Mysteries of Mystara 005

The party searches for some twig blights, finds them, then tracks some Goblins to a mysterious underground fortress. The on-going GURPS saga of five unlikely companions attempting to unravel the mysteries of Mystara.~

Mysteries of Mystara
Session 005~

The Sunken Citadel~

211204~

After leaving the Pixies, the group heads out to search for this forest threat, some sort of animated plant creature that is killing innocent beasts in the forest. After searching around for some time, the group comes across what appears to be a dead badger. The creature has suffered numerous grisly slashes as well as punctures by what appear to be long thorns possibly coated by some type of poison. Malachai uses his druidic magic to give him some clues on what type of plant this thorn came from. 

Though unclear, it does give him enough information to then cast another spell designed to help find specific types of plants, which leads the group further on into the forest. When the group arrives at a small clearing where Malachai has magically determined the plants to be, the group spreads out and searches the area. While searching the area, the friendly owl that has been following the group around lets out a loud screech and falls from the branch on which she had alighted.

Going to her aid, the party confronts some strange bush-like creatures that attack. The battle is short and the creatures are quickly dispatched, much in part due to Panya’s expert use of her chakrams and superior mobility. Malachai was wounded during the skirmish and he realizes he was also poisoned in the process, as was Opal, the owl. 

Fortunately, Malachai is able to concoct an antidote to stop the effects of the poison before any ill effects manifested. A fourth twig abomination was detected in the area, but it fled. The group was able to follow its tracks for some time, though with great difficulty, and eventually they lost the trail. In their continued search for these twig blights, the party happens upon some other tracks, small humanoid tracks, possibly Goblins or other such creatures, and decide to follow them for a while. 

Eventually these new tracks come out to the Old Road, and with no further leads, the group decides to follow it for a while. Eventually, the group comes upon a large ravine near the road with some carved posts near its edge. The ravine stretches off in both directions for some distance, but narrows to  just a few feet wide. In this place, it is quite wide and it appears that there is a rope, recently tied, leading down into the ravine. Some small hand and foot holds are also noted on the inside edge of the ravine. A sandy ledge can be seen some 25 feet below, though nothing else is discernible in the blackness, only that a wide, gaping black void exists below. 

As a whole, the group does not possess much climbing skill, so it is decided to lower Lucky down to the ledge to check it out. As he reaches the ledge, though, he is unexpectedly attacked by a dire rat. The Traladaran bard is quickly hauled back up to the surface. Talyn and Panya, both (over)confident in their ability to climb, quickly descend to deal with the rats. Lucky covers them from the edge of the ravine with his crossbow.

The two companions quickly find themselves embattled with numerous dire rats, not just one, and they deftly maneuver around on the small ledge, fighting them off. Lucky gets off a good shot or two and Malachai, eager to assist his companions, grabs a rope and hastily begins to climb down. Unfortunately, he loses his grip and falls nearly the entire way, hitting the ledge hard enough to knock himself unconscious. 

Finally, the rats are expelled from the ledge and Malachai is tended to. Up above, Lucky takes his time rigging up the safest way for himself to climb down, then slowly makes his descent. He has a close call, but manages to hold on. By the time he reaches the ledge, Malachai has recovered enough to move on. Sadly, the Blink Dog, Lesaro, cannot make the climb down and Malachai tells him that they will catch up to him again when they eventually climb back out. He barks and heads off. The group then descends a rough flight of stone stairs that zig-zag back and forth along the earthen wall of the ravine. 

As they descend, they soon realize that down below them they can see what appears to be the upper levels of a castle or fortress of some sort. It looks like it is buried in the earth, possibly somehow cast from the surface and sunken into the ground. The steps lead to a wide, rocky area leading to the top of some battlements and the upper level of a tower. 

Approaching a door in the tower’s outer wall, Talyn finds himself nearly falling into some sort of pit trap. The pit was filled with several dead Goblins and a live Dire Rat feasting on them. The rat is dispatched easily and Talyn climbs down and searches the Goblins, two of which were in a nearly skeletal state, though the third has been dead for only a day or so. Talyn gathers up some coins for his trouble and climbs back out of the pit. A narrow ledge leads around the edge of the pit and allows access to the door to the tower. 

Inside the tower, more dead Goblins are found, these all deceased within the last month or so. These Goblins had been previously looted. Searching the room, Malachai discovers what he believes is a secret door. Wary of traps, he pulls a spear from the wall that had been impaling one of the dead Goblins and uses its shaft to open the door. A small metal dart springs forth and embeds itself in the wooden spear as the door opens. 

Inside the secret room there appears to be some long dead guards. As soon as Talyn begins to enter the room to look around, the skeletons rise and attack, animated by some evil, necromantic energy. Hoping to spare his companions harm, Talyn positions himself in the narrow doorway and uses his body and shield to prevent the skeletons from advancing. He trades blows with them, and his companions are able to position themselves nearby to provide assistance. Eventually the skeletons are defeated. A quick search of the room reveals a few coins and what appears to be 3 magical crossbow bolts, which Lucky quickly takes and puts in his pack for later evaluation. Lucky notes that there was some ancient writing engraved in the wall behind where the dead Goblin had been impaled. He believes it is written in Draconic script, though no one can read it.

The group then proceeds through another door leading out of the tower area and finds themselves in a crumbling chamber with a curious and intricately carved stone door. The southern wall and ceiling of the room seem to be falling apart and the large pile of rocky rubble on the ground attests to that. A few members of the group move to examine the door that is carved to resemble a Dragon’s head, with a keyhole where its mouth appears. There appears to be no obvious way to open the door without the key. Meanwhile, Malachai moves to examine the rubble and crumbling far end of the room. 

As he sifts through the debris, he discovers a Dire Rat that leaps out and bites into his leg, just above the knee. The rat’s sharp teeth slice through muscle and blood vessels and the Fey druid crashes to the ground in pain! The others quickly come to his defense and the rat is beaten. 

After this unfortunate encounter, the group retreats to the tower room to rest and recuperate. It is decided after a few moments, that it would be prudent to retreat back to the surface, resupply then return to the Sunken Citadel, so the group makes their way back to the surface and heads back toward their newly acquired tower and Novaci beyond.

Upon arriving at the tower, smoke from a campfire can be seen coming from the courtyard area. Panya sneaks in and sees what she describes as a group of Orcs camped out in the middle of the courtyard. Unwilling to engage squatter Orcs in their diminished state, the group continues on past the Old Tower and finally, well after dark, finds themselves back in the small village of Novaci. A quick visit to the local healer gets all remaining wounds patched up and the exhausted party beds down for the night.

Session Notes

Still missing one of our PCs this session. The group went off to try to help the Pixies, found some twig blights then discovered the entrance to an underground ruin and decided to explore. They quickly retreated when they found themselves a bit wounded and running out of healing resources.

Cast of Characters:

Malachai, Faetouched, Wilderness Defender - played by JeCorey H
Talyn Dilectus Vanyilam, teenage Celestial warrior on the run - played by Don K
Panya Masika, a bronze skinned Nithian monke stranded out of time - played by Carol C
Vlajic Savago, the Lucky Savage, a Traladaran bard - played by Dan E

and GMJasonGURPS as the DM