Session 16: The Vault of Dragons!

General Summary

17 APR 2019 Session: Gnosh apparently caught the Sewer Shits when we were running around and has one level of exhaustion. We decide to pitch a magical tent and take a long rest. During the night, a Harpers agent approaches and asks Lily if she “has found it.” She is referring to the entrance to the Hoard Vault; Lily attempts to say that we have not, but is less than persuasive. The agent takes pity on her and says that she’ll tell their leader.   Morning breaks, and Feng awakes and we fill him on our doings. The Dwarf is still unconscious, and Gnosh’s diaper rash holds steady, but does not progress.   We start trying to open the door. After much procedural debate, Feng just rips it out of its housing. (So much for the fancy magical keys, methinks.). There is a ladder underneath the door that goes down about thirty feet. Bobs’s tattoo shimmers and becomes corporeal. They have what appears to be a brief conversation. Det throws a Light down the hole, confirming the ladder.   Bob’s ghost thingy goes down the hole. It can see that the ladder terminates in a stone chamber twenty feet wide, with a passage sloping down and leading at least one hundred feet into the distance. IT also doesn’t detect any unwanted company or strange sounds. After the passage, there is a twenty foot room with a giant adamantite door covered with Dwarven runes and artwork. The door lacks hinges, handles, or obvious locks. The rest of us come down and confront the Door.   Lorin can read the Dwarvish: “The three keys, bring them forth.” We present the feather, the blood, the unconscious Dwarf, and the Light stick. Nada. The Light stick is the culprit, and Det casts a Sunlight spell. The door opens!   Inside, we find a large chamber with three stone arches sixty feet above, with a further twenty foot ceiling. There are twelve huge iron doors, decorated with images of famous Dwarf warriors. On a central support pillar, we find writing posing a riddle: we need to speak to the doors to open them, and the one that “holds what we love” hides the treasure. Clearly, we need to inspect the images on the doors.   We get a sense of the twelve doors, and go for the one marked “Clan”. It opens when we say Clan in Dwarvish. Inside, on the north wall, Det sees a piece of art that is radiating powerful magic. He is drawn to look at it, but can resist. He blocks our vision of the object as we pass. We find a stairway leading to a second level (with the big stone arches from when we entered.)   The hall is twenty feet high. The west wall is covered by a painting that depicts a Dwarf working at a forge. Hall has a few statues of Dwarves in it. Det checks the painting artwork for any points of interest. As we pass, we note that the central statue is shiny with a damp appearance. When he checks for the source of the wetness, a spurt of black goo shoot out at him. It is a black Ooze! Roll for initiative!!   We eventually kill the Ooze, but not before Gnosh attempts his Yo-Yo impression (unsuccessfully, thank goodness). Further investigation with Detalosi’s hammer reveals that the wall art is susceptible to bludgeoning damage, and also possesses an Abjuration trait. Feng and Det push/pull upon the thing in the wall, and reveal an opening doorway.   Behind the door is a small room, which has been untouched for a loooong time. Inside are five copper urns overflowing with gems, coins, and other treasurish goodies. One of the urns glows under the Detect MAgic effect.   Bob has his ghost pal take a ring, and nothing happens. Treasure time! Det tallies our treasure, which is too heavy to take en masse, so we take the stuff with high value density.   Fred (Bob’s ghost) and Itchy (Gnosh’s spider) explore the bridges. On the far sides, each bridge leads to a large, black adamantine door. We decide to use our familiars to tie a rope to the door handles and use the ropes to cross the bridges. We start with the far door.   We all make it across the bridge and stare at the door. Improbably, I manage to push it open! The walls of the resulting small room are covered with frescoes of working Dwarves. An anvil site atop a raised stone block in the middleof the floor. The entire works is covered in cobwebs. On the south wall, one of the statues wields a removable hammer with Dwarvish writing nearby: “Let the hammer fall and the anvil ring.” We do so, and gain 10 temp hit points!   THe middle door has a fresco of a famous Dwarf (lol), The Dwarf God of Wisdom.   To get across the badly broken bridge, Det ties a rope around me and throws me across the gap. I land, unceremoniously, on the far side and tie off the rope to the door handle. Det jumps across, but not without my help (go go bardic inspiration!). The door opens when our shaved Dwarf comes near.   In the room, we find four suits of armor, Dwarf-sized, and the words “A secret never told will part Durmathon’s lips.” I tell the door a secret (not to be revealed herein), and a trap door opens revealing a spiral staircase leading down a further 120 feet.   We wait on exploring the spiral staircase and make for the third door. Using the Dwarf-as-key trick, we see inside: A ten-foot-tall statue of a Dwarf wielding a battle axe. In the floor is an adamantine trap door with a pull-ring. The Dwarf statue is the Dwarf god of Vigilance, a.k.a. Fire Eyes. The trap door doesn’t seem to have any hinges or obvious movement-facilitating structure. Det pulls on the pull-ring, and the FireEyes statue blasts him with eye fire. We should have seen that coming.   We go back to the spiral staircase. We go down down down. The vault is lit by streams of sunlight coming from the ceiling. The chamber is quite rundown, but does contain the Dragon Hoard!!!   We are greeted by Aurinax, who interrogates us about our purpose. We tell the plain truth, via Lorin. Our explanation is acceptable. Aurinax turns into an adult Golden Dragon.   Aurinax tells us that it has been guarding the Hoard for a looong time, and will depart once we empty the vault. He will help us secure the vault against the Zentharim.   Upon exit, we gain Mirt (our landlord) and two swashbuklers, in adition to the giant Dragon. As we enter the large initial chamber, we are confronted by nine brutish enemy-types. Figures out, and roll for initiative!   We kill the baddies, and the loot is distributed. We are now all 6950gp richer! Exeunt Dragon’s Hoard!