It Came from Hollow Mountain

Game Master DEREK LANE 127

"Zis is a dead end. We will go back to za ozzer room to explore za ozzer passage."

Nasir heads back to the room with the broken carts with his sword and shield out, ready of anything.

Hatfield follows

"Zis is a dead end. We will go back to za ozzer room to explore za ozzer passage."

Nasir heads back to the room with the broken carts with his sword and shield out, ready of anything.

Nasir returns to the intersection of the abandoned carts and looks to his right down the hallway. After 30ft it turns right/north.

Ezranadir follows Nasir and says, "We should wait for Ayita and Frantino to continue to check for traps. Just in case."

"Ayita just went down the shaft and loaded all the ore for us on her own. I'll give her a break and take the lead for the moment."

Frantino will stealthily move down the hallway to the west and then north.

Perception: 1d20 + 15 - 1 ⇒ (16) + 15 - 1 = 30 +1 for traps
Stealth: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23

I moved my marker about 40' north so far, will keep moving if nothing noted.

Ayita can auto-assist on the trap search.

Ayita and Frantino find no traps, but Frantino notices a wide open door in the wall. A "secret" door that has been left opened. The door leads to a 15ft hallway east which then turns north, opening into a large room.

Assuming Frantino walks down hall, turns, looks into room...

The walls of the chamber are carved from deep-green marble with a domed ceiling twenty feet above. A ten-foot-long pool filled with crystal-clear water occupies the chamber, with what looks like the bronze frame of a gate set at the head of the waters. A slight shimmer in the air is visible where the gate itself would be, and the frame is etched with lines of script. Now and then, what appear to be brief images of people or monsters flicker within the frame, only to vanish an instant later.

I moved my marker about 40' north so far, will keep moving if nothing noted.

You stopped your movement right at a secret door that was supposed to be open, but for some reason was left closed. It is now open. You may proceed.

Moving to the intersection behind Frantino

Frantino goes into the room just enough to be able to see the pool and gate. He looks at the ground to see if the tracks we saw coming this way enter and exit the room.

Perception: 1d20 + 15 - 1 ⇒ (16) + 15 - 1 = 30

"Hey guys, looks like we found a dimensional gate, perhaps the same one that leads to the Underflume beneath Roderick's Cove. Given our experience at the other gate, this may take us a while to analyze and deactivate. Whoever came this way isn't in this room, should we check further down the hallway first?"

"Since we know za gate to za Underflume beneath Roderick's Cove is one way only, I agree we should check further in zis complex."

Frantino goes into the room just enough to be able to see the pool and gate. He looks at the ground to see if the tracks we saw coming this way enter and exit the room.

[dice=Perception]1d20 + 15 - 1

"Hey guys, looks like we found a dimensional gate, perhaps the same one that leads to the Underflume beneath Roderick's Cove. Given our experience at the other gate, this may take us a while to analyze and deactivate. Whoever came this way isn't in this room, should we check further down the hallway first?"

There are boot prints leading into the portal.

While examining the room, Frantino watches the images flickering in the portal. He catches glimpses of fleshdregs, a hydraggon qlippoth, and the sinspawn Mozamer now and then, mixed in with that of a mutated man with a tentacle growing from his back. The mutated man is accompanied by a hulking thug dressed much like the barbarian cultists previously fought outside the upper building. The man and his fellow step into a room with a giant stone face of the Runelord Alaznist looking at them. It is clear that the mutated man and his companion step into a different sort of room than the familiar Underflume that Mozamer can be seen transporting into.

Roscoe follows along until his ears stop ringing, then he remembers that he hasn't yet thanked Doc for the healing.

"Thanks for always having our back, friend," he says.

Looking at the flickering portal, he says "Did we ever figure out if there's a good way to disable these things?" he asks.

"Zis in not my area of exbertise, Roscoe Elring. I leave zat to za more magically inclined.

We should make sure that we will not be followed if we go zrough zis bortal. Fighting in two directions at za same time is...difficult. Let us see if we can quickly secure za rest of zis level and then chase after zose people in za bortal."

Frantino tells them about the images he saw.

"Since I saw Mozamer go through, this must be the portal we want to close, but there are more recent images, too. Ayita, does it seem like the tracks in the dust indicate that two people recently entered the room but didn't leave, at least not through the door?"

"I agree, let's make sure there are no more threats near here. We may even find more of Mozamer's notes and figure out how to manipulate or shut this portal down, he did seem very thorough in that respect, for a murderous sinspawn. After that, I'd like to take a minute and do a ruin reading of this room and get a sense of the history of this place. It's been a while since I last used this ability."

Ayita examines the tracks carefully. She casts "guidance" on herself first. She asks Ter to "assist" her.

Ayita tracking attempt: 1d20 + 10 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (12) + 10 + 1 - 4 = 19

Ter attempt to assist on tracking: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22

Ayita examines the tracks carefully. She casts "guidance" on herself first. She asks Ter to "assist" her.

[dice=Ayita tracking attempt]1d20+10+1-4

[dice=Ter attempt to assist on tracking]1d20+6

Ayita examines the ground, finding two sets of boot prints leading into the portal. From what she can see, there are no prints leading OUT of the portal.

It looks like two humanoids with boots went in, none came out. How do these portals work again? Feels like years since we ran into one!

;-)

She begins to search the walls for activating mechanisms, other traps, anything unusual that could be important.

Ayita trap search: 1d20 + 16 + 2 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (2) + 16 + 2 + 1 - 4 = 17

At the mention of finding the gate, Ezranadir comes forward to view and inspect the gate. He listens to what Frantino relates about it.

Is there any type of knowledge checks we can make?

"Do we want to make sure there are no other threats near here before we take the time to analyze this portal? Since Mozamer went through this gate he may have left some notes behind that could help us."

Whether it's now or after we finish exploring (hopefully after), Frantino will take out his notes and Mozamer's scribbles that we found in the Underflume beneath Roderic's Cove and see what Ezranadir can decipher while he begins his ruin reading. Ezranadir would have already heard most of this when we briefed the Council in Magnimar but it's good to review now that we're in front of a portal. I also forgot about the book under the bed, perhaps he knows the language?

The heroes walk into the hallway towards the orange glow.

The runes inscribed on the walls in Thassilonian: All Hail the Mother of Wrath, Queen of Ire, Runelord Alaznist! May she whip us bloody for our patheticness! We will delight in the pain her wrath imposes upon us! We will cry out in honor and ask "May we have another, please, Lady!" Alaznist, greatest of Runelords, Lady of the Hellflumes, Destroyer of Her Enemies, Mistress of Anger and Hatred. She is just the super duper best and we love it when she smacks us!
It goes on and on. Words of praise and adoration for Alaznist and her wrath, directed at others, at the praisers, her people, at everybody, etc. etc.
The runic inscriptions spiral along the walls until they encircle a glowing orange space upon the south wall. You can see the wall through the glowing circle of runes. The adoring inscription at the glowing wall changes to say "Let Her power flow from the Forges of Wrath within great Hollow Mountain to us here. May we be graced with the opportunity to return there and bow before Her."
Perhaps if you put your hand through...

Frantino studies it carefully and realizes that this is a magical portal that currently only functions one way. Creatures arrive here from somewhere else, but they can't use the portal to exit the area.

While this portal cannot be destroyed or closed from this side without powerful magic, its malfunctioning nature suggests that the hub at the far side is damaged and likely susceptible to destruction.
The low glow of the portal suggests that it isn't active right now. Frantino guesses that it is slowly recharging.

(in Thassilonian) It is apparent from the writings that the intellectual problem of repairing the portal is posing difficulty for Mozamer, but nonetheless he’s had some success drawing in several fleshdregs, a hydraggon qlippoth, and even a sinspawn from various locations under Hollow Mountain. One particularly worrisome note indicates that if the source portal “in the Forges of Wrath” could be infused with more magical power before it succumbs entirely to decay, then Mozamer could potentially rebuild a larger network of portals throughout western Varisia.

A book filled with writing rests under the bed. None of you recognize the language in which it is written.

Summary:
તેના ઘણા પાપોના બંધુઓની જેમ, મોઝામર હોલો માઉન્ટેનના વિશાળ અંધાર કોટડીમાં લાંબું જીવન જીવ્યો. હોલો માઉન્ટેનના એક વિભાગની શોધખોળ કરતી વખતે, તેની જાત લાંબા સમયથી ડરતી પરંપરાથી દૂર રહી હતી, મોઝામર એક નાના મંદિરમાંથી યામાસોથ અને એક વિચિત્ર તોરણ તરફ આવ્યો જે અન્ય જગ્યાએ જાદુઈ બારી તરીકે સેવા આપતો હતો. આ વિંડો દ્વારા, મોઝામર એક અલગ અંધારકોટડી સંકુલમાં તપાસ કરી શકે છે. મોઝામર અંદર મહાન શક્તિનો અહેસાસ કરી શકે છે, અને વિન્ડો આગળ અભ્યાસ અને ધ્યાન કરતા અઠવાડિયા પસાર કર્યા પછી, તેને સમજાયું કે તે શું નિરીક્ષણ કરી રહ્યો છે - રનલોર્ડ એલાઝનિસ્ટના સુપ્રસિદ્ધ હેલસ્ટોર્મ ફ્લુમ્સમાંથી એક નીચે સ્થિત એક સંકુલ સંકુલ!
આશ્ચર્યચકિત થઈને, મોઝામરે હેલસ્ટોર્મ ફ્લુમની શક્તિનો ઉપયોગ કેવી રીતે કરી શકે તે અંગે યોજના બનાવવાનું શરૂ કર્યું, તેમ છતાં જાદુઈ બારીના દૃશ્યએ તેને ટોણો મારતા તે નિરાશ થઈ ગયો. તેણે હોલો માઉન્ટેનની અન્ય પહોંચની શોધખોળ શરૂ કરી અને આશ્ચર્યજનક કંઈક શોધી કા—્યું - જે વિન્ડો તેણે શોધી કાી હતી તે મૂળ પોર્ટલના જોડાયેલા નેટવર્કનો એક ભાગ હતો જે તમામ હેલસ્ટોર્મ ફ્લુમ્સ વચ્ચે ઝડપી મુસાફરીની મંજૂરી આપે છે. ઘણા વર્ષો દરમિયાન, મોઝામરે ખામીયુક્ત નેટવર્કના જાદુનો અભ્યાસ કર્યો. તે સમજી શક્યો નહીં કે શા માટે પોર્ટલ લાંબા સમય સુધી કામ કરી રહ્યા નથી (એ હકીકતનું પરિણામ છે કે તમામ હેલસ્ટ્રોમ ફ્લુમ્સ લાંબા સમયથી નાશ પામ્યા હતા - તે સમયે મોઝામર માટે અજ્ unknownાત હકીકત), પરંતુ તેને લાગ્યું કે તે નુકસાનને સુધારવા માટે નજીક છે.
પછી, તમામ અવરોધો સામે, મોઝામર તેના કાર્યમાં સફળ થયો અને પોર્ટલને તેની લાંબી sleepંઘમાંથી જગાડ્યો. તેણે પવનને સાવચેતી આપી અને પોર્ટલ મારફતે અન્ડરફ્લુમમાં કૂદકો લગાવ્યો, માત્ર એટલું મોડું સમજાયું કે તેનું પોર્ટલ માત્ર એક જ રીતે સક્રિય થયું છે. તે હોલો માઉન્ટેન પર પાછો ફરી શક્યો નહીં, અને પોર્ટલને સુધારવા માટે તેણે જે સાધનોનો ઉપયોગ કર્યો હતો તે હવે પહોંચની બહાર છે, જેટલું અન્ડરફ્લુમે પોતે આટલા લાંબા સમય સુધી રાખ્યું હતું.
પરિસ્થિતિને શ્રેષ્ઠ બનાવવાની આશામાં, મોઝામરે અન્ડરફ્લુમની શોધ કરી અને છેવટે, રાત્રિના આવરણ હેઠળ, એક ગુપ્ત દરવાજા દ્વારા ક્રીકસાઇડ ટેવરના સ્ટોરરૂમમાં depthંડાણમાંથી ઉતરી ગયો, જે વીશીના માલિકને પણ ખબર ન હતી. સ્ટોરરૂમની અંદર, મોઝામર પ્રથમ તાજા રચાયેલી હોર્નેડ ફેંગ્સ ગેંગના નેતા જાનાને મળ્યો. તે નશામાં હતી અને ફ્લેલીફ પર highંચી હતી, તેથી તેણીએ સ્ટોરરૂમના ભોંયરામાંથી આગળ વધતી એક ઘૃણાસ્પદ વસ્તુ લીધી. મોઝામરે માનવનું કદ નક્કી કર્યું, આશ્ચર્ય થયું કે તેણીને મારી નાખવી કે તેની અવગણના કરવી, જ્યારે તેણે કોલરબોન પાસે તેના ડાબા પેક્ટોરલ પર ટેટૂ કરેલું પરિચિત ચિહ્ન જોયું - ક્રોધ માટે થેસિલોનિયન પ્રતીક.
મોઝામરને રસ હતો કે માણસ આ પ્રતીક પહેરશે. થેસિલોનિયનમાં નશામાં ધૂત વ્યક્તિને ફુસફૂસી કરવાથી કોઈ જવાબ મળ્યો નહીં, તેથી મોઝામરે અક્લો તરફ વળ્યા. જેમ જેમ તેણે જાનાના ચહેરાને મૂંઝવણના અતિશયોક્તિભર્યા પ્રદર્શનમાં જોયો, તેણે તેનું ગળું સાફ કર્યું અને તેણીને એકમાત્ર અન્ય ભાષામાં સંબોધિત કરી જે તે જાણે છે - વેરિસિયન - અને જના સમજી ગયા.
“એવું લાગે છે કે આ સ્થળ રાત માટે શાંત છે. શું તમને બીજું પીણું ગમશે? " તેણે પૂછ્યું, ભોંયરું માટે હેચ ખોલીને અને જાનાને અનુસરવા માટે ઇશારો કર્યો.
તે તેને પ્રાચીન થેસિલોન સુવિધાના ભૂતપૂર્વ રાજદૂત વિભાગમાં નીચે લાવ્યો. જાદુઈ રીતે સચવાયેલા લાઉન્જમાં, મોઝામરે જાનાને ઉપરના શહેર અને વિશ્વની વર્તમાન સ્થિતિ વિશે વિગતો માટે પૂછ્યું. જ્યારે તેણે જોયું હતું કે હેલસ્ટોર્મ ફ્લુમનો નાશ થઈ ગયો છે તે જાણીને નિરાશ થઈ ગયા, મોઝામરે તેની યોજનાઓને ઝડપથી પુનર્વિચારણા કરી, તેને લાગ્યું કે જાના તેની ભવ્ય યોજનામાં શું લાવી શકે તે સાથે કામ કરે છે. તેણે તેણીને તેના સંગઠન અંગે પૂછપરછ કરી, પૂછ્યું કે કેટલા શિંગડાવાળા ફેંગે તેણીને શપથ લીધા હતા અને જો તે ઉપરનું શહેર સંભાળવામાં ખૂબ આક્રમક હોય તો તેને સામનો કરી શકે તેવા સંભવિત સંઘર્ષોનો સામનો કરવો પડશે. તેણે ઝડપથી શોધી કા્યું કે તે જનના ઉકળતા ક્રોધને એક સાધનમાં બદલી શકે છે જે તેના કારણને મદદ કરશે. તેમના નેતૃત્વમાં, જનાએ તેનો વિરોધ કરનારાઓને કચડી નાખ્યા અને શહેરનો કબજો મેળવવા અને તેને તેની ઇચ્છા મુજબ વાળવા માટે ઉભો થયો - અથવા તો તેને આશા હતી.

"Now that I'm looking back through these and given the visions that I just glimpsed in the portal, it seems that Mozamer and most of the monsters we killed went through to the Underflume, but the deformed man and his cannibal bodyguard went to a different location. It seems that someone figured out how to retune the portal to different locations, finishing the project that Mozamer wasn't able to complete in his efforts to build a network of portals throughout Varisia. This is troubling and really makes it vital that we destroy or disable this portal. We may have to find this other person and make sure that he doesn't spread this knowledge to others."

Ezranadir does not understand the language in which the book is written.

Ter hops down next to the studying Frantino. Ayita is busy searching; Ter is wondering if her linguistics classes covered anything related... maybe she saw a sample of this language somewhere; she feels she is a better reader than Ayita but doesn't think the big mammals take her seriously.

Ter linguistics: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19

Ter hops down next to the studying Frantino. Ayita is busy searching; Ter is wondering if her linguistics classes covered anything related... maybe she saw a sample of this language somewhere; she feels she is a better reader than Ayita but doesn't think the big mammals take her seriously.

[dice=Ter linguistics]1d20+3

The book is written in Aklo.

It looks like two humanoids with boots went in, none came out. How do these portals work again? Feels like years since we ran into one!

;-)

She begins to search the walls for activating mechanisms, other traps, anything unusual that could be important.

[dice=Ayita trap search]1d20+16+2+1-4

No traps.

Knowledge-Arcana: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (18) + 15 = 33

"The images seen in the portal are harmless after-effects of portal travel." Do we want to spend further time studying it or move on to see what else is around here? I say we search on."

"I agree wiz you, Ezrandir. We can return here after everything is clear."

Hatfield nods in agreement.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 11 - 1 + 1d6 ⇒ (18) + 11 - 1 + (5) = 33

"It will take quite some time to destroy this portal, a few minutes looking around will at the least put our minds at ease that we won't be attacked. Maybe we'll find something to quickly scoop out all this water, which will deprive the portal of its power source."

Since we seem to be in agreement, Frantino moves back to the passageway and continues north. In a hushed tone, "There are some stairs here."

Perception: 1d20 + 15 - 1 ⇒ (16) + 15 - 1 = 30 +1 for traps

I agree. I'll continue north and check for traps.

Ter hops excitedly.
Aklo! That is Aklo!!! Monster words.

Ayita scouting traps, North: 1d20 + 16 + 2 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (7) + 16 + 2 + 1 - 4 = 22

Frantino heads down the stairs, assuming he and Ayita don't see any traps.

Hatfield follows the group

Frantino heads down the stairs, assuming he and Ayita don't see any traps.

No traps that either of you can find/see.

The stairs descend to a low-ceilinged, deep-green marble chamber. What appears to be a nest of rags and furs lies in the northeast corner of the room. To the south, a short flight of steps leads up to a wall of iron bars set with a large gate that blocks access to a platform. A single altar of dark-red marble stands in this alcove, with what appears to be a large brass egg balanced atop it. The altar is decorated with a strange circular rune adorned with eyes.

Ayita does another trap check before we enter the room.

trap check: 1d20 + 16 + 2 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (18) + 16 + 2 + 1 - 4 = 33

Ayita does another trap check before we enter the room.

[dice=trap check]1d20+16+2+1-4

No traps that you can see.

Frantino looks at the ground to see if there are any recent footprints down here.

Perception: 1d20 + 15 - 1 ⇒ (1) + 15 - 1 = 15

If there are none, Frantino will head in.

Frantino looks at the ground to see if there are any recent footprints down here.

[dice=Perception]1d20 + 15 - 1

If there are none, Frantino will head in.

You can see no footprints.

For anybody close enough to view the southern end of the room. Within 20ft.

Frantino muses to himself, "I wonder why the mutant guy didn't come down here before going through the portal?" He enters the room, knowing that the rest of the group is following closely behind.

Knowledge religion: 1d20 + 10 + 1d6 - 1 ⇒ (9) + 10 + (5) - 1 = 23

Knowledge religion or planes: 1d20 + 10 + 1d6 - 1 ⇒ (2) + 10 + (4) - 1 = 15 (same bonuses, unless I can roll separate checks? Knowledge planes: 1d20 + 10 + 1d6 - 1 ⇒ (12) + 10 + (1) - 1 = 22)

Knowledge religion: 1d20 + 10 + 1d6 - 1 ⇒ (13) + 10 + (2) - 1 = 24

Frantino recognizes the altar as a shrine to Yamasoth, a qlippoth lord, thanks to a flash of inspiration, but struggles to remember much else. "Doc, Ezranadir, what do you know about Yamasoth?"

Nasir is wary of this entire room and even more so after Frantino asks about what sounds like a demon name. Nasir has his sword and shield out ready to be attacked at any time.

He keeps a ready eye on the nest of rags and furs expecting something to launch out of there at any moment.

Ezranadir comes forward at the behest of Frantino and studies the altar and runes.

Knowledge: Religion: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (13) + 14 = 27

Unless I'm mistaken, it's just one check and the higher the roll the more info you know, correct? If so, Ezranadir relates all three info parts to the group.

Ezranadir comes forward at the behest of Frantino and studies the altar and runes.

[dice=Knowledge: Religion]1d20+14

Unless I'm mistaken, it's just one check and the higher the roll the more info you know, correct? If so, Ezranadir relates all three info parts to the group.

Correct. One check. Higher you roll, the more info you get. With the exception of the Planes roll. That one can be done separately if you don't have Knowledge (religion).

Ezranadir relates all three bits of info to the group.

The Altar Guardian

As Ezranadir speaks with the group, a plume of oily black and green smoke emerges from the egg-shaped censer atop the altar. From beyond the iron bars between you and the altar, a roiling demonic face manifests in the smoke.

Ahhh. Has Mozamer finally gotten around to sending me more sacrifices? I hunger!

The words sneak into your mind, directly and telepathically. The words are... gross, somehow. Like they are oily and disgusting, contaminating your brain by being injected directly into your cortex.

WAIT. You are not the normal wailing, unarmed wretches he usually sends. Where is he? Are you why he hasn't offered me sacrifices in so long?

Image available on Roll20

Roscoe ventures to talk with the wretched thing.

"He was held up," he says, "So he asked us to see what you wanted for a sacrifice and we will go get you one. Or maybe several since it's been so long. What kind of sacrifice would you like?" he asks, trying to fish for more information.

bluff: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (5) + 12 = 17

Ezranadir tries to identify what this creature is and backs up in the process.

Knowledge: Planes: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (9) + 10 = 19

I don't even see Roscoe's token any more anywhere.

Frantino also tries to puzzle out what this telepathic creature is.

Knowledge planes: 1d20 + 10 - 1 + 1d6 ⇒ (10) + 10 - 1 + (4) = 23

Knowing that he is a terrible liar, Frantino tries to keep his mouth shut and mind silent and let Roscoe do the negotiation.

Roscoe ventures to talk with the wretched thing.

"He was held up," he says, "So he asked us to see what you wanted for a sacrifice and we will go get you one. Or maybe several since it's been so long. What kind of sacrifice would you like?" he asks, trying to fish for more information.

bluff: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (5) + 12 = 17

That is an excellent idea. Runelord Angothane used to ensure I had twenty virgins. But when one of those virgins survived and became Runelord Xiren, she sacrificed Angothane to me. That was fantastic, I tell you! Delicious crying and screaming from him. Runelord Xiren was wise, though. She became cautious about who I consumed. Mostly artisans who hadn't sacrificed sufficiently to Yamasoth. Thybidos. Didn't come here a single time. Alaznist. Pfft. She sucked. Never even saw her. I was just some guardian to her.

The roiling smoke edges to the iron bars on the lip of the altar platform.

I am certainly hungry. What about the dog? A small morsel, true. But its cries of pain and death would make your Ahz-maut woman so deliciously anguished.

Ayita will save to avoid doing something stupid after the comment about murdering Yazhi: 1d20 + 3 - 4 ⇒ (19) + 3 - 4 = 18

Ayita controls herself from charging the Thing before her group can plan anything. She grips her thingsquashing hammer...

Runelord Angothane used to ensure I had twenty virgins.

Hatfield thinks very quietly to himself only: "Virgin! Aw, Shucks! Ain't no virgins here. Tha's a downright ridiculous thought."

And he slouches behind Ayita.

ROFL! :D

[dice=Ayita will save to avoid doing something stupid after the comment about murdering Yazhi]1d20+3-4

Ayita controls herself from charging the Thing before her group can plan anything. She grips her thingsquashing hammer...

I love it when the slaves work up their nerve. It makes their cries of futility and death all the more delicious.