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Raiders of the Overreach
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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 7913817" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 9: THE CALL OF KRAVYRN'S CRYPT</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster: <p style="margin-left: 20px">Cramer Appleknocker, gnome cleric 3</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Jhasspok, lizardfolk 3</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Khari Hammerslammer, dwarf fighter 3</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Marlo Pendragon, human sorcerer 3</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Utred "Buckets" Butterflinger, dwarf barbarian 3</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 5 February 2020</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>The group arrived in Ducrest, the first village in the kingdom of Kravyrn they had seen, shortly after the villagers had put out the fires started by the goblin raiders. The Jalamir slaves were met with wary and suspicious stares at first - especially Jhasspok, who at first thought they were looking at him strangely because he'd turned the flames of his <em>slave-light cloak</em> green and was somewhat surprised when they still looked at him just as oddly after he'd altered the illusory flames back to their normal yellowy color. However, the villagers' glares turned to expressions of surprise and then glee once they saw the five had not only slain the last of the goblin tribe that had plagued them for decades but were also returning all of the goods the goblins had stolen (including the wagon). At that point, not even the fact the other four traveled with a hulking lizardfolk could put the Ducrest villagers off celebrating their new heroes. They insisted the five Jalamir slaves stay for free at a comfortable inn overnight and the next day the mayor's daughter <strong>Jayleen</strong> insisted upon guiding them to the capital of the kingdom of Kravyrn upon learning they were eager to speak with the king in an effort to gain his aid in helping Greenvale.</p><p></p><p>"It isn't far," insisted Jayleen, riding in the wagon beside Cramer, who was driving as usual. "And I'm sure getting an audience won't be difficult once the king learns what you have done for our village."</p><p></p><p>On the way, though, the slaves all suddenly turned their heads to the side as one, listening to a quiet voice in their ears. This time even Jhasspok heard it. "Is that N'zorthal?" he asked, well aware the illithid was capable of mental contact with the other four since the tips of his facial tentacles protruded through the <em>ring gate necklaces</em> they wore. But this time he too, for whatever reason, could hear the voice in his head.</p><p></p><p>"That's not him," corrected Cramer. "It's a male voice, though...."</p><p></p><p>"You are hearing voices?" gasped Jayleen, her face aglow with excitement. "It is said, on occasion, great heroes are called to the crypt to prove their valor. I'll bet that's what's happening to you!" If she had been pleased to be in the presence of those who had taken out the goblin raiders before, she was now overjoyed and had instantly become their greatest fan. "If you seek to get the king to join you in aiding Greenvale, heeding the call to Kravyrn's crypt will be even further proof of your valor and will likely go a long way to getting the king on your side!"</p><p></p><p>It was difficult to argue against that logic; as they had been warned gathering allies to aid the sunborn drow would likely be a difficult task, the slaves decided to take every advantage they could. At Cramer's urging, Jayleen directed the wagon off the main road and over to the crypt from where the mental call was likely emanating. It was a simple stone building at the back of a fenced area, to the side of which were several graves, three of them recent. Cramer brought the horse to a halt and tied the reins to the wagon, then cast a <em>detect undead</em> spell upon himself as the others approached the gate in the metal fence. It was unlocked and Jhasspok opened it easily. Jayleen, not having heard any mental calling in her own head, decided her place was to stay in the wagon; had she been meant to accompany the heroes on their test of valor she would have no doubt received a similar summons herself, she reasoned.</p><p></p><p>The graves were unremarkable, without any words carved onto the stone slabs serving as headstones, so the group advanced to the crypt building. The double doors were unlocked and pulled outward; entering, they saw an altar before a statue of an angelic, winged figure. Utred noticed right away the entire section of stone floor along the western wall was seamed, suggesting to the dwarven barbarian the floor might easily become a set of stairs if the trigger mechanism could be found.</p><p></p><p>Khari and Jhasspok examined the seams closely and the wall behind them but could find no activation switch or trigger. Marlo cast a <em>detect magic</em> spell and confirmed both the presumed stairs and the angelic statue had auras of magic. But rather than check out the statue, everyone decided to try the area around the stairs to see if they could activate them somehow from there. Once the concept had been explained to him, Jhasspok tried leaving an offering on the altar before the winged angel but apparently a dried dung beetle was not sufficient. Shrugging, the lizardfolk retrieved his spurned gift and popped it into his mouth, chewing the snack. He was almost out - good thing they'd be returning to Overreach soon!</p><p></p><p>Eventually, tired of looking along the walls and floor for something that apparently wasn't there, Cramer stepped over to the statue and gave the carved figure an appreciative look, finding a hidden button that did exactly what they had hoped: caused the individual tiled spaces to lower into the floor, creating a stairwell leading down to a lower level. This was particularly worrisome for Jhasspok and Khari, who had been standing on the tiles when they began their descent.</p><p></p><p>The only light in the lower level was that of the <em>slave-light cloaks</em> worn by the adventurers and a dim illumination coming from niches in the walls. A closer examination of the niches revealed each alcove held a sword whose blade was covered in glowing runes. There were piles of bone shards and dust at the bottom of each alcove, which made Cramer instantly suspicious that the shards would reform back into skeletons if they were disturbed. "Nobody touch any of the swords!" he warned.</p><p></p><p>Utred raced past his fellow dwarf and the lizardfolk who had been examining the closest niches. With his dwarven darkvision he could see the passageway continued on straight just ahead with a fork off to the right. At the end of the straight tunnel stood a set of double doors, the words carved above them indicating they guarded a treasure vault just beyond. "Odd they'd be broadcasting that information so blatantly," he muttered to himself; most dwarven treasure holds with which he was familiar took distinct pains to <em>hide</em> the treasure! Not trusting something so obviously fake - he was fairly certain the "treasure vault" would be a trap of some sort - he turned the corner and found a quartet of ghoulish figures in four alcoves to either side of this tunnel. Beyond the undead was another set of double doors, this one marked with the symbol of a massive sun.</p><p></p><p>Hissing in anger or hunger (or possible both), the ghoulish figures stepped out of their alcoves and turned to face Utred, who held his <em>Elderwood flaming longsword</em> at the ready. Khari advanced beside his fellow dwarf and readied his own weapon, a dwarven warhammer. Marlo, however, was giving the glowing swords in the wall-niches a thorough examination, careful not to disturb them or the piles of bones beneath them. Cramer came up beside the sorcerer and noted the bone piles were registering as undead to his still-active detection spell. That prompted the gnome cleric to cast a <em>protection from evil</em> spell upon himself.</p><p></p><p>Jhasspok had his masterwork short sword out and turned the corner, stepping up to the nearest shambling figure, noticing as he did so the terrible smell coming from their undead flesh. But before he could raise his turtle-shell shield in defense, the lead figure - a ghast - darted forward and bit the lizardfolk, causing his muscles to seize up and prevent him from moving at all. This was a new sensation for the lizardfolk and he immediately came to the realization he didn't like it one bit! He was just glad his tail helped keep him upright as he mentally tried everything he could do to get his limbs to start working again - to no avail.</p><p></p><p>The ghouls moved up from behind their leader, the first two ignoring the immobile Jhasspok as they tried to paralyze the dwarves. But Utred had other ideas, his enchanted blade slicing through the first ghoul and cleaving into the body of the second without seeming to meet any resistance. Both ghouls collapsed to the floor of the crypt at the end of Utred's blade-swing, their unliving bodies having found the true death at the barbarian's sword. The third ghoul decided it was safer to try to bite Jhasspok, who was guaranteed not to fight back, but his distraction at seeing his other two undead companions being brought down in as many seconds prevented Jhasspok from being bitten a second time.</p><p></p><p>Utred took a step forward and swung his blade down at the third ghoul, cutting into its undead flesh but failing to slay it as easily as he had its two other companions. But Khari had the situation - and his trusty warhammer - well in hand, bringing its weapon-head to crash down upon the ghoul's head. Just that quickly, three ghouls lay dead on the floor of the crypt, leaving only the more powerful ghast remaining.</p><p></p><p>Marlo's examination of the swords was enhanced by a <em>read magic</em> spell, allowing her to determine the glowing runes on the blades denoted some type of teleportation magic. Cramer decided to let the sorcerer do any further scrutiny on the swords; he was likely of more use fighting off the undead the others were facing. Moving up, he cast a <em>shield of faith</em> spell upon Utred, so far their greatest weapon in slaying these undead menaces.</p><p></p><p>The ghast bit Jhasspok again, apparently hoping to ensure the lizardfolk would stay well out of combat long enough he wouldn't even be a factor while the ghast dealt with the others. He'd have been better off dealing with Utred, though, for the dwarven barbarian sent his sword stabbing into the ghast's sickly flesh, causing the undead thing to hiss in sudden pain. The pain intensified when Marlo cast a <em>magic missile</em> spell his way.</p><p></p><p>Khari, seeing the ghast was being well taken care of, decided to see to Jhasspok's safety by dragging the frozen lizardfolk out of the ghast's reach; Jhasspok's tail made for a handy handle in doing so. Then, having opened up a space for himself, the dwarven fighter stepped up to where the lizardfolk had been standing and swung his warhammer at the ghast. Cramer, seeing the bite-marks oozing blood down the lizardfolk's scales, moved forward and cast a healing spell upon Jhasspok - and was promptly bitten by the ghast for his troubles. Fortunately, the cleric was able to overcome not only the paralyzation effect of the bite but also the nausea-inducing effect of the ghast's horrific stench.</p><p></p><p>The ghast turned and faced Utred, hitting the barbarian with a set of jagged claws and biting him on the arm. Utred's reaction was instant, bringing the killing blow to the fight by swinging his blade into the ghast's neck, coming a mere few inches away from decapitating the evil thing. He pulled his blade out of the creature as it fell to the crypt floor, dead beyond any doubt.</p><p></p><p>Taking only a moment to swipe the blood from his arm where the ghast had bit him, Utred advanced to the double doors holding the sun image: the holy symbol of Pelor, he realized. He could just barely hear the trickling sound of water coming from the other side. Pulling the doors open, he saw a well-lit chamber opening up before him. This was by far the biggest room they'd encountered in this crypt, well over twice the size of the entire crypt building up on the surface. Widening out just beyond the double doors (the trickling water sound came from just beneath the section of floor immediately inside the room, Utred determined - likely an underground stream), the chamber held four stone coffins on this level and another two on a raised section in the back, where the room narrowed back down to the width of the double doors. At the far end of the room, along the back wall of the raised section, stood a marble throne, upon which lounged a human woman in red robes.</p><p></p><p>The slaves slowly entered the chamber, even Jhasspok, who had finally gotten his reptilian body to do his own bidding now that the ghast's paralyzation had finally run its course. "Is she undead?" Utred asked Cramer.</p><p></p><p>"Can't tell," the cleric replied. "She's too far away to register with my <em>detect undead</em> spell."</p><p></p><p>"The spell's still active, though?" Utred pressed.</p><p></p><p>"Sure."</p><p></p><p>That was all Utred needed to hear; sheathing his sword and picking up Cramer by the waist, he carried the gnome further into the room at the barbarian's top speed. "Put me down!" Cramer complained. "She's not undead - the only undead aura I'm getting is from the coffin on her right!"</p><p></p><p>That, in turn, was all Jhasspok needed to hear. Racing forward, he sprinted all the way to the steps leading up to the raised section, leaped over the stairs, and landed on the stone lid of the coffin, hoping his weight would prevent whatever was in it from being able to get out. He then spun in place to face the others; he'd let them decide how best to proceed next.</p><p></p><p>Marlo, for her part, readied another <em>magic missile</em> spell, just in case the lounging woman in red decided to try anything or anybody popped out of any of the other coffins. She did notice one of the coffins in the front section (it was empty, she noted in passing) had had its lid smashed open quite some time ago, judging by the numerous cobwebs covering its shattered pieces. But the woman in red proved to be no threat at all; closer inspection showed she was unconscious, her white robes stained with blood - presumably her own. "Vampire!" warned Cramer to the others. "She's likely his latest victim." That also explained the running water at the front doors of the chamber, the gnome realized: a vampire would be unable to cross through the doors on his own. This whole chamber, he realized, was likely built to keep a vampire - or vampires? - imprisoned. Unrolling a <em>cure light wounds</em> scroll, he healed the woman, who blinked awake with a look of incomprehension on her face. Then, inexplicably, she began growling softly to herself.</p><p></p><p>"Vampire!" repeated Jhasspok. Well <em>that</em> was a relief - the lizardfolk had heard of vampires before; they were just a type of bat and bats were something with which he was very familiar, having lived all but the last dozen days or so of his life in the Underdark. Even a vampire bat big enough to fill the stone coffin beneath him wasn't likely to cause the group too much trouble, assuming it could even get out - which was unlikely, given the bulky reptile perched on the coffin lid.</p><p></p><p>A stream of mist suddenly shot out of a small hole in the side of the coffin upon which Jhasspok sat perched, squatting over its lid as if trying to hatch it. The mist coalesced into a human form, no sooner having taken on its full semblance before Marlo's readied <em>magic missiles</em> struck it in the chest.</p><p></p><p>"Well," said the figure, a rather handsome-looking man by the look of it, holding up a hand directing the group to cease all attacks, "I congratulate you on not setting off the trap of the empty 'treasure vault.' And you attempted to rescue the 'damsel in distress' - a good job there as well."</p><p></p><p>"Wait, what?" asked Marlo, confused. This was <em>not</em> how she had expected a vampire to react.</p><p></p><p>"I have no desire to kill you," reassured the vampire. "In fact, I called you here merely to talk."</p><p></p><p>"So <em>you're</em> responsible for the voice we all heard," reasoned Cramer, his mind racing. Did he call people to his vault to restock his food sources? Were they expected to let this undead thing drink their blood? Was he alone, or were these other coffins filled with vampires as well?</p><p></p><p>"Indeed I am," confirmed the vampire, replying to the gnome's spoken statement. "I am <strong>Kravyrn, the Duke of Oakenfield</strong>. Or I was, in life - my son later turned Oakenfield into a kingdom and named it in my honor. But I was afflicted with a curse - how or why is still unknown to me to this day - that robbed me of my heavenly reward after my death. Desiring a more pleasurable outcome than what awaited me, my son and I set up this crypt to house me when I became a vampire."</p><p></p><p>"So you're trapped here? Forever?" asked Cramer.</p><p></p><p>"In times of emergency or great import, the kings of Kravyrn over the years have sought out my council and even occasionally allowed me out of my crypt to fight for the kingdom."</p><p></p><p>"So you, what, call people to your crypt like you did to us? To serve you as food?" demanded Khari, making the same assumption Cramer had earlier entertained. The dwarven fighter didn't trust vampires, even those who spoke in a reasonable tone and seemed more eager for conversation than combat. He held his warhammer in a readied stance from which he could swing it almost instantly, if it became necessary. </p><p></p><p>"By no means," answered Kravyrn, waving a hand over to the woman still lounging on the throne. "I have all of the food I might need. A <em>polymorph any object</em> spell cast upon a pack of wolves has taken care of my dietary needs; the other three are currently sleeping in the coffins in the area below us, there." Here he indicated the three unsmashed stone coffins in the lower section of the chamber.</p><p></p><p>"So then why are we here?" demanded Khari, still not trusting this vampire.</p><p></p><p>"I set up an <em>alarm</em> spell to inform me when people of, let us say, 'prophetic note' show up in the kingdom. I believe you five are part of a prophecy concerning a great cataclysm of imminence. According to the version I have heard, you are very likely the champions of the 'sunborn,' whatever that might be."</p><p></p><p>"You know of the sunborn?" Cramer asked.</p><p></p><p>"Of the name only, not the meaning behind it."</p><p></p><p>Cramer looked at his fellow slaves, questioning without saying a word aloud whether they trusted this vampire. Seeing nobody but Khari - who still held his warhammer in a readied stance - seemed concerned about Kravyrn, the cleric pressed on. "The 'sunborn' are the elves of Greenvale - drow elves, actually, but an offshoot of drow lacking the inherent evil of the normal Underdark variety," he explained. "We are currently slaves to a House of Underdark drow, sent to the surface as raiders. But we've met up with the sunborn of Greenvale and have agreed to aid them in taking down the Underdark drow city where we have been enslaved."</p><p></p><p>"We're secret double slaves," Jhasspok offered, as if that made things any clearer.</p><p></p><p>"We were on the way to seek an audience with the king of Kravyrn, bringing him gifts of trade goods from Greenvale in an effort to gain his allegiance in helping the sunborn to take down the drow city of Overreach - where our current drow masters hold sway, and send out raiders like ourselves to snatch surface dwellers to add to their ranks of slaves. We would see that practice brought to an end."</p><p></p><p>"A noble goal," agreed Kravyrn. He pulled a pendant hanging from a chain beneath his shirt and passed it to Jhasspok. It held a glowing rune upon it. "This," Kravyrn explained, "is my personal rune, as depicted by an <em>arcane mark</em> spell. The common folk of my kingdom know it to be the crest of the royal family. The king, when you show it to him, will recognize it as proof of my endorsement of your goal."</p><p></p><p>"Then you think he'll help us?" Cramer asked.</p><p></p><p>"I do."</p><p></p><p>Cramer grinned widely. That was exactly what he had been hoping to hear!</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>As promised, we all leveled up to 4th after this adventure. Jhasspok <em>finally</em> got to add an actual character class - I went with barbarian - and wouldn't you know it, my dice (which had been failing me all night, as evidenced by my Fortitude save failure which had me paralyzed by the ghast and my inability to deal any damage whatsoever during the entire adventure) continued to suck as I rolled a natural "1" for Jhasspok's 1d12 hit point increase. Gah! Oh well, at least I got fast movement and rage 1/day out of the deal.</p><p></p><p>Logan informs us we'll start out next session with our meeting with the king of Kravyrn but then our initial two-week surface exploration will have come to an end and it will be time to return to the Overreach.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 7913817, member: 508"] [b]ADVENTURE 9: THE CALL OF KRAVYRN'S CRYPT[/b] PC Roster: [INDENT]Cramer Appleknocker, gnome cleric 3 Jhasspok, lizardfolk 3 Khari Hammerslammer, dwarf fighter 3 Marlo Pendragon, human sorcerer 3 Utred "Buckets" Butterflinger, dwarf barbarian 3[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 5 February 2020 - - - The group arrived in Ducrest, the first village in the kingdom of Kravyrn they had seen, shortly after the villagers had put out the fires started by the goblin raiders. The Jalamir slaves were met with wary and suspicious stares at first - especially Jhasspok, who at first thought they were looking at him strangely because he'd turned the flames of his [i]slave-light cloak[/i] green and was somewhat surprised when they still looked at him just as oddly after he'd altered the illusory flames back to their normal yellowy color. However, the villagers' glares turned to expressions of surprise and then glee once they saw the five had not only slain the last of the goblin tribe that had plagued them for decades but were also returning all of the goods the goblins had stolen (including the wagon). At that point, not even the fact the other four traveled with a hulking lizardfolk could put the Ducrest villagers off celebrating their new heroes. They insisted the five Jalamir slaves stay for free at a comfortable inn overnight and the next day the mayor's daughter [b]Jayleen[/b] insisted upon guiding them to the capital of the kingdom of Kravyrn upon learning they were eager to speak with the king in an effort to gain his aid in helping Greenvale. "It isn't far," insisted Jayleen, riding in the wagon beside Cramer, who was driving as usual. "And I'm sure getting an audience won't be difficult once the king learns what you have done for our village." On the way, though, the slaves all suddenly turned their heads to the side as one, listening to a quiet voice in their ears. This time even Jhasspok heard it. "Is that N'zorthal?" he asked, well aware the illithid was capable of mental contact with the other four since the tips of his facial tentacles protruded through the [i]ring gate necklaces[/i] they wore. But this time he too, for whatever reason, could hear the voice in his head. "That's not him," corrected Cramer. "It's a male voice, though...." "You are hearing voices?" gasped Jayleen, her face aglow with excitement. "It is said, on occasion, great heroes are called to the crypt to prove their valor. I'll bet that's what's happening to you!" If she had been pleased to be in the presence of those who had taken out the goblin raiders before, she was now overjoyed and had instantly become their greatest fan. "If you seek to get the king to join you in aiding Greenvale, heeding the call to Kravyrn's crypt will be even further proof of your valor and will likely go a long way to getting the king on your side!" It was difficult to argue against that logic; as they had been warned gathering allies to aid the sunborn drow would likely be a difficult task, the slaves decided to take every advantage they could. At Cramer's urging, Jayleen directed the wagon off the main road and over to the crypt from where the mental call was likely emanating. It was a simple stone building at the back of a fenced area, to the side of which were several graves, three of them recent. Cramer brought the horse to a halt and tied the reins to the wagon, then cast a [i]detect undead[/i] spell upon himself as the others approached the gate in the metal fence. It was unlocked and Jhasspok opened it easily. Jayleen, not having heard any mental calling in her own head, decided her place was to stay in the wagon; had she been meant to accompany the heroes on their test of valor she would have no doubt received a similar summons herself, she reasoned. The graves were unremarkable, without any words carved onto the stone slabs serving as headstones, so the group advanced to the crypt building. The double doors were unlocked and pulled outward; entering, they saw an altar before a statue of an angelic, winged figure. Utred noticed right away the entire section of stone floor along the western wall was seamed, suggesting to the dwarven barbarian the floor might easily become a set of stairs if the trigger mechanism could be found. Khari and Jhasspok examined the seams closely and the wall behind them but could find no activation switch or trigger. Marlo cast a [i]detect magic[/i] spell and confirmed both the presumed stairs and the angelic statue had auras of magic. But rather than check out the statue, everyone decided to try the area around the stairs to see if they could activate them somehow from there. Once the concept had been explained to him, Jhasspok tried leaving an offering on the altar before the winged angel but apparently a dried dung beetle was not sufficient. Shrugging, the lizardfolk retrieved his spurned gift and popped it into his mouth, chewing the snack. He was almost out - good thing they'd be returning to Overreach soon! Eventually, tired of looking along the walls and floor for something that apparently wasn't there, Cramer stepped over to the statue and gave the carved figure an appreciative look, finding a hidden button that did exactly what they had hoped: caused the individual tiled spaces to lower into the floor, creating a stairwell leading down to a lower level. This was particularly worrisome for Jhasspok and Khari, who had been standing on the tiles when they began their descent. The only light in the lower level was that of the [i]slave-light cloaks[/i] worn by the adventurers and a dim illumination coming from niches in the walls. A closer examination of the niches revealed each alcove held a sword whose blade was covered in glowing runes. There were piles of bone shards and dust at the bottom of each alcove, which made Cramer instantly suspicious that the shards would reform back into skeletons if they were disturbed. "Nobody touch any of the swords!" he warned. Utred raced past his fellow dwarf and the lizardfolk who had been examining the closest niches. With his dwarven darkvision he could see the passageway continued on straight just ahead with a fork off to the right. At the end of the straight tunnel stood a set of double doors, the words carved above them indicating they guarded a treasure vault just beyond. "Odd they'd be broadcasting that information so blatantly," he muttered to himself; most dwarven treasure holds with which he was familiar took distinct pains to [i]hide[/i] the treasure! Not trusting something so obviously fake - he was fairly certain the "treasure vault" would be a trap of some sort - he turned the corner and found a quartet of ghoulish figures in four alcoves to either side of this tunnel. Beyond the undead was another set of double doors, this one marked with the symbol of a massive sun. Hissing in anger or hunger (or possible both), the ghoulish figures stepped out of their alcoves and turned to face Utred, who held his [i]Elderwood flaming longsword[/i] at the ready. Khari advanced beside his fellow dwarf and readied his own weapon, a dwarven warhammer. Marlo, however, was giving the glowing swords in the wall-niches a thorough examination, careful not to disturb them or the piles of bones beneath them. Cramer came up beside the sorcerer and noted the bone piles were registering as undead to his still-active detection spell. That prompted the gnome cleric to cast a [i]protection from evil[/i] spell upon himself. Jhasspok had his masterwork short sword out and turned the corner, stepping up to the nearest shambling figure, noticing as he did so the terrible smell coming from their undead flesh. But before he could raise his turtle-shell shield in defense, the lead figure - a ghast - darted forward and bit the lizardfolk, causing his muscles to seize up and prevent him from moving at all. This was a new sensation for the lizardfolk and he immediately came to the realization he didn't like it one bit! He was just glad his tail helped keep him upright as he mentally tried everything he could do to get his limbs to start working again - to no avail. The ghouls moved up from behind their leader, the first two ignoring the immobile Jhasspok as they tried to paralyze the dwarves. But Utred had other ideas, his enchanted blade slicing through the first ghoul and cleaving into the body of the second without seeming to meet any resistance. Both ghouls collapsed to the floor of the crypt at the end of Utred's blade-swing, their unliving bodies having found the true death at the barbarian's sword. The third ghoul decided it was safer to try to bite Jhasspok, who was guaranteed not to fight back, but his distraction at seeing his other two undead companions being brought down in as many seconds prevented Jhasspok from being bitten a second time. Utred took a step forward and swung his blade down at the third ghoul, cutting into its undead flesh but failing to slay it as easily as he had its two other companions. But Khari had the situation - and his trusty warhammer - well in hand, bringing its weapon-head to crash down upon the ghoul's head. Just that quickly, three ghouls lay dead on the floor of the crypt, leaving only the more powerful ghast remaining. Marlo's examination of the swords was enhanced by a [i]read magic[/i] spell, allowing her to determine the glowing runes on the blades denoted some type of teleportation magic. Cramer decided to let the sorcerer do any further scrutiny on the swords; he was likely of more use fighting off the undead the others were facing. Moving up, he cast a [i]shield of faith[/i] spell upon Utred, so far their greatest weapon in slaying these undead menaces. The ghast bit Jhasspok again, apparently hoping to ensure the lizardfolk would stay well out of combat long enough he wouldn't even be a factor while the ghast dealt with the others. He'd have been better off dealing with Utred, though, for the dwarven barbarian sent his sword stabbing into the ghast's sickly flesh, causing the undead thing to hiss in sudden pain. The pain intensified when Marlo cast a [i]magic missile[/i] spell his way. Khari, seeing the ghast was being well taken care of, decided to see to Jhasspok's safety by dragging the frozen lizardfolk out of the ghast's reach; Jhasspok's tail made for a handy handle in doing so. Then, having opened up a space for himself, the dwarven fighter stepped up to where the lizardfolk had been standing and swung his warhammer at the ghast. Cramer, seeing the bite-marks oozing blood down the lizardfolk's scales, moved forward and cast a healing spell upon Jhasspok - and was promptly bitten by the ghast for his troubles. Fortunately, the cleric was able to overcome not only the paralyzation effect of the bite but also the nausea-inducing effect of the ghast's horrific stench. The ghast turned and faced Utred, hitting the barbarian with a set of jagged claws and biting him on the arm. Utred's reaction was instant, bringing the killing blow to the fight by swinging his blade into the ghast's neck, coming a mere few inches away from decapitating the evil thing. He pulled his blade out of the creature as it fell to the crypt floor, dead beyond any doubt. Taking only a moment to swipe the blood from his arm where the ghast had bit him, Utred advanced to the double doors holding the sun image: the holy symbol of Pelor, he realized. He could just barely hear the trickling sound of water coming from the other side. Pulling the doors open, he saw a well-lit chamber opening up before him. This was by far the biggest room they'd encountered in this crypt, well over twice the size of the entire crypt building up on the surface. Widening out just beyond the double doors (the trickling water sound came from just beneath the section of floor immediately inside the room, Utred determined - likely an underground stream), the chamber held four stone coffins on this level and another two on a raised section in the back, where the room narrowed back down to the width of the double doors. At the far end of the room, along the back wall of the raised section, stood a marble throne, upon which lounged a human woman in red robes. The slaves slowly entered the chamber, even Jhasspok, who had finally gotten his reptilian body to do his own bidding now that the ghast's paralyzation had finally run its course. "Is she undead?" Utred asked Cramer. "Can't tell," the cleric replied. "She's too far away to register with my [i]detect undead[/i] spell." "The spell's still active, though?" Utred pressed. "Sure." That was all Utred needed to hear; sheathing his sword and picking up Cramer by the waist, he carried the gnome further into the room at the barbarian's top speed. "Put me down!" Cramer complained. "She's not undead - the only undead aura I'm getting is from the coffin on her right!" That, in turn, was all Jhasspok needed to hear. Racing forward, he sprinted all the way to the steps leading up to the raised section, leaped over the stairs, and landed on the stone lid of the coffin, hoping his weight would prevent whatever was in it from being able to get out. He then spun in place to face the others; he'd let them decide how best to proceed next. Marlo, for her part, readied another [i]magic missile[/i] spell, just in case the lounging woman in red decided to try anything or anybody popped out of any of the other coffins. She did notice one of the coffins in the front section (it was empty, she noted in passing) had had its lid smashed open quite some time ago, judging by the numerous cobwebs covering its shattered pieces. But the woman in red proved to be no threat at all; closer inspection showed she was unconscious, her white robes stained with blood - presumably her own. "Vampire!" warned Cramer to the others. "She's likely his latest victim." That also explained the running water at the front doors of the chamber, the gnome realized: a vampire would be unable to cross through the doors on his own. This whole chamber, he realized, was likely built to keep a vampire - or vampires? - imprisoned. Unrolling a [i]cure light wounds[/i] scroll, he healed the woman, who blinked awake with a look of incomprehension on her face. Then, inexplicably, she began growling softly to herself. "Vampire!" repeated Jhasspok. Well [i]that[/i] was a relief - the lizardfolk had heard of vampires before; they were just a type of bat and bats were something with which he was very familiar, having lived all but the last dozen days or so of his life in the Underdark. Even a vampire bat big enough to fill the stone coffin beneath him wasn't likely to cause the group too much trouble, assuming it could even get out - which was unlikely, given the bulky reptile perched on the coffin lid. A stream of mist suddenly shot out of a small hole in the side of the coffin upon which Jhasspok sat perched, squatting over its lid as if trying to hatch it. The mist coalesced into a human form, no sooner having taken on its full semblance before Marlo's readied [i]magic missiles[/i] struck it in the chest. "Well," said the figure, a rather handsome-looking man by the look of it, holding up a hand directing the group to cease all attacks, "I congratulate you on not setting off the trap of the empty 'treasure vault.' And you attempted to rescue the 'damsel in distress' - a good job there as well." "Wait, what?" asked Marlo, confused. This was [i]not[/i] how she had expected a vampire to react. "I have no desire to kill you," reassured the vampire. "In fact, I called you here merely to talk." "So [i]you're[/i] responsible for the voice we all heard," reasoned Cramer, his mind racing. Did he call people to his vault to restock his food sources? Were they expected to let this undead thing drink their blood? Was he alone, or were these other coffins filled with vampires as well? "Indeed I am," confirmed the vampire, replying to the gnome's spoken statement. "I am [b]Kravyrn, the Duke of Oakenfield[/b]. Or I was, in life - my son later turned Oakenfield into a kingdom and named it in my honor. But I was afflicted with a curse - how or why is still unknown to me to this day - that robbed me of my heavenly reward after my death. Desiring a more pleasurable outcome than what awaited me, my son and I set up this crypt to house me when I became a vampire." "So you're trapped here? Forever?" asked Cramer. "In times of emergency or great import, the kings of Kravyrn over the years have sought out my council and even occasionally allowed me out of my crypt to fight for the kingdom." "So you, what, call people to your crypt like you did to us? To serve you as food?" demanded Khari, making the same assumption Cramer had earlier entertained. The dwarven fighter didn't trust vampires, even those who spoke in a reasonable tone and seemed more eager for conversation than combat. He held his warhammer in a readied stance from which he could swing it almost instantly, if it became necessary. "By no means," answered Kravyrn, waving a hand over to the woman still lounging on the throne. "I have all of the food I might need. A [i]polymorph any object[/i] spell cast upon a pack of wolves has taken care of my dietary needs; the other three are currently sleeping in the coffins in the area below us, there." Here he indicated the three unsmashed stone coffins in the lower section of the chamber. "So then why are we here?" demanded Khari, still not trusting this vampire. "I set up an [i]alarm[/i] spell to inform me when people of, let us say, 'prophetic note' show up in the kingdom. I believe you five are part of a prophecy concerning a great cataclysm of imminence. According to the version I have heard, you are very likely the champions of the 'sunborn,' whatever that might be." "You know of the sunborn?" Cramer asked. "Of the name only, not the meaning behind it." Cramer looked at his fellow slaves, questioning without saying a word aloud whether they trusted this vampire. Seeing nobody but Khari - who still held his warhammer in a readied stance - seemed concerned about Kravyrn, the cleric pressed on. "The 'sunborn' are the elves of Greenvale - drow elves, actually, but an offshoot of drow lacking the inherent evil of the normal Underdark variety," he explained. "We are currently slaves to a House of Underdark drow, sent to the surface as raiders. But we've met up with the sunborn of Greenvale and have agreed to aid them in taking down the Underdark drow city where we have been enslaved." "We're secret double slaves," Jhasspok offered, as if that made things any clearer. "We were on the way to seek an audience with the king of Kravyrn, bringing him gifts of trade goods from Greenvale in an effort to gain his allegiance in helping the sunborn to take down the drow city of Overreach - where our current drow masters hold sway, and send out raiders like ourselves to snatch surface dwellers to add to their ranks of slaves. We would see that practice brought to an end." "A noble goal," agreed Kravyrn. He pulled a pendant hanging from a chain beneath his shirt and passed it to Jhasspok. It held a glowing rune upon it. "This," Kravyrn explained, "is my personal rune, as depicted by an [i]arcane mark[/i] spell. The common folk of my kingdom know it to be the crest of the royal family. The king, when you show it to him, will recognize it as proof of my endorsement of your goal." "Then you think he'll help us?" Cramer asked. "I do." Cramer grinned widely. That was exactly what he had been hoping to hear! - - - As promised, we all leveled up to 4th after this adventure. Jhasspok [i]finally[/i] got to add an actual character class - I went with barbarian - and wouldn't you know it, my dice (which had been failing me all night, as evidenced by my Fortitude save failure which had me paralyzed by the ghast and my inability to deal any damage whatsoever during the entire adventure) continued to suck as I rolled a natural "1" for Jhasspok's 1d12 hit point increase. Gah! Oh well, at least I got fast movement and rage 1/day out of the deal. Logan informs us we'll start out next session with our meeting with the king of Kravyrn but then our initial two-week surface exploration will have come to an end and it will be time to return to the Overreach. [/QUOTE]
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