So, I came up with a rather brilliant plan for spendin’ the night down in the mine. We set up camp in the entry room to the Bane area, out of view of the door to the elevator room. We rebuilt a couple of the skeletal guards, so if anyone saw their way inside it’d look still “normal.” Then I had people on each watch wearin’ the cultist’s robes. The plan must’ve worked because Sparrow received a note on her watch and no alarm was sounded.
Here’s what the note said:
Theldrick (must be the name of that Cleric that tried to take us on all yesterday),
We need to schedule a meeting tomorrow with Grallak (must be the name of the one who leads the Bhaal cult) and discuss with him his latest vision. Also, Smenk is becoming a problem. The food supplies were rotten again. So, send your warriors out at night again to raid and pillage for more food.
Myrkul’s Chosen One , Your Leader
After some discussion, we decided to assault the Myrkulites first, mostly because, if their messenger reported anythin’ suspicious, we wanted to hit ‘em before they had a chance to warn the cult of Bhaal. So, we crossed the pillared room (briefly startled by a sound from the black pool to the south) and gathered at the east door. On the door was an anagram that Carenthal deciphered to read as “Knock Three Times to Enter.” Sparrow then proceeded to knock six times.
Unbelievable! I’ve got no idea why Sparrow believed the cult of Mykrul would have the same secret knock (three pairs of knocks) as the Baneites. I’ve got even less of an idea why Sparrow would think a total of six knocks would be considered three knocks. At any rate, Sparrow’s bafflin’ decision set off some sort of magic trap and we were all caught in a huge explosion!
Sparrow is our “intelligence” officer. Go figure.
We finally got the trap figured out and headed into a labyrinth of narrow passages, narrow side passages, and numerous secret doors. We stopped at an 18”-long black feather standin’ on end with another anagram under it (there was anagram graffiti on the walls, too). Dolgun said it was radiatin’ magic, so we figured it was a trap. Before we could figure out the anagram, however, all hell broke loose.
A black, feathered, bird-man (Carenthal called them Kenku) stepped out of a passage to the east and blasted us all with a Wand of Lightning Bolt! The Kenku got off another blast from the wand before any of us could react and most of us were quite toasty by then. Amazingly enough, our trainin’ paid off. We all had several discussions about how to react if we came under massive magical assault and for the most part, we all reacted exactly as planned!
What followed was a long, tough, runnin’ battle with groups of Kenku (and a couple of Dire Weasels) that came from around corners or slipped behind us through unseen secret doors. The narrow passages worked for the Kenku, enablin’ ‘em to spread us out through several passages so we couldn’t focus our full attention on any one group of ‘em. Aside from one tactical mistake (Justice nearly got himself killed on the feather trap), we all did well, but the fight really belonged to Dolgun, Sparrow, and Storn who each chalked up four kills. We all helped, of course. Justice, who I’m now convinced actually walks with Tyr at his side, stood his ground against numerous foes despite his injuries and became a focus for their attention so Sparrow could get into flankin’ positions. Carenthal and Trogdor provided much needed healin’ at vital times. Hine and Valcrist added to the chaos of battle with buzzin’ arrows and bolts and I assisted with Magic Missiles when the target seemed important, like when I killed the wand wielder.
When the last Kenku died, we were overcome by a wave of dread. Not sure what that was all about. It didn’t seem magical in nature nor did it have any effect on us other than to be damned unsettling’. We regrouped and healed and started seachin’ the corridors. Eventually, we discovered a normal wooden door with another anagram and a magical trap.
Despite our efforts, the trap went off bathin’ us all in flames and then a pair of armored Undead (Dread Guards) came out of the room beyond the door!
Sparrow managed to hit one with her rapier and then tumble away from its sword. Dolgun moved into her spot and puked sticky acid all over the lead Dread Guard. The Undead attacked Dolgun, but he hid behind his tower shield so they could barely even see him let alone hit him. Storn attacked from around the corner at the lead Dread Guard, tryin’ to destroy the thing in one hit, but his blow glanced off the wall. Justice tried to turn the Undead, but just like in the bane area, the unhallowed ground made turnin’ all but impossible. That didn’t stop Trogdor from tryin’ (and failin’) as well. I blasted the thing with an extra hot volley of Magic Missiles.
The worst part about all these narrow passages for me was it made most of my other spells ineffective. Luckily, I like Magic Missile. A lot.
Dolgun belched forth a line of fire on the two Dread Guards, but they seemed to be immune to fire! Then the lead Undead cut a chunk outta Dolgun’s shield and a slightly smaller chunk outta Dolgun himself. That’s when Justice switched places with Dolgun. Storn missed again and almost threw out his back he was swingin’ so hard. I switched places with Hine to give him a better shot at the Undead, but he still missed and Trogdor’s turning attempt failed again.
Dolgun next tried a line of acid, which succeeded in burnin’ and pittin’ the Dread Guard’s armor. The Dread Guards and Justice traded blows, but only the Undead’s swords drew blood. Storn missed again. Seriously, does he have to swing like a mad-man on every attack? Hine and Valcrist both managed to fire through the melee and hit the Dread Guard and I helped with some Magic Missiles. Then Trogdor conjured up some kind of rainstorm of holy water! The Dread Guard didn’t like that at all!
Justice finally managed to hit one of the Dread Guards and then Carenthal cast a Bless spell. The two Dread Guards slashed into Justice and he would’ve died right there if not for a timely Close Wounds from Carenthal. Then the Dread Guard tried to switch positions (apparently they are quite clever), but Justice cut the damaged one down as it tried to escape then managed to parry the other Guard’s attack. Finally, all Storn’s gruntin’ paid off and be brought his falchion down in a crashin’ blow that literally shattered the remainin’ Dread Guard! Trogdor’s Holy Storm melted away the remains of the Undead until only their helmets were left.
Their magical but eviiil helmets.
So even after I told him not to, Storn put on one of the helmets and promptly collapsed on the floor! We all thought he was dead, but as it turned out, he was just comatose thanks to some lingerin’ curse residin’ within the helm.
We really didn’t have time for this.
No comments:
Post a Comment