Chapter 10: The Crypt of Everlasting Life

[Urson]

Zahra

att [1d20+2] = 19+2 = 21
mace [1d6+3] = 2+3 = 5

Directed at S14

[SocraticLawyer]

Garrin can't reach the melee from his current position, and has no missile weapon. He keeps his shield and sword ready but remains in his position hopefully close enough to his allies to give them the +2 bonus.

[wordoftheoracle]

Loche, frustrated by skeletal anatomy, goes for it again!

Dagger, melee (THACO:20): [1d20] = 10 Dmg [1d4] = 4

[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





Deep within the Great Pyramid, outland barbarians and feuding sects of Verulians forge an unlikely alliance to oppose Zargoth, the demon god of the lost city. In search of sorcerous power to fuel their desperate revolution against this monstrous, eldritch evil, they fearlessly delve into the crypts of ancient Xuthalhotep. There, they find his slaves yet live in undying servitude to the pharaoh of pharaohs. A wild fray erupts!




Suddenly, in those timeless corridors of antiquity - untrod since before the Great Cataclysm drowned Atlantis and began the current, Hyborian Age - for only an instant, the vast gulfs of eternity in those ancient tombs affect the adventurers' perceptions. It seems to them, in that one mere second, that days, weeks, even months had passed.




The fleeting sensation vanishes as quickly as it came and the battle is rejoined as if it had never been left.

Mako's staff shatters another living skeleton (S14), suddenly transforming the animated, macabre cadaver into lifeless, disconnected bones that clatter to the stone floor.

More ageless, dry corpses stagger forward from the mass grave of slaves with epoch-worn shields and rusty swords gripped by dead hands that wreak havoc among the living! (Mako is hit for 5hp, and Arthfael for 3 hp)



Yet another skeleton in the inexorable tide of undeath emerges from the mass grave (S16) and closes with Mako of the East. The little conjurer's staff cracks four of its ribs, but the bloodless thing does not relent!

Garrin, Soruk and Xorzen try in vain to reach the front line to help stem the tide of eerie, undead creatures pouring from the mass grave of countless bones! Amethu stands watch on the silent, shadowed hall to the south.

Loche and Kiri cannot land a blow in the tight crush, but Zahra the amazon strikes a fleshless attacker with a ferocious swipe of her mace, smiting it dead! (S15)

Beside her, barbaric Arthfael beheads his own charnel house foe with Cimmerian steel (S13), scattering more human bones at their feet!


Actions?! (Mako doesn't get a free opportunity attack against S16 because it closed with him.)



Map Detail:

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

Map:



Non-required Reading (rolls and rulings):

Initiative: Party: [1d6] = 2, Monsters: [1d6] = 3 Monsters win.
S12 attacks Mako: [1d20] = 16, damage: [1d6] = 5 Hits for 5hp.
S13, S15 attack Arthfael and Zahra: [1d20] = 14, [1d20] = 11, damage: [1d6] = 3, [1d6] = 4 Arthfael is hit for 3hp.
Arthfael attacks S13 with scimitar: [1d20+1] = 15+1 = 16, damage: [1d8] = 4 Hits. S13 was already wounded, so this attack is enough to kill it.

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: 14/17, 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: 12/18
  Mako: Khitan Easterner Illusionist 3: Move: 12", AC: 7(5), HP: 5/10, 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: 2/3 1st lvl
  Xorzen: Verulian Osoran Monk 2: Move: 16", AC: 8, HP: 11/12, Candle
  Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 2: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: 10/16, 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: tilting floor. Duration: 4 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)

[DadsAngry]

Mako:

Mako swings his quarterstaff at the walking body of bones (S16)

Staff, Quarter THAC0 20 [1d20] = 2 S/M/L [1d6] = 3

[OGRE MAGE]

Xorzen feels completely helpless being pinned in like he is, so he shouts out to the others, waiting for an opportunity to help.

"Try closing the door if you can! There were enough bones in that room to create ten thousand skeletons!"

The monk contemplates going back to the slanted floor to see if the secret door opens yet, but he waits to see if any more monsters exit the bone filled room first.

[ChubbyPixie]

After the bizarre and inexplicable time dilation, Kiri finds he suddenly and bizarrely can’t remember what weapon he is holding. He swings his two-handed sword...

Attack with Trident (THAC0:19): To Hit: [1d20+3] = 2+3 = 5 Damage vs. s/m: [1d6+7] = 3+7 = 10, vs. Lg: [3d4+6] = 9+6 = 15

...only to realize too late that it is his trident he holds.

”Hang in there, Mako!” he yells.

[ravenn4544]

Amethu, recovering quickly from a near seizure, notices mako in peril and attempts to revive him.


Cure Light Wounds [1d8] = 5

[Urson]

Zahra

Zahra charges through the litter of bones on the ground, moving to attack S16 .
att [1d20+2] = 19+2 = 21
mace [1d6+3] = 6+3 = 9

She shouts in bloodthirsty triumph.

[Monsieur Rose]

Soruk

Mirroring the frustration of his Brother, Soruk growls softly. "For sooth this is not working. I am going round."

Soruk turns and moves back towards the tilting platform, looking both ways at the intersection. He'll test the stability of the tilting hallway before he walks on it.

[wordoftheoracle]

Loche, incredibly confused and frustrated, follows Soruk.
Ah think ye'r oan tae something, Soruk! Ah wull hulp ye wi' this!

[Zhym]

Arthfael turns and smacks at S16 with his scimitar.

Scimitar (THAC0 20): [1d20+1] = 9+1 = 10 [1d8] = 2

[SocraticLawyer]

Garrin charges at the remaining skeleton (S12?).

To Hit with +1 Long Sword: [1d20+1] = 13+1 = 14; Damage: sm - [1d8+1] = 3+1 = 4; lg - [1d12+1] = 2+1 = 3
+2 for charging not included

[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







Deep in the antediluvian catacombs of lost Verulia, far from the sun and the sky and the world, the unrelenting surge of undead slaves does not abate. Two more ancient living cadavers (S17, S18) emerge into a hallway whose walls are meticulously etched with countless rows of slaves.

Rusted swords, forged when Atlantis was young, hack and slice and cut and rip only air as Kiri and Mako evade their hungry blades!

"Try closing the door if you can!" cries Xorzen of Osorus in mounting frustration and helplessness. "There were enough bones in that room to create ten thousand skeletons!"

"Forsooth this is not working. I am going round," Soruk growls to his sect brother. Little Loche the Pict joins the albino giant and they race north to the eerily frozen floor, locked incongruously in mid-tilt. Wondering how much longer Amethu's strange sorcery, or an iron spike, can keep the listing monolithic slab in place, they hold their breath and rush across where angels fear to tread.

The angled floor does not budge beneath their feet and the pair reach the western halls alive! There, beside them, ibis-masked Amethu steps forward and petitions mercurial Uthoth to heal Mako the unlikely frontline combatant. His unearthly boon is miraculously granted (+5hp) and Mako rejoins the life-and-death struggle. But he and his fellow Easterner, Kiri Khutan, hammer and stab at vital organs the skeletons no longer possess.

Zahra strides deeper into the battle, crushing broken bones beneath her sandaled foot. The lion-helmed warrior savagely kills another of the living dead (S17), shattering its skull instantly with yet another fell handed blow of her iron bludgeon! It falls to pieces before her.



Garrin of Atlantis charges past Arthfael, coming alongside the pale amazon reaver, and drives his three foot sword to the hilt, deep into the ribcage of another murderous cadaver, impaling the place where its heart should be. (S18) The unliving horror fights on!


Actions?! (Mako doesn't get a free opportunity attack against S17 and S18 because they closed with him.)


Map Detail: (Fyi, for clarity I've removed the dead skeletons from the map, because they've been reduced to bone shards, except the one killed this round (S17).)

One square = 10 feet. x = Dead.
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.
S12, S16 attack Kiri and Mako: [1d20] = 9, [1d20] = 6, damage: [1d6] = 6, [1d6] = 1 Both miss.

PC Status:

• Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 2/1: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 7/10, Spells: 4/6 1st lvl
  Arthfael Griogarach: Cimmerian Northman Druid 3: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 14/17, 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: 12/18
  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: 2/3 1st lvl
  Xorzen: Verulian Osoran Monk 2: Move: 16", AC: 8, HP: 11/12, Candle
  Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 2: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: 10/16, 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: 3 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

Zahra attacks (s18), but her foot slips on a shattered pelvis.
att [1d20+2] = 1+2 = 3

[ravenn4544]

Amethu, now drawn into melee range, thrusts weakly with his staff at the skeleton to the north.

To Hit (THACO 20): [1d20] = 2
Quarterstaff Damage: = S/M/L: [1d6] = 5

[SocraticLawyer]

Garrin attacks the skeleton before him (S18).

To Hit with +1 Long Sword: [1d20+1] = 13+1 = 14; Damage: sm - [1d8+1] = 3+1 = 4; lg - [1d12+1] = 6+1 = 7

[Monsieur Rose]

Soruk

Soruk raises his holy symbol and tries to banish this new crop of undead. "Begone and never returneth!"

Turn Undead: [1d20] = 8

[DadsAngry]

Mako:

Mako swings again at (S16).

Staff, Quarter THAC0 20 [1d20] = 12 S/M/L [1d6] = 3

[OGRE MAGE]

Xorxen moves up and swats away with his javelin, if he can find an opening.

Javalin Attack [1d20+1] = 19+1 = 20 Damage [1d6+2] = 1+2 = 3