Trellenhome

We finished off the menhane and her spectres, looted the corpse of Drusus Adallen, went through a teleporter that needed keys, got Kev turned to stone, fixed him, found the sword that killed Bartolomae Adallen, and learned that it was used to weaken Arshadallen. Of course, it is an evil sword that controlled Vim, so we had to find him. He was able to use the grace of Ulyiad to free himself from the sword.

...

December 30, 2012
Joe fixed the location of the menhane to be in a square.
Vim attacks the menhane (missing), then moves to Zantlin and asks for help.
Kev full attacks on the menhane and hits her thrice. Granny whips out her wand of Lightning Bolts and zaps the menhane (who makes her save).
Zantlin, to Vim: Now may be a good time to discuss your lack of religion.
Zantlin heals Vim for 37 and moves to Spectre 1. Yorn hits her four times for ~150 points, and she drops.
Yorn’s Cleave misses #4. #1, #3, and #4 sink into the floor with the menhane down.
What’s going on here? Sense Motives…12 or better reveals that the spectres no longer appear to be controlled. Zantlin attacks anyway (he failed his check) and doesn’t like undead. He misses.
Yorn Kev Zantlin spot checks: 14, 15, and (good enough) 23 – the menhane’s wounds are healing. Vim wanders north and stabs the menhane once with his undead bane sneak-attacking dagger. Kev hits the menhane once.
K religion checks: Zantlin and Granny get high enough to know that killing the menhane requires an electrical or Good aligned weapon.
Granny yells that information out and delays. Zantlin uses Glorious Weapon to align all of our weapons.
Yorn tells the menhane to pray for Ulyiad’s forgiveness, then beats the corpse four more times for 180 points.
Spectres 1, 3, and 4 appear behind us, and say, “Thank you. Now please release us.”
Zantlin turns them to destroy them. They all poof out.
Yorn breaks the bridge out over the coffin, and we prepare to open it. Vim ask for some more healing; Zantlin again mentions Vim’s lack of faith.
This is Drusus’s coffin. What will we find inside? We shove the lid off (apparently no traps) and find the mummified remains of a man in masterwork plate armor with a howling medusa sign on the armor, gripping a ruby-pommeled greatsword. Ring on his finger.
Kev: Hey, are you still dead?
He doesn’t move. Zantlin doesn’t discover any undead.
Zantlin warns us against taking the loot – it’s defiling a corpse.
Great sword *249 is cold iron. Ruby in its pommel is 1000 gp alone; 3800 gp in the sword. It is magical as well. Ring is magical *250 and bears the crest of the dragon Arshadallen. Plate mail is MW but not magical.
None of Drusus’s personal items are magical.
Might either the sword or the ring be a key? No, not according to Granny and her dreams.
The four keys: keyhole in the right eye, starburst for amulet in the left eye, thin slot in the mouth for a dagger, and an oval in the chin for a gem. Granny thinks we have all four keys.
Drusus clearly followed Arshadallen.
Ring: Moderate transmutation; not evil – but creepy. It would be ironic to kill the dragon wearing the ring depicting him.
Sword: (transmutation); not evil
Well, can we use these to fight the cult? Black dragons have DR/magic, not cold iron.
We figure that we may as well take the items.
We get back to the room with the pillars, and we have checked all three branches. We head back to the medusa face. We can operate the medusa head but still haven’t (knowingly) found the secret to undo the cult. Was there anything else to do with Drusus’ effects? Might just be some ritual stuff.
If we think the keys in the medusa head zap us out, we shouldn’t do that yet.
This ring is the first dragon-thing we have seen other than something Granny spotted in a dream. We need to check the teleporters in the outbuildings.
West building: green marble, opening carved like a lion. Howling medusa.
Center: pale granite, nautical scenes. Mocking medusa.
East building: gray basalt, unadorned. “The living make their plans; the dead watch amused.” Cross-eyed medusa.
Cross-eyed medusa started the cult.
West building – Kev berates us for being cowards, but we check the “easy” one first. We get inside that building and activate the teleporter. We end up in the room with the medusa head, so we leave – we spot one of Kev’s pee marks so we clearly have been here before.
We head out and use the east building – we see the cross-eyed medusa teleporter and travel through it. We end up back in the same room.
Seems odd. But, it’s time to activate the medusa head unless we want to smash all the urns. Are there any particular Adallans who might have started the cult? Stanley Adallen told us a lot about his megalomaniac uncle Bartholomae, who we think was responsible.
We look through the urns with Kev using a Helm of Comprehend Languages. We do not find any that say Bartholomae.
Back to Building F – where Vim heard whimpering. Do we want to crack the coffin? Probably not. Well, the voice should be gone?
We will use the keys first.
Granny’s vision of a Grand Chamber showing the Prophecy of Arshadallaen’s return. There is a fresco in here mocking the cult by showing a devil holding a burning copy of the Prophecy’s of Arshadallen. In the center of the floor is a cross-eyed medusa.
The only things of value left inside the Necropolis are the Murlynd’s spoon and the two women. We should still have our batons, so we expect to be able to get back (we will end up in the coffins but that wasn’t a problem).
We activate the medusa head and zap into the chamber that Granny described. The keys (dagger, amulet, gem, and key) did not come with us. Behind us (to the west) is a 25’ tall iron statue of the Medusa Triumphant – naked and holding a sword over a decapitated corpse. Other arm holds a severed head. There is a hallway going east. Down that hallway is another room that has four pools containing two-legged statues with rooster heads.
Ceiling is vaulted. Pools are 1’ deep. Statues are of cockatrices. The statues appear to be made of precious stones. Granny Takes 10 on K: Arcane – cockatrices small magical beasts, bite attack turns victims to stone, flocks will overwhelm and confuse their foes.
Zantlin: How many in a flock – four?
Actually, those are mosaics set in the bottom of the pools in gemstones.
Yorn and Kev will check the room out, considering they have the best Fort saves. No problems when we enter. Empty alcoves to the north and south.
Kev splashes his sword around in the water and confirms that it’s just water. Kev shoots an arrow into the cockatrice mosaic in the lower left. Nothing happens.
Yorn checks one of the alcoves while Kev steps into the southwest pool. He wants to reach down and touch the mosaic. Kev does…DC 22 Fortitude check. He PEPs it and fails.
Zantlin runs in and begins casting. Yorn pulls Kev out of the water and sets him on dry ground.
Spellcraft checks: Kev’s been affected by Flesh to Stone.
Zantlin uses Break Enchantment. He manages to dispel it.
Apparently turning to stone doesn’t hurt.
We have to look in the room – everyone but Yorn is useful. There is a door to the east. Vim finds no traps. We open the door to the right. We wander down a U-shaped corridor to find a small octagonal room; the hallway dead-ends beyond it. There is a door in the octagonal room. Yorn searches (21) down the hallway and finds another sinking door. Vim finds no traps on the door in the octagonal room. We go to the secret door; Vim and Yorn open it to reveal:
A tall room with granite pillars. Large aquarium on the west side. Battle scenes on the walls. Four chairs sit before the tank. A Qadiran rug covers the floor. There is a red X inside the aquarium, which would be a…from where we’re standing, a bloated, unusually-preserved corpse shackled to the floor and ceiling. It wears armor and is bobbing in the green-hued water. We move in and once we get up close, we notice a hatch into the tank. Oh goody!
The body’s arms and legs are shackled; it is bloated but unusually-well preserved. Breastplate shows a medusa. Pommel of a sword comes out of the belly; eyes are open, and its hair moves in the current (?). Long sword in pristine condition despite being submerged. Bronze plaque on the front of the tank reads, “Then let them drink. Bartolomae Adellan.”
There is a bathtub inside the tank.
Zantlin: that’s how they filled it. Thick seaweed grows at the back of the tank, obscuring our view.
Searching the room: Yorn is no help. Nothing else in the room. Yorn taps on the glass, to no effect.
Everyone sits down except Zantlin. Nothing happens. Zantlin Detects Undead; there are none within 60’. No evil either, yet. The hatch is not trapped or locked. Vim opens it up and the aroma of rotting meat and old water wafts over him.
If this is Bartolomae, why would he be in this tank? Why not in a grave? Did he anger the others of his clan? Plus, what’s in the seaweed? And why is it moving?
Vim samples the water. Granny says it’s plain water fouled by a corpse. Vim checks to see which way a rope moves in the current; it just goes back and forth.
Can we grab the sword with a mage hand? If it killed the cult founder, could it affect the cult?
She moves the mage hand in to grab the sword. As soon as she pulls it out…spot and listen checks. The northern pillars holding up the room start to crumble, and instantly turn into foul-smelling, humanoid creatures formed of sludge and ooze. We have the sword in the mage hand; Vim is able to grab it.
Granny knows that these are true form of the Omox demons…immune to a lot (including crits), resistant to some, have SR. DR 10/good.
Yorn drops his greatsword, grabs his shortsword, and moves up to demon 3.
Granny moves towards the hallway and reminds us of the demons’ invulnerabilities – energy resistances, etc. Vim jumps down and runs between 2 and 3 (to get behind 2). Then he hits with his off-hand weapon for…not enough to bypass DR.
Demon 1 is now fully humanoid and stares down Kev. Zantlin moves and casts Spiritual Weapon on 1. He gets through SR! 28 to hit is good; he deals 5 points. Yorn stabs 3 twice with Myra’s Short Sword and cuts off #3 from flanking Vim.
Kev whacks 2 for (20-10), (14-10), (miss), and (16-10). #2 is fully formed now. Granny casts Haste on all of us.
Vim needs to figure out what happens with his long sword. He drops it (not proficient, needs to use a real weapon), I mean doesn’t (Will save DC 7), and attacks with it. He hits with a 24 (plus weapon) and deals 5 + (something). As he hacks the demon, it stops moving. He is done for the round.
Kev and Zantlin call out, “Oh, shit!” Something about the guy in the tank…
Demon 1 Slams Kev - a 38 hits for 14 points plus 11 points of acid (which he deftly avoids), and grapple checks. As it tries to grapple him, Kev slashes it. Or not. Kev gets grappled.
On Zantlin’s turn, Spiritual Hammer strikes 1 for 11 points. Zantlin pounds on the immobile 2. Yorn hits 3 twice for 24. 3 returns the favor, hits Yorn, and grapples him. Kev breaks the grapple he’s in and pounds on 1 for (13-10).
Granny casts Mass Bull’s Strength (which affects Zantlin, Vim, and Yorn (partially)).
Zantlin notices that Vim is now Evil. He doesn’t have a Kill Vim stick.
Joel says, “Yes.”
With a bath of steam, demon 2 disappears. Vim takes a 5’ step and attacks 1 (with PEP). He hits 1 and destroys it.
Yorn: Damn, dude, you’re totally showing me up.
Zantlin moves and says, “I fear the sword has taken control of Vim.”
Vim: No…
The hammer pounds on demon 3 for 11 points of force. Yorn breaks the grapple with 3 and hits it twice. It hits Yorn and splashes him with acid, but doesn’t grapple. Kev moves next to Yorn and smashes 3 for (19-10), then finishes his Spring Attack but misses. Granny delays. Vim moves and attacks 3 (because as Joe says, “You have free will yet.”)
Vim yells out, “Get away from me!” then attacks the demon. The demon poofs.
Granny comes out of delay. Or not.
Yorn stands up, says, “You don’t need me because Vim’s killing everything,” sheathes his short sword, and goes to grab his greatsword.
Kev attempts to Disarm Vim. Vim says, “what are you doing? I didn’t attack you; I just said to get away!”
Kev figures that only being controlled by another entity would cause him to use a longsword.
Vim says the sword is intelligent, and won’t drop the weapon.
Granny doesn’t know what to do here, other than to forcibly disarm Vim without killing him.
Vim says that if we take the sword, he’ll die.
Does Zantlin believe him? Yep.
Granny’s Arcane Knowledge – is that even possible? Not sure. Can a weapon do that? Yes, I suppose. There’s a possibility. Cursed weapons do exist.
Zantlin: Why will it kill you?
Granny wants to approach Vim, who is still Evil. She wants to look at it.
Vim said that the sword told him he can slay demons, which is cool, but he can’t put it down, which sucks.
Vim: I’m not evil! I’ve been borderline evil for a long time, but I’m not evil!
Zantlin: You have a full-blown case of it.
Yorn: What did the sword say about Bartolomae? They’ve spent a lot of time together.
Vim may be able to say something, but can’t make a Will save.
V: It’s not saying anything.
Vim feels compelled to write something, so he starts writing in chalk.
Writing: Sword killed Bartolomae.
V, writing: Marcus Junius used sword.
V, writing: I am going to kill you all in your sleep.
Zantlin begins to cast.
V, writing: I hate you.
(something tells Vim, “There is no honor in that.”)
Kev dives after Vim to grapple him.
To himself, Vim believes what “he” told them about Ardshadallen.
In combat! Vim and the sword have a beef.
Vim is first. He draws and tries to drop the sword…nope, can’t. We notice Vim try to drop the sword. He disappears – meaning teleport.
Granny: He’s gone. He teleported.
We can’t get back to Marcus Junius – we teleported in. We’ll have to try to activate the teleport that came in.
The four of us head back to the medusa head teleporter. Can we activate it from here? Yes! It’s just like the rest of them…so we do so, and end up in the room that Kev keeps peeing in. One of the keys is missing. We grab the other three – dagger key is missing - (so no one can do anything), and activate this one normally. We end up back in the cross-eyed medusa room.
Yorn starts to yell for Vim until Kev shuts him up. Then Yorn (and Zantlin) head for Marcus Junius’s tomb. We get there; the coffin is undisturbed. We listen for Vim’s giggling: 26 and 18…nothing.
Yorn hoofs it double-time to the Temple to Ulyiad.
Y, to the women: Have you guys seen Vim?
Women: No.
Y: He wandered off to take a piss, and now he’s missing. He’s kind of a dick like that. Tell him if you see him that Ulyiad will forgive him if he asks, and to catch up with us. He’ll be able to hear us.
While listening: Yorn hears nothing.
Y: Well, stay safe and may Ulyiad’s grace shine upon you.
Yorn runs back to meet up with the others. Vim (apparently) tries to catch up but realizes he can’t move that fast.
Vim turns off his ring and re-enters the temple. The women say that Yorn was looking for him.
V: Oh good. Where did he go?
The women point out that way.
Vim sets his sword on the altar and tells the women not to touch it. They won’t. Then he sits down. We find him in there; he says the sword’s on the altar. He’s not evil anymore.
He says the sword told him a bunch of interesting things.
Z: Start with how you got rid of it.
V: No.
The altar’s ok. He won’t tell us how he got rid of it.
The sword said that the soul trapped inside it was put there purposely, but didn’t say who it was.
Yorn hears a snarl coming from inside his head when he approaches the altar.
Apparently Vim recognized a voice; it was Ulyiad who gave him some help. Yorn tells him that this is another proof that the gods are awesome.
The voice said that Marcus Junius used the sword to weaken Arshadallen before he killed Bartolomae with it; it took centuries to kill Bartolomae. Vim says that we shouldn’t pick it up because you can’t put it down.
Granny: If you’re a weak-willed fool.
Vim: Hey, what are you saying?
The sword said it could drain the life out of anyone like it did the demons. But Vim recommends against it. Apparently the sword liked that sort of thing. Granny says that it should be ok if it’s wrapped in a blanket; Kev takes the bundle and tosses it into the haversack or the portable hole.
Good place to end it.
For last week and this week combined:
11th: 2260 XP
12th: 1782 XP
Joe PEPs:
½ to all for a fun night.
½ to Steve for playing Granny
½ to Joel for not getting himself killed by the party
½ to Aaron and Steve for moving the game forward
½ to Scott for giving up when Vim killed everything
Bonus ½ to everyone for staying late.

Aaron: ½ to Joel for finding a way to drop the sword, ½ to Scott for doing more damage in 2 rounds than yardage AP got in two halves
Steve: ½ to Joel for finding a way not to slaughter the party, ½ to Aaron for RP
Joel: ½ to Steve for playing a comical Granny, ½ to Scott for pouting in combat
Scott: ½ to Steve for foolishly stoning himself, ½ to Joel for accurately playing a possessed character