The Dungeon of Graves: Session 35
General Summary
Into the Thick of It
Report Date
06 Jun 2021
As the wooden door swung open, the Shrike’s aethrin resources got their first glimpse of the Upper Temple of the Master. They were greeted instantly with warm air rushing towards them and it carried the smell of burning earth. In the center of the large star shaped room stood a raised altar above a bubbling pool of molten lava. Standing atop was the familiar heavy armored cleric. His voice boomed throughout the area, “You have had many chances to convert or flee, now you all die!” All around him were acolytes, skeletons and undead ogres. All of their enemies were thoughtfully armored. Their eyes darted to the large flying demon circling the room, a vrock. If the sight before them gave them second thoughts, none of the adventurers showed it.
Moving quickly, the vrock swoops down, slamming into the stone around the door. The demon raked their claws across Halxion. With the first blood drawn, Lothar pushed into the room. The cleric clutched his holy symbol and yelled “Go away now!” and followed it with a prayer to his deity. “Vrokíva protect me, or make it quick.” Steam rushed from Lothar, turning into mist as it reached the undead. They watched as three skeletons were quickly taken over by moss before exploding. A reverberation from the altar stopped the mist from traveling further but not before two ogres’ eyes went wide with fear. With a vague gesture to Lothar, the high priest of the Master had his skeletons pepper Lothar with arrows. Four arrows hit their mark and as they pierced him, Lothar could feel that these skeletons had more force as if the room was bolstering their might. Following their plan, Vai’len aimed for the nearest acolyte. Her aim was true and it would have killed them but as the cleric took a shuddering breath a spell kept him awake. She did manage to slay the skeleton near the priest as it was clear that necrotic damage was amplified.
Sinestra aimed for the nearly dead acolyte trying to finish them off, knowing they would just be healed if they weren’t killed outright, they tried but were unable to get a good angle. From his location on the central edifice, the priest pointed his fist at the party in the adjoined room. They could see the light bounced off his ring, showing red. Two of their front liners were instantly teleported into the star room, away from each other and the group. The cleric then slowly, and deliberately strolled down the stairs toward the cleric of Tlombi, Halxion. From his safe spot, Lord Thevius moved up and wondered why Orilo and Halxion had moved so far into the room, but he targeted a different cleric than the one bleeding out in front of him. Unfortunately with the specific shape of the room, his angle only allowed the lord to only see a small fraction of the battlefield. And indeed, the acolytes healed the fallen, summoned their spiritual skulls and targeted their spells at the cleric. Lothar slummed to the stone floor. Emil, the newest recruit of the Shrike, scanned the cluster of problems the group were experiencing. Steadily moving forward, he laid his hands on Lothar and brought the cleric back before dragging them back to the antechamber.
Across the room, Orilo stretched his neck and as he approached the ogre the fighter became big. He easily grappled the ogre. From his location across the room, Halxion channeled Tlombi and the twilight flashed out, claiming five skeletons and scaring one ogre. He then moved around and faced the priest of the Master. Only a few of the ogres were able to fight. Two closed on Orilo, one of them slammed into the fighter while the other punched the other ogre as the fighter expertly ducked. The demon circled the room before landing in front of the door and breathing spores on the group. From his prone position, Lothar breathed them in. The demon then took flight but even hindered, Lothar nailed the demon’s wing. Rising to his feet, he sent his skeleton friends into the room and as they crossed the threshold their heads turned to Lothar. But whatever influence was trying to grab hold of them faded as Lothar’s bond was stronger. The skeletons pressed to the recently healed acolyte and between them and Lupus the acolyte once again met the stone floor. Lothar attempted to finish them off but his sword scraped against the armor.
The adventures' eyes went wide with fear as from around the room apparitions jittering phased through the walls. They scanned the room and noticed life all around them. One of the apparitions was the magic user who nailed them with multiple Fireballs. Magic was building in their hands; however, the magic dropped as they became distracted by something unseen. The priest tried to order them but they started to return through the walls. Halxion could hear the priest angrily whisper “where are you going.” But they were already gone. Whatever drew their attention saved the Shrike from acquiring seven more recruits. Lothar was once again targeted by the skeletons’ arrows but only one found a hole in his armor. Vai’len moved her attention to another acolyte, triggering their death ward but she sent her necrotic energy to the one of the ground, finally finishing off her original target.
With his anger from the specters abandoning him, the priest of the Master turned his attention to Halxion. Targeting the other’s holiness, he casts blight and Halxion falls. Thevius moved back toward the door and targeted the same acolyte as before, this time the death ward was triggered. The lord then focused and split his next eldritch blasts to both of the fallen clerics on the ground. Unfortunately they were healed again and target Lothar who slumps to the stone floor once again. Emil moved in and grabbed Lothar, dragging his body back inside the door. The paladin cleanses the poison from Lothar, giving the cleric a fighting chance. Meanwhile, across the room, Orilo dropped his grapple and approached the high priest. Ignoring the ogres’ attacks the fighter picks up the priest. The look on the priest’s face was priceless as it was clear that they thought Orilo’s touch was an indignity. Orilo then dropped the priest into the lava. The ogres ignored the pain and reached into the lava and recovered their high priest.
Kaertas had finally made it to the group, he had been taking a Sending from Inako about a new companion arriving soon. The battle was clearly in favor of the Master but the necromancer was ready to help turn the tide. Meanwhile the vrock had returned to the antechamber and shrieked into Emil’s face. Kaertas was now stunned. With clear training, Lothar’s skeletons dragged the cleric out of the antechamber as the Vrock did not move away this time. Inside the room, Orilo falls heroically as arrows peppered him. Once the threat inside the room was taken care of, the Master’s skeletons targeted Emil. Asking the group if they were sticking with their plan, Vai’len targets the vrock, nailing them perfectly through the chest. Sinestra targeted the fallen acolytes and fell back. The priest moved purposely through the star-shaped room and as they noticed Emil in the doorway they targeted him with blight. The paladin slumped to the ground. As the spell hit the paladin, some of it bounced back to the priest, healing them. Lord Thevius moved forward, dumped a healing potion into Emil. He then sent his eldritch blasts into an acolyte before he fell back away from the door. The acolytes healed their fallen and boosted their leader before turning their attention to Emil who managed one breath before falling unconscious again.
Adding another layer of problems to the group, one of the acolytes dropped silence into the antechamber. The Vrock moved forward, reached over the fallen Emil and nailed Lord Thevius twice. It looked like they were going to fly out but instead it shifted and blocked the forward exit of the silenced area. Back in the residences, Lothar and his companions fired into the antechamber. The Master’s skeletons moved forward and targeted those in the room. Lord Thevius fell with an arrow through his side. Vai’len was safely tucked behind Sinestra and from her position she steadied aim trying to knock the silence spell from the acolyte’s concentration but it held to her chagrin. From behind the group, Inako’s promise came through. Amo, a hexblood tiefling clad in purples and blues, dropped a void inside the star-shaped room making that particular part of the desecration somehow more unpleasant. Lothar could see the mask that covered the tiefling’s beautiful face. The skeletal beak and shadowy wings were reminiscent of the Shrike.
Kaertas’ new skeletal friends tag team pulled the wizard out of the area of silence. He then sent a fireball into the dark void as the silence fell with his spell. Before falling back to the residence, Sinestra targeted the vrock’s armor with heat metal. Safely out of the way, she then healed herself. The priest made the void disperse and as the only one left standing in the antechamber, Vai’len was selected as the next target. The booming deep voice “her, kill her” and the acolytes turned their attention to the rogue. After taking all the acolytes’ spell, she should have fallen but only her frustration kept her up on her feet until the barrage of spiritual skulls peppered her. There were three bodies in the antechamber, Lord Thevius, Emil and now Vai’len. Ignoring the dying in the group, one of the ogres squeezed into the room. The Vrock had fled into the main room, clawing at their armor and screaming in pain.
Lothar felt like he owed the paladin for dragging him out of danger multiple times, he heals Emil before trying to hit the priest. As the spell just washes over the priest, “Your faith is waning, Brume Priest.” Joining the ogre, the skeletons moved into the antechamber, targeting the closest adventurers. They marched over Emil who expertly played dead. Two arrows nail Kaertas and the necromancer noted that the extra force from the undead was due to the care from whoever raised them. Amo attempted to hit the priest but as their spell missed, they fell back and announced to the remaining companions “We need to leave, this is our best chance.” Kaertas and his skeletons attack and the wizard falls back. Sinestra continues to heat the vrock’s armor. Circling the star chamber, the demon continues to shriek and tear at their armor. Sinestra then targets the ogre with eldritch blast, slaying the undead.
As the high priest stepped over the deceptive Emil, he brought out his darkness into the room. If they remained in the antechamber, those bleeding out would perish. As Thevius’ last breath shuddered in his chest he figured that his companions would have left him behind. With their orders for the group’s entire destruction, the acolytes turned their attention to Kaertas’ skeletal buddies. The reanimated dragonborn fell. Emil, who had been spending some time on the ground pretending to be dead, finally hit one of the acolytes but as he suspected, he drew their attention and was easily dispatched. Those that were still living fell back to the tunnel. Amo was waiting for Kaertas before dropping another void into the barracks. Yet the undead keep pursuing them. They targeted the high elf skeleton, laying them once again to rest.
“I have lost too much this day!” The wizard exclaimed while he sent Terrance into his death to give himself help with nailing the priest with a scorching ray. They then teleport into the tunnel allowing Amo to release his spell. The adventures continue to fight into the darkness, sending spells after them. Out of the gloom, the deep voice of the cleric responds to Kaertas “You are so wrong, you have much more to lose.” As he had already done once, the high priest waved his hand and dispelled the void. Meanwhile in the antechamber and the star room, the ogres are shaken from their fear and the wounded acolytes are tended to. The high priest continues his pursuit. Lothar’s clear voice travels down the tunnel “Let us take our fallen and we will let your demon live.” After a small explanation the high priest realized that the druid was burning them slowly through the armor. The high priest quickly agreed. The demon must have been a gift from the Master and the cleric even ended his spiritual guardians. Emil stabilized during the conversion. While Vai’len smelled the baking bread of her mother, heard the laughter of her father and saw her twin brothers playing on the hill as the sun set over the Twilight Inn in Hyalma. As she turned she saw the reason why she was working for the Shrike. Mary’s blonde hair was whipping in the wind, the green scarf flowing through it. Her breath shuddered and with a final sigh her body went limp.
Their dead were brought to them and they made the slow process of leaving the dungeon. No laughter followed them this time, but they could feel that the clerics were watching to make sure they left. Sinestra healed Emil who thanked them before slinging a body over their shoulder. They fell back to their coastal cave and set up for the day. Both Lothar and Kaertas talked with their fallen to learn what they would like done. Vai’len and Lord Thevius wanted to be returned to the living while Orilo wanted a warrior sendoff. Halxion requested that his remains be brought to Rhoxl and that Zetwuzadi would know where to find them. After burning Orilo on the pyre, they started the journey south down to New Czira to bring back their companions from the dead.
