Date:
Horasday, 29th of Molivios, 2994 AE
Weather:
Warm, sunny
Player Characters:
Ioannes Grammatikos Byzantios, Archontean cleric of Demma (Demented Avenger)
Vallium Halcyon, Archontean fighter (Greybrown)
Uvash Edzuson, Dwarven cleric of Zodarrim (Cosmo)
Vael Sunshadow, Half-Elven mage (Kyle)
Lasselanta "Chrysalis" Ashcroft, Half-Elven mercenary martial artist (ArchonShiva)
Significant NPCs:
Basil, Right for Riches employee
Akla-Chah, Rudishva AI
Remagis, recently un-petrified ancient priest of Thoth
2 imps
Giant centipede
Many beastmen
Count Skleros, beastman commander
Fear elemental
Wight
Several ghouls
Several zombies
Several Set guards
Set acolyte
Many goblins
Larakim, goblin witch doctor
Harab, goblin sub-chief
Sir Simonet, sun-scarred knight
The Plan:
- Finish exploring and searching the No Mana Zone west of the Well of Light
- Get a map from Temrin in the Goblin Market
- Clear more rooms near the Goblin Forum
What Happened:
Not wanting to give anyone else a chance to loot the no mana zone, the Right for Riches company rested, healed, identified some loot, and then headed right back to the Halls of Arden Vul the next day. This time they recruited Chrysalis, to provide more protection in areas without spells. Once again they took the Rudishva teleporter to the Cloister, then went down the secret tunnel to the slime pit room. Most of the party went through the Teleport Rug back to the Beacon, while Vael and Vallium Levitated up the shaft to the cavern north of the ruined Temple of Set. They didn't run into any trouble, and set the Rug down so everyone else could rejoin them.
The group headed east through the ruined Temple of Thoth, then south to the indoor pyramid, and used the lever on top to teleport to the other indoor pyramid on the Well of Light level. They went west, back to the No Mana Zone. Before going in, Vallium showed Vael the areas they had explored, and suggested that he try analyzing the magical baboon statue. Vael did so, and found that it was some kind of magical potion making machine, where one put the ingredients in the eye sockets and then the potion dripped out the nostrils.
They looted some jewelry and a key from a ghoul corpse, then Vallium and Chrysalis went west through the broken portcullis into the No Mana Zone. (The lack of mana was obvious because Vallium's armor got heavier and Chyrsalis's glowing staff stopped glowing.) Not liking the darkness, Vallium went back and pulled a mundane torch out of Larel's Sack, then they went back in. They explored several rooms to the north and south, finding a bunch of wrecked furniture and a few more items. Listening to a locked stone door to the west, Chysalis thought she heard a horse. Vallium tried the ghoul's key, which fit. Opening the door revealed a magically lit room with a giant pentagram on the floor, a goat standing in the pentagram making noise, an ivory coffer on the floor, and a Thothian teleportation circle in the corner with a full set of colored glass tiles lined up next to it.
Vallium and Chyrsalis spent some time examining the goat, which appeared hungry but not hostile. Suspicious, they doubled back to talk to the others, then had everyone else step through the Rug back to the Beacon. They went back to the pentagram room and put the Rug down so everyone else could join them, without walking through the No Mana Zone and losing their Bless and Continual Light spells.
Vael cast Mage Sight and saw that the goat was magical, probably not a real goat. It tried stealing his food. He also noticed a rat they hadn't spotted before, also magical. After a lot of poking around, the goat tried biting Vael and he Blinked away, then Vallium stabbed it, and the dead goat transformed into a dead imp. They also killed the rat, which was also an imp. With both imps dead, they turned their attention to the coffer. It was magical, and Vael avoided touching it and instead used Apportation to stick it in a bag.
The Thothian teleporation circle with the glass squares lined up next to it had a shimmering field, unlike the other similar teleporters they had seen. Vallium experimented by removing one of the colored glass squares, and the field went away a few seconds later. He put the square back and the field came back. Using a combination of Scry Gate spells and a Returning Pebble with Continual Light and Trace on it, they tried every combination of colored glass squares they had found, and noted where each combination went. They recognized one location as the Thothian shrine with the pneuma, which they thought was a safe place to try, so Vael and Vallium set the squares to that location then picked them up and went through the teleporter. This worked, and they found themselves in the shrine. There they put the squares in the order that went with the pentagram room, waited for the teleport field to appear, picked up the squares, and teleported back. Now that they had figured out how to use the teleporters, they decided to visit one where Vael had spotted unguarded treasure.
Unfortunately, after everyone teleported through, they didn't see any treasure. Vael's Scry Gate spell had misled him. They just saw a room with ugly yellow paint on the walls. A few seconds later an elderly beastman guard ran in and started yelling about intruders. Vael said that they were friends, not invaders, and accidentally hit a teleport trap. The beastman got his sergeant, who got Count Skleros, who asked some questions about the teleport trap, assigned a couple of guards to watch the room with the teleport circle in case anyone else came through, then escorted the group out of Deino's territory.
Vael said that, since they were in the neighborhood, they should check on Neferet's tomb. After some discussion, they all headed west to the Great Hall, then re-opened the secret door leading to the tomb. Knowing there was another No Mana Zone there, everyone went through the Rug, then Chyrsalis carried the Rug down the tunnel until her staff started glowing again, they put the Rug down so everyone could rejoin her. Neferet wasn't in her tomb. The group set to looting all the sarcophagi, but they were all empty, and a couple had been smashed open. Vael said he thought other looters had beat them there.
Returning to the Great Hall, Vallium went south and west to map the path to the stairway that Neferet had fled up. They didn't go up the stairs, but instead went through another unexplored door to the west. There were some glyphs on the floor, which Vael thought were designed to provoke fear, but everyone resisted the urge to run. Some kind of spectral elemental appeared and tried to scare everyone, but thanks to their rings of protection and Uvash's amulet of bravery, nobody was affected, and Vallium and Chrysalis and Uvash dispatched the elemental.
An open door to the west led to a room with three sarcophagi. Two of them were open. The third was magical and closed. Ioannes poked around one of the open sarcophagi and a giant centipede popped out and tried to bite him, but he saw it and jumped back, then Vallium killed it. Everyone set up around the closed sarcophagus expecting undead, then Vallium took the lid off, and a wight popped out. Ioannes tried scaring it with the Feather of Maat, which had no effect. Vallium and Chrysalis beat it to death instead.
Vael searched the room for secret doors, and found one to the west. It opened easily. Behind it was a room containing several ghouls and zombies. Vallium and Chyrsalis killed them. North was a closed door. Vael used Glass Wall on it, and saw it was barricaded shut from the other side, and there were several people in red Settite armor inside. Vael said something about rescuing them, and the Settites started dismantling the barricade. Vallium pushed the door open, and Vallium and Chrysalis killed them. Uvash wasn't feeling well, and went back through the Teleport Rug to the Beacon to lie down.
Turning back to the south, they found another closed door, and Vael used Glass Wall to look through it and saw several scared-looking goblins. They opened the door and told the goblins that they came in peace and had killed all the undead and Settites. The goblins rejoiced and asked for food. After eating all the party's rations, they let the group lead them north past the Beastmen to the Glory of Weskenim and the other goblins.
Returning to the newly explored area, they found another room with a magic sink. With Uvash not around, Vael drank some of the liquid, but it appeared to just be fresh water. Continuing south, they found a room containing a wounded Sun-Scarred Knight, Sir Simonet. Simonet was conscious but not yet ready to walk. Ioannes offered to heal him, but Simonet was distrustful and said to stay back. Vael explained that they had cleared out the Forum of Set and given it to the goblins, which Sir Simonet seemed to find hilarious. After some more conversation, Sir Simonet said that he had reconsidered and would let Ioannes heal him, as he had to go back to his Order and report the news to his commander. Ioannes healed him, and the knight left.
After Sir Simonet left, Vael noted the stone chest against one wall, and decided to search it for traps. Unfortunately, he missed one, and he, Vallium, and Chyrsalis were engulfed in a flaming explosion. Vallium was fine because of his heavy armor, but the others were badly burned. Ioannes healed both of them until they were no longer in danger. Vael grabbed the unburned contents of the chest, and everyone headed back to the Beacon.
GM's Comments:
It took almost 50 delves, but the Right of Riches company finally figured out the Thothian Teleportation Circles. They also rescued some goblins, killed some more undead and Settites, and mapped more of the Well of Light and Glory of Thoth levels.
Achievements:
The Rescuers: 1 XP for rescuing the cut-off and starving goblins
XP:
- Exploration: 14 new locations, 1 XP
- Loot: Quite a few minor treasures and a nice magic cloak, probably 1-2 XP depending on what they sell
- Achievements: 1 XP
- Total: 3-4 XP
Next Week:
They're planning on securing more of the unexplored areas around the Goblin Forum. After that, they'll decide between going after Neferet and the Iron Circlet of Ghanor, or trying to kill the green dragon Craastonistorex.
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