Struggle and Strife- A scarred lands storyhour
- Thread starter Lars Frehse
- Start date
Lars Frehse
First Post
An audience with the archfiend- part 4 of 4
There was nothing they could do right now to solve this mystery, so Niklas and Jan lit up their lanterns and went into the big halfcircular caveopening that was the entrance of the tomb. There was one artificial tunnel leading further into the tomb, and there was a chest on a pedestal over the tunnel. The walls of the cave itself were covered with abstract symbols, depicting gods, old people looking after kids, scribes writing tomes and skeletal and partly skeletal men and women, which gestured to the open hallway, as though ushering in visitors.
"Immortality", Trepat said, and as he saw that his friends didn't seem to understand, he continued:"All the images in here have something to do with immortality. Either as a gift from the gods, or as living on in your descendants or your work, or as immortality in unlife...
"And there is a spell hidden among the symbols as well. I think it enables you to tell the age of one person or creature.".
Torn nodded. It certainly made sense:"What do you think about that chest there, should we take it?"
"I would rather not", Niklas answered," after all, we didn't come here to loot this place. I don't think it would be wise either. If the sage had been able to return from the grave once, he could probably do so again...".
"You're right", Torn said and then, after making sure that the corridor wasn't trapped, he walked into it, his friends right behind him.
The tunnel lead them to a fork, and as they were about to turn left, Trepat noticed something odd with the wall that was opposite the corridor through which they had entered. Together with Torn, they figured out the opening mechanism, and having opened the secret door which lead to a further corridor, they entered it without much further ado.
The corridor lead them to a temple-like hall. Here the ceiling was twenty feet high, giving the structure a lofty feeling, and each of the six pillars which were supporting the vaulting ceiling were carved with the likeness of one of the gods. To their surprise, each of the heroes, even Ben, saw the six gods that were closest to his ideals due to the innate magic of the collums. The walls were adorned with another spell that seemed to somehow bolster undead servants, as Trepat concluded after reading it's magic.
At the end of the temple, there was a massive marble altar with a bowl shaped depression around which this statement was carved in Ledean:"Whosoever would seek the favor of the gods on high must prove his devotion.". Jan, who walked into the temple, surprised at it's spartan and simple beauty, sent a short prayer to Corean and then placed some coins into the depression. To their surprise, the coins disappeared and with them, some small scratches he had gotten while climbing the hill magically healed up as well, until there weren't even any scratches left.
Behind the depression, there was a tome named "Divine Wrongs". Jan picked it up and took a casual look. It appeared to be about all the gods but Chardun, and after he read enough to make his head swim- clearly the author didn't care much about making his knowledge easily accessable, he put it back.
"We should check the walls and the floor. Maybe there is yet another secret door", Torn said, and as Niklas positioned himself at the entrance of the temple to take care of the rear, they they started to systematically examine the wall.
It was then that they noticed that they weren't quite as alone as they had thought. Two ghastly, dark and insubstantial figures stepped out of two pillars, all the while babbling and whining in what sounded like maddening, crazed self-pity. Except for Niklas, who did not find the stomach to attack those pityful and tortured souls, the others entered the fight, and those who were touched by the allips, as that particular form of ghost was called, felt their very own strength of will waning. Then Jan summoned the force of Corean through his sword, and as he held it up, it shone with a bright light from which the undead fled in terror.
Thinking that it was the end of it- neither Jan nor his friend had ever seen anything like that before, they continued their search, but after a while, the fear that Corean had planted in the allips' hearts wore off and they returned again. This time, the friends defeated the mad creatures and after being sure that there were no secret doors left, they returned to the fork in the corridor and headed right where they had originally intended.
There, after a turn, the corridor went straight ahead, except for two pits in it. Feeling suspicious, after all an open pit was hardly the kind of defense a mad and wicked undead sage would construct, they carefully examined the pit, and after finding nothing, Niklas volunteered to jump over the pits.
As he jumped, he worried whether there would really be solid ground on the other side, or rather another concealed pit or something even worse. But nothing happened, he landed safely after the first pit and then after the second one as well. He shrugged: at least he stood in front of the door now, even though he was puzzled what this had been all about. Then he fastened a rope and waited till his friends had climbed over the two pits to his side of the corridor.
Trepat was last to go, and as he was hanging from the rope in the second pit, he suddenly called out: "Wait a minute, I think there is another door here!"
He was right. The pit was twenty feet deep, and about ten feet deep, there was a hidden doorway leading north. Leaving Ben behind. who wanted to stay with Swift Jane, they climbed down on a rope and then swung themselves into the corridor beyond.
After a short corridor, they found themselves in yet another natural cave. Here, the walls were engraved with symbols of the elements of water, fire and air, while earth was obviously represented by one unadorned wall. Like in the other rooms, there was a spell engraved into the walls hidden among the symbols, another one of Marilvaz's inventions called protection from elementals.
Suddenly, the lanterns of both Jan and Niklas's lanterns exploded simultanously, and the fires in them turned into vaguely humanoid shaped creatures of about halfling-size, attacking the former lantern bearers right away. In spite of the absurdity of the situation, all of them were too experienced by now to let a surprising turn of events slow them down in any way. With the firmness of sleepwalkers, each of the friends immediately took up his standard position in a battle: Torn came in swinging with his magical chain, while Niklas, not wanting to burn his fists pulled out his glaive. His brother had his shield and sword ready in one swift motion and Trepat started attacking the small elementals with his spells, trying to get out of the actual melee.
But then, their waterskins exploded, and along with the two fire elementals, they had to deal with four small water elementals as well. They fought on, until suddently out of Trepat's and Torn's mouth, the elf had cast a spell at the moment and the halforc shouted a warning, the air compressed and formed two vaguely cloudlike entities.
Outnumbered, they fought a tiring battle, and thanks to Niklas's quickness of mind, they didn't have to fight in the dark. After all, with the lanterns broken, the two fire elementals were the only source of light they had. As he saw that the second one was about to be defeated, he lit one of his sunrod and threw it to the ground before going on to attack the next elemental.
Eventually, though, suffering from many small wounds, they had defeated their supernatural foes. Still there was no trace of the ritual they were searching for, and they could only guess how many other surprises the evil sage Marilvaz had in stock for them.
There was nothing they could do right now to solve this mystery, so Niklas and Jan lit up their lanterns and went into the big halfcircular caveopening that was the entrance of the tomb. There was one artificial tunnel leading further into the tomb, and there was a chest on a pedestal over the tunnel. The walls of the cave itself were covered with abstract symbols, depicting gods, old people looking after kids, scribes writing tomes and skeletal and partly skeletal men and women, which gestured to the open hallway, as though ushering in visitors.
"Immortality", Trepat said, and as he saw that his friends didn't seem to understand, he continued:"All the images in here have something to do with immortality. Either as a gift from the gods, or as living on in your descendants or your work, or as immortality in unlife...
"And there is a spell hidden among the symbols as well. I think it enables you to tell the age of one person or creature.".
Torn nodded. It certainly made sense:"What do you think about that chest there, should we take it?"
"I would rather not", Niklas answered," after all, we didn't come here to loot this place. I don't think it would be wise either. If the sage had been able to return from the grave once, he could probably do so again...".
"You're right", Torn said and then, after making sure that the corridor wasn't trapped, he walked into it, his friends right behind him.
The tunnel lead them to a fork, and as they were about to turn left, Trepat noticed something odd with the wall that was opposite the corridor through which they had entered. Together with Torn, they figured out the opening mechanism, and having opened the secret door which lead to a further corridor, they entered it without much further ado.
The corridor lead them to a temple-like hall. Here the ceiling was twenty feet high, giving the structure a lofty feeling, and each of the six pillars which were supporting the vaulting ceiling were carved with the likeness of one of the gods. To their surprise, each of the heroes, even Ben, saw the six gods that were closest to his ideals due to the innate magic of the collums. The walls were adorned with another spell that seemed to somehow bolster undead servants, as Trepat concluded after reading it's magic.
At the end of the temple, there was a massive marble altar with a bowl shaped depression around which this statement was carved in Ledean:"Whosoever would seek the favor of the gods on high must prove his devotion.". Jan, who walked into the temple, surprised at it's spartan and simple beauty, sent a short prayer to Corean and then placed some coins into the depression. To their surprise, the coins disappeared and with them, some small scratches he had gotten while climbing the hill magically healed up as well, until there weren't even any scratches left.
Behind the depression, there was a tome named "Divine Wrongs". Jan picked it up and took a casual look. It appeared to be about all the gods but Chardun, and after he read enough to make his head swim- clearly the author didn't care much about making his knowledge easily accessable, he put it back.
"We should check the walls and the floor. Maybe there is yet another secret door", Torn said, and as Niklas positioned himself at the entrance of the temple to take care of the rear, they they started to systematically examine the wall.
It was then that they noticed that they weren't quite as alone as they had thought. Two ghastly, dark and insubstantial figures stepped out of two pillars, all the while babbling and whining in what sounded like maddening, crazed self-pity. Except for Niklas, who did not find the stomach to attack those pityful and tortured souls, the others entered the fight, and those who were touched by the allips, as that particular form of ghost was called, felt their very own strength of will waning. Then Jan summoned the force of Corean through his sword, and as he held it up, it shone with a bright light from which the undead fled in terror.
Thinking that it was the end of it- neither Jan nor his friend had ever seen anything like that before, they continued their search, but after a while, the fear that Corean had planted in the allips' hearts wore off and they returned again. This time, the friends defeated the mad creatures and after being sure that there were no secret doors left, they returned to the fork in the corridor and headed right where they had originally intended.
There, after a turn, the corridor went straight ahead, except for two pits in it. Feeling suspicious, after all an open pit was hardly the kind of defense a mad and wicked undead sage would construct, they carefully examined the pit, and after finding nothing, Niklas volunteered to jump over the pits.
As he jumped, he worried whether there would really be solid ground on the other side, or rather another concealed pit or something even worse. But nothing happened, he landed safely after the first pit and then after the second one as well. He shrugged: at least he stood in front of the door now, even though he was puzzled what this had been all about. Then he fastened a rope and waited till his friends had climbed over the two pits to his side of the corridor.
Trepat was last to go, and as he was hanging from the rope in the second pit, he suddenly called out: "Wait a minute, I think there is another door here!"
He was right. The pit was twenty feet deep, and about ten feet deep, there was a hidden doorway leading north. Leaving Ben behind. who wanted to stay with Swift Jane, they climbed down on a rope and then swung themselves into the corridor beyond.
After a short corridor, they found themselves in yet another natural cave. Here, the walls were engraved with symbols of the elements of water, fire and air, while earth was obviously represented by one unadorned wall. Like in the other rooms, there was a spell engraved into the walls hidden among the symbols, another one of Marilvaz's inventions called protection from elementals.
Suddenly, the lanterns of both Jan and Niklas's lanterns exploded simultanously, and the fires in them turned into vaguely humanoid shaped creatures of about halfling-size, attacking the former lantern bearers right away. In spite of the absurdity of the situation, all of them were too experienced by now to let a surprising turn of events slow them down in any way. With the firmness of sleepwalkers, each of the friends immediately took up his standard position in a battle: Torn came in swinging with his magical chain, while Niklas, not wanting to burn his fists pulled out his glaive. His brother had his shield and sword ready in one swift motion and Trepat started attacking the small elementals with his spells, trying to get out of the actual melee.
But then, their waterskins exploded, and along with the two fire elementals, they had to deal with four small water elementals as well. They fought on, until suddently out of Trepat's and Torn's mouth, the elf had cast a spell at the moment and the halforc shouted a warning, the air compressed and formed two vaguely cloudlike entities.
Outnumbered, they fought a tiring battle, and thanks to Niklas's quickness of mind, they didn't have to fight in the dark. After all, with the lanterns broken, the two fire elementals were the only source of light they had. As he saw that the second one was about to be defeated, he lit one of his sunrod and threw it to the ground before going on to attack the next elemental.
Eventually, though, suffering from many small wounds, they had defeated their supernatural foes. Still there was no trace of the ritual they were searching for, and they could only guess how many other surprises the evil sage Marilvaz had in stock for them.
Lars Frehse
First Post
The tomb of Marilvaz the scribe
"Since there had been a secret door in this pit, I would like to check out the other one as well", Torn announced, and shortly after, he was in the first pit, searching the walls for hallowed spaces. It didn't take long until he called up to them:"Found it!".
In this pit, the secret door opened up to a corridor. It ended after a turn in front of a spiral staircase which lead into an irregular shaped room with mirrors coverin every wall. Niklas noticed that every bit of furniture in it, two couches, two tables and six chairs were all exactly mirrored along an imaginary line that went diagonally through the room. He wondered whether there was any item that was breaking the symmetrie, but as he looked around and saw his image reflected on one of the mirrors to his left, he felt an odd tugging feeling. Within the timespan of a blink of the eye, he was sucked into the mirror, disappearing and leaving his clothes and equipment behind, which crashed to the floor.
For a moment, noone dared looking up. After all, if Niklas had been sucked into one of the mirrors, the same fate could happen to one of them as well. Then, Torn looked up and looked to the mirror through which the monk had disappeared, and nothing happened. He turned around once, looking at each wall, and in each of them, he saw himself being reflected a thousandfold, because every mirror not only reflecting the interior of the room, but countless other mirrors as well. "I think it is safe now", he said.
"Where could he have gone?", Trepat said, looking around now as well.
Torn, who had just opened the door to the left of the mirror through which Niklas had been sucked closed the door again:"He is not in here. There is only a corridor behind this door.".
"I think I've solved it", Jan said. As Trepat and Torn turned around, neither one of them bothering to hide the surprise at their companion who hadn't overcome many intellectual challenges in the past, he started to lecture:" This room has the form of two overlapping rectangles, right? The overlapping part, if visualized, would have the form of a perfect square.
"Now, there are two corners of the room, which are not directly mirrored, because the imagined mirroring line disappears in the wall. Those parts of the room, if looked at seperately, are triangles, which again, if put together would form yet another perfect square, of exactly the same size as the first square!".
He looked around in triumph. At last he had shown that he was as good at solving puzzles as anyone of them.
"And what does that have to do with our monk getting sucked through that mirror or with how we can get him back?", Torn asked.
"Err, I don't know. I have just noticed the geometrical form of the room and thought back to the time when the monks taught us aspiring knights just that", Jan answered, the look of triumph in his face now substituted with confusion.
Trepat rolled his eyes up to the ceiling:"In the next village, I will get you a fingertrap to keep you busy in situations like that!".
Before Jan had time to figure out the implications of Trepat's last comment, Torn said:"I will try to shatter the mirror that is the duplicate of the one through which Niklas has disappeared." When none of his friends objected, Trepat agreed, and Jan was still trying to finish his thought about the geometrical form of the room, he went ahead and smashed the mirror.
It shattered and it's fragments fell to the floor, and in the wall behind it, there was a small niche, but still there was no sign of their lost friend. He turned around and went over to the mirror through which Niklas had been sucked.
If this was a portal, then shattering could mean that they would be cut off forever from their friend. And if his soul was trapped in there, shattering the mirror could shatter his soul... For a moment, Torn halted, staring at and through his reflection in the mirror. Then, without thinking again, he raised his axe and smashed the mirror.
Again, it shattered, and again there was a niche behind it. This time, however, three things were different from the other mirror. First of all, in the niche, there was yet another tome. Secondly, Niklas fell naked to the floor among the shards of the mirror. The third difference, however, immediatley focused all the attention in the room on it: a well built, young and attractive woman fell to the ground as well.
As Niklas picked himself up, she said:"Thank you, noble heroes! At last I am free!".
Jan was the first to react:"Have you been trapped in that mirror?".
She was about to answer and Niklas interrupted her:"Yes, we have both been trapped in there." Then he got up and after picking up his own robe he handed her his spare robe with which she covered herself. Now, that speaking was easier again, Torn asked her:"How long have you been in there?"
"What year is it?"
"151 AV.".
She paused for a moment:"Oh, that is indeed longer than I had thought... Looks like I had been trapped in the mirror for twenty years!".
She then told them that her name was Mia, and that she had entered the tomb with some companions in order to get the tomes and spells hidden in there. She was merely a rogue and not trained in the art of spellcasting, but the sheer value of the books had made the risk worthwhile for her. The Chardun priest among the adventurers had explained to them, that Marilvaz actually wanted people to try and get the knowledge therein. The traps and riddles within were to make sure that only those who were whorthy of it would get it. After all, Chardun only rewarded those who overcame great obstacles and acted ruthlessly to achieve success.
It certainly made sense, and since she said that she didn't want to spend any more time in the tomb, they lead her to the exit. On the way, however, they picked up all the books and put them into their bag of holding for future use. Outside, Mia again thanked the heroes for her rescue and after Jan had given her some food and a couple of coins, she gave him a quick kiss and turned away to climb down the hill, leaving Jan behind with a sheepish grin and a crimson head.
Back in the dungeon they went into the mirrored room and through the door to the right. What they saw in their made Jan blush again, and while his brother did the same, Trepat and Torn were unable to wipe a smirk from their face: here the walls were covered with very detailed and realistic erotic murals showing members of all the divine races in every manner of intimacy. Furthermore, there were several life-sized marble statues, which were perfectly carved and like the murals on the wall, they were forever held in the throes of eternal passion.
"Since there had been a secret door in this pit, I would like to check out the other one as well", Torn announced, and shortly after, he was in the first pit, searching the walls for hallowed spaces. It didn't take long until he called up to them:"Found it!".
In this pit, the secret door opened up to a corridor. It ended after a turn in front of a spiral staircase which lead into an irregular shaped room with mirrors coverin every wall. Niklas noticed that every bit of furniture in it, two couches, two tables and six chairs were all exactly mirrored along an imaginary line that went diagonally through the room. He wondered whether there was any item that was breaking the symmetrie, but as he looked around and saw his image reflected on one of the mirrors to his left, he felt an odd tugging feeling. Within the timespan of a blink of the eye, he was sucked into the mirror, disappearing and leaving his clothes and equipment behind, which crashed to the floor.
For a moment, noone dared looking up. After all, if Niklas had been sucked into one of the mirrors, the same fate could happen to one of them as well. Then, Torn looked up and looked to the mirror through which the monk had disappeared, and nothing happened. He turned around once, looking at each wall, and in each of them, he saw himself being reflected a thousandfold, because every mirror not only reflecting the interior of the room, but countless other mirrors as well. "I think it is safe now", he said.
"Where could he have gone?", Trepat said, looking around now as well.
Torn, who had just opened the door to the left of the mirror through which Niklas had been sucked closed the door again:"He is not in here. There is only a corridor behind this door.".
"I think I've solved it", Jan said. As Trepat and Torn turned around, neither one of them bothering to hide the surprise at their companion who hadn't overcome many intellectual challenges in the past, he started to lecture:" This room has the form of two overlapping rectangles, right? The overlapping part, if visualized, would have the form of a perfect square.
"Now, there are two corners of the room, which are not directly mirrored, because the imagined mirroring line disappears in the wall. Those parts of the room, if looked at seperately, are triangles, which again, if put together would form yet another perfect square, of exactly the same size as the first square!".
He looked around in triumph. At last he had shown that he was as good at solving puzzles as anyone of them.
"And what does that have to do with our monk getting sucked through that mirror or with how we can get him back?", Torn asked.
"Err, I don't know. I have just noticed the geometrical form of the room and thought back to the time when the monks taught us aspiring knights just that", Jan answered, the look of triumph in his face now substituted with confusion.
Trepat rolled his eyes up to the ceiling:"In the next village, I will get you a fingertrap to keep you busy in situations like that!".
Before Jan had time to figure out the implications of Trepat's last comment, Torn said:"I will try to shatter the mirror that is the duplicate of the one through which Niklas has disappeared." When none of his friends objected, Trepat agreed, and Jan was still trying to finish his thought about the geometrical form of the room, he went ahead and smashed the mirror.
It shattered and it's fragments fell to the floor, and in the wall behind it, there was a small niche, but still there was no sign of their lost friend. He turned around and went over to the mirror through which Niklas had been sucked.
If this was a portal, then shattering could mean that they would be cut off forever from their friend. And if his soul was trapped in there, shattering the mirror could shatter his soul... For a moment, Torn halted, staring at and through his reflection in the mirror. Then, without thinking again, he raised his axe and smashed the mirror.
Again, it shattered, and again there was a niche behind it. This time, however, three things were different from the other mirror. First of all, in the niche, there was yet another tome. Secondly, Niklas fell naked to the floor among the shards of the mirror. The third difference, however, immediatley focused all the attention in the room on it: a well built, young and attractive woman fell to the ground as well.
As Niklas picked himself up, she said:"Thank you, noble heroes! At last I am free!".
Jan was the first to react:"Have you been trapped in that mirror?".
She was about to answer and Niklas interrupted her:"Yes, we have both been trapped in there." Then he got up and after picking up his own robe he handed her his spare robe with which she covered herself. Now, that speaking was easier again, Torn asked her:"How long have you been in there?"
"What year is it?"
"151 AV.".
She paused for a moment:"Oh, that is indeed longer than I had thought... Looks like I had been trapped in the mirror for twenty years!".
She then told them that her name was Mia, and that she had entered the tomb with some companions in order to get the tomes and spells hidden in there. She was merely a rogue and not trained in the art of spellcasting, but the sheer value of the books had made the risk worthwhile for her. The Chardun priest among the adventurers had explained to them, that Marilvaz actually wanted people to try and get the knowledge therein. The traps and riddles within were to make sure that only those who were whorthy of it would get it. After all, Chardun only rewarded those who overcame great obstacles and acted ruthlessly to achieve success.
It certainly made sense, and since she said that she didn't want to spend any more time in the tomb, they lead her to the exit. On the way, however, they picked up all the books and put them into their bag of holding for future use. Outside, Mia again thanked the heroes for her rescue and after Jan had given her some food and a couple of coins, she gave him a quick kiss and turned away to climb down the hill, leaving Jan behind with a sheepish grin and a crimson head.
Back in the dungeon they went into the mirrored room and through the door to the right. What they saw in their made Jan blush again, and while his brother did the same, Trepat and Torn were unable to wipe a smirk from their face: here the walls were covered with very detailed and realistic erotic murals showing members of all the divine races in every manner of intimacy. Furthermore, there were several life-sized marble statues, which were perfectly carved and like the murals on the wall, they were forever held in the throes of eternal passion.
Nightfall said:Mia's free huh? Oh well can't blame them for not noticing. Freeing Niklas was more important. *shrug* Still hope they can get to the crypt soon.
Darn your cryptic comments that I don't understand because I haven't read the module!
Oh well, great story! Got some real evilness going on with the commander of the guard and the priest - very nitty-gritty, and realistic! It's good for parties to occasionally realize that they just can't fix every situation.
Lars Frehse
First Post
The tomb of Marilvaz the sage- part 2
Once they had recovered from their embarassement, they searched the room and while Torn and Trepat openly admired the murals and statues, Niklas and Jan tried to avoid looking at anything they considered pornographic- given the nature of the room, an almost impossible task.
All they found in the room, however, was another spell inscribed in the walls and a book about all forms of love. Since none of that seemed to help them on their mission, Torn put the book into his bag, and they went through the wooden door to the next room.
The room behind the door was vaguely diamond-shaped and filled with riches. Expensive tapestries lined the walls, the floor was covered with expensive rugs, there were messy heaps of coins in each corner and in the center of the opposite wall stood a marble fountain.
Amidst all that, ignoring the heroes, there was a ghostly figure, floating from one pile of coins to the next, gently moving his intangible fingers through them as if caressing the money. It was moaning softly, obviously gaining great pleasure from the coins which it could never spend, even though it’s face was too blurry to show any distinct features.
Carefully avoiding the ghost, they walked to the fountain, and as they started examining it, the undead kept on ignoring them, seemingly entranced by his wealth and oblivious to anything else. The water contained many tiny sparkling jewels, and around the base of the fountain, there was yet another spell inscribed. Trepat checked it and saw that it instills greed in the heart against whom this spell was cast.
„I can’t believe that there isn’t another exit in this room“, Niklas said, and they started searching the room for secred doors. As it turned out, they didn’t have to go far. „There is a trapdoor right beneath us“, Torn said pointing at the floor under him.
Still they didn’t find a mechanism to open the door, and so Trepat, who was looking for a clue, reached into the water of the fountain and grabbed a couple of gems, intending to take a closer look at them.
However, he didn’t have much time to analyze it, since at the very moment he pulled his fist full of gems out of the water, the behavior of the ghost changed. It screamed in a mixture of insanity and rage and rushed at the surprised elf.
As the wraith touched him, he felt a deadly cold creeping towards his heart. Instinctively he jumped back just in time- weakened but alive. Immediately his friends started attacking him and he shot a magical missile at the ghost. But still, the ghost was there, reaching out for Trepat again. Trepat took a step backwards, but now he felt the rim of the fountain drilling into his back. There was no way for any further retreat, so he jumped to the side, and the wraith (for that’s what the undead creature was) missed him.
Again, his friends attacked it with their magical weapons, hoping to draw it’s attention towards them, but it wasn’t defeated yet. Again, it reached out, and sending a silent prayer to Tanil, Trepat cast another magical missile at the ghost. The energy blast hit it right in the centre, and as it’s intangible hand was merely an inch from Trepat’s chest, it completely dissolved. Trepat had been saved in the proverbial last second.
Now that the wraith was gone, they searched through the room. The piles of coins turned out to be mostly coppercoins which were covered with just a few gold and silver coins, and the „gems“ in the fountain were merely glass or too small to be of any worth.
„Maybe the fountain is the key“, Jan said. „After all, it seems to be a wishing fountain. Hold on!“.
He pulled out a gold coin, closed his eyes, wishing for the trapdoor to open, and dropped the coin in the fountain. The coin disappeared, but the door didn’t open.
„Maybe it is the amount of money we have to throw in there. One gold piece may not suffice“, Trepat said.
Niklas, who had been watching silently so far said:“ We could try the gold and silver coins we got from those piles. It would make sense, since I wouldn’t expect the sage to put any treasures into his tombs except for his books and spells. He probably has devised this thing as a means to make sure that the gold and silver will stay here.“.
„Alright“, Torn said and poured the gold and silver coins into the fountain. Like the single coin before, all of them disappeared now and the trapdoor in the floor lifted and opened itself, giving way to a shaft that lead down into the darkness below.
In a small niche in the shaft, there was yet another tome by Marilvaz, called „Ravages of Wealth“ and below, there was yet another dark corridor. It went around two bends only to suddely end in front of an area of magical darkness, which the lanterns and torches of the group couldn’t fight back and which was even impenetrable for Torn’s orcish eyes.
They tied a rope around Niklas who volunteered to go ahead. Using his glaive as a pole to feel for walls and pits he went in, and right after entering, he noticed something strange- suddenly, he wasn’t in a corridor anymore and as he tentatively probed his surroundings with his glaive, he felt that there were no walls to his left or right anymore.
He turned around, and after merely one step, he was abruptly back in the torchlit corridor.
„There is something strange in the darkness“, he said and then, as he saw that his friends were pulling their weapons he turned around- but there was nothing behind him that could have promted that reaction.
„What is wrong“, he asked.
His brother surprised him, as he asked him:“Is it you, Niklas?“
„Yes sure.“.
„It is his voice“, Torn said, and nodding to Jan, he asked:“Is he evil?“.
Jan shook his head and Niklas saw with relief how his friends resheated their weapons: „What is wrong with you?“
„There seems to be some sort of illusion on you. You look like a ghoul, or some other undead creature. Hadn’t you spoken out and if the rope wouldn’t still be around your waist, I would have been fooled enough to attack you.“, Trepat said.
„Ah. Alright then. There is another problem: In the darkness, there is a labyrinth without walls.“, Niklas said, and then he explained to them what he had experienced.
Torn rolled up his eyes: „That „labyrinth without walls“ is called a hall. If you stick to one of the walls, you should be able to get around.“.
Realizing his misperception, Niklas walked back in. This time however, he returned after having turned merely two corners, and Trepat figured that there may be some sort of displacement device at the walls which took it’s victims to the opposite wall and turned it around: This would explain how Niklas had returned even though he would have had to turn four corners, not two. Maybe Niklas would have more success if he walked straight forward, Trepat suggested, and again the monk walked in.
Somewhere in the darkness, he stumbled over another tome which he picked up. Immediately, he could see a magical writing on the walls. Yet another spell, he thought, and now that he knew the size of the hall, he confidentely walked forward and suddenly he found himself in another forked corridor, the darkness behind him.
As his friends caught up with him, guided by his rope, he saw what they had meant, since each of them looked like a terribly deformed Zombie. But at least they were together again, and as they walked left to a spiral staircase that lead up, the illusion already started to wear off. They resumed their marching order with Torn up front and walked up to what turned out to be the gambling room of the tomb.
Once they had recovered from their embarassement, they searched the room and while Torn and Trepat openly admired the murals and statues, Niklas and Jan tried to avoid looking at anything they considered pornographic- given the nature of the room, an almost impossible task.
All they found in the room, however, was another spell inscribed in the walls and a book about all forms of love. Since none of that seemed to help them on their mission, Torn put the book into his bag, and they went through the wooden door to the next room.
The room behind the door was vaguely diamond-shaped and filled with riches. Expensive tapestries lined the walls, the floor was covered with expensive rugs, there were messy heaps of coins in each corner and in the center of the opposite wall stood a marble fountain.
Amidst all that, ignoring the heroes, there was a ghostly figure, floating from one pile of coins to the next, gently moving his intangible fingers through them as if caressing the money. It was moaning softly, obviously gaining great pleasure from the coins which it could never spend, even though it’s face was too blurry to show any distinct features.
Carefully avoiding the ghost, they walked to the fountain, and as they started examining it, the undead kept on ignoring them, seemingly entranced by his wealth and oblivious to anything else. The water contained many tiny sparkling jewels, and around the base of the fountain, there was yet another spell inscribed. Trepat checked it and saw that it instills greed in the heart against whom this spell was cast.
„I can’t believe that there isn’t another exit in this room“, Niklas said, and they started searching the room for secred doors. As it turned out, they didn’t have to go far. „There is a trapdoor right beneath us“, Torn said pointing at the floor under him.
Still they didn’t find a mechanism to open the door, and so Trepat, who was looking for a clue, reached into the water of the fountain and grabbed a couple of gems, intending to take a closer look at them.
However, he didn’t have much time to analyze it, since at the very moment he pulled his fist full of gems out of the water, the behavior of the ghost changed. It screamed in a mixture of insanity and rage and rushed at the surprised elf.
As the wraith touched him, he felt a deadly cold creeping towards his heart. Instinctively he jumped back just in time- weakened but alive. Immediately his friends started attacking him and he shot a magical missile at the ghost. But still, the ghost was there, reaching out for Trepat again. Trepat took a step backwards, but now he felt the rim of the fountain drilling into his back. There was no way for any further retreat, so he jumped to the side, and the wraith (for that’s what the undead creature was) missed him.
Again, his friends attacked it with their magical weapons, hoping to draw it’s attention towards them, but it wasn’t defeated yet. Again, it reached out, and sending a silent prayer to Tanil, Trepat cast another magical missile at the ghost. The energy blast hit it right in the centre, and as it’s intangible hand was merely an inch from Trepat’s chest, it completely dissolved. Trepat had been saved in the proverbial last second.
Now that the wraith was gone, they searched through the room. The piles of coins turned out to be mostly coppercoins which were covered with just a few gold and silver coins, and the „gems“ in the fountain were merely glass or too small to be of any worth.
„Maybe the fountain is the key“, Jan said. „After all, it seems to be a wishing fountain. Hold on!“.
He pulled out a gold coin, closed his eyes, wishing for the trapdoor to open, and dropped the coin in the fountain. The coin disappeared, but the door didn’t open.
„Maybe it is the amount of money we have to throw in there. One gold piece may not suffice“, Trepat said.
Niklas, who had been watching silently so far said:“ We could try the gold and silver coins we got from those piles. It would make sense, since I wouldn’t expect the sage to put any treasures into his tombs except for his books and spells. He probably has devised this thing as a means to make sure that the gold and silver will stay here.“.
„Alright“, Torn said and poured the gold and silver coins into the fountain. Like the single coin before, all of them disappeared now and the trapdoor in the floor lifted and opened itself, giving way to a shaft that lead down into the darkness below.
In a small niche in the shaft, there was yet another tome by Marilvaz, called „Ravages of Wealth“ and below, there was yet another dark corridor. It went around two bends only to suddely end in front of an area of magical darkness, which the lanterns and torches of the group couldn’t fight back and which was even impenetrable for Torn’s orcish eyes.
They tied a rope around Niklas who volunteered to go ahead. Using his glaive as a pole to feel for walls and pits he went in, and right after entering, he noticed something strange- suddenly, he wasn’t in a corridor anymore and as he tentatively probed his surroundings with his glaive, he felt that there were no walls to his left or right anymore.
He turned around, and after merely one step, he was abruptly back in the torchlit corridor.
„There is something strange in the darkness“, he said and then, as he saw that his friends were pulling their weapons he turned around- but there was nothing behind him that could have promted that reaction.
„What is wrong“, he asked.
His brother surprised him, as he asked him:“Is it you, Niklas?“
„Yes sure.“.
„It is his voice“, Torn said, and nodding to Jan, he asked:“Is he evil?“.
Jan shook his head and Niklas saw with relief how his friends resheated their weapons: „What is wrong with you?“
„There seems to be some sort of illusion on you. You look like a ghoul, or some other undead creature. Hadn’t you spoken out and if the rope wouldn’t still be around your waist, I would have been fooled enough to attack you.“, Trepat said.
„Ah. Alright then. There is another problem: In the darkness, there is a labyrinth without walls.“, Niklas said, and then he explained to them what he had experienced.
Torn rolled up his eyes: „That „labyrinth without walls“ is called a hall. If you stick to one of the walls, you should be able to get around.“.
Realizing his misperception, Niklas walked back in. This time however, he returned after having turned merely two corners, and Trepat figured that there may be some sort of displacement device at the walls which took it’s victims to the opposite wall and turned it around: This would explain how Niklas had returned even though he would have had to turn four corners, not two. Maybe Niklas would have more success if he walked straight forward, Trepat suggested, and again the monk walked in.
Somewhere in the darkness, he stumbled over another tome which he picked up. Immediately, he could see a magical writing on the walls. Yet another spell, he thought, and now that he knew the size of the hall, he confidentely walked forward and suddenly he found himself in another forked corridor, the darkness behind him.
As his friends caught up with him, guided by his rope, he saw what they had meant, since each of them looked like a terribly deformed Zombie. But at least they were together again, and as they walked left to a spiral staircase that lead up, the illusion already started to wear off. They resumed their marching order with Torn up front and walked up to what turned out to be the gambling room of the tomb.
Last edited:
Lars Frehse
First Post
The tomb of Marilvaz the sage- part 3 of 4
The floor of the gaming room was covered with black and white tiles, giving it the look of an oversized chessboard. The only furniture in it were four tables and some chairs positioned around them.
On one table, there was the inevitable heavy tomb, on another several hands of cards lay facedown across from one another, and on the two other tables, there was a chessgame and the dwarvish game "brunholk". Curios about the cards, Niklas picked up a hand, and immediately, he felt the need to play a game.
He sat down and immediately the other hands of cards levitated up, as if held by invisible players. He played a card, and the other hands played themselves- and soon he forgot the strangeness of the situation and let the fascination and concentration that came with the game guide him. However he lost, and as he played his last losing card he felt an invisible fist punching him in the stomach, taking him by surprise. Breathing deeply for air and holding his stomach, he got up, as already Torn sat down, saying:"I wonder what happens if a game is won.".
The cards reshuffled themselves in the middle of the table, and as he picked up his hand of cards, the other hands went up and hovered over the table just like before. Unlike Niklas, however, he won the game, and as he got up, he felt that he was now slightly swifter than he had been before.
The game room was connected to another room by a short corridor. That room looked like a barracks in a normal stronghold, full with beds and even fake windows that gave a "view" to a training field. Immediately, three Chardun-slain, undead of the kind they had encountered near Hor'Kung, rose and attacked them. However, since they shied from Jan who channeled the divine power of Corean, they posed no real danger and were quickly dispatched.
Now, however, they had a problem: All of them were wounded and Trepat had spent his arcane energies for the day. After a quick exchange they took a look at the spell that was hidden in the picture windows- it's magic was intended to literally "salt the earth" for years and then, after bagging a tome on warfare, they went back to the game-room, where they set up camp.
Fortunately for them, their rest remained uneventful and so, after having taken care of their wounds, they doubled back to the last fork at which they had originally gone left. There they went straight ahead, and at yet another fork, that lead ahead and left, they turned left again.
For the third time since they had entered the tomb, they found themselves in a natural cave again. This time, however, it was obvious right away that there the cave had been manipulated.
In this massive cavern, several scraggly trees were clawing at the ceiling, owls were calling out from among the branches, while there was the howling of wolves somewhere in the distance and a pale moonlight filtered down from the cavern's ceiling. Rows after rows of of headstones were jutting out of the earthen floor, forming a stereotypical gothic graveyards.
They walked up to the gravestones, and for a moment they were set back: Each of them saw the names of their friends, family and even themselves on the graves! However, after they told each other, they soon figured out that it was merely a tasteless illusion. There weren't any names on the tombstones, but rather fragments of the language of magic.
As they examined the fragments on various gravestones, Trepat found out that it was actually a large, elaborate puzzle which, when put together, produced a spell that helped in the creation of undead minions. "Now that we have the spell, I wonder where the book is.", Trepat said.
"I think...", Niklas started, never to finish the sentence. Suddenly, all their attention was captured as from all graves but one, several bone fragments flew towards the center of the cave, close to them, making them feel as if they were witnesses to an explosion in reverse, in which cause and effect had been replaced with each other.
Within a few seconds, the pile of bones had the form of a giant-sized humanoid with several heads and limbs. Immediately, it lashed out at Niklas, hurting him dearly, and while Trepat shot acid arrows at the undead abberation, the others entered the melee.
Even though they hacked away at it with all their might, it didn't seem bothered by the attacks. Indeed, with every moment that passed, it grew yet another limp that lashed out at the heroes, making it more deadly with every second that passed.
Each time it hit, they felt an immense force behind the bony claws tearing through skin, muscles and sinews. Niklas was tossed back a few yards, leaving behind only Jan and Torn close to the thing, and both were heavily wounded. They kept on coming at the thing from two sides, but with it's several heads it was able to keep them in check even then.
Then the thing found a gap in Jan's armor and rammed it's claws into his flesh. As it pulled out, the blood came shooting out of his shoulder in a burst. Everything turned black for him and he heavily sank down on his knees. Trepat shot even more acid at it as Torn hit it square in the centre and the skeleton fragmented into many small bones again. Finally, it was defeated.
They took care of their wounded, and then they recovered using one of Ben's wands of curing. Then, they set of to a square room with a single spiral staircase that lead up. They climbed the stairs and entered a massive chamber. It's walls were inscribed with infernal letters, and there two alcoves with seven odd looking mirrors in each of them. In an angled niche in the middle of the west wall lay a stone sarcophagus that was adorned with the symbols of Chardun.
At last, they had reached Marilvaz’s final resting place.
The floor of the gaming room was covered with black and white tiles, giving it the look of an oversized chessboard. The only furniture in it were four tables and some chairs positioned around them.
On one table, there was the inevitable heavy tomb, on another several hands of cards lay facedown across from one another, and on the two other tables, there was a chessgame and the dwarvish game "brunholk". Curios about the cards, Niklas picked up a hand, and immediately, he felt the need to play a game.
He sat down and immediately the other hands of cards levitated up, as if held by invisible players. He played a card, and the other hands played themselves- and soon he forgot the strangeness of the situation and let the fascination and concentration that came with the game guide him. However he lost, and as he played his last losing card he felt an invisible fist punching him in the stomach, taking him by surprise. Breathing deeply for air and holding his stomach, he got up, as already Torn sat down, saying:"I wonder what happens if a game is won.".
The cards reshuffled themselves in the middle of the table, and as he picked up his hand of cards, the other hands went up and hovered over the table just like before. Unlike Niklas, however, he won the game, and as he got up, he felt that he was now slightly swifter than he had been before.
The game room was connected to another room by a short corridor. That room looked like a barracks in a normal stronghold, full with beds and even fake windows that gave a "view" to a training field. Immediately, three Chardun-slain, undead of the kind they had encountered near Hor'Kung, rose and attacked them. However, since they shied from Jan who channeled the divine power of Corean, they posed no real danger and were quickly dispatched.
Now, however, they had a problem: All of them were wounded and Trepat had spent his arcane energies for the day. After a quick exchange they took a look at the spell that was hidden in the picture windows- it's magic was intended to literally "salt the earth" for years and then, after bagging a tome on warfare, they went back to the game-room, where they set up camp.
Fortunately for them, their rest remained uneventful and so, after having taken care of their wounds, they doubled back to the last fork at which they had originally gone left. There they went straight ahead, and at yet another fork, that lead ahead and left, they turned left again.
For the third time since they had entered the tomb, they found themselves in a natural cave again. This time, however, it was obvious right away that there the cave had been manipulated.
In this massive cavern, several scraggly trees were clawing at the ceiling, owls were calling out from among the branches, while there was the howling of wolves somewhere in the distance and a pale moonlight filtered down from the cavern's ceiling. Rows after rows of of headstones were jutting out of the earthen floor, forming a stereotypical gothic graveyards.
They walked up to the gravestones, and for a moment they were set back: Each of them saw the names of their friends, family and even themselves on the graves! However, after they told each other, they soon figured out that it was merely a tasteless illusion. There weren't any names on the tombstones, but rather fragments of the language of magic.
As they examined the fragments on various gravestones, Trepat found out that it was actually a large, elaborate puzzle which, when put together, produced a spell that helped in the creation of undead minions. "Now that we have the spell, I wonder where the book is.", Trepat said.
"I think...", Niklas started, never to finish the sentence. Suddenly, all their attention was captured as from all graves but one, several bone fragments flew towards the center of the cave, close to them, making them feel as if they were witnesses to an explosion in reverse, in which cause and effect had been replaced with each other.
Within a few seconds, the pile of bones had the form of a giant-sized humanoid with several heads and limbs. Immediately, it lashed out at Niklas, hurting him dearly, and while Trepat shot acid arrows at the undead abberation, the others entered the melee.
Even though they hacked away at it with all their might, it didn't seem bothered by the attacks. Indeed, with every moment that passed, it grew yet another limp that lashed out at the heroes, making it more deadly with every second that passed.
Each time it hit, they felt an immense force behind the bony claws tearing through skin, muscles and sinews. Niklas was tossed back a few yards, leaving behind only Jan and Torn close to the thing, and both were heavily wounded. They kept on coming at the thing from two sides, but with it's several heads it was able to keep them in check even then.
Then the thing found a gap in Jan's armor and rammed it's claws into his flesh. As it pulled out, the blood came shooting out of his shoulder in a burst. Everything turned black for him and he heavily sank down on his knees. Trepat shot even more acid at it as Torn hit it square in the centre and the skeleton fragmented into many small bones again. Finally, it was defeated.
They took care of their wounded, and then they recovered using one of Ben's wands of curing. Then, they set of to a square room with a single spiral staircase that lead up. They climbed the stairs and entered a massive chamber. It's walls were inscribed with infernal letters, and there two alcoves with seven odd looking mirrors in each of them. In an angled niche in the middle of the west wall lay a stone sarcophagus that was adorned with the symbols of Chardun.
At last, they had reached Marilvaz’s final resting place.
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