Chapter 29: Sacrament of Blasphemy

[OGRE MAGE]

Save vs. Spells (14) [1d20]=16

Bo flicks the goo away and cleans his hand on his robes before taking a close range view of the sparkling ceiling above, trying to determine if any of the crystals can be removed by hand.

If not, he continues through the chamber to the steps, aiding any of his friends who become infatuated with the twinkling lightshow. (Mouser?)

"I think we are dealing with some kind of giant slug-like creature by the looks of all this slimy mucus."

Ushering everyone else down the stairs first, the druid holds his torch up close to the ceiling, to see if the heat or flame has any effect on the crystals before they descend into what surely must be an even worse situation below.

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

As they near the stairwell, Ingrid catches a whiff of decay, and has a minor panic attack. Without her holy symbol, she has no way to hold back the undead should they encounter them. She quickly relives the last time she was in that situation- it was a grisly death for all involved. But then, she notices the twinkling lights on the ceiling of the cavern, the soothing interplay of the reflections glittering as she waves the torch about, nearly setting Telkis' hair ablaze, so enraptured by the lights that she is unaware of anything else.

Save vs. Spells (14): [1d20]=1

[Inferno]

Beneath the Church of Saint Pentival, The Ashblood Colony, The Dark Mountains, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Thirty-seven. Night. Saturday, December 17th, 576 CY
Cold, overcast







Ingrid, Mouser and Telkis stand entranced, their terror subsiding as perception expands with the beguiling flecks of crystal that twinkle hypnotically in the torchlight! They marvel aloud in wonder, their voices echoing in the dank, dark maze under the ancient church.

Urdur finds no stones on the ground here either, and Long Bo cannot reach the ceiling with his hand to see if the crystals can be freed. The momentary heat of his torch does not effect them.

As the doomed heroes linger, the unsettling slithering grows nearer!

Ingrid, Mouser and Telkis cannot be roused from their trance! The other three guide them on, painstakingly, carefully, so they don't plummet down the slimy stone steps!



After agonizingly slow progress, they reach the bottom of the stair and the ensorcelled trio snap out of it.

The creepy slithering is just at the top of the steps now, above and behind them! And with it can be heard voices strange, inhuman and otherworldly!

The heroes flee, plunging headlong through twisting lightless corridors deep beneath the earth! Panting clouds of frost, they come to a dead end where a slime-coated ladder extends down into a dark hole in the floor. Another tunnel branches off into shadows ominous and black.

Still, the wet crawling sound haunts the periphery of their fraying awareness!


Actions?!


Map:

One square = 10 feet. Lighter areas are visible, all else is from memory. Darker grey shapes on the floor are slime trails. Question mark indicates the direction from which comes the slithering sound.

Map Detail:



Behind the DM Screen:

This game has critical fumbles. Telkis and Ingrid both rolled a 1. They join Mouser in speaking loudly, alerting the horror to the PCs' location.

PC Status:

Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 3/4: Move: 12", AC: 7, HP: 19/19, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl
Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 5: Move: 12", AC: 10, HP: 25/25, Spells: 5/5 1st lvl, 5/5 2nd lvl, 2/2 3rd lvl, Torch
Jerome, Human Paladin 3: Move: 12", AC: 10, HP: 20/20, Laying Hands: 1/1
Long Bo, Human Druid 5: Move: 12", AC: 9, HP: 38/38, Spells: 6/6 1st lvl, 4/4 2nd lvl, 2/2 3rd lvl, Torch
Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 4: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 34/34
Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 4: Move: 12", AC: 7, HP: 11/11, Spells: 3/3 1st lvl, 2/2 2nd lvl

PC Magic:

Protection From Evil, 10' Radius (Jerome)

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)

[ravenn4544]

Mouser tries to listen or sense anything from the hole with the ladder.

[Urson]

Jerome
Jerome scratches at his barely-there beard. He keeps his voice low, just loud enough to be sure his companions can hear him.I do not like the idea of going down further, if we can avoid it. We are already far enough from the sunlight. I would suggest we go that way- he gestures at the Southbound tunnel.

[ChubbyPixie]

Jerome
Jerome scratches at his barely-there beard. He keeps his voice low, just loud enough to be sure his companions can hear him.I do not like the idea of going down further, if we can avoid it. We are already far enough from the sunlight. I would suggest we go that way- he gestures at the Southbound tunnel.

"I'm with Jerome on this one," whispers Telkis, "Down does not strike me as the best path out."

He'll edge up to the corner south of the party and peek around it...

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur follows the others through the south tunnel.

[Inferno]

Beneath the Church of Saint Pentival, The Ashblood Colony, The Dark Mountains, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Thirty-seven. Night. Saturday, December 17th, 576 CY
Cold, overcast







In the dank labyrinthine dungeons beneath the church, the doomed heroes stop at a crossroads and urgently examine their choices, as the unnerving otherworldly sound of That Which Hunts Them grows louder with every second!

Telkis borrows Long Bo's torch and advances barefoot over frigid stones and revolting slime, cautiously following the twisting corridor around two more corners as Urdur trails him.

Meanwhile, behind them, Mouser listens at a slime-covered ladder that descends into a hole of Stygian darkness.



From that bottomless pitch, the thief neither hears nor sees anything.

But the ghastly slithering now echoes from the cold ageless stones around Bo, Ingrid, Jerome and Mouser! And with it, nightmarish utterances of a nature they've never before encountered. West of them, at the very edge of their perception, a shadow writhes!


Actions?!


Map:

One square = 10 feet. Lighter areas are visible, all else is from memory. Darker grey shapes on the floor are slime trails. Question mark indicates the direction from which comes the slithering sound.

Map Detail:






PC Status:

Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 3/4: Move: 12", AC: 7, HP: 19/19, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl
Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 5: Move: 12", AC: 10, HP: 25/25, Spells: 5/5 1st lvl, 5/5 2nd lvl, 2/2 3rd lvl, Torch
Jerome, Human Paladin 3: Move: 12", AC: 10, HP: 20/20, Laying Hands: 1/1
Long Bo, Human Druid 5: Move: 12", AC: 9, HP: 38/38, Spells: 6/6 1st lvl, 4/4 2nd lvl, 2/2 3rd lvl
Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 4: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 34/34, Torch
Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 4: Move: 12", AC: 7, HP: 11/11, Spells: 3/3 1st lvl, 2/2 2nd lvl

PC Magic:

Protection From Evil, 10' Radius (Jerome)

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

Snapping out of her funk, Ingrid is hesitant to go down the hole. Knowing part of the group had already departed to the south, the cleric follows along, taking her torch with her. The decision has been made for us. We stick together or die apart.

[ChubbyPixie]

Checking to be sure the others are still behind him, Telkis will wave them forward urgently and push on to the next corner to peek around it, scouting the way ahead.

[Urson]

Jerome
Jerome follows, bringing up the rear. He looks backward often, hoping to catch some glimpse of The Thing. Any details he makes out, he will pass on to the others in a hoarse whisper.

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur follows the others, staying in the middle of the group if he can. Not for the first or last time, he longs for the companionship of his fallen faithful hound, Mittens.

[ravenn4544]

Mouser follows along empty handed.

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo races along with the others, agreeing with the logic proposed so far.

[Inferno]

Beneath the Church of Saint Pentival, The Ashblood Colony, The Dark Mountains, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Thirty-seven. Night. Saturday, December 17th, 576 CY
Cold, overcast







A plague of rats are startled and sent scurrying before the doomed heroes as they lunge deeper into the tomb-like maze, fleeing from an unperceived horror that hunts them without relent!

Jerome brings up the rear and, like Orpheus leaving Hell, looks back. Mercifully, the turning corridor and the trailing darkness spare him a sight that would harrow his beleaguered sanity!

Breathless, Telkis turns another corner and finds three locked doors, like those of dungeon prison cells!



Beyond them lies the rubble of a partial tunnel collapse, and a stairway up!


Actions?!


Map:

One square = 10 feet. Lighter areas are visible, all else is from memory. Darker grey shapes on the floor are slime trails. Question mark indicates the direction from which comes the slithering sound.





PC Status:

Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 3/4: Move: 12", AC: 7, HP: 19/19, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl
Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 5: Move: 12", AC: 10, HP: 25/25, Spells: 5/5 1st lvl, 5/5 2nd lvl, 2/2 3rd lvl, Torch
Jerome, Human Paladin 3: Move: 12", AC: 10, HP: 20/20, Laying Hands: 1/1
Long Bo, Human Druid 5: Move: 12", AC: 9, HP: 38/38, Spells: 6/6 1st lvl, 4/4 2nd lvl, 2/2 3rd lvl
Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 4: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 34/34, Torch
Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 4: Move: 12", AC: 7, HP: 11/11, Spells: 3/3 1st lvl, 2/2 2nd lvl

PC Magic:

Protection From Evil, 10' Radius (Jerome)

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)

[Urson]

Jerome
Jerome posts himself at the corner (about where Mouser is shown on the map), watching back the way they came. Cuthbert's hat, I'm thirsty! he mutters, as much to himself as anyone else.
Is it possible this slime would burn? he wonders aloud.

IF the group chooses to press on, Jerome will stop at the partial cave-in, seeing it as a smart place to defend. He'll hold it while the others move forward.

[ChubbyPixie]

"This looks promising," whispers Telkis looking to the stairs up. "Or perhaps we hide in a cell and hope the thing passes?" he adds.

[ravenn4544]

Mouser will listen at each door while the party decides which way to go...

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo whispers towards the stairway, moving closer to investigate.

“Up seems like a good choice at the moment. Maybe that slug has trouble ascending stairways?”

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur follows the group up the stairs.