Chapter 37: Castle of the Living Dead

[Inferno]

Beneath Castle Ravenloft, Greyhawk
Day Two. Late Afternoon? Sunday, January 15th, 577 CY





In the dank, flooded dungeons beneath Castle Ravenloft, the doomed heroes struggle to make their escape!

Pious Jaelen offers devout prayers to the god of light, and blessings of brilliant radiance are bestowed upon him!



A beacon of hope blossoms in this darkest of places.

In the glowing illumination, they see that the walls and ceilings all around them are shot through with an alarming infestation of mold and fungi.



Alone in his cell, the rigor mortis of unnatural paralysis leaves Telkis and his unconscious, armored body sinks beneath the dungeon's black tide! Urdur swims through the bone-chilling water in time to save his fellow gnome from drowning!

Faron asks Jaelen if he can heal Telkis of the grievous wounds of valiant battle.


Actions?!


Map:






PC Status:

Faron, Human Thief 6: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 16/27
Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 4/5: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 12/21, Spells: 3/3 1st lvl, 1/2 2nd lvl
Jaelen Mwyr: Human Cleric 5: Move: 9", AC: 4(2), HP: 17/34, Spells: 4/5 1st lvl, 5/5 2nd lvl, 1/2 3rd lvl
N'Rogara: Human Ranger 5: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 49/53
Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 5: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: -3/37
Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 5: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 12/15, Spells: 3/4 1st lvl, 1/2 2nd lvl, 1/1 3rd lvl

PC Magic:

Continual Light (Jaelen)

Player Resources:

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

[ChubbyPixie]

Telkis burbles.

Now I want a t-shirt with this on it.

[corum]

Jaelen forcing his hands through the cell bars will cast cure light wounds on Telkis



He sees consciousness return to the brave fighter but knows it's not enough and turns inward again to summon more holy light...

"On your feet soldier!"

[jemmus]

Faron moves to the door to the prison listens for any sounds beyond it.

Hear sound 15% [1d100]=43

Is everyone unlocked from their cells? From the map, it looks like they are.

[ChubbyPixie]

Telkis sputters and coughs as he comes to, leaning heavily on the wall. He glances around. “Could be worse,” he says. “Thought that was it for us.”

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur floats in the flooded dungeon, glad for the light. He inspects the mold and fungi if he can safely do so. He helps the others attempt to open the door if needed and/or possible.

[ravenn4544]

Mouser investigates the main gate for any practical locks first that he can disarm. If that fails him or others he’ll use a knock spell to pry open the portal.

[rredmond]

N’Rogara checks the western wall, directly opposite the door, for any secret passages or compartments.

[Inferno]

Beneath Castle Ravenloft, Greyhawk
Day Two. Late Afternoon? Sunday, January 15th, 577 CY







Deep beneath Castle Ravenloft, Faron listens at the partially submerged door set into the eastern wall of the flooded dungeon. The rogue hears nothing from the other side.

Meanwhile, with faithful invocations, Jaelen miraculously heals Telkis of his grave injuries! (+8hp) The wounded gnome awakens from a nightmare of drowning.

Nearby, N’Rogara searches for hidden passages, but the walls betray no secrets.

Urdur examines the fungal infestation from a safe distance as he swims toward the iron door, their only means of escape.

There, Mouser examines the stout portal and finds neither lock, keyhole nor hinge. With magic words taught him by Sheelba of the Eyeless Face, the reckless dabbler in sorcery weaves an incantation and suddenly, the iron door bursts open of its own volition, snapping the thick crossbar behind it in twain!

Beyond the sundered portal, stone steps lead up out of the icy black water into darkness!


Actions?!


Map:






PC Status:

Faron, Human Thief 6: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 16/27
Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 4/5: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 12/21, Spells: 3/3 1st lvl, 0/2 2nd lvl
Jaelen Mwyr: Human Cleric 5: Move: 9", AC: 4(2), HP: 17/34, Spells: 2/5 1st lvl, 5/5 2nd lvl, 1/2 3rd lvl
N'Rogara: Human Ranger 5: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 49/53
Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 5: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 5/37
Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 5: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 12/15, Spells: 3/4 1st lvl, 1/2 2nd lvl, 1/1 3rd lvl

PC Magic:

Continual Light (Jaelen)

Player Resources:

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

[jemmus]

Faron gleefully whispers, Huzzah!. He nods to Mouser with a look of congratulations and appreciation and does an interlocking fingers gesture. It looks to the others like a kind of salute. He silently mouths to the others, "Yeah. You weren't supposed to see that. But we're all in together, so that's that and here we go. Yeah, that's right. Weavers and cloth measurers guild."

He turns and looks from the open door to N'Rogara and awaits the forest and mountain cold country ranger's actions, thoughts or direction out of this place. Because where a thief excelled at waiting, creeping, not being noticed, and stabbing a fiend through the shoulder blades from behind... A ranger excelled at noticing everything... from the front.

[rredmond]

Faron gleefully pushes the Ranger to the fore! *

Sword in hand, N'Rogara steps up to the doorway to check what might be beyond the threshhold. Let's see what we can see, he whispers. How far up the steps can he see? Any far away door outlined by light up above?
He'll look without the torch/light, then use the light to see if there's anything he can see better.

* FIFY!

[ravenn4544]

Mouser seems a bit relieved that the spell worked. "that's something going in our favor..."

He then reveals a vial of some liquid that was seeming hidden in his clothes. A little reluctantly, he passes it back through the ranks with a nod. "Drink this - it should help. No sleeping on the job, Telkis! You're needed up here!" He finishes with a bit of a smirk to hopefully take some of the dampness and despair out of their situation.

[ChubbyPixie]

Having traveled with mouser for so long and seen him at his worst, Telkis hesitates only a moment before downing the contents of the bottle. This will either heal me or set my mind loose from its moorings, he thinks…

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur follows the others up the stairs, doing his best to dry out himself and his pack as he does so. If there is a lit torch on the wall, Urdur attempts to bring it with him.