Vs. north Tengu:
Vs. south Tengu:
Both tengus go down... unconscious and dying.
All PCs may go.
One more skeleton falls... one left to go!
Nithrandyl destroys the last skeleton just before it goes down with Balrog's whip.
Several tracks in the room lead to the northeast.
After Balrog's spell, you only need to expend three charges.
Northeast afterwards?
You follow the tracks to a cul-de-sac, and it's not too long before you figure out it's yet another secret door with the same design you've encountered previously in this ossuary.
Upon pivoting the secret door out of the way, you come upon the following chamber:
The acrid stench of chemicals and reagents fills this
chamber, and the walls are marred by strange stains and
scorch marks. Several tables are scattered about the room,
covered in a bewildering plethora of glassware, alembics,
retorts, tubes, simmering cauldrons, and smoking beakers
full of brightly colored liquids. Scattered pages of written
notes in a crabbed hand lie strewn about the chamber. A
large alcove in the northwest corner contains a bookshelf
groaning under the weight of heavy, dusty tomes and scrolls.
Three large glass vats stand against the eastern wall, filled
with bubbling green fluid. Floating within the vats are three
grotesque objects—putrescent corpses, tubes and wires
embedded in their rotting flesh, their skin discolored with
decay and chemical stains.
A man, hunched over his notes, whirls around suddenly. "Bah! not surprised! priests of Pharasma in the ossuary above not so secretly trying to sabotage my efforts! You lot best turn around before I make you discover why the cowardly priests won't come here in person to fight me! AAAAARRRGH!!! MR. MARROW! show them the way out of my lab!! NOW!!!"
A well-dressed zombie rises from his desk to the east, finger pointing south, while groaning, as if attempting to tell you all to go that way...
The man remain seated, awaiting your compliance, but downs a reddish liquid from a nearby vial while grabbing a nearby spear just to make sure...
Round 1: (bold can go)
Man
Balrog
Hskrota
Mr. Marrow
Nythrandyl
Wasp
Orin
Mr. Marrow is no more. Enraged, the man with the spear yells, "TEST SUBJECTS, ATTACK!"
Upon his command, something stirs in one of the large vats of fluid... the thing bursts out of its glass containment, splashing slimy fluids and glass shards everywhere!
Init:
...as it struggles to get out, Nyth, Wasp and Orin have time to complete their actions for this round!
Round 1: (bold can go)
Man
Balrog
Tengus [Stealth 26]
Hskrota
Mr. Marrow
Nythrandyl
Wasp
Orin
Vat Zombie
Tengus
Wasp may go.
for [MISS!]
Tengus move in to flank.
Man takes an AoO on Red Tengu:
for [MISS!]
Tengus:
for [MISS!]
for [MISS!]
The tengus' blades are deflected by some kind of invisible shield!
Heedless of the tengus, the man lobs a bomb in the adventurer's midst!
Tengus both AoO as he lobs his frost bomb!
for [HIT!]
for [MISS!]
for [MISS!]
for cold damage PLUS Nithrandyl is staggered if he fails a Fort save vs DC 14.[HIT!!! NITHRANDYL IS FROZEN SOLID!]
Also: 4 splash cold damage against everyone else, DC 14 for half.
Round 2: (bold can go)
Man
Balrog
Hskrota
Nythrandyl
Wasp
Orin
Vat Zombie
Tengus
Wasp destroys the Vat Zombie! Orin makes a deep gash into the man!
Blue Tengu attempts to sneak attack:
for
...and places a dagger under his left ribs. The man slumps to the ground, unconscious.
You have neutralized the threat of the Godsmouth Ossuary and found the source of all the bodies missing!
1. you find a strange zombie "bride" north of this room, and she is fully sentient... she introduces herself as Esme Verisi... she has two skeletal handmaidens with her, and she appears on her guard a little upon seeing you all come into her room... how do you handle this?
2. how do you handle the tengus' share? honor it, renegotiate/intimidate them, or worse?
Drain: Make a diplomacy check with the priests of Pharasmin upon your return. They give you your monetary rewards, as promised, but a good diplomacy can yield extra things... assisting is ok.
Bride: Knowledge local or geography.
|
"Hey, someone want to keep the necromancer from bleeding out? The Pharasmans might want to talk to him."
To the Tengu: "Good work. You guys definitely earned your share."
To Esme: well, Balrog is intrigued. A sentient zombie that is not hostile? Then he observes Hskrota's ill-fated Diplomacy attempt and tries to do better. "Forgive the snake. He is obviously not used to talking to women. I am The Balrog. How did you come to be here?"
This large chamber has a vaulted ceiling, and unlike the rest of
the ossuary, bears a distinct impression of habitation rather
than abandonment. Lit candelabras reveal old tapestries
hanging from the walls to ward off the subterranean chill,
and a threadbare carpet covers the floor. Shabby furniture—a
few chairs and tables, an armoire, and a dresser—flanks a
large canopied bed in the center of the room, topped with
satin sheets and a heap of lumpy pillows.
Most of the furnishings here were scavenged from the trash
heaps and from select tombs of the aristocracy, giving
the room an air of faded, decaying ostentation. Two long
wooden boards lean against the south wall to the right
of the entranceway, used to bridge the shaft between this
room and area 27.
"I am Esme Verisi. Who are you... and where is Svylennius?"
You all know that the clergy of Pharasma does not take kindly to undead, be they sentient or mindless; you also know that there is an entire district of Kaer Maga that is run and operated by necromancers and filled with undead...
Her story is long and tragic, as follows. I just need to know what you'll do with her. This is RP only and doesn't affect the outcome of the adventure. Balrog already made her friendly.
Svilennius’s lover, a Varisian necromancer
named Esme Verisi, lounges on the large bed in this
chamber. But Esme is no normal woman—she is a
magus zombie, a rare undead creature who has retained
her intelligence and spellcasting abilities, even though
her physical body has died and been animated as a
putrid, rotting zombie.
A native of Korvosa, Esme was afflicted with a magical
wasting disease that rotted her flesh and gave her the
appearance of a decomposing corpse, even though she
yet lived. Doctors and priests alike were unable to cure
the disease, and gave Esme less than a year to live.
At her wits’ end, Esme turned to the study of
necromancy in hopes of preserving her life, and traveled
to Kaer Maga to consult with the necromancers of the
Ankar-Te district. Unfortunately, upon her arrival
there, Esme soon realized that she had neither the time
to advance her studies to the point where she could
save herself, nor the money to pay for some magical
necromantic cure or solution. Unwilling to simply be
reanimated as a mindless undead creature upon her
death, Esme resigned herself to her fate, knowing all she
could do was work in Ankar-Te’s disturbing White Lady
brothel until the disease finally claimed her life.
It was there that Esme met Svilennius Tripe, newly
banished from the church of Pharasma and eagerly
throwing himself into both his obsession with the undead
and his new alchemical work. In Esme he found both a
muse and a project—her strange infection fascinated and
inspired him, and her wasted body was a canvas upon
which he could create his life’s work. For weeks Svilennius
worked feverishly to find a way to halt or cure Esme’s
disease, but ultimately he had to admit failure. However,
Svilennius thought he had found a solution, if not a
cure, in his researches—Esme was doomed to die, but
Svilennius believed that he could alchemically reanimate
her with her intelligence and personality intact. With no
other choice, Esme agreed.
Svilennius prepared his concoctions and extracts, and
when they were ready, he slit Esme’s throat. As her blood
flowed out of her body, Svilennius infused her veins with
his profane chemicals, converting her living tissue into
an alchemical mockery of life. The process complete, he
sat back to wait. According to his research, it would only
be hours before Esme awoke to her new unlife, but 3 days
later her corpse still lay unmoving on his worktable. His
masterpiece an apparent failure, Svilennius destroyed
his chemicals and notes in a fit of rage, but was unable to
bring himself to dispose of Esme’s body. It was fortunate
that he did not, however, for soon after, Esme’s eyes
opened, and she arose from the table a new creature—an
undead, rotting zombie with her mind intact.
Unfortunately, with the destruction of Svilennius’s
notes, Esme remains a unique creation. Of late, Svilennius
has begun to resent her, a constant reminder of his failure
to replicate his own success. More often he ignores her,
except for those periods of depression when he comes to
seek comfort and inspiration in her arms. Forbidden from
leaving the catacombs and mostly left to her own devices
with only the companionship of her mindless undead
handmaidens, Esme has grown increasingly bored, and is
beginning to think she might be going insane. Though her
relationship with Svilennius has not yet deteriorated to the
breaking point, Esme has begun thinking of finding a new
(un)life for herself somewhere away from the attentions
of the crazed alchemist.
Esme was once a beautiful young woman, but her
skin is now rotting and putrid, and her once-lustrous
blonde hair rank and lifeless. She does her best to
conceal the decay beneath heavy makeup and cloying
perfumes, but it’s a lost cause. Her clothing and jewelry
are formal dresses and accoutrements stolen
from corpses by Svilennius—once
fashionable, but seeming garish
and vulgar on her decomposing
body. Esme is accompanied by
her handmaidens Lulu and
Fiona, two clacking, mindless
alchemical skeletons that
Svilennius created for her
(under her command due to
her Command Undead feat),
also dressed in tattered
burial finery.
Though currently undead,
Esme is not evil and won’t
necessarily attack the PCs
at first sight. Esme can
be reasoned with, so this does not have to be solely a
combat encounter...
|
|
Balrog gets distracted somewhere around the word "brothel" but eventually regains his focus.
"If we can sneak her out of here past the Pharasma clergy, she can go back to Ankar-Te if she wishes. Or Geb, maybe. I don't have any problem with that.
As to this Svilennius, if she wants us to spare his life, I suppose the Pharasmans just want him gone. It wasn't our job to kill him. But I imagine they'll be waiting when we exit, so how do we get past them?"
The tengus look at each other and smile (don't ask he how, they just do).
"Follow us! we dug our way in here... we can use the exit to PERSONALLY escort her to Ankar-Te!!! SQUAWWWWK! I think she yearns of freedom at this point!! this way you can escort the madman out from the way you came and deliver him to the Crows upstairs.. SQUAWWWK!"
Indeed, you all notice that she seems cold and distant towards Svilennius' unconscious form...