Chapter 8: Necropolis of Eternity

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Inferno
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Re: Chapter 8: Necropolis of Eternity

#161 Post by Inferno »

The Hall of Heroes (31), Fourth Tier of the Great Pyramid
Lost City of Khemsa, Forgotten Kingdom of Verulia, Great Eastern Desert, the World of Hyboria
Day Three. Morning. 15th day of the month of Yuluk, 1279th year of the Age of Aquilonia








A deathless archer mounts up and rides a deathless steed. (S11 becomes H11) He wheels his skeletal horse around and bears down upon the invaders' northern front as he looses arrows at Loche and Xorzen and they evade them.

Arthfael and Zahra both feel ancient Verulian blades sink deep (-6hp each) and then Kiri, Loche, Xorzen, Zahra finish the last of the guardians of the crypt to the gruesome sounds of cracking, splintering bones. Trident, dagger, javelin and mace brutally rend asunder spines, ribs and skulls.

And suddenly the battle is over, as quick as it came. The half dozen riderless, cadaverous horses collapse to the tiles, whinnying bloodcurdling screams that die with them.

All grows still in the towering, ageless hall.

Mako rushes over to check on the fallen figure of Roan. By the arcane light atop his staff, the eastern conjurer finds no sign of life left in his body. Roan's dead eyes are focused on infinity as the tiles beneath him are slowly dyed red.


Actions?


Map Detail:

Lit areas are visible. All else is from memory.


Rolls and Rulings (non-required reading): Image


PC Status:
  • Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 2/1: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 6/10, Spells: 6/6 1st lvl
    Arthfael Griogarach: Cimmerian Northman Druid 3: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 11/17, Spells: 5/5 1st lvl, 3/4 2nd lvl and 1/2 3rd lvl
    Garrin Locke: Argosian Atlantean Paladin 2: Move: 12", AC: 4(2), HP: 15/18, Laying Hands: 1/1
    Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 1/1: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 2/7, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl
    Loche: Pict Savage Thief 3: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 18/18
    Mako: Khitan Easterner Illusionist 2: Move: 12", AC: 7(5), HP: 6/6, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl, Light spell
    Xorzen: Verulian Osoran Monk 2: Move: 16", AC: 8, HP: 12/12
    Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 2: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: 8/16
PC Magic:
  • Protection from Evil (Garrin): -2 to AC and +2 to saving throws against evil, in a 10 foot radius around Garrin.
    Healing Mists of Osorus (All except Amethu and Zahra): All lost HP recovered with 8 hours of sleep. Wakeful rest, or sleeping less than 8 hours, enables recovery of 1 HP per hour. Duration: "months."
Player Resources:
Last edited by Inferno on Sat Nov 02, 2019 7:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
DM:
The Horror at Briarsgate (1e): Lovecraftian Gothic Horror (N1, homebrew)
Lost City of Eternity (1e): Hyborian Age Sword and Sorcery (B4, JG102, homebrew)
Once and Future Earth (1e): Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Dungeon Crawl (X1, B1, ASE1, homebrew)
Sauron Victorious (1e): Dire Saga for the Fate of Middle Earth (homebrew)

Player:
Agax Gryyg: Gamer of Urth, Ravenloft
Azoth Al-Aziz: Lovecraftian Cultist, Tamoachan
Blodget: Foolish Young 9th Level Hobbit, Dark Clouds
Dredd Doomsmith: Dwarven Deathtrap Engineer, Tomb of Horrors
Elijah Crowthorne: Marooned Prophet, Pirates
Jack in the Green: Ancient Child, Giants
P.T. Codswallop: Larcenous Impresario, Dimwater
Sir Ugghra: Bestial Half-Orc Aristocrat, Brotherton
Swilbosh: Savage Lizard-Warrior, Keep
Tantos Vek: Failed Paladin, Under Streets
Ulfang Chainbreaker: Barbarian Liberator of Slaves, Tharizdun

DM bio is here.

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ChubbyPixie
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Re: Chapter 8: Necropolis of Eternity

#162 Post by ChubbyPixie »

Kiri gazes around the room at the party members left standing, still a bit dazed. His eyes settle on his fellow Easterner, Mako, hunched over the crumpled form of Roan. ”He’s not coming back, is he?” he says, then leans against the pillar to catch his breath. After a while he gathers himself and moves over to the door Loche had been trying to open. ”Is it false?” he asks, turning to the thief.

ravenn4544
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Re: Chapter 8: Necropolis of Eternity

#163 Post by ravenn4544 »

Amethu utters an unintelligible prayer beneath his stark mask. A strange unearthly green glow emanates from his hands and forearms. it stretches out to Zahra, touches her briefly, and fades away into the ether...

Cure Light Wounds [1d8] = 5

Healing magic performed, the enigmatic sorcerer spends a moment standing by the fallen Roan....

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SocraticLawyer
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Re: Chapter 8: Necropolis of Eternity

#164 Post by SocraticLawyer »

Garrin joins his fellows over the body of their companion, Roan son of Rune.

"Indeed, he is beyond our power to aid," says the paladin to Kiri. He says a quick prayer to Mitra, closing the northman's eyes and praying for his safe passage into the next life.

"By Mitra's grace, I can still help the living." With that, Garrin lays hands upon Kiri.

"We must honor our friend's dying wish, and see that his bones are carried to the surface. I will carry them, but first we must build a cairn and do what must be done." With that, Garrin begins gathering some of the splintered wood from the broken chariots, hoping that there is enough to build an effective funeral pyre for Roan.
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Urson
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Re: Chapter 8: Necropolis of Eternity

#165 Post by Urson »

Zahara

The albino nods her thanks to Amethu. She stands at Roan's head, her hands raised and her head thrown back. She lets out a throaty keening sound, similar to the growl of a hunting cat. The volume builds, and builds, and is suddenly cut off as she drops her arms.

After her 'prayer', Zahara lights a torch and begins a slow circuit of the chamber, studying the carvings on the walls for further information.
Expect Nothing, Appreciate Everything.

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DadsAngry
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Re: Chapter 8: Necropolis of Eternity

#166 Post by DadsAngry »

Mako:

Kneeling over the body of Roan he holds open the empty flash of the sacred font willing the contents to rush out and into the dead man mouth. "It's all gone Roan. I can not help you or anyone else. Fear not about your flesh. I will see that Druid does not make a meal of you." Mako stands guard over Roan's body while Garrin prepares a vessel to carry the body.


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Inferno
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Re: Chapter 8: Necropolis of Eternity

#168 Post by Inferno »

The Hall of Heroes (31), Fourth Tier of the Great Pyramid
Lost City of Khemsa, Forgotten Kingdom of Verulia, Great Eastern Desert, the World of Hyboria
Day Three. Morning. 15th day of the month of Yuluk, 1279th year of the Age of Aquilonia








In the hall of the hallowed dead, the battlefield goes quiet. Surrounded by shattered skeletons, the explorers gather around their fallen friend, their hallowed dead.

Mako's cache of healing waters is dry. Garrin the paladin prays and closes Roan's eyes. Zahra growls and snarls a prayer in the custom of Sekhmet the lioness.

Enigmatic Amethu heals Zahra with the miraculous power of Uthoth; the poisonous animosity afflicting their feuding sects momentarily forgotten. (+5hp)

Garrin of Argos prays to merciful Mitra and, astonishingly, Kiri's wounds are healed as well (+4hp). Then the son of Atlantis gathers enough wood from the broken remains of the Verulian war chariots to erect a cairn for Roan's funeral pyre.

Zahra the pale amazon lights a torch and traces the perimeter of the great hall. The walls' ageless hieroglyphs honor an army and an empire that once dominated an Age, before its tragic, catastrophic fall. Before the coming of Zargoth.



Zahra reads that a company of soldiers, comprised of adherents of Osorus, Sekhmet, Uthoth and Sutehk, was chosen to protect the great pharaoh Xuthalhotep in the afterlife, for all eternity.

Kiri leaves the eastern door and joins Zahra as she follows the southern wall. Her torchlight reveals a western wall that holds two more shut doors. The floor here is rent asunder. Immense tomb slabs set into the tiles millennia ago were moved aside by the deathless company that the explorers had just vanquished.

Zahra and Kiri peer down into the small, open crypt and find bones and skulls beyond measure, methodically stacked against the walls in a low-ceilinged tomb.



They see stone pylons and a font of some kind. A ramp leads down to the sepulcher floor. They quietly tell the others what they've found.


Actions?


Map Detail:

The square near Kiri and Zahra is the tomb under the floor. The rectangle in the square is the opening in the floor through which the tomb can be seen.
Lit areas were visible this move. All else is from memory.



Map:



Image


PC Status:
  • Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 2/1: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 6/10, Spells: 5/6 1st lvl
    Arthfael Griogarach: Cimmerian Northman Druid 3: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 11/17, Spells: 5/5 1st lvl, 3/4 2nd lvl and 1/2 3rd lvl
    Garrin Locke: Argosian Atlantean Paladin 2: Move: 12", AC: 4(2), HP: 15/18, Laying Hands: 0/1
    Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 1/1: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 6/7, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl
    Loche: Pict Savage Thief 3: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 18/18
    Mako: Khitan Easterner Illusionist 2: Move: 12", AC: 7(5), HP: 6/6, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl, Light spell
    Xorzen: Verulian Osoran Monk 2: Move: 16", AC: 8, HP: 12/12
    Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 2: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: 13/16, Torch
PC Magic:
  • Protection from Evil (Garrin): -2 to AC and +2 to saving throws against evil, in a 10 foot radius around Garrin.
    Healing Mists of Osorus (All except Amethu and Zahra): All lost HP recovered with 8 hours of sleep. Wakeful rest, or sleeping less than 8 hours, enables recovery of 1 HP per hour. Duration: "months."
Player Resources:
Last edited by Inferno on Sat Nov 02, 2019 8:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
DM:
The Horror at Briarsgate (1e): Lovecraftian Gothic Horror (N1, homebrew)
Lost City of Eternity (1e): Hyborian Age Sword and Sorcery (B4, JG102, homebrew)
Once and Future Earth (1e): Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Dungeon Crawl (X1, B1, ASE1, homebrew)
Sauron Victorious (1e): Dire Saga for the Fate of Middle Earth (homebrew)

Player:
Agax Gryyg: Gamer of Urth, Ravenloft
Azoth Al-Aziz: Lovecraftian Cultist, Tamoachan
Blodget: Foolish Young 9th Level Hobbit, Dark Clouds
Dredd Doomsmith: Dwarven Deathtrap Engineer, Tomb of Horrors
Elijah Crowthorne: Marooned Prophet, Pirates
Jack in the Green: Ancient Child, Giants
P.T. Codswallop: Larcenous Impresario, Dimwater
Sir Ugghra: Bestial Half-Orc Aristocrat, Brotherton
Swilbosh: Savage Lizard-Warrior, Keep
Tantos Vek: Failed Paladin, Under Streets
Ulfang Chainbreaker: Barbarian Liberator of Slaves, Tharizdun

DM bio is here.

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wordoftheoracle
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Re: Chapter 8: Necropolis of Eternity

#169 Post by wordoftheoracle »

Loche investigates the stone pylons and the font for traps or anything physically hidden there. He will then investigate the ramp for traps.
PC History:

Ioriston Erudleaf - Level Three Elven Wizard, Hedge's Adventures in the Realms (5e)
Loche - Level Three Pict Thief, The Lost City of the Pharaohs (1e)

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Urson
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Re: Chapter 8: Necropolis of Eternity

#170 Post by Urson »

Zahra

The warrior stands back a step from the edge of the crypt, sniffing suspiciously. The carvings say a mixed unit of warriors from all the sects were chosen to guard the Pharoh. I suggest you be very cautious, in case the skeleton warriors left some in reserve.
Expect Nothing, Appreciate Everything.

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DadsAngry
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Re: Chapter 8: Necropolis of Eternity

#171 Post by DadsAngry »

Mako:

Mako continues to protect the body of Roan until his body is set upon the pyre.

ravenn4544
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Re: Chapter 8: Necropolis of Eternity

#172 Post by ravenn4544 »

Amethu strays to the outer walls to investigate - and to keep away from the burning stench and smoke that is about to engulf the room from the pyre. Recognizing funeral rites need to be observed - however there is a time and a place for such tradition. He holds his remaining curative in reserve.

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Re: Chapter 8: Necropolis of Eternity

#173 Post by OGRE MAGE »

Xorzen pays his respects to the dead barbarian in his own way, a salty, wet secretion slowly dripping from the bottom of his mask.

Though he would normally be loath to do so, he follows along with the pale amazon as she deciphers the carvings. The fact that three of the groups mentioned in the writings are already present in this group does not escape his thoughts. The rarely verbal monk speaks up about that.

"It would seem that all we yet need is a representative from the sect of Sutehk to mirror the prophecies mentioned. Perhaps history is repeating itself through us, and we truly are the ones who will finally put an end to the madness of Zargoth's reign?"

He follows along, hoping to hear more about the carvings and their meanings while he helps Loche look over their latest surroundings.

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Re: Chapter 8: Necropolis of Eternity

#174 Post by Zhym »

Arthfael stands silently to the side as others tend to Roan. While Mako barbecues the barbarian, Arthfael tries not to let the smell remind him of the taste of cooked human flesh.

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Inferno
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Re: Chapter 8: Necropolis of Eternity

#175 Post by Inferno »

The Hall of Heroes (31), Fourth Tier of the Great Pyramid
Lost City of Khemsa, Forgotten Kingdom of Verulia, Great Eastern Desert, the World of Hyboria
Day Three. Late Morning. 15th day of the month of Yuluk, 1279th year of the Age of Aquilonia








Amethu the masked sorcerer walks the perimeter of the hall of the ancients, immersing himself in the tragic hieroglyphic record of his dying civilization's former glory.

A funeral pyre is built for the crimson body of Roan the barbarian.

Zahra watches from the edge of the vault as Loche borrows her torch. The Pict thief and Xorzen the Verulian investigate the ramp, then descend it into the bone-filled mausoleum below.

Image

Loche and Xorzen examine the carved pylons and the empty font and find no dangers lurking. They find an empty weapons rack and an open space where the chariots and skeletal horses might have been kept.

The walls of the 20' x 20' underchamber are lined with carefully stacked bones and skulls. There must be hundreds of dead. There is no other exit here for any man, living or dead.


Actions?


Map Detail:

The square near Kiri and Zahra is the bone-lined tomb under the floor. The rectangle in the square is the opening in the floor through which the tomb can be seen.
Lit areas are visible. All else is from memory.



Map:



Image


PC Status:
  • Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 2/1: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 6/10, Spells: 5/6 1st lvl
    Arthfael Griogarach: Cimmerian Northman Druid 3: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 11/17, Spells: 5/5 1st lvl, 3/4 2nd lvl and 1/2 3rd lvl
    Garrin Locke: Argosian Atlantean Paladin 2: Move: 12", AC: 4(2), HP: 15/18, Laying Hands: 0/1
    Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 1/1: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 6/7, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl
    Loche: Pict Savage Thief 3: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 18/18
    Mako: Khitan Easterner Illusionist 2: Move: 12", AC: 7(5), HP: 6/6, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl, Light spell
    Xorzen: Verulian Osoran Monk 2: Move: 16", AC: 8, HP: 12/12
    Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 2: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: 13/16, Torch
PC Magic:
  • Protection from Evil (Garrin): -2 to AC and +2 to saving throws against evil, in a 10 foot radius around Garrin.
    Healing Mists of Osorus (All except Amethu and Zahra): All lost HP recovered with 8 hours of sleep. Wakeful rest, or sleeping less than 8 hours, enables recovery of 1 HP per hour. Duration: "months."
Player Resources:
Last edited by Inferno on Sat Nov 02, 2019 8:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
DM:
The Horror at Briarsgate (1e): Lovecraftian Gothic Horror (N1, homebrew)
Lost City of Eternity (1e): Hyborian Age Sword and Sorcery (B4, JG102, homebrew)
Once and Future Earth (1e): Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Dungeon Crawl (X1, B1, ASE1, homebrew)
Sauron Victorious (1e): Dire Saga for the Fate of Middle Earth (homebrew)

Player:
Agax Gryyg: Gamer of Urth, Ravenloft
Azoth Al-Aziz: Lovecraftian Cultist, Tamoachan
Blodget: Foolish Young 9th Level Hobbit, Dark Clouds
Dredd Doomsmith: Dwarven Deathtrap Engineer, Tomb of Horrors
Elijah Crowthorne: Marooned Prophet, Pirates
Jack in the Green: Ancient Child, Giants
P.T. Codswallop: Larcenous Impresario, Dimwater
Sir Ugghra: Bestial Half-Orc Aristocrat, Brotherton
Swilbosh: Savage Lizard-Warrior, Keep
Tantos Vek: Failed Paladin, Under Streets
Ulfang Chainbreaker: Barbarian Liberator of Slaves, Tharizdun

DM bio is here.

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Re: Chapter 8: Necropolis of Eternity

#176 Post by ChubbyPixie »

"I suppose we should check the other doors?" suggests Kiri. He will make his way over to the door already investigated by Loche on the east side of the room. Glancing at the others, he shrugs, then, if no one objects, he will attempt to un-stuck the door, putting as much of his considerable strength into the task as necessary. After a moment of strain and struggle, he steps back and regards the door, then looks up. "This one is stuck pretty good," he says.

ravenn4544
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Re: Chapter 8: Necropolis of Eternity

#177 Post by ravenn4544 »

Amethu continues along the walls exploring the hieroglyphs looking for secret exits.

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Urson
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Re: Chapter 8: Necropolis of Eternity

#178 Post by Urson »

Zahra
The Amazon throws another dubious glance at the lower crypt, then joins Kiri at the stuck door. Holding her torch close, she examines the edges- is this an actual door, or a false door put here as decoration?

IF it is a real door, she'll try her luck at opening it <Open doors on a 1-4>
[1d6] = 2
Expect Nothing, Appreciate Everything.

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Re: Chapter 8: Necropolis of Eternity

#179 Post by DadsAngry »

Mako:

"Garrin would you like to say something before we release Roan's soul to his creator?"

Does Garrin have a torch to light the pyre?

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Re: Chapter 8: Necropolis of Eternity

#180 Post by OGRE MAGE »

Xorzen looks at the stacked bones and the empty font, then back to Loche. He doesn't want to touch any of the bones, for obvious reasons, but he cant seem to take his eye off the dry bowl.

"I am highly tempted to pour a little water into this dusty font to see if anything happens. The only problem is......I cant really say why."

Unless the thief verbally intervenes, he pours some of the contents of his water flask inside the dry vessel.

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