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The Saga of Lucius Victorium Gnaeus (A pogre storyhour) Episode Fifteen
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<blockquote data-quote="pogre" data-source="post: 7216944" data-attributes="member: 6588"><p><strong>Episode Fifteen</strong></p><p></p><p>The Saga of Lucius Victorium Gnaeus</p><p></p><p>Episode Fifteen</p><p></p><p>Although we took the precaution of posting a watch in the monastery the previous evening, it proved unnecessary. Well rested, but apprehensive, we ate a cold breakfast in silence. I recited my prayers while others prepared in their own ways. We marched through the nave and at the back found an exit to a descending spiral staircase.</p><p></p><p>The structure of the staircase was a wide ancient stonework, and yet, it seemed somehow out of place in the general construction style of the monastery. As we descended we noticed that the stonework was becoming more jagged and almost warped as we descended further. I was having to watch my step and dodging places where jagged blocks hung down in jaunty angles from the ceiling. The stones did not seem displaced, but warped into this configuration.</p><p></p><p>Sparkling against the light were tiny little red motes. The red dots began to cling to us and soon were coating our armor, capes, weapons, hair and anything else exposed to the air. Efforts to scrape this red substance away were futile. It was Faithless who realized the motes were vaporized droplets of blood. What was bleeding and why was the blood acting this way were not questions I wished to dwell upon. We forged on.</p><p></p><p>Edgy was scouting ahead of the group and came back to report that there was warped door at the bottom of the stairs. The Tabaxi led us to the base of the stairs and the door. He inspected the lock and announced it should be easy to pick because the warping of the door had also warped the lock. True to his word, with a quick flick of his wrist the lock clicked open and the chamber beyond was revealed.</p><p></p><p>The chamber beyond was spacious and built with fashioned stone with an arched ceiling some 17 to 18 feet overhead. The construction reminded me of the ancient catacombs below the city Rel Astra. Spaced fairly evenly in the chamber were five figures impaled on stout wooden poles that looked much like scarecrows. However, these scarecrows were a strange combination of flesh, straw, wood, and bone. I feared that these were many of the former brothers of the monastery, but I couldn’t be certain in the stygian vault. There was a door on the far side of the chamber.</p><p></p><p>Thock hefted his mighty weapon and strode brazenly into the chamber. As the Half-orc barbarian prepared to knock one of the fleshy pillars to the ground it came to life and attacked! As the rest of us poured into the chamber to aid Thock, ten shadow creature also sprung to the attack.</p><p></p><p>I held forth my holy symbol and chanted, “Be gone! The Power of Kord compels you!” A half-dozen of the shadow creatures recoiled in fear and slinked to the far edges of the chamber.</p><p></p><p>The scarecrows advanced, undeterred by my divine admonishments, bearing metal-tipped claws. Edgy streaked into the combat and buried his blade into one of the scarecrows ending its unnatural life. I summoned <em>Kord’s Guardians</em> and they began to mow down the remaining shadow creatures.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Shen and Faithless were doing heavy damage against the scarecrows with their fire-based magic. Combined with the might of Thock’s attacks, the scarecrows fell rapidly. All that remained was to finish off the shadow creatures I had turned through the divine might of Kord. A task the group accomplished with aplomb.</p><p></p><p>While we breathed heavily, recovering from combat, I noticed that each of us now had a sparkling reddish tint. So many of the bloodlet motes had attached to us we appeared to have been neatly sprayed with blood. The scene was disconcerting. As the reddish veneer could not be scraped away or removed, we resolved to continue through the far door.</p><p></p><p><strong>There are no half-measures in the faithful.</strong></p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>The door opened up to another descending spiral staircase. The stonework surrounding the stairwell seemed even more warped. Stonework in the stairs made it difficult to climb down and we were even forced to duck and dodge stonework jutting at awkward angles in our path. As we carefully picked our way down the treacherous stairs we were interrupted by a large chasm dividing the stairs.</p><p></p><p>The chasm at first appeared natural that had divided the stonework, but it had several odd features. Deep, at the bottom of the chasm, we could see the glow of lava. Further, the sheer nature of the sides of the chasm seemed somehow constructed and unnatural. We could see the stairs continued on the other side of the rift.</p><p></p><p>“I can jump across,” Edgy offered.</p><p></p><p>“What if you miss?” Shen countered.</p><p></p><p>“It’s a short span for my legs,” Edgy reassured us. “I’ll jump across and you can send across a rope and secure it.”</p><p></p><p>“Allow us to wrap a rope around your waist for security,” I offered.</p><p></p><p>Edgy acquiesced and we looped and tied a rope around him. Edgy took a short run up and made a prodigious leap. He landed far beyond the opposite side.</p><p></p><p>“Good thing I jumped as far as I did,” he called over to us.</p><p></p><p>“Why?” Thock asked.</p><p></p><p>“The first few feet of this ledge is an illusion,” Edgy answered.</p><p></p><p>The rope was secured and we all made our way across the chasm.</p><p></p><p><strong>Kord clears the eye of the true.</strong></p><p></p><p>******</p><p></p><p>The stairs ended at another very warped door. Edgy went forth and began inspecting the door. Edgy suddenly shrieked and jumped back from the door.</p><p></p><p>“What is it?” Faithless asked.</p><p></p><p>“The door! It’s magical! It rusted and corroded all of my metal tools and equipment. My lock picks are ruined!” he wailed.</p><p></p><p>Thock began peeling his gear off and then his clothes until the half-orc stood stark naked. He gave a mighty war cry and charged the door and threw his body against it. With a resounding *CRACK* the door splintered apart and Thock burst into the chamber beyond.</p><p></p><p>I heard a roar of surprise and watched in fascinated horror as a large tentacle reached down from the ceiling and wrapped around Thock. Thock twisted and struggled, but the tentacle quickly pulled him aloft. We charged into the chamber after our vulnerable barbarian.</p><p></p><p>The predominant feature of the chamber we came into was some sort of chthonic horror on the ceiling with tentacles shooting out of its massive amorphous body. Thock yelled out as his skin was being burned by the slimy coating of acid that covered the beast’s body. Thock thrashed wildly with his fists, punching the tentacle with fury. </p><p></p><p>My own battles with the tentacles seemed ineffective, but fiery blasts from Shen and Faithless did great damage to the creature. Thock managed to sever the tentacle and he fell to the floor with a rain of acid coming down with him. Shen and Faithless kept up their flaming onslaught and soon the beast ceased to move. Puddles of acid sizzled on the flagstone floor and we carefully traversed the room to the far door.</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>“I cannot open it. My picks are ruined,” Edgy complained.</p><p></p><p>“Couldn’t you fashion picks from some spare iron bits?” Faithless asked.</p><p></p><p>“Everything I own is rusted!” Edgy complained. “Besides, this is no simple clasp, roughly made picks probably would not work.”</p><p></p><p>Thock was scraping the last spots of burning acid from his skin, when Shen spoke up, “Maybe we could use this creature’s blood to destroy the lock.”</p><p></p><p>“I’m not touching it,” Thock said.</p><p></p><p>“It is an acid. If we could apply enough to the lock it would destroy the mechanism,” Shen suggested.</p><p></p><p>“Using what?” I asked.</p><p></p><p>Shen did not reply directly, but instead conjured a spiritual hand of some sort and directed it to begin splashing acid onto the door and lock from nearby puddles. The robust sizzling sounds and smoke that rose from the lock’s metal gave some indication that he was making progress. The lock eventually fell out of the door and the door swung opened as though squeezed by the pressure of the surrounding warped structure.</p><p></p><p>Beyond was another descending spiral staircase.</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>“Why are the walls and stairs built this way?” Thock asked. “Is this the way of your temple?”</p><p></p><p>“This is not part of my temple,” I replied. “This place is a corruption. It is a place tainted with evil.”</p><p></p><p>“You’re god is not perfect,” Faithless interjected. “This monastery is a tribute to his fallibility.”</p><p></p><p>“Your blaspheming holds no weight given your patron,” I angrily retorted.</p><p></p><p>“Everyone be still,” Shen commanded. “There is light below.”</p><p></p><p>We all quieted and could see that the sharp-eyed half-elf was right - on a landing below torch light shone out from an arched doorway.</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>The stairs ended at a landing, and beyond the door, was a chamber with a dwarf manacled to the wall. The dwarf was wearing the robes of Kord.</p><p></p><p>Edgy began to make his way across the chamber floor towards the dwarf and the dwarf lifted his head and vigorously shook his head to warn him off. Edgy looked down at the flooring and called back to us, “There are pressure plates all throughout this entire chamber.”</p><p></p><p>Shen cast <em>flight</em> and Edgy went back across the room and freed the dwarf with the help of Thock. Thock carried the dwarf back to the landing. We fed him and gave the dwarf water and wine. Slowly, he regained his wits. We learned that the Dwarf was a brother in the monastery and was captured when it fell.His name was Delvan and he was an acolyte, but had been rigged to the wall as a kind of living alarm. </p><p></p><p>I recited a quick blessing in unison with the acolyte and began to question him. “What enemies are beyond?”</p><p></p><p>“They are few in number, but there is a mighty one amongst them clad in black armor,” Delvan replied.</p><p></p><p>“What happened to the other brothers?”</p><p></p><p>“I do not know the fate of all, but there were a few taken alive down below. For what nefarious purpose, I know not.”</p><p></p><p>We talked some more, but it became clear the brother had little more information to help us. We gave him a weapon and some sustenance and set him back up towards the monastery.</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>We continued down another set of spiral stairs and suddenly the stonework around us changed nature again. The walls surrounding us were now a seamless, black stone. We came to an opening in the wall and beyond found three priests of Kord in small cells. We released them and they knew even less than Delvan. The only information they could share was that they expected to be sacrificed. We sent the brothers back up the stairs to the monastery as well.</p><p></p><p>There was something even more markedly sinister about these solid black walls. The pall the walls cast upon our demeanor was palpable. </p><p></p><p>Edgy was cautiously probing ahead of us and suddenly I heard a barely audible yelp. At the edge of my vision I could see that Edgy had slipped down. I rushed forward and could see the tabaxi had triggered a trap that turned the stairs into a slick ramp. Without hesitation, I jumped onto the slide behind him. I found myself plummeting down with no idea what lay ahead!</p><p></p><p><strong>Trust Faith. A man’s eye will lie.</strong></p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>To my relief my companions came sliding after me and we found ourselves in a jumble at the base of the slick ramp. We were in a nightmarish scene.</p><p></p><p>The chamber we faced had four dark cultist and their master in black plate. The captured Titan was chained to the floor in the middle of the chamber. The bizarre sigils sketched on the walls and floor of the massive chamber helped me realize we had interrupted some sort of ongoing ritual. The Dark Master raised his gauntlet and pointed at us. No words came from him, but his minions responded immediately by rushing to the attack.</p><p></p><p>Edgy and Faithless were able to quickly dispatch one of the minions. I cast <em>Kord’s Guardians</em> and the divine spirits began buffeting the Dark Master and his minions. Thock, in a full battle rage, charged the Dark Master. The barbarian paid a terrible price for his battle lust. As he ran across the chamber, flaming tentacles sprung up from the floor and raked at his skin. Ignoring his wounds, Thock rained down a series of blows on the dark master. I heard the Half-Orc shout, “Do it!”</p><p></p><p>I had no idea what Thock was talking about until I saw Shen readying a spell. Shen released a ball of fire that enveloped the Dark Master and Thock! Thock fell at the feet of the Dark Master. I watched as the Dark Master drew back his mighty sword to cleave Thock’s head off. I dashed closer to the grisly scene and the divine spirits of Kord crashed into the Dark Master. It was just enough. The Dark Master toppled backwards as his life drained out of him.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, the rest of the minions had succumbed to the combined efforts of Edgy, Faithless, and the divine spirits of Kord. </p><p></p><p>TheTitan was still alive, but it was clear he was undergoing a corruption. I tried healing him, but to little effect. As I tried to communicate with him there was a rumbling and I realized the chamber was collapsing!</p><p></p><p>The walls were coming in on us and we were trapped, because the stairs up had transformed into a slick ramp. Edgy desperately looted the Dark Master and found an amulet around his neck and a large book. I took the book and Edgy took the amulet back over to the entrance. The Tabaxi found an indentation that matched the goat head shape of the amulet and inserted it. The stairs were restored and our exit was secured!</p><p></p><p>There remained the problem of rescuing the titan. There was no way he could make it up the narrow winding stairs. The walls continued to collapse. The Titan with a mighty roar shook off his confining chains and braced himself against the walls. Haplodamus finally spoke to us, “Run! If you find a way to free me, I will be in your eternal debt!”</p><p></p><p>We ran.</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>The monastery shook occasionally from the tumult below, but seemed secure. We found the rescued brothers performing rites of cleansing and rituals of sanctification throughout the building.</p><p></p><p>I inspected the book with the help of Faithless translating the Abyssal text. We learned that an Abyssal pocket had been formed and the cultists were using the nexus of magical flow in the monastery to power a profound ritual. Faithless learned they were trying to summon an ancient Dark God of THE END. The dark cult eternal was trying to bring about THE END. They hoped to use the mighty vessel of the Titan Haplodamus to bring their Dark God to the world. To me, it was all pure nihilism, void of faith or hope.</p><p></p><p>The ritual was flawed and would not have succeeded. The cultists had rushed and made several mistakes. If completed it would have had cataclysmic effects, but not accomplished their goals.</p><p></p><p>Following Faithless’s relating of what she had found in the book, I demanded, “The tome must be destroyed! It is a source of elemental evil!”</p><p></p><p>“Nonsense,” Faithless countered. “It is a source of great knowledge. It may even give us the key to freeing Haplodamus. If we destroy it, we may be damning him to an eternal struggle he can never overcome!”</p><p></p><p>The debate went back and forth in this manner. Finally, much to my chagrin, the group voted to keep the book.</p><p></p><p><strong>In the fight against the monstrous, one must not become a monster.</strong></p><p></p><p>****</p><p></p><p>The miles began streaming past as we passed in our airship over the rolling hills and forests. We would be in the great City of Greyhawk in a few days and I wondered how I would adjust after this time in the wilderness. Still, I was excited by the prospect of Greyhawk’s massive temples and vast libraries. I have much to learn.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pogre, post: 7216944, member: 6588"] [b]Episode Fifteen[/b] The Saga of Lucius Victorium Gnaeus Episode Fifteen Although we took the precaution of posting a watch in the monastery the previous evening, it proved unnecessary. Well rested, but apprehensive, we ate a cold breakfast in silence. I recited my prayers while others prepared in their own ways. We marched through the nave and at the back found an exit to a descending spiral staircase. The structure of the staircase was a wide ancient stonework, and yet, it seemed somehow out of place in the general construction style of the monastery. As we descended we noticed that the stonework was becoming more jagged and almost warped as we descended further. I was having to watch my step and dodging places where jagged blocks hung down in jaunty angles from the ceiling. The stones did not seem displaced, but warped into this configuration. Sparkling against the light were tiny little red motes. The red dots began to cling to us and soon were coating our armor, capes, weapons, hair and anything else exposed to the air. Efforts to scrape this red substance away were futile. It was Faithless who realized the motes were vaporized droplets of blood. What was bleeding and why was the blood acting this way were not questions I wished to dwell upon. We forged on. Edgy was scouting ahead of the group and came back to report that there was warped door at the bottom of the stairs. The Tabaxi led us to the base of the stairs and the door. He inspected the lock and announced it should be easy to pick because the warping of the door had also warped the lock. True to his word, with a quick flick of his wrist the lock clicked open and the chamber beyond was revealed. The chamber beyond was spacious and built with fashioned stone with an arched ceiling some 17 to 18 feet overhead. The construction reminded me of the ancient catacombs below the city Rel Astra. Spaced fairly evenly in the chamber were five figures impaled on stout wooden poles that looked much like scarecrows. However, these scarecrows were a strange combination of flesh, straw, wood, and bone. I feared that these were many of the former brothers of the monastery, but I couldn’t be certain in the stygian vault. There was a door on the far side of the chamber. Thock hefted his mighty weapon and strode brazenly into the chamber. As the Half-orc barbarian prepared to knock one of the fleshy pillars to the ground it came to life and attacked! As the rest of us poured into the chamber to aid Thock, ten shadow creature also sprung to the attack. I held forth my holy symbol and chanted, “Be gone! The Power of Kord compels you!” A half-dozen of the shadow creatures recoiled in fear and slinked to the far edges of the chamber. The scarecrows advanced, undeterred by my divine admonishments, bearing metal-tipped claws. Edgy streaked into the combat and buried his blade into one of the scarecrows ending its unnatural life. I summoned [i]Kord’s Guardians[/i] and they began to mow down the remaining shadow creatures. Meanwhile, Shen and Faithless were doing heavy damage against the scarecrows with their fire-based magic. Combined with the might of Thock’s attacks, the scarecrows fell rapidly. All that remained was to finish off the shadow creatures I had turned through the divine might of Kord. A task the group accomplished with aplomb. While we breathed heavily, recovering from combat, I noticed that each of us now had a sparkling reddish tint. So many of the bloodlet motes had attached to us we appeared to have been neatly sprayed with blood. The scene was disconcerting. As the reddish veneer could not be scraped away or removed, we resolved to continue through the far door. [b]There are no half-measures in the faithful.[/b] ***** The door opened up to another descending spiral staircase. The stonework surrounding the stairwell seemed even more warped. Stonework in the stairs made it difficult to climb down and we were even forced to duck and dodge stonework jutting at awkward angles in our path. As we carefully picked our way down the treacherous stairs we were interrupted by a large chasm dividing the stairs. The chasm at first appeared natural that had divided the stonework, but it had several odd features. Deep, at the bottom of the chasm, we could see the glow of lava. Further, the sheer nature of the sides of the chasm seemed somehow constructed and unnatural. We could see the stairs continued on the other side of the rift. “I can jump across,” Edgy offered. “What if you miss?” Shen countered. “It’s a short span for my legs,” Edgy reassured us. “I’ll jump across and you can send across a rope and secure it.” “Allow us to wrap a rope around your waist for security,” I offered. Edgy acquiesced and we looped and tied a rope around him. Edgy took a short run up and made a prodigious leap. He landed far beyond the opposite side. “Good thing I jumped as far as I did,” he called over to us. “Why?” Thock asked. “The first few feet of this ledge is an illusion,” Edgy answered. The rope was secured and we all made our way across the chasm. [b]Kord clears the eye of the true.[/b] ****** The stairs ended at another very warped door. Edgy went forth and began inspecting the door. Edgy suddenly shrieked and jumped back from the door. “What is it?” Faithless asked. “The door! It’s magical! It rusted and corroded all of my metal tools and equipment. My lock picks are ruined!” he wailed. Thock began peeling his gear off and then his clothes until the half-orc stood stark naked. He gave a mighty war cry and charged the door and threw his body against it. With a resounding *CRACK* the door splintered apart and Thock burst into the chamber beyond. I heard a roar of surprise and watched in fascinated horror as a large tentacle reached down from the ceiling and wrapped around Thock. Thock twisted and struggled, but the tentacle quickly pulled him aloft. We charged into the chamber after our vulnerable barbarian. The predominant feature of the chamber we came into was some sort of chthonic horror on the ceiling with tentacles shooting out of its massive amorphous body. Thock yelled out as his skin was being burned by the slimy coating of acid that covered the beast’s body. Thock thrashed wildly with his fists, punching the tentacle with fury. My own battles with the tentacles seemed ineffective, but fiery blasts from Shen and Faithless did great damage to the creature. Thock managed to sever the tentacle and he fell to the floor with a rain of acid coming down with him. Shen and Faithless kept up their flaming onslaught and soon the beast ceased to move. Puddles of acid sizzled on the flagstone floor and we carefully traversed the room to the far door. ***** “I cannot open it. My picks are ruined,” Edgy complained. “Couldn’t you fashion picks from some spare iron bits?” Faithless asked. “Everything I own is rusted!” Edgy complained. “Besides, this is no simple clasp, roughly made picks probably would not work.” Thock was scraping the last spots of burning acid from his skin, when Shen spoke up, “Maybe we could use this creature’s blood to destroy the lock.” “I’m not touching it,” Thock said. “It is an acid. If we could apply enough to the lock it would destroy the mechanism,” Shen suggested. “Using what?” I asked. Shen did not reply directly, but instead conjured a spiritual hand of some sort and directed it to begin splashing acid onto the door and lock from nearby puddles. The robust sizzling sounds and smoke that rose from the lock’s metal gave some indication that he was making progress. The lock eventually fell out of the door and the door swung opened as though squeezed by the pressure of the surrounding warped structure. Beyond was another descending spiral staircase. ***** “Why are the walls and stairs built this way?” Thock asked. “Is this the way of your temple?” “This is not part of my temple,” I replied. “This place is a corruption. It is a place tainted with evil.” “You’re god is not perfect,” Faithless interjected. “This monastery is a tribute to his fallibility.” “Your blaspheming holds no weight given your patron,” I angrily retorted. “Everyone be still,” Shen commanded. “There is light below.” We all quieted and could see that the sharp-eyed half-elf was right - on a landing below torch light shone out from an arched doorway. ***** The stairs ended at a landing, and beyond the door, was a chamber with a dwarf manacled to the wall. The dwarf was wearing the robes of Kord. Edgy began to make his way across the chamber floor towards the dwarf and the dwarf lifted his head and vigorously shook his head to warn him off. Edgy looked down at the flooring and called back to us, “There are pressure plates all throughout this entire chamber.” Shen cast [i]flight[/i] and Edgy went back across the room and freed the dwarf with the help of Thock. Thock carried the dwarf back to the landing. We fed him and gave the dwarf water and wine. Slowly, he regained his wits. We learned that the Dwarf was a brother in the monastery and was captured when it fell.His name was Delvan and he was an acolyte, but had been rigged to the wall as a kind of living alarm. I recited a quick blessing in unison with the acolyte and began to question him. “What enemies are beyond?” “They are few in number, but there is a mighty one amongst them clad in black armor,” Delvan replied. “What happened to the other brothers?” “I do not know the fate of all, but there were a few taken alive down below. For what nefarious purpose, I know not.” We talked some more, but it became clear the brother had little more information to help us. We gave him a weapon and some sustenance and set him back up towards the monastery. ***** We continued down another set of spiral stairs and suddenly the stonework around us changed nature again. The walls surrounding us were now a seamless, black stone. We came to an opening in the wall and beyond found three priests of Kord in small cells. We released them and they knew even less than Delvan. The only information they could share was that they expected to be sacrificed. We sent the brothers back up the stairs to the monastery as well. There was something even more markedly sinister about these solid black walls. The pall the walls cast upon our demeanor was palpable. Edgy was cautiously probing ahead of us and suddenly I heard a barely audible yelp. At the edge of my vision I could see that Edgy had slipped down. I rushed forward and could see the tabaxi had triggered a trap that turned the stairs into a slick ramp. Without hesitation, I jumped onto the slide behind him. I found myself plummeting down with no idea what lay ahead! [b]Trust Faith. A man’s eye will lie.[/b] ***** To my relief my companions came sliding after me and we found ourselves in a jumble at the base of the slick ramp. We were in a nightmarish scene. The chamber we faced had four dark cultist and their master in black plate. The captured Titan was chained to the floor in the middle of the chamber. The bizarre sigils sketched on the walls and floor of the massive chamber helped me realize we had interrupted some sort of ongoing ritual. The Dark Master raised his gauntlet and pointed at us. No words came from him, but his minions responded immediately by rushing to the attack. Edgy and Faithless were able to quickly dispatch one of the minions. I cast [i]Kord’s Guardians[/i] and the divine spirits began buffeting the Dark Master and his minions. Thock, in a full battle rage, charged the Dark Master. The barbarian paid a terrible price for his battle lust. As he ran across the chamber, flaming tentacles sprung up from the floor and raked at his skin. Ignoring his wounds, Thock rained down a series of blows on the dark master. I heard the Half-Orc shout, “Do it!” I had no idea what Thock was talking about until I saw Shen readying a spell. Shen released a ball of fire that enveloped the Dark Master and Thock! Thock fell at the feet of the Dark Master. I watched as the Dark Master drew back his mighty sword to cleave Thock’s head off. I dashed closer to the grisly scene and the divine spirits of Kord crashed into the Dark Master. It was just enough. The Dark Master toppled backwards as his life drained out of him. Meanwhile, the rest of the minions had succumbed to the combined efforts of Edgy, Faithless, and the divine spirits of Kord. TheTitan was still alive, but it was clear he was undergoing a corruption. I tried healing him, but to little effect. As I tried to communicate with him there was a rumbling and I realized the chamber was collapsing! The walls were coming in on us and we were trapped, because the stairs up had transformed into a slick ramp. Edgy desperately looted the Dark Master and found an amulet around his neck and a large book. I took the book and Edgy took the amulet back over to the entrance. The Tabaxi found an indentation that matched the goat head shape of the amulet and inserted it. The stairs were restored and our exit was secured! There remained the problem of rescuing the titan. There was no way he could make it up the narrow winding stairs. The walls continued to collapse. The Titan with a mighty roar shook off his confining chains and braced himself against the walls. Haplodamus finally spoke to us, “Run! If you find a way to free me, I will be in your eternal debt!” We ran. ***** The monastery shook occasionally from the tumult below, but seemed secure. We found the rescued brothers performing rites of cleansing and rituals of sanctification throughout the building. I inspected the book with the help of Faithless translating the Abyssal text. We learned that an Abyssal pocket had been formed and the cultists were using the nexus of magical flow in the monastery to power a profound ritual. Faithless learned they were trying to summon an ancient Dark God of THE END. The dark cult eternal was trying to bring about THE END. They hoped to use the mighty vessel of the Titan Haplodamus to bring their Dark God to the world. To me, it was all pure nihilism, void of faith or hope. The ritual was flawed and would not have succeeded. The cultists had rushed and made several mistakes. If completed it would have had cataclysmic effects, but not accomplished their goals. Following Faithless’s relating of what she had found in the book, I demanded, “The tome must be destroyed! It is a source of elemental evil!” “Nonsense,” Faithless countered. “It is a source of great knowledge. It may even give us the key to freeing Haplodamus. If we destroy it, we may be damning him to an eternal struggle he can never overcome!” The debate went back and forth in this manner. Finally, much to my chagrin, the group voted to keep the book. [b]In the fight against the monstrous, one must not become a monster.[/b] **** The miles began streaming past as we passed in our airship over the rolling hills and forests. We would be in the great City of Greyhawk in a few days and I wondered how I would adjust after this time in the wilderness. Still, I was excited by the prospect of Greyhawk’s massive temples and vast libraries. I have much to learn. [/QUOTE]
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The Saga of Lucius Victorium Gnaeus (A pogre storyhour) Episode Fifteen
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