Chapter 10: The Crypt of Everlasting Life

[Monsieur Rose]

Soruk

Once the crush is lifted, Soruk finishes hammering a spike in the wall. He aims for a few inches above the floor and 5 feet West of the door. He repeats the process 5 feet East of the door.

[OGRE MAGE]

Seeing the floor not as it once was, Xorzen has no idea what has happened to it. He is glad to see that no one has plunged to their deaths yet at any rate.

Once he sees the paladin rushing towards the enemy, he feels a bit better about his odds. He turns to face the creatures again and swings his javelin at the first one to get within range.

Javalin Attack [1d20+1] = 18+1 = 19 Damage [1d6+2] = 1+2 = 3

[ravenn4544]

Amethu contemplates such a mechanism as the tilting floor. Interesting achievement - and quite devilish.

[DadsAngry]

Mako:

Done having fun on the see-saw of death, Mako jumps off at the west end.

[Zhym]

Arthfael finds himself disappointed at the brute force approach to the balance problem. He wonders if finding a natural balance might have opened the secret door. Perhaps he can try that later.

For now, with people jumping off the see-saw floor left and right, he too exits west.

[Inferno]

Tombs of the Ancients, Fourth Tier of the Great Pyramid
Lost City of Khemsa, Forgotten Kingdom of Verulia, Great Eastern Desert, the World of Hyboria
Day Four. Mid-Morning, 16th day of the month of Yuluk, 1279th year of the Age of Aquilonia







In the nigh-eternal tombs of the Great Pyramid of Khemsa, ancient bones that have rested for millennia stir.

Deathless slaves walk the earth again! (S1,S2) Seemingly bound in servitude unto the ending of the world, the undead chattel of Pharaoh Xuthalhotep raise sword and shield and charge the invader of the sacred crypts!



Xorzen of Osorus is pierced by the rusted, archaic blade of an unliving thrall! (S1 hits for -3hp)
Behind it, more fleshless terrors emerge from the mass grave of slaves! (S3-6)

Meanwhile to the northwest, atop the suddenly immobile floor, Amethu cannot help but admire the craft and cunning of the devious bygone trapsmiths of ancient Verulia. Beside him, hearing Xorzen's approach, Kiri steps east and readies to hurl an enchantment. The mountainous spellsword waits for something to turn the corner but nothing does.

Nearby, hoping to permanently stabilize the presently inert flooring, Soruk of Osorus uses his legendary strength to drive an iron spike into the stone wall with powerful blows that echo through the timeless corridors of antiquity.

Likewise, Zahra wedges a second javelin into the razor thin seam between floor and wall and then the pale amazon joins Arthfael, Loche and Mako in fleeing the diabolical deathtrap while they still can. They leap from the western end of the slanted corridor down to the adjacent floor.

But Garrin races in the opposite direction, charging to the aid of his companion! Leaping up three feet into the eastern hallway, the Atlantean paladin hacks his sword into an exposed ribcage (S1) yet the undead slave does not fall!

Beside him, candle in one hand, javelin in the other, Xorzen stabs the empty eye socket of a leering skull! (S2) But the living corpse fights on!


Actions?!


Map Detail:

One square = 10 feet. Lighter areas are visible. All else is from memory.

Map:



Non-required Reading (rolls and rulings):

Initiative: Party: [1d6] = 5, Monsters: [1d6] = 6 Monsters win.
S1, S2 attack Xorzen: [1d20] = 10, [1d20] = 7: , damage: [1d6] = 3, [1d6] = 2 S1 hits for -3hp

PC Status:

• Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 2/1: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 7/10, Spells: 5/6 1st lvl
  Arthfael Griogarach: Cimmerian Northman Druid 3: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 17/17, Spells: 5/5 1st lvl, 4/4 2nd lvl and 2/2 3rd lvl, Lantern
  Garrin Locke: Argosian Atlantean Paladin 2: Move: 12", AC: 4(2), HP: 18/18, Laying Hands: 1/1
  Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 1/1: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 12/12, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl
  Loche: Pict Savage Thief 3: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 18/18
  Mako: Khitan Easterner Illusionist 3: Move: 12", AC: 7(5), HP: 10/10, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl
  Soruk: Verulian Osoran Cleric/Fighter 1/1: Move: 12", AC: 6(5), HP: 9/9, Spells: 3/3 1st lvl
  Xorzen: Verulian Osoran Monk 2: Move: 16", AC: 8, HP: 9/12, Candle
  Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 2: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: 16/16, Torch

PC Magic:

• Protection from Evil (Garrin): -2 to AC and +2 to saving throws against evil, in a 10 foot radius around Garrin.
  Healing Mists of Osorus (All except Amethu and Zahra): All lost HP recovered with 8 hours of sleep. Wakeful rest, or sleeping less than 8 hours, enables recovery of 1 HP per hour. Duration: "months."
  Enlarge (Amethu): Target: floor. Duration: 8 rounds.

Player Resources:

• The Struggle To Survive (the story so far)
  Mysteries Strange and Deadly (player clues and notes)
  Hieroglyphs (the story so far, in images)
  An Age Undreamed Of (maps and realms of the World of Hyboria)

[Urson]

Zahra

Hearing the sounds of battle, Zarha runs to join the fight, readyingn her mace as she does.

[ravenn4544]

Amethu also postpones his musings at the sound of battle. He moves to lend aide where he can (he'll go westward to follow his comrades).

[wordoftheoracle]

Loche heads toward the undead beasties weilding his bone dagger. He takes a silent stab at one of the undead (S6).

Dagger, melee (THACO:20): [1d20] = 20 Dmg [1d4] = 1

[SocraticLawyer]

Garrin continues to engage the undead horror before him (S1)….

To Hit with +1 Long Sword: [1d20+1] = 8+1 = 9; Damage: sm - [1d8+1] = 6+1 = 7; lg - [1d12+1] = 5+1 = 6


...to no avail.

[OGRE MAGE]

Unwilling to leave a compatriot that came to his aid, Xorzen attacks the skeletons again.

Javalin Attack [1d20+1] = 14+1 = 15 Damage [1d6+2] = 5+2 = 7

[Monsieur Rose]

Soruk

Soruk leaves the see-saw on the east, following the sounds of his brother. He switches back to his large sword as he rounds the corner and climbs the ledge.

[ChubbyPixie]

Alarmed by the gap at the base of the wall and worried that Soruk's and his combined weight will unjam the floor again, Kiri runs back to the west, following those who fled that way.

[DadsAngry]

Mako:

Hearing the sound of battle, Mako makes his way around the corner and stops at the door of the bone room just short of the melee in the hall.

[Zhym]

Arthfael would rather contemplate the balance of the balancing floor than fight the dead yet again. But he does what he must, following the others to the battle.

Attacking from second rank, if possible:
Spear (THAC0 20): [1d20+1] = 1+1 = 2 [1d6] = 6 (S/M) / [1d8] = 1 (L)

[Inferno]

Tombs of the Ancients, Fourth Tier of the Great Pyramid
Lost City of Khemsa, Forgotten Kingdom of Verulia, Great Eastern Desert, the World of Hyboria
Day Four. Mid-Morning, 16th day of the month of Yuluk, 1279th year of the Age of Aquilonia







Steel clashes against steel in the ageless city of corpses as Garrin's powerful sword slash is parried by a notched, timeworn blade! (S1)

Xorzen, devoted son of the pyramid's dying, antediluvian civilization, hauls back and strikes again with his javelin, impaling the skull's other eye, this time with enough force to blast into the empty braincase and out the back of the skull in a gruesome spray of bone shards! The living skeleton (S2) suddenly collapses to the floor like a marionette whose strings were cut! Its now-lifeless, disconnected bones splay across the stone tile in a macabre jumble of human remains.

Behind the front line, Soruk leaps up from the still-motionless deathtrap to bolster the front, while Amethu, Kiri, Loche, Mako and Zahra race around to the west to flank their cadaverous foes! Loche the thief stealthily charges forward and backstabs a fleshless undead corpse with his enchanted dagger, killing it instantly! (S6) The ghoulish, living, fighting creature is transformed in an instant into inert, insensate bones that disassemble and fall to the floor in a clatter! Arthfael of Cimmeria follows Loche and wildly thrusts a spear over his head, nearly backstabbing the little Pict!

Reanimated bones of the ancient dead counterattack and a rusty sabre tears through Xorzen's body, brutally cleaving flesh and bone! (-5hp) Another sword out of antiquity carves a gash across Zahra's white shoulder. (-1hp)

And three more long-dead carcasses of men emerge from the mass grave of slaves and prepare to join the fray! (S7, S8, S9)


Actions?! (Mako, if you wish, you have free opportunity attacks against S7, S8 and S9 in addition to next round's action.)


Map Detail:

One square = 10 feet. x = Dead.
Lighter areas are visible. All else is from memory.


Non-required Reading (rolls and rulings):

Initiative: Party: [1d6] = 4, Monsters: [1d6] = 3 Party wins
S1, S5 attack Garrin and Xorzen: [1d20] = 3, [1d20] = 20, damage: [1d6] = 6, [1d6] = 5 Xorzen is hit for -5hp.
S3, S4 attack Zahra and Loche: [1d20] = 16, [1d20] = 13, damage: [1d6] = 1, [1d6] = 2 Zahra is hit for -1hp.

PC Status:

• Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 2/1: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 7/10, Spells: 5/6 1st lvl
  Arthfael Griogarach: Cimmerian Northman Druid 3: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 17/17, Spells: 5/5 1st lvl, 4/4 2nd lvl and 2/2 3rd lvl, Lantern
  Garrin Locke: Argosian Atlantean Paladin 2: Move: 12", AC: 4(2), HP: 18/18, Laying Hands: 1/1
  Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 1/1: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 12/12, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl
  Loche: Pict Savage Thief 3: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 18/18
  Mako: Khitan Easterner Illusionist 3: Move: 12", AC: 7(5), HP: 10/10, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl
  Soruk: Verulian Osoran Cleric/Fighter 1/1: Move: 12", AC: 6(5), HP: 9/9, Spells: 3/3 1st lvl
  Xorzen: Verulian Osoran Monk 2: Move: 16", AC: 8, HP: 4/12, Candle
  Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 2: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: 15/16, Torch

PC Magic:

• Protection from Evil (Garrin): -2 to AC and +2 to saving throws against evil, in a 10 foot radius around Garrin.
  Healing Mists of Osorus (All except Amethu and Zahra): All lost HP recovered with 8 hours of sleep. Wakeful rest, or sleeping less than 8 hours, enables recovery of 1 HP per hour. Duration: "months."
  Enlarge (Amethu): Target: floor. Duration: 7 rounds.

Player Resources:

• The Struggle To Survive (the story so far)
  Mysteries Strange and Deadly (player clues and notes)
  Hieroglyphs (the story so far, in images)
  An Age Undreamed Of (maps and realms of the World of Hyboria)

[Zhym]

Arthfael continues ineffectively poking the pointy end of his spear at the skeletons.

Spear (THAC0 20): [1d20+1] = 8+1 = 9 [1d6] = 3 (S/M) / [1d8] = 1 (L)

[OGRE MAGE]

As his life blood spills out onto the floor, Xorzen shoots daggers from his eyes at his pious, much larger brethren coming up from behind.

"Have you again forgotten your place, deareth brother?"

The dying monk tries to stealthfully switch places with Soruk before he springs anymore leaks.

[ChubbyPixie]

Turning his trident sideways, Kiri hacks downwards with it like an axe, counting on raw strength to crush through the skull and rib cage of S9. ”Lie down now. Back to death with you,” he says calmly.

Attack with Trident (THAC0:19): To Hit: [1d20+3] = 12+3 = 15 Damage vs. s/m: [1d6+7] = 4+7 = 11, vs. Lg: [3d4+6] = 8+6 = 14

[SocraticLawyer]

Garrin attacks his foe again.

To Hit with +1 Long Sword: [1d20+1] = 13+1 = 14; Damage: sm - [1d8+1] = 7+1 = 8; lg - [1d12+1] = 10+1 = 11