Alair - Holy Wars |
 DM Note: Allan and Aimo double-act this session, so Ghlaads was assigned rear-rank artillery duties under DM control. Much good it did her.... |
After some debate, the party returned to the trapped corridor, resolved to try and access the room beyond, now identified as the mausoleum from the ill-fated monk's diary. Egia was all for hurling a rock onto the centre trap to see what it did, but Hougaard preferred a mixture of the passphrase from the diary ("I come to honour the sacred dead"), and jumping over the trigger area. Then, with the aid of the third passphrase ("I beseech admittance in the holy names of our ancestors"), the doors were opened and they entered the room beyond, Ghlaads remaining outside with her crossbow poised.
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5.The bare walls of the mausoleum were lined with half a dozen carved, standing sarcophagi. An odd smell hung heavy in the air - sweet, pungent... spicy.Each sarcophagus had a plate on it, with birth and death dates and the names of long-past Barons von Dorenn. Their rest, like that of the Abbot, had been disturbed by the dark energies unleashed here, and as the paladin and the Unfettered explored the room, a sudden grinding noise announced the rising of some of the occupants.
The lid of the sarcophagus Hougaard was examining began to move, and a bandaged, gaunt arm groped out, reaching for him. Throwing himself forward, he rammed it closed again, and Egia joined him, forcing the mummy back into its' coffin. They exchanged a grin across the coffin at this success, then froze at the sound of more grating movement behind them. Two more coffers were slowly opening.
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With a wrench, they toppled the sarcophagus they were holding over to smash on the stone floor, tangling the occupant in his own coffin. Backing frantically up in order to return to the still-active Magic Circle against Evil radiated by Ghlaads, Egia drew Sunrazor and held it up, displaying the Flower of Belisama pendant she'd transferred from Farrell's sword. "Back!" she screamed, but the advancing undead ignored her.
Hougaard bounded forward, snapping a resounding kick into one of the two newcomers and dodging back out of reach. As he did so, Ghlaads sent a Magic Missile zipping past him, battering the mummy with darts of energy. Egia gathered her faith and tried again: "Belisama damn you!" she cried, and one of the mummies keeled over onto its' face, body crumbling. Hougaard darted back into the melee, punching and kicking the other one, then out of range again at the far side, ready to flank their foes. As he did so, the mummy whose coffin they'd upset smashed its' way free and rose to its' enbalmed feet ready for action, and turned towards the Unfettered.
Egia reversed her sword into a two-handed grip and lashed out at the second of her foes. It evaded the strikes, moaning in a deep tone; as it did so, she noticed that for some reason this walking corpse was missing its' left hand. Behind her, Ghlaads murmured the words of a spell and tapped her sister on the shoulder. Egia felt a massive wave of power run down her arms into her sword ready for her next attack. Lunging forward, she struck with all her might, feeling the energy of the spell boosting her strike. The flaming blade of Sunrazor tore completely through the mummy, scattering dry bandages, bits of bone and dried flesh in all directions, many of them on fire.
Encouraged, she stepped forward and lashed out at the third mummy from behind, noting with approval the splendid balance of Sunrazor and the way the pale flames caught in the mummy's bandages, burning on for a second or two after the blade had passed. Behind her, Ghlaads cast a Ray of Frost spell, and the mummy groaned as the blue beam struck its' back, freezing solid a head-sized area. Ponderously, the mummy turned once more, seeking the source of these attacks, and Hougaard siezed his opportunity to strike it from behind in his turn, jumping into the air to crack a kick into its' back and scatter bits of frozen undead across the mausoleum.
| DM Note: I diddled poor Ghlaads here - in the flow of the game I didn't look up Disrupt Undead but just took it as 1d3 like Ray of Frost, but it's actually a whole 1d6, oops, sorry guys you're not dead after all. Oh, you weren't. No harm done then! Allan fumbled his Appraise here so Hougaard thinks he's rich. The hand is a Hand of the Mage:This mummified hand hangs by a golden chain around a character’s neck (taking up space as a magic necklace would). It allows the wearer to utilize the spell mage hand at will. |
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As it turned to Egia, Ghaads followed her Ray with her Disrupt Undead spell, drilling a blackened hole into through its shoulder. It staggered slightly, and Hougaard unleashed a leaping forearm smash which rocked it forward into Egia's blade. Taking full advantage of this, she stabbed viciously and the creature dropped.
Breath recovered, the three searched the disintegrating remains and (cautiously!) the unopened coffins. The bodies had been laid to rest with generous grave goods, gold and platinum rings, chains, coronets and so forth. The party gathered these, Hougaard in particular being convinced that they were worth a fortune. In the bottom of the coffin recently occupied by the mummy with only one hand, Egia found ... another hand. Unlike the remains of the defeated mummies, this had not crumbled. She was about to discard it when Ghlaads reached over her shoulder and plucked it out of her hand. "That's magical," she said, and cast her Identify on it. Evidently, the energies flowing here had produced a different effect on this part of the long-dead Baron's body - maybe this was why it had come off?
15. With just one unopened door left, they returned to the teleport trap, where a little thinking produced some ideas to reduce the dangers of working on it. Scouring the rest of the complex for all the materials they could find - mostly bits of smashed door from the library - they laid boards across the 'flame' pit until it could be comfortably walked over. Now, anyone teleported away from the doors would simply drop to the boards from a height of a few inches or so.
Next, Hougaard stood before the doors, gathering his iron will, and then reached out firmly with both hands and placed them flat on the iron surface. Instantly, he felt the magic grip at his form, trying to push him through the Astral plane to the Teleport's destination, but he gritted his teeth and fought off the trap's power. When it faded, he remained in place, hands firmly on the door. With a grin, he called over his shoulder to Egia, "All right, lean on my shoulders and help me push!" Both heaved for all they were worth, sweat rolling down their faces, but to no avail; the doors didn't shift. Given there were no visible hinges, they should surely open inwards, but it was entirely possible that that much iron was simply too heavy for even the muscular pair to move.
Reflecting on the fact that clues to the opening of other doors in the complex had been found elsewhere, the three turned back to the room wherein they'd found the trapped devils. Egia was quite firm that such creatures must not be left in the world to threaten innocents, and so the party resolved to attempt the massacre room once more.
| DM Note: I realized I'd been fiddling Ghlaads again at this point when we checked ROF for a light crossbow and found it's 1/round, with a Move Equivalent load action. Oops. |
A variety of protective spells were cast, including a Bless. "I'll lead off with a Fireball," said Ghlaads, "but are they immune to fire?" Egia thought a moment. "Probably resistant," she said, "but unless you have something bigger you may as well." She had prepared an arrow with a Light spell cast on it, and had it nocked and ready; Hougaard had borrowed Farrell's sword in case he couldn't reach the fiends bare-handed. The Magic Circle against Evil was still running, and so was the Daylight spell on the dagger tucked into Hougaard's belt.
All ready at last, Hougaard reached forward and opened the doors.
The huge sphere of light thrown by the Daylight spell cut a cone into the magical Darkness on the other side of the door, leaving the near corners of the room shrouded in shadows. Missile weapons poised, they watched the shadows intently. After a few seconds, shapes formed from the darkness at the edges, and the forms of the two devils appeared at the edges of the Daylight, heading towards them. "Fire!" cried Egia.
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Hougaard's crossbow bolt whacked into the Kyton's chest, and he stuck his foot through the loop, frantically spanning the weapon. Egia's two arrows flashed at the Osyluth, one sinking into a gaunt arm. Then Ghlaads' Fireball exploded midway between them, enveloping both in roiling flames. The Osyluth stood unharmed in a small clear space, but the Kyton thrashed and bellowed as it scorched.
The Bone Devil lifted off the floor, using a Fly spell to increase its' already considerable speed, and headed straight for Egia. With a hideous ripple, the Chain Devil's face shifted and changed, and to Egia it resembled, for a moment, her worst nightmares. Paladins, however, feel no fear, and she chuckled as she let her bow slide down her wrist and held up Sunrazor. The blinding bolt of the sword's Searing Light power blasted across the chamber and splashed across the boney form of the Osyluth, eliciting a strange scream of pain.
Frantically, Hougaard rammed a bolt into his crossbow and lugged it up to the ready, desperate to shoot before the devils were upon him, but his haste betrayed his aim, and his shot went wide. The Osyluth was almost on him when it encountered the edge of the Magic Circle against Evil. The effect was almost as abrupt as if it had run into a wall; it reeled backwards in the air snarling. With perfect timing, Ghlaads released a Web spell and meshed the Bone Devil in a mound of sticky strands.
| DM Note: It was a good round; two criticals and a head shot! A nice change from undead that can't be criticalled. |
Unable to dodge, it was easy meat for Hougaard, who took the opportunity to put another bolt into it with pinpoint accuracy. The missile disappeared completely inside its' body and it screamed. The scream was cut off abruptly as Ghlaads, too, nailed it with her crossbow, her bolt crashing through one eye to stand out from its' head as it prepared to attack again. Egia sheathed her sword and resumed her bow, making it three mighty shots out of three with a very neat arrow into the Bone Devil. It thrashed and struggled but was unable to free itself.
Meanwhile, the slower-moving Kyton had reached the edge of the web. The chains with which it was draped lifted into the air, whirling around it as it advanced slowly into the webbing. The chains shredded the webs and the fiend moved onwards unimpeded, closing in on Hougaard the Unfettered. Egia put two arrows into it, but they didn't seem to slow it down at all. It closed with the martial artist, spun its' flailing chains up to curl around at him. He dodged frantically, but one got through his guard and smashed into his face, loosing a sheet of blood that poured down into his eyes. Desperately, he dodged out of the way and fled down the corridor, pulling the potion of Cure Moderate Wounds from his belt-pouch.
Deprived of its' first target, the Kyton turned on Ghlaads and advanced on Egia. She shot it again with her bow but again it didn't seem too bothered, so she dropped it again and drew Sunrazor once more. As she did so, the Bone Devil finally broke free of the Web and advanced on Ghlaads. Backing up, she found herself in the corner with nowhere to go. Her crossbow shot went wide and she scrabbled for her sword. She hefted it ineffectually, but the Osyluth was all over her, teeth and claws rending. She felt her leg break with a horrible chunching snap! and went over onto her back, the sword loose in her hand. Her breathing was congested; it felt like a rib or two was gone as well.
Ghlaads gritted her teeth as the monster drew back its' claws for the death-blow, but at the last moment it was distracted as Egia stepped smartly in behind the Chain Devil - which was pursuing Hougaard down the hall - and attacked it again with Sunrazor. The first blow skated off the chains, but the second flashed horizontally across at neck height, and the Kyton's head sprang from its shoulders, spun across the corridor, and landed in the mesh of the Web, where it hung, glaring at her with glazing eyes while its fangs gnashed spasmodically.
Hougaard sprang past it and delivered a two-handed slash with Farrell's sword to the Bone Devil from behind, narrowly avoiding its venomous sting and disabling one of its arms. It whirled on him, and Egia took advantage of its lowered guard to hew off most of its right leg. This would have been more significant had it been using the leg, but even so it screamed in pain and fury.
Behind it, Ghlaads valiantly stabbed with her sword, scoring a lucky strike and delivering another wound. Egia and Hougaard struck again, and the fiend dropped to its knees before the Paladin. "Spare me!" it begged. Egia glanced past it to the pathetic jumble of its' previous victims, still visible through the Web in the doorway. "Your crimes deserve punishment," she grated, and delivered the death-blow.
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Session Date: 10th January 2013 |
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