The Crystal Dominion - Session 9 Summary
The Heroes:
RedEye - A sayune darkwalker with rogue skills and a very specific set of spell abilities.
Eiran - An elven ranger and archer with a gift for communicating with animals.
N'sahd - A human wizard, born without vocal chords, who casts all his spells silently.
Tristan - A knight in shining armor, man of honor and courage, and a skilled swordsman.
Alan - A human arcanologist... a magic tinkerer with a keen ability to "reprogram" spells and magic items.
The Story:
Our intrepid party of adventurers were standing in the smoking and flaming wreckage of a small altar chamber in the subterranean level beneath Boss Vorgan's mansion. N'sahd, the party wizard, had just fireballed it (along with the enemy priest who was fleeing toward the altar).
The party continued to search through the wreckage of the altar looking for things that weren't destroyed by the fireball. In the corner of the room, they found a nice suit of armor, a mace, a pair of boots and a holy symbol of Barrinor all piled together.
As they searched, they heard a voice calling out from somewhere else in the cavern. The voice said "This way... this way to the light of Barrinor!" Before they could respond, they heard the sounds of heavy booted feet on the cavern floor and the jingle of armor. The footsteps seemed to be coming closer. Within moments, a very fat man with long stringy, greasy hair came jogging around the corner and into the hallway just outside the altar chamber. He was wearing half plate armor and had a stout blade in his hand. He abruptly stopped with a shocked look on his face when he saw the party and the remains of the altar.
The party wasted no time and swarmed around the poor fat fool before he knew what hit him. Alan let loose a fiery blast from his metal staff. Eiran drew the string of his elven bow and fired an arrow. Eiran choose a magical "stun arrow" from his quiver. The arrow hit the fat man in the chest. The magic of the arrow enveloped him in a brief aura of blue energy, but the energy quickly fizzled and dissipated. Alan and N'sahd both recognized this effect... this fat man, whoever he was, was resistant to magic. They had both seen spells fail in this manner before against certain types of magically resistant creatures.
Tristan advanced and traded sword blows with the fat man. Within seconds, the man was on the ground, burned, shot and stabbed. They searched his body and found several unremarkable personal items, a pouch of silver, etc. They also found a wand tucked into his belt. N'sahd put this in his pack.
Throughout this short battle, the voice from further in had continued to call out to them. "Enemies of Vorgan, to me. This way to the light of Barrinor".
They followed the short tunnel into the next chamber. The tunnel opened up into a large cavern which was clearly set up as a prison. A number of cages and cells were arranged around the cavern wall. Manacles and chains hung from the ceiling and walls. The prison had 12 cells and seven were occupied. Most of the prisoners were lying down on straw matted cell floors, either asleep, sick, injured or dead. The seventh prisoner, however, was standing up and his hands were wrapped around the bars of his cell. He was a human man in his 30s. Standing directly in front of his cell, facing him like a jailor taunting a prisoner, was one of the strange skeletal creatures. Like the others, this one had armor bolted directly to bone. It held a shield and sword at the ready. A cold blue light was coming from within its exposed rib cage. The creature made no move and ignored the party when they entered the chamber. It stood quietly in front of the seventh prisoner's cell.
The blue light inside the skeleton was coming from a drellisite crystal. The drellisite crystal creates an anti-magic zone around it. Spells will not function near such a crystal. These crystals, expensive and rare, are often employed to keep spell casters in check. N'sahd and Alan knew immediately what the blue light was. They both felt the crushing weight of the crystal's energy deadening their magic before they even entered the room. N'sahd choose to stay out of the prison cavern and keep a distance from the crystal. He stayed back near the body of the fat man they had slain. Alan, on the other hand, had gone in to the prison with the rest of the party.
Alan grabbed a ring of keys off the wall and started freeing prisoners. The first prisoner he released was a grum thief.
"Do you want your freedom?" Alan asked the grum.
"Yes, gentle lord, please, let me go"
"Then prove yourself. Take this dagger and slay the skeleton".
He handed the grum a dagger. The grum, hesitated only for a second, and then leapt onto the back of the skeleton and began stabbing it.
Once the grum attacked the skeleton, it began attacking the party. It attacked Tristan first, what it perceived to be the biggest threat. As the knight and the skeleton fought, Alan freed the next prisoner... a hulking ogre warrior. This ogre had the symbol of Vorgan's house branded into his shoulder. The party questioned him. He was a guard who had fallen asleep and was spending 2 weeks in a cell as punishment. Alan freed him and the ogre walked out, heading back toward the cave entrance far from the mansion.
The skeleton badly wounded Tristan before the party was able to defeat it. Tristan slumped to the ground, gushing blood from a terrible chest wound. He was having difficulty breathing.
The prisoner in the seventh cell, the one the skeleton had been guarding, told the party that he was a priest of Barrinor and a powerful healer. "My name is Rikhaal and I can heal your friend. Let me out so that I can save him".
The party agreed. They dragged the skeleton back into the altar chamber (even though the skeleton was defeated, the crystal embedded within his rib cage was still shining brightly and deadening magic). Once the skeleton's body was far away, the flow of magic returned. Rikhaal cast a healing spell and the gash on the knight's chest slowly closed and stopped bleeding.
They asked Rikhaal how he had come to be in the prison here. He told them a story of how he and two fellow priests of Barrinor had snuck in here to investigate rumors that a powerful necromantic priest had taken up with Boss Vorgan. Apparently the rumors were true. They had discovered that a priest named Karushka had joined with Vorgan. This Karushka was an evil man who dabbled in dark magic and foul necromancy. He had recently found an ancient and evil book that had instructed him how to build an altar and make contact with a foul nether fiend named Grulmosk. Karushka had convinced Boss Vorgan and his lieutenants to take up the worship of Grumosk. They had been sending live prisoners through the altara (which also functioned as a gateway) through to the other side for Grulmosk to feed on. Grulmosk, in turn, favored Karushka with spells of necromancy. He also granted Karushka with "unlife" so that he would be neither living nor dead, but half way between. This granted him great strength, many resistances and immunities and such. Seeing the benefits, Boss Vorgan and many of his officers and lieutenants asked for this gift and it was granted. Now, at least a half dozen people within the mansion are the "living dead". They appear human, though their skin is pale, their eyes, sunken. But they are stronger than either.
Alan and N'sahd suspected that the fat man (who Rikhaal informed them was the prison master) had been one of these "living dead". That might account for his remarkable resistance to magic. If all of the living dead here were resistant to magic, the party would have to be careful. Their spells might be less effective than usual.
Impressed by his story and by his display of potent healing, the party discussed whether or not they should bring him along. After a short discussion, they decided to ask him to join them on a temporary basis. They had given him his freedom and they felt he owed them some service. Rikhaal said that clearly the party was placed in his path by Barrinor and he dare not refuse this opportunity to smite those who would consort with demons. He gladly accepted their offer and promised that his healing magic would keep them safe from harm while they conducted their mission here in the mansion. They did not inform him entirely off their mission, only that they were here to steal a specific object. And so, Rikhaal joined the group.
There was a small chamber just off of the prison room. Rikhaal told the party it was the private quarters and office of the prison master. They decided to take a quick look. While exploring the room, N'sahd opened up a clay jar (from which a strange slimy bubbling sound was coming) and several six inch maggot like creatures (bore worms) sprung out. Four of them got out before he could clamp the lid back on. One began boring into his cheeks. Another one jumped onto N'sahd's robes. Two others went after Eiran and Tristan.
Thinking quickly, N'sahd fired three magic missiles, at the two on him and the one on Tristan. The other was quickly killed by a sword stroke from Eiran.
They searched the room, took a potion. RedEye took a salve. He identified it as a unique alchemical brew – an acidic poison concoction. He took it and stowed it in the empty wine bottle that N'sahd had (from earlier).
They left and returned to the altar room. Rikhaal searched the room.
The armor and mace found earlier in the altar room were his. He recovered his armor and weapon. He also found his haversack and wand. It seemed that all of his scrolls and potions had been destroyed.
The group proceeded upstairs. At the top of the stairs, the party stopped at a large oak door and listened. They heard a soft snore near by. Probably a guard. RedEye spent a few seconds using his life sense ability. Closing his eyes, he concentrated... and was able to sense all life forms in the area. He found the locations of a number of people scattered throughout the first level. There was one life form in the corridor on the other side of the door. Most likely the guard they heard snoring. Another pair of life forms where close to each other in the throne room across the hall.
RedEye slowly opened the door to look at the dog. At the end of the hallway, laying on a cushion, was a large dog. Although the dog was asleep, the party couldn't chance waking it. N'sahd cast a sleep spell on the dog and it sunk into a deep magical slumber. RedEye crept down the corridor and slit the dog's throat.
The party then snuck into the parlor, which was adjoined to the throne room. In there they discussed what to do. RedEye used his ethereal sight to peer through the wall. In the throne room there was an orc guard and a slave girl. It looked like the orc was going to rape the girl. The party burst into the throne room to rescue her. Eiran fired an arrow and hit the orc in the head, killing him with one shot.
The dead orc slumped forward. The girl, grabbing her clothes, staggered to her feet and backed up. Rihkaal spoke to her soothingly and quickly calmed her. They questioned the girl. She said she was one of many slaves and indentured servants working for Boss Vorgan. She turned the questions back on her rescuers and asked who they were. Tristan explained that they were not there to hurt her. They were looking for a specific painting. They described it to her. She said she knew the painting. She was fairly certain that it was hanging on the other side of the mansion, in either the library or the dining hall.
Alan took an interest in a heavy arm bracelet she was wearing. The thing was iron, with glyphs inscribed in it. It looked like it must have been burned onto her. She explained to Alan that all the slaves and indentured servants, and there were many, had the bracelets. They allowed the head wizard working for Vorgan to track them, to prevent them from leaving, and to punish them with pain for disobedience. Alan began working on the bracelet in hopes that he could undo it from her wrist without alerting the wizard.
Meanwhile, N'sahd had separated from the group and gone down to check out the dining room and library to see if he could find the painting. He heard someone mumbling softly in the dining room. He slipped open the door. A young man dressed in wizard's robes was seated at a large table in the dining room. He had the look of an apprentice about him. A half eaten plate of food and wine goblet were next to a pile of notes spread out on the table before him. The apprentice wizard looked up from this notes at the sound of the door opening. N'sahd cast his sleep spell again. The apprentice slumped forward.
N'sahd wasted no time. He crept over to the now slumbering young wizard. He looked at the notes... they were the text for a spell. N'sahd quickly gathered the notes and stuffed them into his robe. He then pulled out a knife and slit the wizard's throat. As he sawed into the wizard's throat, a door opened up. In walked a HUGE muscle bound ogre. He wore a blood splattered leather apron and had a blade on his belt. He carried a plate of steaming food.
N'sahd froze, caught in the act. Thinking quickly he cast a color spray spell at the ogre. A riot of colored beams lashed out from his palm and washed over the ogre. When the colored light faded, the ogre was still standing, apparently unaffected by the minor spell.
The ogre slowly set the plate of food down and folded his arms. The ogre looked from the N'sahd to the dead apprentice.
"I never did like him"
Astonished, N'sahd then noticed the symbol of house Vorgan burned into the ogre's shoulder and also the bracelet on his arm that marked him as a slave. The two parlayed for awhile. It turned out that the ogre was the cook in the mansion. He had no love for his owners and felt no need to pity the apprentice wizard.
N'sahd asked about the painting the party sought. The ogre said he knew where it was, but in exchange for the info, he wanted to be taken with them. He wanted his freedom. N'sahd agreed. The two returned to the throne room and met up with the rest of the party.
The entire party, including the newly released healer Rihkaal and the ogre cook and the slave girl, are all in the throne room.
Alan was successful in removing the slave girl's bracelet and then removed the ogre's slave bracelet. This was a gesture of good will that the ogre could trust the party and that they were going to keep their end of the bargain.
The ogre explained that, in preparation for the dinner party in two evenings, several of the paintings had been rearranged around the mansion. In addition, several were taken up to the master's suite. The painting they were looking for was one of them. He told them that there were only two guards on duty on the upper level. However, all of the officers, Vorgan, the wizard and the captain of the guard had their private quarters on the upper level.
The ogre introduced himself as Koeglur and he swore an oath... that he would fight with the party and bleed for them... in exchange for them taking him with them. The party readily agreed.
And this is where we ended Session 9.
Since the party has the floorplans of the mansion, they know that the two guards are stationed at the top of the stairs. The party has decided that Rikhaal will use a silence spell and that they will storm the guard post all together and overwhelm the guards.
Their hope is that, with the aid of the silence spell, they will be able to take out the two guards without a single sound.
Addendum: Alan took a Drellisite crystal from the skeleton and safely secured it in a lead container (found in the ruined temple). He mumbled something about using it to make a Death Ray :)