"Dwarficide?" Karrin asks as she casts a firebolt at the ice elemental.
Frosty the Snowman
Ice Elemental 21 [full double move]
Justin 17 [wall of fire]
Karrin 14 [fire bolt ]
Alessia 17[hold action]
Martin 12 [full double move]
Avrahim 11 [bane bolts]
Sarastra 11 [lightning]
Merle 12 flame ray
Mel 5 flame strike
As the wall of fire surrounds the large ice creature, it is pummeled by the various attacks. It suddenly vanishes, seeming to dissolve into the ice below it. Martin looks at the party, and suddenly two columns of ice rocket out of the plateau by his side, smashing into him mercilessly
Martin’s form is obscured by the pummeling ice
"Dwarficide?" Karrin asks as she casts a firebolt at the ice elemental.
5d6
"Dwarficide?" Karrin asks as she casts a firebolt at the ice elemental.
"Fire? Burn? Kill?!" Justin offers, thinking of the Goblins prevalent on the Prime world he visited and received his enchanted tattoo.
As the wall of fire surrounds the large ice creature, it is pummeled by the various attacks. It suddenly vanishes, seeming to dissolve into the ice below it. Martin looks at the party, and suddenly two columns of ice rocket out of the plateau by his side, smashing into him mercilessly.
Martin’s form is obscured by the pummeling ice,...
"MARTIN!" Justin screams.
The mage's elemental fire-wall fades away as he stops concentrating on it.
"Blasted thing can walk through the ice?!" Justin howls, clearly NOT happy with the living avalanche's ability to avoid his firewall.
"Let's see it walk away from THIS."
The wizard points his blasting rod at the creature.
"FUEGOPYROERUPTICUS!"
The fiery eruption liquifies the elemental, and a large section of the plateau. When the smoke clears a crater of water sloshes where the elemental was. Martin seems to have thrown himself clear, and he staggers to his feet, a bit worse for wear
The steam created from the blast erupts skyward, almost immediately turning back into snow and whipping away in the gale-force winds. The water almost immediately begins to refreeze as well, making a rough patch in the plateau
Justin flies over to help Martin regain his footing. He pats the holy warrior on his armored back.
"Martin, don't SCARE me like that! Next time you wanna build a snowman, let's try the smaller, non-animated, non-homicidal kind. OK?" The wizard berates his large friend. Justin's smile is a cross between a grimace of fear and a scream of relief.
"And not just because I don't want to lose one of my oldest friends. You know darn well that if you die, your wife will KILL me. And then most likely pay for my resurrection so she can do it again!"
Justin recovers his 'cool', (hard not to on this frozen, wind-blasted iceburg), and hovers just above ground level as he and Martin return to the group.
"How that door coming? Did any of those words work? Oh, wait, I'll bet you have to say it in Goblin! Try,... uh, try,..."
Justin opens and closes his mouth a couple of times, and turns to Memnon.
"Yeah. I don't speak Goblin. How do you say 'Fire' or 'Burn' in Goblin? Anyone?"
Memnon shouts a couple of word in Goblin at the door
“No luck with those choices. Any other suggestions?”
"Ah, maybe it's love? Like perhaps we've been misjudging Goblins all this time?"
Justin pulls his hood back up to get his head out of the wind JUST for a minute,... thinking of what he knows about Goblins,...
Justin knows from everything he has seen and read of goblins there is one thing that really incites their passion....revenge
"Ah, maybe it's love? Like perhaps we've been misjudging Goblins all this time?"
In a gesture similar to Justin's (though for different reasons), Alessia pulls the hood of her cloak tight around her head.
"Why does this one... Please stop talking. We are trying to concentrate."
Mel heads to Martin and puts his hands on the bruised paladin’s shoulders
(multiply final amount by 1.5)
He then gestures to everyone
“We all have scrapes. I’ll god bomb us”
Martin’s wounds fade somewhat, and he seems to breathe easier as a rib knits back into place under his skin
“My thanks”
"Memnon. Try saying 'Revenge' in Goblin. It's the only thing my studies suggest might excite them more than burning something would." Justin suggests.
Memnon shouts out
“Kahkuuu!”
A light flashes and the doors swing inward
Mel heads to Martin and puts his hands on the bruised paladin’s shoulders
[dice=CCW]4d8+10 (multiply final amount by 1.5)
He then gestures to everyone
“We all have scrapes. I’ll god bomb us”
[dice=Channel Energy]5d6
"Thanks Mel."
Memnon shouts out
“Kahkuuu!”
A light flashes and the doors swing inward
Justin peers into the massive doorway as the doors open,...
"Honey, I'm Hoooooome!" He calls softly.
"Hello? Anyone home?"
The wizard shrugs, makes a gesture and again conjures 4 small spheres of various colored lights. He waves the lights ahead into the doorway,...
Inside is a large chamber. Instead of ice, this room is made of blocks of red granite, and columns of pale chalcedony march to the rear of the room. A painted fresco of goblins warring illustrates the bottom half of the granite, done in a quite gifted style. Low platforms are placed by these frescos, about a dozen. Mummified figures seated in lotus positions are atop them. At the far side is a huge throne, made of a dark wood and glittering with gemstones. The throne sits on a dais, and around it seem piles of random junk. Justin thinks there might be dead bodies there.
"Yeah. I just LUV what they've done with the place. Don't you?" Justin asks the others dryly.
The wizard points to the throne on the dias and it's accompanying piles of junk.
"I think the bodies are a particularly nice touch."
"Alright. I'm thinking Macaroni might have left out one or two minor details. Be sure not to touch anything. ANY. THING. Except the metal cube-portal-thingy. Yes. That's a professional term. Let's see if we can find it without disturbing anything else. I've had my fill of undead for one day. Thank you."
There seems to be some sort of magical barrier at the open doors. The swirling snow around them is somehow warded off from entering the chamber beyond. Sarastra sticks her arm within
"An environmental shield. It is cold inside, but not as cold as out here."
"Good. We won't have to ice skate INside at least."
Justin waves the others forward, and waits for the group to reset to something closer to their 'usual' marching order before cautiously stepping inside,....
The interior is cold, but it hovers just around freezing rather than the sixty below outside. It feels like a blast furnace to the party after their sojourn outside. The room is quiet, the howling blizzard outside is silenced by the force field. Nothing moves, and the light spells cast a glow on the polished red granite surface
"Ah. That's MUCH better." Justin sighs as they all enter. Enjoying the blissful warmth of merely freezing compared to previously.
Justin uses his flight spell to raise himself another foot or so off the floor, giving his already tall frame an even better view of the room.
'I DO like the long-lasting spells.'
"Alright, the phrasing of the instructions made it sound like the metal cube was mounted in the throne? Does anyone see the PortalKey?"
Justin hovers where they all entered at, cautious about moving at all until they know where they are going. JUST in case they do trip some kind of undead alarm system,...
Everything seems quiet. There doesn’t seem to be an iron cube any where about. The room doesn’t have much of a ‘tomb’ feeling. There is no big gaudy sarcophagus or funeral stuff. Just the dozen mummies in lotus positions and the pile of jumbled dreck by the throne. Justin can see that the pile is indeed corpses, and some other stuff like sleds and tents mixed in. The corpses are in various states of decay - it would be hard to judge how long they had been here since the room was presumably under a temporal stasis until the door was opened
"So.....what made all the corpses then?" Merle also looks around the room
Perception
There also seems to be several piles of various stuff on the dais, but it’s hard to make out exactly what they are. Possibly jars or goblets
Inside is a large chamber. Instead of ice, this room is made of blocks of red granite, and columns of pale chalcedony march to the rear of the room. A painted fresco of goblins warring illustrates the bottom half of the granite, done in a quite gifted style. Low platforms are placed by these frescoes, about a dozen. Mummified figures seated in lotus positions are atop them. At the far side is a huge throne, made of a dark wood and glittering with gemstones.
"So.....what made all the corpses then?" Merle also looks around the room
"I'm trying really hard NOT to find out." Justin deadpans.
"OK,... so this is either the oddest 'Tomb' I've ever seen, or this is just an entryway to the tomb proper?"
Justin nods at the pile of corpses.
"And they have a real strict entrance policy. OK, everyone spread out slowly, look for a door or secret passage or something. A lot of tombs have false 'bait rooms' of treasure or sarcophagi to throw off tomb thieves. Scan for magic auras if you can. And Don't touch anything."
Justin follows his own advice. He closes his eyes and touches his forehead as he murmurs his detection charm. Then he opens his eyes carefully.
Justin floats up a little higher, and flies slowly towards the dias,...
There are glimmers of magic in the pile of corpses and refuse. The jars on the dais also glow. The entire room has a high magic background, with the shielding behind him especially bright. As he gets to the middle of the room, a ghostly image shivers to life on the throne. It seems to be a hobgoblin, one kitted out in plate and with a large great sword on his back. He groans in that disturbing voice spirits have
”Who comes before the fane of the Ice King! Kneel and state your purpose, mortals!”
There are glimmers of magic in the pile of corpses and refuse. The jars on the dais also glow. The entire room has a high magic background, with the shielding behind him especially bright. As he gets to the middle of the room, a ghostly image shivers to life on the throne. It seems to be a hobgoblin, one kitted out in plate and with a large great sword on his back. He groans in that disturbing voice spirits have
”Who comes before the fane of the Ice King! Kneel and state your purpose, mortals!”
Justin squints as he scans the room, trying to see through all of the background magic of the obviously magically protected room.
Despite the fact that he is flying, he 'jumps' another foot when the ghost appears and bellows his challenge.
"I did not know that hobgoblins could be ghosts. Learn something new every day. Now to live long enough to write it down." Justin mutters to Memnon, who is facing the ghost bravely from behind the mage's narrow shoulders.
Justin alights on the floor, Bows, then thinks better of it and goes down to one knee.
'I do NOT need to tick off a ghost if I can avoid it. Which is doubtful, but hope springs eternal,...'
Justin raises his head and looks at the ghost, still looking at it through his magically enhanced sight, trying to verify if it indeed a ghost, or just a clever set of spells,...
"Greetings! We mean no disrespect, We are simply passing through. We have been told that there is a portal in this place that will take us to another Plane. That passage is all that we seek." Justin says (more or less) truthfully, peering at the apparition as he speaks.
The apparition seems to be odd. Justin isn’t sure, but it might be an illusion
”Make your sacrifices to the Ice Kings altar and depart, mortals! Else suffer my wrath!”
"Yes oh great fane of the Ice King. We'll get right on that."
Justin turns to the others, motioning them to come closer to him.
"I think this 'spectre' might be an illusion. Meaning this is a trap. Makes sense, a 'Ghost' appears, demanding tribute. When you deposit the tribute the trapped altar kills you. It would explain the combination of bodies and magical knickknacks decorating the dias. It's a honey-trap for thieves."
Justin frowns at the platform.
"If so, how do we get past it? It couldn't be as easy as just NOT putting anything on the altar,... could it?"
:)
Justin can’t really tell. If anything, the few bodies he can see from his position look like they were bludgeoned to death
"Spread back out, keep looking for exits. Whatever you do, don't get within touching distance of the bodies. They look like they were,... smashed? Or bludgeoned. Or,... something."
Justin looks UP as well as around.
"What do you think Mem? Magically resetting falling block trap? Or the old adventurer favorite scary story of 'The-Death-Trap-Everyone-Has-Heard-Of-But-No-One-Has-Ever-actually-Seen', the 'Teleport high and left to fall to your death' trap?" Justin asks the floating skull wryly.
"OR, you know, the ghost is real, and prefers to use a greatclub?" He adds. Mostly to himself.
Sarastra shouts suddenly
“The doors close!”
And indeed the two massive doors begin to swing shut
The apparition on the throne calls out
“If you have no sacrifice, then you shall become the sacrifice “
“If you have no sacrifice, then you shall become the sacrifice“
"Oh, yes, very original..." Alessia murmurs quietly as she draws her sword.
"Out of the deep freeze, into the iced tea."
Justin looks at the closing doors, and again at the pile of bodies in front of the throne.
"You know. I get the feeling THIS is one of those 'Darned if you do/Darned if you don't' situations." the wizard observes dryly, pulling out his 'blasting rod'.
Justin winks at Martin. "Good thing I don't believe in the 'no-win scenario'!"
"OK, so 'arcane theory testing' time. FIRST, is yon spook really a spirit? or just a high-quality illusion? 'FORZARE!'"
"O'h god's dammit your adventures are just the worst....." Merle mostly to herself as she prepares to haste the group.
Justin visibly winces.
"Dangit. Why does she have to be right at such specific moments?"
Memnon bobs up from behind the floating mage.
"WELLLLLL,... Oh Evocatuer of Explosions." Drawls the crystal skull, far too cheerfully.
"Perhaps if you'd bother to look BEFORE you leap into the lake of lava just ONCE in a while,... OR before signing contracts,... OR accepting planar directions at face value,..."
,....
"YOU are SO nothelpingrightnow!"
Justin’s force missile goes through the apparition, not seeming to harm it. The doors swing shut with a clang. As soon as the doors shut, there is a crackling sound. The dozen lotus-positioned mummies stand up and brandish the quarterstaves they had been holding. They leap from their stands and advance
Alessia lets out a weary sigh as she settles into a fighting stance.
"This trip has really been undead heavy," Karrin muses, "I'd sure wouldn't mind seeing more verity. Any of you Mummies secretly dadies?"
Justin sighs and his shoulders droop slightly as his bolt of magical force goes through the apparition.
"Yep. Illusion. It's a Trap!" The mage growls/gurgles as he emphasizes the last bit.
"Well, at least we know why the previous visitors look like they were bludgeoned to death." Justin says, pointing to the ancient, but heavy and very functional, staves of the mummies.
"Because they WERE."
Now it is Memnon's turn to sigh dramatically.
"THANK you oh Oligarch of Obviousness. What's your next trick Mighty mage of Moronity?? You going to read their palms? Divine their tea leaves?!?"
"Meh. If I thought it would keep them from attacking, sure. Personally I'D settle for lighting their bandage-wrapped booties on fire. But it would help if they weren't all so spread out!"
[dice=initiative]1d20+3
"This trip has really been undead heavy," Karrin muses, "I'd sure wouldn't mind seeing more verity. Any of you Mummies secretly dadies?"
Despite the melee brewing, Alessia's response is audible.
Init
Merle will haste the group
I Want my Mummy
Merle 25 haste
Alessia 24 [pending]
Justin 18 [pending]
Martin 15 [pending]
Avrahim 12 [pending]
Frost mummies 11
Sarastra 8 [pending]
Karrin 7 [pending]
Mel 6 [pending]
The mummies begin a sonorous chant. Now that they have unlimbered themselves from their lotus positions, the party can see in the light of Justin’s spell that they are hobgoblins, and they seem to be dressed as tribal shamans. Elaborate headdresses and jewelry adorn their freeze-dried corpses. Their staves are etched in goblinoid glyphs. They are not the bandage-wrapped mummies of desert cultures, rather the mummies formed from a body exposed to extreme cold weather for millennia.
The dozen seem to be holding their positions by the platforms, keeping up their chanting