Chapter 25: Hell Vomits Forth The Damned

[wolfpack]

I believe the evil needed the girl to finish their ritual. If we get her to safety we stop their plans

[SocraticLawyer]

We won't survive another brush with that horde, magic or no says unseen Urdur to Long Bo. I say go for it, if it will stop those foul things.

But then we've got to keep moving

[Urson]

Jerome
I think Urdur is right. They needed the girl. Get her back to safety, whatever it takes.

To Bo:I'll stay here with you while you do the job. You know your power, so I won't tell you what to do. I would suggest that you create a wall, if you can, so that there's no chance of those things getting past.

[rredmond]

"The girl won't be safe for long, if we don't stop the undead," Rudolf adds, "we can't run forever. Can they not get around a wall? Sounds like destroying, or otherwise making the steps impassable may be our only hope to at least delay them a long while. If you can catch them in the destruction, all the better." Rudolf's whole body posture is preparing him to run, he is mentally and physically forcing himself to wait and help in the planning.

[Inferno]

The Dark Mountains, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Twenty. Long after midnight. Thursday, December 1st, 576 CY
Freezing cold, windy, snowing.







At the howling rooftop of the world, the fleeing heroes risk a brief respite after their mad plunge, allowing the unrelenting legions of living dead to gain on them.

Mouser grips his heinous, skin-bound tome and thinks about the unholy wolves of the dark mountains. Telkis' mind is also filled with dread. What will happen now with all the dead released? What have they done?!

Ingrid finds no signs of injury upon the sleeping form of Amity Mantle. It is clear to the priestess that the innocent child is ensorcelled. Ingrid wraps her in warm clothing against the bitter cold and snow.

Long Bo and Jerome examine the snow-covered stone stair. There are straight runs and sharp curves, sometimes at cliff's edge, but its width remains between three and four feet at this formidable altitude. With visibility in the blizzard at 40 feet, if the druid waited to see the hosts of Hell, they would be upon him before he could finish his sacred incantation.

"We won't survive another brush with that horde, magic or no," counsels Urdur's disembodied voice. Brevos grimly urges them not to delay any further! Rudolf is ready to fly, yet for some reason he stays.


Actions?!


Map:

X is the Ancient Shrine of Evil.





PC Status:

• Brevos, Half-Elf Ranger 3: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 16/31
  Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 3/4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 7/19, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl, 0/1 2nd lvl
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 4: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 11/22, Spells: 2/5 1st lvl and 2/4 2nd lvl
  Jerome, Human Paladin 3: Move: 9", AC: 3(1), HP: 7/20, Laying Hands: 0/1
  Long Bo, Human Druid 4: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 28/30, Spells: 3/6 1st lvl, 1/3 2nd lvl and 1/2 3rd lvl, -1 to Strength
  Rudolf Rassendyll, Halfling Thief 4: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 13/16
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 4: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 3/34
  Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 1/11, Spells: 1/3 1st lvl and 0/2 2nd lvl

PC Magic:

• Invisibility (Urdur): Target: self.

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)

[wolfpack]

time to go.

brevos shoulders the girl and begins moving as quickly s he can

[Urson]

Jerome
Yes, go- we will be right behind you.
Jerome sticks with Bo, waiting until he's done whatever he chooses with the stairs.

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

time to go.

brevos shoulders the girl and begins moving as quickly s he can

I agree. I don't know there is any more we can do here to help ourselves. She follows Brevos.

[rredmond]

Rudolf gives a yank to the sledge to see if he can get it out of the snowdrift, and if it's salvageable. "It's terrible when the only option is to run, but standing around here waiting to get swarmed by walking dead is no option." If the sledge is salvageable he'll try to get someone to help him yank it out and bring it down. If it's a lost cause, he quickly follows the ranger, in either case if it's going to take longer than a minute, he'll give it up as a lost cause.

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur follows along, grateful that someone stronger than he is carrying Amity.

[ChubbyPixie]

Telkis glances back up the stair once, then hustles off with the rest of the party that flees.

[OGRE MAGE]

sorry guys, thought I posted here already...

Bo helps Rudolf with the sled, deciding not to use up any of his final wisps of magic on the stairs in case they need it along the rest of their escape route.

He follows the others as they continue their descent.

[ravenn4544]

Mouser tries to flee - but can not. It's as if his precious book is weighing him down to the point of becoming an immovable object. He strains to step forward to flee but is held back. He falls to his knees and tries to crawl forward with all the effort he can muster to no avail. The book or his soul - not both - shall pass...

He staggers back, free to move toward the undead death that lays close behind, and a guttural phrase vomits from him as the struggles against the splinter in his mind. A phrase can be heard in between the unknowable words, "It must go back to the nothing!" More foul phrases spew forth as he moves back towards the ancient evil - It must go back! - and then he tries to surge forth back down the ancient mountain only to seemingly hit a wall and fall to the ground crushed under the weight of the evil tome. The tears fall...

He struggles again once to his feet, shuffling backwards again in a vain attempt to circumvent his choices that seem to come from somewhere else in his mind. "It must go back..." he whispers... His eyes are everywhere but then pass over the girl they sought to rescue. They linger. His thoughts clear for a moment as he utters again in a voice more his own, "It must go back - back to HELL!" The splinter in his soul heals itself enough for Mouser to recount the reason for their quest, the noble struggle against evil, the sacrifices that have been made....

"Back to HELL!" and with a sudden light returning to his eyes, he hurls the ancient tome into the dark abyss of the mountain cliffs! The book flies into the deepness with a wail of pain and anguish - a last effort in twisting the soul - before disappearing into the cliffs below....

Mouser collapses to the snow...

[Inferno]

The Dark Mountains, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Twenty. Long after midnight. Thursday, December 1st, 576 CY
Freezing cold, windy, snowing.







In the eerie desolate realm at the world's crown, the heroes ready to continue their flight from certain death. The large sledge is salvaged and dragged empty behind them. Their precious cargo, Amity Mantle still sleeps.

Suddenly, Mouser overcomes the insidious influence that has long weighed upon his very soul.



He rids himself at last of the heinous volume of blasphemous secrets taken from the Hell Mouth of the Dark Mother. The heroes gather him up and help him as they escape with their lives.

The grey druid elects not to bar the path of the endless legion of Hell that they unleashed from descending the forbidding mountain of unspeakable evil.



Hours pass in descent down stone steps worn smooth by the footfalls of centuries uncounted, through an unnatural frozen landscape not fit for man or beast. Of the ghastly horrors that hunt them, there remains no sign.

The snow subsides but the howling wind will not abate. They reach the treeline at dawn. The pale grey light reveals a small clutch of wolfsbane, sheltered from the snowfall beneath the towering eaves!



Yesterday, they had passed it in the dark of night. There is enough to effect The Cure for the rest of the heroes!

But much toil awaits. They won't reach the village of Banemourne before sundown. Banemourne, where the villagers pleaded with them, "Dae not go, lassie. Ah beg ye... Dae na waken that which sleeps."



Actions?!



Map:

X is the Ancient Shrine of Evil.





PC Status:

Brevos, Half-Elf Ranger 3: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 16/31
Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 3/4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 7/19, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl, 0/1 2nd lvl
Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 4: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 11/22, Spells: 2/5 1st lvl and 2/4 2nd lvl
Jerome, Human Paladin 3: Move: 9", AC: 3(1), HP: 7/20, Laying Hands: 0/1
Long Bo, Human Druid 4: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 28/30, Spells: 3/6 1st lvl, 1/3 2nd lvl and 1/2 3rd lvl, -1 to Strength
Rudolf Rassendyll, Halfling Thief 4: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 13/16
Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 4: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 3/34
Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 1/11, Spells: 1/3 1st lvl and 0/2 2nd lvl

PC Magic:

Invisibility (Urdur): Target: self.

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)

[Urson]

Jerome
Somehow, the foul book Mouser carried has escaped Jerome's notice until now. He scowls, briefly worried how Father-Commandant Knighten would judge him for missing such obvious Evil. When Mouser makes his choice, Jerome smiles broadly and scoops up the spent Half-Elf, carrying him until he can walk.
When the group reaches the treeline, Jerome is as exhausted as anyone else. He drags himself through the snow, hacking low-hanging limbs from pine trees to help build a windbreak. If there is an extra blanket or canvas, he uses that on the windward side of the branches.

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

Wolfsbane! The cleric carefully harvests the precious plant. Do we press on for Banemourne, or do we rest here for a few hours?

[wolfpack]

I vote we press on, the girl is still in precarious shape.

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo cant shake the feeling that the party has possibly unleashed a far worse fate on the land than they could ever know.

"What if the undead are still coming for us? What if we leave now and the thousands of monsters eventually pour off of this mountain into the inhabited lands beyond?"

"Nay, I am not ready to depart for civilization until we can be certain that we didnt do more harm than good here."

The frozen druidcicle watches behind them as best he can in the limited visibility, waiting for the others to speak their peace.

[rredmond]

"Let's take the plants with us, but yes press on, more distance," Rudolf agrees. "You can put the child in the sledge Brevos, if that's faster," he adds.

[OGRE MAGE]

With a sudden premonition that his feelings are indeed valid, if the others agree to continue down the mountain, Bo decides to keep looking for a good spot to set up his undead slippy slide.

If he can find a switchback in the stairway that might overhang an edge, allowing the perusing monsters to fall a good distance into a ravine below, he puts his multi spell plan into action. He turns as much as he can of the precarious stairway into a slippery zombie slide, coating it with a thin layer of ice once the stone has been manipulated.

Casts Stoneshape and Create Water. Let me know if you need more specifics.