Session 5: Crawling through the Crypts Report

General Summary

After the cave in the group of adventurers were left separated. Omar was left behind without the rest of the group, as he was still in the entrance of the crypts, selfishly looting whatever riches he could find from the already disturbed dead.   As the rocks fell and he swiped a fistful of coins, two zombies rose forth out of their burial alcoves and began to attack. Alone and without his companions, Omar was quickly surrounded by them and cornered. He made various attempts to defend himself, failing to make many real attacks against the corpses, and he unfortunately began succumbing to their attacks. In his last attempt to escape from them, knowing he could not leave the crypts without unleashing the undead into Aerdaris, he foolishly pushed past them and dove into the cistern. To his surprise and detriment, the zombies shambled over to the cistern and climbed in after him. They sunk down on top of him and began to attack, ripping his flesh and biting him. At the bottom of the cistern, isolated and hidden, Omar passed out from blood loss and he began to drown.   Meanwhile, the remainder the of the group took stock of their surroundings after the roof collapsed. Vallis spied ahead and found a metal grate door. The light emanating from Dane's hammer illuminated past the gate enough to reveal that there were four skeletons present in the next chamber, and that they were heading in the direction of the group. Dane quickly jumped into action. He pushed open the gate and entered the room, pulling forth his holy symbol and calling upon the divine power of Eiso to turn these undead from their vicious hunt. All of the skeletons succumbed to the effects of this holy magic and began fleeing to the corners of the room.   The group took advantage of this situation and began dispatching the skeletons one by one. Nahar, much to the shock and disgust of the rest of the party, used his nature powers to wildshape into the form of a giant spider. He scaled the wall and began webbing the skeletons to the walls so that they could not fight back. Vallis kept his distance and began slinging spells at the undead, slowly whittling down their necrotic life force. Once they were webbed, Marnie rushed in with her two swords and began hacking and slashing at their bones, severing whatever connections held these skeletons together. And finally, Dane drew his mighty greathammer and crushed the bones of the skeletons one by one.   Though they had only know each other for a short time, the four of them fought like a well oiled machine and made quick and easy work of the four skeletons. No one in the group even got injured from the fight. After the fight, they took stock of their surroundings while Nahar made efforts to go back to find Omar.    The three that remained searched the room. They found a large, damaged statue of Necruus in the middle of the room with a warning to those who might seek to disrupt the slumber of the dead. They also found a mangled and burned body that had appeared to have fallen from the ceiling. The group suspects this man was a member of the Children of Cinder who was slain by some other creature within the crypts. Dane helped Marnie up to a hole in the ceiling where the man had appeared to have fallen from. Up there, she found tunnels carved by some creature lined with a viscous yellow fluid. She also found a ruby encrusted silver necklace that must have been dropped by the man.   The group then headed west in search of some other way of returning to the entrance of the crypts. They investigated a side burial hall which was lined with charred corpses of undead which had been reanimated, and they found that the explosion which occurred here had damaged a wall in the process. Marnie pointed out that this wall would connect to a burial room near the entrance, the same room which housed an undead Dane had detected with the priest's scroll.   While they searched, Nahar used his wild magic to once again shapeshift, this time into the form of a small insect. He passed through the rubble of the collapsed ceiling as quickly as he could and then returned to his normal self. As he began turning the corner, he heard a splash and a cry for help. Omar, in a sudden burst of adrenaline and luck, woke from his unconscious state and managed to push past the zombies and swim to the top of the cistern. Nahar dashed over to him, pulling him out and using his nature magic to freeze a thick layer of ice on the top of the cistern, trapping the zombies inside.   With Omar finally safe from the danger he had unfortunately inflicted upon himself, Nahar healed him of his wounds, and they began searching for a new way forwards. They agreed to check the burial rooms once again and moved the brass brazier out of the way of the door to the tomb. As they entered, the scent of death and decay assailed their nostrils and made them queasy. Their light began to illuminate the tomb, and in doing so woke a ghast that had been lying within the coffin. It rose up and began to attack them, its putrid flesh causing them sickness when they got too close.   Just a moment into this encounter, Dane took his hammer and burst open the crack in the wall, surprising everyone inside the tomb. Reunited as a group, they all entered the chamber and engaged with the ghast. Many of them doubled over with sickness from its stench, and after numerous deep wounds inflicted by the ghast's claws, the group managed to overcome it and send it back to the grave.   Tired and weary, the now reunited group took a brief moment of respite and began planning their next steps in the search for Johar Zander's tomb.

Rewards Granted

• Marnie: A ruby encrusted, silver necklace. The silver and ruby is shaped into a blooming rose, and the chain is shaped into thorny vines.

Notes

Omar almost died when he was isolated from the group. If it were not for the efforts of Nahar, Omar would have died alone in the cistern of the crypts with no evidence of his body or cause of death. How might this affect Omar's relationships, fears, goals, actions, and mental state moving forwards?