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Well, I think this game is kaput. The three of us have been having a discussion, and no one else has logged on in a week's time. We had some fun while it lasted. I am familiar with Crypt of the Everflame, and intend to run it with my gaming group after we complete the Legacy of Fire Campaign - in Legacy we're on book 6 of 6 - how cool is that? So, will pass up the invitation to join. Am running another game on the Paizo boards based on the Shadowlands conversion from BlackStar Studios, and it is going very well, so will stick with that for now. So long, hope our paths cross again in another game!
I am wondering of some folks are losing interest in continuing this game, as the initial enthusiasm when we started seems to be waning badly. So, what are your feelings? We seem to have lengthy pauses where no progress occurs, and I think some players are not checking in on a regular basis. Is there an interest in continuing? Or should we fold this up and quit? Or are there still several of you interested in participating regularly, and maybe we trim the size of the group down a bit? Am interested in your thoughts...
Absalon: The creatures you see are Sinspawn, corrupted products of magic used by spellcasters in a past era as shock troops for their armies. Literally the embodiment of a sin made flesh, they are sentient abominations of distilled ectoplasm imprinted with the soul-image of slain creatures that possessed an abundance of a particular sin. In this case, the sin is Wrath, and these abbertions are Wrathspawn.
Each Wrathspawn is equipped with a ranseur. Similar in appearance to a trident, a ranseur has a single spear at its tip, flanked by a pair of short, curving blades.
Cily examines the wall, and not detecting any traps, she runs her fingers dexterously over it until she finds the means to discern a hidden doorway. There is no lock, and only requires the proper motion, and it swings silently open. It reveals a long and narrow chamber, containing niches in the walls that hold a number of statues, some of which are humanoid and some of which are clearly demonic. Murals cover the walls depicting human cultists being abused and reshaped by demonic figures. The ceiling of this black stone chamber is barrel-vaulted fifteen feet above. You can see that several humans are laying prone in the north end of the chamber, and they are being tortured by hideous creatures. The monsters are engrossed in their cruel games, gloating over their captives, and they don't seem to notice your presence. With proper planning and stealth, it is possible to surprise them.
The knowledge (dungeoneering) leads you to believe that there was some reason for the use of the cavern and pit in the religious pattern here. What that reason is remains unknown. The party winds its way back, and proceeds down the hallway in the opposite direction. Cily stops toward the end of the passage, and you can all easily see that the bloody drag marks which crossed the upper temple resumed in the lower temple. They proceed down this hallway, and then suddenly turn east and disappear east under the wall where Cily is standing!
Entering the small cave at the end of the ledge requires a tight squeeze through a rocky gap about 2 feet wide, which Cily manages with ease. Set in the small grotto is a statue carved from dark stone depicting a frightening demonic creature tearing a human apart. Tentacles wrap around the figure and others wriggle outward. Each tentacle terminates in a claw, talon, pincer, or other wicked appendage meant to inflict pain. Its circular maw contains rings of jagged teeth which grip an oddly shaped piece of black metal, held in place by a strip of leather. The metal's surface is etched with symbols, and it is shaped like the right cheek guard of a helmet.
Cily and Siofra climb 15 feet down the ladder safely and end up on the ledge overlooking the pit. The large chasm is 30 feet deep, and its floor contains a layer of sharp, jagged rocks. Winding around the south edge of the pit is a narrow ledge (2 feet wide) that curves around and disappears into the far rock face. It is a DC 15 Acrobatics skill check to safely navigate the narrow ledge.
Boyhi grips his powerful hammer and attacks the wall with a vengeance! Bits of rock fly in all directions, and soon chunks of stone come loose and roll about the floor. With a mighty crash, the wall comes tumbling down... Behind the broken-down wall, a cave is revealed. Around the perimeter of the cave, suspended upside down from above are more brutalized corpses similar to those in the previous chambers. As air eddies out from the cave, carrying with it an unsettling odor of ancient decay, the dangling mummified faces, three feet off the floor, stare back. When you reach the southeast wall of the cave, you find a ladder made up of iron rungs affixed to the rocky face. It descends 15 feet to the platform and ledge below. Further east, the platform narrows to a rocky ledge, and the floor drops off and is replaced by a 30-foot deep pit with a floor covered in sharp and jagged rocks. Winding around the lip of the pit is a precarious ledge (requires a DC 15 Acrobatics check to traverse safely).
You are doing fine. Right now the group is exploring, so thing's won't get time-sensitive until such time as an encounter occurs.
Siofra: Your knowledge of history leads you to believe that the gruesome paintings and statuary throughout this temple are from the time period of ancient Thassilon.
Thassilon was the ancient empire that encompassed all of modern Varisia and beyond. It fell into ruin at the advent of Earthfall 10,000 years ago. It was ruled over by seven runelords, extremely powerful wizards who employed Thassilonian sin magic. Bakrakhan was the province of Alaznist, Runelord of Wrath, and Xin-Bakrakhan was her capital city. Hollow Mountain, which broods over the ruins of Xin-Bakrakhan, is thought to hide endless subterranean spaces filled with wealth and danger. Some believe Alaznist herself is hidden within its unplumbed depths. Alaznist was known to have favorites whom she gifted with powerful magic items of her own creation. Many of these minions are known to have been in Xin-Bakrakhan when disaster struck.
The wall decorations of cultists engaged in horrific rituals continue into this large chamber. Ages-old blood stains the floor and walls in dusty flakes. A mosaic similar to the one in the temple above covers the floor. You notice that the center 10 foot portion of the western wall is a doorway barricade of irregular stone held in place with dried clay. It can be broken down to reveal what is on the other side.
As Cily enters the northern hallway she discovers that its entire length contains, on a raised platform, leathery brown statues of withered and emaciated humans poised as though attentively observing passersby. The statues have a grim appearance. After close examination you realize that they are actually petrified corpses of sacrificial victims. Cily's lantern illuminates the hallway enough that you can determine there is a chamber at the west end, with the same mosaic pattern on the floor as on the floor of the upper temple.
The ceiling of the chamber at the bottom of the shaft is ten feet above, and its walls are covered with fading frescoes depicting a parade of cultists engaged in grisly acts of self-mutilation involving knives, scourges, and more bizarre implements. The depiction of the ground beneath the repugnant pageant seems to be composed of thick, snake-like tentacles whose appendages and tooth-filled orifices lick greedily at the blood cascading down from the cult figures. To the east, debris from a smashed wall is scattered, spilling into the hall. You peer into the hallway: To the north, on a raised platform, stand leathery brown statues of withered and emaciated humans poised as though attentively observing passersby. The statues have a grim, realistic appearance, and each one is flayed and modified in a unique way. To the south, the hall appears to turn west at the end of the corridor.
Cily and Merklii walk over to the northern doorway and look around. This small, irregularly-shaped room contains little more than debris from the smashed barrier, ages-old dust, and a shaft descending into the darkness. The drag marks on the floor lead to the shaft. The stones and dried clay that made up this wall have been smashed out, much like the one encountered at the portico. The 5-foot square shaft descends 30 feet to the undertemple below. On the southwest wall of the shaft, iron rungs form a ladder providing an easy means of descending deeper into the temple complex (DC 5 Climb check). There is no illumination coming from below, so the shaft and whatever is at the bottom are in total darkness...
Boyhi and Cily: Aside from the smaller statue, the room does not contain any other objects.
Cily does not detect any traps on or around the large statue of the qlippoth. You are pretty certain that if you were able to climb on the statue depicting the qlippoth, with a little work you could pry many of the gemstones loose and take them with you. You also see that the item tied to one of the statue's tentacles with a red ribbon appears to be made of gold. It looks like a helmet component similar to the one Cily removed from the other statue in the southern room.
Girdark: You are pretty certain that if you were able to climb on the statue depicting the qlippoth lord Yamasoth, with a little work you could pry many of the gemstones loose and take them with you. You also see that the item tied to one of the statue's tentacles with a red ribbon appears to be made of gold.
Absalon's knowledge and perception is able to determine the following: The subject of the statue is qlippoth lord Yamasoth. The tentacle-like carvings around the temple entrance and upon the pillars mimic those of the statue. The qlippoth have endured longer than most other forms of life—perhaps longer than any form of life. Doubtless, those that exist today in the deeper parts of the Abyss are different than those that existed before the Abyss became infested with demons, who served so well to strip the Abyss of its previous dominant race and turn back the qlippoth tide. Yet still, in the varied shapes and shades of their forms and the tremendous monstrosity of their hunger, the qlippoth endure. They long to reclaim control of the Abyss, to realize revenge against the daemons, and to extinguish all demonic life, yet their primary goal is nothing less than the destruction of all mortals. For without mortality, sin itself will die, and the demon host will starve to death and be no more. The basin in the rear of the temple is 5 feet deep and looks as if it were filled with blood at one time, but now the only evidence of that remaining are the flakes of rust-red dried blood forming piles of dust in the basin. From this position, however, you can see that the drag marks which started outside the temple and traverse the atrium travel through the broken doorway to the north. The statue's eyes are represented by dozens of gemstones. The item tied to the statue tentacle by red ribbons looks like a helmet component similar to the one Cily removed from the other statue in the southern room.
Cily carefully maneuvers around the statue, studying it. She finds a means to disable the trap, and, despite her short size, is able to clamber up and remove the strange mask. It is made of iron and covered in etchings of complicated sigils. The mask appears to be made of multiple parts, to include brow and nose guard, left and right cheek guards, and a jaw guard. The face under the mask is mundane. At the rear of the hall, standing at the center of the pool, you can see the eighteen-foot-tall marble statue of a strange being. Its body is a tangle of tentacles and eyes surrounding a circular maw filled with jagged teeth and barbed stinging tongues. Each of the thing’s tentacles ends in a claw, pincer, hook, or some other implement of pain. Ancient paint flakes from the grand effigy, but glittering in the light are dozens of onyx gemstones adorning the statue where the being’s eyes are carved. It appears that something glittering and gold in color is strapped to one of the writhing appendages with red silk ribbons.
Cily examines the door, and not finding it trapped or locked, opens it. At the southeastern corner of this room is a gruesome statue of a man. He is bare chested; scars, brands, and seeping wounds cover his exposed flesh. He stands with arms crossed, hands gripped tightly like a penitent. Blood oozes from his lacerations and he grits his teeth as though in excruciating pain, though the corners of his mouth turn up slightly, suggesting he derives some wicked pleasure from this perversion of his flesh. A strange mask made of iron covers the statue’s face, the metal etched with complicated sigils. A broad belt made of leather and adorned with copper disks girds the statue’s waist. Cily determines that the statue is trapped in some way, to prevent removal of the mask.
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