Chapter 29: Sacrament of Blasphemy

[OGRE MAGE]

Int Check (9) [1d20]=6

"North! Down! East! South!" Bo breathlessly calls out behind Ingrid, happy that he could finally remember one set of the sequence, even if it was a little late.

Surprised that they found no other landmarks along their arduous journey through this labyrinth, the druid is glad to see that they have a means to light their way after losing their only torch.

"Lets go see if we were right to follow that massage on the wall!"

[ravenn4544]

Mouser staggers along under his own power now - barely.

He is to weak to even think.... Int (15) [1d20]=16

[Urson]

Jerome
Jerome lumbers along, his wounded companion over his shoulder. He is grudgingly glad that Ingrid is able to help the team- but he clings to his distaste for her choices and methods.

[Inferno]

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







Consumed by darkness, the doomed heroes are suddenly blind and their other senses reel; the stench of mold and decay, cold wet slime on their bare feet, and alarmingly, the ghastly sounds of the unnatural abomination whispering at the edge of their beleaguered perception.

They grimly prepare to feel their way onward through the hell maze. All hope seems lost, and then a light blossoms in the blackness.



Ingrid's desperate prayers are answered and the trapped captives resume their nightmare flight, plunging madly through the abyss!

They veer north and lunge down another precipitous flight of stairs! (VII)




They stagger into a corridor and lurch east and then south. There, Ingrid's glowing dead torch illuminates a great stout door without hinge or lock!




The labyrinth key is complete!

Then from the stairwell behind them emanates the bloodcurdling sounds of the unspeakable horror!


Actions?!


Map:

One square = 10 feet. Green exclamation point = the direction of the sound of the horror.
Lighter areas are visible, all else is from memory. Darker grey shapes on the floor are slime trails.





PC Status:

Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 3/4: Move: 12", AC: 7, HP: 10/19, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl (-9 to STR and CON)
Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 5: Move: 12", AC: 10, HP: 25/25, Spells: 0/5 1st lvl, 2/5 2nd lvl, 2/2 3rd lvl, Light spell
Jerome, Human Paladin 3: Move: 12", AC: 10, HP: 20/20, Laying Hands: 0/1
Long Bo, Human Druid 5: Move: 12", AC: 9, HP: 38/38, Spells: 6/6 1st lvl, 3/4 2nd lvl, 1/2 3rd lvl
Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 4: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 34/34
Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 4: Move: 12", AC: 7, HP: 2/11, Spells: 3/3 1st lvl, 2/2 2nd lvl (-9 to STR and CON)

PC Magic:

Protection From Evil, 10' Radius (Jerome)
Light (Ingrid): Duration: 105 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)

[Urson]

Jerome
Jerome lays his wounded companion on the floor near the door, then returns to the corridor facing the stairwell, his weapon in hand. Cuthbert, guide my blade! Help me protect my friends.

[SocraticLawyer]

From his perch atop Telkis's back, Urdur points weakly at the door. He gives an almost imperceptible nod.

[ravenn4544]

Mouser, with strength barely holding him up, desperately leans against the door for support as he tries to lend what skills he can muster to evade unholy death once more.

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo moves quickly to the door and briefly looks it over before trying to open it.

If it doesn't open, he peers through the slits to see what might be beyond the closed portal.

[Inferno]

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







The memorized labyrinth key brings the doomed heroes before a great stout door!

The shadows themselves seem to issue forth the spine-tingling vocalizations of the abysmal thing, rising louder with every second!

Selflessly, Jerome puts himself between his companions and the indescribable horror that descends upon them, hoping to buy them time enough to open the door! Defiantly he cries what might be his last words! "Cuthbert, guide my blade! Help me protect my friends!"

Bo and Mouser desperately lunge toward what may be their only salvation. They pull on the door's iron handle, to no avail! The stricken thief can find no keyhole, lock or hinge. The druid peers through the slits and, to his disbelief, feels fresh air on his face and sees trees beneath a night sky!

Telkis gently lays Urdur down and Ingrid heals the weakened gnome by the sacred power of Trithereon! (+3 to HP, STR and CON) The little conjurer can walk and speak again!

Then Telkis rears back and slams his naked shoulder into the door! With a resounding crash, he bounces off the iron portal! The gnome warrior grimly readies to try again when suddenly, from the north comes a terrifying sound they won't soon forget!



All hope is lost. The horrifying bulk of the quivering amorphous mass lurches from the stairwell into Jerome's sight! Tentacles writhe to the hellish cacophony of human voices wailing in abject fear, and the paladin feels his sanity rending asunder!
(Jerome please Save vs Spells on 1d20 to act! Wisdom modifiers and Protection From Evil count.)


Actions?!


Map:

One square = 10 feet. H = The Horror. Lighter areas are visible, all else is from memory. Darker grey shapes on the floor are slime trails.

Behind the DM Screen:

Ingrid: CLW on Urdur: [1d8]=3
Telkis: Open Doors (1-2): [1d6]=5 Fails.

PC Status:

Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 3/4: Move: 12", AC: 7, HP: 10/19, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl (-9 to STR and CON)
Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 5: Move: 12", AC: 10, HP: 25/25, Spells: 1/5 1st lvl, 1/5 2nd lvl, 2/2 3rd lvl, Light spell
Jerome, Human Paladin 3: Move: 12", AC: 10, HP: 20/20, Laying Hands: 0/1
Long Bo, Human Druid 5: Move: 12", AC: 9, HP: 38/38, Spells: 6/6 1st lvl, 3/4 2nd lvl, 1/2 3rd lvl
Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 4: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 34/34
Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 4: Move: 12", AC: 7, HP: 5/11, Spells: 3/3 1st lvl, 2/2 2nd lvl (-6 to STR and CON)

PC Magic:

Protection From Evil, 10' Radius (Jerome)
Light (Ingrid): Duration: 103 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)

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

Get that door open! shouts the cleric as she steps toward the source of the noise. Uttering words of prayer to Holy Tritherion, Ingrid once more silences the world around the party, touching the corner next to Jerome without looking down the corridor.

Ingrid casts her final second level spell, so no more Silences.

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo tries his luck at breaking down the door next.

Open Doors (1-2) [1d6]=4

Proving why he runs around in robes and plays with magic instead of fighting.

[Urson]

Jerome
Save vs Spells: 14 [1d20]=8 +2
The sight, plus the cumulative effects of the pursuit, are tyoo much for Jerome, who stands frozen.

[ravenn4544]

Mouser has a single spell at his disposal but will take too long to cast. He has no luck plying his thieving skills on a door with nothing to offer. He can think of only one thing in his weakened state, he speaks the word he recalls from the letter riddle room, "Escapeth". He will push and prod the door as he says it if it seems to help..... If that doesn't work he will utter the dark and vile phrase from his memory that clings to him like a disease.

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur adds his meager strength to the attempt to open the door.

[ChubbyPixie]

Having failed to open the door once, Telkis will try to jam the spike in and pry it open. His silent gaze as he glances back to the others says haven't we been here before?

[Inferno]

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







From out of the darkness lurches the obscene thing of eyes and mouths and tentacles!

Jerome sacrifices himself that the others might live, and then a dread madness overtakes him! Stricken by abject terror, he flees for his life before the unspeakable horror!

"Get that door open!" pleads Ingrid as she moves closer to the ghastly abomination! Her prayers mercifully deafen them all against the hellish sounds of the unnatural entity!

Long Bo throws himself at the iron door with all his might but it does not budge! Telkis and Urdur frantically claw at the unyielding portal, trying in vain to pry it open!

Mouser staggers out from the strange territories of the eerie sonic void. The thief who dabbles recklessly in sorceries dark and forbidden rasps a single magic word: "Escapeth."

Impossibly, the iron door pushes outward of its own volition, snapping in two a stout timber that had barred it on the other side! Beyond lies grass and night and a forest in the distance! The door is seemingly set into a wedge cut into the hill upon which sits the ancient Church of Saint Pentival!



Behind them, the frightful atrocity writhes closer, looming up over Ingrid Esthof, laying siege to her harrowed mind with a terrible madness of despair and horror! (Ingrid please Save vs Spells on 1d20 to act! Wisdom modifiers count.)


Actions?!


Map:

One square = 10 feet. H = The Horror. Lighter areas are visible, all else is from memory. Darker grey shapes on the floor are slime trails.

Behind the DM Screen:

Initiative: Party: [1d6]=2, Monster: [1d6-2]=3-2=1 Party wins.
Jerome: freeze (1) or flee (2)?: [1d2]=2 Flee.
The Horror cannot 'charge' Ingrid because it couldn't see her when its action began.

PC Status:

Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 3/4: Move: 12", AC: 7, HP: 10/19, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl (-9 to STR and CON)
Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 5: Move: 12", AC: 10, HP: 25/25, Spells: 1/5 1st lvl, 0/5 2nd lvl, 2/2 3rd lvl, Light spell, Deaf and Mute
Jerome, Human Paladin 3: Move: 12", AC: 10, HP: 20/20, Laying Hands: 0/1
Long Bo, Human Druid 5: Move: 12", AC: 9, HP: 38/38, Spells: 6/6 1st lvl, 3/4 2nd lvl, 1/2 3rd lvl
Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 4: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 34/34
Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 4: Move: 12", AC: 7, HP: 5/11, Spells: 3/3 1st lvl, 2/2 2nd lvl (-6 to STR and CON)

PC Magic:

Protection From Evil, 10' Radius (Jerome)
Light (Ingrid): Duration: 102 rounds
Silence, 15' Radius (Ingrid): Duration: 9 rounds. Target: corner near Ingrid

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 swears and screams, battering at the walls.

IF his panic allows, he will run for the door, blind to any danger.

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

The cleric runs from the abomination, grabbing Jerome by the arm and trying to lead him through the doorway and into the (hopeful) safety of the great outdoors.

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

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur runs outside with the others.

[ravenn4544]

Mouser staggers along with a prayer of thanks to the gods! He tries to think now of how to close the door and trap the thing in the catacombs behind them...