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Chapter 1: A Darkness Gathering

Turn 31: Up From the Depths

“By the gods,” said Telemachos, drawing his cloak tighter around him in a futile quest for warmth, “coming down here was one mishap after another. We have lost a brave and tough fighter. I thank you, Nanoc, for saving my life, my dear brother in arms! Allow me to return the favor when necessary.”

”Well, I can tell you this,” said Nanoc, his gaze carefully averted from the giant inverted obelisk that dominated the chamber, “I ain’t gone nowhere near that there pillar. It ain't right how it can jus' sit there on top o' that platform. Nope, no how I is gone anywhere near that. Nope, not a chance….nope…”

It took Nanoc a visible effort to get his mind off the pillar and obelisk, but when he did, he was able to speak more coherently: “Maybe we oughta look for some secret doors and what not. Don't look like there is anything else down here. Certainly none o' them cultists is present. Other than that I am for headin' back up and cleanin' out the rest o' this place. We can leave the messin' round with this here pillar to the priests back in Hommlet. After all, they said we need to find some more proof, well we gots that there book Danton found and now this.”

Nanoc turned then and looked once more at the mangled body of Xaod. “It's a darn shame--I really liked that fellah—he was a good guy no matter what Danton was sayin'. I knew it that night when we done had that drinkin' contest and he could o' robbed me but didn't. A real shame...if we can I think we oughta haul his body out an' gives 'im a decent burry.”

“Nanoc my boy,” said Danton, reaching up to clap the barbarian on the shoulder, “you art right to keep from the pillar, and I continue to urge that you not look overmuch at it, or the obelisk, or the gravity-defying magic that holds it suspended. I shalt tell you, Nanoc, of the concept of gravity at another moment -- suffice, for present, that 'tis the physical law that requires things to fall to earth when dropped. Thus, because of gravity, when you cast a rock or lob an arrow, it must needs eventually fall to the ground.

But focusing on our present predicament, methinks none of us ought touch the obelisk, nor anything that comes from it -- and, here, I hath specifically in mind the water that floweth over and from the blasted thing. I like not even the mist that wafts onto us and thinketh that we best avoid it, too, as much as possible. Truly, this obelisk is a foul and demonic creation and must be avoided at all costs.”

“I do not think that messing with the archway in any way is a good idea,” said Luger. “Unless there is an obvious door or mechanism, I advise you not to touch the black surface that fills the arch. I fear the arch is a portal or supernatural gateway to a very bad place. Why else would there be an elaborate archway on a blank wall? For all we know, that wall might transport us to the Abyss..."

“Agreed,” said Danton, “and I think that Nanoc’s proposal of a return to Hommlet, when our searches are complete, doth demonstrate wisdom. After all, would not Ton's journal and our eyewitness accounts of this dark and supernatural phenomenon be sufficient to roust yon moribund clergy? I truly hope we need not bind in chains some foul daemon down here and lead it to their doorstep. One final note to self: avoid purchasing property in Hommlet.”

“I really don’t know what to make of any of this,” said Spugnoir with a shiver. The man pulled his hood closer around his face and breathed heavily in the chill air. “We never had any idea about the existence of this chamber, nor of this obelisk. I saw nothing comparable in the Temple of Elemental Evil either. Truly, I believed the cult rooted out once and for all, but it is clear that we must take what we have found to the temples of Pelor and St. Cuthbert. Evil is afoot once more, that much is certain.”

“Good Danton,” said Telemachos, a strange tone evident in his voice, “perhaps you can go do an extended search of that wall and see if anything turns up. I'll be standing way over here whilst you complete your search. I say this with much levity to lift my mood. This place fills me with the worst evils and drains my courage. I fear once again I shall never learn anything of my father or uncle.”

“Courage ain’t got nothin' ta do wit it, Tel,” said Nanoc emphatically. “Why I'll go up 'gainst anything that moves. But my bones is tellin' me ta stay away from this here pillar and that’s what I intends to do! That thing jus’ ain’t right. By the way, you want any of this plate armor I'm a caryin' 'round? Might make it so you don't get hit as easy. Some of it is in real good shape.”

Telemachos flashed a faint smile. “Nanoc, I'll be glad to take that plate armor off your hands and strengthen my own defenses. But I think I'll have to wait to get back to town, if we ever make it back there, to have an armorer properly fit it.”

“Good,” replied the half-orc. “Now, Danton, I think you oughta look for some secret doors an maybe check out that black wall. I'll stand right beside you while you do. Anything pops out, well they will meet my axe! If we don't find nothin' then we oughta head back up, bury Xaod outside, an’ then clear out the rest o' this place. Then we kin go back to town and tell them priests what we done found. Then it is in their hands.”

The Velunese sighed audibly. “Well, I suppose 'tis best to have a look around, seeing that Xaod lost his life just so that we couldst have a gander at this awful place. Examining it for secret passageways or concealed doors may take some time, but, seeing as how I hath bodyguards, I'll do mine best to see what can be found. Aseneth, p'raps you should accompany us, at least up to the archway. P'raps you might see something -- with your trained enchantress eye -- that mine own eye might miss.”

“Of course,” said the woman, plainly distracted by the bone-chilling cold that was turning her lips blue and causing her to stand shaking with her heavy black cloak pulled tight around her.

“Well, so much for leaving,” grunted Telemachos, gripping his sword and shield tight. “I suppose we must press on. There had better be a large treasure, a princess of great beauty, and a written explanation of mine uncle's malady next to a blue potion bottle with the cure, considering the evils we will undoubtedly encounter.”

Moving quickly in an effort to build up some warmth and in hopes of leaving the freezing chamber as quickly as possible, the party made its way across the chamber to the black archway. While Danton examined the arch on the wall carefully, making sure never to touch either the arch or the wall (search: 2+10=12), Luger looked for any signs of runes or other writing that might explain the purpose of an archway carved onto a blank wall, but neither found anything.

Next, taking great care to avoid coming anywhere near the water spilling down off the obelisk and into the small pool, the party approached the pillar that somehow inexplicably held up the vastly larger obelisk.

“I mean to climb this and see what lies above,” said Luger, “but fear not, I’ll not touch it directly, nor seek to destroy anything and bring that…thing…crashing down on our heads. I am certain there is something terrible here and that it should be destroyed so that it cannot be uncovered or exploited, but I’ll not act rashly.”

“Then make your climb,” said Danton.

While Luger slowly ascended the rusting rungs on the side of the thirty-foot high pillar, Danton turned to Telemachos.

“'Tis sheer speculation on my part,” he said, “but I do not wonder if such a gargantuan and patently foul object cannot send out -- for lack of a better term – ‘emanations’ originating from the obelisk itself, it 'tis sentient, which I hath a notion it might be, or from its daemonic master or even from the daemon's servants. P'raps those emanations sought out your uncle, as a prior defender of Hommlet against the cult of Elemental Evil. Then too, p'raps your uncle ran into the emanations during some magical probing of his own, and p'raps he simply stumbled into them in some fashion. Again, 'tis only speculation on my part, and, even if right, I hath no suggestions of how to deal with the malady. But it did occureth to me, and so I thought I'd mention it.”

“But what could we do about something like that?” asked the Furyondian.

Danton was about to answer (listen: 11+7=18), when he heard some faint sound coming from the far side of the chamber and hissed: “We are not alone! I hath heard a voice!”

“Errrrghhhhhh!” grunted Nanoc. “Somebody’s hittin’ me wit’ a spell!” The barbarian shook his head and clenched his fists as he tried to fight off a sudden unwelcome presence in his mind (will save: 16+2=18; success).

At this same moment, Luger reached the top of the pillar where the stone met the point of the obelisk. From here, the purple veins that coursed through the black stone of the obelisk were visible once again. They did not dance and move as they had when the party walked on the upper surface of the obelisk, but Luger could still sense the power that coursed through them. He looked below for a moment when he heard some commotion, but then he turned his attention back to the point of the obelisk. The cleric unsheathed his sword and brought its point forward to touch lightly the tip of the obelisk. Although the others below were far too preoccupied to notice, Luger disappeared the moment his blade scraped lightly against the surface of the black stone.

[Initiative: Nanoc: 17, Telemachos: 20, Danton:7, Aseneth: 13, Unknown: 3]

“There’s somebody behind those rocks over there!” yelled Nanoc, pointing towards a pile of boulders on the far northern side of the chamber, beyond the pool of water.

Danton too had seen furtive movement behind the rocks and he motioned for the others to follow him and Nanoc as they made their way around the water and towards the hiding place of whoever or whatever had cast the spell at Nanoc. As the group ran, Aseneth and Spugnoir fell far behind. When the others converged on the boulders, a man wearing heavy plate armor and a thick fur coat suddenly flew up from behind the rocks and high over the party member’s heads, laughing maniacally all the way.

The flying man cleared the rock pile and then dove at Telemachos, screaming and laughing incoherently. As the flying man approached with arms extended, Telemachos matched the attacker’s scream with his own, hefting Shatterspike and swinging it at the man with all his strength (power attack: 15+10-4-2=19; hit; 16 damage). Although such a reckless attack might have proved foolhardy in other circumstances, with his target flying directly at him, Telemachos could hardly miss, and Shatterspike struck the raving man a hard blow. The screaming man tried to reach out to touch or grab Telemachos with his bare hands, but the Furyondian still had the presence of mind to raise his shield at the last moment to knock the grasping hands aside.

After striking at Telemachos, the flying man looked as if he meant to spin around for another attack, but Nanoc quickly brought any such plans to an end. Stepping into the man’s path with his axe held in both hands, Nanoc struck the man in his midsection and then used the momentum of his swing to dash the man hard against the stone floor (attack: 11+10-2=19; hit; 8 damage). The man finally came free of Nanoc’s axe when he hit the ground and his armored body rolled nearly ten feet before coming to rest.

While Danton quickly searched the man’s erstwhile hiding place behind the rocks and found nothing other than an empty potion bottle (search: 18+10=28), Nanoc and Telemachos ensured their attacker was dead and then examined the body. “I think yer gonna want this armor, Tel,” said Nanoc. “This stuff is full plate, an’ the best I’ve ever seen. It’ll need a little fixin up after what we did, but it’s still mostly in really good shape.”

Aside from the fine armor and fur coat he had worn, the dead man had carried a set of ochre robes, a curved, gleaming short sword, a large steel shield, a light crossbow and a box of bolts, some gold coins (43 gold), yet another Elder Elemental Eye inverted Y pendant, a gleaming white pearl, and a folded piece of parchment.

Nanoc handed the last item to Danton, who unfolded it and read aloud:

“The Water Temple will soon make its move against the forces of Fire. Return quickly, Festrath, for we need your aid. Together we shall will the favor of the Doomdreamers and the Triad itself.”

“What the heck does all that mean?” asked Nanoc. “All that gibberish could give a fella a headache almost as bad as yer philosophizin.”

“It should being read together with journal,” said Aseneth, once again shaking from the cold now that the excitement of the brief combat had passed. Her entire face was now much more pale than usual and the bluish color was spreading from her lips to her cheeks.

[Fortitude saves: Danton: 11+ 0=11; failure (5 subdual damage); Nanoc:7+6=13; failure (3 subdual damage); Telemachos: 5+6=11; failure (6 subdual damage)]

Although the effects of the cold were most visible on the thin woman and Spugnoir, whose light robes provided little warmth, even the armored members of the party could now begin to feel the deep, unnatural chill seeping into their bones.

Himself now fighting the urge to shiver, Nanoc approached Aseneth with the dead man’s fur coat and placed it around her shoulders.

“Here, this oughta help least a bit,” he said.

Aseneth said nothing, but flashed Nanoc a wan smile.

“There is naught more to be learned here,” said Danton. “Let us collect Luger, as well as the body of valiant Xaod, and be gone from here.”

“Uh, Danton,” said Nanoc after gazing back towards the center of the chamber, “I been tryin’ not ta look at that thing like ya told me, but I jus’ took a peek, tryin’ to see Luger, an’, well, he’s gone.”

***

The moment Luger’s sword made contact with the tip of the obelisk, he felt himself ripped through space and darkness in the matter of an instant. The next thing he knew, he stood in a perfectly spherical chamber of black walls with purple veins. No light was present, but somehow Luger could still see.

Before the cleric had a chance even to wonder what had happened or to consider his surroundings any further, a voice pounded in his ears:

“Seek the heart of the four moons,” boomed the low, hollow voice. “Together they can sunder the walls of my prison. For now, eat of my fruit and be blessed.”

When the voice fell silent, a lustrous black fruit, roughly the size and shape of an apple, appeared in Luger’s left hand.

Wondering at what he had experienced, Luger held up the fruit, finding it to be perfectly spherical. He then looked around at the chamber once more, seeing no exit of any kind.

The cleric took several steps, meaning to draw closer to one of the walls to examine it, when suddenly he was ripped through space and darkness once again.

***

No matter where the party searched, there was simply no trace of Luger. The party scoured the entire chamber, but found neither any new exit, nor any sign of the cleric. Danton even climbed the rungs on the side of the pillar and looked around in the narrow space between its top and the point of the obelisk, but he found nothing to indicate where the cleric might have gone. By the time he descended the pillar once more, everyone in the party was so cold that it was obvious they must withdraw from the chamber immediately unless they wished to face frostbite, or worse.

“These Gregorus siblings are a foolish lot,” muttered Danton. “I hath warned the man to do nothing with the obelisk, for there was no way to tell what might happen if we engaged it or the pillar. I know not what hath transpired, but I am more than certain that Luger hath done something with pillar or obelisk. How he and Mauser ever survived their childhood, I cannot begin to reckon.”

“Right, we’re getting outta here,” said Nanoc, “I don’t likes it here one bit, but we gotta do somethin’ first. I’m gonna tie evry’body to the platform this time. No more falls if anything attacks us or upsets th’ platform again. Don’t want no one else a endin’ up like Xaod if another o’ them tentacle things a come for us!”

The barbarian first recovered Xaod’s body and secured it to the crude elevator with a length of rope. He then tied the rope around the waist of each of the remaining party members in turn, giving each as much slack as he could afford before securing the rope to one of the other ropes supporting the platform, and then moving on to the next person (rope use: 7+5=12).

Finally Nanoc came to Aseneth, who seemed to be doing at least a bit better now that she had the heavy fur coat.

”You know, Aseneth,” he said, “if you’s interested, I got some fun games we can play with rope once we get outta this place.”

The woman raised one eyebrow, gave Nanoc a smoldering look that threatened to make his knees buckle and said, “We shall be seeing who is tying who—and you should be calling me Asya now.”

Hearing these words, Nanoc’s hands began to tremble and the normally gray skin of his face took on a pinkish cast that not even Danton, who had traveled with the barbarian longer than anyone else, had ever seen before. Because of the way his fingers now fumbled and they way he kept dropping the rope, it took Nanoc twice as long to secure Aseneth as it had any of the others. The barbarian tried to pass off his clumsiness as the result of the cold, but each time his eyes caught Aseneth’s, the intensity of her stare only made him fumble about all the more. While Danton caught the full spectacle and shook his head, both Spugnoir and Telemachos seemed too preoccupied by the cold to have noticed.

Once Nanoc finally managed to secure everyone in place, the mighty half-orc began hauling on the rope and pulley mechanism to lift the platform up out of the chamber once again. This time the passage was even slower, and a normal man would have grown fatigued and needed a rest during the long ascent, but with the thoughts he had spinning through his head now, there was no way in the nine hells that Nanoc was going to show the slightest sign of the effort it took to raise the platform, nor give anyone else the chance to do any of the work.

When, some indeterminate time later, the platform finally reached the top of the obelisk, Nanoc secured it in place and then moved to untie the others. When he came to Aseneth, the barbarian once again began to fumble uncomfortably with the rope.

This time the delay was too much for Danton, who slipped free from the rope on his own and approached the pair.

“Oh, by Olidammara!” said the Velunese. “We hath not all day! Let me do it! You undo the others and get Xaod!”

Danton quickly released the woman, trying to ignore both the fact that she continued to smile knowingly at Nanoc and the effect that this had on the barbarian, who now fumbled with the ropes on Telemachos and Spugnoir.

Once everyone was free and Nanoc had gathered up his rope, the small group rushed across the surface of the obelisk once more, moving quickly again to avoid the purple veins that shifted and squirmed towards them. Once everyone was aboard the second platform, Nanoc set to work reattaching the rope.

“Is this really necessary?” groused Danton. “This trip be much shorter than the other, and we hath seen no sign of further flying horrors.”

“Aren’t you the one always sayin’ we can’t be too careful?” asked Nanoc.

This time when the barbarian approached Aseneth, the woman put her hands together and held them out towards him, wrists up, smiling demurely all the while.

When Nanoc nearly swooned at this sight, Danton cursed, grabbed the rope out of the barbarian’s hands and tied it, roughly, around Aseneth’s waist.

“There,” he said, handing the rest of the rope back to Nanoc. “Now you finish with the others. And, if there be room, in that thick skull of yours, you might give some thought to the idea that there are more dangerous traps than the sort that Danton Verbrugge hath made it his profession to disarm. I should know, for I hath once been caught in such a manner and hath never truly had mine freedom since.”

When the group was moving once again, with Nanoc slowly raising the second platform up through the more narrow shaft above the obelisk, the chill that the party members had felt for so long finally began to fade, despite the fact that falling water once again fell on the platform from above.

Sometime later, when Nanoc hauled the platform up into the open area where the underground stream emerged before beginning its long fall down into the cavern, the party received yet another surprise: Luger Gregorus sat on the stone floor of the side of the area opposite the waterfall.

Telemachos, whose torpor and dark thoughts had begun to fade along with the cold, looked once at Luger and then down at the abyss below the platform.

“How in the world?” he began.

Luger shrugged. “It is a long story. Suffice to say for now that I sought to determine something of the nature of the obelisk and I carefully probed it with my sword. When that happened, it took me…somewhere else…and then deposited me here. I was hoping you all would come along eventually, for I fear that I lack the climbing skill or equipment to ascend to the chamber above without that platform.”

“I hope that the experience hath taught you a lesson or two,” admonished Danton. “Truly, you of the Gregorus clan are like cats with your nine lives, but tempt not fate too many times, for even your luck may run out eventually.”

Once the platform finally reached the top chamber, Nanoc secured it in place, untied everyone, and retrieved his rope and Xaod’s body.

“Now, we’re getting outta here ta bury Xaod first, an’ then we’ll be searchin’ the rest o’ the place.”

When no one protested, Danton and the barbarian led the group back up the hallway to the north and then down the passage to the southeast, which Spugnoir had indicated led to the way out. This corridor ran for some forty feet before ending at a wall of solid stone. Interestingly, the wall that blocked the way forward was clearly different from the masonry around it. It was perfectly smooth and seemed somehow fused with the stone of the walls, as well as the floor and ceiling.

“How are we to pass this spot?” asked Danton.

“Like this,” replied Spugnoir, coming forward. The potion maker showed Danton a spot on the northeastern wall, where a loose stone masked a small lever. When the lever was pulled, a portion of the northeast wall rumbled inward, revealing a narrow passageway that bypassed the smooth stone barrier and emerged on its far side. Once the party had moved through the narrow passage, Spugnoir closed it once more.

“I do not believe these cultists who are here now are aware of this part of the dungeon—we might as well keep it that way.”

Beyond the hidden path, the corridor continued to the southeast for another thirty feet before ending at a wooden door. Danton checked carefully for any surprises (search: 12+10=22; listen: 19+7=26), but detected nothing. Nanoc then opened the door and the party found itself in another ten-foot wide corridor running due east. There was a single wooden door on the wall immediately to the north, but otherwise the walls were bare and ran as far as the light from Danton’s green torch carried.

Spugnoir pointed down the long corridor, and the party began moving once again. The stone passage headed east for some 40 feet before narrowing to a rough-hewn tunnel a mere five feet wide. It gradually sloped up as it continued eastward another 400 yards, then opened into a small natural cave. Hidden among boulders, the cave mouth lay by the riverbank about a quarter mile east of the moathouse.

When the party finally emerged into natural light for the first time in many, many hours, the group saw that the sun was in the west, but still well above the horizon. In the warmth of the early summer sun, the last effects of the unnatural chill finally faded (all subdual damage is gone) and the party had a short lunch and rest before turning to the task of burying Xaod.

Although Nanoc and Telemachos ended up doing most of the work, everyone helped to build the rock cairn for Xaod. When it was finished, Luger carved the paladin’s name and the lightning bolt of Heironeus on a wooden marker and Nanoc placed it upright amidst the rocks.

“I wanna say a few words first,” said the barbarian when the work was done, “but then Luger, you being a priest an’ all, well maybe you can make this official. Plus you both pray to the same god.”

Luger nodded.

“Xaod was a good man,” continued Nanoc. I knew’d it the night I met him. He beat me fair an’ square drinkin’ and nothin’ came up missin’ when I got up the next day. He was a great strong fighter, the type that’d make Kord proud. He saved me with a touch, and I owe him big time. So, Xaod, if you is listen on the other side, when I come that way, I owe you and I intends to pay up. Didn’t know you long, but you was my friend and I miss you.”

Nanoc fell silent then and stepped back with the others. Much to his surprise, Aseneth slipped her arm around his. Although she rarely showed her emotions openly, Nanoc could see tears in the woman’s eyes.

Luger stood in front of the cairn, sprinkled holy water atop it, and held aloft his holy symbol. The cleric completed the rites for the paladin and then said:

“The world is a dangerous place that poses a never-ending series of challenges to those who fight for justice and protection of the weak and innocent. One must act honorably at all times, and uphold the virtues of justice and chivalry in word and deed. Danger must be faced with certainty and calm, and glory is the reward for defeating evil, while virtue is the reward for upholding the tenets of Heironeous. Xaod embodied all of these virtues and we who remain behind must carry on in his footsteps that we may vanquish evil and one day join our departed friend on the other side.”

“Amen,” said the others in unison.

“Now,” added Nanoc after a moment of silence, “let’s get back in there, get our job done, and get outta here.”

***

Once underground once again, the party moved quickly back along the narrow tunnel until it widened into the stone corridor with the unexplored door to the north. Danton checked the door (search: 18+10=28, listen: 8+7=15). He found nothing untoward on the door itself, but thought he could just hear faint movement somewhere beyond it. The scout signaled Nanoc to be ready for anything and then nodded for the barbarian to open the door.

Beyond the door was a long, narrow corridor, ten feet wide and roughly sixty feet long. Just at the end of the area that Danton’s torchlight could fill, the corridor appeared to bend to the west. Now that the door was open, faint scratching sounds could be heard echoing off the walls of the corridor.

Moving as stealthily as they could with all their armor and equipment, the party members moved down the corridor. When it bent to the left, it opened up in to a larger room, roughly twenty feet from east to west and thirty from south to north. There were no doors, but another short hallway on the northern side of the room appeared to open up into a second chamber.

The room closest at hand was strewn with debris that gave off a sour smell. It also contained three nests made of black cloth, river reeds, and bits of wood. Each nest was about three feet across. A stone just inside the entrance looked very much like half a gigantic rat, with the other half smashed to bits around it.

Two of the three nests were occupied, each with a single strange creature. The two beasts were each about the size of a large goose or turkey, with a chicken-like head, bat-like wings, and the long tail of a lizard, tipped with a few scraggly feathers. The two beasts stood, scratching about in their nests, apparently moving around bits of the nesting material, but the light of Danton’s torch drew their attention and they hissed and snarled, bobbing their heads and then moving out of their nests and towards the party.

[Initiative: Nanoc: 12, Telemachos: 17, Luger: 13 , Danton: 15, Aseneth: 12, Creatures: 18]

“I got a funny feelin’ ‘bout this,” said Nanoc, hefting his axe.

“Biting very bad!” yelled Aseneth. “No biting!”

The creatures moved forward quickly, while Nanoc held his ground and Telemachos came forward to help him block the beasts from advancing on the others. One of the bird-like things nipped at Nanoc, but he leapt out of the way, while the other one jumped and managed to draw blood from Telemachos’ gauntleted hand (hit for 1 point; fortitude save: 12+6=18; success). The area around the bite turned gray and Telemachos felt stiffness rise up his arm towards his torso, but the fighter gritted his teeth, gripped his sword even harder, and the effect faded.

While Danton moved around to flank the first creature and assist Nanoc, Luger strode forward to join Telemachos fighting the other. The creatures were not particularly fast or difficult to hit (attacks: Nanoc: 5+10+2=17; hit; 9 damage; Danton: 20+5+2=27; critical hit flank attack: 14 damage; Telemachos: 9+10+2=21; hit; 8 damage; Luger: 16+4+2=22; hit; 3 damage), but they proved more resilient than anyone would have guessed, absorbing the flurry of strikes from the party while continuing to bite at Nanoc and Telemachos.

Nanoc’s great dexterity again enabled him to avoid being bitten, but the more crafty creature attacking Telemachos again found a way to bite him, somehow slipping its beak between two of the splints covering his armored right leg (hit for 2 points; fortitude save: 12+6=18; success). Once again, the bite turned Telemachos’ skin gray and caused his muscles to stiffen, but somehow the soldier once more proved able to resist the effect and keep fighting.

As the party continued fighting, it was joined by a pair of huge rats that appeared out of thin air in the midst of the melee.

“Let things be biting rats!” yelled Aseneth from somewhere behind the rest of the party.

However, before using the rats as a line of defense became an issue, Danton’s rapier sliced the head off the first creature (attack: 10+5+2=17; hit; 8 damage), killing it instantly, while Telemachos (attack: 15+10+2=27; hit; 13 damage) and Luger (attack: 10+4+2=16; hit; 9 damage), hacked the second one to bits.

“Huh, those were sure nasty little buggers,” said Nanoc, kicking at the body of the one Danton had killed.

“That is not being all!” exclaimed Aseneth. “Three! Look! Three! Only two dead! We must move and using rats before gone to getting three! If biting and not strong, you are turning stone like other rat!”

With the woman ordering the two rats to move ahead of the party, the group moved quickly through the room, the short hallway beyond it, and into the second large room beyond. This area was actually comprised of two connected chambers. The first, roughly thirty feet to a side, opened on its southwestern side onto the longer connected chamber, roughly twenty feet wide and forty feet long. Both of the connected rooms were filled with debris. The northern one contained mostly smashed wooden beds—at least a dozen—that lay scattered haphazardly about. A handaxe and the aged remains of the figure who wielded it, still clad in rusted half plate armor, also lay in the middle of the floor in the northern chamber.

Off to the southwest, the other part of the room was similarly filled with nothing but debris, mostly from broken crates and casks. It looked to have once been some sort of storage area. The only door in either of the two chambers was a wooden portal in the center of the eastern wall of the northern room.

Aseneth’s instincts with regard to the number of nests and the odd creatures that inhabited them proved correct when a third of the strange bird-like beasts sprang out from behind one of the ruined beds, screeched, and threw itself at one of her summoned rats. When the thing bit the rat, the rodent froze, took on a grayish cast, and then fell over on its side, turned to stone before it hit the ground.

“Pile on while that thing’s busy with the other rat!” yelled Telemachos. “I’ve been bit more than enough times already!”

Matching action to words, the party made short work of the ugly creature. Although Danton slipped and missed (attack: 3=5+2=10; miss) both Telemachos (attack: 13+10+2=25; hit; 13 damage) and Luger (attack: 20+4+2=26; critical hit; 11 damage) slashed the beast before Nanoc cut it in half (attack: 18+10+2=30; hit; 17 damage).

“Cockatrices,” said Spugnoir when the fighting was finally over and the spell-less wizard had come forward to join the others in searching the various rooms the creatures had inhabited. “A single bite can turn a person to stone, although a strong, healthy adult is sometimes able to resist the effect.”

“All the same,” said the Furyondian, “I’d rather not run into any more.”

“I was not knowing word in your language,” said Aseneth, “but thing is very bad.”

Taking his time, poking through all of the debris, and instructing the others in how best to assist, Danton coordinated a search of all three linked chambers (search: 9+10=19, 18+10=28, 14+10=24). In the southeastern chamber, where the three nests were, Danton found a mostly intact black cloak with a golden, fiery eye embroidered on the back, along with the scraps of numerous similar cloaks. He stowed the least damaged cloak in his pack.

In the central room, which Danton judged to have been a barracks, the Velunese found a loose stone in the floor that concealed a small bag filled with a dozen gems of varied types, while the southwestern chamber seemingly contained nothing of value or interest.

With everything else searched, the party came at last to the door on the eastern wall of the central room (the barracks). Danton found nothing untoward (search: 3+10=13; listen: 4+7=11), and Nanoc led the way inside.

The square room beyond was twenty-five feet to a side. It had obviously once been lavish in its appointment. Now, its once-fine wall hangings, soft chairs, thick rugs, and plush couch were all in tatters. A wooden table, a single chair, and a bed made up the rest of the room’s furnishings. Dust-covered, moth-eaten bedclothes lay in a heap next to the bed, whose mattress had been cut open and the stuffing scattered about. A skeleton clothed in tattered dark robes lay on the floor near the table.

Danton scoured this room as well (search: 16+10=26), but found little of note. However, the skeleton did reveal two items of interest, a tiny medallion in the shape of a spider worn around the neck, as well as a thin wooden wand that had been concealed underneath the skeleton and the tattered robes.

“Might this symbol mean anything to anyone?” asked Danton, holding up the spider medallion.

Luger nodded (knowledge: religion: 17+2=19). “Spiders are the symbol of Lolth, the vile goddess of the cursed drow—evil elves who live below the world’s surface. Let me examine this body a bit closer.”

“Strange,” said the cleric after he had spent several minutes turning the skeleton about (healing proficiency: 9+9=18). “This is the skeleton of a human—not an elf. And what is more odd, the bones bear the ravages of time and disease, not violence. This man did not perish by the sword.”

“Why would a man worship some elven spider goddess?” asked Telemachos.

Luger could only shrug. “I have never heard of such a thing, but we might as well hold onto the pendant,” he suggested to Danton.

“When we have resting, I should be looking spider and wand—for magic,” said Aseneth.

“Not to mention repairing mine journal?” asked Danton rhetorically.

“And that too,” agreed the sorceress.

Danton scooped up both items for the time being, and the group moved on.

At this point, Spugnoir knew of only one more part of the dungeon that the party had yet to search, the area just north and west of the room that led down to the great obelisk chamber. The party made its way through the hidden passage that led around the smooth stone that concealed the southeastern part of the dungeon and then made its way back to the corridor where it had fought undead and a pair of cultist clerics hours earlier. From there, Danton and Nanoc led the way forty feet to the west through a ten foot wide corridor, which then turned northward for a short distance before leading westward once more for a similar distance. After a second northern bend, the corridor finally emerged into one of the largest rooms the party members had seen in the dungeon.

Dismal and cold, the dusty cobweb-filled chamber had the trappings of a crypt. It stretched some eighty feet from east to west and nearly that distance from north to south. Sarcophagi were stored in dark, shadow-filled alcoves on all the walls. The moment the party emerged into the southeastern corner of the room, a staggering form lurched out of the shadows and moved to attack.

[Initiative: Ghoul: 10, Nanoc:20, Telemachos: 23, Danton: 11, Luger: 16, Aseneth: 10]

“I grow weary of these undead,” said Telemachos, rushing forward to slash the ghoul before it could approach the others (power attack: 15+10-5-2=28; 11 damage). Despite the fact that some force sought to turn Telemachos’ blade away from the undead, Shatterspike cut the monster in half before it knew what hit it.

Spotting a second ghoul crawling out of a crypt on the northern wall, Nanoc moved to destroy it before it was even fully out of the wall (attack: 19+10-2=27; hit; 19 damage).

“If all of these niches on yon walls are filled with undead, we’d best be ready to run,” cautioned Danton. “This place doth fill mine heart with unease—not unlike what we hath felt far below, tho’ perhaps not quite as strong.”

However, much to Danton’s relief, only two additional ghouls emerged from the crypts to menace the party. Nanoc (attack: 14+10-2=22; hit; 12 damage) and Danton (flank attack: 13+5+2-2=18; hit; 5 damage) destroyed one of the creatures quickly, while Telemachos (power attack: 7+10-3-2=12; miss), Luger (attack: 19+5+2-2=24; hit; 9 damage) and Aseneth fought the second.

When Telemachos continued to flail about wildly, unable to finish the second ghoul (power attack: 5+10-5-2+2=10; miss), Nanoc stepped in and destroyed it (attack: 10+10+2-2=20; hit; 9 damage).

Although no more undead emerged to challenge the party, the fell aura in the crypt was such that no one wanted to spend any more time there than was absolutely necessary. Danton canvassed the area (search: 6+10=16), but found nothing of note, save for a large hole in the southern wall, near the southwestern corner of the crypt. The hole was rough-hewn and covered with scratch marks. Beyond it was a small, narrow tunnel, no more than five feet in diameter.

With no other avenues to explore, Nanoc led the way into the tunnel, having to crouch low to fit inside. The passage was rough, as if burrowed from the earth. The walls seemed to close in, making the narrow tunnel seem even narrower than it actually was. Bits of earth fell from the ceiling and walls as the party passed by them. The place stank of death. The tunnel wound back and forth in all directions before opening up into a maze-like network of similarly sized tunnels.

“Know you how to defeat even the most diabolically-designed of mazes with ease, Nanoc, my boy?” asked Danton rhetorically.

“Huh uh,” replied the barbarian.

“Then this shall be one of our little lessons for your edification,” said the Velunese. “Pick a single direction, left or right, it matters not, but always pick the same one. Make your choice now, in other words, and then remain faithful to that choice ‘till we reach our destination, wherever it might be in this vile hole. If we must retrace our steps, continue to follow your original choice.”

Nanoc gave Danton a dubious look, but then the half-orc shrugged, deciding to humor his friend, even if his suggestion made no sense whatsoever.

“Okay,” grunted Nanoc. “left it is.”

The small, foul-smelling tunnel wound back and forth and Nanoc did indeed lead the others to many a dead end. As the minutes dragged on and the maze of tunnels grew ever more complex, the half-orc repeatedly complained to Danton that his faulty strategy was doing nothing but getting the group lost. Were it not for the crossbow bolts that Danton set down whenever the party first came to an intersection, Nanoc would have sworn the party was merely going in circles. Each time the nearly seven foot tall barbarian hit his head on the low ceiling, his attitude only worsened.

And so it was that when, nearly an hour later, the narrow tunnels finally gave way to the first larger cavern the party had encountered, somewhere well to the west of the dungeon, Nanoc could scarcely believe it.

“It just don’t make no sense,” the barbarian muttered. “That whole ‘always go left’ thing just ain’t right, but somehow we still got here. That mean we always go left on th’ way back too?”

“To retrace our steps, we’ll have to reverse everything,” said Danton. When the barbarian’s eyes started to glaze over, the Velunese added, “Don’t worry, I shall explain later.”

The cave seemed cut at strange angles, creating disturbing shadows and weird, seemingly impossible bends and curves. The stone of the floor, walls, and cavern roof was a cloudy purple color. Rising from floor to ceiling at the southern end of the cavern was a tall, four sided column, natural but extensively carved so that each side sported a different graven image—each one of which was exactly like one of the sides of the small statue the party had found in the room above the obelisk chamber earlier in the day (See Turn 30 for the description).

Standing before the column was an altar made of dull, porous, slightly corroded black rock, sitting atop a one-foot-high platform of black stone speckled and streaked with violet. The room was cold—a soul numbing chill that gripped one’s very heart, as well as one’s sanity. It was a fact, rather than a mere judgment, that this was an evil place. Even Danton could find no words to relativize the place or describe it as anything other than evil. The same chill that had sunk into the party in the obelisk cavern far below began to make itself felt once again.

________________________________________________________________

Notes for turn 32:

Please send postings for Turn 32 by the end of Saturday, November 17th.

I would like you to be sure to consider the following points in your postings:

1. Luger, will you tell the others anything more about your strange experience in the black sphere and the fruit you now carry?

2. Luger has enough XP for 3^rd level, so please do the level-up and let me know the results.

3. What, if anything, does the party want to do in the location where it currently finds itself?

4. As far as anyone in the party is aware (including Spugnoir), unless more rooms turn up in the tunnel maze, the group has now explored the entire dungeon underneath the moathouse. Will you now depart the moathouse? If so, where do you want to go next and what will you do there?

If there are any questions, let me know on the website.

Current date/time: 15 Lipanj 592; approximately 1900.

Items gained this turn: full plate armor, fur coat, ochre robes, curved short sword, large steel shield, light crossbow and a box of bolts, some gold coins (43 gold), yet another Elder Elemental Eye inverted Y pendant, a gleaming white pearl, a folded piece of parchment, a bag with a dozen gems, spider pendant, wand, tattered black cloak with burning eye emblazoned on it, strange black fruit.

Undivided Loot previously gained: 43 gold

Items used/lost/destroyed/sold this turn: none

FOES DEFEATED:

This Chapter:

Entire Campaign:

Current Status of the Party:

Nanoc

AC: 17

Hit points: 35/47

New XP: 1040

XP total: 8118

XP needed: 10,000

Equipment: great axe, silver-plated short sword, masterwork studded leather armor, 69 arrows, 2 quivers, backpack, waterskin, 18 days trail rations, bedroll, 2 sacks, 2 flint & steel, bearskin, tent, 50’ rope, 1 sap, masterwork composite shortbow, masterwork shortsword, 4 iron triangles with inverted ‘Y’ , potion of cure moderate wounds, three black cones made of some unknown substance, a black scepter decorated with a half dozen violet gems, a small black sphere, and a black metal tube; taken from the two cultists at the top of the shaft: 2 sets of half-plate armor, two large steel shields, a scroll, three potions, a set of ochre robes and a set of black ones, a black cloak, two masterwork morningstars, a pair of light crossbows, 20 bolts, a total of 65 gold in assorted coins, another inverted Y pendant and an inverted ziggurat pendant; taken from the cultist at the bottom of the shaft: full plate armor, ochre robes, curved short sword, large steel shield, light crossbow and a box of bolts, yet another Elder Elemental Eye inverted Y pendant, a gleaming white pearl.

Gold: 687

Silver: 220

Danton

AC: 15 (16 vs. one opponent)

Hit points: 18/19

New XP: 1040

XP total: 8118

XP needed: 10,000

Equipment: rapier, 6 daggers, light crossbow, studded leather armor, quiver with 33 bolts, bedroll, backpack, flint & steel, thieves picks, waterskin, 11 days trail rations, hooded lantern, gold ring engraved with the name Karakas, 1 sap, 1 metal key from Yusdrayl, Everburning Torch, scrolls with pyrotechnics and melf’s acid arrow, waterlogged journal, 6 iron triangles with upside down ‘Y’ inside, 1 protection from fire scroll, 12 scrolls of cure light wounds, 2 scrolls of cure moderate wounds, new journal, notebook, pen, ink, parchment in sealed waterproof box, 5 unknown potions from cultists in dungeon, pipe, tobacco, metal box, whetstone, two scrolls from cultists in the dungeon, six packets of tinder for lighting fires, gold inlaid dagger, Journal of Geynor Ton, a folded piece of parchment with a note addressed to someone named Festrath, a bag with a dozen gems, spider pendant, wand, tattered black cloak with burning eye emblazoned on it.

Gold: 272

Silver: 0

Telemachos

AC: 18

Hit points: 20/41

New XP: 1040

XP total: 8118

XP needed: 10,000

Equipment: splint mail, short sword, 2 daggers, longbow, quiver and 33 arrows, large wooden shield, backpack, large sack, flint and steel, 21 days rations, waterskin, bedroll, tent, 1 sap, Shatterspike (Longsword +1 with special properties), honey and berries, 2 iron triangles with upside down ‘Y’ inside, splint armor (badly damaged in an encounter with Nanoc’s axe), large steel shield, light crossbow, masterwork morningstar, set of ochre colored robes, 10 bolts.

Gold: 65

Silver: 210

Luger

AC: 19

Hit Points: 15/15

New XP: 1040

XP total: 3568

XP needed: 3,000

Equipment: longsword, heavy mace, light x-bow, dagger, 20 bolts, chainmail, large steel shield, 3 belt pouches, large bag, 50’ rope, 5 torches, hooded lantern, 3 oil flasks, flint & steel, 10 days rations, silver holy symbol of Heironeus, 3 flasks holy water, 2 healer’s kits, backpack, cleric’s vestment, traveler’s clothing, waterskin, bedroll, iron triangle with upside down ‘Y’ inside, spherical black fruit.

Spell Selection:

Level 0(4): purify food & drink, detect magic, read magic, guidance
Level 1(3+1): Domain:

Turn Undead attempts left on current day: 1

Gold: 20