Chapter 10: Blessings of the Church of Horror

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ChubbyPixie
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Re: Chapter 10a: Blessings of the Church of Horror

#21 Post by ChubbyPixie »

Telkis helps Urdur with the statue. " I don't know, but I don't like it. We've seen enough cursed undead so far to make me fear the worst. Let's be careful..." he replies to Grothnak.

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Inferno
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Re: Chapter 10a: Blessings of the Church of Horror

#22 Post by Inferno »

Beneath the Church of Merikka (21)
Village of Briarsgate, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Eight. After midnight. Sunday, October 23nd, 576 CY
Cloudy, damp, cold, misty






Image

Beneath the sheltering of angel's wings, the two gnomes in the mausoleum maze examine the sculpture of the mourning seraphim and find nothing secreted there.

Meanwhile, Grothnak listens.

His inhuman ears barely detect something...

A distant slithering sound... from deep within the black shadows behind them. As if following them?

Then it stops.


Actions?


Map:
Image
PCs are marked by their white initials.





PC Status: PC Resources:
Last edited by Inferno on Sun Nov 10, 2019 9:29 pm, edited 2 times 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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Zhym
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Re: Chapter 10a: Blessings of the Church of Horror

#23 Post by Zhym »

Grothnak holds a finger to his mouth and leads the way as quietly as he can back the way they came.

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Re: Chapter 10a: Blessings of the Church of Horror

#24 Post by SocraticLawyer »

Urdur nods, following the half-orc as silently as possible. He keeps his oil and torch ready.
How do we know you're not a donkey-brained man?

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Re: Chapter 10a: Blessings of the Church of Horror

#25 Post by ChubbyPixie »

Telkis readies his bow and walks next to Grothnak, also as quietly as he can, which is probably not too quietly. He hopes to get a shot off before melee for once, if he can...

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Re: Chapter 10a: Blessings of the Church of Horror

#26 Post by Inferno »

Beneath the Church of Merikka (21)
Village of Briarsgate, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Eight. After midnight. Sunday, October 23nd, 576 CY
Cloudy, damp, cold, misty






Image

Underneath the church of abominations, Grothnak and Telkis wordlessly creep back the way they came, in the direction of the slithering's deafening absence.

Treading upon gravestones of the dead, they cautiously peer around the corner into the absolute darkness of the labyrinthine crypt.

Their infravision pierces that shadow...

and senses the heat aura of something unimaginable.

Image

Just at the edge of their perception, the towering, writhing thing is coated in eyes within eyes and suddenly speaks in the voice of a thousand screams.

Urdur follows them around the corner and his torchlight spoils their demivision, plunging the furthest reaches of the hall into darkness... and mercifully, the horrific thing as well.

Image

But from out of those swallowing shadows, its multilayered, piercing screams fill the tomb and assail the soul.


Actions?!


Map:
Image
PCs are marked by their white initials. "?" is the Thing's last known position. Lighter areas indicate visibility. All else is from memory.





PC Status: PC Resources:
Last edited by Inferno on Sun Nov 10, 2019 9:34 pm, edited 2 times 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 10a: Blessings of the Church of Horror

#27 Post by SocraticLawyer »

Urdur Shimmerstone, gnome illusionist
Although he didn't see the foul thing, Urdur hears the screams of the monstrosity before them. His first thought is to fight, cleanse the evil with fire.

But why didn't it attack? It was behind them, unseen, since they entered this room. If it has the means, it could have struck at any time. Perhaps it means us no harm (ha!), or perhaps there is more to this creature than meets the eye. Or less.

Urdur whispers to his companions. "Stay here, keep your backs to the wall. This fiend may be a phantasm, a distraction, meant to scare us off. Let it approach further before attacking."
How do we know you're not a donkey-brained man?

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Re: Chapter 10a: Blessings of the Church of Horror

#28 Post by Zhym »

Grothnak eyes the gnome skeptically "Maybe," he says. "Or maybe it moves slowly and prefers to attack with stealth. I advise not waiting to find out." The Uruk fights the urge to charge the unholy thing. Instead, he reaches into his pack and pulls out a couple of days' worth of rations, which he throws toward the mound of mouths and eyes.

"Maybe it will stop to eat," he explains as he leads the group away from the abomination. "We should move with haste to see if there is another exit—or if another path in this maze leads to the door from which we entered."

-2 trail rations.

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Re: Chapter 10a: Blessings of the Church of Horror

#29 Post by ChubbyPixie »

"Don't get yourself injured on a hunch, Urdur. We can't repair you without the healers..." says Telkis, wincing at the inhuman babble coming from down the hall. "Oh, and I think the present company'd see better down here without the torch," he adds, before firing an arrow at the position he last saw the thing and then following Grothnak:

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Re: Chapter 10a: Blessings of the Church of Horror

#30 Post by SocraticLawyer »

Urdur nods, puts out the torch, and follows the others.
How do we know you're not a donkey-brained man?

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Re: Chapter 10a: Blessings of the Church of Horror

#31 Post by Inferno »

Beneath the Church of Merikka (21)
Village of Briarsgate, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Eight. After midnight. Sunday, October 23nd, 576 CY
Cloudy, damp, cold, misty






Image

Mercifully, darkness swallows the grotesque horror of eyes, teeth and tentacles. However, the blood-curdling screams do not relent. Nor does the dread memory of unholy depictions rendered by the mad priest of Briarsgate in fluids foul and heinous. Depictions that evoke the thing.

Image

In utter disbelief, the illusionist thinks it could only be an illusion. How could such a thing be real? Its very existence defies all laws of nature and gods. Grothnak and Telkis convince Urdur otherwise, perhaps saving his life.

Telkis fires an arrow into the shrieking shadows. Grothnak throws down rations. And then the two warriors flee.
Urdur extinguishes his torch, plunging them into a darkness absolute, and follows.

The walls, air and floor of the tomb labyrinth are all as cold as a corpse's flesh. The heroes urgently feel their way west and south, deeper into unknown, unseen subterranean regions beneath the temple of terror.

Careful not to trip over memorial stones set into the floor...

Image

...they move slower than they would like, while behind them the horrific sounds of slithering and of endless shrieking grow louder. And closer.

Then the maze corridor turns west into a dead end!

Image

Deep in the blind alley, a wooden door glows at a different temperature than the bricks that surround it.

The pitiless screaming suddenly surges in volume as the thing turns the final corner behind them. Its hideous heat emanation is in the corridor with them, just 30 feet away!

Image


Actions?!


Map:
Image
PCs are marked by their white initials. "?" is the Thing. All else is from memory.


Rolls and Rulings (non-required reading):


PC Status: PC Resources:
Last edited by Inferno on Sun Nov 10, 2019 9:40 pm, edited 2 times 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 10a: Blessings of the Church of Horror

#32 Post by SocraticLawyer »

"That.... might not be an illusion," whispers Urdur. He lets the warriors tangle with the beast as he tries to open the secret door.
How do we know you're not a donkey-brained man?

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Re: Chapter 10a: Blessings of the Church of Horror

#33 Post by Zhym »



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Re: Chapter 10a: Blessings of the Church of Horror

#35 Post by Inferno »

Beneath the Church of Merikka (21)
Village of Briarsgate, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Eight. After midnight. Sunday, October 23nd, 576 CY
Cloudy, damp, cold, misty






What happens next in the charnel labyrinth below the church cannot be accurately described, for there is no language for such abysmal shrieking, nor such eldritch contradiction of matter, nature and reality.

Image

Searching for a way out of here, Urdur breaks open the locked door and they are suddenly engulfed by light. A torch is mounted on the wall on the other side of the door (at 21) and more hallways lie beyond.

Their infravision is blinded; the loathsome horror is consumed in darkness once again but not for long. The undulating, amorphous atrocity lunges out of the stygian shadows in a hideous shifting maelstrom of flesh and fangs.

Image

The immense, indescribable thing is instantly upon Grothnak. The resolute halforc warrior cannot land a clean blow but his formidable weapon staves off attacks from thrashing limbs and snapping maws.

Telkis fearlessly smashes his morningstar into the undulating monstrosity with enough force to kill a man, shattering teeth and putting out an eye.

Image

One blasphemous mouth vomits black blood. The other heinous maws continue screaming in a ghastly harmony of agony, malice and terror.


Actions?! Everyone please roll 1d20. You want low, but please post your action regardless of the roll result. Thanks.


Map:
Image
PCs are marked by their white initials. "?" is the Thing. Lighter areas represent visibility. All else is from memory.


Rolls and Rulings (non-required reading):


PC Status: PC Resources:
Last edited by Inferno on Sun Nov 10, 2019 9:45 pm, edited 2 times 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 10a: Blessings of the Church of Horror

#36 Post by Zhym »

Grothnak draws on all his strength. This is what he has worked for all his life. What he wanted. The chance to look evil in the eyes and know that it will not have his soul. The chance to prove his honor, valor, and worth. The chance to protect those in need of protecting and defeat the forces of evil.

Here it is. Evil in its most base, raw form. This is no innocent villager ensorcelled by evil forces, to be spared if possible. No. Grothnak must defeat this thing or go in glory to join the army of Gruumsh.

"Afar angathfark, vrasubatlat!" he cries as he attacks again!

[1d20] = 1
Vadok (Halberd +1) (THAC0 18): [1d20+2] = 11+2 = 13, Dmg [1d10+4] = 9+4 = 13 (S/M) [2d6+4] = 12+4 = 16 (L)


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Re: Chapter 10a: Blessings of the Church of Horror

#38 Post by SocraticLawyer »

Not wanting to be attacked from behind, and knowing he would likely be useless against The Thing anyways, Urdur gets his bearings in the new room, looking around as quickly as he can. He keeps his last flask of oil handy.

Requested roll [1d20] = 15 :shock:
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Re: Chapter 10a: Blessings of the Church of Horror

#39 Post by Inferno »

Beneath the Church of Merikka (21)
Village of Briarsgate, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Eight. After midnight. Sunday, October 23nd, 576 CY
Cloudy, damp, cold, misty






Image

In the crypt maze beneath the profane cathedral, Grothnak and Telkis suddenly sense something alive and writhing inside their minds! A malevolent intelligence; heinous, wrong and chillingly familiar. Their iron wills resist being overtaken again by the same horrifying madness that gripped them when they first entered the church of nightmares.

But Urdur Shimmerstone's resilience cannot withstand the insidious, abominable influence. In dread terror, he realizes his body is transforming... becoming one of them!

Image

Grothnak and Telkis see the dark gnome stand motionless, staring in abject horror at his hands which are completely normal.

The unspeakable thing's countless screaming maws ready to devour Grothnak alive!

Telkis, unnerved by the horrific presence of the inexplicable, swings his morningstar wide.

But Grothnak hefts Vadok in a silver arc that sunders the vile anathema in two, cleaving it wide open in a gruesome deluge of black blood and pulsing, alien anatomy.

Image

Urdur sees his hands return to normal. That which had seized control of his very flesh has passed.

The blasphemous thing is dead. Its multitude of inhuman eyes stare blankly into infinity and its bloodcurdling peals of ghastly shrieking cease at last.


Actions?


Map:
Image
PCs are marked by their white initials. "?" is the Thing. Lighter areas represent visibility. All else is from memory.


Rolls and Rulings (non-required reading):
Grothnak and Telkis made their saves. Urdur did not.
Initiative: Party: [1d6] = 6, Monsters: [1d6] = 1 Party wins.
Two saves and two hits for max damage. Nice rolling these last two rounds!



PC Status: PC Resources:
Last edited by Inferno on Mon Nov 11, 2019 1:10 pm, edited 2 times 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 10a: Blessings of the Church of Horror

#40 Post by SocraticLawyer »

Urdur Shimmerstone, gnome illusionist
Urdur looks at his hands again, trying to process what the past few minutes have wrought. "What the fuck..." he whispers to himself, in gnomish. He tries to clear his head.

To his companions, he says, "Thanks for disposing of that," indicating the Thing's corpse. "We don't want any more of those sneaking up on us. Let us continue, and purge this unholy place." If the others agree, Urdur takes his place between the two fighters as they explore the room (21).

Since the light from this room will spoil their infravision anyways, Urdur relights his torch. He carries his last flask of oil in his other hand.
How do we know you're not a donkey-brained man?

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