Chapter 14: Abyss of the Damned

[drpete]

Sure he will regret it, but also sure he needs to know, once the priest is disposed of, Pip will try to determine the source of the death smell. Is there is a particular spot that it centers on, like a bone pit, somewhere we haven't noticed yet? This might just be the mud, but perhaps it is something else?

If it's clear we're ready to go, Pip will put on a robe, and offer to hold the dagger and necklace.

[ChubbyPixie]

Telkis will also look for a diminutive robe. Failing that, he pulls out a dagger and cuts one down a bit. As he does so, he turns to Urdur "You could always stand on my shoulders, Urdur," he says, winking. " We could wear one of the big robes between us. Together, we'd almost make one cultist." He chuckles at his own joke as he works and wonders if it's the last time he'll ever find humor in this life. Then he reminds himself how he will laugh when they've finally destroyed whoever is responsible for all this.

[Inferno]

Within the Hell Mouth, the Rushmoors, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Ten. Nightfall. Tuesday, October 25th, 576 CY
Cloudy, damp, cold, foggy





The heroes adorn themselves in the hooded robes of their enemy. As if they had willingly joined their ranks.

Perhaps it is an ill omen of things that will soon come to pass.



Hoom helpfully hands out vestments to everyone but Grothnak. The proud Orc-blooded warrior finds only dishonor in subterfuge.

Their vision unimpaired, the heroes find the robes loose enough to accommodate their armor, and arcane incantations.

Telkis cuts two robes down to size for himself and Urdur. The dark gnome conjurer expends the power of his new magic ring and sees the serpentine dagger and the unholy necklace glow with blue haloes, signifying sorcery.

Pelias prays for the wisdom to see Evil for what it is. He finds no great malevolence woven within the garments of the wicked. But the items in Urdur's hand are infested throughout with a malevolence supreme.

Pip determines that the charnel stench came from the living cadavers that fled here minutes ago.

Long Bo follows their path, returning to the main shaft of the sinkhole. The towering druid looks down into the torchlit cave of forsaken prisoners. There is no movement. The only sound: the steady rush of the swamp-waterfall. And the unrelenting flutes.


Actions?!


Cutaway View:

West is left. East is right. PCs' front rank is near the red "X." Bo is at "B."
Lighter areas are visible. All else is from memory.





PC Status:

• Brevos, Half-Elf Ranger 2: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 19/27
  Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 2/3: Move: 9", AC 5, HP 9/15, Spells: 0/2 1st lvl
  Grothnak Uthglukh, Half-Orc Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 20/28
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 4: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 17/22, Spells: 2/5 1st lvl and 1/4 2nd lvl
  Hoom Feethos, Elven Magic-User/Thief 2/3: Move: 9", AC 3, HP 11/12, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl
  Long Bo, Human Druid 4: Move: 9", AC: 6, HP: 23/30, Spells: 1/6 1st lvl, 1/3 2nd lvl and 1/2 3rd lvl
  Pelias Blanchflower, Human Paladin 3: Move: 6", AC: 2(0), HP: 19/30, Laying Hands: 0/1
  Pip, Human Monk 2: Move: 16", AC: 9, HP: 11/12
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 2: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 13/26
  Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 3: Move: 12", AC 6, HP 9/9, Spells: 0/2 1st lvl and 0/1 2nd lvl, Torch

PC Magic:

• Protection from Evil (Pelias): -2 to AC and +2 to saving throws against evil, in a 10 foot radius around Pelias.

Player Resources:

• Tale of Terror (the story so far, in words)
  Graven Images (the story so far, in pictures)
  The Innocent and the Condemned (npc's)
  A Dark and Terrible World (maps)
  Desperate Struggles (clues and player notes)

[wolfpack]

well I guess we should head down to the bottom then. What ever came of the black blob we encountered earlier?

[ChubbyPixie]

“Yes, let’s get on with it. I suppose this makes Grothnak our ‘prisoner,’ then,” says Telkis. He’ll keep a close eye on Hoom and Mouser as they all don their robes making sure he knows who is who under there. He has every intention of enforcing the new marching order.

[ravenn4544]

Mouser, since he's getting dressed up in new finery, takes his old boots off and puts on his new elven boots to complete the ensemble. With the hood in place, Telkis can't really tell that Mouser is looking him up and down - well, more like down and down since he's a two foot tall gnome... Mouser shrugs and heads to the ledge...

Looking down, he strains to see with his infravision ability what may be down there. "Didn't that black blob fall down there somewhere?"

[DadsAngry]

Hoom Feethos:

Hoom lowers the hood on his vestments to obscure his face and process forward.

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo eases himself down the rope behind those in the front ranks.

"Lets hope that oozing blob is still slithering around on that upper ledge where we left it. If it can slide down these wet walls, we better stay alert once we get to the bottom."

The druid peers into the hanging cages again as best he can along the descent, still expecting to see some familiar faces of the doomed townsfolk. He stays silent if he sees someone, but only so he doesn't give up the groups new ruse.

These cultists must have great upper body strength from climbing all these damn ropes, he silently thinks to himself as they near the bottom.

[AleBelly]

"Yes, onward" agrees Pelias. The paladin is ill at ease with the look of the party in their new wardrobes, and it isn't just because they're all dressed as evil cultists.

Then it hits him. He adds

"I don't think I've seen any non-human cultists. I suggest the smallfolk follow far behind, else our ruse may be extremely short-lived."

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

The cleric dons one of the cultist robes. Wearing the unholy vestments makes her skin crawl. She utters a brief, silent prayer of forgiveness to Tritherion for wearing the foul garments in order to (hopefully) serve the greater good. Still, a nice hot bath will be necessary to remove the feeling of filth from her skin. The unclean feeling on her soul is a different matter altogether.

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur stows the evil artifacts in his pack for now. He'll figure out a way to destroy them later. He follows the others down, staying close to his fellow gnome, Telkis. Urdur keeps an eye out for any living prisoners in the cages. He is sure that the keys he took from the cultist's body will open the cages.

[ChubbyPixie]

Once they are on the ground, Telkis approaches Urdur. "I was joking before, but Pelias is right. We could risk being singled out for our size, or we could disguise ourselves further and gain the element of surprise. What do you say?" He again proposes the classic "two Gnome stack" ruse.

C'mon SocraticLawyer! The future of Briarsgate depends on it! ...or not. No pressure.

[drpete]

Pip dons his robe in silence, and join the others on the trip down.

"Let's not get too carried away with the disguises and waste magic. Our best hope is that they be motivated to not look closely, since we won't stand much scrutiny anyway. It might be best to just tell people that something attacked the priest, and get them to run up the rope."

On the way down, Pip will think about the mud... how possible is it to move on these ropes without becoming covered in mud? The cultists we've seen in their robes... did they seem "clean" or muddy? I suspect that we cleared out the rest of the worshippers in that ritual, but these guys may look out of place in the robes down below...

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur politely declines to form a gnome stack with his buddy Telkis. The quiet dark gnome mutters something about spell components being ruined at "human altitudes."

I'd love to do this you guys, but Urdur is already useless in most fights. If he's standing on Telkis's shoulders,
he's effectively taking him out of the fight as well, at least for a round or two. With the baddies we're up against, that seems unwise.

[Inferno]

Within the Hell Mouth, the Rushmoors, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Ten. Nightfall. Tuesday, October 25th, 576 CY
Cloudy, damp, cold, foggy







In the guise of their hated enemies, the heroes ready to descend the thick knotted rope deeper into the Hell Mouth of unimaginable abominations.

Pip notes the robes have mud stains on them, like everything within this marshy, underworld realm. Urdur keeps the unholy, beautiful necklace and dagger for safekeeping. Mouser adorns the boots he recovered from the treasure hoard of the cult's victims. Somehow, they enable him to walk atop the soft, wet mud, rendering his footfalls silent.

Pelias selflessly bears the burden of the tied, insensate cultist (C5) as the party descends the rope, parallel to the column of putrid falling water. The dull roar of the rancid waterfall pouring down the Hell Mouth shaft almost drowns out the fiendish piping. But the revolting stench of the serpent men only grows stronger.

Sickly torchlight illuminates a vast, high cavern, spoiling Mouser's night vision.



The swamp-waterfall cascades down into a fetid pool in the center of the cavern. The water's rush is loudest here and its misty spray reduces visibility.

Dangling from chains high above the cavern floor are six iron cages that surround the waterfall and the pool. Six winches and pulleys can raise and lower the cruel pens.



Four of the iron cages hold dark shadow shapes unlit by the torches far below. Upon seeing the hooded heroes descend, the forlorn and forsaken shapes stir, some weeping in fear of what fresh horrors will be visited upon them next.

The heroes reach the bottom of the rope. No other signs of life are visible. Four tunnel entrances wind out from this central cave: one upward, two at this level, and one descending still deeper into the nightmarish underworld.

The lack of a clear front, and the obscuring hoods, make it nigh impossible to place Hoom and Mouser at the fore.


Actions?!


Cutaway View:

West is left. East is right. PCs are near the red "X."
Lighter areas are visible. All else is from memory.

Map:

Grey squares are hanging cages.





PC Status:

• Brevos, Half-Elf Ranger 2: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 19/27
  Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 2/3: Move: 9", AC 5, HP 9/15, Spells: 0/2 1st lvl
  Grothnak Uthglukh, Half-Orc Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 20/28
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 4: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 17/22, Spells: 2/5 1st lvl and 1/4 2nd lvl
  Hoom Feethos, Elven Magic-User/Thief 2/3: Move: 9", AC 3, HP 11/12, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl
  Long Bo, Human Druid 4: Move: 9", AC: 6, HP: 23/30, Spells: 1/6 1st lvl, 1/3 2nd lvl and 1/2 3rd lvl
  Pelias Blanchflower, Human Paladin 3: Move: 6", AC: 2(0), HP: 19/30, Laying Hands: 0/1
  Pip, Human Monk 2: Move: 16", AC: 9, HP: 11/12
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 2: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 13/26
  Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 3: Move: 12", AC 6, HP 9/9, Spells: 0/2 1st lvl and 0/1 2nd lvl

PC Magic:

• Protection from Evil (Pelias): -2 to AC and +2 to saving throws against evil, in a 10 foot radius around Pelias.

Player Resources:

• Tale of Terror (the story so far, in words)
  Graven Images (the story so far, in pictures)
  The Innocent and the Condemned (npc's)
  A Dark and Terrible World (maps)
  Desperate Struggles (clues and player notes)

[ravenn4544]

Mouser observes how his new fancy boots are having a very positive effect on his ability to move unimpeded. If he didn't have his hood on everyone would be unable to miss the mischievous smile spreading across his face - a smile even in this unholy place as he thinks of the possibilities now afforded to him......

With his good fortune, his spirits lifted, he moves to the first cage closest to him to lower and hopefully set free someone in need of a fine hero such as he...

[AleBelly]

”Check it first for traps” whispers Pelias, shocked that Mouser is about to perform an altruistic deed. If he does check and dind no traps, the paladin will lower another cage.

[wolfpack]

Brevos will one again scour the area to try and determine comings and goings at the 4 tunnels.


[1d100] = 40

[ChubbyPixie]

"I say we start upwards and work our way down," says [bold]Telkis.[/bold] "Same reasoning as before. Unless some sign in the mud tells you we should do otherwise, Brevos." He makes a mental note that the hooded figure not sinking in this Garl-forsaken mud is Mouser, in case he loses track. Watching the thief and the paladin lowering prisoner cages, he adds "What are we going to do with them? We can't set them free in this hole - they'll die. Perhaps we reassure them, then put them back and return for them when we can escort them out?"

[Zhym]

Grothnak does not wear the robe. Honor does not permit him to wear the colors of his enemy.