Session 16: Moathouse Dungeon--death below or death above? Report

General Summary

The heroes had just defeated a gaggle of ghasts and ghouls in the crypt beneath the moathouse dungeon. An evil coldness could be felt by all emanating from the southeast and down deeper in the earth. Lead by an invigorated Garadin, the heroes moved cautiously down a corridor. A ghast was guarding the intersection and after defeating this creature Chatrilon Unosh ran away in the opposite direction.   Next the heroes reconnoitered a strange room: a twenty foot wide circular hole in the floor with a lowering platform, picks and shovels strewn about, a strange statue, and two clerics, one a troglodyte and one a human in ochre robes similar to those found in the Secomber miller's basement. The clerics fought to the death (theirs), although the human hurled himself through the hole in the floor to his death rather than succumb to the heroes' weapons.   The strange statue is four-sided with and each side has a distinct figure carved into it. The first is jet black and depicts a tall, muscular man in full plate with unfamiliar flanges and fluting. He wears a cape and holds a wavy-bladed sword. The second side is dark green, carved into a man swathed in a flowing robe with long sleeves and a high collar. The third side is deep blood red and depicts a man in high boots, a doublet, and gauntlets of twisting design. A hood drawn tight around the face covers his head. The fourth side is a statue of a man colored deep indigo. The figure is clothed in a many-pleated robe with a sash covered in strange sigils. His head is cowled and he cradles a scepter in his folded arms.   The heroes used the pulley-system attached to the platform to descend into a huge cavern and came down upon a circular black stone floor, hovering in the air. Veins of purple are streaked through the stone and the atmosphere was so cold that Emmanual suffered exhaustion. The veins themselves began to move towards the heroes as they stepped upon the stone, but they quickly moved to another lowering platform by the edge of this surface and, after a surprise attack by a grell, they continued their descent.   Descending another 150 feet or more it was apparent that the black stone floor was the top of a giant needle of stone, mysteriously suspended atop a column with climbing rings from the cavern floor. Strange symbols were carved on the cavern floor, an upside down pyramid and a black sun. Stepping upon the black sun, Midnight Snow temporally lost several wisdom points.   Soon after reaching the cavern floor the heroes were attacked by a maniacally laughing cleric who hovered above them casting spells. Garadin commanded the cleric to descend and he did (such is the power of Torm) and was soon vanquished. A note found on the cleric read "The Water Temple will soon make its move against the forces of Fire. Return quickly, Festrath, for we need your aid. Together, we shall win the favor of the doomdreamers and the Triad itself."    At the opposite end of the cavern stood an archway carved into a mass of writhing tentacles and beyond the opening was a smooth black wall. A hero touched the wall and a grell emerged from the stone as if it were a curtain. The heroes killed this creature and left the cavern hastily, taking the platform lifts up to eventually find shelter in the crypt.   But where is Chatliron? And the dragon?

Rewards Granted

Laughing cleric: 2300 xp
Troglodyte cleric: 550
Human cleric: 450
Other monsters (2 x grell, 1 ghast): 1850
Adventure Progression: 1,850

Total: 7000 or 1400 each for 5 PCs

A sideview of the obelisk beneath the moathouse