Chapter 15: The Slithering Chaos

[ravenn4544]

Mouser's soul, and how his very vision, is ensnaring him in murky perception. He rails against feeling trapped. Knowing where the hole into the abyss was, he shifts towards the hole to be able to glimpse a cultist to fire upon.

Attack roll if possible:

Sling (THACO 20) [1d20+2] = 11+2 = 13, damage [1d4+1] = 4+1 = 5

[DadsAngry]

Hoom Feethos:

Hoom strikes at (C10) with his short sword.

Short Sword (THAC0 20) to hit [1d20+1] = 18+1 = 19 / Damage: S/M [1d6] = 4 - L [1d8] = 3
Saving Throw [1d20] = 7

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo doesn't like the fact that nobody else from his group has exited the hole yet. He assumes the worst, of course.

He nudges the group of townsfolk towards the torch to the east, not wanting them all to stay in the same place they just were, hoping the cultists will simply leave them alone. He speaks to Felicity as they depart. "Move over to the east! Now! Stay just inside of this fog and you should be fine. We will see to these cultists."

He gets close enough to Ingrid to talk to her over the shrieking.

"This isn't looking good. We must expect the worst. Our friends might not be able to make it out of there. They wouldn't just be sitting around down there, or initiating any unnecessary combat, right? They must have run into trouble on the climb out. Perhaps it is time for you to start your spell? I don't envy what you must do, but we cant allow this abomination to continue. This place, and everything in it, must be destroyed!!!"

The tall druid is glad his spell rises high enough to cover his height. He sets his spear shaft into the dirt and points the blade in the direction of the oncoming cultists. He knows he must protect Ingrid, even if it means his own life may be forfeit.

Attack roll if needed: Spear Attack [1d20] = 7 Damage [1d6] = 2

[AleBelly]

The horrors ascending from the depths, the enemy now above them, and a duty to protect Felicity all point Pelias to a single action: upwards as fast as he can, running back through the shrine and up the knotted rope beyond. If he can make it that far, he will avoid the giant leech as much as possible.

[Inferno]

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





Grothnak and Pelias glimpse the unspeakable. The unimaginable.



Their minds struggle to perceive this vile profanity from the pits of blasphemous creation, this cosmic obscenity, this heinous perversion of Life itself. Its very existence is a horrific assault upon their senses, their sanity and their souls.

They join the mad flight out of Pandemonium, into the caverns of the heinous shrine.




They race through a gallery of horrors in a fevered blur...





...past the bloodsoaked altar...





...the dyptic of startlingly lifelike demon gods bowing in obsequience to a towering graven image of the ghastly abomination...




...and other depraved, inconceivable atrocities committed against Men and Gods...




...with each fresh affront to their humanity, Grothnak wonders when merciful Ingrid above will grant them death. Had something gone terribly wrong?!


Actions, Grothnak and Pelias?!




In the hell mouth shaft above Grothnak and Pelias, the revolting appearance, stench and ramifications of these serpentine defilements of Nature continue their metaphysical assault upon Brevos, Hoom and Urdur, (still at -4 to Strength) and weaken Telkis as well. (Telkis, lose 1 point of Strength)

Undeterred, the bleeding gnome warrior smashes his morningstar into two ascending terrors, shattering one's skull (R18) and sending it hurtling down into the black abyss below! The other fiend (R19) is wounded but hangs onto the cliff face with inhuman claws!

Then the distorted reptilian malefactors are upon them in an instant!



The two valiant gnomes, Telkis and Urdur, fall beneath the ruthless onslaught of insidious hooked spears! (-5hp and -8hp respectively)

Then the wicked, sword-wielding cultists attack the heroes upon their other front!



Brevos' enchanted shield defends him against all attacks. But his glowing blade is beaten down by steel and spear!

Hoom evades a deadly sword slash and steps in close to cut an unholy acolyte with his shortsword! (C10) The wound isn't fatal.

The desperate heroes are in imminent danger of being overwhelmed! The rope to salvation dangles tantalizingly, mere feet away!


Actions, Brevos and Hoom?!


Upper Ledge Map, at "C":

X = Dead or unconscious. R18 is also falling.




Above that dire struggle, on the surface of the swamp, the alien strains of fungal screaming do not abate. Cocooned within the blinding sorcerous mists of the grey druid, Ingrid and Mouser feel their dread nausea leaving them. (each gain back 1 point of Strength)

Then the dread returns with the frightening realization that the cultists have entered the mist!



They can see the escaping heroes and prisoners! Holding their curving, serpentine daggers before them, they growl: "For the last time, surrender or die!"

Realizing they're too close for his sling stone, Mouser draws Scalpel, his sabre. But neither he nor Long Bo can land a blow! Leading the prisoners and Ingrid east would leave them vulnerable to attack. The best they can do is move to the southern end of the otherworldly fog and pray.

Children weeping before her, Ingrid readies the enchanted scroll she recovered from the Treasure of the Damned. The priestess desperately wants to give her friends more time to escape the Hell Mouth. But time is rapidly running out. Could she sacrifice her friends to save herself, the villagers and Briarsgate? Should she? Does she have that right, to become unto the Angel of Death? And could she ever forgive herself if she did?


Actions, Bo, Ingrid and Mouser?! (Ingrid, I still need an action for this round too, which will precede all other actions next round.)


Surface Map, at "A" and "B":

One square = 10 feet. North is the top of the map.
Prisoners are each marked by a single letter: Felicity, Sarah, Jeremiah, Merchant.
Bluer areas are darker, away from the torchlight.





Cutaway View:

Lighter areas are illuminated. All else is pitch darkness.
A = Bo, Ingrid, Mouser and 4 Hooded Cultists
B = Sarah, Jeremiah, Felicity Gade and the Merchant
C = Brevos, Hoom, Telkis, Urdur and the 2 Hooded Cultists
D = Serpent Men
E = Grothnak
F = Pelias
G = The Abomination God
H = Screaming Tentacled Horrors
West is left. East is right.


Non-required Reading (Rolls and Rulings):

Initiative: Party: [1d6] = 3, Monsters: [1d6] = 4 Monsters win, except for Telkis due to his Potion of Speed.
R19 Dex save: [1d20] = 10 Succeeds.
R19, R20, R21 charge Telkis, Urdur and Brevos: [1d20+2] = 12+2 = 14, [1d20+2] = 9+2 = 11, [1d20+2] = 9+2 = 11 Telkis and Urdur are hit...
Damage to Telkis and Urdur: [2d4] = 5, [2d4] = 8 for -5hp and -8hp respectively.
C8, C10 attack Brevos and Hoom: [1d20] = 9, [1d20] = 6, damage: [1d8+1] = 2+1 = 3, [1d8+1] = 5+1 = 6 Both miss.
Obscurement visibility: [2d4] = 4 Visibility is 4 feet.
Cultists on surface can't charge into mist. They use this action to move. They can attack next round.
Mouser attacks C11 with Saber: [1d20] = 5, damage: [1d8] = 6 Misses.
Moving prisoners east would now give C14 an opportunity attack, so I moved them south.

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 9/12, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl
  Long Bo, Human Druid 4: Move: 9", AC: 6, HP: 23/30, Spells: 0/6 1st lvl, 0/3 2nd lvl and 0/2 3rd lvl
  Pelias Blanchflower, Human Paladin 3: Move: 6", AC: 2(0), HP: 3/30, Laying Hands: 0/1
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 2: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: -3/26
  Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 3: Move: 12", AC 6, HP -4/9, 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: 3 rounds
  Potion of Heroism (Grothnak): +18hp, +3 levels. Duration: 43 rounds
  Sleep (Hoom): Target: C9. Duration: 8 rounds
  Obscurement (Bo): Duration: 14 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)

[wolfpack]

Brevos look at Hoom,
we have to get up the rope now


he will grab the rope and start climbing

[ravenn4544]

Mouser continues to struggle to defend against the cultists:

Scalpel (THACO 20) To Hit [1d20] = 3, S/M/L Dam. [1d8] = 4

[ChubbyPixie]

”I’m sorry, Jenkins...” mumbles Telkis as he slumps to the ground and breathes his last.

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof, Reluctant Angel of Death

With a sad smile, Ingrid turns to Long Bo and the Grey Mouser. I'm sorry it had to come to this, friends. A few seconds is all I need. If we do not see each other again in this life or the next, it has been an honor and privilege to know all of you.

To Felicity, she whispers harshly, Follow me. You need to get as far away as possible. She heads south, hoping the cultists are busy enough with Bo and GM that they ignore her retreat for the moment.

When they clear the fog, she tells them, Run! Get as far from here as you can. The others will hold off the cultists long enough for me to cast a spell, but you need to get away. She will give the villagers a few moments to escape, offering a final, silent prayer to Tritherion to guide the innocents to safety and asking forgiveness for what she is about to do, before reading the scroll, tears rolling down her cheeks, and rocking everyone's world.

She will center the spell on the opening of the cave, down as far as the spell will allow due to range.

[DadsAngry]

Hoom Feethos:

Hoom desperately tries to flee up. With the rope occupied by Brevos he uses his natural skill of climbing.

87% - Climb Walls [1d100] = 77

[Zhym]

Grothnak climbs, hoping he can still help hold off the evil hordes before Ingrid brings the whole hole down. Afar vadokanuk, what is she waiting for? he wonders as he climbs.

[OGRE MAGE]

A single tear streams down the weathered face of Long Bo when he thinks about his friends who didn't make it out of this hellish hole. He knows that he and Mouser are no match for 4 armed opponents. He also knows that no more help will likely be coming up from below.

He still feels that Ingrid must be protected at all cost, so he will continue fighting until her unfortunate deed is done. If he dies from his wounds, he will take solace that he and his friends lives weren't lost in vain. Without a word, he continues his subdual attack on the brainwashed cultists, hoping this whole thing will be over soon.

Spear Attack [1d20] = 11 Damage [1d6] = 6

[SocraticLawyer]

As Urdur takes his last breath, he wonders why his final thoughts are an amalgam of his dog Mittens, his mentor's rebukes for not paying attention to his studies, and the idea of two gnomes pretending to be one human.

With neither a bang, nor a whimper, but merely a shrug, Urdur closes his eyes and leaves the Prime Material Plane forever.

[AleBelly]

Pelias follows behind Grothnak. He cannot help but wonder what is transpiring above.

[Inferno]

At the Hell Mouth, the Rushmoors, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Ten. After Nightfall. Tuesday, October 25th, 576 CY
Clear, cold, damp







(last round...)

The end had come.

Oppressive dread hanging over her like the spectre of Death itself, Ingrid whispers to Felicity and then moves to the edge of the gaping maw of the Hell Mouth.

The resolute priestess recites the fearsome prayer from the enchanted scroll, centering its catastrophic orisons 120 feet straight down into the abyss!

Then all Hell breaks loose and Ingrid screams, "RUN!!!"

(this round...)

Ingrid's magic words of reverence and piety cause the Oerth itself to tremble!

Deep in the Hell Mouth, cavern walls violently shudder and quake for a minute that seems like an eternity!

Grothnak and Pelias climb and race through the dreadful, tremoring underworld, stalactites falling around them. They know Ingrid has succeeded. All was not in vain. Then the cave floor gives way beneath their feet and the ceiling roars down upon them.



The two valorous heroes die trying to save the life of Felicity Gade, honoring sacred oaths they swore. It is as good a death as any warrior could ask for, especially in Briarsgate where there are fates far worse than death.

In the central chasm, the hooded cultists and the reptilian atrocities are surprsied and bewildered as the world around them suddenly reels and convulses! Brevos and Hoom, who were half-expecting this, seize this sudden unexpected advantage for all it is worth! (I will rule)

Unencumbered by worldly possessions since his two abductions, Hoom Feethos shoulders the weight of Urdur the gnome and scales the knotted rope! Brevos drops his backpack, pulls Telkis from his own pack and heaves him over his shoulder. He shoves Cranach in his belt and climbs up the rope behind Hoom!

Plunging madly up the abyss, they glance back once and witness a shockwave of total destruction exploding up the chasm from the black pit below, hungrily pulling cavern walls down into it; growing, devouring, and gaining on them! And the unspeakable God of Horrors rising up the shaft among it, somehow grown larger!

Baleful shrieks of alien fungi herald their escape as Hoom and Brevos claw their way out of Hell and onto the shaking surface of the afflicted swamp island! Carrying the fallen gnomes, they run beneath the sickly light of the full moon across the writhing ground as malformed, twisted trees fall all around them! The wind in the night sky howls to the spectral whirling of the black gulfs of infinity beyond.

They pass four stunned ministers of abhorrence and see ahead of them Bo, Ingrid, Mouser and the freed prisoners racing madly, fleeing for their lives across the undulating apocalyptic landscape!

They look back and witness in horror the Unholy Abomination loom up from the abyss, its terrible immensity grown to a vast menace of despair, and the children scream.



Their minds struggle to comprehend this eldritch contradiction of life, matter and cosmic order.

It cries out and its voice is filled with horror and death.

The unholy sound sears into their minds and souls and they feel helpless and naked before its all-powerful, malevolent will.



Then suddenly, the evil cry dies in its throat. The heinous thing of inconceivable nightmare begins to be swallowed up by the voracious chasm beneath it! In a roaring avalanche, the unholy abomination god and four of its earthly disciples are pulled back down into Hell by the power of Ingrid's cataclysmic prayer!

The island comes apart and sinks beneath the heroes' feet, slaking the rapacious gullet of the sinkhole. The world stops shaking and the earth stops roaring and marsh waters flood in and Jeremiah lifts little Sarah above the three foot tide that silences the screaming toadstools and the abysmal shrieking of the fallen hell-borne elder Thing.

A shocking quiet suddenly grips the land. Black, swirling torrents go still and soon there is no sign left of the island in the marsh, nor the unspeakable horrors that lurked beneath it, nor those martyred heroes of Briarsgate who nobly gave their lives that others might live: Pip of Hochoch, Grothnak Uthglukh and Pelias of Hookhill.

Impossibly, it is over.

Felicity Gade finally breaks down in deep gulping sobs of relief and terror.

"... ...thank you..."


Actions?!


Non-required Reading (Rolls and Rulings):

The Earthquake spell lasts for one round and Surprises the monsters (except the Abomination God) so they cannot act this round, not even to take opportunity attacks.
The Abomination God casts Enlarge on itself.
Climbing a rope halves a character's movement, but being outdoors triples it, enabling Brevos and Hoom to get clear despite their burdens. (The Earthquake spell's area of effect is in dungeon scale, and the PCs fleeing it are in wilderness scale)

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
  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 9/12, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl
  Long Bo, Human Druid 4: Move: 9", AC: 6, HP: 23/30, Spells: 0/6 1st lvl, 0/3 2nd lvl and 0/2 3rd lvl
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 2: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: -4/26
  Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 3: Move: 12", AC 6, HP -5/9, Spells: 0/2 1st lvl and 0/1 2nd lvl

PC Magic:

• Potion of Speed (Telkis): Doubles movement rate and number of attacks. Duration: 2 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)

[wolfpack]

once he is sure he is far enough away no earth will collapse beneath his feet Brevos collapses and drops the gnome just laying on his back breathing heavily

[OGRE MAGE]

Once the rumbling stops and it is safe to move about, Bo quickly gathers up everyone that made it out of the hole, calling them to his distinct voice in the darkness now that the night air has quieted.

He does a headcount on the innocent victims before dropping to his knees, despite the depth of the water, and reciting honored prayers for his fallen friends and for all of the poor, unknowing souls who had to die at the hands of these malevolent creatures.

He does anything he can to mark this place somehow, so others might come here again to remember the fallen, though he doesn't plan to ever return himself. Then he turns to the others.

"We need to see if the good people of Briarsgate have been released of their mental torment. Once we know that, we can begin to grieve those we've lost. We have a long arduous journey ahead of us through this horrid swamp. Prepare yourselves for that next. The sooner we leave this place, the sooner we will know what has befallen your loved ones."

[ravenn4544]

Once the rumbling stops, Mouser simply stands quiet with his hand on his knees, breathing deeply. His thoughts are veiled by the taint of insanity from that hellish pit. His head is bowed so all that can be seen is the water dripping from his disheveled hair. Perhaps there are tears falling as well...

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

As realization that the earthquake has ended and she has not fallen victim to the collapsing ground sets in, the cleric falls to her knees, quietly sobbing. Even though it was for the greater good, she still sentenced heroic friends to death, a burden she will carry with her for the rest of her days. Everything going forward must reflect positively on the legacies of Grothnak, Pelias, and Pip, who died so she could live.

I...I honestly did not expect to survive. Death would have been a fitting punishment for my sins. I never gave a thought to what we must do next. Getting to her feet, she continues, You are correct, as usual, Bo. The time to mourn is not now. Pelias, Pip, and Grothnak's deaths will be in vain if we cannot return to Briarsgate and make sure the evil influence has ended.

Wiping the tears from her face, she looks at each of the survivors in turn. I know what we faced was horrible, and we are all weary. But I believe we should begin our return journey as soon as we can.

[wolfpack]

Brevos will gingerly make his way back to the opening to see if there is any chance the others may be alive.

We have to check just in case