At breakfast the next day, Krink serves you all a complimentary breakfast as part of his continued gratitude for saving his prized cow.
You all pack up, and hit the road and the rest of your journey to what Mukluk perceives as the correct location for the cairn's entrance pass uneventfully.
Map of cairn exterior and entrance
You are all fairly certain this is the right place.
A pair of blood red stone obelisks flank a dark hole in the hillside ahead. No trees grow on the hill's jagged top and no animals call this place home.
The air is still and quiet but smells deeply of copper. The open entrance of the cairn contains a simple marble staircase going down.
Ahead in the dark beyond the stairs, you think you see running water in some sort of channel.
Doruk, hoping that Martigan has his light spell going on something more or less useful, carefully enters the cave after a quick look around the entrance.
Peception
Mukluk now affixes his buckler to his left arm.
Mukluk has darkvision and the Light cantrip is not memorized.
"I'm pretty sure this is the place. Let's get ready to get my key back."
This is a warmup for the Pits. Let's rock this place.
Mukluk ponders for a moment.
"Let's not forget the lessens of that lair of thieves: this place might be trapped. Keep your eyes open."
Aralynn checks the entrance for signs that other people have been through this way. She also peers into the darkness. She's expecting someone up front will have a light source.
- Perception
- Survival
Martigan has his mace and shield ready, the crossbow slung for the tight quarters present in a crypt. He has prayed to Pelor and cast the light of the Sun upon his shield.
"Are we taking our Atolian in here with us?"
"I think we should tether the mule outside. It'll only get in our way - or worse yet get stuck - if we take it inside."
This area is heavily traveled; several humanoid tracks passed in an out of the entrance as recently as an hour or two ago.
As you all carefully takes steps into the entrance, you notice a two foot all well sits in the center of the first room.
What looks like blood pours from a skull mounted in the ceiling, filling the well completely. The blood overflow pours through a spout into a channel in the floor that runs down the hallway to a pool at the opposite end of the corridor. Further adding to the mystery of the room are the walls, which are carved with writing in some ancient language.
Sounds from the room beyond attract your attention, so you peek into that room as well.
Soft burbling sounds echo off the walls of this large chamber. Recessed into a small niche in each corner is a ruined stone sarcophagus, its contents looted.
Two small corridors to the east and west lead to additional alcoves, each containing a similarly violated sarcophagus. A long pool of churning blood dominates the center of this room.
The walls of the chamber are decorated with ancient murals depicting a funeral procession over which graffiti has been scrawled.
"We hopefully are only be a few hours behind our quarry. People have been through here recently."
Aralynn walks with her bow out and looks around at the open sarcophagi, half expecting something to crawl out of them.
- perception
Doruk moves to the center of the room and stands watch also waiting for something to crawl unbidden from the tombs.
Perception .
Mukluk will step in, pull out a scroll, and cast Mage Armor from it. He will then put the scroll away.
Spell failure
EDIT: The Atol will be kept outside...tied to a thicket. Since the Atols eat so dang much, I'll look for a big ass thicket in which to tie the stubborn beast.
Petrel will miss that mule... Orcs will probably gobble it up the moment we are out of sight.
He will have his knives out as we explore, clearly unnerved by the flowing blood.
"Pssst Mukluk, what is with this writing? Is it magic? Like an ancient curse."
"Oh what, Petrel?" Mukluk finishes putting away his scroll.
"Oh yeah, yeah, this tombs have all sorts of curses and traps therein." Mukluk will move closer to the wall and look intently at the writing.
Mukluk will pick up some dirt and sand and blow it at the wall. He will speak some draconic, while making a swirling gesture with his left hand.
"Oh yeah, using magics, Petrel, I can read this. Pretty typical curse, actually." Mukluk grunts.
"Let me read it to you: 'All fear the bloody blood tomb of bloody death. To survive herein, drink deep from the skull lest ye add your precious bodily fluids to it. Also, dance 3 jigs forward, then backward to quell the curse already upon your soul."
Bluff check
"Yeah, weird. I don't know that that means. Some sort of ancient curse." Mukluk steps back and scratches his beard as if he is confused.
Sense Motive -1
"Oh, that is disgusting! Still good thing you can read this, don't wants to meet bloody death. Lemme drink first so I can get protection right away!"
Petrel will brace himself then lean over and drink from the blood flowing from the skull. Then with a bloody face he will try a dockside jig.
Dance +4
"Like this? Am I doing it right?"
Petrel will then stand still and try and sense the protective magic.
"I'm not sure I can do that. Not really in keeping with my religion and all. Are you sure that's what it says?"
- sense motive
Aralynn will stand quietly by while Petrel drinks, but won't let Martigan or Doruk drink.
I hope this dwarf doesn't get us killed.
Mukluk winks and gives Martigan a headshake 'no' while Petrel dances.
"It's not a precise translation, of course..."
Aralynn notices an odd indentation on the north wall just above the blood-red pool. Three bumps on the wall and a circular engraving not like a skull-face. She deduces some sort of "key" - perhaps the cairn stone from the picture that Altamaic drew, could be used to open the door.
As if Xan Yae heard her thoughts, she notices some of the more recent footsteps head to a disturbed sarcophagi. She pushes the lid ajar, finding it lighter than she expected.
Inside, she finds a bundle of crumpled parchment.
Unfurling it, she finds an exact replica of the cairn stone within.
I am within.
-V
Part of you half-expected the water to merely be tainted with copper or some other metal.
But, it is definitely blood. Thick and warm.
Yum!
Once Petrel finishes his dockside jig and your jeering of him diminishes, the water starts to pour slightly faster. As it rushes through the skull's mouth at a greater speed, you almost feel the skull is grinning at you all.
Most of the graffiti scribbled on the murals is in Common. It appears to be from many different hands, perhaps from whatever tomb-raiders robbed the cairn.
Karnak was here.
Praise the Old One.
Dwarves smell like wet feet.
For a good time, visit Ronella in Diamond Lake.
Thank you for the treasure!
After this, we go to Diamond Lake.
"What's your note say there, woman?" Mukluk tromps over to read it.
"Yo, Petrel, when you've finished your dance and since you're now protected, maybe you want to come take a look at this 'door' Aralynn found."
Once Petrel finishes his dockside jig and your jeering of him diminishes, the water starts to pour slightly faster. As it rushes through the skull's mouth at a greater speed, you almost feel the skull is grinning at you all.
"Whoa, its working... look at the blood fountain! Time is slowing down... or am I speeding up? I'm feeling protected! You guys should get this stuff on you."
Wait until the thieves guilds check me out in Greyhawk.. I will be faster than magic there!
Petrel will slow walk over to the door and check it for traps.
Perception
"Out of curiosity Mukluk, is it possible that by drinking the water we've already activated some kind of trap?"
Actually now that I read it Mukluk really does smell of wet feet.
Doruk notices the water pouring faster and decides not to dance for now. He does eye the door though - still open?
Petrel finds no traps, although he feels his searching went about four times faster than usual.
Probably the blood he drank. Probably.
"One of youse twose want to try the key in the door?"
Mukluk steps back and pretends to read the walls about 35' feet away from the door.
"Uh yes...I see. Uh huh."
Doruk guards Aralynn's back presuming she uses the key in the lock.
I hope this thing doesn't blow wide open. Seems unlikely or the key wouldn't be so easy to find. Or would it?
Doruk continues to think in circles until ultimately deciding there would be more bodies here and more loot if it were a trap.
The really deadly stuff must be further in. Great.
The key fits the three stone bumps on the wall, and with a turn you can immediately hear the clunk clunk clunk of gears turning something large and heavy.
Finally, the north wall begins to lower, eventually below the surface of the blood, which begins to spill into a stairway beyond. The red liquid follows channels carved onto either side of the stairs, but initially leaves the steps slick with the scarlet colored blood.
You all descend carefully with Martigan's magical light guiding your way as Doruk's shadow is cast over a large ravine. You all hear the sound of rushing water - a waterfall - wait, a blood-fall as it spills off your ledge into a massive lake-of-blood a hundred feet below.
Countless skulls line the walls of the shaft, each of which drains a torrent of blood into the lake in frothing red coils. Off to the left a small corridor slopes down into the darkness.
A small shelf in the wall near the entrance to this corridor contains several small objects; immediately above the shelf the bloody fist rune of the tomb is carved into the wall, it's face marked with several indentations.
Six small charms identical to the one Aralynn found, used to operate the mechanism which opens the door you just opened.
Martigan will attempt to identify the charms' magic and the properties thereof if Mukluk doesn't beat him to it.
"I suggest we squeeze to the left rather than try any acrobatic tricks this high up. I'm not keen on swimming in a pool of blood and there's no knowing how deep it is."
Doruk will prepare to lead on to the left unless there is disagreement.
"What 'charming' pieces these are!" Mukluk holds up one of them to the light, examining it even as Martigan does.
Spellcraft
Knowledge Religion
Knowledge Arcana
"Whatcha think, Martigan?"
"Oh yeah, left is fine, Doruk...just want to check these out."
- Looking at new stones and the area they are in.
Aralynn is observing the stones as Mukluk picks up one. She winces as he does, but then relaxes. "We'll probably need these later." She'll pick up the remaining stones if it's safe.
Aralynn looks around for anywhere else the stones would fit into. If she finds nothing, she prefers te squeezing route also.
"Where does all this blood come from anyways?"
Petrel eyes the ledge ahead & to the left, trying to judge how much lower it is from their starting ledge.
"Ears, aren't you elves good at leaping from branch to branch in the trees? Think you could make this jump?"
"Ears, aren't you elves good at leaping from branch to branch in the trees? Think you could make this jump?"
"I thought your manners were your worst trait, but I see I was mistaken. I'm afraid you have me mistaken with someone else. Perhaps you could show me how it is done."
Petrel ponders the situation.
Ways in which elves are like squirrels:
"That much blood from who knows where? I'm not jumping in that if I can avoid it."
I'd probably sink like a rock.
Martigan detects a faint aura of necromancy about the blood. Otherwise, the cairn stones are not magical.
Aralynn has no problem stuffing the stones from the shelf into her pack (as long as she has a pack to stuff them into). There are other indentations on this side of the stone door, so it would appear these are keys to let yourself out.
Sure enough, the stone door slowly descends back down, cutting off the stream of blood to a trickle.
Doruk leads the way down the narrow steps, a bit nervous as there's not enough room to even bring his guisarme about (should that be necessary).
The passageway widens into a ledge overlooking the vast blood pit.
Across the chamber is a crude symbol of an open-palmed hand with an eye at its center painted on the wall above another passageway.
This is the unholy symbol of Vecna.
Note, on the map, I have your markers off to the side just because it's hard to see given how narrow the passageway is.
Once you guys confirm how close you are to one another, I'll probably make a "squeezed marker" (half size) and use those since pretty much every single square involves squeezing.
Mukluk believes he would be 10 feet behind the person in front of him.
I believe you have marching order correct. Mukluk needs Aralynn behind him so she can boot him through when he invariably gets stuck.
Aralynn is directly behind Mukluk. That's as far she trusts him.
Petrel will be directly behind Doruk.
"Oof, shouldn't have had that extra helping of the stew back at Krotch's inn."
"That there is the symbol of...well let's just say an evil deity and not risk calling attention to ourselves in this lair of evil lest we lose and eye and hand as well."
"At least now if we fall, we won't get far before getting stuck again."
Doruk does his best to squeeze through the narrow passage. He keeps to the left at the first fork though forcing everyone to backup when it dead-ends...
"Back up! Dead end! Everybody back!"
Mukluk grumbles and turns around while wishing he had a few dwarf sappers in here to widen this tunnel.
In my homeland, we have properly sized tunnels. None of this squeezing crap.
With nothing else to do but continue, Doruk lowers his head and passes under the unholy symbol to Vecna to the passage beyond.
Aralynn notices the holy symbol glows for a moment, then seems to pull in the very air around it before releases it with a loud boom!
Damage:
Doruk Fort
Petrel Fort
Martigan Fort
Doruk and Petrel shake off the shock while Martigan's skin appears pale and he is unable to move.
INIT
Aralynn:
Doruk:
Martigan:
Mukluk:
Petrel:
Zs:
Aralynn 21:
Doruk 19:
Zs 15:
Petrel 11:
Mukluk 6+:
Martigan 6:
Doruk notices the shadows flicker in the narrow passage ahead as several shambling corpses seem to be slowly moving in his direction.
Zombies.
Round 1, Init 21
AC 16, touch 16, flat-footed 14 (+2 Dex)
hp 15 (2d8)
Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +7
Aralynn goes to the blood lake's edge at D7 and fires a single shot at the closest zombie. "Snap out of it, Martigan!"
---Composite(+1) Longbow (pointblank +1)(-4 cover)
"I am glad I listened to Mukluk and did the ritual..."
HP = 14 / 22
AC = 16, CMD = 15
Fort = 2, Ref = 7, Will = -1
Condition: Ritually Protected