Lucendar's Tomb of Iron Medusa campaign

Game Master Lucendar

As you move around the room, you notice the defilement done to what was once a shrine to Aroden. The western curtain has been slashed and partially burned; beyond it is a begrimed altar, the ritual objects atop it shattered. The statue behind the altar has also been smashed to pieces.

Terrance casts his magic on the blood-tinged waters of the font to the north first. However, his keen eyesight quickly notices a faint aura of powerful (lethal?) necromantic arcane energy emanating from both pools, which cannot be dispelled by his 0-level spell. He wisely advises Issi about the issue, who expertly disables the magical traps on both pools. Terrance can then purify the water without issue. While doing so, Issi's keen eyesight spots the outline of an object underneath the waters of the pool. With the trap disabled, she sticks her hand in and pulls out a mithril dagger of fine quality with bits of gore still clinging to the blade. There is nothing else of note in here.

"Eww!" Issi exclaims, holding the dagger gingerly. "Can someone clean this off? I know its probably one of the keys, but it would be nice if it wasn't so... bloody."

Is it magical? A mithril dagger sounds like a good back-up weapon!

Trip moves over to the torn and burned curtain and tears it some more to get some material for Issi to clean the dagger. "It was already defiled so I don't think using it will cause any issue."

I thought we'd have a mage so I didn't prepare Detect Magic. Besides, my spellcraft is so low so I probably wouldn't be able to identify what the magic was.

"Ooooh, look at that. Good eyes, Issi. We have 2 of the 4 items we need. Guess we're done here. Time to head back out, although we lost our point man. We'll all have to travel together to avoid ambushes." Barnabus picks up his javelin and shield and is ready to head out. Down 3 hps only, thanks for healing Trip!

Issi does her best to clean the weapon up, before gingerly sliding it into her belt in case of need. That done she follows Barnabus, sticking to the shadows where she can.

We all love Trip! :D

Need to update your HPs. Issi should be fully healed. Barnabas is down 3. See my post on Mon, Sep 24, 2018, 05:46 pm.

Trip follows the others. Knowing his lack of skills he doesn't even try for stealth....

You leave the crematorium building with purpose as you know at least what you're supposed to be looking for to access the final vault. You see four mausoleums flank the building you just left, two on each side. These sepulchers are identical save for their orientation; the doorway to each always faces the center of the necropolis. Rough, black iron gates bar the arched entryways. You find one of the gates has been forced open. Before you decide to proceed, you hear a voice in the air, "Do not proceed inside...only trinkets of gold but a deadly disease await you inside. A disease that claimed the lives of my former party members. But who am I for you to listen to, right? You may proceed at your own risk, if you wish."

After the disembodied voice finishes speaking, the air in front of the opened gate begins to shimmer. The opaque outline of a humanoid appears, and after a brief delay the color and details melt into existence, and an elf appears out of the ether.

He is a tall and thin elf with a pale complexion. Midnight-black hair frames his face, falling freely down past his shoulders. His elven heritage is even more prominent in his sharply pointed ears and almond-shaped, dark violet eyes. He has arcane robes that cover everything but his head, a cloak, two ioun stones, and a haversack.

The elf raises his hands non-threateningly, showing he does not intend to threaten the three in front of him. "I mean you no harm. Were you also hired to retrieve a journal?" He gives a weary sight. "I was sent here with three others days ago, but things went poorly. They were moving ahead of me and concocted some sort of terrible disease, one that our cleric was unable to identify or cure." He looks ahead with a sorrow-filled gaze. "They didn't last very long..." He breaths deeply. He seems to mourn them, but isn't particularly torn up. It doesn't seem he was very close to them. "I didn't think I could make it back out on my own, so I bided my time. I thought another group would be sent to succeed where we had failed."

"If you don't mean any harm we need more details." Issi says, her long red hair swaying as she shakes her head. "This seems awfully convenient - no allies to back your claim and the threat of horrible death if we investigate. How are we to know you aren't another Ardella guardian?"

Sorry - but you're damn suspicious right now! :P

The elf nods, actually seeming content with the suspicion. "Clarrisa hired us as the second group, four humans known as the Steel Legion came before us. 12000 gold a piece and we are to retrieve any information about her family." He continues on, giving a great deal of information about the original parameters of this mission. It appears the elf either has an incredible memory or he has notes somewhere. "Of course that's all moot because I could have captured one of the two previous groups and extracted this information from them."

He puts his hands down. "Here's what you should consider. You're undermanned and two previous groups already perished with four. And I still intend to finish this mission, so I would join you. How many Ardella guardians would abandon their post and help you delve further?" Although earlier it seemed like his eyes were a brilliant blue color, the longer you look the more it seems they actually have a faint glow to then.

GM, do I know anything about the nature of the disease that killed my previous party members?

Trip listens as the elf explains. He had thought that the details of their employment were less than fully explained. Could anyone politically motivated ever be trusted?

"I could cast a spell or two to verify the story, but such can be fooled or resisted and you have the look of one that knows a bit about magic. I'd like to know more about this disease before I accept you. Where are the bodies of your former comrades and how did they come to be infected? Are you certain that it was a disease and not a curse? One can mimic the other and of course you cannot 'cure' a curse."

"I am Father Terrance Welby, priest of Desna, or 'Trip' to those that I consider friend. Desna may give me some insight to the fate of your comrades, and the knowledge may help to keep us alive."

"If you have divination to reveal falsehoods I will willingly allow them to work. I have nothing to hide."

"I admit I don't fully understand the nature of physiology and diseases. It's not something I studied. All I know is that wasted away at an alarming rate. I suppose it's possible it was a curse, but if it was something magical in nature I would likely have been able to identify it."

"Their bodies are just inside the door there. I had some force magic to move their bodies, but it was limited and I'm not strong enough to carry even one of them."

Renliat pauses when Terrance introduces himself. "Father Terrance. Well met. I would not be here today if it were not for the faithful of Desna. I am glad to have one of her acolytes with me in this trying time."

"I am Renliat Auvreathem, Evoker. Any insight is much appreciated."

The dwarf warrior who has remained silent, "Welcome Renliat, Barnabus Blackrock. I doubt you're here to do us harm. So far we've faced undead and insane elementals. You seem to have your wits about you, which means you have not been here long, so your story rings true. Guess you're trapped here with us till we find the main tomb to whatever is need to escape. We could use your help."

Issi looks back and forth between her companions and nods. "Proof is in your deeds. Assist us and we will all escape together."

Renliat nods, his lank hair falling in front of his ears. "Than let us help each other and overcome the monstrosity that is this place. It seems you came from the same direction I had originally, and since this path was the first one my group went down we must have the same familiarity with the tomb."

If Terrance is satisfied with Renliat's trustworthiness, than I am ready to move on, be it to check the bodies or go somewhere else.

Trip moves to where Renliat indicates to see the bodies of his previous team. He spends so time examining whatever is left Heal: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (4) + 15 = 19 Crap! Use Good Fortune for a re-roll.... Heal: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (12) + 15 = 27 of the bodies, using guidance orison and detect poison, but no stronger magic. "We should take the bodies with us when we leave this unholy place. But for now I guess we shouldn't waste resources on them."

Considering Barnabas's words he stops the group. "That was something I hadn't considered. Are we truly trapped here? Entry was interesting and possibly a bit scary, but not really too dangerous. But we haven't tried to exit. Perhaps we should check that out before we proceed to the next danger. We wouldn't want all of our magical resources depleted only to find there is no place remotely safe to rest. Dezna grants me some travel related magics, teleportation for example. I could try that but would rather test mundane options first. Let's see what happens if we exit this graveyard." ??

I don't remember being trapped. I know we had to use the Medusa's head and this is on some sort of "pocket plane", but we haven't tried to exit. Maybe there's another Medusa head? Or maybe if we exit the area of this graveyard we'll be transported back? The wall is only 15' high, Let's try climbing (or levitating) over. ??

Trip's study of the corpses reveals that they died of a disease/curse known as crypt fever, which weakens the muscles of the body to the point that the victim wastes away. In game terms, it does Str and Cha damage.

The party walks over to the nearest wall and Issi easily scales the 15' wall. With the party's approval, she hops over the wall and braces herself for the fall but instead reappears next to the party. After a couple of more tries, you confirm that you are indeed trapped in this pocket plane.

Renliat frowns at their predicament. "I am not able to plane shift anymore. What I had prepared was a one-time use emergency effect. If we can find a written spell I can copy it, but otherwise I fear our only direction left is further in." He narrows his eyes, scanning the room. "What is the safest place you have discovered here? I can prepare an emergency escape if we need it."

I have getaway prepared, although it cannot cross planes, it can potentially get us out of a deadly situation.

Once he knows what the disease was he explains it to the team, "Crypt fever is a tough one, both disease and curse. Hard to beat, but possible once it is understood using powerful magic."

While disappointed at the experiment to leave he isn't totally put off. "So we can't just climb out. While I always look for a simple fix we know that we aren't completely cut off from our reality. Desna's magic was able to dismiss the elemental that we fought. That indicates that planar travel should still work, and I can also prepare spells to travel the planes." Plane Shift is a 5th level spell for a cleric, 7th for a wizard. It might work but I don't think we need to test it yet....

We haven't really explored very far. There was the entry building with the sarcophagi that we were transported into. Unless the doorway closed and locked after we exited. As I recall we had to use four 'batons' as keys to turn a lock to open the door. ??

I've used a good number of my prepared spells but don't need to rest/recover right now. I'd say lets continue and maybe after the next encounter we might need to backtrack to a safe place....

Fearing crypt fever, you ignore the two small sepulchers to the east and west of the crematorium. As you head further north, you see another mausoleum on the same line as the crematorium. Do you go inside? Further north, you see three identical mausoleums at the northern section of the necropolis. Where to?

Renliat looks around. "Unfortanetly our group hadn't investigated anything yet. I say we search the mausoleum there, the one on the same line as the crematorium."

Is arcane eye revealing anything in the room?

In the absence of any better suggestions Issi nods her agreement and makes for the mausoleum.

Barnabas tells the others he will go in first, ”We dwarves are a hearty lot, if there be any disease effect, I’m the best to withstand it.”

Renliat nods to Barnabus. "I learned that lesson the hard way when I got into a drinking contest with a dwarf. I don't even think he got tipsy." The elf gives a sad smile. He reaches into his spell component pouch, taking out a small spider. "Hamir lamot" The spider melts away into the ether.

Casting spider climb on myself. Duration is 130 minutes.

Trip nods agreement to the words of the dwarf, "But remember that you aren't actually immune to such things. Accept a short blessing from Desna to strengthen your natural resistance."

Cast Guidance on Barnabas and Issi before they lead us in to the mausoleum. The bonuses from Heroes Feast should also still be in effect.

Barnabus leads the way into the mausoleum, but nothing assaults his body or constitution. There is a main sarcophagus surrounded by smaller ones. There is an epitaph on the lid of the central sarcophagus that reads: “Marcus Iulius Adella, 3711–3758, Great Patriarch of Our Clan, Died Valiantly at the Battle of Istavala Vale Saving Prince Abelard from the Undead Hordes of the Whispering Tyrant, Earning the King’s Gratitude. Herein Lies Our Claim to Nobility. May Great Woe Befall Any Who Would Violate His Most Sacred Rest.”

Knowledge (history) or nobility checks would be appropriate if you have them.

Once Barnabus steps in and shows there is no immediate threat upon entering, Renliat glides up behind him and reads the central sarcophagus. "Adella...Abelard..." How are they related to the Whispering Tyrant? He wonders.

Knowledge (history): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (9) + 13 = 22
Knowledge (nobility): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (12) + 13 = 25

Anything magical in the room?

Knowledge? Gotta be "smart" for knowledge.... N/A for both for me.

Renilat detects nothing as magical in the chamber. Discovering nothing else of use, the party proceeds further north to three distinct mausoleums at the northern end of the necropolis.

One of the buildings is crafted of green marble, the entrance carved to mimic the maw of a ravenous lion. In the center of the empty building is a howling medusa crest.

The center building is constructed of pale granite and decorated with numerous bas-relief carvings of nautical scenes from the Grand Campaign. The center room depicts the mocking medusa, its forked tongue extended.

The third building is of gray basalt, and unlike its sister buildings is plain and functional in design. Chiseled above the entry arch is the phrase, “The Living Make Their Plans; the Dead Watch, Amused.” This building’s center depicts the cross-eyed medusa.

Renilat concentrates and detects teleportation magic emanating from all three buildings. What now?

"Wait, there is teleportation magic on each of the buildings." Renliat concentrates in an attempt to identify the magic.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 25 ⇒ (8) + 25 = 33
Knowledge (Arcana): 1d20 + 31 ⇒ (20) + 31 = 51

With his arcane knowledge, Renilat identifies the spell in place as a teleportation circle over each of the crests.

"Teleportation circles on each of the crests. Be wary, we do not want to suddenly be teleported to an indeterminate location." He warns. "Of course that could be the intention, that each one puts you in an entirely separate location."

Can he tell how the circles are activated? Is it anything like a trap where it will go off unexpectedly?

You stand on the spot, the destination was determined at time of casting.

Trip chuckles at the inscription. "They equate the dead with the ability of gods to know the foolishness of people tempting fate. But they forget the second part of it. 'Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.'"

Hearing the warning Trip stays out of Renliat's way. The last thing the team needs is to fall into some teleportation trap separating them and delivering them to some powerful enemy.

Again, Trip has no applicable skill to assist.

"We've been walking north since we arrived, and I think we've reached the end of the necropolis. Seems like we need to be "taken" somewhere else to perhaps reach another level. We, dwarves, tend to use elevators to access different levels in our strongholds, but perhaps the creator of this tomb wanted something more fancy. My 2 cents." The dwarf looks a little impatient with the mage's studying. :)

"I believe if you stand on the spot it will activate. As long as you don't stand within it you should remain here."

Renliat looks at the impatient dwarf, and back to the contemplative look of Terrance.

"I think Barnabus shows wisdom. We should each stay together and step onto the teleportation circle at the same time so that we stay together. What awaits us...I couldn't even guess." He says with an apologetic look.

Rule of left, I vote for the green marble building first!

Barnabus steps with the elf onto the crest, shield and axe in hand ready for trouble when they appear.

Issi shrugs languidly, all this talk of magic is rather beyond her - being much better at shutting magic down than working out its precise details.

She steps onto the circle with the others, poised in a half-crouch to spring the moment the spell takes effect!

Once the group is ready Trip steps onto the circle with the others.

Green building first sounds fine for me.

Bumping so I can mark game as inactive.