Session 4 - Look Ma! We Punched Things!

General Summary

When last we left our heroes...

...they were all unconscious, knocked out by the powerful magic that emanated from the symbol-covered chest. Flaar was the first to come back to consciousness, and found his companions knocked out across the floor, with five gemstones scattered between them. After instructing his small hooded sidekick to pick up the gems, Flaar began to wake the others.
One by one, the rest of the party awoke, with vague memories of gems attaching themselves to people's arms and strange curses that may or may not have ever happened. Only Lakeen remained catatonic, unable to be woken. Marcel went to check on the dragonborn but couldn't figure out what was wrong.
Meanwhile, Flaar examined the gems he had scooped up - they appeared dull and inert, but he could sense that they were still extremely magical items. Trickles noticed this and tried to grab the gems from Flaar's small companion, but found that they had effectively disappeared inside the middle of the tiny skeleton.
Next, the group briefly split up, with Arindorf and a few others heading into the castle dungeon to explore, while Marcel went to go get help for the unconscious Lakeen and Glitz stayed in the Treasury to stand watch over the dragonborn. Marcel was able to bring a Monarch's Guard down to watch over Lakeen, and he and Glitz headed into the dungeon to catch up with the rest of the group.
In the dungeon, Arindorf found a trap door in the middle of the stone floor. The clicking noise, which had become louder in the dungeon, seemed to stop as Arindorf moved the loose rock away from the opening. Below the party could see rough-hewn stairs leading down into darkness. They carefully descended the narrow stone staircase, Marcel leading the way with his magical glowing mace.
At the bottom of the stairs, they were met with a long narrow tunnel, with rough-hewn walls that seemed to be carved or hacked away, with rickety-looking trestles everywhere holding the tunnel up, if only barely. Based on the look of the tunnel, it had been used frequently - and recently. After deftly avoiding a trap at the bend of the tunnel, the party turned the corner and found on the ground before them a dragonborn. He was weak and malnourished, with a worn pickaxe and digging materials scattered around him. As Marcel knelt down to offer him water or rations, he rasped out "Norath Pyloth ... Killamore ..." and fell unconscious.
As Marcel cast Cure Wounds on the dragonborn, Arindorf suddenly transformed into a huge grizzly bear! The tunnel began to shake and shatter around our heroes. Arindorf, thinking quickly, held up the tunnel with his massive bear shoulders - but he couldn't hold on forever. In an excellent display of teamwork, Marcel, Glitz, and Trickles lifted the dragonborn and bolted down the tunnel together, while Flaar hopped onto Arindorf's back just as the bear bolted as fast as he could. The party hurtled down the tunnel, rock walls collapsing behind them. They made it to a sharp turn, and burst through a doorway into the next room.
A room that looked very suspiciously death-cult-y.
Before the heroes could even do anything, the dark elf priest standing beside the large stone altar in grandiose robes called out, "Whoever that is - get them, kill them! Kill them all!" He then flipped the altar over, and ran through a door at the sides of the room. The human, kobold, and orc acolytes sitting on benches turned and stared at the intruders. With that, the party leapt into action! Marcel's spiritual surfboard whacked some kobolds. Trickles swung his grappling hook. Glitz's sneak attacks were absolutely epic. Flaar and Arindorf took out a full grown orc before Arindorf transformed back into a human. Trickles followed the priest, skillfully picking the locked door and finding a chamber with cabinets and treasure chests - and a human in chainmail with a sword just inside the room. The human swung his sword at the halfling as the priest threw a vial at him, which hit Trickles square in the chest. Trickles felt an intense burning sensation all over him, as if he was on fire.
Flaar and Arindorf rushed to the side room with other members of the party not far behind. They had just arrived to give Trickles aid when....

Boner's Inventory:

• One (1) Black Gemstone
• One (1) Pink Gemstone with a Yellow Swirl
• One (1) Yellow Gemstone with an Orange Swirl
• One (1) Blue Gemstone with a Red Swirl
• One (1) Green Gemstone with a Grey Swirl

Report Date

22 Sep 2020

Character(s) Interacted with:
Monarch's Guard
Death Cult of Killamore 

The Short Version:

After waking from unconsciousness with vague memories of gems and curses, the party explored the castle dungeon and found a trap door leading down. After Marcel and Glitz secured a guard to watch over the still-unconscious Lakeen, the party moved onward through the dark and rickety tunnels underneath the castle, until they turned a corner and came upon a barely alive dragonborn. As Marcel cast Cure Wounds on the dragonborn, Arindorf suddenly transformed into a huge grizzly bear! The tunnel began to shake and shatter. The party ran through the tunnel, and eventually burst through a doorway into the next room - a room that looked very suspiciously death-cult-y. Before the heroes could even do anything, the dark elf priest standing beside the large stone alter called out "Whoever that is - get them, kill them! Kill them all!" He then flipped the altar over, and ran through a door at the sides of the room. A fierce battle ensued with the remaining acolytes, and Trickles successfully unlocked the side room the priest had disappeared into but unsuccessfully tried to dodge a burning potion that another priest waiting in the room threw at him.
We will jump back into the story as Flaar and Arindorf run up to the side room to join Trickles in battle.