Quest #34 "The Search For The Ruined Tower”

[OGRE MAGE]

The Horror Below
Starday, 27th of Goodmonth
Early Afternoon, Sunny, Hot, Breezy

Keg watches as Keyon asks The Knife for the gem so he can teleport below to try and save whatever might be left of Feanol. Keeping his cloak for himself, in case the elf doesn't return, TK shades his eyes and hands over the brilliant gem.

Darklin and Elnaerel try to convince Keyon that he might be making a deadly mistake, and that they should formulate a plan first, But the pretty pirate hops onto the Chariot symbol anyway. After a few seconds pass, he too disappears from the spot.

Information for Ahlmzhad and Paladin ONLY please!!!

As could be expected, Feanol is not nearly strong enough to break away from the tight grip of Gnodric zombie. Her rapidly rotting cousin holds the weak she-elf in place as Assamuk floats over to her and tries to wrap her up in his semi-corporeal embrace. "Eeeerrrrhhhhmmmmm! This is gonna feel great. Hhhhmmmmm. For me, but probably not for you. Hhhhmmmmm!" (4 dam. I will take a Save vs. Death to see if there is anything left for Keyon to save.)


Keyon suddenly finds himself in a dark room with a muted beam of light shining down from a hole in the ceiling. The light encompasses a figure of an old man sitting on a chair in the center of the room. There is a long decorative box sitting across the mans lap, and a sputtering torch that appears about to go out leaned up against the figure, slowly burning through its ancient fabric robes. The air in here is quite frigid and so thin it is almost impossible to breath.

Once Keyon's eyes adjust, he sees the rotting forms of Max and Gnodric moving to hold a very frightened Feanol (who isn't moving) in their cold grasp as another horrible figure hovers over the female. The unrecognizable figure is of an old man with long, crazy hair and a frightening visage, looking very similar to the unmoving form in the chair. When the figure sees Keyon enter the room, it starts to make a noise that sounds like evil laughter. "Hhhhmmm hhhhmmmm hhhmmm, One leaves and another enters? Hhhhmmmmm. You fools are making this far too easy for old Assamuk. Hhhhhmmmmmm. Come friend. Join us, wont you? Hhhmmm."

Spectre.gif (22.09 KiB) Viewed 305 times

Undead Gnodric AC5 ?/10 UNDEAD
Undead Max AC2 ?/8 CL 1/2 MU 1/1 CL, DM, RM UNDEAD

Feanol AC10 -2/4 1/1 CL, DM, RM (Unconscious)
Keyon AC4 6/6

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Actions?

Keg Woodwright AC1 11/13 (Torch)
Elnaerel AC3 7/10 3/3
The Knife AC4* 5/5
Darklin Sylvanas AC4 8/8 1/1 CL, DM, RM
overall map:
viewtopic.php?p=366477#p366477

[Jernau35]

The Knife

The Knife stares at the spot where Keyon stood moments before. "I've never seen anyone walk the line between daring and folly as much as Keyon does. Let's hope he didn't just hang himself with it..." He sighs, then looks around the room. "Well, we can't just stand here waiting".

The Knife takes his cloak and begins to carefully sweep the floor in search of further symbols.

See, I told you they're useful

[Paladin]

Keyon

"Feanol!"

Keyon's eyes widen and his blood turns to ice in his veins. The scent of death sickens him, and he dry-heaves as he frantically unwraps the side of the gem facing the undead, blasting brilliant white light into the room. He squints and looks away, then eases his slitted eyes back toward them to see what effect it has had upon them.

If they recoil, he will dive for Feanol's inert form.

[Karaunios]

Ahem, Paladin, hide your posts. I almost read the last one!

Elnaerel

"Yes. We should do something in the meantime.

I wonder, Keyon opened the hole in the middle of the room, and he could hear Feanol down there. That could mean the teleporter leads right down below us, and not somewhere far from here.

So maybe it's true that there could be another way down."

She starts helping with the cleaning, even if she can only use his hands while Keg sweeps. Better to be doing something than just think of their lost friends. She will be careful enough not to step on any carving.

[Ahlmzhad]

Feanol

Death Save:[1d20]=20

[OGRE MAGE]

The Horror Below
Starday, 27th of Goodmonth
Early Afternoon, Sunny, Hot, Breezy

TK and Elnaerel continue sweeping the thick dust off the areas of the floor that haven't been searched yet. They find 3 more faded carvings that look like the others but dont cause any harm.

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They also find what looks like the seems of an old square hatchway along one wall that may have lead below this level at onetime. There is no handle or pull ring on the stone hatch. Keg and Darklin remain silent, not sure what to do next.

Information for Ahlmzhad and Paladin ONLY please!!!

Keyon uncovers the brilliant gem, aiming the light towards Feanol and her captors. There is a sharp screeching noise form Assamuk, his annoying gurgling voice now gone otherwise silent. Keyon opens his eyes to see the ghastly figure retreating from his powerful light, floating away to the darker back corner of the basement room. The figures of undead Gnodric and undead Max suddenly burst into an ashy cloud that quickly dissipates in the air, as if they had both been suddenly and horribly disintegrated by the intense light rays. There is nothing but dust left of either of them, causing the unconscious form of Feanol to fall to the cold stone floor between the pair of ash piles.

A gurgling "NNNOOOOOOO!!!!!" is the only sound that can be heard from the cowering form of the spectre hiding in the corner.

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Feanol AC10 -2/4 1/1 CL, DM, RM (Unconscious)
Keyon AC4 6/6

Actions?

Keg Woodwright AC1 11/13 (Torch)
Elnaerel AC3 7/10 3/3
The Knife AC4* 5/5
Darklin Sylvanas AC4 8/8 1/1 CL, DM, RM
overall map:
viewtopic.php?p=366477#p366477

[Ahlmzhad]

Feanol

The young elf wafts gracefully to the earth landing in a comely supine pose, her long tresses arrayed suggestively about her head and face.

[Jernau35]

The Knife

The Knife moves to check the hatchway. He looks for a weak point in the seam that might be easily chiseled away. "Do either of you have an iron spike or something? If we can break this open a little bit, we might be able to lever it open".

[Darklin2]

Darklin

If you remove that it may let that thing out. Are you sure that is a good idea. If you want to get below step on the chariot. There is another tarot card on the floor below to leave by. Guess i should have told Keyon before he stepped away.

[Karaunios]

Elnaerel

To Darklin: "Yes. You probably should have told him like that. And how the carving looks like would have helped him too. And how to get there. Specially after you told him it is a maze." Says the elf with an irritated tone in her voice. "But it's true that he stepped on the chariot carving a little too hastily..."

To The Knife: "I just happen to have some spikes and a hammer! That's a good idea. If we open the trapdoor, we can always close it back, Darklin. But maybe it can be opened from the other side anyway, so... Let's get to work." She gets a spike and a hammer from her backpack. "I've got five more spikes in case we need them. If the stone is not too hard, we could even shape a handle for it with one of the spikes, so we can open it from this side no problem."

[OGRE MAGE]

There is another tarot card on the floor below to leave by. Guess i should have told Keyon before he stepped away.

Why start giving out proper details now?

[Bluehorse]

Keg moves to the middle of the floor and pulls out the stopper from earlier and tries to see if he can see anything inside.

[Paladin]

Keyon

The young pirate watches Assamuk carefuly, holding the blinding light before him as he approaches Feanol. He is careful to tread lightly and keep a firm grip upon the object. If he reaches her without incident, he will scan the room for a way out, checking above, below, and to either side.

Does he think he could grab her while maintaining his hold on the gem? If so, he will.

[OGRE MAGE]

The Horror Below
Starday, 27th of Goodmonth
Early Afternoon, Sunny, Hot, Breezy

TK and Elnaerel decide to pound a spike into the stone hatchway in the floor, despite the warning from Darklin. It takes some time, but they are able to drive a handle into the slab that might now be able to be pulled open with enough brute force. Keg moves to pull the glass plug back out of the hole in the floor, but finds it wedged in deeper than his fingers can reach. He will need to borrow the thieves tools or come up with another way to get the obstruction free.

Information for Ahlmzhad and Paladin ONLY please!!!

Keyon has no problem keeping the undead monster in the corner at bay with his brilliant light gem, picking the unconscious form of Feanol off the floor as he looks around for an exit from the room.

He starts to hear a metal on stone pounding noise coming from the ceiling above and then spots a carving on the floor in front of him that looks a lot like the one he stepped on to get in here.

Looking back at the cowering Assamuk, he again spots the figure in the chair with the decorative box sitting across its lap.

Feanol AC10 -2/4 1/1 CL, DM, RM (Unconscious)
Keyon AC4 6/6

Actions?

Keg Woodwright AC1 11/13 (Torch)
Elnaerel AC3 7/10 3/3
The Knife AC4* 5/5
Darklin Sylvanas AC4 8/8 1/1 CL, DM, RM
overall map:
viewtopic.php?p=366477#p366477

[Paladin]

Keyon

"Godly power," Keyon murmurs, his eyes straying to the figure gripping the box. He takes a step toward the seated figure, then blinks and shakes his head. "No."

Moving to the chariot with Feanol, he stands her up with an arm about her waist and holds her upright atop the sigil. Keyon keeps his gem trained upon the evil spirit and waits. He examines Feanol's features, his brow furrowed and feelings conflicted.

[Jernau35]

The Knife

The Knife gives the hatchway an experimental tug. He looks at Elnaerel. "There's no way we're going to move.... Hold on!... He cocks his head. "Say that again...Of course!" The Knife looks over towards Keg.

"Keg! Why don't you come and try to shift this thing, and let me try and fish that tube out?...Yes, of course, as long as I don't have to crab it out! Good one! Yes. Hahaha! The Knife continues to chortle as he reaches into his belt pouch for some slim metal rods and a pair of needle nose pliers.

[Karaunios]

Elnaerel

"Hold on. Maybe I can try to make it budge..." The elf takes her chances at opening the hatch.

Just in case, I'll include these rolls for different difficulties:
Normal Skill Check [3d6]=9
Hard Skill Check [4d6]=12
Very Hard Skill Check [5d6]=26
vs STR 15

I also was going to suggest for someone to take a piss down the whole once TK opens it, but that would be improper for Elanerel to say

[Bluehorse]

The Knife
"Keg! Why don't you come and try to shift this thing, and let me try and fish that tube out?...Yes, of course, as long as I don't have to crab it out! Good one! Yes. Hahaha! The Knife continues to chortle as he reaches into his belt pouch for some slim metal rods and a pair of needle nose pliers.

Keg just nods and moves over to give it a good pull and see what he can do to loosen it up.

[Darklin2]

Darklin

Moves in beside Keg. Let's see if we can wedge it out. He pulls out an arrow using the arrowhead to scrape the years of dirt and mud that plugs the area between the blocks.

[OGRE MAGE]

The Horror Below
Starday, 27th of Goodmonth
Early Afternoon, Sunny, Hot, Breezy

T and K share another inside joke as the group attempts to pull open the stone hatch in the floor. They scrape the dirt from the seems with an arrow and take turns trying to pull the hatch open. Keg gets the cover to move slightly, but the makeshift handle is difficult to grasp, making it impossible to open fully. If a rope were tied around the spike, allowing more than one person to pull at a time, the trio believes they could get the cover fully opened.

TK moves to the small hole in the floor, seeing the glass plug that Keyon slid back down into the opening. He thinks he could recover it again, but it will take a little gnomish fineness with his picks. FaRT roll please

As they work, the unconscious form of Feanol suddenly appears in the room in the same area where Darklin recently returned. Though she arrives standing upright, her lifeless form quickly drops to the stone floor, her head slamming to the ground hard. 1 dam

Information for Paladin ONLY please!!!

After holding Feanol's limp body up over the chariot symbol on the floor with minimal groping, the female elf suddenly disappears from Keyon's grasp. Assamuk continues to hide himself from the powerful light of the gem, but he clearly lets out another growl once Feanol is gone.

The pounding from above eventually abates, and with Feanol now gone, the only thing left in the room are the cowering spectre and the figure in the chair with the box across its lap.

Keyon AC4 6/6

Actions?

Keg Woodwright AC1 11/13 (Torch)
Elnaerel AC3 7/10 3/3
The Knife AC4* 5/5
Darklin Sylvanas AC4 8/8 1/1 CL, DM, RM
Feanol AC10 -3/4 1/1 CL, DM, RM (Unconscious/Dead at -4)
overall map:
viewtopic.php?p=366477#p366477