Barrowmaze: Crusaders and the Hand of Nergal

[gurusql]

Cadeweed

"Thank you for the information. Since you have done all this I will hold up." the halfling smiles and bows gracefully.

[Spearmint]

If everything has been checked in these smaller crypts, Sven ushers the group to the metal doors and levers, hoping to reach the maze room beyond.

I will give a round up of the mausoleum corridors crypts, including the last two (Kali themed crypt and the one with the dead body that Gerdal found her goblet) then detail the metal door room and remind you of those crypts in the west wing and those past the other metal door to the Nergal Nave area.

So, I just need re-read a few archives and will then summarise the previous explorations here.

[Spearmint]

Health Status:

Sven: 20/20 (+1 temp hp 21/21hp)
Orgoth: 32/33hp (+2 temp hp 35/35hp)
Cadeweed: 14/23 (+4 temp hp 17/27) -1hp

Veronica: deceased
Yardie: 17/17hp
Berric: 7/7hp
Crippens: 6/6hp
Grymaldi: 1/8hp
Barba: 4/10hp
Gargyx: 20/20hp
BarkingToadLegs: 6/6hp
Smokie: 12/12hp

viewtopic.php?p=701880#p701880

Mausoleum 74-a) Inside the small chamber is a multi-armed female statue. The place crawls with large snakes which entwine with each other in large wriggling masses on the floor and over the statue.

Several snakes still reside here. Different exotic varieties that slither over the Kali idol. . Unless you step into the crypt, they ignore you passing by outside. Gerdal used a 'speak with animals' spell to communicate to the largest one and offered her blood on the idol.

a-b alcove: expedition equipment, ropes, sledgehammers, picks, sacks, 5 x torches. Also contains the body of an adventurer. A dried husk, withered and decayed seated back against the wall. empty now

Mausoleum74-b) Inside this crypt are large dusty cobwebs, some still hold much gnawed bones. The Rot-Grub infested body has completely burst open and is just a mound of rotten mulch. A few fattened grubs twitch caught in the webs but the room is otherwise void of features or dangers.

b-c alcove: Graffiti proclaims,

"She's just a devil woman. With evil on her mind.
Beware the devil woman. She's gonna get you.
She's just a devil woman. With evil on her mind
Beware the devil woman. She's gonna get you from behind

Give me the ring on your finger. Let me see the lines on your hand.
I can see me a tall dark stranger. Giving you what you hadn't planned.
I drank the potion she offered me. I found myself on the floor.
Then I looked in those big green eyes. And I wondered what I'd come here for."

Mausoleum 74-c) two open stone caskets. Inside lie two figures wrapped in shrouds. The stone has pastoral designs on, carved horse heads, flourishing trees. The crypt is explored. A small dry crypt, the coffee designs have an Elven theme. The bodies looted before.

Metal Doors room: (72)

July 15th 1066.

After much searching and consolidating, the group make the interior target room. The rogue skilled check the wall levers; they are rusted but in good order with no apparent trap or trigger attached to them. The wall of deep alcoves has been searched before. It was the lair of strange 'Cave Moray' eels but nothing stirs and on first inspection, none of the previously looted alcoves have been restocked with either grave trinkets or fresh bones. Both metal doors are in the locked and closed position. One in the west wall leads to the 'West Wing' labelled crypts.

viewtopic.php?p=626382#p626382. previous link to area.

Exploring WW-5:

You open door 5 of the West Wing. A 5'ft passage extends 20'ft turning to the right. Just like before, you lift up your lantern light to illuminate the passage and as you do so, you note that the shadows on the edge of the light in the passage seem to retreat from view. When viewed under a dimmed candlelight, you can see that the shadows have a humanoid form and behave as if replicating human movement; one waves a hand, one walks, another dances.

To add to your confusion: you can remember in the corridor outside of Room 68, some graffiti mentioned "I lost my shadow" and you have noted that Isvand or Gnimish have particularly animated shadows as a result of playing and losing at ghost poker with the spectre. Indeed Isvand's shadow tried to throttle him in the Bacchus Ale Pools.

The skeleton crew seem unconcerned by the dark or the strange shadows. Directed ahead they advance down the narrow passage to the corner and turn from view. Your lantern light illuminates them as they go and you see their thin skeletal shadows cast upon the walls but unlike those which 'reside' here, they are not somehow detached from their skeletal person-hood.

In the dead of night, with the dead, the character trio cross the threshold of crypt room 5 and walk up the short passage. Sven carries Arnaud's Everlit Candle, a magical illumination that radiates light in a small radius but enough to see in the narrow confines ahead. Shield up and spear ready, Orgoth is a step behind and Peaches carrying her lantern, a yard further. The pirates are out of sight but not sound. It becomes clear the passage spirals to the right within the confines of a 20'ft room, after turning to the right it then turns down and then to the left then up.

You can hear the footsteps ahead and see the edge of the thick mist which emanates from the undead pirates presence. A baleful light carried by one has a dull eerie glow, like a Will O' the Wisp enticing wary travellers to their doom. The passage has standard ill fitting flagstones to walk on, the walls and ceiling rough plasterwork and whitewashed. The cavorting shadows before and behind, elongated and strange but not animated to any physical threat unlike the actual Shadow creatures you defeated prior.

After a minute or so you are several corners into the small room.

actions and questions please and each provide a 'random' d20 with your post ...

The pirate skeletons proceed ahead with vigour, drawn inexorably down the claustrophobic passage, chasing shadows on the edge of their vision, spiralling through the continuing passages turns, ever inwards towards the rooms centre.

The trio of character adventurers follow hot on their heels, joined by a wolf familiar who turns invisible so as not to add his own freak shadow to the cast of witnesses that cavort on the walls of your trespass.

You each feel the growing burden of dread as you wander along. The passage feels constricting, both mentally and physically, draining emotion and well being. A certain fatigue creeps upon you,
even the hardy Smokie feels the withering to his senses though he alone of the quartet does not lose any of his boundless lupine energy. "Hooman. I have a feeling about this place" he telepathically empathises with his master. He turns to follow his scent back up the passage but alarmingly his musky trail just gets him to turn in circles. "We have been walking a long time." he complains.

The sentiment twigs a hint of recognition. The Everlit Candle is by definition ever lit, the baleful glare of the skeletons in the mist comes from an unhallowed lantern shedding eternal gloom. If any of you had carried a firebrand they would have stubbed out long ago. As it is, Peaches lantern oil flickers as the last residue begins to soaks through the wick. How have many hours passed so quickly when you have just barely set foot in the room?

Looking behind you, the passage seems as it were but once you try to retrace your steps, the confusion as to your whereabouts steps in. This way, no that way, there was only one way, now there are two. And three. All the same looking, short passages that turn, shadows waving you this way and that, exhorting you to follow, gesturing you to flee. Shadows waving, including your own. Animated with a gesture involuntary of your own arm moving. Shadows of Sven, Orgoth and Peaches, each looking a little more darker, sinister and detached.

Then the warrior half-orc keels over, dropping shield and spear and collapsing to the floor, overcome with a debilitating exhaustion.

Sven -2, Orgoth -2, Peaches -4 Constitution points please. This loss may only be temporary, you hope but it may negatively affect current hp if dropping Con causes you to fall into a lower bracket of hp bonus or penalty. No penalty for the Mages but dropping Orgoth from 16 to 14 nullifies the +2hp per level bonus he receives, which at 3rd level suddenly inflicts a -6hp loss. With only 5hp, Orgoth has a heart attack and drops to negative -1hp.

Smokie & Sven resistance to shadow magic vs 25% [1d100]=75[1d100]=90Sven [1d4]=2 Orgoth [1d4]=2 Peaches [1d4]=4

so the asked for check was against the rooms magical spell effect and compared to a Save vs Spells not one vs paralysis/death magic as the effect is to cause those who fail a save to lose Constitution points. As each point is lost, so your shadow becomes more detached until at 0 Constitution, one may suffer a permanent effect.

You have lost the Constitution over an unknown period of time, not a round by round deduction, more a growing hourly fatigue. So further Con losses will not be deducted straight away, but the longer you stay in the passages the more at risk you are of continued fatigue. Orgoth, suffering the hit point loss and going into negative hp will breath out rather than bleed out at a rate of -1hp per round though.

Interestingly you discovered that Smokie being invisible, did not cast a shadow and though suffered from the mental fatigue, did not suffer any Constitution leakage into his shadow since none was cast.

[Spearmint]

So the above is a summary of previous explorations here. You can discuss and ask any questions to clarify things before you proceed further.

Presently I have the team camped in (72) with npc guards posted on watch. You can advance the clock to the next day if you wish in order to replenish lost spells and cleric abilities.

Actions please for Sven, Orgoth & Cadeweed.

[gurusql]

Cadeweed

Cadeweed would not gain much from a nights sleep (health aside), but wants to know how Sven's spells are that is important!

[Rex]

Orgoth

I have Orgoth still having his CLW spell.

[Spearmint]

Orgoth casts CLW upon Grimaldi [1d8]=2

As a final act of blessing before securing their secluded camp in the Metal Doors room for the night, Orgoth invokes a minor healing virtue upon kinsman Grymaldi, the cleric of St Ygg gaining health by the grace of Cromm. +2hp

The night is not without its terrors though and all suffer nightmarish dreams. The eerie atmosphere of the tombs playing havoc with each person's sensitivities.

Actions including Smokie, each party member needs to make a Wisdom modified Saving Throw vs Breath Weapon as a waft of seeping 'barrow mist' floats through the corridors and rooms bringing an icy chill in its wake. It passes quickly, dissipating as those sleepers wake with alarm, crying out from whatever bad dreams their thoughts provoked; a wightish hand looming out to touch you, falling into the Pit of Chaos, being hemmed in by ranks of vengeful spectres, leering Gargoyles tormenting you spitefully, Yardie dreaming his head became as a permanent Moo-moo of his own a bleached bone Minotaur skull; and so forth.

Produce a successful Saving Throw and shake off the eerie Nightmare effect, fail and you will gain a temporary phobia linked to a random dream.

Cadeweed would not gain much from a nights sleep (health aside), but wants to know how Sven's spells are that is important!

no hp benefit gained from camping on the dungeon floor.

While not so many higher levels spells were cast, being able to reset to memory lost ones or nullifying the cumulative casting penalty is a great help. Players may also have 'daily' use items which also renew too.

All the clerics and mages can reset their allocation of memorized spells and reset any Turn Undead penalty back to zero for the first attempt.

Once the above 'Nightmare save' is rolled I will go with the intended actions of exploring the 'maze crypt' unless you express searching others again first.

[gurusql]

Cadeweed

Random d20 [1d20]=17

Cadeweed somehow manages to make the save (16 is Breath Weapons and -1 for WIS)

[Spearmint]

Saving Throws: Smokie [1d20]=9 Sven [1d20]=8 Orgoth [1d20]=6

Saving Throws: Grymaldi [1d20]=7 Yardie [1d20]=2 Berric [1d20]=5 Crippens [1d20]=20

Saving Throws: Gargax [1d20]=8 BarkingToadLegs [1d20]=10

Saving Throws: Barba [1d20]=17

Only Cadeweed, Barba & Crippens pass through the eerie night not succumbing to nightmarish fears. Even long time maze inhabitants, Gargoyle, Familiar and Mongrelman are affected.

A recurring theme of each nightmare is that of being chased or lost in an endless maze where Shadows play upon the wall enticing you further in. Sven, Smokie & Yardie each report that in their maze dreams, they see flashes of skeletal pirates imploring them to follow or lamenting that those who do will end up as new skeleton crew after you fade from exhaustion and decay to bones. A remnant memory dug up from the recesses of their minds from the previous exploration.



The initial effect is to provoke a phobia of crossing the threshold to the room you identify as the preferred destination. Whilst you could still press on regardless, while you have the phobia (and I think Orgoth or Sven had been affected by a similar condition in the secret room with the Brain-urchins in), to do so means potential having handicaps for skill checks and morale tests.

Grymaldi suggests a good night's sleep and a time of prayer and fasting will be enough to dissipate any longer stresses upon your minds. With that in mind, you can consider a return to the comforts of Helix. A sleepover and you are good to go again.

as I reboot the Barrowmaze, I am aware a few players have withdrawn and ideally I want to consolidate everyone where possible back into civilization so folk can reform adventure groups, replenish items and go again in new teams if needed. I can handwave the safe trek back. Or if the three of Sven, Orgoth & Cadeweed are happy, I will press on with your entering the Maze crypt' in the hope of discovering its secrets.

actions & preferences please.

[Rex]

Orgoth

Either way is fine with me.

[gurusql]

Cadeweed

I would like to stay with these two, but I am OK if we continue or head back and get some others.