Chapter 24: Human Sacrifices

[Urson]

Jerome
Jerome is still insensate, his eyes wide and rolled up in his head, his jaw slack. He appears to have quit frothing at the mouth.

[Inferno]

The Gallery of Horrors, The Lost Shrine of Ancient Evil
The Dark Mountains, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Twenty. Long after midnight. Thursday, December 1st, 576 CY







Jerome's tear-filled eyes stare off into infinity. His trembling lips are flecked with bloody foam and his fingers shake uncontrollably. All while the hideous faces that cover every surface of the unholy chamber laugh.

Brevos, Ingrid and Urdur rush to his side. Seeing life still within him, Ingrid prays reverently to Trithereon, and Jerome is miraculously healed (+6hp). Brevos and Telkis shake the paladin awake and suddenly Jerome sits bolt upright, blinking and gasping for air!

Treading atop the surreal, revolting visages, Long Bo and Rudolf investigate the last devil door.



It too offers a keyhole within a leering fanged mouth. The grey druid holds the bronze key. All around them, the heinous faces grow quiet in watchful anticipation of that which happens next.

Meanwhile, left alone in the gallery of horrors, Mouser inches closer to the center of the spiral pew. Like all Men, he is drawn by the seductive allure of the fabled Black Lotus. The ebon powder is gone, consumed in a flash of flame. But the last remnants of its smoke cloud yet linger.



If Mouser acts now, he can step forward and breathe deep of its sweet scented fragrance. Another minute, and this chance of a lifetime will be gone forever.


Actions?



Map Detail:

One square = 5 feet. Asterisk by the door, and dot by the '4', don't represent anything. Lighter areas are visible. All else is from memory.





PC Status:

• Brevos, Half-Elf Ranger 3: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 31/31
  Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 3/4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 19/19, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 4: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 22/22, Spells: 3/5 1st lvl and 4/4 2nd lvl
  Jerome, Human Paladin 3: Move: 9", AC: 3(1), HP: 20/20, Laying Hands: 0/1
  Long Bo, Human Druid 4: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 30/30, Spells: 5/6 1st lvl, 3/3 2nd lvl and 2/2 3rd lvl, Torch
  Rudolf Rassendyll, Halfling Thief 4: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 16/16
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 4: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 34/34, Torch
  Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 11/11, Spells: 2/3 1st lvl and 2/2 2nd lvl, Torch

PC Magic:

• Find Traps (Ingrid): Duration: 13 rounds

Player Resources:

• Tale of Terror (the story so far)
  A Dark and Terrible World (maps)
  Blasphemous Iconography (the story so far in images)
  Desperate Struggles (clues and player notes)

[ravenn4544]

Mouser looks at the tantalizing smoke. What an opportunity. He looks back at the group and shakes his head, "They'd freakin' kill me..." He sighs and turns away to leave the smoke unexplored......

[rredmond]

Unnerved by the sudden quiet, Rudolf smiles at the druid with the key, and wipes his hands on his leathers, "until the priestess can come over here and do her thing, I'll just take a looksee."
Check the double doors for any traps and hidey-holes.

[wolfpack]

Jerome are you still with us, can you recount where we are.

brevos is tense, ready for anything as many times as he has seen minds controlled when dealing with these entities.

[Urson]

Jerome
Jerome sits for a minute, apparently too shaken to stand. He wipes the back of his hand across his face, smearing the mess there, rather than removing any of it.
I... he croaks, then coughs and tries again. How long.. how long have I been lost?

I was dragged, for years... through an endless sea of pure Chaos. It was... It was horrifying. I was like a single willow leaf in a typhoon. When I- stopped, I suppose- I was in the screaming dark beyond the dimensions. I... asked questions. The girl we came her to rescue still lives. A thing called The Praetor-Pontifex is the master of this place. It "slumbers within the Tomb of the Greater Repugnances. If there was more, I don't recall.

He looks around at the others, his face still bone-white and greasy with sweat. Does anyone have wine? Please?
He sits, shivering, hugging his own knees.

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur cannot decide if he is relieved or saddened to learn that the girl yet lives. What horrors has she endured while they have tried to find her?

Sorry, I dont have any wine. Got some water though, he says, offering his waterskin.

[ChubbyPixie]

"So the girl still lives. Well, this isn't for nothing, then. At least there's that," says Telkis. He keeps an eye on Jerome, worried about his sanity. Though he doesn't blame him for losing his grip.

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

I'm glad that you're back with us, says the cleric as she extends a hand to help Jerome to his feet.

[Urson]

Jerome
Jerome takes Ingrid's hand, gripping it tightly as he stands. He keeps hold of it once he is standing, clinging to her as he tries to re-anchor himself in the real world.
Thank you all. I was so far lost, I couldn't even fear for myself. Thak you, Urdur- but I have water. I need something stronger.

[wolfpack]

brevos hands over his pint of wine

[Urson]

Jerome
Jerome takes the wine gratefully, gulping at it. He honestly looks surprised when he realizes he drank it all. Thank you. I will repay you for it.

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo keeps a close eye on Jerome from a distance too now, adding him to his list of people who are possibly compromised mentally.

He calls over to Ingrid. “Can you take a look at this door next my dear? If the child yet lives, shouldn’t we be on our way sooner than later?”

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

The door is clear. I checked it before we ever opened this one. With Jerome seemingly ok, the cleric will walk to the other door.

The secrets of the two remaining devil doors stand revealed before the holy sight of the human priestess and the expert knowing fingers of the halfling rogue. No death traps are detected lurking within either daemonic-visaged portal. And Rudolf hears no sounds emanating from the southern door.

[Inferno]

The Hall of Tortured Faces, The Lost Shrine of Ancient Evil
The Dark Mountains, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Twenty. Long after midnight. Thursday, December 1st, 576 CY







Beneath the frightful glare of the demon gods who abase themselves before the Dark Mother, Mouser resists the beguiling temptation of the Black Lotus.

Meanwhile, the other beleaguered heroes take hope wherever they can find it, even from the drug-borne hallucinations of poor Jerome. Believing against all odds that the little girl taken by the witch coven yet lives, they resolve to forge deeper into the horrific shrine of unspeakable atrocities.

With Bo, Brevos and Telkis watching Jerome from the corners of their eyes, the harrowed paladin drains a wineskin as others approach the last devil door with trepidation.



Rudolf finds no hidden mechanisms secreted around that fearful portal.

The abhorrent, terrible faces that surround them all have fallen silent. From the floor, the walls and the ceiling, they watch the fresh human sacrifices with thirsty expectation.


Actions?



Map Detail:

One square = 5 feet. Asterisk by the door, and dot by the '4', don't represent anything. Lighter areas are visible. All else is from memory.





PC Status:

• Brevos, Half-Elf Ranger 3: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 31/31
  Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 3/4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 19/19, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 4: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 22/22, Spells: 3/5 1st lvl and 4/4 2nd lvl
  Jerome, Human Paladin 3: Move: 9", AC: 3(1), HP: 20/20, Laying Hands: 0/1
  Long Bo, Human Druid 4: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 30/30, Spells: 5/6 1st lvl, 3/3 2nd lvl and 2/2 3rd lvl, Torch
  Rudolf Rassendyll, Halfling Thief 4: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 16/16
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 4: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 34/34, Torch
  Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 11/11, Spells: 2/3 1st lvl and 2/2 2nd lvl, Torch

PC Magic:

• Find Traps (Ingrid): Duration: 12 rounds

Player Resources:

• Tale of Terror (the story so far)
  A Dark and Terrible World (maps)
  Blasphemous Iconography (the story so far in images)
  Desperate Struggles (clues and player notes)

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo hangs his head.

“Apologies Ingrid. In susch strange times as those before us, it is easy for an old man to forget things sometimes.”

Standing around the nearby corner again, the Druid waits for the door to be opened. He studies the faces in the floor closely as they observe the events, trying to learn anything new he can from them.

[wolfpack]

Helping Jerome up brevos gets ready for the door to be opened

[Urson]

Jerome
Jerome begins to look more like himself as the minutes pass. He draws his sword and posts himself to provide security- smiling a weak smile as the normalcy begins to reassure him.

[ravenn4544]

Mouser takes up his position and looks a little jealously at Jerome.

[rredmond]

"Ingrid would you mind giving it a scan again?" Rudolf says hopefully, "these green devil faces seem to be screaming at me to be double careful. My mother used to say if you look you'll find something, maybe not the thing you want, but something."
Doors push inward just like the others?