The Horn of Aroden (Inactive)

Game Master Baerlie

The door is wet but Vrald cannot find any traps or other threats.

Vrald pulls it open.

"Anyone got a torch?" he asks.

Kristen casts light on whatever item Vrald would like. "You can be our torch, my friend. Our beacon in the dark."

She will then also cast mage armor on herself from a scroll before she descends with her allies.

Gilfroy also casts light and puts it on the top of his head.

Hubert moves to go ahead of Vrald, but waits patiently in case the human insists on going first.

"Oh Hurbert, you go first."

Says Vrald, following behind the half orc closely.

Hubert glares at Vrald for a moment, then gives up on anyone ever getting his name right, and silently makes his way down the...

Gilfroy moves to the edge of the doorway so he can see what's there and keep Hubert active.

Sorry, I still giggle at this every time I do it. Vrald just can't get that name right. Not sure why. I'm pretty sure I doubt checked this time too. Oh well. Gota love a standing joke.

Vrald opens the door. He can see steps leading down. The steps are wet and slippery, but the stairs are intact and it's not a problem to descend. Kristen let's Vrald shine brightly and also Gilfroy lights the stairs.

new map is up, the hallway is narrow, marching order?

Kristen will stay toward the back, since most of her abilities are ranged and she doesn't like being punched.

Jaegar can rearguard.

Vrald, shield and sword in hand, follows Hubert down the stairs.

Marching order from front to back: Hubert, Vrald, Gilfroy, Treeant, Maeron, Kristen, Jaegar; I hope that's fine

Hubert and Vrald lead the way down the stairs. The walls are mossy and wet. Some places are overgrown with fungus. The stairs look like unused for years. After the first descend you reach a passage from which a hallway continues to the right and more stairs are ahead leading further down.

Vrald shines his light down the passage to the right.

"Reminds me of the sewer. At least these fungi are not as exotic as the Prince grew!" he laughs. It almost sounds as if he is trying to cheer himself though, as the group heads deep into the damp underground crypt.

"Lets try this side passage first Hubert, no sense in leave it unchecked and possible ...things.. behind us."

perception: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (18) + 0 = 18

The passage leads to a door on the other side. It is ajar. Behind the door is a bigger room.

Vrald carefully advances, following the illusion into the room.

Gilfroy stays behind Vrald.

He casts a message spell and whispers to Vrald, "I have new magic now that will let me open unlocked doors from a short distance, so let 'Hubert' do that sort of thing."

Vrald nods to Hubert. "You open the door."

If it isn't open enough for them to slip in, Gilfroy casts open/close on it to open it all the way, while Hubert mimes pulling or pushing it open.

Maeron waits patiently to see what will happen.

-Posted with Wayfinder

Kristen also peers forward, wondering what fresh hell will be waiting for them beyond the door.

The door opens without any problems, but noisy. You hear a grating Sound. Inside the room you see carved pillars in the corners of this chamber hold aloft a double-vaulted ceiling of cracked frescos. On either side of the chamber, a single step leads up into a deeply recessed area that forms an arched room of its own.

Vrald cautiously advances into the room, behind Hubert.

He slowly moves towards the middle of the room, keeping his eyes open.

"This place is a bit creepy Hubert..." he murmurs, wincing as the echoes display his nervousness to the rest of the group.

I moved the hidy box on the map so I can move the figure in

Ah, sorry! Thanks for that, Vrald!

On the floor of the east recess, the perfectly preserved body of a young boy lies in a puddle and stares silently upward. Close to the Body is a bugbear which attacks as soon as he sees Hubert and Vrald. The bugbear does not look alive any more, fur and skin are partly rotten and you can see some grey flesh on it's legs.

Round 1
Jaegar
Bugbear
Kristen
Gilfroy
Vrald
Maeron
Tenderstump

"Eww, he looks not-all-together alive. Let's deal with him!"

Kristen double-moves, then sees the creature. Next round she will cast at it.

Vrald moves across to the bugbear.

"Away from that boy, creature."

He says, glad of something to direct his fear into anger against.

attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18
damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Jaegar fires an arrow at the threat.

Ranged Attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26

Ranged Attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

Assuming a 24 confirms...

Arrow Damage: 3d8 + 6 ⇒ (1, 8, 4) + 6 = 19

Jaegar is the first firing an arrow at the zombie, hitting it in an eye. The creature is already dead so the damage is not as high as it would be on a living creature (DR 5) Kristen moves into the room to assist her companions in the fight. Vrald swings his longsword at the Zombie and cuts off one of it's arms slashing so no DR

The bugbear Zombie swings it's morningstar at Vrald, but Vrald dodges.
Attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

Round 1
Jaegar
Bugbear -20HP
Kristen
Gilfroy
Vrald
Maeron
Tenderstump

Hubert moves in, slashing but missing.

Gilfroy gets down on one knee to see past the others, brings his hands up, and let's loose with a brilliant beam of light.

Ranged touch disrupt undead: 1d20 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (11) + 1 - 4 = 8
Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 2

Gilfroy lets Hubert slash at the zombie and beams some light at the zombie, but a fighting zombie is not easy to hit.

Round 1
Jaegar
Bugbear -20HP
Kristen
Gilfroy
Vrald
Maeron
Tenderstump

Maeron and Tenderstump rush around the corner to join the others.

Double move.

After hearing the sound of battle in the room beyond Maeron and Tenderstump hurry to help.

Round 1
Jaegar
Bugbear -20HP
Kristen
Gilfroy
Vrald
Maeron
Tenderstump

"Tough guy eh?" says Vrald, slashing at the beast that doesn't seem to know it is already dead.

attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20
damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

After his swing, Vrald steps back to allow others in, give a clear line of fire for missiles troops and allow Hubert to set up a potentail flank.

Kristen moves forward a bit, spends a point from her reservoir, and casts a magic missile at the half-dead creature.
magic missile: 2d4 + 2 ⇒ (1, 4) + 2 = 7

Vrald swings again at the undead bugbear and hits it on the side of the head. Kristen throws a magic missile at the create from behind.

Round 1
Jaegar
Bugbear -32HP
Kristen
Gilfroy
Vrald
Maeron
Tenderstump

Jaegar fires another arrow.

Ranged Attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

Arrow. Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10

He uses is trait to ignore the cover of Vrald.

The arrow hits it's target and get stuck in the bugbear's leg. It's already hard for him to move. The bugbear swings his morningstar at Vrald but Vrald's armor is strong enough to deflect the hit.
Attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

Round 1
Jaegar
Bugbear -37HP
Kristen
Gilfroy
Vrald
Maeron
Tenderstump

Gilfroy attempts the touch attack again.

Disrupt undead: 1d20 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (17) + 1 - 4 = 14
Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 1

Gilfroy directs a ray of positive energy at the undead bugbear. You can see the energy running through it's body, leaving some damage.

Round 1
Jaegar
Bugbear -38HP
Kristen
Gilfroy
Vrald
Maeron
Tenderstump

botting Maeron and Tenderstump

Maeron and Tenderstump move into the room. While Maeron stays back and shoots an arrow he sends Tenderstump to attack the bugbear.
Longbow: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 5 + 1 = 18 Damage: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Slam 1: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8
Slam 2: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22 Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

The bugbear sinks down and looses some of it's body parts. It does not move any more. combat over

Vrald pokes at the body of the bugbear.

"For something dead, it took a lot to, well, remind it of the fact. Do we need to burn it or something?" he asks, before turning his attention to the dead boy.

perception: 1d20 ⇒ 13

The dead boy is about 12 or 13 years old. His face reminds you of somebody you have already seen, personally or on pictures in the Society. You find a name plate on the boy's school uniform. It reads "Grishan Maldris".

Is the dead boys body... better preserved.. than we would expect after all this time?

"We should return this boy to his parents on the way out if we can. "

Is Colson Maldris still in Absalom?

Yes it is preserved very well, the boy looks like he died yesterday. And according to this reference, Colson Maldris is in Absalom.

"With the magical preservation that is obviously at work here, I worry that moving the child's body will cause it to decompose more quickly than usual. I am unsure of what course of action to follow on this."

"Can you tell if there is magical preservation at work?"

Vrald looks concerned, and then shrugs

"Let us press onwards. There is no use in taking his body with us for the moment, unless he wears the ring.."

Vrald does have a quick look for the ring, but tries to be respectful of the dead nobleson.

"We can collect him and return him on the way back if you think it safe to do so. "

Vrald heads towards the rooms exit, looking around for any further signs of danger.

Vrald finds a ring near the Body, but it's not the ring you are looking for.

Vrald leads the way to the exit of the room. The door is unlocked, behind it you find stairs leading up.

Do you want to go upstairs?

Jaegar looks at his companions, "If it's been here, and looks preserved, it will still be here after we complete our investigation. I say we document the location and our discoveries thoroughly, and press onward."

He winks at Vrald and gestures toward the steps as if to say 'after you'.

"I agree. We can retrieve the boy's body once this place is safe."

Vrald moves up the steps and reaches an intersection. More steps lead down to the left and a room is ahead.