What you doing now?
As usual, Niadroub Kliip follows the others' lead when advancing into an unexplored area.
As usual, Niadroub Kliip follows the others' lea--"Ooh a door over here! Hey guys, there's a door over here! To the west! I wanna go this way. Come on!"
Waffles casts open on the door leading west.
"If this is the kind of wretch he keeps out in the open, I wonder what in the Abyss he bothers to hide," Colwyn sarcastically muses as he moves to inspect the secret door to the north.
However, his concentration is broken as Waffles just throws open the door to the west.
He puts on a false, forced smile.
"Well, now. Thank you so very much for volunteering to lead the way, Waffles," the baron says with a cloyingly sweet voice.
"Lead the way! Wow! Okay!"
The faerie dragon turns invisible and flies through the doorway he's just opened to scout ahead.
Niadroub Kliip gives Colwyn an annoyed look.
"Whet'd you do thet foor?"
.
A stench of sulphur fills the room as Waffles heads through the now opened south door.
W20. Hell Pool
This wide chamber appears to have been naturally formed; its ceiling rises 25 feet and is festooned with stalactites. The stink of sulfur and tar are strong, as a huge lake of bubbling black tar dominates the chamber. From rock outcrops here and there on the walls bubble small springs of milky-looking water. Across the chamber, a stony shelf provides purchase for a door stoop before a black wooden door swollen in its frame. The broken stumps of two support posts protrude from the rock of the shelf as well as that of the main entrance near the pool’s edge, showing where a wooden bridge once spanned the inky soup.
"Hey! There's a dead guy standing by the door here."
Colwyn doesn't find any traps on the secret door he's checking.
What are you doing?
Listening closely to Waffles' telepathic report, Niadroub Kliip shares what he knows.
"Oondead acroos a pool of tar?"
"Undead across a pool of tar?" Colwyn parrots Waffles' report sarcastically.
"No, thank you," he states firmly before opening the secret door, making it clear that he'd rather go north.
"Ha ha, yeah, forget that, amirite?!" the still-invisible Waffles enthuses from nearby.
"You guys want me to scout ahead? I'm ready!"
The rooms through the secret door are soon searched.
W17. Vestibule
The walls of this chamber are covered in lime plaster and bear a series of frescoes whose colors are still vibrant. This artwork depicts one-eyed
humanoids rendered in the same sway-backed style.
The frescoes are all in the ancient cyclops style. They provide glimpses into the ancient cyclops culture and would be of great interest to a historian seeking more information about ancient Iobaria’s culture. A description or copy of these frescos can serve to satisfy Tamerak Elenark’s request for such information (see Notices 3).
W18. Sacristy
A stone bench sits at shoulder height against the far wall of this chamber. Upon this bench lie a number of stone vessels and bronze tools. A man-sized statue of a sway-backed humanoid, a hand is clamped over its single eye, stands against the north wall.
This chamber was used to prepare the dead for interment and houses an assortment of funerary tools and items, though none are of particular value other than as antiquities.
W19. Oculus Focus
This chamber is empty. Its walls bear eye-shaped patterns and carvings, all of which seem to be looking at a point on the east wall where a single carving of a giant, stylized eye looms. The eye’s pupil is an intricately engraved relief roughly the size of the palm of a hand.
The eye carving to the east radiates strong conjuration and divination magic.
The eye carving is actually part of a specialized teleportation circle linked to something elsewhere in the tomb. If this object is placed in the engraving’s pupil, the entire chamber becomes a temporary teleportation circle and transports everyone within into area somewhere else?
What now? The Tar awaits. :)
"Sem soort of coonjeeration? Des it soommon somtheeng?"
Marten shrugs slightly. Far outside of his bailiwick.
"Zelera, can you help Niadroub with your insight?" Colwyn asks as pleasantly as possible. After all, she could be his last hope to avoid having to deal with the tar.
.
.
What's going on people?
After conversing with Tessera, Niadroub Kliip has it figured out. If some sort of "eye" is placed in the carving where the cyclops' eye is, anyone in the circle will be teleported somewhere else. To where, he can't say.
"Soooooooo, it looks like we're headed back to the room that I scouted out! Right guys? Right?! How exciting! I'm going to go wait for you there!"
Waffles flies back to the tar room and observes. If he sees anything different or unexpected, he'll communicate it to Niadroub Kliip as the party decides how best to proceed.
"I suppose we should see if we can figure out what to do about the guardian, then," says Marten. "Maybe it is magically shielded against missiles, but perhaps not? It's worth a try."
"Fine!" Colwyn grumbles, throwing his hands up in resignation. "But why don't we figure out how to get across the tar pit now rather than while we're standing around in there, breathing in those foul fumes?"
Tessara says, "I can telekinetically send a length of rope across and then bring it back so that it's looped all the way across, then we just tie it securely on this side."
.
The party sees Waffles, his invisibility having ended, sluggishly flying back to perch on Niadroub Kliip's shoulder.
"Urp! I couldn't hold my breath any longer! I don't know how you guys were planning on dealing with the noxious fumes!"
"Noxious fumes?"
Marten pulls up his helm and wraps a swatch of fabric over his face and then pokes his head inside.
"Ah. Yes. That will be a problem."
.
After discussing the layout of the room with Waffles Niadroub Kliip states that he can use dimension door to get all but one of the party across the pit. Additionally, he points out that this will leave them very near the undead warden on the other side, and he theorizes that there's probably a closed door (to keep the noxious fumes out) that they'll have to contend with.
.
"Use Niadroub's magic to get the rest of you across the gap," Colwyn offers. "I'll stay on this side and hold my breath whilst covering you with my bow in case that...thing decides to get up and cause problems."
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The 'Undead Guy' isn't standing buy the door anymore. He's used the time to cast a few spells of his own and is now flying among the stalactites of the ceiling.
When you enter he greets you with a warm, welcoming Fireball.
.
Zelera & Marten may now act.
Marten shrugs off most of the fireball, but Tessara is instantly reduced to an unconscious smoking ruin.
Marten whips Falling Leaf through the air at the guardian to slash twice.
Zelera continued along in their explorations, quite since there was little to do or say and this was no time to pull any pranks. They found several rooms to explore before finally returning to face the undead in the tar pit. Unfortunately the undead was ready for them when they arrived and a fireball was sent to greet them.
Zekera managed to avoid the worst of the explosion, being in the back of the group put a lot of people between her and it and let her get off easier than she might otherwise have done. She held up her holy symbol and sent out a burst of positive energy to try and heal the worst of the injuries they had received.
"Bocce balls!" Colwyn exclaims, using Niadroub's well-timed magic to zoom into the air and evade the fiery explosion.
When the party survives his opening welcome the flying zombie casts again and there are now 6 of him flying around among the stalactites.
Colwyn & Niadroub may now act. Then Back to Marten & Zelera.
Brushing the last flaming hairs out of his scraggly beard (it still looks scraggly), Niadroub Kliip eyes the flying undead caster and casts dispel magic on them.
Still invisible, probably, Waffles flies across the tar pit to see what lies beyond the bend in the hallway to the south.
Niadroub dispels the Flying Zombie mage's Mirror image before it is of any use to him. :(
.
The flying Zombie mage splashes down in the tar.
.
The Mage is boiled to death.
Waffles can't see anything because the door to the south is closed.
Tessara casts detect magic to pinpoint the location of the items in the tar, then casts pilfering hand (target: one object) to pull each item to her hand in turn. (While wrapped with heavy cloth to keep from getting scalded, of course.)
Niadroub Kliip erupts with a hearty cackle as the undead mage splashes into the tar.
"EHEHEHEHEHEH! Looks lek being a zoombie med him STUPID! EHEHEHEHEHEH!"
Landing on his shoulder as his invisibility finally wears off, Waffles looks flatly at his arcanist.
"Dude."
Loot:
Dagger +1,
Ring of Protection +2
spellbook:
4th—fire shield
3rd—fireball, fly
2nd—acid arrow, glitterdust, mirror image, scorching ray
1st—burning hands, mage armor, magic missile, shield
0—bleed, dancing lights, message, touch of fatigue
The Spell book is the property of Cephal Lorentus. A name you recall as one of the advisors of Maegar Varn at Varnhold.
Now you are in the unpleasant cavern you can also see the secret door to the west.
What now?
As Tessara telekinetically fishes the items of interest from the tar and then concentrates to slough the bubbling fluid off of them with uncanny invisible forces, Marten gives Niadroub a friendly pat on the shoulder and says, "Well done, my friend. That was the perfect tactic and saved us all a lot of difficulty."
Tessara shares the findings with the team, though looking a bit peaked. Marten says to Zelera, "Do you have a healing wand or other way to help? I fear Tessara did not take the brunt of the fireball well."
Niadroub Kliip quietly cackles when Marten pats him on the shoulder and shakes his head at the zombie mage's stupidity.