The Mouth of Doom: Session 22
General Summary
Slorping
Report Date
13 Mar 2021
The group waits patiently in the hallway, as their scouts move cautiously into the room. Three rows of pillars support the tall ceiling. Everywhere they had explored so far had an average height of 12 feet, this room opened up to a 30 feet tall ceiling. If it was just for this feature the room would feel impressive; however, the nine green stone pillars adorned with leering gargoyles and the two massive bronze fire pits at the southern wall gave this room an ominous and impressive feel. Artem and Jarvis move in investigating the room. The artificer notes the secret door but they move in to get a better look at the pillars. They call the wizard’s familiar in to the room and Sindragosa notes the detailed carvings continue up the pillars but nothing else of note. Furthermore, as the wizard steps into the room, she can feel the magical auras from the green flamed bronze fire pits; evocation on the bowls and a transmutation aura somewhere in the pit.
Accompanied by the scouts, Te’Leyuura moves to get a closer look at the magical source of the transmutation aura. Javis is the closest but they can see the deep bowls are filled with fist sized coals but as they get closer, the coals shuffle and two large serpentine creatures slither out. Battle happens with the elemental beast creatures. They seemed to be made of fire and even as they died their bodies still created incredible heat. At one point during the rather quick battle, Jarivs was in a bad spot being stuck between the creatures and the pillars and later, after the first one fell to Zetwuzadi’s polearm, Artem was grappled by the large elemental anaconda. Leofric finished off the last creature with their spiritual weapon.
With the battle complete, they investigate the bowls fully. They both look to weigh several tons but would be worth a pretty penny if they were able to be removed from the floor they are built into. The elemental beasts would also fetch a lot of money for supplies and improvements but they also weigh a lot and are still filled with elemental fire. They talk about just taking the skins but even that would take a great amount of time. Leofric offers that making cold-weather gear out of their skins would be the bees-knees, but that would be for another time when they could figure out a way to skin without burning themselves or figuring a way to transport the bodies safely out of the dungeon.
With the need to press on, Jarvis moved up to the secret door. With Artem’s help they investigate and everyone falls back to their familiar positions as the artificer opens another secret door. Inside they find a dried up skeleton and a long floppy leech that instantly goes to strike. This one leech was not an issue for the group but what lay behind the second secret door would be.
Using the flying snake carrying a stone that smelled of blood, they scouted the room behind the door. They could all hear the slorping but they couldn’t tell how many leeches were crawling all over the ceiling, leaving nasty trails of goo behind, until Sindragosa poofed from existence. Relaying the information of at least eight more leeches, they all readied for the onslaught. The battle only takes a few moments as the team works well together.
They move into a large chamber, but not as large as the one connected through the secret doors. This room has stairs and a 1-2 hundred year old statue. The stone statue is of a skeleton sitting on a throne resting their hands on top of two wolves. It is expertly carved with every detail of the wolves nearly perfect. The statue is facing the doorway opposite of where they had entered and is absent of anything else but this statue, almost as if it was in the process of being decorated. There are two exits and the set of stairs in the room and they decided to take the door directly across from the statue.
A crossroads in the hallway is before them. The scouts move up to the northern door and find nothing, an empty antechamber. The southern door is stuck but they can hear a voice within. Taking a crowbar, the paladin is able to get the door opened and an old man is revealed. They were rather scared and didn’t want anyone to come in but Zetwuzadi calmed them by revealing they were Wrenjers and not with the cultists. The room smells terrible. Artem and Ansible take positions to keep a watch on the hallway as Zetwuzadi and a couple others move in to calm and talk with the man. He is a human male that seems to be in his 50s. Gelver introduces himself as a Wrenjer and after hearing the date, an Eld Wrenjer. Not only does the room smell terrible but the man himself smells like death. The paladin asks Jarvis for the Cleansing Stone and they present it to Gelver; however, nothing happens.
This revelation starts some of the group to wonder what could be causing this magical item not to work. It could be a curse, he could be transmogrified, or he could be undead. Leofric had moved in to see to the man and as he was standing on the bedroll, he could feel something inside. Not wanting to draw attention he motions for Jarvis as Zetwuzadi distracts Gelver with more questions. The paladin wants him to come with them, out of the dungeon and back to Castle Calaelen and at first he seems amenable to this but, as they were gathering his items Gelver came up with excuses why he couldn’t interact with his stuff and move through the door.
It was this moment, when they were trying to get the Eld Wrenjer through the door when Leofric tossed the bedroll into Jarvis’s bag and Gelver ceased to be. When Leofric looks into the bag they look like they have seen a ghost and shuts the bag handing it back over to Jarvis. The bones in the bedroll were the tether holding Gelver to the room and now he was stuck in an extra dimensional space with his bones, freaking out. They head out of the Mouth of Doom, planning on helping the ghost move on.
