Post by Dead Greyhawk on Jul 16, 2005 12:27:37 GMT -5
Once everyone has recovered from the ill effect of the Nerullite’s prayers, the clerics begin restoring health and vitality to the Company. Their restorative abilities are quickly exhausted and the Company decides that a break must be taken to allow the spellcasters to recover their magical powers. Leaving Frank and Al to guard the resting priests and mages, Raven and Gordon begin to explore the surrounding area.
The large room in which the battle occurred is filled with eight life-like human statues. Several were severely damaged by the rampaging horses, who have subsequently died from the red hot armor attached to their backs, but five of them are undamaged. They are amazingly realistic and Raven fears that nearby is a basilisk or a medusa. He brings with him Dell’s mirror to look around corners. The exit spied by Winthrop in the back wall is as large as the other two, able to accept a mounted horseman, but has a large portcullis blocking entry. Oddly, the winch for the portcullis is on this side, as if to prevent creatures from leaving, rather than entering.
The left exit, where the horsemen rode through, also has a portcullis in it. This one is raised and the winch is on the far side. A courtyard of sorts lies beyond, with an oaken door off to the left in the middle of the wall and a corridor leading off to the right at the end of the room. Manure and other signs of equine activity can be seen on the floor of the courtyard.
The right exit leads directly into a room containing three sets of stairs. Two sets lead upwards to large platforms while the third set, found between the others, leads down to a doorway. Additionally two doors, one between each set of stairs, can be seen. Gordon tells Raven that he senses that this is an area of evil and may be the entrance to a temple. The two warriors climb the first set of stairs up to the platform above. A narrow ledge connects the two platforms and provides access to a recessed door. Raven decides to wait for the clerics and mages before trying the door.
Sorting through the belongings of the fallen reveals many interesting items. Three sealed flasks have survived the magical ball of fire summoned by Winthrop on the leaders, though one did not. The armor and tabards of the slain guardsmen are clearly custom manufactured. The tabards display a large leering skull and the breastplates of the platemail worn by the shieldbearers have an enameled death’s head upon them. Sifting through the remains of the undead, small black gemstones with a reddish hue to them are found. Intrigued, Raven sifts through the dust left by the destroyed skeletons and finds them there as well. By collecting them and comparing them, it appears to Raven that the skeletons had two very small stones and the zombies one small stone each. The gem stones don’t appear to be particularly valuable, but they are quite numerous.
After the spellcasters have rested, recovered, and prayed and memorized, the Company prepares to investigate the side passages. The priests heal the injured, including the surviving two orcs, both of whom appear to have been weakened by the wraith, to the best of their ability, while Winthrop enhances the strength of the warriors. First the temple area is entered. The platform is climbed up to and the door opened, revealing a shrine to Nerull. An eight foot statue of bone or ivory with ruby eyes dominates the room, peering at all who enter from its corner. A slab of black stone, likely an altar, is against the far wall while a pedestal-like lectern stands next to it. A quick perusal of the text seems to be a discussion on the creation of various types of corporeal unlife. On the right wall is a door, which, when opened, leads into a small room containing many gore splattered robes and vestments. The stench from these clothes is horrible and the Company quickly closes the door. The Pelorites argue with the Company over whether or not to consecrate the altar immediately, but are eventually swayed by the argument that perhaps more Nerullites are left to be slain, before the altars are destroyed.
The doors between the stairwell seem to lead into two rooms separated by a plush velvet curtain. The room on the left is a bedroom with a large four-post bed, an armoire, and a night table. A small silver statue of Nerull sits on the night table. The armoire, when opened, contains five red and black satin robes and an armor dummy. Through the curtain is an office. A black and red area rug covers much of the floor while an upholstered chair illuminated by a glowing rod sits in one corner. In the opposing corner is a desk and chair. The desk is quickly searched, revealing several prayer books. Raven peruses the titles and finds that several of them are the same as those he read in the Little Hills.
The Company heads down the remaining set of stairs to the door there. Beyond is another temple to Nerull. Rows of blocks for kneeling face an eleven foot tall mosaic of Nerull reaping the souls of humans and demihumans. In front of the mosaic is a black and red altar. The floors and walls seem to be set with a dull black stone and the room is lit by a purple light shining from hanging lanterns. Upon the altar are two golden bowls and an obsidian dagger, each bearing a rusty colored residue. Again, a door is seen in the right wall. Raven orders everyone away from the bowls, fearing that they might become imbued with the spirit of Nerull, as he was. The lanterns are investigated and found to contain glowing stones; the purple color coming from colored glass. The glass is removed and a more natural light fills the chamber. The door in the wall reveals another room filled with robes, but these are not gore splattered. The room is again purple-lit, but once the lantern glass is removed, the robes are revealed to be mixtures of red and black. At the end of the chamber is a small reliquary containing a stack of six golden bowls, two obsidian daggers, and what looks like a silver claw.
Deciding to leave all the items where they are, the Company heads to the left passage, where the horsemen came from. First the open passage is explored and it leads them straightforwardly into an area used as a stables. The two horses that survived the Company’s attack are both found there, nervously pacing by the stalls. Huxley and Liato attempt to calm the horses, neither of them trained for combat, and to remove their harness from them. By counting the stalls, the Company determines that only ten horses were stabled here. Counting the dead horses in the main chamber and the two found here, all are accounted for.
The Company then opens the door off of the courtyard. It opens into a bivouac area, apparently the campsite of the temple guards. A firepit is in the middle of the area and four alcoves, each with bedrolls in them, are evenly spaced to the right and left. At the far end of the room, a corridor exits while two doors, one to either side, are adjacent to the entrance. The Company begins to search the bedrolls while Dell looks at the two doors. Neither seem locked, though both are closed. Raven pokes his head into the exit at the far end of the room and finds it leads to a stairwell heading downwards. Gathering Frank, Al, and Garvin, he heads down the stairs and finds a room neatly filled with crates containing iron rations and charcoal, barrels of beer and water, and a keg of oil.
When they return, assured of plenty of food, they find the Company ready to open the right hand door. The room beyond appears to be a leader’s room, as it has a field cot, a chair, and a small chest within. Sitting on the chest is a small pile of books and an oil lamp. Winthrop collects the books while Dell investigates the chest. The books appear to be a ledger, presumably for the temple guards’ payroll, and several prayer books to Nerull. Raven flips through them and notes many similarities with the others found here in the Jotens, as well as with the ones in the Little Hills. Dell decides that the chest is not trapped and attempts to open the lock. As the lock clicks open, an insubstantial haze vaguely resembling a wyvern forms above the chest. The wyvern-haze strikes at Dell and misses, dissolving thereafter. Dell, slightly unnerved by the effect, opens the chest to find an obsidian and silver necklace and a pouch holding an assortment of coins from the Yeomanry within.
The other door opens onto what must be the other leader’s room. It also is complete with a field cot and a large chest, but also contains a sizeable desk and chair. On one wall is a large death’s head combat banner crossed with a charred, black spear. An armor dummy stands in one corner. Dell examines the desk and finds the main drawer to be unlocked. He takes from the drawer several books and a pouch. Winthrop and Raven again view the books, which this time appear to be journals, one of a mercenary band, the other of the leader, one Riccio Norton. The pouch contains an assortment of gemstones, rubies, opals, and a sapphire, which Dell pockets. The journals tell the story of a mercenary band, hard on its luck, that turns to banditry. Several months of crime later, they attack a caravan protected by several priests, who defeat them handily. Rather than sacrificing the mercenaries to their dark god Nerull, the priests employ them as guards at their temple in the Jotens. The journal dates back several years, strongly implying that this temple has been in operation quite some time.
The large chest remains to be examined. Given what occurred with the previous chest, Dell recommends that the others leave the room. As the Company files out, Raven realizes that the orcs are nowhere in sight. He sends Winthrop, who should have one of them still in his thrall, and Huxley, who speaks orcish, off to find them. Dell carefully examines the chest and finds a fine wire attached to the lid of the chest. The wire flows back into the chest. Dell carefully unhooks it and reexamines the chest to make certain he hasn’t missed anything important. Reassured, he quickly unlocks the chest and carefully opens the chest. Sitting on the top of the chest is a flat pan with an exceedingly fine powder in it. Just the motions that Dell has already made stir some of the dust up into the air, where Dell finds it highly irritating to his eyes and nose. Dell carefully closes the lid and informs the others that he’ll have to come back to this chest later.
The Company heads back into the main room where they find Winthrop and Huxley berating two very sullen orcs. The orcs have piled before them an assortment of armor and weapons, all pulled from the corpses of the guards, as well as the large area rug from the priestly rooms at the temple. Huxley explains that the orcs have “cleaned up” and decided that the rug would be a nice addition to their home. They obstinately refuse to do anything without the rug, and certainly won’t put it back. Dell tells everyone that this isn’t a problem, and the orcs can just carry the rug. He winks broadly at the two orcs, and then chivvies everyone over towards the portcullis. Dell then turns to the two orcs, who are hefting the rug between them, and asks, “How much you got in there?” The orcs look at him stonefaced until he tells them he just wants his cut. They admit that the gold bowls are in the rug. “That’s all?” he asks surprisedly. “Those daggers and some weapons too,” they admit. Dell hands them the pouch of gems he took from Riccio’s room and tells them to put those inside it too. They quickly slide the pouch down the rug between two folds and then heft the rug again.
The Company raises the portcullis and Huxley examines the floor. It is quite dusty and seems to show only a few tracks of feet, mainly single persons coming down to the portcullis and turning back. The corridor behind the portcullis extends far out of sight. The Company bravely strides down in the dark and the corridor goes at least three hundred feet into the mountainside. At the far end of the corridor, another portcullis is in place. This portcullis is oddly designed. Broken into two parts, it seems to have sliding bars which will lock it into a single piece. A winch for one of the two halves is found on either side of the portcullis. It appears that, should the bars be thrown, only if both sides consented would the portcullis be raised, but if the bars are left open, either side could raise their half of the portcullis.
The Company disengages the bars and winches their half of the portcullis open. The passage opens onto a large space. Opposite the passage mouth, at the far extent of their light, another wall can be seen, but to the right and left, the room opens up beyond their light. The ceiling is out of sight as well. The space smells rank and irregular piles of bones dot the area. Even from the portcullis, the Company can see that many of the bones have been gnawed and splintered. As the Company files out into the space, the sound of scrabbling feet can be heard off to the left. Raven orders the warriors into a defensive line to face the creatures.
Bursting into the light from the left side is a pack of gaunt, grey-skinned, creatures with long nails and teeth, likely ghouls. They hiss and howl as they pounce on the Company. An unhealthy stench follows their appearance and some appear to be larger and more formidable than others. The clerics all attempt to instill fear of their gods in the unlife and succeed to some extent; about half the creatures run howling back into the dark. The remainder strike at the Company, clawing and biting Liato, who stiffens into immobility.
The creatures seem unable to close with Gordon, stopping and snarling at him from ten feet away. Raven, seeing this effect, orders the others to huddle around Gordon and fight from his protective enclosure. This approach is effective and many of the ghouls, including the one that successfully struck Liato, are slain.
Unfortunately, more ghouls pour out of the darkness, swarming around Gordon and threatening to bypass the warrior line. Gordon moves suddenly to intercept a large group of ghouls heading for the spellcasters, withdrawing his protection from Al, who had been on the edge of the protective radius, striking at a clustered group of ghouls. The ghouls fall upon the hapless dwarf, rending and tearing at him. His armor breached, he stiffens into immobility and, before the Company can rally to his side, the ghouls rip out his throat and disembowel him. Al’s lifeless corpse collapses to the ground.
What was seemingly a well-ordered battle falls apart into chaos, with the Company fragmented into small groups, each assailed by several ghouls. Even worse, from the opposite side, a small pack of ghouls led by a larger one attacks the spellcasters from behind. The orcs, who were with the spellcasters, drop their rug and attempt to draw weapons, seeing no possible escape. Winthrop is able to close off the open area with magical webbing, but not all of the creatures are caught within. Fortunately for the mages, Lloyd is able to intimidate the ghouls into fleeing from the light of Pelor, straight into the summoned webbing.
With their rear secured, the Company rallies and dispatches the last of the fighting ghouls. While Gordon and Huxley stand guard, the other warriors rip the ghouls from the web, slaying them one at a time. The ghouls, formidable in a pack, are no match individually for Raven and Frank. Counting the ghoul bodies while waiting for Liato to be released from his rigor, the Company realizes that there are fewer corpses than ghouls seen; some must still be hiding out in the dark. The priests heal the others as well as they can, while Garvin anoints Al’s corpse with holy water to prevent him from rising as undead.
Once Liato is freed, he and the warriors in magical armor, including Gordon, walk forward along the left side of the space, leaving the others to defend the doorway. It appears that the cavern is square in shape extending in front and then to the right. Liato drops some glowing stones to illuminate a greater area. Heading up to the right, the right wall begins to come closer and then curves to the right. Drawing a quick map, it appears that this space, should it be reflected along two planes, looks like an octagon inside of a square. Adhering to the right wall, a large set of double doors is found, mounted into the wall. The doors are huge, at least ten feet tall, with massive hinges, and a bas-relief pattern of Nerull reaping souls marks the door. The detail is incredible, with the riven faces of Nerull’s victims etched in sorrow. They all decide not to open the door yet.
As they begin to approach the next corner of the room, the sounds of shuffling feet can be heard. Tossing a glowing stone up as far as possible, a horde of undead, skeletons, zombies, and ghouls can be seen milling in the corner, arraying themselves into a group, and walking down towards the party. Rising up above the undead horde is a grey figure, similar to the wraiths in appearance, but with much greater definition and appearance. His cruel face, sneering at the assembled Company, is filled with intelligence and his eyes burn with cold, black flames. “Oh, this is very bad,” says Gordon as the Company quickly tries to retreat.
Calling for reinforcements from the clerics, the Company retreats in order, clustered around Gordon. The undead surge after them with the ghouls outpacing the others. Before the engraved double doors, the Company is forced to fight, but the priests are able to join them there. The skeletons and zombies fall before the concentrated power of Pelor’s might, many turning to dust, but the ghouls rampage around Gordon’s protective envelope. The priests, while warding themselves from the ghoul’s blows, try to keep an eye out for the flying undead, but can not see it.
Back at the portcullis, Dell, Winthrop, and the two orcs discuss the situation while guarding Al’s fallen body. The orcs think that this is an evil place and they should take their rug and run. After all, one of the dwarves is dead, so it would be a net gain, in the orcs’ view. Dell doesn’t translate all of that to Winthrop, but does wonder whether staying here is such a good idea. Winthrop thinks that the others are depending on them, and they shouldn’t simply abandon them to their fates. These philosophies are put to the test when a grey incorporeal shape flies over the top of the webbing, landing on one of the orcs. It plunges its hands through the orc, which lets out a stifled sob and collapses. The creature looks at the others with its black eyes and lets out a ghastly chuckle.
While the rest of the Company battles the undead horde for their lives, Winthrop, Dell and the surviving orc all run. Winthrop runs toward the Company, shouting for help. Dell and the surviving orc flee back through the portcullis and down the passageway. Dell quickly outpaces the armor clad orc. As he runs down the passage, he wonders to himself what to do. From behind him, horrible screeching is heard, presumably the death of the remaining orc. As Dell skids to a stop in the statue filled courtyard, he casts an enchantment of invisibility upon himself, and then runs for the stables.
The two horses remaining in the stables are spooked when invisible hands attempt to grab hold of them. Tossing their heads and shifting nervously, Dell is unable to mount them. Instead he slaps them heartily, yelling as he does so. The frightened horses rear and bolt from the stable, directly into the statue filled courtyard. Dell follows them out, only to see that the portcullis to the bridge has been lowered, and the horses are running wild in the courtyard. Dell struggles along the wall to the winch and winches up the portcullis, finishing opening it as the grey figure flies into the courtyard. The horses scream in terror and flee through the now open portcullis, over the bridge. The grey figure seems frustrated, turns in place, and flies back down the corridor. Oddly enough, Dell begins to chase after the figure.
Without the direction of the grey undead, the ghouls are easy prey for the Company. Armed with a viable tactic, the priests and the wizard remain within the protection of Gordon, intimidating ghouls away from the Company, while the warriors tackle small groups of undead. While the Company suffers its share of injuries, the undead are slain. They then hurry back to the entry tunnel, fearing that they’ll find Dell slain there. Instead they find only one of the orcs, barely clinging to life. All indications are that the grey creature has flown down the tunnel. Raven and Gordon prepare to fight the grey undead creature on its return. The two warriors plan to meet the creature in battle just outside the mouth of the tunnel. They then realize that this might allow the creature to evade them and attack the less well armored opponents. Instead, Raven steps into the tunnel mouth, with Gordon close behind, giving Raven the benefit of his holy stature.
Raven sees the grey creature flying down the tunnel towards him. The fearsome sight of the undead sends shivers through him as he hefts Brunnel’s sword and the hart shield. The creature chortles to itself as it strikes at Raven, who blocks it with his shield. Brunnel’s sword bites deep into the creature, enraging it. It rears up and strikes again at Raven, who narrowly avoids being struck, likely a benefit of Gordon’s holy aura. As Raven lunges at the creature, Dell suddenly appears from nothingness behind the thing, striking first with the hart hilted longsword and then with his lucky dagger. Skewered from both sides by the enchanted blades, the creature writhes in agony and dissolves in a shower of dust. Breathing a sigh of relief, the Company steps out of the passage.
The Company is sorely wounded and greatly depleted in strength. They decide that a fortified position is needed and choose to retreat back to the stables. Dell tells them that the stables are empty now, so its got plenty of space. Before leaving, Winthrop scoops up some of the remains of the undead creature, hoping to use it someday in his studies. While Garvin pours holy water on the dead orc, found in a pile in the long passageway, to prevent him from rising in unlife. The Company secures both of the portcullises behind them and collapses to rest. Raven, surprisingly, is the least injured of the Company and volunteers to stand watch, allowing the others to recuperate.
The large room in which the battle occurred is filled with eight life-like human statues. Several were severely damaged by the rampaging horses, who have subsequently died from the red hot armor attached to their backs, but five of them are undamaged. They are amazingly realistic and Raven fears that nearby is a basilisk or a medusa. He brings with him Dell’s mirror to look around corners. The exit spied by Winthrop in the back wall is as large as the other two, able to accept a mounted horseman, but has a large portcullis blocking entry. Oddly, the winch for the portcullis is on this side, as if to prevent creatures from leaving, rather than entering.
The left exit, where the horsemen rode through, also has a portcullis in it. This one is raised and the winch is on the far side. A courtyard of sorts lies beyond, with an oaken door off to the left in the middle of the wall and a corridor leading off to the right at the end of the room. Manure and other signs of equine activity can be seen on the floor of the courtyard.
The right exit leads directly into a room containing three sets of stairs. Two sets lead upwards to large platforms while the third set, found between the others, leads down to a doorway. Additionally two doors, one between each set of stairs, can be seen. Gordon tells Raven that he senses that this is an area of evil and may be the entrance to a temple. The two warriors climb the first set of stairs up to the platform above. A narrow ledge connects the two platforms and provides access to a recessed door. Raven decides to wait for the clerics and mages before trying the door.
Sorting through the belongings of the fallen reveals many interesting items. Three sealed flasks have survived the magical ball of fire summoned by Winthrop on the leaders, though one did not. The armor and tabards of the slain guardsmen are clearly custom manufactured. The tabards display a large leering skull and the breastplates of the platemail worn by the shieldbearers have an enameled death’s head upon them. Sifting through the remains of the undead, small black gemstones with a reddish hue to them are found. Intrigued, Raven sifts through the dust left by the destroyed skeletons and finds them there as well. By collecting them and comparing them, it appears to Raven that the skeletons had two very small stones and the zombies one small stone each. The gem stones don’t appear to be particularly valuable, but they are quite numerous.
After the spellcasters have rested, recovered, and prayed and memorized, the Company prepares to investigate the side passages. The priests heal the injured, including the surviving two orcs, both of whom appear to have been weakened by the wraith, to the best of their ability, while Winthrop enhances the strength of the warriors. First the temple area is entered. The platform is climbed up to and the door opened, revealing a shrine to Nerull. An eight foot statue of bone or ivory with ruby eyes dominates the room, peering at all who enter from its corner. A slab of black stone, likely an altar, is against the far wall while a pedestal-like lectern stands next to it. A quick perusal of the text seems to be a discussion on the creation of various types of corporeal unlife. On the right wall is a door, which, when opened, leads into a small room containing many gore splattered robes and vestments. The stench from these clothes is horrible and the Company quickly closes the door. The Pelorites argue with the Company over whether or not to consecrate the altar immediately, but are eventually swayed by the argument that perhaps more Nerullites are left to be slain, before the altars are destroyed.
The doors between the stairwell seem to lead into two rooms separated by a plush velvet curtain. The room on the left is a bedroom with a large four-post bed, an armoire, and a night table. A small silver statue of Nerull sits on the night table. The armoire, when opened, contains five red and black satin robes and an armor dummy. Through the curtain is an office. A black and red area rug covers much of the floor while an upholstered chair illuminated by a glowing rod sits in one corner. In the opposing corner is a desk and chair. The desk is quickly searched, revealing several prayer books. Raven peruses the titles and finds that several of them are the same as those he read in the Little Hills.
The Company heads down the remaining set of stairs to the door there. Beyond is another temple to Nerull. Rows of blocks for kneeling face an eleven foot tall mosaic of Nerull reaping the souls of humans and demihumans. In front of the mosaic is a black and red altar. The floors and walls seem to be set with a dull black stone and the room is lit by a purple light shining from hanging lanterns. Upon the altar are two golden bowls and an obsidian dagger, each bearing a rusty colored residue. Again, a door is seen in the right wall. Raven orders everyone away from the bowls, fearing that they might become imbued with the spirit of Nerull, as he was. The lanterns are investigated and found to contain glowing stones; the purple color coming from colored glass. The glass is removed and a more natural light fills the chamber. The door in the wall reveals another room filled with robes, but these are not gore splattered. The room is again purple-lit, but once the lantern glass is removed, the robes are revealed to be mixtures of red and black. At the end of the chamber is a small reliquary containing a stack of six golden bowls, two obsidian daggers, and what looks like a silver claw.
Deciding to leave all the items where they are, the Company heads to the left passage, where the horsemen came from. First the open passage is explored and it leads them straightforwardly into an area used as a stables. The two horses that survived the Company’s attack are both found there, nervously pacing by the stalls. Huxley and Liato attempt to calm the horses, neither of them trained for combat, and to remove their harness from them. By counting the stalls, the Company determines that only ten horses were stabled here. Counting the dead horses in the main chamber and the two found here, all are accounted for.
The Company then opens the door off of the courtyard. It opens into a bivouac area, apparently the campsite of the temple guards. A firepit is in the middle of the area and four alcoves, each with bedrolls in them, are evenly spaced to the right and left. At the far end of the room, a corridor exits while two doors, one to either side, are adjacent to the entrance. The Company begins to search the bedrolls while Dell looks at the two doors. Neither seem locked, though both are closed. Raven pokes his head into the exit at the far end of the room and finds it leads to a stairwell heading downwards. Gathering Frank, Al, and Garvin, he heads down the stairs and finds a room neatly filled with crates containing iron rations and charcoal, barrels of beer and water, and a keg of oil.
When they return, assured of plenty of food, they find the Company ready to open the right hand door. The room beyond appears to be a leader’s room, as it has a field cot, a chair, and a small chest within. Sitting on the chest is a small pile of books and an oil lamp. Winthrop collects the books while Dell investigates the chest. The books appear to be a ledger, presumably for the temple guards’ payroll, and several prayer books to Nerull. Raven flips through them and notes many similarities with the others found here in the Jotens, as well as with the ones in the Little Hills. Dell decides that the chest is not trapped and attempts to open the lock. As the lock clicks open, an insubstantial haze vaguely resembling a wyvern forms above the chest. The wyvern-haze strikes at Dell and misses, dissolving thereafter. Dell, slightly unnerved by the effect, opens the chest to find an obsidian and silver necklace and a pouch holding an assortment of coins from the Yeomanry within.
The other door opens onto what must be the other leader’s room. It also is complete with a field cot and a large chest, but also contains a sizeable desk and chair. On one wall is a large death’s head combat banner crossed with a charred, black spear. An armor dummy stands in one corner. Dell examines the desk and finds the main drawer to be unlocked. He takes from the drawer several books and a pouch. Winthrop and Raven again view the books, which this time appear to be journals, one of a mercenary band, the other of the leader, one Riccio Norton. The pouch contains an assortment of gemstones, rubies, opals, and a sapphire, which Dell pockets. The journals tell the story of a mercenary band, hard on its luck, that turns to banditry. Several months of crime later, they attack a caravan protected by several priests, who defeat them handily. Rather than sacrificing the mercenaries to their dark god Nerull, the priests employ them as guards at their temple in the Jotens. The journal dates back several years, strongly implying that this temple has been in operation quite some time.
The large chest remains to be examined. Given what occurred with the previous chest, Dell recommends that the others leave the room. As the Company files out, Raven realizes that the orcs are nowhere in sight. He sends Winthrop, who should have one of them still in his thrall, and Huxley, who speaks orcish, off to find them. Dell carefully examines the chest and finds a fine wire attached to the lid of the chest. The wire flows back into the chest. Dell carefully unhooks it and reexamines the chest to make certain he hasn’t missed anything important. Reassured, he quickly unlocks the chest and carefully opens the chest. Sitting on the top of the chest is a flat pan with an exceedingly fine powder in it. Just the motions that Dell has already made stir some of the dust up into the air, where Dell finds it highly irritating to his eyes and nose. Dell carefully closes the lid and informs the others that he’ll have to come back to this chest later.
The Company heads back into the main room where they find Winthrop and Huxley berating two very sullen orcs. The orcs have piled before them an assortment of armor and weapons, all pulled from the corpses of the guards, as well as the large area rug from the priestly rooms at the temple. Huxley explains that the orcs have “cleaned up” and decided that the rug would be a nice addition to their home. They obstinately refuse to do anything without the rug, and certainly won’t put it back. Dell tells everyone that this isn’t a problem, and the orcs can just carry the rug. He winks broadly at the two orcs, and then chivvies everyone over towards the portcullis. Dell then turns to the two orcs, who are hefting the rug between them, and asks, “How much you got in there?” The orcs look at him stonefaced until he tells them he just wants his cut. They admit that the gold bowls are in the rug. “That’s all?” he asks surprisedly. “Those daggers and some weapons too,” they admit. Dell hands them the pouch of gems he took from Riccio’s room and tells them to put those inside it too. They quickly slide the pouch down the rug between two folds and then heft the rug again.
The Company raises the portcullis and Huxley examines the floor. It is quite dusty and seems to show only a few tracks of feet, mainly single persons coming down to the portcullis and turning back. The corridor behind the portcullis extends far out of sight. The Company bravely strides down in the dark and the corridor goes at least three hundred feet into the mountainside. At the far end of the corridor, another portcullis is in place. This portcullis is oddly designed. Broken into two parts, it seems to have sliding bars which will lock it into a single piece. A winch for one of the two halves is found on either side of the portcullis. It appears that, should the bars be thrown, only if both sides consented would the portcullis be raised, but if the bars are left open, either side could raise their half of the portcullis.
The Company disengages the bars and winches their half of the portcullis open. The passage opens onto a large space. Opposite the passage mouth, at the far extent of their light, another wall can be seen, but to the right and left, the room opens up beyond their light. The ceiling is out of sight as well. The space smells rank and irregular piles of bones dot the area. Even from the portcullis, the Company can see that many of the bones have been gnawed and splintered. As the Company files out into the space, the sound of scrabbling feet can be heard off to the left. Raven orders the warriors into a defensive line to face the creatures.
Bursting into the light from the left side is a pack of gaunt, grey-skinned, creatures with long nails and teeth, likely ghouls. They hiss and howl as they pounce on the Company. An unhealthy stench follows their appearance and some appear to be larger and more formidable than others. The clerics all attempt to instill fear of their gods in the unlife and succeed to some extent; about half the creatures run howling back into the dark. The remainder strike at the Company, clawing and biting Liato, who stiffens into immobility.
The creatures seem unable to close with Gordon, stopping and snarling at him from ten feet away. Raven, seeing this effect, orders the others to huddle around Gordon and fight from his protective enclosure. This approach is effective and many of the ghouls, including the one that successfully struck Liato, are slain.
Unfortunately, more ghouls pour out of the darkness, swarming around Gordon and threatening to bypass the warrior line. Gordon moves suddenly to intercept a large group of ghouls heading for the spellcasters, withdrawing his protection from Al, who had been on the edge of the protective radius, striking at a clustered group of ghouls. The ghouls fall upon the hapless dwarf, rending and tearing at him. His armor breached, he stiffens into immobility and, before the Company can rally to his side, the ghouls rip out his throat and disembowel him. Al’s lifeless corpse collapses to the ground.
What was seemingly a well-ordered battle falls apart into chaos, with the Company fragmented into small groups, each assailed by several ghouls. Even worse, from the opposite side, a small pack of ghouls led by a larger one attacks the spellcasters from behind. The orcs, who were with the spellcasters, drop their rug and attempt to draw weapons, seeing no possible escape. Winthrop is able to close off the open area with magical webbing, but not all of the creatures are caught within. Fortunately for the mages, Lloyd is able to intimidate the ghouls into fleeing from the light of Pelor, straight into the summoned webbing.
With their rear secured, the Company rallies and dispatches the last of the fighting ghouls. While Gordon and Huxley stand guard, the other warriors rip the ghouls from the web, slaying them one at a time. The ghouls, formidable in a pack, are no match individually for Raven and Frank. Counting the ghoul bodies while waiting for Liato to be released from his rigor, the Company realizes that there are fewer corpses than ghouls seen; some must still be hiding out in the dark. The priests heal the others as well as they can, while Garvin anoints Al’s corpse with holy water to prevent him from rising as undead.
Once Liato is freed, he and the warriors in magical armor, including Gordon, walk forward along the left side of the space, leaving the others to defend the doorway. It appears that the cavern is square in shape extending in front and then to the right. Liato drops some glowing stones to illuminate a greater area. Heading up to the right, the right wall begins to come closer and then curves to the right. Drawing a quick map, it appears that this space, should it be reflected along two planes, looks like an octagon inside of a square. Adhering to the right wall, a large set of double doors is found, mounted into the wall. The doors are huge, at least ten feet tall, with massive hinges, and a bas-relief pattern of Nerull reaping souls marks the door. The detail is incredible, with the riven faces of Nerull’s victims etched in sorrow. They all decide not to open the door yet.
As they begin to approach the next corner of the room, the sounds of shuffling feet can be heard. Tossing a glowing stone up as far as possible, a horde of undead, skeletons, zombies, and ghouls can be seen milling in the corner, arraying themselves into a group, and walking down towards the party. Rising up above the undead horde is a grey figure, similar to the wraiths in appearance, but with much greater definition and appearance. His cruel face, sneering at the assembled Company, is filled with intelligence and his eyes burn with cold, black flames. “Oh, this is very bad,” says Gordon as the Company quickly tries to retreat.
Calling for reinforcements from the clerics, the Company retreats in order, clustered around Gordon. The undead surge after them with the ghouls outpacing the others. Before the engraved double doors, the Company is forced to fight, but the priests are able to join them there. The skeletons and zombies fall before the concentrated power of Pelor’s might, many turning to dust, but the ghouls rampage around Gordon’s protective envelope. The priests, while warding themselves from the ghoul’s blows, try to keep an eye out for the flying undead, but can not see it.
Back at the portcullis, Dell, Winthrop, and the two orcs discuss the situation while guarding Al’s fallen body. The orcs think that this is an evil place and they should take their rug and run. After all, one of the dwarves is dead, so it would be a net gain, in the orcs’ view. Dell doesn’t translate all of that to Winthrop, but does wonder whether staying here is such a good idea. Winthrop thinks that the others are depending on them, and they shouldn’t simply abandon them to their fates. These philosophies are put to the test when a grey incorporeal shape flies over the top of the webbing, landing on one of the orcs. It plunges its hands through the orc, which lets out a stifled sob and collapses. The creature looks at the others with its black eyes and lets out a ghastly chuckle.
While the rest of the Company battles the undead horde for their lives, Winthrop, Dell and the surviving orc all run. Winthrop runs toward the Company, shouting for help. Dell and the surviving orc flee back through the portcullis and down the passageway. Dell quickly outpaces the armor clad orc. As he runs down the passage, he wonders to himself what to do. From behind him, horrible screeching is heard, presumably the death of the remaining orc. As Dell skids to a stop in the statue filled courtyard, he casts an enchantment of invisibility upon himself, and then runs for the stables.
The two horses remaining in the stables are spooked when invisible hands attempt to grab hold of them. Tossing their heads and shifting nervously, Dell is unable to mount them. Instead he slaps them heartily, yelling as he does so. The frightened horses rear and bolt from the stable, directly into the statue filled courtyard. Dell follows them out, only to see that the portcullis to the bridge has been lowered, and the horses are running wild in the courtyard. Dell struggles along the wall to the winch and winches up the portcullis, finishing opening it as the grey figure flies into the courtyard. The horses scream in terror and flee through the now open portcullis, over the bridge. The grey figure seems frustrated, turns in place, and flies back down the corridor. Oddly enough, Dell begins to chase after the figure.
Without the direction of the grey undead, the ghouls are easy prey for the Company. Armed with a viable tactic, the priests and the wizard remain within the protection of Gordon, intimidating ghouls away from the Company, while the warriors tackle small groups of undead. While the Company suffers its share of injuries, the undead are slain. They then hurry back to the entry tunnel, fearing that they’ll find Dell slain there. Instead they find only one of the orcs, barely clinging to life. All indications are that the grey creature has flown down the tunnel. Raven and Gordon prepare to fight the grey undead creature on its return. The two warriors plan to meet the creature in battle just outside the mouth of the tunnel. They then realize that this might allow the creature to evade them and attack the less well armored opponents. Instead, Raven steps into the tunnel mouth, with Gordon close behind, giving Raven the benefit of his holy stature.
Raven sees the grey creature flying down the tunnel towards him. The fearsome sight of the undead sends shivers through him as he hefts Brunnel’s sword and the hart shield. The creature chortles to itself as it strikes at Raven, who blocks it with his shield. Brunnel’s sword bites deep into the creature, enraging it. It rears up and strikes again at Raven, who narrowly avoids being struck, likely a benefit of Gordon’s holy aura. As Raven lunges at the creature, Dell suddenly appears from nothingness behind the thing, striking first with the hart hilted longsword and then with his lucky dagger. Skewered from both sides by the enchanted blades, the creature writhes in agony and dissolves in a shower of dust. Breathing a sigh of relief, the Company steps out of the passage.
The Company is sorely wounded and greatly depleted in strength. They decide that a fortified position is needed and choose to retreat back to the stables. Dell tells them that the stables are empty now, so its got plenty of space. Before leaving, Winthrop scoops up some of the remains of the undead creature, hoping to use it someday in his studies. While Garvin pours holy water on the dead orc, found in a pile in the long passageway, to prevent him from rising in unlife. The Company secures both of the portcullises behind them and collapses to rest. Raven, surprisingly, is the least injured of the Company and volunteers to stand watch, allowing the others to recuperate.