The Dungeon of Graves: Session 25
General Summary
Namul’s Last Stand
Report Date
28 Mar 2021
Still standing in the center of the room, with the massive statue of the Master looming with glowing eyes and holding two glowing red balls of light, Kaertas glanced back at his companions in the hallway. Well all except the twilight cleric and the rogue who still stood three feet deep in the water beyond the hallway. Dr. Carric calls out that as his doctor he advises Kaertas to fall back but Kaertas was eager and wanted to continue. Pulling out the Gem of Seeing, the necromancer investigated the statue noticing the illusion of magic upon it. Mogg calls out for the Pterodactyl to take the Gem from the wizard for him to to use, after having it, Mogg could see that Kaertas' glowing eyes were also an illusion. But the ground starts to shake, outside Halxion and Vai’len could see pebbles falling and continued to call for their companions to fall back.
They all fall back, quickly as they believe they are being followed by clerics of the Master. Talking about which way to fall back through, they choose the stairs after Halxion and Vai’len plead for them to take them. As they climb, they could tell it was only taking them one layer up and it’s not too long until they arrive at a familiar chamber. They had arrived back in the crypt where days ago Levin was isolated outside. The rogue quickly moves through the area to see if the door was shut and as they return to the group, they all know that they are trapped. It wasn’t their plan to have to defend themselves on minimal resources but there they stand, taking positions that can keep their eyes on the passageway they just came through. The rumbling continues. Mogg opens the door to the tomb they hadn’t investigated before but doesn’t step in, but falls back, into the darkness.
Ringing out, filling the space, a deep voice addresses them all. “One of you has already made the choice, send that one out and I will leave the others to live.” Mogg asks the group if they should just send him but Vai’len calls back “Halxion and I did yell out for him to kneel, I don’t believe it’s truly his fault.” Again the deep masculine voice fills the space “I can feel you hide behind your stone walls, this is not your place, this is the Master's.” However, everyone still holds, waiting for the priests to step into the hallway. Sinestra responds “You squeak like a mouse, you do not scare us.” As the rogue looks back to the stone wall she is hiding from.
Out of one of the far walls, a ghostly figure wearing scholarly robes appears. Their mouth distended but they seemed to be a man who had died in his late 50s who had once been a merchant lord. A small bead of red light targets the center of the group, as the ghost casts Fireball then falls back. Kaertas had tried to cancel but the ghost was quicker and was prepared with their own counterspell. As the group recovers from the fire damage the male voice rings out “You have one more chance, send the convert.” The group scatters in the room, trying to not be grouped for if the ghost returns. Lothar turns to Kaertas “Did you have to bow to the Master?” while Mogg states their displeasure of their situation. Sinestra moves into the tomb and finds a secret door at the base of the blank sarcophagus and calls out to the group about her discovery.
The voice rings out again, “Take them all!” the ghostly figure reappears, blurred and indistinct prepared for the group's barrage. Another Fireball targets the group, Dr. Carric and Lothar falling. Vai’len, knowing that she was quick, runs over to the fallen doctor to feed them a potion. Meanwhile, Halxion heals Lothar up and falls to the secret door. A spectral elven women motions for them to come down. The room is similar to the size of the crypt above with a sarcophagus of the same elderly woman elf in armor with a long sword, interred. Lothar stands, then dashes into the secret room. Nam, who had been standing guard at the door, notices the group fall back and steps back to the group. Hearing no cause for alarm by Halxion, Sinestra climbs down. She calls to the group “We might have found another one of those soldiers.”
A figure clad in vestments of the Master with acolytes finally appears in the hallway, they are all moving with purpose and around the priest the shadows of darkness radiate from him. The ghost appears and grabs Nam by the throat, draining life and unfortunately for the others, the ghost doesn’t disappear. With her route now hindered, Vai’len aims for the ghost holding her friend and fires, dealing damage but not enough to free the route into the room. Halxion notices the room is hallowed and is protected, yelling for his new companions to join them in the crypt. Lothar jumps in and requests sanctuary from the elven ghost. Mogg takes his chance and runs past the ghost into the doorway, taking a huge hit as they fall into the secret room. Lothar mentions his nice landing and gets a rather specific finger in response from the very injured bugbear.
Kaertas, heads down the ladder. The priest makes eye contact, then as the wizard descends his attention falls to the Nam. As they climb down, they take in the sarcophagus. The elven script describes a Hynfaol battle master considered to be a mother to her army. They read her name out loud for the group “Arienanathela.” The army of the light definitely pursued the people of Tsar and fought a battle here. They had enough time to build and protect this area. Sinestra tries to inspire Arienanathela to help with a riveting speech “You were once a great warrior, led your people against the denizens of Tsar, there are acolytes above us that want to turn us to the Master, will you join us, protect us as you did your troupes?” The ghostly elf looks torn but glances back to the trap door. Upon the inside there are abjuration runes that protect the ghost from succumbing to the Master’s corruption.
Finally making their way, the priest strolls into the chamber. Walking up to Nam he speaks “The chosen one has deemed you a sacrifice in his stead, I see.” The shallow sunken appearance of an older man can be seen through the darkness around his mad eyes and he targets the forge cleric, missing. Vai’len cautiously moves around the ghost and through the darkness, taking damage on their way but making just near the secret door entrance. Dr. Carric runs in and through the door to protection. Nam moves in and shuts the door, noticing Vai’len “Why are you still up here.” She explains her guilt and how she wants to make sure all of them get to safety. Nam clearly just wants her to leave. Meanwhile, Sinestra tries to talk with Arienanathela again and Mogg looks into the bag for something to help. The spectre reaches out and touches Nam again, the cleric is rather sturdy. The Master’s minion magics the door away, and lets his aura slay Namul Mountainvigor. Seeing her friend fall, she shoots one final shot at the cleric and climbs down the ladder, barely alive. As the darkness closes in on Nam, his only thought is ‘why can’t we just follow the plan?’ Arienanathela motions for them all to cover their ears as she lets out a scream. Most fall unconscious but those that can, they can hear bodies hit the ground above. She reaches through the door and slams it shut. Looking at Sinestra, the ghost nods and looks sad.” The druid responds “Thank you Arienanathela, we have seen your strength today, is there another way out?” The banshee just motions up to the single door and motions for them to stay.
An hour later, they awaken to the lovely singing of Arienanathela from atop her tomb. The song is an old Hynfaol song, a tale of the spirits of the wood and water. They talk about blame, how they are probably going to need to fight Nam and how to get out. Some want to wait until they are fully rested and so they do.
They rise to the continued singing of Arienanathela. Each of them take their time to prepare for the day and after some investigation, they learn that the clerics must have stone shaped over the door. They spend the entire day whittling away at the stone, making only a small amount of progress. The next day, Halxion sends a message to Inako, informing the Prime Thrall of their predicament. Inako clearly states her displeasure and how they are low on aethrin resources but they will send help. Many days past, with them working tirelessly on the stone. Inako sends three times that they have sent some help but that they haven’t heard from them and think they are dead. But eventually, after three long weeks, the Shrike’s damned make it out of the crypt.
