage the skeleton beneath it. The one facing Syngaard struck out with its sword, and while it missed the fighter it did catch Kaspar unawares - the undead forces had finally made their first successful attack. Blood from the wound spilled from Kaspar's side, staining his robes. Pushing past Syngaard, the monk attacked the offending skeleton with a flurry of blows that had it falling to the floor in a cacophonous clatter of bones and metal armor. Galen and Syngaard soon brought down the other one, and then the group continued on down the hallway. The passageway made another right turn and opened into another larger chamber, roughly the same size as the room in the front. The floor in this room was scattered with the broken remains of shattered bones, however - it looked like somebody had been in battle with animated skeletons already in here. Then Galen noticed movement from the back of the room; turning his head, he saw in the light of his sunrod a skeletal figure standing over a black-robed body. Thin, skeletal bones jutted out from the skeleton's back, the undead remains of birdlike wings, minus the feathers. The skeletal figure turned its head in the direction of the paladin and Galen got a good look at him. He carried a blood-soaked blade in his right hand; at his hip hung a scabbard that glowed like molten gold. "Zehkar, my friend," the skeleton spoke in a raspy voice, "free me from this cursed existence, before the rage of undeath overtakes me." His skeletal wings stretched wide as he spoke. Orion was unsure what to do in this situation: it was an animated undead creature, but it seemed to be friendly. Should they kill it? Or was it like Skevros: undead but still somehow alive? The halfling opted to let one of the others make the decision for her. Galen happily obliged by stepping forward, slashing sideways with the [I]sword of Zehkar[/I] as he did so, scoring a hit across the winged skeleton's bony chest. Kaspar and Syngaard followed suit, each attacking from a different direction so they ended up flanking the undead foe between them. Only then did Orion spur Carl forward into combat - although neither the halfling nor her riding dog were successful in their attacks. The skeleton seemed to be struggling against itself. "Hurry!" it commanded. "I know not how much longer I can resist!" Galen's eyes picked up its aura: a brilliant gold, but with specks of deep black flickering in and out of existence, threatening to engulf it. The paladin could sense that the remains of this winged creature were fighting off the evil that normally animated such undead beings. The conscripts attacked for all they were worth, striking from all four directions - for their adversary had not made the slightest effort to prevent being surrounded by its foes. But then its aura turned fully black, and it got in three attacks against Galen in an unexpected flash of swordplay, nearly dropping the paladin to his knees. Having seen how much punishment the undead thing dealt to Galen and realizing there was no way she could withstand such a frenzy of attacks herself, Orion backed Carl out of combat. A voice suddenly spoke in the back of Galen's head, calling for him to try turning the skeleton. Doubting his abilities along those fronts, Galen nonetheless did as instructed; this time, the positive energy flowed smoothly through his body and the holy symbol of Hieroneous, channeling into the golden scabbard at the winged skeleton's hip. The scabbard burst into a pillar of golden flames, turning the winged skeleton into a fine ash. The flames then coalesced into the spectral form of a half-celestial bard. "Thank you for freeing me," he said to the assembled group. Then, looking at Galen, he informed the paladin that the scabbard once belonged to his friend Zehkar. "It is yours now," he said, handing it over. Taking it, Galen felt a surge of power coursing through the longsword in his hand, and realized the [I]sword of Zehkar[/I] had just gained in power once again. However, seeing that battle was now apparently over, Syngaard high-tailed it over to the corpse of the black-robed figure - Melvior, no doubt. First, Syngaard made sure he was dead - yep, although the fighter had been willing to finish the deal had he still been clinging to life. Next up: perusal of potential treasures, just like "Galen's mom" had said. Melvior had a masterwork club by his side (not as cool as Syngaard's morningstar), along with a fancy tome (who needs books?), an empty lead box (pointless!), and an unholy symbol of Wee Jas (useless - was there nothing of potential value on this worthless piece of scum?). Then Syngaard noticed a gem lying on the floor by the slain traitor's head; a quick scrabbling unearthed three more nearby, each a different color. "I know what these are!" Syngaard cackled to himself. He remembered stories about magical stones that flew around your head, providing all sorts of benefits. Holding them in his cupped hands, the fighter raised them up by his scarred face and called out, "Fly!" When that didn't work, he tried "Go on!" with a similar lack of success. He tried moving his cupped hands over and around his bald pate, and it wasn't until he finally tossed them up in the air that they started circling his head. Syngaard immediately felt stronger, tougher, quicker - even a bit more cunning than ever. "Now we're talking!" he chortled. By then, though, the others had caught up to him. Realizing there was no way to surreptitiously continue to use floating colored stones that orbited your head, Syngaard caught them back up in his hand and displayed them to the group. Galen cast a wary eye upon the rest of the traitor's belongings, noting that while the tome itself did not radiate an aura of evil, it was filled with rituals a divine spellcaster could use to bind the souls of the dead to their mortal remains, creating a more powerful than normal form of lesser undead. The group, by consensus, divided up the four [I]ioun stones[/I] among the group - including, Syngaard was irritated to note, setting one aside for Daleth, a pink rhomboid that would make the elven wizard tougher in battle. "Scrawny little guy needs all the help he can get," Syngaard rationalized, secretly pleased that if the elf was getting magical goods he hadn't even earned, at least he was getting the girly pink stone! Syngaard's, on the other hand, was the same shape but a pale blue, and increased his physical strength. Orion got a deep red sphere that made her even quicker than normal (and the tricky little squirt was already quick enough for Syngaard's tastes), while Kaspar got the incandescent blue sphere that helped focus his mind. Galen opted not to take one, opining that his upgraded sword and new scabbard were reward enough. Since their quest was to put the catacombs back to rest, Galen insisted they check out the other side passageway, and sure enough, there were two more armored skeletons wielding their longswords from life - that damned Melvior had been a busy little bad boy! The skeletons charged the group, to little effect; Galen focused a turning attempt through his new scabbard, and successfully sent the undead fleeing. "Great!" groused Syngaard. "Now we gotta go chase after 'em!" Orion sent Carl fleeing across the back chamber, racing down the eastern passageway to go cut off the fleeing skeletons before they could get to the now-open doorway to the outer world. Syngaard threw his [I]javelin of returning[/I] at a skeleton as it fled; it did little damage but returned dutifully to the fighter's hand as normal. Kaspar managed to not only keep pace with the fleeing skeletons but actually overtake them; he punched one in the back of the skull, nearly - but not quite - toppling it headfirst onto the stone floor of the corridor. Syngaard charged the other one, dealing a bit of damage but likewise failing to drop it. Behind them, Galen tried a different tactic: he focused healing energy through his scabbard, forming it into a beam of healing energy that he sent into the back of one of the skeletons. The positive energy overflowed the undead thing's necrotic system, causing it to explode into dust. The other one fled past Carl - who snapped at it ineffectually as it passed him - and Orion, whose attack with her [I]flaming short sword[/I] likewise missed. Kaspar, in a burst of speed, got in a hardened punch, but still the fleeing skeleton refused to fall. Syngaard couldn't catch up to it and thus resorted to his magical javelin again in an act of desperation. As he had suspected, the undead thing survived the attack; javelins aren't ideal weapons to use against skeletons. Finally, Galen repeated the strategy that had destroyed the first skeleton, and it was equally successful this second time. Their job completed, the group decided - against Syngaard's vote - to bring Melvior's body back to the temple of Hieroneous. "I ain't carrying no dead body!" the fighter complained. "You won't have to," reassured Galen, balancing the corpse over his warhorse's saddle. "But I won't leave him in the catacombs - they're reserved for actual followers of Hieroneous, not traitorous impostors." When the conscripts eventually returned to the [I]Enchanted Flagon[/I] for a few cold ales after a job well done, Skevros - after hearing a description of Melvior's robes - black, with blue trim - confirmed that those were the traditional robes worn by members of the Necromancers Guild in the Azure Glade. "What?" sputtered Syngaard. "More of those Azure Glade creeps?" "[I]I[/I] was originally from the Azure Glades myself," Skevros reminded the bald fighter with a frown. "Oh, I'm aware," muttered Syngaard, returning his attention to his ale. - - - Logan laid out the Catacombs of Deserved Rest using a series of our Dungeon Tiles. Since Galen would already have known the layout, there was no need for us to discover it room by room, so they were all already in place when we started gaming. Logan used plastic skeletons from our old Hero Quest game for all but the half-celestial bard skeleton, which got a D&D Miniature robed skeleton to represent it. Logan designed the scabbard to allow Galen a means of healing the rest of us at range, using turn attempts - a resource going untapped in adventures not involving undead. Since Galen can turn undead six times a day, that ability is sure to come in handy. I thought that was a rather clever bit of magic item creation on Logan's part. And the [I]sword of Zehkar[/I] is now an [I]undead bane[/I] weapon, which suits Dan just fine. Galen, Kaspar, and Syngaard all reached 5th level at the end of this adventure, while Orion is so close that she'll undoubtedly make it to 5th level after our next outing. [/QUOTE]
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