Warren ran from last week's cliffhanger to find the rest of the party who had been variously occupied with other engagements. Lucius and Cwthwn came running. Lucius, as it turns out, was perfect for the task and quickly saved his friends from the Howling Pillars using the magic of his music (150xp- Lucius). It then fell to the party to place the objects they had collected on a series of runic circles in the floor and see what would happen.
As the objects hit the floor all of the doors in the complex banged open and a series of traps were engaged. Bronx found himself being attacked by a pool of elemental water, Lucius and K'hash were attacked by roaring statues, Ralmandu had to deal with grasping undead and Warren and Cwthwn were treated to a futile clicking from the crossbow traps they had disarmed hours earlier. The doom sphere, of which they had been warned earlier, was also activated. It rolled around the inner track of the complex making getting around more difficult than one might like. The real treat though was the appearance of the guardian of the complex, a young green dragon.
All in all, it was nothing they couldn't handle. The traps were little more than a nuisance to such hardened warriors and the dragon they worried so much about was slain in one stroke by Ralmandu as the party contemplated entering the inner sanctum (proving grounds- 2700xp).
The inner sanctum proved difficult to enter. By the time the party was ready to enter the hall was clogged with the rush of demons trying desperately to get at them. three evistro carnage demons, a Barlgura and a giant skeletal minotaur were falling over themselves for a piece of the adventurers. meanwhile, in the chamber beyond, their master, Maldrick Scarmaker, was nearing completion on his great ritual. The two slaves he had ensorcelled stood waiting in a circle of runes for their horrible fate.
The battle was mighty and tested them all. As the demon onslaught continued with little remittance things began to look rather dire for the heroes. Their injuries were beginning to slow them down and the demons seemed unfazed. Try though they may the party had to watch one slave disappear in a jet of fire, consumed by the ritual. Soon thereafter the party found their reserves of energy, marshaled themselves and pressed forward slaying the demons and making relatively short work of Malrick once he was unprotected by his minions (2100 xp).
The plot was foiled and the day won. Malrick lived a spartan lifestyle aside from slaves and minions so the party was forced to be happy with a job well done, a day saved and some minor magic items. The most interesting thing on Malrick's person was a silver key which gave Ralmandu a rather cinematic vision of a secret passage off of the seven pillared hall which would take them to a "tower of mysteries". Now, with some incriminating notes about Paldemar in hand, the party sets its sights on the seven pillared hall where they hope to make sense of all they have learned.
Loot Gained:
+2 elven cloak
silver key
correspondence between Maldrick and Paldemar
Sense of accomplishment
XP Gained:
Cwthwn, Ralmandu, Warren, K'hash and Bronx- 800
Lucius- 950
No comments:
Post a Comment