Session 9 - The Claws of the Lioness, The Demon Waters, Part 5

Dramatis Personae:

• The Paladin of St. Faruin - Alsuna of Vlamesht, Bulwark and Vanguard - Played by Sophia
• The Elven Spellsword - Braem the Burning, Arcanist-Guardian and Flametongue - Played by Ben
• The Mage - Timlaras "Tim" of Aesta-Suvash, Thaumaturge and Necromancer - Played by Scott
• The Henchman and Fighter - Džim of Aesta-Suvash, Warrior - Played by Scott
• The Henchman and Thief - Arana of Aesta-Suvash, Hood - Played by Scott
• The Dwarven Craftpriest - Moriana of Beasthold, Dwarven Craft-catechist and Reliquary Guardian - Played by Andrea
• The Mage - Tuvalt the Clumsy of Vlam-Kuzang, Arcanist and Warmage - Played by Chris
• The Cleric of St. Faruin - Jorsau of Vlamesht, Catechist - Played by PJ

When last we left our heroes... Our companions spent some time attempting to examine the pump array (including casting Dispel Magic on it), before ultimately deciding to leave it as it was and pressing on. Timlaras used his Ring of Tixelzintran the All-Seeing [a Ring of X-Ray Vision] on the door to the north, revealing half a dozen beastmen (gnolls and orcs) along with a trio of multi-armed fish-men standing around an altar in the middle of a large room. Tied to the altar was the writhing body of a young woman. 

The party made their preparations -- Timlaras first took twenty minutes to go back and raise two of the Morlocks as zombie servants -- and then kicked the door in. The two zombies fell almost immediately, but they bought precious time for the party to get in through the door without taking a gnoll arrow to the face. Alsuna ran forward and rescued the woman on the altar -- Jorsau, a cleric, and as it turned out, one of Alsuna's childhood friends. Even so, the tide of battle seemed to be turning against the heroes, with Timlaras and Tuvalt locked in a battle of spells with the fish-man shaman. At that moment, Džim and Arana (who had been hanging back) charged in, coming to the aid of the master.

As the tide of battle turned, Timlaras lobbed a fireball into the room, immolating three of the beastmen, while the rest of the party focused their arrows and weapons on the fish-folk warriors charging through the door. It was at this point that Džim, trying to protect his employer, was gravely injured. Timlaras told him not to worry because "if you die, Džim, I can always just raise your corpse." Then, as Timlaras noted, "I won't have to pay you anymore." Džim, already wavering in the face of these strange abominations from the Deep, lost his resolve at this threat of zombification from his employer, and turned and ran. 

As the battle raged on, Alsuna and Jorsau got clear of the altar, and Timlaras ended the battle of spells with another fireball from his wand, which slew the shaman and his gnoll guards. The final two fish-men warriors were cut down, and the remaining companions found themselves masters of the chamber. The cost had been heavy: Džim's morale had been shattered, and he had run; Arana was gravely injured, her right hand forever maimed; and Tuvalt the Clumsy had been slain by one of the fish-folk warriors. 

Speaking with Jorsau, the companions learned that she had been part of a small group of pilgrims which had been travelling on the road to Aesta-Suvash when they were waylaid by beastmen and brought to the temple. This was four days ago. Since then, each of her companions in turn had been sacrificed on the low stone altar, tied to it until the chamber flooded and they were drowned. A few of her companions had suffered a different fate, taken away through the door to the southwest, never to be seen again. While Jorsau got her gear and clothes back on, Timlaras used his ring to gaze through the southwest door. What he saw frightened him, powerful wizard that he was: 

The door led to a stairway leading down, deeper into the dungeon. There, standing in a pool of water, were a dozen or more beastmen, all of them infected with the strange vegetal growth that had plagued the "gombie zoblins." In their midst were half a dozen of the fish-folk, levitating and chanting around a sacrifice on another low stone altar. At that moment, the floor of the chamber occupied by the companions began to fill with water. Timlaras turned back to his companions: "We need to run." 

Monsters killed:

• 4 Orcs
• 2 Gnolls
• 1 Kuo-toa Priest
• 2 Kuo-Toa Warriors

Player Characters Killed:

• The Mage - Tuvalt the Clumsy of Vlam-Kuzang, Arcanist and Warmage - Played by Chris

Session 8 - The Claws of the Lioness, The Demon Waters, Part 4

Dramatis Personae:

• The Paladin of St. Faruin - Alsuna of Vlamesht, Bulwark and Vanguard - Played by Sophia
• The Elven Spellsword - Braem the Burning, Arcanist-Guardian and Flametongue - Played by Ben
• The Mystic - Ali Abbas the Immaculate - Played by Paul
• The Dwarven Vaultguard - Dwadnur of Beasthold, Sentry and Goblin-Slayer - Played by Nathaniel
• The Cleric of St. Faruin - Kumbar of Aesta-Suvash, Catechist and Undead Slayer - Played by Jonathan
• The Mage - Timlaras "Tim" of Aesta-Suvash, Thaumaturge and Necromancer - Played by Scott
• The Henchman and Fighter - Džim of Aesta-Suvash, Warrior - Played by Scott
• The Henchman and Thief - Arana of Aesta-Suvash, Hood - Played by Scott
• The Mage - Mixebram "Mix" of Aesta-Suvash, Arcanist and Magical Scholar - Played by George

When last we left our heroes... The survivors of the first foray into the sunken temple returned to Aesta-Suvash, laden with treasure and bearing the wounds of their encounters with the strange abominations they met beneath the earth. They had three main things they wanted to accomplish while in town:

• To go to the temple of St. Faruin and make the brotherhood there aware of the evil lurking outside the city's walls.
• To meet with Timlaras the Mage, the employer of the Order of the Dead God, update him on their progress and tell him of the problems they had encountered within the temple.
• To return to The Sign of the Eagle and find out whether or not they had managed to heal the magical waters running beneath it by shutting down the old pump.

The most wounded members of the party proceeded to the Abbey of St. Faruin, a small and spartan order of vampire-hunters and undead-slayers. After making use of the order's divine healing magics (for a small but reasonable donation, of course) they spoke with the Prior, Shegar, who listened to their tale with interest. Ultimately, he decided to send a member of the brotherhood (Kumbar, played by Jonathan G) whose "stake was as-yet unbloodied" with the party to investigate the temple.

In the meantime, Ali Abbas went to the Porphyry Oubliette, the headquarters of the Brotherhood of the Dragon's Heart, the mage's guild authorized by the Emperor himself to control the study of the arcane arts within the Exarchate. There, Ali Abbas met with his employer, a powerful and self-important mage by the name of Timlaras. Timlaras (played by Scott) listened to the mystic's account, revealing that in fact a certain conjunction of astrological signs had indicated that the Veil Between Worlds was thinning and that as a result, the wards that had once hidden and protected the ancient temple would have ceased to function. He speculated that something from the "Nether Regions" of the cosmos must have also made its way up into the temple. At this point their conversation was interrupted by the slightly bumbling (but, as it turns out, very astute) Mixebram "Mix," Timlaras' research assistant. After introducing his assistant to Ali Abbas, Timlaras declared that "if you want something done right, you should do it yourself," and declared his intention to return with Ali Abbas and the others to the sunken temple. 

Ali Abbas also inquired about acquiring a spell book for Braem the Burning. Timalaras was able to provide one (after a bit of hard bargaining), a tome bound in the skin of a Lizardfolk Shaman, already containing the spell Charm Person.

The party met up at the Sign of the Eagle, where they examined the waters flowing beneath the inn and found them an inch or two lower, but still cursed. Ranset, the owner of the inn, was extremely happy with the party: it turns out that during the previous night (when the players were still in the dungeon, fighting the Gombie Zoblins), someone had killed Halbrand -- the owner of The Blacksmith's Revenge, the competing inn across the street -- in his sleep. Alsuna took it upon herself to investigate his death more, learning that there were a variety of theories about the cause of his death (that he was stabbed by a lover, for Halbrand was known to have wandering eyes and hands; that the party hired by Ranset had done it). However, as Alsuna learned, Halbrand had been found stabbed, but his wounds were totally bloodless -- and in fact, all of the blood had been drained from his body. Speculating that some kind of vampire might have been involved, Alsuna accidentally started that rumor, which did have the benefit of more or less covering the party's tracks.

After a day spent in town and with arrangements (including some of the party members donating much of their hard-earned treasure to the local temples and to benefit the poor in the city), the companions set out for the temple again. Arriving at its entrance without incident, they used Timlaras' Ring of Tixelzintran the All-Seeing [a Ring of X-Ray Vision] to examine the entrance, finding it unguarded. They also noticed that the pipe on the south side of the temple was now dry, and Timlaras could see that it led deeper into the temple, and that it could possibly be used as a way to enter the dungeon. The party ultimately decided to use the front door again, and as they entered the vestibule again, Mix noticed the bas reliefs and mosaics and was able to interpret them using his knowledge of astrology and astronomy: This temple -- or at least its lower parts -- was divided into four inter-cardinal quadrants (NW, NE, SE, SW), each of which were intended to flood and drain in turn. 

Deciding this was useful information, the party pressed on, this time heading east. In the next chamber they found another smaller room full of rich mosaics; most likely this room was intended to be a reception chamber for important guests long ago when the temple had been functioning. There was a collapsed doorway to the north, and another door to the east. Ignoring the east door, Timlaras used his ring again to peer through the collapsed northern door, revealing that it led to a stairway that went deeper into the temple. At the bottom of the stairway, Timlaras could just make out another large pumping machine (much like the one the party had previously disabled on the West side of the dungeon) as well as shadowy forms moving. The party decided to begin clearing the entrance. While they were doing so, the door behind them (the east door) quietly opened, and half a dozen Morlocks slipped in and attempted to take the party by surprise. 

Due to some quick teamwork, the party managed to recover from their surprise, and Mix cast Sleep on the Morlocks, allowing the rest of the party to easily dispatch the cave-dwellers. After they finished clearing the rubble on the north wall, the companions proceeded down the stairwell into the chamber -- only to have six ghouls drop from the ceiling!

The companions managed to act quickly, with Braem killing one of the Ghouls with an arrow to the throat before Kumbar raised his holy symbol and, uttering a prayer to St. Faruin, used Turn (Away) Undead. Four of the Ghouls fled, howling, while the remaining Ghoul was quickly slain when Timlaras used the Branch of Demar Norei [a wand of Fireballs], causing an enormous lotus of flame to bloom, enveloping the Ghoul and destroying it (and also cooking a bunch of garlic that Mix had thrown at the ghoul, to no effect). The companions found two small ancient coffers in the room containing coins and gems, and a strange holy symbol: a large coin on a chain, slowly weeping blood. Mix examined it carefully before tucking it away with the other treasure he was helping to carry in his pack.

And that is where we left them: weighed down slightly with treasure, the room smelling of ozone and roasting garlic, and the slight hum of the pump array working in the background...

Monsters killed:

• 6 Morlocks
• 2 Ghouls

Monsters routed:

• 4 Ghouls

Treasure Recovered:

• 5,024 Silver Coins (502 GP)
• 1 Bloodstone gem (50 GP)
• 3 Tiger Eye Gems (75 GP total)
• 1 Strange Holy Symbol in the shape of a Bloody Coin (400 GP)
• 1 Wrought Brass Trinket (120 GP)