Expedition to the Ruins of Castle Greyhawk [3.5 D&D]

Game Master Stiehle

Waterday, 19th day of Planting (i.e. April), 597 C.Y.
Weather above ground is unknown.
Current time is unknown, but likely sometime around early morning.

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After camping for an extended period of time, perhaps even an entire twenty four hours - though it's difficult to be certain without seeing the sky above - the party is ready to move on after Gear does what he can to restore their strength using his divine magic. They find no change in the collapsed stairwell and hope that whatever army may be down there is stuck good - and if Shyrath's journals are correct, they certainly should be. It seems to the party, given that fact, that Iuz is not going to be happy with her boss, this mysterious and apparently cowardly Vayne hidden away in the Halls of Beckoning. They have gleaned from the notes that reaching this level of the ruins can only be accomplished by using the teleportation circle. How to use the magic isn't readily apparent, but surely Shyrath had the key? Maybe they just haven't found it yet... Surely she would keep it close to her? And likely well protected as well.

The interior of the temple is quite musty and filled with debris where the walls and ceiling have collapsed in places. The staircase located in the interior of the pyramid (G7) spirals downward, well beyond the sight of the party. To the west of the spiral stairwell is a black altar (G8), its edges festooned with skulls and old black wax. A large fissure runs down the center of the altar, continuing through the back wall of the pyramid where the rubble descends into the dark waters of the lake (G6) back there.

One of the keys carried by Shyrath opens a door leading into a small room (G9) with an oversized plush divan next to a shelf containing a few leather-bound ledgers. Despite the condition of the rest of the nearly-destroyed temple, this interior room is clean and lit by flickering flames from a gold brazier set in the northeast corner. Besides the thick ledgers, there is also an iron bound chest in the room that likely served as the private room of Shyrath.

The doors opposite her room lead into a pair of storage rooms (G10) with a good number of arrows, four sets of artisan tools, a crate filled with torches (fifty or more in all) as well as a healer's kit. There is also a couple months' worth if rations, a couple barrels of water, one of ale (only half full) and a small crate that looks like it once held a dozen bottles of Ilymirth wine from Highfolk - though only four full bottles remain now, the others are discarded to one side of the box.

The last intact door to the northwest is solidly stuck in its frame where the wall partially collapsed, buckling the frame badly. The adventurers are able to peer through a crack where the door buckled away from the frame and they can see a small chamber (G11) that has mostly collapsed, though there's a bit of space back there. Opening the door is going to be an issue though, if they want to go through the trouble of getting back there.

Though the southwest portion of the temple has nearly all collapsed, the party can glimpse one chamber (G12) through the rubble opposite the intact door - though the stench that emanates from the room gives them pause. It looks as though there are a number of corpses in there, along with all sorts of garbage piled high. It seems that Shyrath and the demons used the room as a midden heap, perhaps after clearing out this temple when they moved in. Those peering in can see the bodies are much larger than man-sized, perhaps ogres or small giants of some kind. But digging through the garbage will require time and a strong stomach.

Earlier, Reonnyn detected an aura of magic in the collapsed chamber (G11) behind the jammed door and another in the garbage heap (G12) - though he couldn't actually see either one as they both must be buried a bit - the first under some rubble and the latter beneath a solid layer of refuse. The halfling warlock didn't detect any magic from the chest in Shyrath's room, though that's only because of the thin lead sheet that covered the base of the lid, into which was carved the magical symbol that drained their strength.

Loot recovered:
+1 Composite (Large-Sized) Longbow [+5 STR] x8
+2 'Unholy' Heavy Mace
+1 'Light Fortification' Full Plate Armor
+2 Cloak of Resistance - Claim by Reonnyn
+1 Cloak of Resistance - Claim by Morrow, shifting from Reonnyn's current inventory
+2 Periapt of Wisdom - Claim by Gear
Potion of Invisibility
Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds (x2)
Scroll of Planar Ally
Keoghtom's Ointment
Wand of Cure Moderate Wounds [CL 3 (heals 2d8+3 HP), 28 charges] - Claim by Reonnyn
Unholy Symbol of Iuz affixed to heavy gold chain (500gp value)
Gold ring with small ruby setting (200gp value)
Unholy symbol of Iuz crafted of silver (50gp value)
84gp, 23sp, 7cp

Everyone can post your actions for the day, figuring you'll either by up to full or close to it, anyway. Gear, please give me your spell selection for the day, along with whatever restoration type spells you wish to use and make the rolls, if you would - then we'll know where everyone is at. Sobok, I was wrong about the negative levels becoming permanent, no need to worry. The Enervation spell wears off after several hours and you get those negative levels back. So what are you all doing with your day? I reposted a description of the rooms you glimpsed in the ruined temple. You all figure there must be a key to that teleportation circle somewhere around here... Just let me know where you're looking and make the appropriate rolls! Feel free to Take 20 if you'd like, but I need to know where (even just more or less) where you're looking if you do that - since it'll take time to carefully search even a relatively small area.

Detail Map

Dungeon Map

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Sobok will stay near Fash and provide his aura to aid in finding any hidden items. He will also assist by shifting heavy items around if Fash needs that help.

Once Reonnyn has regained some of his strength he addresses the others, "I think we need to press on here. Vayne can make our lives very...difficult if we don't find him. As for where that key may be found I suspect it might be hidden in that partially collapsed room.(G11) I could access it though, and take Fash with me, to check it out.

The plan would be to D-Door into G11 and (hopefully) grab the magical source then port out.

"I have a scroll that will let me get through that door but wouldn't it be easier to just rip the thing off its hinges?"

He's got a Gaseous Form scroll but with no time pressure and no traps can't we just Take 20 on whoever's Str check to take down the door? Sobok would have a 26 and if we pop an Enlage on him that's 28. If somebody Aids him that would be 30 and if we use a crowbar that would be a 32. Should be enough to remove a door?

Have we tried to read the journal? If not, Morrow will try.

"It probably would be easier to rip it down. But it's stuck because the place was collapsing. Can we shore it up to be sure we don't finish the collapse?"

Knowledge Architecture and Engineering?: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18

Sorry, this has gotten very OOC, but,...
1)I am assuming we are taking 24 hours here - first overnight for Gear to memorize assorted restoration spells, and then a second to let him memorize a more practical spell assortment for dealing with Vayne... So Fash has plenty of time to do some careful searching...
2) WRT to Gear’s spell prep, all of us should heal 1 pt of str damage over the first rest (28 pts to heal), and another over the next rest (24 pts to heal). (If between us we can manage consistent DC 15 heal checks for long term care, we can double this healing). At 2.5 pts / lesser restoration, that’s all 11 he could prep. So he could probably leave his lvl 4 slots for speak with dead.
3) Sorry, I have an interruption, but there’s a lot of searching to come

Sorry this took so long.
Things to search
a)Shyrath’s chamber (G9), to see if she had any hidey-holes.
Search, Take 20: 20 + 14 + 6 = 40
14 rank +6 int
b) The altar (G8),
Search, Take 20: 20 + 14 + 6 = 40
b) The lake (G6) has drained with the collapse of the stairwell, which should leave anything hidden in it exposed...
Search, Take 20: 20 + 14 + 6 = 40
(Also, Reonnyn might want to try a detect magic...)
c) The storage room with the bodies (G12). But I would not be surprised to discover an active undead threat or something like that in there, so, everyone will be with me, doing their share of the dirty work (and covering my back...)
Search, Take 20: 20 + 14 + 6 = 40
d) The collapsed chamber with the stuck door (G11). Another possible trap; I figure whatever it is, it isn’t a stash of Shyrath’s (she’d have put whatever it is where she could get at it); rather, it’s a left over from the previous inhabitants – Nerullites. So there’s no guarantee that whatever it is any way safe; it’s another case of all hands on deck and ready for action. Start by checking the door for traps:
Search, Take 20: 20 + 14 + 6 = 40
Then if no traps are found, and Morrow figures that taking out the door won’t collapse the building (see his K Engineering check), then Sobok destroys the door.

Freeday, 20th day of Planting (i.e. April), 597 C.Y.
Weather above ground is unknown.
Current time is unknown, but the party has had a long day of searching, equivalent of late afternoon.

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After the party spends a full day resting, with Gear using his healing magic to restore the strength of those that were affected by the glyph, they are ready to explore the temple. After breaking down the door to the collapsed chamber (G11), a search yields a skeletal hand - a rather large hand - after a half hour is spent clearing rubble. The magical aura still lays beneath the fallen stones, but the party has run into an issue. The ceiling is badly damaged and ready to collapse. Morrow does his best to shore up the walls using the wood available, and eventually they uncover a magical book. Taking the time to study it, they find it to be a tome that will magically enhance the mind (Tome of Understanding [+1 to WIS]) of whoever reads it cover to cover - a two day process. Digging through the putrid garbage in the other small chamber (G12) is nauseating work, quite literally. But eventually three bodies are uncovered, one of them wearing a gold holy symbol of Nerull studded with onyx gemstones (150gp value) beneath its rotted robes, while another carries a potion of Fly in a moldy pouch and a warhammer crafted of adamantine looped into its belt.

It takes Fash some time, but eventually he finds that the lead sheet in the lid of the chest did more than conceal and bear the magical glyph of warding - it also has a small catch that reveals a recess behind it, allowing the gnome to access a very old scrap of vellum. It depicts words to be spoken and runes to be touched in order to allow one to access a teleportation circle that leads to an area of the ruins called the Halls of Beckoning. According to Shyrath's hateful writings of Vayne, this is where the Iuzite is hiding.

Loot recovered:
Adamantine Warhammer
+1 Composite (Large-Sized) Longbow [+5 STR] x8
+2 'Unholy' Heavy Mace
+1 'Light Fortification' Full Plate Armor
+2 Cloak of Resistance - Claim by Reonnyn
+1 Cloak of Resistance - Claim by Morrow, shifting from Reonnyn's current inventory
+2 Periapt of Wisdom - Claim by Gear
Potion of Fly
Potion of Invisibility
Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds (x2)
Scroll of Planar Ally
Keoghtom's Ointment
Tome of Understanding (+1 to WIS - requires 48 hours to read it)
Wand of Cure Moderate Wounds [CL 3 (heals 2d8+3 HP), 28 charges] - Claim by Reonnyn
Unholy Symbol of Iuz affixed to heavy gold chain (500gp value)
Gold ring with small ruby setting (200gp value)
Unholy symbol of Iuz crafted of silver (50gp value)
Holy symbol of Nerull crafted if gold and studded with onyx gemstones (150gp value)
84gp, 23sp, 7cp

Since you all have time to rest properly here, I'm just going to hand wave the magical healing, figuring you used the spell slots to do what you needed to, and rested for a full twenty-four hours after your grueling battles. So two full days have gone by, the second of which you took to search the temple quite thoroughly as noted above. As for continuing on, feel free to memorize whatever spells you'd like for the following day, presuming you are continuing on, intending to use the teleportation circle now that you have what seems to be the key. If that is what you wish to do, just let me know what preparations you are making prior to activating it.

Detail Map

Dungeon Map

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Sobok checks the straps on his armor as he prepares to use the circle. He then says, "I am ready to move on when everyone else is."

"So, we can confront this wizard Vayne... Before we try, should we send a message to the surface so someone can follow in our footsteps if we fail?"

"Good plan there, especially if that soldier decides to betray us Fash," Reonnyn nods, "I know Glorb is awaiting word from us, perhaps you can Send him a message."

Gear nods. "They need to send people down here to make sure this place is secure, regardless.

"A sending would be wise." Sobok says with a nod of agreement.

Morrow checks his gear, listening to the others' discussion. "Sounds good. If we're facing a mage we need to get to him fast."

Anybody claiming these?
Potion of Fly
Potion of Invisibility
Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds (x2)
Scroll of Planar Ally - Not sure if any of us can use this. ??
Keoghtom's Ointment

Anybody claiming these?

Potion of Fly
Potion of Invisibility
Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds (x2)
Scroll of Planar Ally - Not sure if any of us can use this. ??
Keoghtom's Ointment

I would be happy to take the Potion of Fly and one of the Potions of CMWs. I do not have another way to fly and I do occasionally get smacked around. It would mean I was carrying two CMWs potions as I already have one.

Gear can use the Planar Ally scroll. Just in case we need an astral deva at some point.

Gear can use the Planar Ally scroll. Just in case we need an astral deva at some point.

That's actually really not a bad idea at all... That could be a lot of firepower we might find really handy - astral deva or trumpet archon or Ghaele Eladrin... Also, Fash will take a CMW potion, just in case.

I'm not sure I want to play this out in character, but the gist of my plan is to write a note for Glorbe telling him just about everything (especially about the invading army, and Vayne's hideout, including how to use the teleporter), and hide it in the succubus's prison, then send him a sending telling him where it is (as a backup plan), and letting him know we are going after Vayne. If we don't Sending again in the next day or two, well...

Freeday, 20th day of Planting (i.e. April), 597 C.Y.
Weather above ground is unknown.
Current time is unknown, but the party has had a long day of searching, equivalent of late afternoon.

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Fash uses his magic to send word to Glorb, and the gnome answers him briefly, confirming that he knows exactly where to find the note and confirming he will 'bring a few friends' for protection just in case. He also wishes his friends good luck as they prepare to confront Vayne. The party makes themselves ready and Fash speaks the words on the parchment, touching the runes in the order as noted. Touching the last rune, all of them begin to glow with a soft blue light, and when they step upon the disk, the adventurers find themselves elsewhere as their stomachs give a small lurch and each of them experiences a moment of vertigo.

The walls of this room are highly polished stone, with nary a seam to be found. A remarkable bit of craftsmanship, though very likely done with magic. Set upon the floor at opposite sides of the room sit two round, black discs of stone - the one upon which they are standing is twin to the one they stood on just a heartbeat earlier, blue glowing runes and all. The one opposite is cracked and crumbling into ruin, though the reason why this is so is not immediately obvious. In an alcove between the discs stands a statue of a handsome wizard in purple garments decorated with gold runes. A heavy curtain of deep purple fabric - in considerably good shape considering how long they've likely been hanging here - conceals the western wall.

Loot recovered with final claims noted below:
Adamantine Warhammer
+1 Composite (Large-Sized) Longbow [+5 STR] x8
+2 'Unholy' Heavy Mace
+1 'Light Fortification' Full Plate Armor
+2 Cloak of Resistance - Claim by Reonnyn
+1 Cloak of Resistance - Claim by Morrow, shifting from Reonnyn's current inventory
+2 Periapt of Wisdom - Claim by Gear
Potion of Fly - Claim by Sobok
Potion of Invisibility
Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds (x2) - Claim by Sobok & Fash
Scroll of Planar Ally - Claim by Gear
Keoghtom's Ointment
Tome of Understanding (+1 to WIS - requires 48 hours to read it)
Wand of Cure Moderate Wounds [CL 3 (heals 2d8+3 HP), 28 charges] - Claim by Reonnyn
Unholy Symbol of Iuz affixed to heavy gold chain (500gp value)
Gold ring with small ruby setting (200gp value)
Unholy symbol of Iuz crafted of silver (50gp value)
Holy symbol of Nerull crafted if gold and studded with onyx gemstones (150gp value)
84gp, 23sp, 7cp

Anything above NOT claimed above I presume has been hidden in the lair of the succubus, along with the note to Glorb in case things go south. I've add these to the party Treasure List in the Campaign tab. If anyone has additional buffs to add, let me know. The list below is definitive at the moment, based on what you cast last time. If you don't cast what I've got in the Adventure Notes below, let me know that too, please!

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I'll add the Keoghtom's Ointment to Morrow's sheet. I see it on page 261 of the 3.5 DMG. 1 jar holds 5 doses. It cures disease, neutralizes poison and heals 1d8+5 HP. Correct?

With the teleportation complete Morrow slowly scans the room, detecting magic and studying the area, looking for dangers.

"I don't like the looks of that Zagyg statue...did anyone remember to bring that hammer?" Reonnyn whispers to the others.

While he knew anything could be lurking on the other side of that curtain, the statue presented a more pressing concern. Reonnyn also concentrated on the statue, gleaning what auras he could from it. Detect Magic.

Fash dissappears into his cloak of shadow, and then begins to inspect the room for secret doors (and traps) - although he does not look behind the curtain, waiting to see if Reonnyn or Morrow detect some magic behind it (like another symbol trap...)

Stealth: 1d20 + 9 + 2 + 4 + 4 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 9 + 2 + 4 + 4 + 5 = 42
9 rank +2 dex +4 racial +4 small +5 Cloak/Boots of Elvenkind

Search: 1d20 + 14 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 14 + 6 = 39
14 rank +6 int

"That hammer? No. I've got a hammer, though." Gear hefts the enormous, jagged toothed maul he carries as a backup to Paragon.

He'll Detect Magic, too, along with the rest of the party.

No magic is detected, beyond that which glows on the teleportation disc. The other disc shows no signs of a magical aura. Neither does the statue detect magic, and neither does anything on the other side of the curtain. A closer inspection of the latter indicates space beyond the curtain, no sign of a wall immediately behind is noticeable - though it's difficult to be certain until it's drawn aside.

"The statue has not moved. If it was a guardian, I doubt it would just be watching us stand here. We can break it if you wish though." Sobok says.

I have trapfinding and the ability to disarm magical traps, and apparently didn't find anything with a 39 search, so...

Fash whispers "If there is an alarm spell here, I have not found it. So it is possible we have some element of surprise, let's not waste it breaking a statue... I have point"

Fash slips up to the edge of the curtain and peeks past it...

Morrow moves toward the curtain right behind Fash. "My sword isn't showing me any active magic other than the teleportation circle. But we're in no hurry. Careful at the curtain."

Sobok stays close enough to provide his aura to Fash, but he keeps him at the edge of his aura.

Satisfied the statue posed no immediate threat here Reonnyn steps off the circle and stands underneath the statue watch his fellow gnome closely as Fash takes a peek...