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Message: <blockquote data-quote="TerraDave" data-source="post: 5613722" data-attributes="member: 22260"><img src="http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/ToH_Gallery/ToHGraphic25d.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />They stand about the throne, and eventually the elf wizard has the nerve to pick up the scepter, and touch the silver knob to the silver crown on the throne. The throne sinks down and reveals a passage.They wisely decide to leave the great glowing gem. <img src="http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/ToH_Gallery/ToHGraphic28.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />They come to mighty valves of mithril. Before them lies a key. On the valves is a key hole, inside a concavity. Again, the elf, confirming his in-human intelligence, places the gold ball of the scepter inside the concavity, and opens the mighty valves. <img src="http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/ToH_Gallery/ToHGraphic30.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Inside is a tomb, with a sarcophagi, and a vast smoking urn, and chests. And great iron statues. Almost certainly the ones alluded to in the poem! But they party stops short. Seeing too much danger, they return to the columned hall. Where they invite more danger by spending several hours…The bearded devil and his hell hound, soon to be joined by his other hell hound, should have had an easy time with the depleted party. If only the first hound had not been put to sleep or the devil himself dismissed by the cleric. He soon finds himself and his dogs back in hell, and the party resumed their rest. They return to the chamber. They are careful…and wonder, how to advance? The sarcophagi, which has a glyph saying “Acererak”, is opened. In it lies a broken skeleton with a broken staff. The mighty wizard? Speaking of wizards, the parties fails to find any secret doors….but that information allows Nar-Heru to guess that the statues or chests might be concealing one. The chests, opened by the brave tiefling, are full of gems and gold! (well, sort of…). Still no exit. Finally, Forge starts moving an iron statue. It does not animate and attack. But 2 efreeti emerge from the urn. And Lucian…starts talking to them! Successfully! They are delayed, and a little confused, and start talking about “infinite planar loops”. The party tries to figure out how to disable or destroy the urn, and two more efreeti pop out. These attack. One is destroyed, but another pops out (or is it the same one?)!But the parties delaying tactics pay off, and use a mix of arcane energy and some arrows and rags stuffed in the mouth of the urn, cause it to burst, freeing how many ever efreeti where actually trapped by it. As a reward, they restore the damage taken and powers used by the party that day. Forge and Ghen move the statue, and another tunnel is revealed. They too quickly advance, looking for the exit, and find it. Uncanny doors that lead right back…into the hall by the intersection and unfortunate siren’s cavern (but, due to their extra dimensional nature, could never be found on the other side).  But what else is there?They continue their obsession with the over-explored room of columns and throne, but, as if being reminded by their conscience, they eventually realize they did little exploring after leaving the last “tomb”. They return to check the walls and find a key-hole.  The elf continues his streak, taking the two “keys” from the vat chamber, and putting them together to make one. This fits, and causes the wall to sink into the floor. An empty, crypt like room is found and explored. Another key hole on the floor is revealed. Ghen is in the room, sticks in second key they found (on the steps just the previous day). Nothing happens. They bring in Lucian. Not much. Finally Buckthorn takes it and everyone else is out of the room. The Halfling turns, and turns…and the floor starts to rise up. He leaps back, and suddenly a new chamber rises to fill the old, closed by mithril doors on which are no key holes, but a great pull ring. (And again, the luck of the party continues, as none were crushed by the sudden upward thrust of the vault. Just as they missed the consequences of using the wrong keys or scepter ends at various points. Most curious.)<img src="http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/ToH_Gallery/ToHGraphic33.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />They enter. Some treasure is scattered about. And across the way they see a platform with a skull and some dust. The usual precautions are taken, and it is noted that the skull has great rubies for eyes and big diamonds for teeth. Eventually, the shifter shaman starts to shovel treasure into one of the party’s magic bags. The room shifts and the walls fade, to be replaced by a vortex of dark aetherial energy of shadow and death. The skull rises on its pillar. It’s looking for souls. The band of 5 (plus two spirits) react. Attacking the skull may not cause it much damage, but it brings a sudden curse on the attacker and pushes them towards the vortex. The vortex pushes the interlopers farther out, and bring darkness and necrotic harm. And the skull—the demi-lich Acererak—uses an eye gem to begin slowly draining the soul. <img src="http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/ToH_Gallery/ToHGraphic33a.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Lucian knocks the skull off its pedestal, only to have it return. But Ghen is not deterred. First through this spirit, and then with his mace, he brings a wave of holy harm to it, bringing it nearly to rupture (3 crits total over the combat by the cleric). Buckthorn riddles it with arrows, Forge throws and hits it with both axes, Nar-Heru calls forth a flaming sphere. It reacts. Cursing almost everyone, and uses both eyes to drain souls. As it drains souls, it seems to slowly recover from the inflicted harm. Forge is the first to have his soul sucked out. Then Ghen is targeted. But survives, and is targeted again..and again. Even as he heals his comrades and continues to pound on the skull with spirit and mace. It becomes a scramble for survival. Buckthorn becomes a back up healer. Nar-Heru desperately examines the treasure from the chamber, finding an invisibility potion, and using cover from that, examines the rest. Lucian tries to do enough damage to offset the regeneration. Buckthorn and even Lucian calls on their respective goddesses. And Ghen invokes his god and starts regenerating himself. He is given a potion to resist necrotic damage by the elf. It isn’t enough, and his soul joins Forge in the adjacent eye. But Buckthorn has the mace. First a miss. Lucian fails to blind it. Nar doesn’t seem to have anyway to damage it. Forge and Ghen’s bodies decay at an accelerated rate. Finally a hit by the halfling! And it is crushed.Not only do the three survive the Tomb, but through an incredible bit of luck, both trapped souls return to their bodies. They do not linger. The Tomb of Horrors is successfully completed.They make camp.</blockquote>

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