Wandered Roads 37

Wandered Roads of Varisia
Session 37
December 27, 2014

Campaign Timeline

Sorshen's House of Lust and Danger

Oathday, 5th of Neth

Gimmie Head

Concerned that the next several statues were also homes for similar stone guardians, the Heroes began to concoct a plan. Discussions ranged from full on assault, running past, sneaking past, using magic or finding another route past. Calina suggested that Vexeron use his Wizard Eye spell to scout out down the hallway to see how many more of these statues would have to be dealt with and find out what was up ahead. The wizard heartily agreed and sent a floating magical eyeball down the hall. The eye did alert the stone statue heads but they were not able to do anything about the eye.

The magical reconnaissance revealed that there were just 2 remaining statues, both with similar heads on them. Past the statues, the hallway turned back around and headed to the west again. Just past the statues was a widened area of the hallway decorated with another mural showing the Runelord Sorshen being worshipped and attended to by many other beings. The hallway continued for some distance before ending in a closed stone door.

Before venturing further into the hallway, Vexeron thought it pertinent to create a magical servant and send it down the hall to test the waters. A fluffy, husky dog wearing bright red boots was summoned and sent to check the way. As it approached the nearest statue, the head’s eyes began to glow, it rose up and blasted “Boots” with a bolt, causing it to disappear.

Creepy statue heads

In the end, it was determined that magic and stealth would be the best ways to get past the sentinels. Daellin went first under an invisibility enchantment. Moving slowly and carefully, he was able to sneak past the guardians. He returned and the group and it was decided that members of the party would be made invisible a few at a time. Vosk, Samad and Ehlyna were the first group to be made invisible and they made their way down the hallway, near to the right side, as quietly as possible. Unfortunately it was not quiet enough and the nearest statue head rose up on its creepy metal legs and began firing magical bolts from its eyes. At that point, Vosk broke into a run, urging his companions to follow. Ehlyna and Samad started moving forward, with Daellin passing them in the hall. The statue head began firing magical bolts in the general direction of the invisible members.

Back at the other end of the hallway, the rest of the group surged forward, hoping to make a mad dash past the sentinels while they were focused on firing at invisible targets. Ehlyna and Samad made it a safe distance past the last statue as Daellin moved back down the hall, hoping to give the others some invisibility magic.  As the others moved up, Calina and Vexeron were not lucky enough to be able to avoid the paralyzing bolts of the creepy spider-statue heads. Both fell to the ground. Kallin, who had managed to bump into an invisible Daellin, turned and ran back, using his divine magic to release them from their paralyzed state.

Calina sizes up the encounter

Daellin was now targeted by one of the magical bolts and dove to the ground to avoid being hit. Hoping to aid his friends and get out of the line of fire as quickly as possible, the nimble Elf used his acrobatic prowess and flipped immediately back to his feet. Unfortunately for him, he was still invisible and none of his companions witnessed his amazing acrobatic stand.

At the other end of the hallway, Samad focused on the magic of his Shard and created an illusion of himself, though not nearly as charming or attractive, on the far side of the hallway in between the two statues. This illusory copy of Samad did manage to distract and draw fire from the now two attacking statue heads.

Ehlyna dives for cover

Kallin worked hard to get his friends back to their feet and rushed them along down the hallway, leaving no one else for Daellin to cast invisibility on, so he merely moved back down the hallway, slowly and surely, managing to avoid any further attack by the constructs.

Hoping to give her friends a bit of an advantage, Ehlyna charged back into the hallway, still invisible, and leaped up and began climbing the last statue-pillar. After a moment she was up near where the magical head was firing bolts at her companions. Wasting no time, the Dwarf grabbed the stone head in something of a bear hug, becoming visible in the process, heaved it over her head and flung it toward the other statue, hoping to hit the other bolt firing golem. The spider legged head missed its target but went flying down the hall. The missed head toss alerted the other sentinel to turn and fire on Ehlyna, who was not exposed, clinging to the top of the headless statue. To avoid the blast, Ehlyna dove back out of the way, landing hard on the stone floor some 10 feet below. Though her maneuver didn’t take out both heads, it was enough of a distraction to give the rest of the party enough time to vacate the area without further incident.

Life is the Pits

The party moved around the corner toward the wider spot in the corridor to regroup and to find Vosk, who had ventured on ahead during the previous incident. When they arrived at the wide alcove, they discovered why Vosk had not returned. Apparently in his flight from the marble sentinels, the Half-Orc had misstepped and triggered a pit trap. The unfortunate rogue had fallen some 15 yards into a spike filled trap. Equal parts luck and skill had saved him from sure death. A rope was lowered down to him, though he had to scale part-way up the wall to reach it.

Taking a moment to rest and recover, the party then set themselves to the task of crossing the spike filled pit. Samad, Daellin and Vosk all carefully navigated the narrow ledge along the wall where the trap doors had fallen away while Calina, Kallina and Ehlyna opted for the slower and safer method of climbing down into the pit using the climbing gear and ropes they had. Having rested up a bit while everyone else had crossed, Vexeron used his magic to widen the stone ledge, making it wide enough to walk on. As a courtsey, he did bring the long rope over to the other side and create a nice stone hook to easily tie the climbing rope to.

Interview with a Demon

The next room the party entered contained more statues and paintings of Runelord Sorshen. It was also covered in blood. As they entered, Calina felt danger lurking nearby. Just them, a shadowy movement was detected behind the statues and a voice called out, demanding that the party stop and turn back. It told them they could not pass. A parley was struck and the voice belonged to demon, an incubus, hiding behind the statues. The demon came out and again reiterated that he could not let them pass, though it was detected in his voice and body language that he did not want to fight, though he indicated that he would be forced to if they tried to pass without defeating him.

a chatty demon

The incubi seemed quite chatty and willing to talk. He told that the blood here was from a recent (month ago) battle between him and some fellow incubi and a troop of Grey Maidens, female knights from the outside. He told that many of the Knights were slain as were the rest of his kind. He did not want to follow his companions back to the abyss in this manner and shared much information to avoid a confrontation. He told the group that he had been set here as a guardian and to allow none to pass unchallenged. He confirmed that it WAS, in fact, the Runelord Sorshen that had set for him this charge and that he had seen her not less than a week or so ago. In the end, he agreed to an arm wrestling match with Ehlyna, judging her to be the strongest of the group. It was a long and drawn out battle, with both sides fairly evenly matched. In the end, Ehlyna was able to pin his demonic hand to the stone floor. He conceded defeat and allowed the party to pass.

Grey Flames Burn Hot

In the next chamber, called the Sanctuary of the Grey Flame by the incubus in the previous room, the party found a huge, 8-sided chamber with a wide, low, three-step pyramid occupying the center of the room. In the center of this dais stood a stone pedestal with a large, grey flame burning from the top. The ceiling arched some 30 feet above and every surface was was made of shining white marble. Openings lead to the south and west, both seeming to open into smaller chambers. The center of the east wall had a strange section of wall made out of a dull grey stone. This grey stone contrasted sharply with the polished white everywhere else. It was also in the same position and shape as the openings leading out on the other 2 walls. In the middle of this grey wall was a torch sconce holding a long wooden torch that was blackened on the end, as if it had been burnt and put out.

mouthy little demons

The party made their way into the room and Samad immediately went to the torch and removed it from its holder and began making his way up the low steps, hoping that by lighting the torch, it would somehow trigger a secret door to open in the east wall. As the young warrior stepped to the top level of the dias, the grey flame exploded out, releasing a handful of small, flying demons that resembled red orbs taken up by not much more than a round, tooth filled maw and a fat, red tail. These creatures immediately attacked, mostly concentrating their bites on Samad, who was the closest, but as the rest of the group approached, they spread out and attacked everyone. They were very quick and difficult to hit, but eventually they were dispatched.

Samad then took the burning torch and placed it in the sconce which triggered the grey wall section to open outward on a pivot, revealing a long hallway that stretched off into the darkness. Further down this secret hallway, stairs could be seen leading up. Immediately, the party felt that this was the “way to go.” Before following this secret passage, though, it was decided to first explore behind a set of double doors found at the rear of one of the two smaller side chambers.

The doors were checked for traps and opened, revealing a very long and narrow corridor lined with 5 single iron bound, wooden doors on each side of the hallway. All the doors but one had a similar inscription on it, which was also carved into the stone wall at the far end of the corridor. The door immediately to the right, however, was different. It bore a different inscription than the others and more interesting than that, it was covered with a thin sheen of frost. With the hot, moist air coming in from the Sanctuary of the Grey Flame from behind, a cloud of frosty mist was beginning to form in the hallway.

An Icy Blast

Hoping to hurry this leg of the exploration up just a bit, the Elf Daellin impulsively grabs the handle of the frozen door and begins to open it. Just as he turns the latch, an icy explosion fills the entire area. Everyone attempts to dive for cover, though no one escapes the freezing shards of ice and cold completely.

let it go...

In the violence of the blast, Daellin had been thrown directly backward into the wooden door across the hall from the trapped, icy door, which turned out to not even be a door at all, just a fake door placed as a trap. As he hit it, the door opened as well. With frozen crystals of ice still hanging in the air and the majority of the ice from the blast already melting into puddles on the floor, the group realized that some serious healing was in order. This was by far the most deadly trap they had stumbled into so far in their explorations.

Aftermath

Vexeron suggested that the group move out of the main hall and into what appeared to be a lavishly decorated bedroom behind the door that Daellin had accidentally opened. After a quick search, the room was deemed safe and everyone piled in and the healing process was begun. After sitting and resting for a few moments, the party realized that it had been many hours since they had last slept and that fatigue was beginning to set in and would soon impair their judgements and actions. It was decided to use this chamber to take refuge in for some time and try to get some rest, get healed up and possibly identify some of the magical items they had gathered so far. Kallin used a little more minor healing magic on his friends, but it was not enough to completely heal everyone. Calina stepped in and used her two remaining healing poultices to get everyone back to full health.

Most folks took turns sleeping and taking watch, Vexeron spent some time trying to identify a few of the magical items they had found. From the strange and skilled guardian they had defeated earlier, they had a rapier, a cloak, 9 arrows and a wand. Not buried at the hydra cave they still had an amulet with a golden fist on it and a crystal wand. Knowing he would not have time to identify all of the items, Vexeron focused on the two wands, the cloak and the arrows. The first wand is a Wand of Secrets, the crystal wand is a Wand of Healing, the cloak is a Cloak of Resistance and the arrows are enchanted with accuracy and puissance.

Session Notes

We were a few players short this time, but only 2 and Jodi was able to make it back to the actual table for this session. JeCorey made his return after a bit of an absence. Tonight we celebrated 3 birthdays. Dan's actual birthday was game night, JeCorey's would be the next night and Jodi's was upcoming on New Years! We had cupcakes and other fun!

Characters Present:

Kallin Hawkril, Half-Orc shaman and budding Priest of Pharasma - played by +Daniel Ernst
Calina - Varisian Human archer and scout - played by +Carol Coburn
Daellin Silvanthalas, Elven Farstrider Ranger - played by +Ben Lipe
Vexeron, Human wizard - played by +Greg Grady
Ehlyna Fuzziface - Dwarven Warrior - played by +Jodi H
Samad Aldhul, Human ex-mercenary - played by +JeCorey Holder
Vosk, Half-Orc Pathfinder who gets the job done, no matter what - played by +james schaffner 

and +Jason Woollard as the DM