Yes, onward cousins! We still have yet to find the man said to be behind this.
Ransaq pauses to peer down the hall before ascending.
The party proceeds through the gate, soon following a hard turn to the left. As they walk down the seemingly endless hall, the moaning they heard from the surface grows louder. Eventually they arrive at another set of stairs leading down. After descending another 15ft into the cold dungeon, the damp, stony walls open into another chamber. As the last of them enter, the moaning stops.
Within the chamber lies a single large table topped with a slab of obsidian. The table is tilted sharply and contains hundreds of runic carvings across the surface. On the table lies a skeleton, bound by at least a dozen rusting spiked chains wrapped around it. At the foot of the table sits a small statue of a kneeling girl wearing a skull mask and holding a large basin.
Oh this is umm, gross. Okay, it's maybe a little fascinating. I wonder what this is about.
Aurora stares at the table and the small statue trying to piece together the scene before her. Realization dawning she lets out a small gasp before clamping her hands over her mouth, her head shaking back and forth rapidly as she backs away from the table.
"This place is all sorts of evil." She mutters in shock, her eyes locked on the body of the long since dead sacrifice.
Err yes, it does look rather unfriendly. Anyone have a keg of holy water?
Orald takes a long pull on a wineskin and offers it around the group.
Melaphi frowns, "This is an alter to Zon-Kuthon. I didn't bring a whole keg, but I did bring a few vials of holy water."
He moves a little closer in order to get a better look and to examine it for magical auras.
As Melaphi approaches the table, the chains become shrouded in slithering shadows. They pour down the bones of the skeleton and into the runes on the table. They continue to flow down into the basin held by the statue, where they turn into trickles of blood, filling the basin. At the same moment, you feel your skin break apart in places, your blood streaming out and vanishing into the air.
With the sudden sting of pain Melaphi staggers backwards, then quickly reaches into his bags to grab one of the vials of holy water. He holds it out for Orald to take from him while he continues to focus on the magical auras in the room.
Uhhh... what is this?! Foul Abomination!
As his skin wrenches apart, Orald reacts in proper Ulfen fashion by hitting the statue with his axe.
Aurora feels a tingle on her skin, but otherwise seems unaffected as Melaphi begins to bleed.
"Yep definetly evil." Aurora stammers, backing away further from the statue. She procures a vial from her bandolier and holds it closely, her other hand filled with the catalyst to create the bomb. The vial begins to glow a hazy yellow as her fear instills itself in the bottle.
Having taken in the room as they entered, Garroth was noticeably less shocked than the rest, concern shining from his eyes instead as they darted around the room. "Well this is certainly creepy. Now wheres the cultist? Theres always a cultist, right?"
He was halfway into a healthy drought from Oralds wineskin when the strange magic took effect.
Wincing from the pain as the already tight skin on his forhead cracked open, he quickly closed the wineskin before discarding it upon the ground. Following the large Ulfen, he to swung at the statue. "Ofcourse, the statue!" He shouted, positive that Orald knew something he did not.
Following the large Ulfen, he to swung at the statue. "Ofcourse, the statue!" He shouted, positive that Orald knew something he did not.
Ransaq quickly decides to exit the room and cast detect magic.
As everyone except the devil-born begins to bleed, everyone takes action except her as well.
Orald takes a swing at the statue, but his weapon deflects harmlessly. Garrot follows suit, taking a chip out of the girl's arm. Melaphi maintains his spell, detecting a single aura of faint necromancy. Ransaq moves out of the room, but as the others, continues to bleed.
Gritting his teeth against the pain to continue with his detect magic spell Melaphi grunts out, "Take this and dump it on the altar, maybe..." his outstretched hand holds out the vial of holy water.
"This will take some doing." Garroth huffed, wincing as a large bloody fissure snaked its way up his arm. Dropping his shield, he lay into the statue with a barrage of twohanded blows.
Ergg...stupid evil thing...
Orald takes the holy water from Melaphi, opens it and sprinkles it around the various dark objects. Apply liberally to the parts that scream or smoke the most.
Melaphi believes that the statue is a cursed altar. A Remove Curse spell would end the effect, he believes.
Garroth, however, sticks to his usual method of fixing things: breaking them. He knocks another, larger chunk from the statue.
Orald pours holy water around the area. When he pours some into the basin, he finds his wounds close and the bleeding stops. The others, however, continue to bleed.
"If holy water works... I wonder what a potion would do." Aurora contemplates... "well one way to find out I suppose."
Aurora drops the catalyst in her hand and removes a cure light wounds potion from her bandolier. She walks to the basin and pours the potion into it.
Aurora pours her potion into the basin, but nothing seems to happen.
Seeing Orald's success, Melaphi abandons his spell and grabs another vial from his bag, pouring into the basin.
Orald, looks around confused as to what to do. This is not type of thing they tell of in the epics. Looking around again, he remembers the shadowy glow starting at the chains holding the skeleton. He beheads the skeleton then starts hacking at the chains.
Ransaq, not sure what to do, hurls a blob of acid at the statue as if were his enemy, then begins to look around.
Aurora tries a potion and Ransaq tries some acid. A little bit of the statue melts from the conjured element.
Wounds continue to bleed as the basin begins to fill, a murky mixture of holy water and blood.
Melaphi duplicates Orald's success with holy water, stopping his own bleeding. Garroth and Orald fail to inflict much more damage to the statue.
Ransaq continues suit with his seemingly signature acid attack.
"You guys got any more of that miricale water?"
Ransaq splashes the statue in the face with acid and it reluctantly crumbles to the floor. The pulsing black slithers around the chains pour onto the floor, fading into nothing. The moaning fades as the blood and holy water pour away into cracks in the floor. Though small streaks of blood remain on clothes and skin, no one appears afflicted by the curse any longer.
Ransaq kids in relief, "Well, now that that's done..."
Orald, looking a little disturbed, says nothing as he finishes a skin of mead in one pull, then begins using Prestidigitation to clean the blood from himself, the party and the room in general.
"Now that was pleasant, like fingernails scraping across glass kind of pleasant."
"Fortunately the direct approach", Melaphi gives a grin to Garroth, "worked as well as anything. I've only got a single vial of blessed water remaining."
Looking at Oralds mead skin longingly as the Ulfen inhaled its contents, Garroth gave a crooked smile at Melaphi. "I like direct. Subtle was usually Flynn's area."
Picking at his wounds, wiping away the blood, Garroth refrained from asking for healing. "Not too bad. Painful, but not bad." Picking up his discarded shield and equipping it once more, he looked about the room, trying to find a way forward. "Everyone ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be" answers Ransaq.
"Let get over with this quickly. I don't like this place at all." Aurora states pulling back out the ingredients for bomb making.
Yes, onward! Erm which way is onward?
Orald loosens the strap on his second skin of mead for easy access, takes up the banner and readies his axe once more.
As the party collects themselves, they agree to continue on immediately. Ransaq finds a poorly hidden door that leads down a short, winding hallway. At the end lies a simple chamber, 15 feet long and 10 feet wide, with six evenly spaced glowing ornaments hanging from the ceiling, casting dim light upon the entire room. At the far end of the chamber lies a pair of heavy stone doors, reinforced with iron bars and adorned with an obsidian carving of a skull in the center. However, much of the carving is obscured by what appears to be a man, dressed in deep purple robes lined with red ribbons. He is bound to the door by spiked chains and appears limp and lifeless, suspended by the chains. His head, hanging forward, is obscured by the hood of his robes.
Hello? Are you a horrible undead abomination?
Shocked to see the man spiked to the door, Aurora rushes towards him fumbling in her bandolier for a particular bottle to help him in some way, scared that he could be the latest sacrifice. "Oh I hope he is still alive! Why would someone do such a thing?"
She quickly downs the first bottle as she travels, and fumbles once again for her bandolier. . She seems to grow slightly in size as she approaches the man, her muscle becoming more defined as the alchemical creation begins to course through her body.
She skids to a stop and pauses a moment as Orald yells out and quickly inspect the man in the robes,
She looks over him for a moment but doesn't seem to see anything suspect and continues towards him reaching out to try and free him from his bonds.
Ransaq searches but is distracted by the man. He decides to cast detect magic.
Ransaq looks around, but is somewhat transfixed by the hanging man.
Aurora approaches, putting away some alchemical liquids as she approaches. Just as she nears the man, Orald speaks up. The man's head snaps up as he leans forward to the extent of his chains, coming almost nose to nose with Aurora. "Outsiders!" he cries in a dry, withered voice that matches his now evidently emaciated face.
Seeing the man lean so close to Aurora, Garroth snapped into action. Rushing the short distance to her side, he bashed the man in the face with his shield. "Get back!" He yelled, as much directed at Aurora as the man.
Garroth bashes the man back against the wall. He hisses as his chains begin to glow.
Ransaq
Garroth
Man
Orald
Aurora
Melaphi
Ransaq leans back and raises an eyebrow at the man, then decides he doesn't like him and fires an arrow.
"Angry and glowing magical. Better not wait and see if thats hostility or not." Garroth thought briefly, before attempting punching the man square in the face.
The chains, maybe they control him as they controlled the alters affect!?
Orald proceeds to attempt to shatter the chains.
Melaphi pulls his crossbow from its holster and loads a bolt into, eyes squinting as pulling back the string causes his hands to burn with pain.
Aurora hopes that Orald is right, wanting to see no more death tonight, she pulls out her Morningstar and bashes at the chains with all her might.