Conquering the Barbarian Altanis: Session 115
Adventurers
| Character | Class | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Gomm | Thief level 5 | Swarthy, good looking, dark-skinned thief. Sweet opium-like aroma is his fragrance of choice. |
| Zhoron Trisrie | Elf level 2 | Always frowning and morose; sporting thick handlebar moustache down to his chest and a black top knot. |
| Ambros | Cleric level 5 | Follower of Aniu, Lord of Time. |
| Ignaeus | Elf level 2 | A slightly weathered looking elf with dull blonde hair and chiselled features. Seeks wealth and knowledge. |
| Nesterin Sylpetor | Elf level 2 | An avid lover woods and jungles. |
Harvestime 12th, Waterday
“I will sneak around and climb on top of the rubble. Bakaru will come with me. Once we are above the guard you can approach him and see how he responds. In case he is hostile, we will jump him from above.”
Gomm presented a plan, and once again had everyone agree with him. Zhoron, Ambros, Ignaeus, and newly found Nesterin, all had enough of entertaining tireless witch Ah'sas, so Gomm found them a task that would give them an excuse to leave.
“Well, you could get me a necklace made of shadow. Here, I'll draw you a map to the place where you can find one.” the witch explained.
“How do I pick up a necklace made of shadow?” Gomm inquired.
“With your hands.” the witch retorted, annoyed.
Adventurers heeded her advice to make a dugout and paddle downriver, instead of marching through the thick jungle. And so they found the described sunken fort. More a collection of stone rubble destroyed by overgrowth, and consumed by soft soil.
Double iron gates were the only visible entry point. An armoured guard marched left and right in front. His moves were stiff and repetitive. Moments before the party had arrived, they spotted the doors opening, a group of figures entering, and then the doors closing. It was difficult to make out exact numbers due to limited visibility from all the trees and foliage.
The plan was executed perfectly. The guard remained unaware of the thieves' presences while others hailed it. The moment it spotted approaching Nesterin, the guard raised its greatsword and charged the elf.
Proving most unresponsive, the guard had been met with violence and dispatched in mere two rounds of melee. Zhoron delivered the killing blow with his massive Oathkeeper. As he cut through the plate mail, black ooze splattered all over other adventurers. The armour collapsed to the ground, empty.
No bones; nothing but coating of slimy, inky black ooze.
Inspecting the large iron doors hadn't revealed any traps, nor raised any other suspicions. Four adventures had to join forces in order to pull them open. Nesterin readied himself at what he had believed to be the safe distance.
Three puffer-fish-like, barely airborne, bloated bat-abominations flew out into the sun, and approached the elf. Their pathetic flight and low mobility was amusing. It didn't help that they couldn't hit Nesterin at all.
Alas, it stopped being funny after one of the adventurers cut right through one of the bloated monsters and was rewarded by flaming liquid spraying himself and others. Luckily, remaining two did not explode, having been killed with less pointy sides of the weapon.
Moving forth, the party entered a massive antechamber, sixty feet wide and seventy feet deep. Six girthy stone columns, three on each side, held the chamber in place. The middle column on the left had several holes around the circumference, all by the bottom rim.
A grotesque horned devil protruded out of the north wall, vile smelling liquid leaking from its orifices down into the fountain beneath it. Oh, how bad it smelled. Oh, how flammable it smelled too.
There were two doors leading out of this chamber, both at the north wall. One was in the northwest, and one in the northeast corner. Adventurers choose the latter.
Smashing it open revealed a long corridor to the right. Two doors were visible, both on the left wall; one thirty feet down, second another fifty feet down.
Listening at the first doors revealed sounds of clashing metal. Adventures set up the marching order and Zhoron forced the doors open, surprising two armoured figures fighting each other in the sand pit. One was armed with mace and shield, while the other had long sword and shield.
Zhoron stepped forth, knelt down, and held Oathkeeper in his hand.
“Paladins of the Sword! Protect me from evil and constructs!”
His fellows attacked two plated figures with missile weapons. Mostly missing. Plated guards stopped fighting each other and stumbled towards the doors blocked by Zhoron.
Mace wielding one missed his swing. On the other hand, the sword wielding one loped off Zhoron's head with a single swing.
Shocked, the party held the bottleneck whilst trying out everything at their disposal.
Holy water?
Didn't work.
Hold person?
Didn't work.
Wrestle the plated guards and stab them to death?
That worked!
Illustration by kickmaniac.
After having plundered Zhoron's beheaded the corpse, the party searched the room. Besides the sandpit in the middle, there were weapon racks hanging from the walls. Most of the weapons were rusted and barely usable. Gomm found a secret cache of jewellery hiding behind a loose stone at the rim of sandpit.
Next obstacle were the doors in the north-east corner. Six attempts to force them open. All failed. Then a helpful trio of plated guards opened the doors and charged into the chamber swinging their greatswords.
Three rounds of mad wrestling and the guards were no more but slimy ooze stains on adventurers' clothes.
Moving on, next chamber looked like dinning quarters. Long oak table, flanked by benches, dominated the center. The table was set for dinner, with three table cloths on which two plates rested. Although nice, they were made from baked clay, making them worthless. Utensils were rusted steel, hence equally worthless. Ambros and Gomm inspected the tables. When Gomm flipped one of the tables, the whole room flashed with blind light, making everyone blind for half an hour.
Once everyone could see again, the party resumed exploration. Opening east doors led them down a short corridor, which opened up in an open chamber reeking of military oil. Adventurers closed the doors and opted to go through north-west doors instead. This time they forced them open on a first try, surprising two plated guards in their cots.
Bakaru killed one in his sleep, while Gomm wrestled the other one, allowing others to execute it. After ransacking the room they found a tarnished metal key in one of the rotten pillows.
Opening the south-west doors revealed a smaller chamber full of discarded armour pieces—hauberks, pauldrons, gauntlets, chain shirts... Scrap armour piled as high as human's thigh!
Spending half an hour to rummage through crap, Bakaru found a pristine left-hand mailed fist. Unwilling to try it on, despite Gomm's repeated assurance, young thief passed it to one of the elves.
“The runes on it say “Iron Claw” in hobgoblin.”
So far they have found only oozes. No sign of shadow necklace yet. Will Gomm be able to deliver? Or will he stumble once more?
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