Something Wicked This Way Comes (Inactive)

Game Master Fanguar

Xanos stopped just before casting his spell of flight. He nodded and joined them in the throne room.

Sure, let's try it.

Sariana goes with the rest to the throne room and steps up onto the throne. "If it works I will return quickly. If not..." She doesn't finish the sentence, simply speaks clearly. "Nen!"

At the news they may not need to climb, a naked Albrέkt flashes a leering grin at Rose;

"Vhat a pity. Seems ve are nackt (naked) fur nichts (nothing)..."

The grotesque warrior watches Sariana exit, awaiting what news his fellow vampyr will bring...

"Absolutely fur nichts," agrees Rose, looking away. She busies herself with putting back on her armor again. She's thankful she can do so rather quickly with her much lighter armor.

"If 'nen' works as a password, that will be tremendously convenient." Molasbar watches on with interest as Sariana tries it.

Xanos ignored the states of undress of his companions. His attention was focused on the throne.

Xanos ignored the states of undress of his companions. His attention was focused on the throne.

Yeah right. I saw that quick glance at the undead junk ;)

Xanos is pretty much asexual. Also, ew.

Was going to type Keep your hans to yourzelf :) Totally ew!

I like to think that Albrekt is more of a sparkly Twilight style vampire...

Sariana disappears. She reappears on the third floor, in the center of the rune circle. She almost biffs as she goes from sitting to half-standing, but manages to catch herself. Speaking the appropriate command word, she reappears standing before throne once more.

"Excellent." Xanos said, moving to the chair himslef to follow Sariana once she disappeared again.

Molasbar follows after Xanos disappears.

"Oof!" Rose follows too. Unprepared for the lack of a seat, Rose falls onto her butt.

"Yeesh, you could've warned me." Dusting herself off, she looks around at their new surroundings. Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (18) + 11 = 29

Haruk follows after Rose.

Xanos had remembered Sariana's scouting report, noting the lack of a throne, so he expecte to arrive standing. It was still an unbalancing experience but he managed to keep upright.

He scanned the room for magical auras and looked carefully at the religious iconography.

Detect Magic. Take 10 on Knowledge religion and/or nowledge Planes

3-9

The only aura is from the runic ring in the floor, which radiates the same magical aura as was found on the thrones on the lower floors. The abyssal etched into the walls are words of death and destruction. It is little more than a violent word salad, but written in large prominant letter on the curved northern wall is Open your mind. Receive the wisdom of Abaddon.

@Xanos: you suspect this was a place of meditation and reflection

"Oof!" Rose follows too. Unprepared for the lack of a seat, Rose falls onto her butt.

"Yeesh, you could've warned me." Dusting herself off, she looks around at their new surroundings. [dice=Perception]1d20+11

"How?" Sariana replies, a grin tugging at the corner of her lips as the normally graceful cleric collapses.

"I looked briefly around this level but there was at least one secret door that I saw, so there may be others I did not."

Sari waits, ready to lead a guided tour of the level.

A now ironclad Albrέkt appears, moving slowly from crouch to standing.

He eyes flick toward the decor of the chamber, then to the northern walls message, prompting a fang'ed smile and a nod from the vampyr:

Der visdom of Abaddon indeed. Home of Der Blassen Prinzessin..."

Xanos will keep detect magic up as Sari shows them around.

Moving to the shrine room

This was obviously the cult's most sacred temple. The fane is adorned with a riot of lurid color. Brilliant bas reliefs depict daemons of every sort engaged in countless acts of wanton evil, callous destruction and inhuman savagery. Rows of pews allow a congregation of the chosen to gather. The podium is doubtless where foul sermons of Abaddon’s wisdom and bile were delivered to those gatherings.

At the front of the chamber are four shrines:

A – A white shrine decorated with bas relief depictions of open pits of the dead and lepers crying in anguish.

B – A shrine of red stone decorated with cruel iron weaponry and scenes of slaughter.

C –A shrine of black stone decorated with images of mortals wasting away from hunger and starvation.

D – A shrine of pale green stone adorned with a skull with two coins over its eyes and an inscription of jagged abyssal writing which reads “Behold a pale horse. Its rider is Death and all shall follow him.”

E – A large bas-relief image of Vetra-Kali sitting cross-legged holding his greatest work, his masterpiece, a vial of some sort. There is some more abyssal writing on the image, but you will have to get closer to read it.

On all the other walls are litanies of the deeds of this monster. It was Vetra-Kali who crossed the great void and came to the prime material plane to establish the Sons of the Pale Horseman. It was he who oversaw the construction of the Horn of Abaddon and it is because of this that the Horn superficially resembles this horror from another world.

@Xanos: Shrine E radiates necromancy magic and there is a door shaped aura in the eastern wall which radiates strong conjuration magic.

"Possible traps on the shrine of Vetra-Kali, and on that door." Xanos said. "Moderate Necromancy on the Shrine. Strong Conjuration on the door."

He spent a few more moments trying to decipher the auras.

I Take 10 to Identify Auras with Knowledge Arcana (for 24, or 26 with an Aid Another from my Familiar). As long as there's nothing super weird about the auras, that will identify any spell effect of up to 9th level)

Albrέkt's eyes flit in momentary ecstasy as he stands breathing in in the sheer malignant evil emitting from the chamber with a jagged smile.

"Zhis place... Truly... Truly... Glorreich iz it nicht?"

The vampyr grins, drool hanging from his maw as he gestures toward the inscription on the skull shrine;

"Vhat does zhis say?"

(He doesn't speak Abyssal, just the Mutter tongue)

"Tacky." Sari responds, "Why do so many cults always over-decorate? Simplicity is far more effective."

Looking at the two vampires, Albrekt in his twisting, gothically ornate armor, and Sariana in her simple flowing robes, one would be led to wonder what exactly she was commenting on.

Haruk flashes a wicked grin at Albrekt "Well, since we're 'claiming' rooms, this one shall be mine. I shall transform this into a most glorious temple to the Dark Father, and all of Hell."

Albrέkt turns his bloodshot gaze toward the infernal with a frown...

... before emitting a death rattle laugh:

"Hahahahahah. You Der Witzbold (Mischief Maker) Hölle Laich! (Hell Spawn)... Gloriouz Dunkler Vater (Dark Father) indeed..."

The big vampyr matches Haruk's grin with a rictus one of his own, as he awaits those more linguistic than himself to translate the fell words upon the shrines.

Molasbar will check the shrine for traps, and then the door. "They seemed fond of using conjuration magic for teleportation. Keep an eye out for another possible password."

Perception 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (17) + 16 = 33
Perception 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (18) + 16 = 34

"This has to be the Four Horsemen of the Apocalpyse, Pestilence, War, Famine, and Death." says Rose, stating what might be obvious to people. She tries to consider what she might know of such religious figures and what it might mean for understanding this place.

Knowledge (religion): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11

Too bad they never covered such topics in Mitran religious school.

"Correct, Rose." Xanos said.

Haruk flashes a wicked grin at Albrekt "Well, since we're 'claiming' rooms, this one shall be mine. I shall transform this into a most glorious temple to the Dark Father, and all of Hell."

"I would caution against that, Haruk, at least for now. The Daemons may sometimes work with the Hells, but they do not revere it. Our goal is to summon forth a Daemon Prince and convince him to give us his most prized work. That may be difficult if he finds we have defaced his iconography and supplanted the worship of the Horsemen with the worship of Asmodeus."

"Daemons are prideful. It is undeniable that Asmodeus is more powerful than any of the Horsemen. Possibly more powerful than all the Horsemen put together. If Asmodeus' heraldry is added to the shrines in this room, it is possible the Daemons will beleive we wish to put them in a position of subordination to Asmodeus."

"Perhaps the room we arrived at would be a more diplomatic choice."

We are currently in room 3-5, marked at the Daemonic Church on my annotated map.

If you want a hell-church you might consider using 3-9 instead. It's the room with the teleportation circle, and it's already covered in abyssal script.

Albrέkt nods sagely at Rose's words, adding his own dark wisdom to the mix;

"Urgathoa herself alliez vith Vier Reiter der Apokalypse... As she does so vill I..."

He flashes a jagged smile, as he caressing the white shrine's bas relief;

"Listen to Der Old Vun Hölle Laich. His are vise vurds to your infernal ears.

Haruk does indeed listen to Xanos "Oh, I wasn't planning on the conversion till after we accomplished our goals here. However, maybe what I'll do is convert the entire Horn into an Asmodean temple. After all, once we're done here, this place will no longer have a purpose."

"Accurate." Xanos said. "Though if we succeed, Vetra-Kali will once again have access to this plane. The Horn is his place of power. I suspect he will have his own opinions on your plans."

Waiting on the GM to tell us about Molsabar's trap detecting efforts and my knowledge checks.

Albrέkt looks quizzically at Haruk, answering with a mixture of confusion and pity;

"Poor Hölle Laich... If ve are sukkessful zhis whole vurld vill be a rotting shrine to der risen und der dying. Vunce ve are done no place vill have a purpose other than to be tombs und mausoleums..."

"We'll see vampire, we'll see." is all the sorcerer says.

"What about clothing makers?" mumbles Rose. She shudders as unfortunate memories flood back.

"He assumes a world of undead would have no need of such things." the tall wizard replied to Rose, the expression on his face coming dangerously close to sympathy. "As usual, he is mistaken. It is of no matter."

Leaving the zealots to their half-hearted quarrel, Xanos went to see how Molasbar was progressing.

Sari wanders around, uninterested in the bickering of 'whose god has the longest 'portfolio''.

Being effectively an distheist in a group of holy zealots is not the best idea...

Nice to have someone around who understands my suffering.

Haruk is basically trolling Al, LOL

Low hanging fruit...

Rotten fruit please

As Molasbar diligently looks for traps, he considers setting one off. Just to make the religious chest beating stop (even for a little while).

;)

Albrέkt merely emits a rattling chuckle at the barbs and wisdom displayed.

"Ve shall see..."

The undead knight moves to the alter of Vetra Kali, unconcerned by the level of necrotic energy detected by Xanos;

"Vhat does der vurds upon these alters zay? Kan none of der vise und knowledgeable amongst us dizcern zhier meaning?"

"Xanos can." Haruk replies simply.

@Xanos:The aura on the shrine is divination, the door shaped one is conjuration (teleportation). None of them are spells. Custom magic effects.

Molasbar doesn't find any traps on the shrines. When he approaches the shrine to Vetra-Kali, he is able to read the abyssal words written on it Hail Vetra-Kali.

Molasbar also finds that there is a cleverly hidden door where the aura is, but there doesn't appear to be any obvious way to open it.

At the section of wall that radiates conjuration magic, Molasbar lingers. "There is a door here, but I don't see the mechanism to open it. Perhaps a code work, or a trigger elsewhere."

He then makes his way over to the dark shrine.

Molasbar's falcata, which seems to always be in his hand while exploring, clatters to the ground. Without noise or any instant of hesitation, the half-orc bolts from the room. There is no hint that he is slowing when he gets out the door to the chamber.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me, Molasbar. Get back here!" Suspecting what might be happening, Rose calls forth a prayer to Eiseth and Molasbar feels some reassurance against fear. Casting Remove Fear on Molasbar and, let's say Xanos. "There, a demonstration of REAL divine power, and not just some empty words. Molasbar and Xanos are shielded from fear for the next 10 minutes or so."

The Horn had a running theme of misdirection and hiding things, but leaving the solutions and keys in relatively easy to find places.

It could not be that simple?

Xanos gestured to the words on the wall. "It says Hail Vetra Kali. That may be the password to the door."

As Molsabar began to run Xanos only sighed and looked at the statue of the Daemon Lord with an indignant expression.

"He will be back shortly."

Sariana walks over to the door and speaks. "Hail Vetra Kali" She says, in a tone that conveys that Vetra Kali could go infest himself as far as she was concerned...

"Thank you, Rose." Upon returning, Molasbar reports "Yes, it was a particularly vivid vision of Vetra-Kali when I approached the shrine. I am beyond its power now." Still, the half-orc avoids the shrine and focuses on the secret door. As he does so, he keeps mumbling 'Hail Vetra Kali' over and over.

Molasbar will take 20 to look at the door and its surroundings for a hidden trigger.

Albrέkt watches with interest as Molasbar bolts from the chamber in fear.

The vampyr walks to where the half orc dropped his blade, retrieving it. When Rose brings her powers to bear with great pomp, he flashes a rictus sneer;

"Empty vurds Fraulein Silversting? I zhink nicht. Der Blassen Prinzessin herself made me Der Unvergänglich.I am mein faith. An embodyment Ja? You kall on power. I am power..."

When Molasbar returns he walks to the half orc, handing him back his blade with a cruel smile;

"Heil Vetra Kali indeed...