DM's note: Jay couldn't make this session so Uruk was run by Aimo.| DM's note: Jay couldn't make this session so Uruk was run by Aimo. |
Fishing through the loot, Eloy considered the Fae Mhor mail. Although it wasn't much better than his own, the nonreflective black metal appealed to him, and he changed into it.
Gorfang and Lynien were examining the small collection of potion bottles. A wave of Uruk's wand had determined that they were all magical. Gorfang had sniffed each one and discovered none were alcoholic in nature, at which point he lost interest, although he did lend Lynien the Translator's Ring to read their inscriptions. Three were Cure Moderate Wounds, one was Cure Light Wounds, and one was Bull's Strength. Méabh took a Cure Moderate and Lynien pouched the rest.
Lynien then used her temporary ability to read Fae Mhor to read the runes curling in a sinister fashion down the blade of the black longsword. These turned out to spell its' name, Veldrin Sk’aal. A keen debate then ensued between Eloy and Gorfang over the weapon. Eloy contended that Gorfang had two magical weapons where he had none; Gorfang's position was that a) he collected weapons, b) he'd passed over all other forms of treasure and c) if Eloy wanted the Veldrin, he was welcome to fight or arm-wrestle for it. There was a moment of tension, and then the pair shrugged and shelved the issue for later.
Moving on through the antechamber and down the stairs the Fae Mhor (and the centaur) had come up, the group descended into the tomb's main burial chamber [8].
The great hall, a hundred feet wide, contained over 20 stone sarcophagi and was probably once the main burial room. The holy symbols had all been desecrated and defiled. In the centre of the room stood an abomination; a fountain of once-white marble, now stained crimson and filled with blood and bones. A glowing red rune, radiating pure evil, had been rudely carved into the once-elegant plinth of the fountain. Gouts of blood bubbled and spurted grotesquely from the top of the fountain, spattering the floor around with red ichor.
This was the sight that had so appalled the centaur Cheiron, but these adventurers were made of sterner stuff. While the others searched the room, Lynien and Gorfang investigated the horrific Font of Bones.
Lynien siezed a pole and started poking around in the font itself, stirring up the bones. Gorfang examined the plinth, finding some words in Fae Mhor under the glowing rune:
'Quarval-sharess Lolth, al'yorn mrigg-wun, ninta xund’
(Great Goddess Lolth, guide your (favoured) servants as they strive in your cause)
The dreadful significance of these words eluded the companions, and they turned their attentions to the spider exoskeleton climbing out of the font, blood running off its' shell. Lynien, Eloy and Gorfang walloped it almost absent-mindedly, and it sank back into the crimson ooze.
Exploring to the west, they found a smaller room [8a] which the Fae Mhor had obviously been using as a bivouac. Apart from bedrolls, spare clothes, and some gold, there was a small portable shrine to Lolth, the demon queen of the spiders and goddess of the Fae Mhor. Perhaps wisely, they left that alone.
To the north, two corridors drove deep into the hillside. Niches lined these, with the remains of minor burials in them, but the thing that caught Gorfang's attention was some sort of obstruction towards the far end of the western one [9a]. With his usual caution and hesitancy, he strode down the tunnel towards it, weapons readied, Eloy at his side. Behind, Lynien unpacked a flask of oil and prepared it.
Around half-way down, they realized that the obstruction at the far end was more cobwebs. As they stopped to consider that, a single strand running from the webs to a niche between the webs and the party twitched violently, and with a mighty thunder of falling masonry the end of the passage caved in, blocking the way permanently. 
As the dust cleared, a shape crawled out of the niche, and turned to face them; the shape of a mighty spider. They had seen giant spiders before this, but this one was beyond belief – the size of a horse and crusted and pitted with centuries of evil. Worse – it spoke! “You shall go no further, surface fools,” it rustled dryly. "I am Crakanth."
That was enough for Lynien. With a cry to warn the warriors in front of her, she pitched the prepared oil over their heads at the spider. Once again, her throwing was none too good, but fortunately - although it fell short - the missile only missed Crakanth by a short distance. A blaze of flame roared up, and Crakanth backed up slightly, trailing smoke. As she did so her palps moved and she spoke ... and the party realized she was casting a spell!
Gorfang stepped forwards into the fire and struck with the Maul; the damage he did to the monster spider was quite minor, but the power of the maul sent Crakanth staggering backwards. Eloy, Uruk and Gorfang stepped into the gap, and attacked.
At first, lulled by the relative ease with which they had disposed of the spidershells, they attacked with confidence; but that confidence was dented as one by one their blades failed to bite on Crakanth; the monster's hide was simply too thick. Gorfang and Eloy dropped their left-hand weapons and hefted swords in two hands, while Uruk trusted to the power of his magical sword to get through in the end.
As she shrugged off their first strikes, Crakanth wove another spell. Everyone winced, but nothing seemed to happen. The warriors attacked again, this time with more success. Gorfang delivered a massive two-handed blow with the Veldrin, slicing right into the giant spider's hide, and then Eloy drove his sword straight into the same wound. Crakanth collapsed, and lay twitching and kicking horribly in the corridor.
However, her last spell hadn't been without effect. As the fighters were dealing her death-blow, a shimmering spot appeared between Lynien and Méabh. Lynien shot a pistol crossbow bolt at it, but it went straight through. Méabh backed off until she could see what it was. Examining the shimmer as it rapidly increased in size, split and began to solidify, she recognized it as a Summon Monster spell, and warned the others accordingly.
Two lemures, the lowest form of devil found in the Nine Hells, appeared, and peered around, waiting for instructions. Before they could get their bearings, Lynien stabbed one, killing it instantly, and yelled "Go back where you came from!" at the other in Abyssal. Although whether it could understand the Demontongue was dubious, the creature did turn around and gaze around vaguely, looking stupidly for some means of getting home. No-one turned their back on an armed half-demon rogue and got away with it; Lynien skewered it before it could react again.
Exploring up the other corridor [9b], they discovered a bone tube half-buried under some rubble. Lynien looked at the script on the outside and discovered that now (thanks to the Translator's Ring) she could read Krultac. According to the writing, the contents were scrolls of Lightning Bolt (l3, cl5), Keen Edge (l3, cl5) & Confusion (l4, cl7). She tucked them in her backpack.
After some discussion, the group concluded that they had probably explored the most profitable sections of the tombs, and that perhaps it was time to head out again. Accordingly, they turned, and set off back the way they'd come.
Méabh paused at the font of bones, and then picked up the spear Lynien had used and gave it a violent stirring. As the first spidershell emerged, she followed the others out of the room.
On the way back down the stairs to the Bear Bones room, Gorfang and Eloy, leading as usual, became aware of voices ahead. As they got nearer they could make out what they were saying.
"I think it's that way."
"Well, with all this carnage around it must be here somewhere!"
"I feel the presence of evil, somewhere near...."
"Great. Thanks. Not an enormous surprise, Enamion."
Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Gorfang and Eloy discovered a group of five people standing in the midst of the room, huddled around a map and arguing. There was a woman in half-armour with holy symbols of Pelor prominently displayed, who seemed to be the leader; a rather unprepossessing and grubby-looking man in brown robes and equipped with a staff; a weather-beaten warrior armed with a rapier; a leather-clad scout with a sneaky expression; and a tall man wrapped in heavy plate armour emblazoned with the sigils of the Golden Fist. This last was standing at the back, and was glowering at Gorfang with evident disapproval.
The two groups approached each other cautiously, weapons ready. Suddenly the Peloran cleric pointed at Gorfang and said sharply, "Look! He's got it!" Eloy, Gorfang and Uruk glanced at each other puzzledly.
The woman squared her shoulders. "We are here to collect the black sword, Veldrin Ska'al," she said portentously. "Please hand it over." Gorfang didn't quite believe this. "But it's mine," he pointed out reasonably. Behind him, Méabh came down the stairs into the room and moved quite a way away from the stairway. Stepping next to Lynien, she asked to borrow the staff she was carrying. As it touched the sorceress' skin, it lit up with the same verdant green glow as before. Across the room, the cleric of Pelor's eyes were drawn to it and she smiled slightly, as if at a pleasant sight.
"It is not," said the priest. "You found it here, and it's too dangerous for you. It will kill you in the end." Gorfang shrugged. "Fighting will get me killed in the end anyway," he said phlegmatically, "it's what I do."
The priest blinked at him. "It's cursed," she began. "Trade me a suitable hitting stick for it," Gorfang interrupted. The woman thought for a moment, and then unhooked a beautifully-made shortsword from her belt and offered that. "Is it as magical?" asked the orc. "Yes," said the woman, and then blushed and hung her head. "No, not really," she confessed.
Eloy interrupted, addressing the armoured man at the back, whom he suspected of being a paladin. "Are you looking at me?" he demanded. "Yes, I am, and I do not like what I see," replied the man levelly. "At least I don't look like a tin can," riposted Eloy. The man was about to reply to that when Méabh stepped forwards.
"I have something for you," said Méabh to the woman priest, and stepped slowly forward, offering something with her left hand. The priestess reached out with a cupped hand to accept it... and Méabh unleashed a Shocking Grasp straight into her unsuspecting arm.
With a scream, she staggered backwards, trailing smoke and clutching her arm. With a roundhouse sweep of her right arm, Méabh swung the staff around with crushing force. It smashed into the side of the cleric's head, caving in her skull and killing her instantly; she dropped with a clatter.
There was a moment's frozen silence. Then all hell broke loose, with added spiders.
The paladin at the back was the first to react, swearing savagely in elven and drawing an enormous greatsword from across his back. He strode forwards to place himself between the sorcerer and our heroes. A realization clicked in Gorfang's head; those facial features - the man was an elf! Snarling with hate, he made a bee-line direct for the paladin, ignoring the ranger who was attempting to engage him from the side.
Lynien, recognizing in the scruffy robed human a probable spellcaster and thus potential hazard, moved in and stabbed at him with the shadowdagger, but failed to connect as he cringed backwards muttering a spell. Méabh rammed the magical staff into his chest, shouting "Die!" and he did, his ribcage completely crushed, although whether this was a magical effect was hard to tell.
 Situation map of the end of Session 6, click for larger image! |
Eloy swung a strike at the paladin as he stormed forwards, but his blade skated off the brightly-polished armour. A second later, Uruk's hand-and-a-half sword slashed through the armoured man's leg, severing it at the knee and dropping him to the flagstones. Gorfang struck at him, wounding him again, and then winced as the ranger stabbed him in the back. The orc turned and glared at the ranger. "I'll deal with you in a minute," he growled, and then turned and dealt the elf another massive blow, killing him.
Eloy noticed that the opposing party's rogue was sneaking along the east wall, heading apparently for Bog. Determined to protect the little healer, he headed off to intercept, and the rogue's nerve broke - he fled and disappeared down the north-east steps.
At this point the spidershells Méabh had disturbed appeared down the stairway. Eloy and Uruk turned to intercept them, the latter stooping to pick up an abandoned Fae Mhor mace.
Behind them, Lynien and Méabh were quietly looting the sorcerer and cleric's bodies....
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