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Message: <blockquote data-quote="el-remmen" data-source="post: 2822395" data-attributes="member: 11">Session #84 (part 1)They sprinted across the broad boulevard and down the thoroughfare that led to the pyramid and the center of the city.  They left the gate behind.  There had been no trap that Logan’s skill could find, and none was set off.  Ratchis took the lead, with Logan on his heels, while Roland lagged behind keeping Kazrack company.  Martin and Dorn were in the middle ranks.The streets were stained white stone, yellowed and gray in many places, and it were scored with branching cracks that varied in width.  In some places, holes two and three feet deep, and many more feet wide had formed.  The buildings to each side were made of similar material, though they seemed grayer than the street itself.  The lower floors of these structures were built partially into the ground and the entrance ways were at the bottom of narrow shadowy alleys.  Their style reminded Ratchis of the bizarre giants’ homes he had seen when the Keepers of the Gate were returning from Nikar. (1)  However, the upper floors were built with great open balconies, but many of these were cracked and did not look safe to walk on or under.  The buildings were built closely packed, creating narrow serpentine stepped alleys that descended into an abyss of shadow.The lights of the medallions about Martin and Dorn’s necks bounced as they hustled, keeping a rapid pace punctuated by Ratchis’ barks.  The street was about one hundred and twenty feet wide and growing darker by the moment.  The luminescence of the ocean was nearly gone, and its residual light barely bled over the tops of the buildings.They had barely made it a quarter of the way to the pyramid when a figure came shambling out one of the narrow alleys on the left.  It was tall and lanky, and long natty hair shook in the cold air.“Zombies!” Ratchis warned.“We should just hustle past these,” Kazrack said.  “They are slow and pose no real threat if we just avoid them.”Another tall shambling figure appeared from the left, and six more from the right, and three more were closing off retreat from the rear.“Uh, oh,” Martin said, pointed up.  “Look! The roof!”There were five more of the figures on the roof of one of the buildings to the left.  They held spears high over their heads, and a moment later, a rain of spears came down around the Keepers of the Gate.  Ratchis felt a spear bite his hip.  “Keep moving!” Ratchis roared.  “Don’t slow down!”The zombies on the right came leaping at them, spears outstretched, displaying a speed and coordination none in the group had ever seen in a zombie..  They had pale green skin and solid yellow eyes, and sinewy bodies; most of them were over six feet tall.  They wore the tattered remains of white togas, though some wore nothing at all.Logan stepped back and fired arrows at the rushing zombies, but even those that struck them through the neck or eye seemed to do little good. (2)“Lentus! Martin chanted and the charging undead jerked awkwardly, as if suddenly they had been transformed into the kind of zombies the Keepers of the Gate were used to.The ones on roof began to climb down off the buildings head first, looking like desiccated grasshoppers.“That’s not right,” Logan said, putting away his bow and drawing his sword.  The pace of the party was slowing now.  Roland called for Bast’s divine power, and Kazrack grabbed his bag of rune-stones and channeled the pure power of the divine in wave, calling out in dwarven, “Natan-ahb! Do not forsake me, even though I feel that I am farther from you than I have ever been!”Tears filled his eyes as nothing happened.  In the distance they though the heard the echo of a shrill laugh.“Get behind me, Martin,” the dwarf said, taking a moment to wipe his eyes before bringing his halberd to bear.   The watch-mage obeyed, as Ratchis and Logan slowed their pace to form a line with Kazrack and Dorn, to meet the coming zombies.  The watch-mage reached into his bag of tricks, but there was no fuzzy ball within.  He looked in, shocked.“My bag of animals does not function here!” Martin cried in dismay.Putting the bag away, he began to scoop up some of the loose chunks of the street and hurl them over his companions’ heads at the zombies.Roland ripped at one of the ones that came up from behind, braving through the disgusting taste of undead flesh as he chomped and clawed it to pieces.  He soon moved on to another, using his great speed to catch back up with the others when he fell behind.Zombies were swarming in from the left, and Dorn soon found himself surrounded on three sides, slashing futilely as the zombies slammed him over and over with their calcified fists.  The cohort withdrew allowing Ratchis to step up and cleave the head off one and send another to the ground.“Turn these things!” Ratchis barked at Kazrack.   The laughter was on the air again and it seemed to be closer and above them, hidden in the darkness of the night.“Natan-ahb! If you deem me worthy reach out to this far realm and aid me!” Kazrack called to his god, but again his faith was short of the task. (3)“Oh, no!” Dorn cried looking up, and then he stumbled back as the fist of zombie caught him in the chin and another slammed him in the ribs.  “Shadows! Shadows!”Dorn fell back again and Ratchis twirled into his position, cleaving a zombie nearly in two by brute strength alone, his great sword tearing through dead flesh at an angle.  A vaguely humanoid shadow came diving out of the night, swooping at Dorn. He felt the cold touch and the strength of his limbs seemed sapped.The battle was chaos, and the Keepers of the Gate lost any momentum they had towards the pyramid.  A second shadow kept Kazrack busy, so the dwarf put away his halberd and drew his flail.  Logan was separated from the others and fighting three zombies on his own, and Ratchis and Dorn were back to back, fighting to keep from getting flanked.  The first shadow came back for another pass shrieking like a grieving woman, but this time Dorn ducked.  Martin the Green kept flinging stones at zombies, helping Roland who was trying to keep them away from Kazrack so the dwarf could deal with the shadow.  The Bastite tore through them, but it still did not seem fast enough against the great number of them.“This place is a Ra-damned city of the dead!” Logan cursed, jerking his sword out of the neck of one of the zombies and tumbling about it to avoid the spear-thrust of another.“Richard the Red knew he was sending us here!” Kazrack accused.  “I knew this was a bad idea!”  And with that he struck home with his flail and the shadow shrieked and retreated, disappearing into the darkness for moment only to come around for another attack.Dorn was not so lucky and twice more he felt the strength-sapping cold of the shadow’s touch.“Dorn!” Ratchis cried.  The two of them had become separated again, and the warrior had fallen over punch-drunk from the many blows he suffered.  Two of the zombies were dragging his seizing form off towards one of the alleys.  The half-orc plowed past two of the zombies and sliced a hunk of oozing darkness from the shadow.  It hurled itself through the air away from Ratchis and towards Kazrack, and the dwarf felt the satisfying catch of his flail in the essence of the incorporeal undead that told him the magic of his weapon had damaged it.   It croaked and then faded away into nothing.Ratchis cut the arm from one of the zombies dragging Dorn, and Roland leapt upon the other driving it back as the panther ripped the desiccated veins and cracking sinew in the thing’s neck.  But still more zombies came pressing in on the two priests with their spears.  They acted with intelligence and moved to flank and trip the adventurers.  They went for the weakest opponents, trying to separate the others from Dorn.“Ratchis!” Kazrack cried, feeling the cold touch of the other shadow again.  The flail began to feel heavy in his hands.  The shadow flew at Martin but the watch-mage’s mage armor kept the incorporeal thing from getting at him.  “Ratchis, only your weapon can defeat that shadow!  I grow too weak.” (4)The friar of Nephthys spun around to survey the situation, as five of the zombies, each as strong as Kazrack or Ratchis slammed at him.  Roland had healed Dorn and was dragging him towards Martin, to have the watch-mage watch over him.  Logan was struggling against three zombies, though two were destroyed at his feet, and Kazrack kept two at bay as the shadow was swooping down for another attack.“I will fall if I do not dispatch these zombies first!” the half-orc said to his companion.“Oof!” Ratchis tasted blood in the back of his mouth as he felt a spear head enter his lower back. He nearly fell to his knees, but managed to spin around and drop the zombie who had dealt the blow.  However, this left him open and he felt the bite of two more spears and the heavy blows of zombie fists as he went down.“Roland! Cure D’nar!” Kazrack said, crushing the kneecap of a zombie and finishing it off with a blow to the head as it went down.  But the dwarf shuddered again, sliding to the cold stone ground as he felt the touch of the shadow again. “Natan-ahb, please hear me though my voice is as weak as my body and though I am far from the First Mountain. Please grant me your light and power that I may banish these creatures, if not for myself then for my stalwart companions who only seek to help the helpless and defend the innocent.”Kazrack felt the divine energy burst from him and the zombies moaned their displeasure as they turned to flee.  The shadow shrieked again and took off straight for the sky.Logan and Roland finished the last three zombies that had not fled and quickly the Keepers of the Gate re-grouped.  Kazrack was so weakened that he was unable to lift the weight of his own armor and there was no time to remove it, so with a word from Martin, the dwarf levitated a few feet off the ground.  Once Ratchis was conscious again, thanks to the graces of Bast, he tied a rope about Kazrack’s shoulders so he might be pulled along.  He then gently lifted the still unconscious Dorn, and draped him upon the dwarf, even though he too was feeling drained of strength. (5)The Keepers of the Gate continued their hustle towards the pyramid, Dorn and Kazrack in tow.“How humiliating,” Kazrack groaned.More zombies fell in behind them.  They were crouched as they hustled to catch up, spears held relaxed and readied in their dry cracked hands.  These zombies were a far cry from the hundreds of mindless loping things the party had destroyed in the Necropolis of Doom. (6)Soon the great plaza at the center of the city was coming into view, the pyramid looming above all other structures, including the city walls itself.  Ratchis noticed two tall statues flanking the end of the street.  They were of tall figures holding spears straight up and down before them. The figures were about nine feet high, but they were on pedestals nearly seven feet high.  The statues were carved of a white stone, and the figures looked human, with white togas similar to the tatters the zombies wore, but with cowled hoods that covered their faces.It was then that Ratchis noticed a line of zombies moving to block the way to the pyramid plaza.“The statues radiate moderate magic,” Martin warned, having seen them too.  “We should not go between them.”“We have no choice,” Kazrack complained, as the rope holding him was passed to the watch-mage so Ratchis could hold his sword in two hands, and get ready to face the zombies blocking their path.  Suddenly, there was a rain of spears again, as another half-dozen zombies appeared on the roof of a building on the right.  “Meow! Meow! Meow! Meow! Meow!” Roland said to Ratchis, so the half-orc cast speak with animals to communicate with his companion.“There are no zombies in the plaza,”  Roland explained. “I think the magic of the statues is keeping them out of there.”Ratchis relayed this information to the others.“Can we be sure?” Martin the Green asked.“We have to risk it,” Ratchis replied.“I agree,” Kazrack said weakly.Ratchis called on Nephthys to grant him bull’s strength and then cut a path through the zombies.   Martin hurried past as the half-orc held the undead at bay, drawing Kazrack and Dorn behind him. Roland ripped through another zombie to help them get by safely.  Martin stopped and looked at the pyramid.A broad cobblestone plaza surrounded the great structure.  It was built of huge sedimentary bricks pocked with tiny pebbles and grit, and the top of it was not a point, but rather was cut open and flat and from it sprung countless vines, branches, flowers, roots and leaves that covered the vast majority of the pyramid all the way down to the street level.  Great thorny bushes were growing along the base of it, and along a steep set of stairs that led up the side to stone double doors.  Upon the doors was the raised sigil of a great tree in a ring.Logan had stopped to hold off a few of the pursuing zombies that had caught up and soon found himself surrounded.  He suffered a few nasty wounds and was finally able to tumble out of the mob and into the plaza followed by Ratchis and Roland.  Another volley of spears followed them, and both Ratchis and Logan cried out in pain, but the zombies could not follow into the plaza.  They moaned in dissatisfaction, walking back and forth along the invisible barrier. “There is a dweomer upon the door as well!” Martin warned the others as he began to climb the steps.  Roland came up beside him.“Point me towards the door and I shall try to dispel it,” Kazrack said.  Martin obliged the dwarf, but the call to his gods failed. (7)There was another rain of spears on Ratchis and Logan as they reached the bottom of the steps.  More zombies had appeared on the nearby roofs, and while they could not enter the plaza, they still had a good angle for throwing their spears.Roland roared his prayer, attempting to dispel the magic upon the doors as well, but he failed, too.”We’re too much in the open here!” Ratchis said.  “We should take cover around the other side of the pyramid!”“Ratchis, can you…Urk!” Martin had turned to the half-orc, and suddenly he felt the sharp heat of many needles shooting into his back.Roland roared a warning.   As more spears clattered about them, Ratchis saw humanoid creatures rising out of the thorn bushes to join the one that had attacked Martin.  They seemed to be made of fibrous material like the inside of a tree, but a dull gray color, and covered with thousands of tiny needles.  Their faces only had the vaguest of features, except for pointed ears, like a crude parodies of an elf.The four needlemen (8) tensed and another barrage of needles rained on the Keepers of the Gate. Roland winced as he bit down on one, ripping a huge chunk of its leg to little effect.  Ratchis bound up the stairs and hacked at one of the needlemen, closing his eyes as he felt the prick of a half dozen needles hit his face and chest.  Blood washed down his face in thin streams of sweat.Logan followed and hacked at one on the other side.  Roland finished the one he was grappling with; needles sticking out of his snout and haunch.“Ratchis! Your Key!” Martin reminded the friar. (9)Ratchis leapt past the strange plant men and grabbed the large key he carried attached to his chain belt holy symbol.There was a clatter of more spears from the zombies, but they could no longer reach without being very lucky.  But three more of the needlemen rose in the bushes further away from the stair, and soon everyone was bleeding from many needle wounds.  Individually, the needles did little, but in a buzzing cloud, the pain was quite distracting and the tiny wounds bloody.“Nephthys!” Ratchis pressed the end of the key against the stone doors.  “Unlock these bonds and set aside any wards that might keep us from entering this temple shaped like those of ancient days and that holds the undead menace at bay!”The door clicked.“It is still radiating as magical,” Martin said, running up to stand beside Ratchis.“It only temporarily dampens any traps,” Ratchis said. “The magic is still there.  We must hurry.”Ratchis pulled the door open a few inches and shoved Martin inside, even as more needles were fired at them.  He ran back down the steps and grabbed Dorn and Kazrack, as Roland and Logan slipped through the doors as well; the latter holding them open for the half-orc and his burden.Logan kicked the doors shut and pressed his back to them. In a moment, the Keepers of the Gate were in a small dark foyer, slumped against the cold stone floor.  The foyer was decorated with a mosaic made from tiny colored tiles in shades of green, yellow and white. The scene of great hill with a tree atop it and many animals gathered about it, covered the floors and ceiling.  There were no windows, but the slightest breeze came through a slit in the thick burgundy curtain closing the foyer off from whatever was beyond.Martin the Green stood and began to walk over to the curtain.“Martin, wait!” Ratchis called in a harsh whisper.“Can you use your magical eye to see if it is safe beyond the curtain?” Kazrack asked.Martin nodded. “But, it will take ten minutes to cast.”Martin sat back on the floor with his back to the wall and began the low slow chanting of the arcane eye spell.The song of a bird wafted in from the other side of the curtain.“We are going to have to rest here,” Kazrack said.  “We seem to have little choice.”“I just hope that time does run more slowly here,” Ratchis replied. “If we rest here even one day and time is the same here as back in Aquerra, we have lost our chance to find out how to get into Hurgun’s Maze.  And we haven’t even found the Key Room yet.””I said we should not come,” Kazrack croaked.“Too late for that, Kazrack,” Logan said.The dwarf was so weak it took all his energy to shrug.  “At this point, I can only hope that the gods are arranging things in our favor.”What little healing the party had left was spread around, and Dorn finally awoke up in a weakened state.  Kazrack and Ratchis argued about the latter using a healing potion. (10)“I will not waste it on myself,” Ratchis insisted. “At least not now.  Someone else may end up needing it more.”“Is someone there?” a voice came booming from beyond the curtain. It was deep and seemed to have a gurgling echo.  “Rraaaawoooo, hroom, if someone is there come out…”Everyone looked at each other nervously.“Martin, if you stop casting will the spell be lost?” Kazrack asked.  Martin nodded without stopping his casting.“Then stay here,” Kazrack said.  “Ratchis, perhaps you should announce us.”“Who is it that calls us?” Ratchis called, creeping over to the curtain, to take a peek.“Should it not be I who ask you, my unexpected guests, who you are,” the voice asked. “Hrmmm, humm… Yes, yes… That is how is should be. Hum.”“We are called the Keepers of the Gate,” Ratchis called, leaning away from the curtain when he spoke to not give away his position.“Oh! Hum. Oh!” the voice cried. “Ratchis, Kazrack, Martin… Come out!  Your visit is not as unexpected as I first thought. No. No. Hrmmm. Haw.”Ratchis looked back at Kazrack.  The dwarf was finished removing his armor, and dropped all his gear in one corner.  Now he could walk on his own, if still with great difficulty. (11)  The dwarf dragged his feet over to Ratchis and Roland was along side of them.  Logan stood and raised his sword. He had never put it away.Ratchis pulled the curtain aside and there was a collective  gasp.Beyond was a great chamber that revealed the pyramid was but a shell.  Within it was green verdant hill with clumps of small trees and fragrant flowers.  There was a trickling stream, and wisps of cloud dripping tiny rains here and  there.  At the end of the hill was a great tree over forty feet across, and so tall it went out the cut-off top of the pyramid.  It was the source of vines and branches that came down the outside. Strangest of all, was the dull glowing orb, like a tiny moon floating up near the tallest branches of the tree, giving the room just enough silvery ambient light to make out shapes in the chamber, and finer details close up.The Keepers of the Gate, sans Dorn and Martin, took a few steps deeper into the strange chamber, and towards the hill and tree.  A bird cawed, and three chipmunks chased each other in circles and then disappeared behind some rocks on the other side of the stream.“We have come forth,” Kazrack called. “Now, who is it that calls to us?”“Come closer,” the low voice rumbled down the hill.  It seemed to be coming from the top of the hill by the tree.  As the party stepped forward, the tree’s branches began to move, and they could now see a myriad of objects that were tied with white bows into the branches of the tree, here and there.  Mostly there were sacks and bags of various kinds, but they also saw swords, suits of armor, musical instruments, statuettes, bells and chimes, and other things.The trunk twisted and turned as they approached taking the form of a misshapen face, with deep knots for eyes, a moving hollow for a mouth, and curling bits of bark for a nose.“I am Chochokpi,” the tree said.  They could feel the rumble of his voice in their bodies.  “I am the Tree that Grows Backwards.” -----------------------------------Notes:(1)    See Session #73(2)    DM’s Note: Corporeal undead (as opposed to skeletal or non-corporeal) all have DR 5/slashing, as piercing their organs and breaking their bones do little to stop them.  Cutting them to pieces is the most efficient way of defeating them.(3)    DM’s Note: Since this pocket plane exists within the plane of Void (i.e. the Negative Material Plane) all undead gain +4 turn resistance that stacks with any existing turn resistance.(4)    Ratchis’ great sword had magic weapon cast upon it.(5)    DM’s Note: Those that are brought back from negative hit points by means of magic (instead of actual rest) are considered exhausted (-6 Str and Dex).(6)    See Sessions #40 thru #48(7)    DM’s Note: Kazrack’s player (John) has rolled terribly throughout most of the campaign. It was a running joke for a while and we could never get him to change his set of dice to something more effective.  Later in the campaign, when his bag was stolen, losing his dice and D&D books, he was forced to borrow dice from other people, and began to roll a hell of a whole lot better.(8)    DM’s Note: Anyone keeping track of how many 1E Fiend Folio monsters I’ve used in this campaign? <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />(9)    This is the First Key: <a href="http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/Magical+Item+-+The+First+Key" target="_blank">http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/Magical+Item+-+The+First+Key</a>(10)    This was one of the potions found in the backpack along with the Prayer Rug of the Wayfarer near the lair of the Hooked Horrors in Session #67(11)    DM’s Note: Kazrack’s Strength score was down to a 2.</blockquote>

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