Barrowmaze V: Expanding Dark Horizons

[Rex]

Orgoth

"Thanks Sven, is predictable good?"

[Spearmint]

Exploring the Corridors

Liking it when a plan comes together and determining to stick to the plan, the group make exit plans. Effectively you have two choices if the desire is to camp overnight in a mound and hike to Helix in the morning.

A) go through the Temple Room, turn left to the troll-in-a-box bunk room, through the rocking chair room, down the 'Long Corridor', shimmy up a rope and camp in the mound with the 'body and tin cup offering'.

B) go through the Temple Room, up the north-south corridor, take the corridors by 'the tapestry room' and 'spectral poker room' (or the other way over 'Arnauds pit') and into the rusty staircase landing and shimmy up a rope into Silas Barrow.

The NPC's have no preference so I will go with majority character vote. Which way do you prefer or any other actions?

[OGRE MAGE]

Sven explains to the others that he also saw a horrible statue representing Nergal holding a dagger and standing over a pool of flowing blood. (Blood for the Blood God)

“I’m pretty sure it wanted me to add some of my blood to the pool, but I was able to resist the temptation mentally. Maybe your friend Erin was not so lucky?”

“Well, we know where the stairs are now, so we can check them over on our next trip. And Yes Orgoth, I think it is good, to answer your question.”

After collecting ghoul parts for Mazzah, the mage suggests they move back through the way they came, try to steal Gabby’s antique chandelier, before they move back to the room we slept in earlier. (where we met Peaches’ group)

“We still need to figure out a way to save that zombie who claims he isn’t a zombie. But I think we should do that after we rest.”

[Rex]

Orgoth

"We best avoid the blood pool then."

Orgoth will take his place in the order.

[SocraticLawyer]

Peaches McGee
Sounds good, chief. Let's do it.

[Spearmint]

try to steal Gabby’s antique chandelier,

This was the description:

The middle of the room has a decorative candelabra dangling from a chain, a multi-limbed figure whose open palms each contain a glass orb. Perhaps a fancy lantern that runs on oil poured into a central reservoir in the figures body. No light illuminates the room though.

Exiting the Corridors

The team return to the Temple Room. It is vacant still and the ceiling nest looks unoccupied since Peaches previous rummaging around among the catnip stalks. There is no sign of the creature known as Gabby. a description of him and visual is shown in post #95

But as you all enter, one of the skulls on a top ledge begins to shout, "Thieves, grave robbers. To the Pit with you. Bah, humbug! Traders and raiders." You look up towards the ledge, the talking skull obvious but by the animation it looks rather like a spell has been put upon the skull which triggered as you entered, not actually the skull animating. (Magic Mouth spell).

It repeats the sentence, quite noisily, but despite the disturbance, the noise itself does not attract Gabby or anyone else to the scene; at least for now.

actions please.

[Rex]

Orgoth

Orgoth keeps alert and studies the area as he waits for the others to act.

[OGRE MAGE]

Sven lowers the chandelier chain and looks to the beefy members of the crew to help him dismantle the antique.

“What do you folks think? Can we get this beauty back with us without completely wrecking it? We got the tapestry back in one piece, but this thing might be a little less forgiving to travel with.”

[SocraticLawyer]

Peaches McGee
Peaches shrugs. Delicate things tend not to last too long around me. But we can give it a shot. Worst case, we break it, and we're no worse off.

[Spearmint]

Exiting the Corridors.

Despite having a sackful of stolen (or liberated) grave goods each, Sven is determined to add one last relic to his horde.

Despite the magic mouth's loud blabbering, the group lower the chandelier carefully and try to unhook it from the hanging chain. You get a closer inspection of its features. The body of the central figure is slightly shorter than a halfling, perhaps 3'ft but quite heavy and encumbering. It has six limbs, three on each shoulder that stretch out in a variety of poses. Each palm hold a crystal orb with a filament or wick that must run through the hollow arms to a central oil chamber in the figure's torso. The eyes of the idol are inset gems, dull now but opaque enough to give the impression that any lit oil would give each a fiery glow. The whole thing is going to be awkward to carry, especially without any kind of packing crate to stuff it in.

While you sort out how to carry it and who takes the burden, the gnomes deal with the shouting skull. They knock it off the ledge and using a key, open a door to toss it into the Windy Corridor, locking the door closed again.

Robbing Gabby ... [1d6]=6[1d6]=5[1d10]=9
Troll in a box and rocking chair room ... [1d6]=4[1d6]=4[1d10]=1Long Corridor, ravenous zombies ... [1d6]=4[1d6]=3[1d10]=2

Carefully the crew take a chosen path, going once more through the fire ravaged bunk room with the gargoyle statue (troll-in-a-box), past the rocking chair room with the bricked up skeletons, down the Long Corridor of multiple doors and up the side passage leading to the square chamber in which you first met with the blinded Peaches.

The zombie carcasses of those animated to be De Ogilvy's labourers and the two merceneraries are still where they where deposited. I know they died in the corridor. I had a thought the bodies were then tossed inside 'the smelly room' but I didn't find that definitive action.

The Ravenous Zombies animate to hoot and growl as you pass by, reaching once more to try and grab someone to drag towards the cell bars and nibble their face cheeks off. Talkative Ravenous is still present.

"Thank God, you remembered me. By all the mercies of grace get me out please." he implores, shouting above the cacophony of zombie grunts and demands to "Feed me! Feed me now!" that the crowd urge. There must be a dozen of these unfortunates inside the cramped cell.

No wandering creatures generated, no tricks, surprises or spells activated. You arrive in your chosen place to camp. A cold, stone room. It is clean and dry though and once you shut the door and become absent from view, the zombies pacify a little.

next actions please.

the area described:

Three doors, oak panelled and set within stone arches line the north wall. A cell is on your right, pressed against the bars are several more zombies. There is a bricked up portion of wall, the very east end of this passage. Not hastily erected as the one in the Long Corridor. This one has purpose and design, above the bricks a large skull design. It is a 20'ft square room serving as a base for the maze explorers. Against the back wall, a woman bound across her eyes with bandages. Her face and hands look burned and pitted. A man attends her. On one side the priest sits against a stone slab in a plinth using it as a table.

[OGRE MAGE]

Is there an actual hole pounded through the bricked up portion at the end of the hallway? Did the effect that blinded Peaches happen once they started pounding on the bricks? Or did the poison gas escape once a penetration was made?

Also…..is the troll-in-the-box small enough to fit through the cell bars so it could be thrust into the cell with two hands, then opened? (presumably releasing the troll inside, still assuming it might return to full size again once opened)

[Spearmint]

Is there an actual hole pounded through the bricked up portion at the end of the hallway? no

Did the effect that blinded Peaches happen once they started pounding on the bricks? yes

Or did the poison gas escape once a penetration was made? no

Also…..is the troll-in-the-box small enough to fit through the cell bars so it could be thrust into the cell with two hands, then opened? yes. You actually have a piece of gargoyle statue. A portion of stone arm, from mid forearm to the hand, which holds the box from which the troll sprang out of once opened. You killed the troll but put a fingernail in and closed the box, hoping it would regrow as another trapped troll and have not opened it since.

[OGRE MAGE]

Awesome!

We are definitely going to try that after we rest.


Sven checks the group over before resting, making sure a watch order is set up before sleeping himself.

“Other than trying to kill most of the zombies with our possible troll, does anyone have a good idea about how to get the non-zombie out of that cage?”

[Rex]

Orgoth

"Not really, but are we even sure it isn't a zombie or what it is?"

[OGRE MAGE]

Sven looks around confused, wondering why nothing is happening.

“Peaches!!! You need to say something every once in a while so we know you are okay. Otherwise it seems like we just sit here getting nowhere.”

[Spearmint]

Exploring the Long Corridors

The group sleep fitfully in the small room, rotating guards who patrol the corridor and safeguard those sleeping.

It does not pass without incident. Those bodies, casually tossed into the charnel room are feasted upon by giant rats. A huge swarm drawn to the mess. They tangle over bones and best bits, tearing apart the bodies of the halfling rogue and two merceneraries, even nibbling the decayed rotting flesh of the zombies. Only lit pools of oil spilt in the junction of corridors and Smokie's presence in wolf form dissuade the rat swarm from intruding up the side passage.

There are other sounds, hollow laughter and creaking of wood from the 'rocking chair' room, ghostly calls and echoes from the chamber below the barrow. Maybe it was prudent not to have camped above.

The Ravenous Zombies keep up their incessant demands for freedom and food though the talkative one retreats to a corner and huddles down. He has previously spoken that he was cursed to look (and probably smell) like them, perhaps that is all that keeps him from being more than food for thought.

During the rest, Gnimish & Treyvor answer a previous question regarding Erin. This gnome was an elder in the community and an explorer. He delved years ago, bringing back many treasures to Ironguard but has been missing, presumed dead for a number of months.

Spell casters renew spells, the clerics pray. In this den of decay and iniquity, blessings come at a premium and each are allocated by their patron Deity's grace only one healing virtue among their daily spells.

June 7th 1066.

Morning time.

next actions please

[Rex]

Orgoth

Did Orgoth recover any hp for rest?

"Time to get out of here."

[OGRE MAGE]

Sven is ready to sleep without fear for a few nights again once they return to Helix. After studying his spells, he eats a few rations and gets the crew ready to head out.

“We aren’t out of the woods yet. We still need to release that zombie guy, and who knows how that will end up? Then we need to get all the way home again, carrying that thing!” He points to the chandelier, still hoping his idea to reclaim the large antique wasn’t overly ambitious.

Anyone have anything to add to this?/Better ideas?
Clerics try to turn the real zombies away from the bars. (If that doesn’t work, open the troll-in-the-box inside the bars, warning the non zombie to stay close)
Cast Shrink on either the non-zombie or one of the bars, hopefully allowing enough room to slip through.
Then run!

[Rex]

Orgoth

Healing everyone as much as possible first.

Shrink on the non-zombie next and getting him out that way seems best.

[OGRE MAGE]

Yes, can we get a current hit point status, please?

Thanks!