Conquering the Barbarian Altanis: Session 111
Adventurers
| Character | Class | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Almaric the Legendary | Elf level 1 | Very smart and quite good looking; adventuring just for the money. |
| Gomm | Thief level 5 | Swarthy, good looking, dark-skinned thief. Sweet opium-like aroma is his fragrance of choice. |
| Bairstowbury the Chaotic | Halfling level 2 | Remarkably muscular for a halfling. |
| Hartwig | Thief level 1 | Hailing from Ghinor Highlands, now seeking treasure in the Barbarian Altanis. |
| Centuria | Elf level 1 | An academic elf fond of teasing those of lower status. |
| Abdashtarth of the Field | Cleric level 1 | A farmer clad in armour, follower of Zodraz, petty god of seeds and toil. |
| Ajar of the Plan | Dwarf level 1 | Unbelievably strong and dexterous dwarf. |
Sunstrong 15th, Spiritday
“This must be it...”
Mere days ago Gomm had accepted a mission from Leleia the Swift, headmistress of Hara's thieves' guild. The client asked for a daring thief to retrieve a pineapple sized golden egg from a temple-fortress secluded in the mountains just west of the town.
Reward?
Stunning ten thousand gold pieces.
Conditions?
Egg must be entirely intact and unopened.
The client promised they have means of knowing if the egg had been despoiled.
Gomm assembled a hit team consisting of himself as the leader; Hartwig, newest member of the thieves' guild; Almaric the Legendary, as the brains with brawn, but most importantly, Floating Disc in his repertoire; and Bairstowbury as compact muscle that can fit into tight holes. Centuria, Abdashtarth, and Ajar were recruited to act as the rearguard and step in if anything goes wrong.
Now they found the stone temple hidden between the hill tops. It was a simple stone structure with a long stone ramp leading up to the top where an opening yawned into darkness.
The party circled the temple for an hour, hoping to spot any danger before it spots them. After all, they've been informed the place is thoroughly trapped and protected by a clan of abominable birdmen.
Although they have not spotted anything dangerous, they did observe a curious set of boulders leaning against back side of the temple. Lo and behold, behind them was another opening leading into a dark corridor.
An hour of investigating the rocks led them to believe they were indeed just rocks that are entirely untrapped. Gomm scaled one, and then helped others climb on top and descend.
Illustration by IdleDoodler.
“Watch out!”
A shin-height tripwire was just ten feet ahead of the party. It was trivial to jump over. Lighting a lantern produced much needed light to see further. A t-shaped junction was just ahead, splitting to the right.
Suddenly running footsteps could be heard coming from around the corner! Bairstowbury and Almaric pulled their weapons and counter charged. Gomm and Hartwig were just behind, at safer distance.
Elf and halfling found themselves facing four entirely naked sinewy humanoids with crow heads. They had feathers for hair, protecting the duos innocence. All four were armed with spears. No side was surprised.
First exchange of blows went well for the party, and they hacked one of the birdmen down. Second exchange went well for the naked birdmen, as they skewered Bairstowbury and Almaric to death.
“Time to run!” Gomm shouted at Hartwig as he uncorked web nuts. The thieves ran out, with Gomm throwing the vial at the junction. A ball of web filled the whole passage, blocking the birdmen with their corpses.
Then the duo retreated to the nearby camp.
“Centuria, Abdashtarth, we need you to fill in two spots...”
“Let's take the front entrance this time!”
Indeed, the new quartet ascended the stone ramp to the opening atop the temple. Ahead was a sharp descent, also without stairs. Gomm anchored a rope with several iron spikes, and threw it down the slope. Then Hartwig descended and explored on. Signalling he is safe, cleric went next. As he let go off the rope and stepped forth to follow the new thief, he promptly fell through the ground on his head. Alive but bruised, he was given the hand by Hartwig and easily climbed out of the pit. Gomm and Centuria were careful to jump over the descent landing.
Adventures were now exploring a wide chamber with three doors. Each were eight feet wide, with an iron ring on the right side and an inscription on the front. First read “Dexterity,” second “Strength,” and last “Intelligence.” Flexing his physique, Abdashtarth suggested they go for the second doors. He gripped the iron ring and pulled with all his might. The doors were indeed a challenge, but he was a man of strength and resolve, a true farm-boy.
He was soon rewarded by a rabid hound leaping out of the chamber, frothing at its mouth. Centuria sliced into the charging canine. The beast jumped at Abdashtarth and bit into his neck with its mighty jaw. Farm-boy wrapped his mighty hands around the beasts neck and snapped it. Then he collapsed to the ground, and died of asphyxiation. His windpipe was in the hound's mouth.
Illustration by IdleDoodler.
Ajar of the Plan rolled down the ramp and jumped over the pit trap.
“I had a feeling you might need me!”
Indeed, at the other end of the “Strength” chamber were another doors, identical to the ones they came through. They too were heavy to open. Ajar flexed his muscles and opened them with ease. No hounds to be seen.
Instead a junction. Path forward was into a large chamber, right to doors, and left into a corridor that turned right. To their left was a door that said “Dexterity” to their right two smaller doors with no inscription, and to their far right another large doors, also without any inscription.
Forging on, the party entered a most curious chamber. A raised stone platform, ten feet wide and ten feet long, was in the center. Four statues surrounded the platform, facing its corners. Each statue was made of living stone, but without any visible joints. They resembled oddly proportioned, blocky humans.
Adventures made a wise decision to give the platform and statues a wide berth. Thus they limited their interaction to visual inspection only. Ultimately, they did not touch them and followed the norther path leading them to yet another junction.
Left path joined up with the left path of previous junction. Right path led to a dead end with wooden bench and deranged stone relief of an obese raven with baby's head sitting on a shinning egg being fed crying humans by a flock of birdmen. Forward path led to a door.
Illustration by IdleDoodler.
Unable to hear anything beyond, the party opened them and ventured forth. They were overcome with smell of dampness and rot. Gomm could spot two golden orbs levitating some ten feet off the ground in the north-western corner of the room. The party split into duos to search this sixty by thirty feet chamber.
Centuria and Ajar had the good fortune of running into a massive ball of black feathers. Atop the avian body was an oversized human-like baby head. Snot hung from its nose, and yellow teeth adorned its mouth. The abomination rocked in its nest and attempted to bite the elf. Luckily, Centuria was quicker.
Gomm struck the monster with an arrow, making it cry. Then others hacked it to death, with Hartwig delivering the killing blow. He plunged the sword straight into the soft belly, and then jerked it sideways. Obese monstrosity collapsed back into its nest.
“Is there a golden egg in the nest?”
“No.”
Illustration by IdleDoodler.
But there was another opening, leading into a circular chamber with a well. Using roped to measure depth, there was around seventy feet before the water level. Opting to lead by example, Gomm descended with the lantern.
He soon discovered that the well exits into a large water filled chamber. Some thirty feet to the east was another slope, leading up into yet another chamber. Water slowly streamed into the chamber Gomm was currently in. Descending yet another ten feet, master thief swung himself and then jumped onto the slope. Truly an acrobatic feat! Hartwig soon joined him, accomplishing no less fascinating feat.
The duo entered a rectangular chamber. A circular opening dominated the center of north wall. Water slowly streamed out of it and down the corridor they came through. A marvellous golden egg rested on a red cushion with gilded embroidery, sitting on a stone plinth at the south end of the chamber. Two large stone boxes flanked it, each on a stone plinth of its own.
Gomm prepared his backpack for the precious cargo, while Hartwig prepared a supplement for the egg to be placed on the cushion. The duo quickly replaced the egg with cloth surrogate and then fled the chamber. They could hear sounds of rushing water as they ascended the rope through the well.
“Run! Run!”
Ajar and Centuria followed the duo, albeit a bit slower given they were both in metal armour. The temple shook as it filled with water.
An army of naked birdmen rushed out of the rightmost doors by the first junction, aiming to cut off the adventurers' retreat. Centuria's quick thinking saved the day. She cast Ventriloquism, imitating the fat, baby-headed raven's call. The trick worked, and all the birdmen ran north, to the chamber where only a corpse awaited them.
Four survivors ran out, and then went straight back to Hara.
“Should we open the egg and see what is inside?”
“Absolutely not.”
And so they collected their ten thousand gold pieces.
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