Chapter 15: The Slithering Chaos

[ravenn4544]

Mouser backs away cautiously his eyes searching the darkness... he'll climb the rope if nothing further advances.

[DadsAngry]

Hoom Feethos:

Hoom pushes the cultist while Urdur pulls him over the edge.

Push [1d20] = 4

[drpete]

Pip joins Ingrid, hoisting her up the rope as quickly as possible...

Climb Walls [1d100] = 63

[AleBelly]

Pelias has no time to wonder what's transpiring above. He hacks at the first enemy to show its face.

Attack with magical sword +2, +3 vs chaos (THAC0 18) [1d20+2] = 20+2 = 22, damage [1d8+2] = 5+2 = 7

[Inferno]

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







Daemonic screaming spews up from the blackest depths of Hell, heralding the imminent onslaught of unspeakable things that have lived since before Elves walked the Oerth.

On the lowest ledge, Pelias and Grothnak selflessly make their last stand against the ghastly despicable legions of the pit (at F). They fight to buy time for the rest of the heroes and the rescued prisoners to claw up the rope to escape. And for Ingrid to do what must be done.

The execrable stink and the lurid implications of the repulsive hellions is nothing against the two warriors' adamant resolve.

The man-shaped serpents could safely climb the cavern walls past Grothnak and Pelias if they so chose. Instead, the nightmarish horde's front ranks lunge at them again, shrieking with sharp guttural intonations that eerily carry the hiss of the cobra and the voice of Men!



The two warriors beat back the second attack, and retaliate!

Grothnak's halberd sunders a scaled breast, sending a second serpentine demon hurtling back down into the black abyss! (R16)

Pelias' sword sings a song of righteousness and valor as it savagely decapitates another malevolent atrocity! (R15)



But the fallen will soon be replaced by more heinous devils in the unrelenting tide of hell borne abominations!


Actions, Grothnak and Pelias?!


Sacristy Ledge Map, at "F":

X = Dead and falling from the ledge


High above the desperate battle, the rest of the heroes climb on without knowledge of whether Grothnak and Pelias live or die!

They find the freed prisoners stalled on the rope, quavering with fear. (at B)

Brevos manuevers past them and pulls up to Urdur (at A) in time to see Hoom and Urdur fail to pull a lone cultist down into the abyss. His hood conceals his facial expression, but his voice betrays fury and surprise.



"They're here!" he shouts. "The invaders are HERE!!!" But the shrieking din erupting from below, and the moan of the fetid waterfall, makes it unclear whether anyone can hear him.


Actions, Brevos, Hoom and Urdur?!


Upper Ledge Map, at "A":



Then, below the ledge, Bo, Mouser, Ingrid, Pip and Telkis see a black shape writhing on the jutting cliff across the sinkhole shaft! (west of B) Suddenly, the amorphous horror opens its myriad eyes and Felicity Gade screams in terror!




Actions?!


Cutaway View:

Lighter areas are illuminated. All else is pitch darkness.
A = Hoom, Urdur, Brevos and the Hooded Cultist
B = Sarah, Jeremiah, Felicity Gade and the Merchant
West of B = The Oozing Horror
C = Bo, Mouser, Ingrid, Pip and Telkis
F = Grothnak and Pelias and Serpent Man Horde
? = The Unimaginable
West is left. East is right.


Non-required Reading (Rolls and Rulings):

Initiative: Party: [1d6] = 3, Monsters: [1d6] = 4 Monsters win.
Pelias: Saving Throw: [1d20] = 11 Saves.
R12, R16 attack Grothnak (R16 charges): [1d20] = 11, [1d20+2] = 8+2 = 10, damage: [2d4] = 7, [2d4] = 5 Both miss.
R14, R15 attack Pelias: [1d20] = 13, [1d20] = 10, damage: [2d4] = 2, [2d4] = 4 Both miss.

PC Status:

• Brevos, Half-Elf Ranger 2: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 13/27
  Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 2/3: Move: 9", AC 5, HP 5/15, Spells: 0/2 1st lvl
  Grothnak Uthglukh, Half-Orc Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 19/28
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 4: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 13/22, Spells: 0/5 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: 0/6 1st lvl, 1/3 2nd lvl and 0/2 3rd lvl
  Pelias Blanchflower, Human Paladin 3: Move: 6", AC: 2(0), HP: 15/30, Laying Hands: 0/1
  Pip, Human Monk 2: Move: 16", AC: 9, HP: 5/12
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 2: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 9/26
  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.
  Potion of Speed (Telkis): Doubles movement rate and number of attacks. Duration: 7 rounds
  Potion of Heroism (Grothnak): +18hp, +3 levels. Duration: 47 rounds

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)

[DadsAngry]

Hoom Feethos:

Hoom swings the lower part of his robes away to draw his short sword and thrusts it into the screaming cultist.

Short Sword (THAC0 20) to hit [1d20+1] = 10+1 = 11 / Damage: S/M [1d6] = 3 - L [1d8] = 7

[Zhym]

Grothnak continues battling the horde, calm in the knowledge the he is giving those above him the time they need to collapse the hell mouth—or at least to escape.

Halberd +2 (+3 v. Evil) (THAC0 18): [1d20+3] = 8+3 = 11, Dmg [1d10+5] = 6+5 = 11 (S/M) [2d6+4] = 3+4 = 7 (L)
As before, does not include +1 vs. evil or positional bonuses.

[ChubbyPixie]

Telkis, preferring the kind of heroism that ends with him being alive, but feeling he has no choice, springs onto the ledge to get between the slithering goo monster and the helpless villagers.

I assume he can do this since it’s only 5 feet across?

Once there he draws his trusted morningstar, Cranach, hopefully not for the last time, and attacks:

Morningstar +1 (THAC0 19): To Hit:[1d20+1] = 19+1 = 20, Damage: vs s/m [2d4+1] = 8+1 = 9, vs L [1d6+2] = 1+2 = 3
Morningstar +1 (THAC0 19): To Hit:[1d20+1] = 17+1 = 18, Damage: vs s/m [2d4+1] = 3+1 = 4, vs L [1d6+2] = 5+2 = 7

”Don’t be afraid, lady! We’ll save you!” he cries as he lays into the thing, not at all certain he believes what he says.

[wolfpack]

Brevos moves up the rope and draws Brood swinging at the cultist

[1d20+1] = 9+1 = 10
[1d8+1] = 3+1 = 4

[ravenn4544]

Mouser will keep climbing (I don't think he can attack with his sword with others now on the ledge in front of him).

[SocraticLawyer]

Praying to any god that will listen, Urdur draws a dagger and plunges it into the closest fleshy part of the screaming cultist...

Attack cultist with dagger [1d20] = 6

...or at least, that was the plan.

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

The cleric continues her slow climb out.

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo is astonished at the bravery of tiny Telkis. He strains his eyes to see if the gnome's attacks are having any effect on the strange monster before attempting the leap himself.

He tries to soothe the tattered nerves of the others above him while they wait on the rope.

"Remain calm and continue climbing when you can!"

[drpete]

Pip will continue to help Ingrid move up. When he gets to the villagers, he will shake them, and shout for them to "Keep Moving! Your only hope is to Keep Going! We will protect you!"

Climb Walls (86%) [1d100] = 96

Uh oh...

[AleBelly]

Pelias' arms and shoulders begin to feel that familiar burn of overexertion. How many will issue from the depths of this hellhole?

He still harbors hope of slaying all that lie within and making it out with his life. He fights on.

Attack with magical sword +2, +3 vs chaos (THAC0 18) [1d20+2] = 5+2 = 7, damage [1d8+2] = 6+2 = 8

[Inferno]

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








Deep in the jaws of hell, unspeakable things beyond man's understanding rise up from black abysses below.




Furthest from the surface, and from hope (at F), Grothnak and Pelias bravely stand to face the horde of abominations to buy desperately needed time for the sake of their friends, the prisoners, and Briarsgate as well.

The cost of that time may be their lives. The sinister jagged spears of the heinous devils impale Pelias without mercy! (-12hp!) The noble paladin remains conscious but cannot land a blow, so grievous are his wounds.

Grothnak beats down the hooked blades aiming for his heart and decapitates another vile atrocity (R17) sending its headless body hurtling down into the shadowed pit!

Then Grothnak and Pelias hear multilayered peals of human voices shrieking up from beneath the ledge. Grothnak recognizes the unmistakable, ghastly sound: a screaming anathema with a thousand eyes and mouths, like that which hunted him beneath the church of fear. It's coming!


Actions, Grothnak and Pelias?!


Sacristy Ledge Map, at "F":

X = Dead and falling from the ledge


Eighty feet above the selfless sacrifice of Grothnak and Pelias, Telkis fearlessly leaps across the bottomless pit! He lands on a ledge jutting out from the western chasm wall (at D), placing himself between the trembling freed prisoners and an alien, rippling horror.

The undulating shapeless terror impossibly expands and rises up like a serpent readying to strike!



Before it can act, Telkis lunges forward with blinding speed and brutally bludgeons it with his morningstar! The writhing black ooze violently collapses to the ground and loses the integrity of its monstrous form, spilling over the sides of the ledge as its glaring eyes close forever.


Actions, Telkis?!


Above Telkis and to his back, on another ledge infested by the eerie phosphorescent fungi...




....Brevos, Hoom and Urdur attack a lone cultist! (at C) But none can penetrate the iron mail beneath his robes.




Then the cultists draws his terrible sword and swings savagely at Hoom's neck! The elf evades the long sword's deadly arc.

"They're HERE!!!" the cultist roars again.


Actions, Brevos, Hoom and Urdur?!


Upper Ledge Map, at "C":



On the rope beneath them, Bo, Ingrid, Mouser and Pip ready to shepherd the prisoners up past Brevos, Hoom, Urdur and the hooded cultist!

Pip tries to get the fearstricken villages moving again. "Keep Moving! Your only hope is to Keep Going! We will protect you!"

Then suddenly, he comes off the rope!

Felicity and the children watch in horror as Pip disappears without a word, devoured by the hungry darkness below.



They never see him again.

Far below, Grothnak and Pelias glimpse a hooded figure plunging past them. He's still alive, falling down the central shaft of the chasm to certain death. Some of the reptilian demons notice too, and hiss and bark with growing alarm in their eerie form of serpentine communication.

After the catastrophic plummet, the selfless young monk of Hochoch hits the fetid pool in the chamber of lost souls and is killed instantly (-19hp). The sickening sound of the impact is lost in the inhuman cacophony.

Over one hundred feet above Pip's broken body, where Pip had been but moments ago, Bo, Ingrid, Mouser do the only thing they can do. They swallow their grief and urge the prisoners onward. Up they climb to the edge of the hell mouth's maw (at A)! Mere feet from the surface, they can see the night sky, that which they thought they would never see again.



They feel the cold night air on their faces and see torchlight reflected on the branches above them from every direction.


Actions, Bo, Ingrid and Mouser?!


Cutaway View:

Lighter areas are illuminated. All else is pitch darkness.
A = Bo, Ingrid, Mouser
B = Sarah, Jeremiah, Felicity Gade and the Merchant
C = Brevos, Hoom, Urdur and the Hooded Cultist (C8)
D = Telkis
F = Grothnak and Pelias and the Serpent Man Horde
? = The Unimaginable
West is left. East is right.


Non-required Reading (Rolls and Rulings):

Initiative: Party: [1d6] = 2, Monsters: [1d6] = 3 Monsters go first, except Telkis due to his Potion of Speed.
R12, R17 attacks Grothnak (R17 charges): [1d20] = 4, [1d20+2] = 2+2 = 4, damage: [2d4] = 2, [2d4] = 4 Both miss.
R14, R18 attacks Pelias (R18 charges): [1d20] = 18, [1d20+2] = 15+2 = 17, damage: [2d4] = 5, [2d4] = 7 Both hit, for 12hp.
C8 attacks Brevos (1), Hoom (2) or Urdur (3)?: [1d3] = 2 Hoom.
C8 attacks Hoom: [1d20] = 11, damage: [1d8] = 4 Misses.
Plummeting Pip hits R12, 14, 18? (5%): [1d100] = 71 No.
Damage from fall caused by Pip's crit fumble: [10d6] = 39 Halved due to hitting water is -19hp.

PC Status:

• Brevos, Half-Elf Ranger 2: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 13/27
  Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 2/3: Move: 9", AC 5, HP 5/15, Spells: 0/2 1st lvl
  Grothnak Uthglukh, Half-Orc Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 19/28
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 4: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 13/22, Spells: 0/5 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: 0/6 1st lvl, 1/3 2nd lvl and 0/2 3rd lvl
  Pelias Blanchflower, Human Paladin 3: Move: 6", AC: 2(0), HP: 3/30, Laying Hands: 0/1
  Pip, Human Monk 2: Move: 16", AC: 9, HP: -14/12 ...RIP
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 2: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 9/26
  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.
  Potion of Speed (Telkis): Doubles movement rate and number of attacks. Duration: 6 rounds
  Potion of Heroism (Grothnak): +18hp, +3 levels. Duration: 46 rounds

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)

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

The cleric does what she can to help the villagers up onto the surface. While doing so, she speaks to Long Bo and the Grey Mouser. You need to take the villagers back to Briarsgate. Don't wait for anyone else, just get them to safety. If any of us are able to follow we will as soon as we are able. Hopefully, Urdur, Hoom and Brevos will be able to escape. Those locked in mortal combat deeper in the cave, I fear, may be overwhelmed. I will hold off as long as I can before casting the spell, but at the first sign that anything evil emerges first, I will have no choice.

[ChubbyPixie]

"Well I'll be dipped in breadcrumbs," says Telkis. He blinks and stares incredulously as the slime creature expires and drops off the ledge - it takes him a moment to process that he is indeed still alive. But only a moment. Turning and looking up, he notices signs of the fracas transpiring on the ledge above. Without further hesitation, he runs and jumps the short distance to the rope...

Save vs. DEX (18): [1d20] = 8

...and scurries up.

When he reaches the ledge, if the cultist still lives, he'll stop and draw Cranach to help. If by that time the others have subdued the lout or thrown him off the ledge, he'll continue up towards the torchlight above.

[wolfpack]

Brevos once again swings at the cultist but is unable to land a strike while hanging form the rope

[1d20+1] = 4+1 = 5

[Zhym]

Grothnak hews at the next in a seemingly endless supply of enemies. "Afar Vadokanuk!" he cries—the ancient orcish oath, by all the dead. Never had it been quite so appropriate as now.

Halberd +2 (+3 v. Evil) (THAC0 18): [1d20+3] = 9+3 = 12, Dmg [1d10+5] = 6+5 = 11 (S/M) [2d6+4] = 8+4 = 12 (L)