Beromar Copperkettle |
Seeing that his punches are not having any eeffect Beromar steps back and deftly swings his axe.
5ft step and attack with axe. Assuming that the mutants movement out of the grease will provoke a further AoO
Attack 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22 Damage 1d12 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
AoO 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8 Damage 1d12 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
wicked_raygun |
Beromar steps back, swings his axe and decapitates the goblin.
Combat over. Well done, guys. That's 160 XP each for a total of 3,094 XP.
The gang can hear additional moaning coming from the other wooden planks, making it a safe bet that there are more zombies.
An inspection of the body reveals that the goblin is carrying quite a few treasures.
#Loot
-- +1 longsword
-- silver dagger
-- masterwork handaxe
Bruin Greenleaf |
Bruin helps Viroleth to his feet.
"That was a little too close. Here, let me heal you."
CLW: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
Bruin Greenleaf |
Bruin stares down at the zombie that nearly killed Viroleth.
"I suppose it's harmless enough for now to leave them down there. But all the same, I'd like to come back tomorrow with some flasks of lamp oil. We'll douse them, toss down tinder and burn them. It'll be the safest way."
Would Alexei like the +1 longsword? Nobody else here could use it.
Viroleth Sastan |
Viro clings to the tiny halfling and then stares down at the pit.
"WHAT KIND OF A MANIAC PUTS A ZOMBIE IN A PIT?!"
Bruin Greenleaf |
"The same kind that worship a mad, evil goddess of deformity," Bruin answered dryly.
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Alexei Petrescu |
Alexei will indeed take the +1 longsword if no one else wants it. Is someone taking the silver dagger? Silver weapons can come in useful from time to time.
Alexei looks horrifed at the thought of all those planks hiding zombies underneath. "Do you think they all have such monsters under them? Why? Is it an army of some kind?"
Viroleth Sastan |
Having spent enough time freaking out over his ordeal, Viro snaps up the silver dagger.
"I do not like this goddess," he says sullenly.
Bruin Greenleaf |
"Indeed," Bruin says with a chuckle. He then moves over to one of the other rotted wooden planks. He lifts it up to peer down. He uses the light of his crossbow to illuminate the pit and scowls.
"Another zombie. But again it should be harmless enough for now. We can deal with it later. Let's move on."
We're almost done with this dungeon, guys. :)
wicked_raygun |
Room B10
The Heroes of Sandpoint move down the passageway to the South. On their left, they discover a circular stairway that descends downwards. But an incredible amount of rubble has blocked it off. One could only guess how long it would take to clear it out. But for all intents and purposes the stairs are impassable.
Beromar Copperkettle |
Beromar follows the ranger, happy to have a guide and someone who knows how to handle a bow along.
Added loot to sheet
wicked_raygun |
The Heroes of Sandpoint leave the blocked stairwell and approach the final room.
Room B11
This strange room is a fifteen-foot-diameter sphere. Several objects float in the room, spinning lazily in space -- a ragged book, a scroll, a bottle of wine, a dead raven surrounded by a halo of floating and writhing maggots, and a twisted iron wand with a forked tip. Yet perhaps the most unnerving aspect of the room is the walls, for they are plated in sheets of strange red metal that ripple every once in a while with silent black electricity that seems to coalesce into strange runes or even words far too often for the effect to be chance.
Rasp the Rogue |
You'll need to read the scroll to find out what it is Loges. But...
Loges senses magic comimg from the entire room. But he focuses on the wand and feels the familiar tingle of evocation magic. He studies the aura for a moment and concludes it is ripe with lightning magic.
#Loot
- wand of shocking grasp 25 charges.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Bruin Greenleaf |
Minor Edit: The wand of shocking grasp has 28 charges, not 25
Bruin sighs as he sees the floating maggots. He then takes the rope from his backpack, ties it around himself and hands the other end to Beromar.
"I'm going in, fellows."
And with a series of guided hops and wrangling, Bruin retrieves the potentially valuable items. He hands the iron wand to Loges,and then studies the scroll. Read magic.
Appraise book DC 20: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21
Afterwards the halfling opens the book as well. He flips through it, while absently pulling a maggot out of his hair, and scowls.
"It's some sort of ancient prayer book dedicated to the worship of Lamashtu. I can't read it, but I know the text is Abyssal. I've seen a copy of one of these. It's worth about a hundred measures to a book collector."
Finally the last thing retrieved from the room was a bottle of wine -- decent quality.
"Maybe we should have a toast?"
#Loot
- scroll of burning hands (CL 3rd)
- woodcut illustrated book of lamashtu (100gp)
Viroleth Sastan |
Viro stares in horror at the room.
"Loges or Bruin, could one of your expansive minds explain to me what the hell is going on with this room?!"
What is the room doing that requires hops and wrangling? I'm not sure what exactly happened when Bruin went in.
Alexei Petrescu |
"What more is there here for us, mates? It looks like we scoured this place pretty well. Back to the surface then?" he asks hopefully, looking forward to fresh air and sunshine again after so long underground.
Beromar Copperkettle |
But where is the evil priestess mentioned in the notes. Or was it that flying demon he was in love with? Beromar grumbles with disgusst.
Documented loot
Bruin Greenleaf |
Viroleth, everything in the room floats because the room itself has a permanent levitation spell placed on it. Think of it like Zero G.
Insert reference about "gates" being "down".
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Viroleth Sastan |
Viro looks at the room with some longing before, for once, his discretion rules over his curiousity.
Sighing, he looks at the others. "I don't think we know. Those drawings didn't look like that tiny creepy demon though. Perhaps that priestess is elsewhere - the goblins have to be involved in this somehow, right? Maybe we figure out whre they came from."
Bruin Greenleaf |
"Tsuto seemed to imply that Nualia was summoning something big. Something that could endanger Sandpoint. If she's not here than we'll need to find her. The notes mentioned a place called Thistletop. We should ask around town."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Alexei Petrescu |
Alexei, who is from the area, tries to remember any mention of Thistletop, or where that site might be located.
Know Local: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17
Know Geography: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20
wicked_raygun |
Loges and Alexei remember that along the Nettlewood coast, is a small island that some say resembles a decapitated head. This is known as Thistletop. According to Shalelu a vicious band of goblins live there led by their chief, Ripnugget.
It's a six mile journey from Sandpoint- roughly two hours on foot.
Bruin Greenleaf |
"I'm also curious about that weird shrine that vomited monsters when we bled into it. Maybe we could ask Brodert Quink about that. He seems to have his finger on the pulse of all things ancient around here."
Bruin recoils his rope.
"Either way, gents. I think we've done a fine bit of work here. Let's head to town quick and pick up some lantern oil to burn the zombies. We could be back in an hour."
Time to start the cut-scene.
wicked_raygun |
Since no one seemed opposed to the idea...
The Heroes make their way out of the catacombs and back to Sandpoint. They head to Vinders and purchase about 30 pounds of oil. Well, everyone except Viroleth who opts to wait about 100 yards away - the better to avoid Ven's vengeance.
The oil is 3gp. Bruin will happily cover the cost.
They return to the catacombs and set fire to the zombies. Once that's done Bruin pops open the bottle of wine and pours everyone a cup.
That's an extra 40 XP each for the roasted zombies, bumping us up to 3,134 XP. So close to leveling up...
Alexei Petrescu |
Sending the zombies back to Pharasma does not necessarily put Alexei in the mood for celebrating, but he sits with his allies as they share the bottle of wine. The hunter is pensive.
"How do these demons and their spawn coincide with the goblins at Thistletop? And for that matter, with the invasion of the city? I fear for Sandpoint with this array of enemies on all sides."
Bruin Greenleaf |
"Exactly. We knew that Tsuto wanted to use the Quasit demon to unleash her monsters from below. But that Goblin chief wanted a more direct assault. The Quasit is dead now, and Tsuto clearly failed, but that still leaves Thistletop as a threat."
Bruin got a sour look on his face.
"And that brings us to Nualia who desecrated the corpse of a Desnan priest. Who wants to summon a demon powerful enough to destroy Sandpoint. And who I'm starting to expect might have burnt down the Chapel all those years ago. According to Tsuto's notes she's at Thistletop, too."
Looking grim and determined, the cleric of Desna says, "I think -- no, I know I need to go there and stop Nualia. My goddess put me on this path, and I must finish it."
"I would understand, of course, if, er, if none of you wanted to go with me. I imagine it will be incredibly dangerous. Goblins and demons are vile, disgusting, hateful creatures. And, well, it's not as if I've any experience with this. But, well, I'd be honored and very thankful if you did come with me."
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Viroleth Sastan |
Viro, betraying his posh background, sniffs the wine, sips it, swirls it a bit, and finally nods, setting it aside.
"Do the goblins have more wine like this? If so, I'm interested. If not, I'm interested regardless. Frankly, despite the kind of horrid monstrosities we've seen and ... pit zombies," Viro shudders as he speaks.
"There's obviously something bad going on and I don't believe there's anyone around this town to do much about it. Besides, I'm a hero now and have a reputation to keep up. The goblin raid is a distant memory and everybody is now 'well what have you saved me from lately. The free drinks run out my friends, we need to replenish that good will. And uh, stop a horrible monster from destroying the region."
Alexei Petrescu |
"The monsters and their leader, this Nualia, threaten my people and neighborhood. I will stand with you to defeat them until the threats are at an end." says the Varisian hunter forcefully.
Beromar Copperkettle |
Beromar sits there with water and a piece of bread apparently very grumpy.
Me thinks I came here to kill some ginats... but killing Goblins and Demons seems like the right thing to do at the moment. I'll accompany ye Bruin. When shall we set out?
The thught of killing Goblins and Demons seems to lighten the Dwarfs mood a bit as he almost musters a smile.
Viroleth Sastan |
"That's the spirit! Maybe the goblins or demon-lady know a giant they can point us to afterwards."
Bruin Greenleaf |
Bruin smiles and shakes his head.
"You bigfolk are tall enough, so I'll happily skip the giants if it's all the same to you. But still thank you."
Bruin then grew thoughtful.
"I was thinking we could leave in a couple of days. I would like some time to study that shrine, make sure it won't hurt anyone. And of course ideally it would be nice to wait for Sheriff Hemlock to come back. But either way I don't think it's wise to wait much longer than that."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Bruin Greenleaf |
"Of course. We should definitely keep Mayor Deverin in the loop," Bruin agrees with a nod.
wicked_raygun |
Let's move things along a bit...
The Heroes of Sandpoint, along with a new valued member, leave the catacombs behind and trek back to town.
Loges has a rush of inspiration and decides to check in with Brodert Quink about the Catacomb Well, while the others rush off to speak with the Mayor.
Loges K. Arcana DC 15, +2 from Quink's assistance: 1d20 + 11 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 11 + 2 = 25
The Mayor greets the returning heroes warmly and is thrilled to hear that the immediate threat from beneath the Glassworks has been handled. But she becomes grim at the thought of more goblins and Nualia's role in the matter.
"I knew Nualia. She was always a bit -- troubled. But I could never foresee her doing this."
When the Heroes explain they're desire to leave in two days, the Mayor agrees. "The Sheriff should indeed be back by then. I can't thank you enough for this service."
wicked_raygun |
I don't know what it is about Mondays, they make it impossible for me to get a post up. Anyways, let's set this up.
Later that afternoon, the Heroes are having a drink and a late lunch at the Rusty Dragon. Well, all of the Heroes, except for Loges who arrives at the table with an excited look on his face.
He tells them that he had deduced that that the well in the catacombs seems to feed off of the energy of dead wrathful souls. Storing it so that it can summon sinspawn.
But activating the well is complicated and thus if it were drained of its power, it would cease to function. A small bit of blood seemed to be the catalyst to activating it.
Bruin Greenleaf |
"So if we go back down there and bleed into the well, it will -- well, destroy it?"
Bruin took a long drink of ale, looking a bit shaky.
"Why would anyone want to worship demons? It seems needly complicated what with the blood rituals."
Bruin shrugged.
"Well, I'm in. What do you lot think?"