Session 12 - Evil Plots Revealed

17th of Marpenoth, 1371 DR
Against a feeble argument from Trogdor, we used our one scroll of Remove Curse to wake Storn from his enchanted slumber. I didn’t yell at him. I figure there’ll be time to get him to see what he did wrong when we’re a little safer. Not five minutes later, we found a new anagram. This one was apparently a warnin’ about the double Lightnin’ Bolt trap that Sparrow and Storn had just stumbled into! By the gods, Storn is a tough one! Caught between criss-crossin’ bolts of lightnin’, he just stood there and took it. Right about then, five Kenku and one of their leaders poured out of a secret door and attacked Carenthal and me.

They were on me before I could react, stabbin’ me with their swords in my most vulnerable spots. I killed one with a Blast of Force (took his head clean off). Sparrow was next to react, moving up and coverin’ me and Carenthal. The Kenku swarmed around some side passages to get at Hine and stated stabbin’ his soft spots while one ‘em stabbed Carenthal who was still just standin’ there in a state of shock. Another Kenku tried to kill Sparrow, but slipped on some blood from a previous fight. Sparrow took advantage of his slip and ran him through, addin’ to the blood on the floor. I didn’t want to leave Carenthal in the hall by himself, so I fired a crossbow bolt into the fray (and into a wall). When Carenthal finally reacted, he did a great job, openin’ up with a Burnin’ Hands spell and roastin’ one of the Kenku where it stood (I swear it smelled just like chicken). Trogdor and Dolgun killed the last two Kenku, but the leader escaped down the hall beyond the secret door.

It must have taken most of a healin’ wand to get Storn fully functional again – although I doubt he’ll ever get that scorch marks off his armor.

We decided to explore the rest of the labyrinth to make sure we had cleared out all the Kenku. We eventually found a torture chamber where we rescued Mojdeh, the sister of the two boys we had rescued from the Lizardfolk almost two ten-day ago. (Her family seems to attract trouble and hardship.)

We sent the girl up with Valcrist, figurin’ he’d have the best chance to sneak her back to the guild hall. There, he could get her new clothes and get her cleaned up. We all agreed to keep secret the fact that Mojdeh had been violated by the cultists. Thanks to the Message spell I put on Valcrist, he was able to warn us that Kullen was on his way down the mine to deliver more supplies.

We debated whether or not to ambush the albino Half-Orc (agreein’ that it looked like he’d have to be dealt with at some point in the near future anyway). In the end, we decided to leave a terse note tellin’ him to leave the supplies by the elevator and went back to deal with the Faceless One.

After triggerin’ another Fireball trap (that Sparrow was somehow able to dodge), we were attacked by an Allip. Trogdor ended up castin’ a Consecrate spell to negate the evil influence of this maze and was then able to turn the creature. As it fled, Carenthal and I managed to “slay” it with Magic Missiles.

Explorin’ some other rooms we found lots of evidence of Smenk’s involvement (mostly in the form of crates and whatnot with his mark on them). Of course, if we try to present this as evidence against him, he’ll probably just claim that all those supplies were stolen from him, but we know better.

The final showdown with the Faceless One was a terrible battle. Carenthal placed a Silence spell on Storn’s sword to try to prevent the Faceless One and his minions from castin’ spells. (I need to have a tactical talk with Carenthal later. It would have been much better to put the Silence spell on one of Sparrow’s arrows. Sparrow’s quicker and more mobile than Storn, and by puttin’ the spell on a secondary weapon, it’d allow her to get rid of it if the situation required it.)

The Faceless One was not alone. With him were four, beautiful but crazed-lookin’ women wearin’ nearly nothin’, another Allip, and the Kenku leader. Hine started us off by shootin’ one of the women. Then all four of ‘em conjured up Flamin’ Spheres and blocked the door with them (very clever that). The Faceless One followed up with a Fireball that scorched most of us (I was out of range, luckily). The Kenku advanced and the Allip flew straight through a wall to attack Trogdor! I blasted the Allip with four Magic Missiles while Storn ran straight through the Flamin’ Spheres, oblivious to the pain, only to be grappled by the strange black hands of one of the room’s pillars! Dolgun also ran through the fires, not as oblivious to the pain, and vomited his acid all over several of the women. Trogdor cast a Cure Moderate Wounds spell, managed to touch the Allip, and killed it while Justice braved the Flamin’ Spheres as well.

Hine finished off the injured acolyte with another arrow. Justice, Storn, and Trogdor were all burned by Flamin’ Spheres as the acolytes started guidin’ ‘em around the room. Sparrow moved into the room (barely avoidin’ a shot from the Kenku’s bow), but got grabbed by the other strange pillar in the room. The Faceless One blasted Dolgun with a volley of Magic Missiles as Carenthal and I moved into the adjoinin’ room, ready to disrupt the Faceless One’s next spell. Storn struggled against the pillar, Dolgun moved up into melee with the acolytes (and within breath weapon range of the Faceless One), and Trogdor came into the fray. Justice, now in melee with the Kenku leader, tried to slash the crow-man, but missed.

Hine shot another acolyte and was in turn burned by two of the Flamin’ Spheres while the other burned Justice (both their natural resistances to fire kept them from being hurt very badly). The Kenku stepped away from Justice and shot him with a poisoned arrow, weakenin’ the Cleric of Tyr. Sparrow managed to slither away from the grasping hands of the pillar that had captured her. The Faceless One started to cast a spell. Before he could finish, Dolgun breathed fire on him and I slammed into him with a devastatingly accurate Blast of Force. Not only did the Faceless One live through that fearsome barrage of energy, but he was able to maintain his focus and complete the Lightin’ Bolt spell! The spell blasted Justice and killed two of his own acolytes in the process. Since Justice was still standin’, that seemed like a good trade. Carenthal put the last acolyte to sleep with a spell just as Storn broke free from his pillar and closed with the Faceless One, envelopin’ him in silence. Trogdor healed Hine and Justice rushed up past the Kenku and stabbed the Faceless One. Somehow, however, Justice’s sword just glanced off the Wizard!

The fight was basically over, however. Storn killed the Faceless One – his powerful blow with his great falchion cut through the Faceless One’s wards and his chest. Hine killed the Kenku leader, embeddin’ a pair of arrows so deeply, you couldn’t see the fletching amidst the Kenku’s own feathers.

What happened after that was mostly clean-up, lootin’, and information gatherin’. We killed another one of those worm-ridden Zombies and questioned our prisoner (a deluded woman named Versasnath). We discovered quite a bit about where all these cultists had come from (The Sunset Hills fleeing the Zhentarium mostly) and why they wanted to raise up an Overgod (power for themselves in the “new world order”). We also found a scary-looking book that we have not yet moved let alone opened and this note:

The Age of Worms
The secrets of this page are most holy. Know ye heretics who invade them that the forces of Myrkul are upon thee. If you read this, Theldrick, you have either slain me and doomed our cause, or the time is nigh for our final victory. At last the riddle of this place is solved. In ages past, a great being known as Kyuss rose above the petty warlords who fought and struggled for material gain. Mighty Kyuss is the herald of the Overgod. Soon, he will sound the clarion call to the faithful. The three sundered faiths shall be made whole.

The Undead our agents spotted must be located and captured. If they bear the worms of Kyuss then they perhaps hold the final answer to our research. The Ebon Aspect stirs within the pool, but it is still not ready to emerge. Perhaps a traumatic event – an invasion by heretics, a great battle fought within these halls – could awaken it. But even then it will attain only a minor form.

The Way of the Ebon Triad
The Way speaks of the danger of awakening the Aspect too soon. Our work will be for naught. We must find the worms and the Undead hosts that carry them. If not here, then we must send agents to the Skull Gorge. If Kyuss himself, or his agents cannot shepherd in the Age of Worms, then we shall do it ourselves so that the Overgod may live.

Our course is clear, my dear Theldrick. Smenk is no longer useful to us and must die. Kill him, then send agents to the Stump Bog, to the southwest. I believe that we will find what we are looking for there, among the Lizardfolk. Summon more of your warriors. If the calculations and portents are correct, the time for covert action is at an end. As the age of worms begins, we must strike hard and fast to prepare the coming of the Overgod.

Of course, dear Theldrick, if you were so rash as to slay my followers and me, then you soon shall join me in the afterlife. Doubtless your treachery has already stirred the Overgod. Our mission has failed, and you will die at his hands.

Not very light readin’.

We decided to rest here in the back rooms to heal and recover spells.

18th of Marpenoth, 1371 DR
The front door to the labyrinth was open when we work up. Obviously some Kenku escaped our purge. I wonder where they’ve gone.

I’ve awoken with a new energy and sense of purpose! Smitin’ all these cultists with force energy has given me a new insight into the nature of Magic Missiles. Not only do I feel like I can now channel enough arcane energy to Empower the Magic Missiles (or even the Persistent Blade), but I think I’ve discovered a way to make the missiles explode out from a central target. I hate to say it, but I can’t wait to try that out!

I also feel a sense of trepidation, however, as well. The evil of these people has saturated the very walls of this place. I get the feelin’ that some of these chambers have been here for ages and these cultists simply dug to ‘em and around ‘em. Worse yet, I think some of it has seeped into me! It’s not so much that I feel like doin’ somethin’ evil myself or that I even condone what these people are doin’. It’s more like I understand it. I understand the power they gained from their evil and how they used it.

It’s enough to make me shudder.

We weren’t ambushed by Kenku. Kullen was not waitin’ for us. And whatever evil was stirrin’ in the black pool was strangely quite as we crossed the elevator room to the last door – the door to the Baahlites.

A windin’, natural, 5’-wide passage emptied out into a small, stomach-shaped chamber where we were attacked by Grimlocks (like the ones that ambushed us on the road home a ten-day ago) and their Krensher pets. One of the Grimlocks was a leader of some sort – a Master of the Hounds if you will.

Everyone got a piece of the action, although it was tough juggling people up and back the narrow hallway to maximize our efforts. Carenthal even killed one of the Krenshers with his crossbow. Dol killed two Krenshers and a Grimlock. Hine killed three Grimlocks. Justice killed a Krensher and the Hound Master. Storn killed a Krensher and a Grimlock. Trogdor kept us all healed and I used the new Rod of Extend Spell we acquired to send a Persistent Blade into the fray. The tiny knife only killed one Grimlock, but it continuously set up flankin’ positions for all my allies, makin’ it easier to kill these evil savages.