The Tomb of the Lizard King

[hedgeknight]

Greyhawk, 586 CY, Readying 20, Early Evening
Down In A Hole

While the group is not all in agreement, Cassius descends down the 10 foot-wide stairs about thirty feet to a door, which is slightly open. Beyond the door, Cassius can hear the sounds of voices shouting, the din of battle, and the roar of the dragon. Fahima comes up behind him and the two of them push the door open a little further.
There is a small room with a wooden table and two chairs; atop the table is a bottle of wine and two mugs. Most of the wall on the right is taken up by a pair of double doors, also ajar. From behind the doors come the sounds of fighting...

Actions?

PC Stats:
Cassius - AC -1/3, HP 37/39
Fahima - AC 4/8, HP 18/21
Gordansk - AC 5, HP 10/15
Roan - AC 5/6, HP 27/36
Sai - AC -2/4, HP 27/30
Zan - AC 9, HP 11/11
Vilana - AC 7/9, HP 11/11, THACO 20
Cozar - 12/23

[Rex]

Fahima

Fahima moves silently up to the ajar door and peeks through.

Move Silently 50%
Hide in Shadows 50%
Detect Noise 50%

[GreyWolfVT]

Roan eyes the double jars formely a doors. "Hmm somethin strange bout this place how them doors get turned inta jars ya s'pose?" he chuckles at his lame joke.

[Spearmint]

Gordansk


Can we just go over the scroll instructions and egg again.

Great King Sakatha, I bring you greetings from Port Torvin in the Hold of the Sea Princes. As agreed upon when last we spoke, my emissaries bring what you need to secure your borders and drive the forces of Eor out once and for all. Deliver this as a 'peace offering' and when in the presence of Viscount Richart Jorgos, pour the contents of the vial on the egg. The creature within will do the rest. Of course, it will likely cost the lives of those who deliver the gift, but it is a small price to pay for victory.
Once the Viscount is out of the way, our forces can consolidate and capture Westkeep and control all trade along the Javan River. No one will be able to stand against us. Send word once it is done.
I remain your friend,

Erasmus Tydan

"So we are the Emissaries of Count Tydan, delivering his means to assassinate the Viscount Jorgos of Eor. Do we trust in delivering this gift-box to undead vampiric lizard-king will not result in our deaths too?

So what is our plan? Raid this ruin to kill a dragon who is the enemy of the undead vampiric lizard king, then slay the UVLK Sakatha then go rescue a child ward and bring her back to Port Torvin. Job done?"

Gordansk betrays his semi-literate intelligence levels of comprehension. I suppose I am loathe to kill 'the enemy of my enemy' even if such is still an enemy of mine.

Retreating to Pan-fried Pete's boat looks a most promising solution.

[GreyWolfVT]

Roan "I sure n' shit ain't killin no dragon. That were'nt what I was paid fer an I sure as hell ain't that crazy."

[hedgeknight]

Fahima moves silently up to the ajar door and peeks through.

While the others review their mission, Fahima takes a peek through the double doors...and gasps at the chaos ensuing beyond.

The room is a mixture of torches and shadows and in the gloom, Fahima can make out several figures engaged in battle. Lizard men battling humans. Humans fighting humans. Bodies lying in pools of gore. Figures hiding and shouting in fear. And near the back of this huge chamber, in the midst of it all, is Aulicus.

Black dragon.jpg (89.64 KiB) Viewed 8950 times

A brave, fool-hardy soldier stands in front of the dragon, sword in hand. He slashes at the beast and then Aulicus roars and lunges...and the man just disappears! Scooped up by the huge beast! The man screams once, his sword and shield clatter to the floor, and then he is gone forever.
Fahima feels her bladder ready to loosen and the bile of terror rise in her throat. She is about to duck back when a battling couple dashes into her view: a human and a lizard man. The lizard man resembles the ones she and her companions battled in the swamp below. The human man resembles Cozar...dressed in the livery of the County of Eor.
The man glances at her and shouts, "For county and king, help me!"
But then his head is split open by the lizard man's sword and he dies on the cold stone floor merely 10 feet away.

Back in the hallway, the others hear the sounds of battle, and the plea of the human.
Cozar's reaction is unmistakable. He appears shaken and genuinely afraid.

[Rex]

Fahima

Fahima darts back into the room, "It looks like his companions are still fighting the dragon and lizard man. Total mess in there. Lizard men fighting humans, humans fighting humans and the dragon killing too."

[GreyWolfVT]

Roan "So much fer me promisin ta get us all back outta this shithole alive." the dwarf not hold back his cussing, says in complete honesty. "This ain't what I signed up fer. I ain't takin' on no dragon some undead ancient lizard man king er god is already more n' enough, without tossin in a dragon."

[gurusql]

Zan

Zan whispers "Perhaps we should back away from the doors."

[GreyWolfVT]

Roan "Not ta say I dun feel bad fer them goodly folk in there, but takin on a dragon is insane."

[hedgeknight]

I need everyone to roll a Wisdom check.

[gurusql]

Zan

WIS 16: [1d20]=5

[Rex]

Fahima

Wis check (12) [1d20]=19

[GreyWolfVT]

Roan
WIS 7 [1d20]=13 yay one of my worst stats

[Monsieur Rose]

Cassius

Wis (13): [1d20]=18

[Spearmint]

Gordansk

Gordansk: Wisdom 14 [1d20 ]=9

Decides to be proactive in rallying his comrades and the men of Eor. He points to Cozar, "You were saved for such an hour as this. With me one and all, I shall shield-bear your way."

He begins a holy Chant, a reverent anthem to inspire morale, ferocity, power and weaken foes. Kicking the door he strides in, grabs the fallen man's shield so as to lift the heraldry of Eor high in the midst of battle and ... sings.

"O Fortuna
Velut luna
Statu variabilis
Semper crescis
Aut decrescis
Vita detestabilis
Nunc obdurat
Et tunc curat
Ludo mentis aciem,
Egestatem,
Potestatem
Dissolvit ut glaciem.
Sors immanis
Et inanis,
Rota tu volubilis
Status malus
Vana salus
Semper dissolubilis
Obumbrata
Et velata
Michi quoque niteris
Nunc per ludum
Dorsum nudum
Fero tui sceleris.
Sors salutis
Et virtutis
Michi nunc contraria,
Est affectus
Et defectus
Semper in angaria.
Hac in hora
Sine mora
Corde pulsum tangite
Quod per sortem
Sternit fortem
Mecum omnes plangite"

Casting a Chant spell after I pick up the shield.

[hedgeknight]

Zan & Gordansk

Seeing the man of Eor die and watching Cozar's reaction, brings back a conversation less than an hour earlier; and something doesn't add up.

Cassius pauses at the man's words. "Who are you, and why are you here? I'm not saying that your council isn't wise, just I want your story."

"I'll give you the quick version. I am Cozar...I serve the Count of Eor. I was sent here with a detachment of men to gauge the involvement of the lizard men of the Hool and how they serve Sakatha. What we didn't know, is the lizard folk are divided - half serve Sakatha and half serve Aulicus. All of my friends are dead. We confronted Sakatha about his intentions...and then Aulicus attacked! I...am the only survivor."

Fahima "Then you saw Sakatha. What did he say?"

Cassius "Gods, man! What happened?"

While Sai is healing Roan, Cozar attempts to provide answers for Fahima and Cassius.

"Sakatha...well, is not an ordinary lizard man, or lizard king for that matter. We had heard rumors before we visited. Rumors of ritualistic sacrifices and blood offerings and shit. But...you hear all kinds of things in the military, right? But once we got here, and got inside, we knew those weren't just rumors.
"Sakatha doesn't care much for the Count of Eor, but when we showed up, he was eager to meet with us. And then he revealed his true self. Captain Gord was doing the talking while the rest of us stood around on guard. Sakatha...said something to the Captain...and he just walked right up to the lizard king and dropped to his knees. Sakatha pounced on him like a hungry dog, gnawing at his neck, blood flying everywhere! And then the other lizard men in the room attacked us and we fought like hell to get out. Then...the shit got worse because Aulicus and his minions showed up. Once he arrived, the lizard men loyal to Sakatha stopped worrying about us, for the most part, and went into defense mode to protect their king. I was lucky to make it out."

Spearmint > do you want to edit your last post? I love the Carmina Burana reference though!

[Spearmint]

Lizard men battling humans. Humans fighting humans. Bodies lying in pools of gore. Figures hiding and shouting in fear. And near the back of this huge chamber, in the midst of it all, is Aulicus.

My motivation, probably foolish. But from our gathered knowledge regarding Tydan's plans and Sakatha, the men of Eor (under the Viscount) are probably our best allies. So, to rally them, even to conduct a fighting retreat rather than see them routed. We could use survivors as a retainer group to boost numbers. I know the easier action is to shut the door and sneak away. But I just think a surprise counter might tip the battle in favour of the good.

So I will keep to my post and hope to live to regret it.

[hedgeknight]

Balls out! Love it!

[Rex]

Fahima

Fahima is in, just need to convince everyone else.