Sapphire:Sessions:20150620
Just before midnight the group, along with the second group of four adventurers (Yarrow, Tylee, Tyolin, Dyter), waits near the edge of a large clearing. Within the clearing are four large campfires, around which there are about 60 individuals, most of whom have settled down to sleep.
Tyolin mutters over her locket; it points to the hut near one edge of the clearing. Chalker guesses that the bales are inside the hut, and warns the sergeant, "These are necromancers." Shawna senses that there are lots of active spells in and around the hut.
Chalker asks Tyree to shoot several fire arrows into the hut's thatched roof. The elf obliges, tying an oily rag to an arrow, lighting it, and arcing it into the roof, then repeating the process several times. The thatch is damp from the recent rains, but some of it does catch fire.
Ahn-Lee and Shawna move toward the hut. He goes around the back while she gets a running start and leaps feet-first, crashing through a shuttered window.
Off toward the south Sgt Carter calls out, "In the name of the Baron, surrender!" and leads the soldiers' attack on the campsite.
Ahn-Lee finds another shuttered window on the other side of the hut. Chalker and Yasser lead the charge, with Yarrow, Tyolin, Dyter, and a few dozen soldiers at their heels.
Shawna lands on her feet. The interior of the hut is a single room about 24' x 36'. There is a triangular stone hearth built into one corner. There are three 2" thick iron rods, each 3' tall, driven into the floor and arranged in a triangle, connected to each other with wooden dowels from which metal pots are hanging. A bale (B1) is seated at a table, upon which are a crossbow and a silver sword. The other bale (B2) is standing near one of the iron rods, making mystical gestures at it; his hands are coated with some strange-looking dust.
Shawna immediately attacks B2, who manages to draw his sword and parry her. Ahn-Lee pivots and swings himself through the window, landing crouched atop a table.
B1 rises, grabs his sword, and swings upward at Ahn-Lee who retreats off of the table. Ahn-Lee draws two knives and steps to one side. B2 appears tired and gaunt, but his eyes glitter and he is an expert with the sword; Shawna strikes and he parries, but her sword notches his. B2 steps to one side and gestures with his free hand, but there is no effect.
B2 steps back, but Shawna strikes high, opening a cut from his ear to his jawline. Chalker slams his shoulder into the door; the door rebounds off the wall and falls off its hinges. Yasser, charging, smashes his axe through the wall, shouting "Heeeere's Yasser!" Ahn-Lee lunges and strikes B1 in the vitals, but doesn't penetrate the bale's toughened skin. B1 in turn swings at Ahn-Lee (who jumps back), and the momentum of the swing pivots B1 around to face Chalker, who is only a few feet away.
B2, his vision partly obscured by his own blood, strikes at Shawna, who parries and is parried in turn. Ahn-Lee rushes B1 and slashes the back of his neck, cutting into the toughened skin. Yasser runs at B2's back. B1 steps and swings his sword at Chalker, missing badly. Chalker invokes his magekiller dagger and stabs at B1 who dodges backward, somehow avoiding Ahn-Lee.
Yarrow and Dyter enter the hut; just outside the door, a fireball blazes in Tyolin's hand. Shawna slashes at B2, who parries. Ahn-Lee swings at B1, who steps back. Yasser's axe strikes B2 in the back and the bale's knees buckle somewhat; he grabs something off of his belt. B1 swings at both Chalker and Ahn-Lee; Chalker dodges and the swing misses Ahn-Lee. Chalker steps up and stabs at B1's back, but the bale dodges.
Ahn-Lee slices into B1's shoulder with both knives, one of them scraping the bone. B1 utters "Summon fire" but nothing happens. B2 spins his sword and stabs from under his arm at Yasser; Yasser leaves his axe imbedded in B2 and retreats a step. Chalker steps forward and stabs B1 in the gut; electricity erupts from his dagger and blows B1 apart from within, which Chalker and Ahn-Lee step back to avoid. Yasswer grabs his axe and yanks it out of B2, causing more damage. Shawna hits B2 in the vitals, and the bale collapses.
Yasser, having learned that bales must be decapitated, steps up and chops B2's head off. Chalker, picking up B1's sword (silver over steel, magically bonded), does the honors on B1. Tyolin puts out the fire on the roof. Chalker and Shawna search the bales' corpses, removing rings and an assortment of pouches.
Ahn-Lee steps outside. Ten sentries are guarding the hut. While there is still scattered fighting around the campfires, Baron's forces have the situation pretty well in hand. A number of bandit corpses litter the ground, and most of the other bandits, having surrendered, sit in small groups under soldiers' watchful eyes.
Yasser points out some very faint marks etched into one of the walls of the hut near the hearth, thinking they might mean something to a person versed in magic. Tyolin indicates that the iron rod nearest the fireplace is drawing the finder's locket. Chalker looks through the floor but there is only solid ground within the range of his special vision.
Tyolin, with somewhat exaggerated gestures, pulls on a pair of gloves, brings out a piece of cloth, and uses the cloth to brush off the top of the iron rod. She announces, "There's an inset here that I can put the locket into." "Why are you waiting?" replies Shawna. Tyolin presses the locket between the palms of her gloves as though to warm it, and tells the others to move away from her toward the front door of the hut. Chalker offers to use his TK to place the locket on the rod, but Tyolin declines. She slowly pushes the locket down; with a sharp click, the dowel holding the pots vanishes along with the entire back wall of the hut. A circular hole appears in the ground, six yards in diameter and at least 30 yards deep, with steps spiraling downward along the sides of the pit.
Chalker steps outside and beckons to the corporal. "We found another passage down. Leave a couple of your men to guard the hut, then you can go join the rest of your forces. We hope to see you soon."
Shawna sprints down the stairway. Chalker calls out, "C'mon, the party's about to start!" and leads the others down. The floor of the circular room is marble; on its east side is a foyer where the floor is granite. Set about a foot into the wall is a 4' wide door of heavy oak with alternating bands of iron, brass, and copper. The opening mechanism is a lever, below which is a key lock.
In the center of the foyer stands a suit of iron plate armor. It is soon determined that this is some kind of golem. It shows no reaction to the group. Chalker can see flesh and bone, which seems to be attached directly to the iron plate. A greatsword is sheathed at its back, and it carries a shield bearing a device that Shawna doesn't recognize.
In response to Shawna's query, Tyolin states that she has no knowledge of this place other than that it is supposed to contain ancient treasure. Shawna rolls her eyes. Chalker asks whether any of Yarrow's group could pick the lock, and Dyter indicates that she can.
Shawna announces that she will step on the granite floor. The others array themselves -- Ahn-Lee on the stairway with a loaded crossbow, Yasser near the golem but outside the reach of its sword, Chalker beside the golem ready to chop at its sword arm. Facing the golem, Shawna deliberately sets foot on the granite, and the golem begins to move.
Ahn-Lee fires, aiming at the eyeslit; the bolt caroms off the faceplate. Shawna casts Lightning and the golem's flesh sizzles. Tyree tries to shoot his bow; unfortunately, the bowstring snaps and the arrow goes astray, striking Yarrow harmlessly. Yasser swings his axe at the golem's knee; it is a mighty blow, but does not penetrate the armor. The golem reaches for its sword; Chalker swings his sword and clangs off of the armor.
Ahn-Lee reloads. Shawna attempts to hold the golem's attention. Yasser, seeing that he only scratched the iron plate, applies his knowledge of Armory to identify the weak spots in the golem's armor -- shoulders, knee joints, and hips. Yarrow fires an arrow which glances off the golem's helm. Chalker thrusts his sword into the eyeslit. Dyter steps to one side, looking for an opening. Tyolin starts building a lightning bolt. The golem swings and barely misses Chalker. Shawna strikes the pommel of Chalker's sword, driving it further in.
Chalker wiggles his sword, doing additional damage. Yasser swings at one knee, striking into the flesh. The golem's sword arm drops to its side.
Chalker chops up the golem's brain, just in case.
Shawna motions to Chalker and he uses his special vision to look through the door. The door itself is 18" thick. Beyond it is a stone corridor only 7' wide. Within the range of his vision he sees two doors set into the corridor walls directly opposite one another.
Yasser sees the golem shudder and it slowly raises its sword. Immediately the dwarf swings and chops into the shoulder joint. Tyree yells, "It's moving!" and fires an arrow which ricochets. Dyter charges with her swords which both hit but do no damage. Shawna realizes that while the golem is 'dead,' something has reanimated the armor itself.
Yasser hits the same shoulder for good damage. Dyter thrusts at the eyeslit but misses. Tyolin's fireball splatters off the armor. Chalker 'hooks' the golem's sword with his TK. Ahn-Lee fires and misses.
Chalker snatches the sword out of the golem's grip and sends it in Ahn-Lee's direction. Ahn-Lee: "Chalker...?" Yasser chops once more and the golem's sword arm falls off. Dyter steps to the golem's side, thrusts in both her swords, then draws them quickly apart.
Yasser strikes the golem's knee and the armor drops to the floor.
Chalker uses his TK to pick the lock on the door. Several traps are triggered, but since he's not physically touching anything, he is not affected. He swings the door open and the corridor is revealed to have three sets of doorways. Shawna calls Tyolin forward but the mage demurs; the locket is giving her no indication of direction.
Chalker 'borrows' a copper coin from Dyter and sends it rolling down the corridor. As it passes each set of doors, they light up -- red, then green, then gray. Nothing in particular happens when the coin reaches the far wall, and the lights do not go out when the coin returns up the corridor.
Shawna walks down the corridor to the gray doors. Chalker looks through both the gray doors, easily overcoming magic resistance. Inside each room is a chest 18" deep with what look like blobs of gray clay arranged three to each side and one behind. The doors are locked; the rooms are dark, and there are mage globes in the ceiling. Yasser: "All right, Yarrow, the coast is clear!"
Chalker advises splitting into two groups with a mage in each group. Taking the right-hand door are Chalker, Tyolin, Yasser, and Tyree, and to the left are Shawna, Ahn-Lee, Yarrow, and Dyter. Yarrow and Chalker pick the locks on their respective doors, bypassing all traps. Chalker immediately rushes in, sword drawn; Yarrow hesitates, but when Shawna doesn't immediately move, he goes in.
Chalker leaps over the chest (getting a feeling like he was being teleported) and chops heavily into a blob, which is changing shape. All the gray blobs morph into shadow wolves. Veering to his right, Yasser chops at a wolf, which dodges. Chalker 'invokes' his shadow wolf, but nothing happens. Shawna throws Lightning at a bat-like creature, having recognized it as a taddarita. Ahn-Lee readies his crossbow.
Yasser strikes a wolf, shattering its spine. A wolf attacks Chalker; he parries, but feels slightly fatigued. Tyolin and Yarrow suffer wolf bites. Tyree kills a wolf by shooting it in the eye. Tyolin feeds a Fireball to the wolf that bit her. Ahn-Lee fires and hits a wolf. Looking around to see what had drained his fatigue, Chalker points at a taddarita and says, "Elf -- bat."
Chalker hits a wolf, which begins bleeding heavily. Shawna successfully casts Sleep on a wolf, overcoming its resistance. Ahn-Lee drops his crossbow, fast-draws his knives, and slashes an injured wolf. Tyree fires at the bat Chalker indicated, but misses. Tyolin throws another Fireball but misses. Yarrow strikes a wolf. Yasser swings at a wolf's skull, but it dodges. Yarrow is bitten. A wolf attacks Ahn-Lee, who fends it off by slashing its face. Dyter strikes a wolf. Tyolin retreats from the two wolves attacking her. A bat flies across the room toward Tyree.
Ahn-Lee stabs a wolf in the brain. Shawna strikes a wolf that's attacking Yarrow; the wolf collapses. Dropping his axe, Yasser grabs a wolf by the throat. Chalker finishes off an injured wolf. Tyree fast-draws a sword and chops a bat in two. Tyolin Fireballs a wolf. Yarrow strikes a wolf but doesn't get through its hide.
Shawna hits the other wolf attacking Yarrow, and it dies. Ahn-Lee runs toward an uninjured wolf with red glowing eyes which is standing on top of the chest; he throws a knife at it, but misses. Chalker kills a wolf that is attacking Tyolin. Yasser begins crushing a wolf's throat.
Shawna kills the sleeping wolf. Ahn-Lee stops and stares for a moment, then says, "Shawna, want to take a look at this?" Shawna approaches the wolf which is standing on the chest; it shifts slightly as she gets closer. Chalker begins examining the chest in his room. Yarrow collapses and Dyter begins performing first aid. Tyree attends to Tyolin's wounds. Yasser sways, the room seeming to spin around him. Ahn-Lee also feels dizzy, but by sheer willpower remains upright.
Shawna gazes steadily into the wolf's eyes. A voice in her head says, You have the valor, but do you have the blood and the wisdom? She replies aloud, "I have the blood, the wisdom, and the right." The wolf extends a paw: The blood must be tested. Shawna sheathes her sword, removes her left gauntlet, and extends her forearm.
Peering into the other chest, Chalker sees swirling dust, and senses that something is trying to speak but cannot. With his TK he unlocks the chest (bypassing two mechanical traps and a magical one) and opens it, revealing a pile of gold, silver, diamonds, and rubies. "Yasser, take a look at this!" But then he adds doubtfully, "But that's not what I saw...."
One of the wolf's sharp claws scratches Shawna's arm; her blood soaks into the claw and she hears: Your blood is of a valued ally, but not of the rightful. Present the rightful, else for your safety, leave. Shawna: "By whose command?" The most rightful one. "Do you speak of the followers of Asseraah?" No answer. "Who is the rightful one?" The ruler of the realm. "Do you speak of the worldly realm, or some other?" Of the worldly realm.
Dyter informs Chalker that Shawna and Ahn-Lee are talking to a wolf; he replies, "Whoa, that's pretty good!" and heads for the other room. Dyter starts loading the treasure into bags while Yasser watches.
Chalker walks up beside Shawna and tries to peer into the chest, but its walls are too thick. Chalker: "Wolf, get off the chest." Shawna: "It says the chest belongs to the ruler of the realm." Chalker, again addressing the wolf: "If you don't get off the chest, I'll have to stab you." Are you of the blood? "Yes." It must be checked. But after the test the wolf informs Chalker: You are not of the blood. "Get off there or I'll chop off your head." Do so and seal your own fate. And the wolf turns its head. Chalker draws his sword and chops off the wolf's head, and the wolf turns into two lumps of clay. Chalker picks the locks and opens the chest, revealing a mix of treasure similar to that in the other room.
Shawna: "Isn't this enough to suit you?" Yarrow: "This place has at least another level." Chalker: "You're almost dead." Yarrow: "Think it's going to get worse?" Chalker: "Have you done this before? What's usually worse, the first level or the next?" Yarrow: "... It usually gets worse." Dyter: "Even split eight ways, that's a lot of treasure. The royals will want a cut; we could leave the rest for them." Chalker: "We'd each get a tenth, and the Crown gets two-tenths. I'm thinking, what is this place?" Tyolin: "A repository or archive, storing the treasure of the kingdom. The texts were vague." Yasser: "I believe I have the right blood. This place seems Dwarven to me -- the masonry, the golem's armor -- though it was built to human proportions." Chalker: "Instead of rushing in, let's look in the other rooms before going to the next level. There's something 'off' down here, and I don't know if it's affecting my mind or not. And Yasser hasn't had a drink in a while." Tyree: "I agree with Shawna. We should just leave." Chalker: "But do we look wise? If we can return to the surface, we'll think about our next move. I suspect the door's not open."
Yarrow limps out of the room, followed by the others. The pit is still open, the torch and lamp still lit. Chalker: "We'll see if we can quit while we're ahead -- but I don't think we're ahead."
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