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Return to the Tomb of Horrors finally gets a Story Hour!
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<blockquote data-quote="James McMurray" data-source="post: 142855" data-attributes="member: 743"><p>Yet again they have prepped, and return into the heart of the crypts. Teleporting in again in two groups, it is odd that the Zone of Respite no longer exists, but no one comments, and exploration begins in earnest. Rapidly searching the area, Cristoph finds the mechanism for the trap which sprayed iron spikes at Kargur previously, but informs the group that he cannot dismantle it. He also finds two secret doors and a concealed iron door with a barred window. From behind the door pitiful moaning can be heard, and the party moves to investigate.</p><p></p><p>Opening the locked door, they find 20 emaciated people chained to the walls. As they free the people from their chains (after a quick negative scan for evil by Kargur), most of them slump to the floor in utter defeat or even catatonia. The 9th leaps to his feet and quickly runs for the exit, only to be grabbed by Kargur at the door. "If you flee, this place will kill you." That doesn't seem to have much affect, as these people are no longer scared of death. It is prefereable to the slow torture that is being a sadistic vampire trio's food source.</p><p></p><p>William, seeing an opportunity to calm the people, stands and gives a sermon on the glories of Heironious, and how the God of Honor will protect them in this place, if they do as requested. During this, he manages to calm people down enough to get some questions answered. These people are being fed upon by three vampires, who some singly or in groups, and at no particular time. While this is being explained, Cristoph, Galrond, and William catch the faint sounds of spellcasting from the Southwestern corner of the room, where a prisoner explains that there is a secret door.</p><p></p><p>Cristoph rapidly searches for, and finds, the door, and opens it up as others prepare for the battle, including a Mass Haste from Galrond. Behind the door he sees three Vampires, but noone else can see them well, as they are back a bit from the entryway. William fills the hole with a Blade Barrier, and Cristoph shuts the door back, while billy moves to watch the other entryway.</p><p></p><p>Right at that moment, the Samurai vampire heads around the corner and nearly slices Billy's Arm off with his blade. Billy leaps back and attempts to Dispel whatever buffing spells the vampire may have up, before fleeing to the far corner of the room through a Dimension Door. Kargur hangs back, hoping that the Vampire will move into the room and give more people an opportunity to attack him. Gundarag however, not being the tactical genius, moves in to start wailing on the vampire with his Flaming Bastard Sword. The Vampire's ornate full plate armor stops what few strikes were not dodged with preternatural speed and grace. It does not protect against a Maximized Bolt of mana from Galrond however, nor from Lanis' arrows, and the vampire is soon forced to retreat in mist form.</p><p></p><p>His compatriots have finished preparing however, and soon move to continue the assault on the party. The Shugenja unleashes multiple Flame Strikes, while the Wujen peppers the group with a Cone of Cold. This almost kills William, who is again caught unprepared at the end of a Shield Other chain. He has just enough strength ni him before he slumps to the ground to pray to Heironious for healing, and a second later is back at full health.</p><p></p><p>The fight is about equal at this point, as Repulsion is keeping some combatants out of the fray (except for missile weaponry). Kargur manages to charge however, and swings all out, giving up every ounce of finesse to aim for maximum damage to the Wujen. This turns out to be a serious mistake on his part, as every attack is tauntingly dodged. Meanwhile, the Shugenja decides it is time to stir things up a bit, and casts 2 Confusion spells, getting Lanis, Amastacia, and Cristoph in the process.</p><p></p><p>Lanis shoots at Galrdon, and is soon tackled by Gundarag. Amastacia gets caught up in the workmanship of a nearby Sarcophagous lid, while Cristoph could swear he hears his mother calling from the back of the prison, and moves to help her get the hot apple pie from the oven.</p><p></p><p>The group rapidly forces the vampires into mist form with magical and physical force, and they race to catch the sleepers in tehir coffins around the corner. As they get close, Billy raises an Antimagic Field, this time to prevent the spellcasting vampires from escaping via magic before the group manages to pry the lids off of the Sarcophagi. That will be harder than it seems however, as the lids are solid stone, and apparently locked from the inside. It takes five people nearly a minute to wrench top off of the first, where they find the still sleeping form of the samurai, not yet recovered from William's earlier spear thrust, nor the Searing Light which had been stored in the Spear.</p><p></p><p>Cristoph studies him for a moment, then strikes with a stake. As it pierces the vampire's heart, his flesh withers and he becomes no more than an emaciated heart. Research and study have shown them that this is not enough, so William prepares the holy wafers and then decapitates the beast. As he does so, the head's eyes and mouth fly wide as the creature screams its way into hell before turning to dust.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, the remainder of the group have been working on the next sarcophagus. It requires quite a bit of work, with two people using crowbars to remove the lid. As it comes off, the Shugenja inside leaps for the cieling and begins to scamper off, before being grabbed by both Gundarag and Kargur and slammed back down into the coffin. Kargur quickly moves to pin him so that he may be staked. As they wrestle, the Wujen hears his opportunity and flings his coffin wide, leaping for the cieling in an attempt to escape the anti-magic field. Gundarag, acting quickly, grabs the vampire and slams him to the ground. Even the strength of the grave is no match for Gundarag's massive sinews.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, the shugenja has put up a terrible fight, but Amastacia's third strike is the charm, and moments later William is stuffing holy wafers into the mouth of the meaciated corpse, before sending it to Hell screaming as well. As the group pins and stakes the last vampire, Billy leaves to check on the prisoners. Rounding the corner, he is shocked as a cold blue ray and 2 lightning bolts splash against his field. He turns and spots "The Hag" as they call her. Nuala, Necromancer and Headmistress of the Black Academy. She sees him too, and as he cries out a warning, she prepares to assault the first free target she can, hoping that someone will be foolish enough to leave the antimagic field. Nobody does though, and soon Billy is charging her. As the edge of his field nears, she disappears in a flash of light. The group fans out to find her, but has no luck, and decides to begin the long process of teleporting the prisoners to safety.</p><p></p><p>The group rearrives in Greyhawk, with the prisoners in tow. The priests of Pelor are more than happy to help these poor souls, and the High Priest is greatly relieved when he is shown the vampire dust and told the story. The next day the group makes a rapid hit and run raid on the courtyard, grabbing up the heart, which lays quiescent on the ground until someone nears it. Locking it into a lead box, they return to the Temple of Pelor with it, to be locked away, hopefully forever. They also ask that the Samurai's katana be destroyed, as it is an unholy weapon.</p><p></p><p>As they head out into the street that evening, they look across the street to see a rapidly panting dog. Following his eyes, they see a familiar yellow cat, sitting unconcerned about five feet from the exhausted dog's face. Its hard to tell, but it almost looks like it is mockingly smiling at the dog.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="James McMurray, post: 142855, member: 743"] Yet again they have prepped, and return into the heart of the crypts. Teleporting in again in two groups, it is odd that the Zone of Respite no longer exists, but no one comments, and exploration begins in earnest. Rapidly searching the area, Cristoph finds the mechanism for the trap which sprayed iron spikes at Kargur previously, but informs the group that he cannot dismantle it. He also finds two secret doors and a concealed iron door with a barred window. From behind the door pitiful moaning can be heard, and the party moves to investigate. Opening the locked door, they find 20 emaciated people chained to the walls. As they free the people from their chains (after a quick negative scan for evil by Kargur), most of them slump to the floor in utter defeat or even catatonia. The 9th leaps to his feet and quickly runs for the exit, only to be grabbed by Kargur at the door. "If you flee, this place will kill you." That doesn't seem to have much affect, as these people are no longer scared of death. It is prefereable to the slow torture that is being a sadistic vampire trio's food source. William, seeing an opportunity to calm the people, stands and gives a sermon on the glories of Heironious, and how the God of Honor will protect them in this place, if they do as requested. During this, he manages to calm people down enough to get some questions answered. These people are being fed upon by three vampires, who some singly or in groups, and at no particular time. While this is being explained, Cristoph, Galrond, and William catch the faint sounds of spellcasting from the Southwestern corner of the room, where a prisoner explains that there is a secret door. Cristoph rapidly searches for, and finds, the door, and opens it up as others prepare for the battle, including a Mass Haste from Galrond. Behind the door he sees three Vampires, but noone else can see them well, as they are back a bit from the entryway. William fills the hole with a Blade Barrier, and Cristoph shuts the door back, while billy moves to watch the other entryway. Right at that moment, the Samurai vampire heads around the corner and nearly slices Billy's Arm off with his blade. Billy leaps back and attempts to Dispel whatever buffing spells the vampire may have up, before fleeing to the far corner of the room through a Dimension Door. Kargur hangs back, hoping that the Vampire will move into the room and give more people an opportunity to attack him. Gundarag however, not being the tactical genius, moves in to start wailing on the vampire with his Flaming Bastard Sword. The Vampire's ornate full plate armor stops what few strikes were not dodged with preternatural speed and grace. It does not protect against a Maximized Bolt of mana from Galrond however, nor from Lanis' arrows, and the vampire is soon forced to retreat in mist form. His compatriots have finished preparing however, and soon move to continue the assault on the party. The Shugenja unleashes multiple Flame Strikes, while the Wujen peppers the group with a Cone of Cold. This almost kills William, who is again caught unprepared at the end of a Shield Other chain. He has just enough strength ni him before he slumps to the ground to pray to Heironious for healing, and a second later is back at full health. The fight is about equal at this point, as Repulsion is keeping some combatants out of the fray (except for missile weaponry). Kargur manages to charge however, and swings all out, giving up every ounce of finesse to aim for maximum damage to the Wujen. This turns out to be a serious mistake on his part, as every attack is tauntingly dodged. Meanwhile, the Shugenja decides it is time to stir things up a bit, and casts 2 Confusion spells, getting Lanis, Amastacia, and Cristoph in the process. Lanis shoots at Galrdon, and is soon tackled by Gundarag. Amastacia gets caught up in the workmanship of a nearby Sarcophagous lid, while Cristoph could swear he hears his mother calling from the back of the prison, and moves to help her get the hot apple pie from the oven. The group rapidly forces the vampires into mist form with magical and physical force, and they race to catch the sleepers in tehir coffins around the corner. As they get close, Billy raises an Antimagic Field, this time to prevent the spellcasting vampires from escaping via magic before the group manages to pry the lids off of the Sarcophagi. That will be harder than it seems however, as the lids are solid stone, and apparently locked from the inside. It takes five people nearly a minute to wrench top off of the first, where they find the still sleeping form of the samurai, not yet recovered from William's earlier spear thrust, nor the Searing Light which had been stored in the Spear. Cristoph studies him for a moment, then strikes with a stake. As it pierces the vampire's heart, his flesh withers and he becomes no more than an emaciated heart. Research and study have shown them that this is not enough, so William prepares the holy wafers and then decapitates the beast. As he does so, the head's eyes and mouth fly wide as the creature screams its way into hell before turning to dust. Meanwhile, the remainder of the group have been working on the next sarcophagus. It requires quite a bit of work, with two people using crowbars to remove the lid. As it comes off, the Shugenja inside leaps for the cieling and begins to scamper off, before being grabbed by both Gundarag and Kargur and slammed back down into the coffin. Kargur quickly moves to pin him so that he may be staked. As they wrestle, the Wujen hears his opportunity and flings his coffin wide, leaping for the cieling in an attempt to escape the anti-magic field. Gundarag, acting quickly, grabs the vampire and slams him to the ground. Even the strength of the grave is no match for Gundarag's massive sinews. Meanwhile, the shugenja has put up a terrible fight, but Amastacia's third strike is the charm, and moments later William is stuffing holy wafers into the mouth of the meaciated corpse, before sending it to Hell screaming as well. As the group pins and stakes the last vampire, Billy leaves to check on the prisoners. Rounding the corner, he is shocked as a cold blue ray and 2 lightning bolts splash against his field. He turns and spots "The Hag" as they call her. Nuala, Necromancer and Headmistress of the Black Academy. She sees him too, and as he cries out a warning, she prepares to assault the first free target she can, hoping that someone will be foolish enough to leave the antimagic field. Nobody does though, and soon Billy is charging her. As the edge of his field nears, she disappears in a flash of light. The group fans out to find her, but has no luck, and decides to begin the long process of teleporting the prisoners to safety. The group rearrives in Greyhawk, with the prisoners in tow. The priests of Pelor are more than happy to help these poor souls, and the High Priest is greatly relieved when he is shown the vampire dust and told the story. The next day the group makes a rapid hit and run raid on the courtyard, grabbing up the heart, which lays quiescent on the ground until someone nears it. Locking it into a lead box, they return to the Temple of Pelor with it, to be locked away, hopefully forever. They also ask that the Samurai's katana be destroyed, as it is an unholy weapon. As they head out into the street that evening, they look across the street to see a rapidly panting dog. Following his eyes, they see a familiar yellow cat, sitting unconcerned about five feet from the exhausted dog's face. Its hard to tell, but it almost looks like it is mockingly smiling at the dog. [/QUOTE]
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