Chapter 24: Human Sacrifices

[Inferno]

The Lichway, The Lost Shrine of Ancient Evil
The Dark Mountains, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Twenty. Long after midnight. Thursday, December 1st, 576 CY







The heroes further court death, progressing deeper into the monumental church of madness and horror.

Ominously, there is still no sign of defenders.

Their hushed voices and uncertain footfalls echo in the vast hollow expanse. And the eerie tone does not relent.

At the crossroad, Mouser looks up into the soaring vaults that hang over them, and feels his legs weaken from vertigo.



With trepidation and vigilance, they slowly follow the colossal path of the dead and come to a great hall of six intersecting passageways.

There, at its center, looms an immense monolithic stone that is disconcerting to look upon. Its shape and color are alien... abnormal... unrecognizable. Disturbing angles and surfaces not of this Oerth subsume a blasphemous geometry, loathsomely redolent of spaces and dimensions apart.


Actions?!


Map:

One square = 5 feet. Lighter areas are visible. All else is from memory. Asterisks and black dots near room numbers don't represent anything.

Map Detail:






PC Status:

• Brevos, Half-Elf Ranger 3: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 31/31
  Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 3/4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 19/19, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 4: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 22/22, Spells: 3/5 1st lvl and 4/4 2nd lvl
  Jerome, Human Paladin 3: Move: 9", AC: 3(1), HP: 20/20, Laying Hands: 0/1
  Long Bo, Human Druid 4: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 30/30, Spells: 5/6 1st lvl, 3/3 2nd lvl and 2/2 3rd lvl, Torch
  Rudolf Rassendyll, Halfling Thief 4: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 16/16
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 4: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 34/34, Torch
  Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 11/11, Spells: 2/3 1st lvl and 2/2 2nd lvl, Torch

PC Magic:

• Find Traps (Ingrid): Duration: 3 rounds

Player Resources:

• Tale of Terror (the story so far)
  A Dark and Terrible World (maps)
  Blasphemous Iconography (the story so far in images)
  Desperate Struggles (clues and player notes)

[rredmond]

Rudolf looks up at the thing, and up at the ceiling to get a sense of where the roof is. "Hopefully that spell hasn't ended yet," he says to the priestess.
Hopefully you can scan it a bit without us getting any closer. Fun times...

[ChubbyPixie]

Telkis glances once at the blasphemous monument and averts his gaze, disgusted. Instead he turns his attention towards the passage that passes out of the chamber to the northeast and gazes down its length as far as he may to see if he can get any clue as to where it leads.

[wolfpack]

trying to keep the sight of the monolith out of his mind brevos continues to track

[1d100] = 73

[ravenn4544]

Mouser studies the oddity from a distance to try and make of it what he can. If at all. As they get closer, he will examine the outside for signs that it has moving parts.

[Urson]

Jerome

Jerome looks at the monolith, feeling his eyes begin to cross and his head begin to spin before he looks away.
He staggers a step, shakes his head, and concentrates on looking anywhere except the stone. Like drinking hard cider after a long fast... he mutters.

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo let’s the others decide their next path as he turns to watch the passage they left behind, making sure nothing approaches unseen from the rear.

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

The cleric will try checking the statue for traps before scanning the passages out of the room for what little time she has left on the spell.

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur harbors a morbid curiosity upon seeing the strange monolith, with its odd geometry. He wonders if he might learn from its strange design.

Shuddering, the gnome remembers where he is, and avoids touching the evil thing. He keeps dagger and torch ready.

[Inferno]

The Lichway, The Lost Shrine of Ancient Evil
The Dark Mountains, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Twenty. Long after midnight. Thursday, December 1st, 576 CY







Ingrid, Jerome, Mouser, Rudolf and Urdur gaze into the impossible mathematical depths of the object's loathsome geometry. With rising nausea they behold a labyrinth of planes, angles and lines whose directions lead through the walls to spaces beyond this reality. Their equilibrium akimbo, they feel something like seasickness. No longer certain the floor is horizontal, they must look away.

Rudolf steadies himself and stares up into the looming vaults above.



It doesn't help his balance.

The grey druid turns his back on the affront to Nature, as Mouser looks deeper, still failing to comprehend the incomprehensible.

Ingrid's holy vision unveils no traps within the unfathomable monolith, nor within her blessed sight.

Telkis illuminates the northern corridor with his flickering brand and sees it soon turns west. Urdur's torch reveals its twin. Like every wall in the enormous lichway, these too are lined with stone slabs etched in sorcerous heresy the heroes dare not read.



Brevos loses the trail of footprints but hears the unwavering note emanating from the raven shadows to the southwest.


Actions?!


Map:

One square = 5 feet. Asterisks and black dots by the room numbers don't represent anything. Lighter areas are visible. All else is from memory.

Map Detail:






PC Status:

• Brevos, Half-Elf Ranger 3: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 31/31
  Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 3/4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 19/19, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 4: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 22/22, Spells: 3/5 1st lvl and 4/4 2nd lvl
  Jerome, Human Paladin 3: Move: 9", AC: 3(1), HP: 20/20, Laying Hands: 0/1
  Long Bo, Human Druid 4: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 30/30, Spells: 5/6 1st lvl, 3/3 2nd lvl and 2/2 3rd lvl, Torch
  Rudolf Rassendyll, Halfling Thief 4: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 16/16
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 4: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 34/34, Torch
  Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 11/11, Spells: 2/3 1st lvl and 2/2 2nd lvl, Torch

PC Magic:

• Find Traps (Ingrid): Duration: 1 round

Player Resources:

• Tale of Terror (the story so far)
  A Dark and Terrible World (maps)
  Blasphemous Iconography (the story so far in images)
  Desperate Struggles (clues and player notes)

[wolfpack]

Do we follow the noise? I find no more tracks

[Urson]

Jerome
"If you're lost, every direction is the wrong one." My uncle used to say that. Following the sound seems right to me.

[ChubbyPixie]

Telkis turns back from the northern passage, casting a glance in Urdur’s direction and says, “We’d might as well follow the noise and see if we can’t put an end to whatever’s making it.”

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo

”Everything in here seems to be meant to distract or disorient. Press onward and ignore these affronts to our sanity. If the girl yet lives, time is assuredly of the essence.”

The grey druid follows his friends, keeping an eye on each hallway as they pass them by unchecked.

[ravenn4544]

Mouser follows along

[rredmond]

"The noise is the way, methinks," Rudolf agrees, also following along in the marching order.

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur follows the group, heading towards the mysterious sound.

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

With nothing else to distinguish one passage from the others, the sound is the only thing that stands out. It seems wisest to investigate this path first.

[Inferno]

The Lichway, The Lost Shrine of Ancient Evil
The Dark Mountains, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Twenty. Long after midnight. Thursday, December 1st, 576 CY







Deep within the vast shrine of unspeakable atrocities, the heroes dare not touch the alien monolith whose very existence is palpably wrong.

Having lost the ghostly footprints in the dust, they consign themselves to follow the eerie tuneless song to whatever end awaits them.

Chillingly unimpeded, they creep further along the path of the dead, discovering more fearful symmetries and another crossroads whose towering walls are lined with occult inscriptions.



The strange haunting tone keeps getting louder with every reluctant step. Now its grown strong enough to drown out their whispers and make the hair on the back of their necks stand up.


Actions?!


Map:

One square = 5 feet. Asterisks and black dots by the room numbers don't represent anything. Lighter areas are visible. All else is from memory.

Map Detail:






PC Status:

• Brevos, Half-Elf Ranger 3: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 31/31
  Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 3/4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 19/19, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 4: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 22/22, Spells: 3/5 1st lvl and 4/4 2nd lvl
  Jerome, Human Paladin 3: Move: 9", AC: 3(1), HP: 20/20, Laying Hands: 0/1
  Long Bo, Human Druid 4: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 30/30, Spells: 5/6 1st lvl, 3/3 2nd lvl and 2/2 3rd lvl, Torch
  Rudolf Rassendyll, Halfling Thief 4: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 16/16
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 4: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 34/34, Torch
  Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 11/11, Spells: 2/3 1st lvl and 2/2 2nd lvl, Torch

PC Magic:

• None currently.

Player Resources:

• Tale of Terror (the story so far)
  A Dark and Terrible World (maps)
  Blasphemous Iconography (the story so far in images)
  Desperate Struggles (clues and player notes)

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

If the noise becomes too troublesome, I can cast a Silence spell upon a coin or small stone. It would prevent anyone within fifteen feet of it from hearing anything. It would mean we would no longer hear that...sound...but we would also be unable to hear each other. Or anyone...or thing...else, without leaving that circle of silence.