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Message: <blockquote data-quote="carpedavid" data-source="post: 655763" data-attributes="member: 6971">Session 4, Part 1 - In which the characters do not get eaten by ghouls...Erendil is rather surprised when the ghouls do not, in fact, eat him, but begin dragging him and the rest of the group deeper underground. They emerge into a chamber over a hundred feet across that is filled with dozens of ghouls. Erendil begins to panic as the ghouls strip him of both his equipment and his clothes, and then bind his arms and legs. Though the paralysis prevents him from looking around under his own power, he catches glimpses of his companions suffering a similar fate as the ghouls jostle him around.Now paralyzed, bound, weaponless, and completely exposed, the group is hung upside down by their feet on a rope strung between two stalagmites. The blood rushes to Erendil's head, blurring his vision, creating an audible ringing in his ears, and inducing an extreme headache. After a minute or so, he notices that the numbness in his body wears off, and he whispers to his companions, "Hey, are you guys still paralyzed?""No, but I've got a really awful headache," Laurel replies.Now able to look around under his own power, Erendil watches the ghouls move around upside down - the blurry vision and inverted perspective create a surreal atmosphere."You know, the Tanayarans actually hang people upside down as a method of execution," Quara volunteers, "They'd actually bind them up, a lot like we are, and then hang them upside down in a covered well. They'd die all alone in the dark, when the buildup of blood in the head causes a massive stroke. The only problem is that it's too effective. People would die too quickly. So they slit the veins behind their ears to relieve the pressure."Laurel gives Quara a horrified look."Oh yeah, it's awful. The blood drains slowly enough that it clots, but as the pressure builds up, the clot bursts and the bleeding begins again. That happens over and over again until the person dies," Quara says excitedly."Why do you know this?" Laurel exclaims.Erendil ignores his companions' discussion and eavesdrops on the conversations of the ghouls around them."What does the master want with them?""I don't know, but I hope he makes it quick. I haven't seen meat this juicy in years.""I'm not particularly fond of elf flesh, myself, it's too gamy.""That human girl looks plenty tasty.""Have they gone to fetch the master?""I hope he makes it quick, I hunger so."Erendil groans inwardly - hanging upside down, naked, in preparation for being eaten by ghouls was not how he wanted to end his adventuring career. A commotion near one group of ghouls attracts his attention, and he spots a translucent figure emerge from behind a stalagmite and begin to glide toward them. Erendil shakes his head, trying to clear his vision, for he is certain that he can see right through the middle-aged human male dressed in aristocratic clothing. As the man approaches, Erendil sees that every visible area of skin is covered in bruises, welts, and cuts. Suddenly, the man's translucent status makes sense."What have we here," the man muses as he examines the four naked, upside-down adventurers. "Tell me, son," his Avengardan brogue is light and barely noticeable as he addresses Erendil, "why is it that you and your companions are trying to work your way into the most horrific prison on the planet? Most people I know would rather go in the opposite direction.""Well," Erendil says hopefully, "we're actually here to try and break someone out of the prison.""Really?" the man smiles wryly, then turns to his ghoul companions, "Cut them down." The ghouls look at each other in confusion for a moment, then sullenly begin to cut the adventurers down. The ghost continues, "I am Lord Willem Armitage, twenty-fifth Earl of Caelenburgh. Or, at least I was until the Emperor's men came in the middle of the night and dragged me from my bed because I wouldn't bow down to his bitch-goddess.""Oh. Well...pleased to meet you," Erendil manages as the blood that had built up in his head suddenly empties as he is righted, leaving him even more disoriented than before. The groans of Laurel, Quara, and Shoji echo his own discomfort as he slumps ungracefully to the floor. After a few seconds, his vision returns, and he regains his feet."I'll assume you want your equipment returned," Erendil hears Armitage say as his ears stop ringing. As he is handed his clothing and equipment by a ghoul, he notices a glimmer of resentment in its unblinking eyes. Good, he reasons, as long as they resent us, they aren't eating us.Once the party is dressed, Armitage continues, "I can offer you free passage into the prison. These caverns lead right under the central shaft.""Can you tell us what kind of opposition we'll be facing?" Quara asks."Well, the warden of the prison is a priestess of Dominique who has six or so acolytes under her command. There is also a prison guard, which consists of six men plus a captain, and a kennel.""That seems like a very small number to guard such a large prison," Quara says questioningly.Armitage sighs and frowns, then says softly, "Most of the people who are brought here are in no condition to cause trouble." He pauses for a moment, "And no one ever lasts long enough to improve their condition.""Oh," Quara looks at her feet for a second, then, "Is there any chance you can lend us... um... some of your... uh... men?""No, I can't do that. As much as I despise this place, my men," Armitage motions to the ghouls surrounding him, "depend on the prison for food." He notices the horrified expressions on the adventurers' faces, and then says firmly, "We do what we need to survive."The group looks at each other, then back at Armitage. "Thank you for your help," Erendil says finally, "I think we should attempt to continue our mission now." The aristocrat ghost nods, and instructs two of his ghouls to lead the adventurers through the caverns. The group moves out, and after a few minutes of climbing over boulders and squeezing past stalagmites, they spot a light filtering through a crack in the wall. The ghouls point them toward the light, and then head back.The group files into a single line, with Shoji in the lead. As they creep closer to the light, a horrific stench begins to overwhelm them. Rotting flesh, mildew, bodily waste, and death all mingle to create an odor that is far fouler than each of them taken separately. Shoji pokes his head through the crack in the cavern wall and sees a thirty-foot wide pit filled with humanoid bodies... and body parts.Meanwhile, on the deck of the HMS Darklorne, Wrayce, Tamminyd, Danklar, and their companions are having fun flying their stolen flagship around the northern territories of Avengard, provoking warships, and then outrunning them. Wrayce is standing at the railing trying to spot more ships to spook, when a small bird lands on the railing in front of him."Peep!" it peeps. He looks down at the bird and notices that it has a small scroll of paper wound around one leg."C'mere," he says gently, holding out his hand. The bird looks at him, then at his hand, then back at him, then back at his hand, and jumps into his palm. The bird holds very still as Wrayce gently unwraps the scroll and unrolls it with one hand. It reads:To those who stole my airship,I'm a bit busy at the moment, but when your emperor's head is on a pike outside your castle walls, I'm going to hunt you down, torture you, kill you, and then defile your bodies.Ta for now,DWrayce looks at the message, looks at the bird, looks at the message again, and then looks back at the bird, which promptly explodes in a puff of feathers. A bright silver light fills his vision, and the world disappears.More to come...</blockquote>

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