Session 39: Dead Like Me Report

General Summary

Arriving before a ruined tower that served as a lair for the horror they must face. Choosing to enter immediately, rather than wait, despite the late hour; the party stepped in and saw a dark chamber. Within the space they saw a flickering shape, and a dark voice said "aahhh, the dragon has sent us a new group of playthings".

As the party spread out to face this horror within the confining space of the ruined tower, Roy launched a lance of ice, Cigfran protected himself, the creature attempted to touch Roy , and Boris attempted to channel divine energy to force it away, but failed and summoned his divine gavel to bash it. Jeeves , finding himself next to a horror, touched the creature with a lightning grasp, and moved back. Another undead horror moved in through the walls and tried to strike Roy , but Roisin Marshfield distracted it. Roisin Marshfield then ordered Boris to attack, and the priest struck with his magic rod. Cigfran also struck, with his crossbow, but missed as Roisin Marshfield joined him in the back. Yet another unliving wraith passed through the wall reached directly into Boris' chest and drew forth much of his life force, leaving him terribly weakened. Yet another wraith moved in and struck Jeeves , leaving him slightly weakened. Roy launched a phasing bolt, empowered by his ring, and struck the powerful wraith and one of its fellows, powerfully impacting both, then moved back, and fired two blasts of eldritch force destroying the greater creature, triggering a whirlwind of death which terribly drained Roy and weakened everyone. Cigfran placed his crossbow in front of one, and shot it. Boris conjured a field of glowing divine gavels which battered all of the wraiths. then struck one with his larger divne gavel. Jeeves tried to shoot a wraith, but suffered a mishap and barely nicked it. A wraith reached out to Boris, and pulled his spirit right out of his body, which fell to the ground dead, leaving a spectre behind. Roisin Marshfield ordered Roy to attack, which he did by blasting the spectre, and coordinated Jeeves to strike the wraith beside him. The remaining wraiths failed to connect with their attacks. Roy summoned a sphere of magnified gravity, which destroyed the spectre and a wraith. Cigfran struck another wraith, and Jeeves shocked the one near Roisin Marshfield, allowing her to escape, then Roisin Marshfield ordered Jeeves to attack, and the wraiths failed attacking Roy and Jeeves . Roy moved slightly and fired another phasing bolt, striking both wraiths and Cigfran . One wraith was destroyed and Roy fired two blasts of force at the survivor. Cigfran fired his crossbow at the remaining wraith, destroying it. As silence settled everyone gathered around Boris' body, finding he had the appearance of one dead for a century or more, in fact, when Jeeves lifted the armor, the body within collapsed into dust. Exiting the tower, Roy noticed that there was a newly opened tomb entrance near a dark altar adjacent to the tower. Roy used magic to understand the symbols on the altar, but when he touched it his body went rigid, and he experienced a vision. He found himself in the place of a dark priest who sacrificed a living halfling at the altar among a vast crowd of goblinoids, invoking their terrible demon lord. The ritual, which had apparently gone on for a long time and consumed the lives of many humanoids, opened a gate to the abyss through which a demon general stepped. As the demon, with a small army of lesser demons, and the goblinoids began a march to the south, the foul priest entered the tomb, lay down in a sarcophagus, and carved out its own heart, laying it beside them as they expired; the price of the powerful demonic ritual. Roy returned to himself, and found he could read the symbols, which invoke the goblin demon lord to send servants to destroy all non-goblin life. As the sun finally set, the group debated whether to rest in this dark place, and Cigfran heard a noise and went to investigate. Finding a nearby streambed filled with so many scorpions it appeared to be full of a dark water flowing through, the party backed up and Roy conjured a Secure Shelter. The party entered and went upstairs for rest, not quite realizing that tiny insects could fairly easily come in, despite the closed door and shuttered windows. The lower floor was filled with scorpions, but fortunately only one made its way up to the fourth floor, where the party rested, stinging Jeeves as he slept, leaving him slightly sickened, but otherwise not severely harmed.

When morning arrived, the party found the scorpions gone, and entered the ancient tomb. Traveling through most of the tomb without much difficulty, they encountered a foul sculpture and destroyed it; summoning a skeleton which was quickly dispatched. They approached the place where the dark priest was interred, and found many traps laid. One, when disabled, dropped large stones well behind, catching Roisin Marshfield and crushing her feet. Roy and Cigfran were struck by powerful bolts of lightning from a magical trap. Approaching a sarcophagus, Jeeves and Roy opened it, finding dust and a magic knife within. Roy took the knife and succumbed to some curse that caused him to carve out his heart, falling to the ground heartlessly. Jeeves used a magical potion to heal the wound, and helped Roy recover a bit, after knocking the knife aside. Roy discovered something under the sarcophagus, but Roy got a rapier and his hand stuck. Jeeves helped free the rapier, and Roy summoned the object to the ground at his feet. As they argued about who should touch it, Roy reached for what appeared to a necklace, now that it was visible, and it began to glow, but Roy persisted, and was blasted with radiant energy, leaving him unconscious. Cigfran , believing it to be holy, stepped up and took the item. Cigfran spent some time praying with this powerful item, and drove the foul energies out, leaving the area hallowed, even restoring Roisin Marshfield's feet. As the party left, they saw a holy symbol of The Source etched in silver above every niche, and the same above the entrance etched in gold. Leaving, they saw the foul altar destroyed as well. They returned to the Copper Bolt, and reported their success, and the loss of Boris. The Bolt asserted that they could have helped if a body remained, but only "The Master" could help them now. The dragon handed over a package to Roy containing various "souveniers" as well as a dragon scale. The party left, and found themselves very near the town. They made their way to the tower in the center of town, and met with The Master. The Master created a new halfling body for Boris; and Roy volunteered to meet with the Pale Queen to negotiate for Boris' return.