Chapter 32: From Beyond

[SocraticLawyer]

Someone help me with Ingrid! says Urdur. He tries to grab the stricken cleric and help her to the stairs before the undead get to her.

[Inferno]

The Accursed Mansion, Blackchapel, Hookhill, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Two. After Nightfall. Sunday, December 25th, 576 CY








Stricken by a paralyzing necromancy, Ingrid Esthof can only watch as the haunted corpses of countless denizens of Hookhill's wretched slums emerge from the smoke-filled fireplace, shrieking in unholy agony!




She sees restless cadavers that had once been merchants, prostitutes, pimps, rakes, snakesmen, cutthroats, orphans, beggars, priests and drunkards of Blackchapel descend upon the doomed heroes with a bloodthirsty malice!

Faron runs for cover behind the fireplace mantel! Bo and Mouser flee beneath the grand staircase and find a secret door in the paneling! Unseen, Urdur the gnome struggles to drag Ingrid after them.

Jerome stands his ground and holds his cudgel aloft, commanding the undead back. But his god holds no sway here!

Telkis stands with Jerome but Cranach misses the mark, smashing into the marble floor! And then the macabre host of undeath is upon them!

In the wild, frenzied onslaught, one carrion prostitute (D4) bites an unliving constable (D3) that strangles Telkis with cold bloodless hands! (3hp damage)

If all the baneful, horrific things they saw from the kitchen are coming...



...Jerome and Telkis will soon be overwhelmed by the living dead!


Actions?! (everyone except Ingrid)


Map Detail:

One square = 10 feet. Lighter areas are visible. All else is from memory. Red area is the Brood Swarm.

Map:


Behind the DM Screen:

No initiative needed. These things strike last in a round.
D2 charges Jerome: [1d20+2]=9+2=11, damage: [1d8]=2 Misses.
D3, D4 charge Telkis: [1d20+2]=14+2=16, [1d20+2]=1+2=3, damage: [1d8]=3, [1d8]=5 D3 hits for 3hp. D4 fumbles...
D4 fumble result: [1d6]=6 "Wild swing: Attack a random target, friend or self, for ½ damage."
D4 attack on D3: [1d20+2]=6+2=8, damage: [1d4]=4 Hits!

PC Status:

Faron, Human Thief 5: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 19/22, Glowing Sword
Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 3/4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 19/19, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl, Sickened
Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 5: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 12/25, Spells: 1/5 1st lvl, 4/5 2nd lvl, 2/2 3rd lvl, Stricken
Jerome, Human Paladin 4: Move: 9", AC: 3(1), HP: 14/23, Laying Hands: 0/1, Torch, Sickened
Long Bo, Human Druid 5: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 35/38, Spells: 3/6 1st lvl, 3/4 2nd lvl, 1/2 3rd lvl, Torch, Sickened
Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 5: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 27/37
Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 11/11, Spells: 2/3 1st lvl, 2/2 2nd lvl, Invisible, Torch, Sickened

PC Magic:

Protection From Evil, 10' Radius (Jerome)
Invisibility (Urdur): Target: self.
Faerie Fire (Bo): Target: Ariadnax. 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)

[Urson]

Jerome EDIT
Fall back! Jerome shouts. He swings his cudgel, hoping to crush a skull. His intent is to move towards the stairs, defending himself as he goes.

[1d20+1]=9+1=10 melee

[ChubbyPixie]

Seeing the writing on the wall, but mostly the zombies emerging from the fireplace, Telkis will indeed attempt to defensively fall back in the most direct route possible to the stairs.

"This'd be a great time for some magic or something!" he shouts, waving Cranach in front of him.

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo lets Mouser get to work on opening the secret door while he starts a spell that should heal Ingrid of her current malady. He touches the cleric as Urdur pulls her towards them, hoping someone else might intervene if the monsters get too close.

CLW [1d8]=7

"We found a door over here!"

[SocraticLawyer]

Get to the door! I'll try to cover our escape!

Urdur hopes that Jerome and Telkis know which way to go. He weaves a quick incantation, covering the zombie horde in an impenetrable fog.

Casts Wall of Fog

If he can this round, Urdur heads to the door as well.

[jemmus]

Nobody has to tell Faron twice. He dashes to the secret door.

[Inferno]

The Accursed Mansion, Blackchapel, Hookhill, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Two. After Nightfall. Sunday, December 25th, 576 CY







Ghastly, undead slum-dwellers of Blackchapel flow like a river of the damned from out of the gigantic fireplace, howling in torment and hatred!

Seeing that Jerome and Telkis will soon be overrun, Urdur summons forth a spectral mist to blind the living and the dead!



The unspeakable horrors mercifully removed from their sight, Jerome and Telkis narrowly escape the host of undead under cover of fog! Following the voices of Bo and Urdur, they emerge from the mist and regroup with the doomed heroes by the secret door under the stair. The heinous, restless dead can also hear their voices and will soon find them!

With no time to lose, Long Bo heals Ingrid with miraculous blessings of the Shalm (+7hp) and the brave priestess stirs from the necromantic paralysis that had imprisoned her!

Meanwhile, Mouser's deft, knowing fingers open a secret door concealed in the elaborate decoration of the wall, revealing an unlit stairwell to the cellars below!


Actions?!


Map Detail:

One square = 10 feet. Lighter areas are visible. All else is from memory. Red area is the Brood Swarm.

Map:


Behind the DM Screen:

No initiative needed. These things strike last in a round.
Wall of Fog duration: [2d4+4]=5+4=9
This post covers two rounds of activity.

PC Status:

Faron, Human Thief 5: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 19/22, Glowing Sword
Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 3/4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 19/19, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl, Sickened
Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 5: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 19/25, Spells: 1/5 1st lvl, 4/5 2nd lvl, 2/2 3rd lvl
Jerome, Human Paladin 4: Move: 9", AC: 3(1), HP: 14/23, Laying Hands: 0/1, Torch, Sickened
Long Bo, Human Druid 5: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 35/38, Spells: 3/6 1st lvl, 2/4 2nd lvl, 1/2 3rd lvl, Torch, Sickened
Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 5: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 27/37
Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 11/11, Spells: 1/3 1st lvl, 2/2 2nd lvl, Invisible, Torch, Sickened

PC Magic:

Protection From Evil, 10' Radius (Jerome)
Invisibility (Urdur): Target: self.
Wall of Fog (Urdur): Duration: 7 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 makes a stand beside the secret door. Go! I'll bring up the rear! he whispers.

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

Still fighting off the effects of her paralysis, the cleric makes her way into the darkness, carefully feeling her way down the stairs.

[jemmus]

Faron runs to the secret door.

[ravenn4544]

Mouser ventures down the stairs - anywhere away from the horde of undead!

[OGRE MAGE]

Long Bo uses his torch to light the way for himself and the others, entering the stairway somewhere in the middle of the group.

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur joins the others at the secret door. He does his best to keep an eye out for the undead that Ingrid had previously turned away.

[ChubbyPixie]

Telkis nods at Jerome and hustles into the opening under the stairs.

[Urson]

Jerome EDIT
As soon as the others are through, Jerome will follow, and close the door behind himself.

[Inferno]

The Accursed Mansion, Blackchapel, Hookhill, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Two. After Nightfall. Sunday, December 25th, 576 CY







The dead and damned of Blackchapel hunt the doomed heroes in a house beyond time and dimension!

Under cover of Urdur's ghostly mists, the adventurers escape with their lives down a secret stairwell!



Descending into the bowels of the unearthly mansion's foundations, they enter a dark cellar filled with death! (room 10)

A horrific mound of some hundred corpses fills the center of the ghastly chamber.



Most are no more than skeletons, but many are fresh. An inch or two of water and other, unspeakable fluids covers the floor.

Above the heinous pile is a trap door set into the ceiling.

The sight and the stench is beyond all imagining. (Please roll your CON or lower on 1d20 and post regardless of the outcome)


Actions?!


Map:

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





PC Status:

Faron, Human Thief 5: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 19/22, Glowing Sword
Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 3/4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 19/19, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl
Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 5: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 19/25, Spells: 1/5 1st lvl, 4/5 2nd lvl, 2/2 3rd lvl
Jerome, Human Paladin 4: Move: 9", AC: 3(1), HP: 14/23, Laying Hands: 0/1, Torch
Long Bo, Human Druid 5: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 35/38, Spells: 3/6 1st lvl, 2/4 2nd lvl, 1/2 3rd lvl, Torch
Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 5: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 27/37
Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 11/11, Spells: 2/3 1st lvl, 2/2 2nd lvl, Invisible, Torch

PC Magic:

Protection From Evil, 10' Radius (Jerome)
Invisibility (Urdur): Target: self.
Wall of Fog (Urdur): Duration: 6 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)

[jemmus]

Faron
Con 12 [1d20]=9

Faron fairly gags at the horrid smell of rotting human flesh, but he's able to not to retch. He holds his glowing longsword up to give all a clear view of the foul scene and watches for any movement.

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo can’t help it when his natural reaction to this sight takes over.

Con Save (10) [1d20]=14

The druid tries to keep his balance on the stairs so his torch doesn’t fall into the liquid below.

“Is there no mercy left in this world? In the name of the gods, what is this place now?”

[ravenn4544]

Mouser vomits what bile he has left at the site and smell of human entrails that assails his senses.

Con (11) [1d20]=13

No escape behind them, the only way is forward - through... whatever remains of these poor souls... He will try to stagger to the walls and search for yet another way out.