The Mouth of Doom: Session 26
General Summary
Papa Bless
Report Date
10 Apr 2021
The detritus filled area, where the Wrenjer’s currently found themselves, was covered in aethrin bones killed and looted over the years. As they explored the complex the gnolls and hyenas had used as a home base, smoke pooled out of the obsidian rod at Zetwuzadi’s waist; Vadim materialized while Ansible was still in the rod bestowed to her by Vykdramir Dauddraig, her patron. Before continuing on, they waited until Te’Leyuura recast Detect Magic and while this was happening the celestial bear companion of the paladin was resummoned.
They moved across the hallway to the door and after the expert investigation duo of Artem and Jarvis, they opened the door to reveal a circular room. Standing in the center was a large aethrin figure in full plate mail, lovingly carved in all the trappings and iconography of the Master. The shield equipped bore the symbol of the master, while the helm upon the head had the goat horns and the massive skull tipped mace completed the set. Upon further inspection, there wasn’t anything magical in the room and no secrets to be learned. Artem and Jarvis continued down the hallway that looked to continue east with a path jutting north before two doors on opposite sides of the hallway.
With the established route of exploration of always investigating the area they are in before venturing off, the Wrenjers take positions safely out of harm's way, as the duo move up to the northern door. This room had an uncovered pit on the western side with a door on the eastern side. The pit looked to be 30 feet deep with a flat bottom and with their expert eyes, they spotted the crevice in the wall about three feet from the floor. As Artem moves and places his head on the door to listen behind it, the rogue is instantly teleported right above the pit falling. He lands softly outside the pit with catlike grace. Te’Leyuura hadn’t been close enough to the door to sense the magic but as she steps in to extend her aura to the bottom of the pit, she can sense the trap on the door. The crevice on the inside of the pit looked to be more magical than mechanical, as Artem determined dangling by a rope attached to both Zetwuzadi and her bear.
Falling back from the crossroads and the two doors, they discuss what to do with the button. At one point they were going to use a combination of Mage Hand with Sindragosa guiding it to press it but that was pushed to the side as they found themselves at the southern door, unlocking it; of course they investigated the door first. Inside the door they can see the bandit’s leader, Jackrat, with four others looking rather awful. As the door swings open they can all hear a bell ring. It seemed that the occupants of the room had nothing else better to do than stare at the door waiting for someone to open it. The bandits appear to have sunken sallow skin, peeled back and taunt; overall looking rather undead. Inside the room, Jarvis can see another door and hear distant footsteps as the battle begins. Artem fires first and alerts the group to slay Jackrat first and not to let the others swarm. The bard moves closer to the door saying “Hello friend, I would like to see you laugh” but Vadim’s charms can not break the protected ghoul.
Enya deals fire damage to the group and calls down her fire spirit but even the flames are dampened. The wizard detected evocation filling the area and determined the room was being affected by a Hallow. Jarvis throws in a Shatter before shutting the door, they can hear shuffling and a body hitting the ground. A brief glance in the room reveals the ghasts huddling across the way but the Wrenjer’s shut the door again. They quickly discuss what to do and that they are most likely out of the giant Ant’s territory but they all should be cautious anyway. From farther inside the rooms past the second door, Artem can hear a spell being cast. Determining it was probably not wise to let the person prepare for their attacks, they press in.
Against his better judgement, Jarvis moves in and tries to open the door but it is locked and is forced to smash the door open. As the door falls to the ground, they can see the rantings of a madperson covering the floors, ceiling and walls. The repetitive ravings are in many languages with clear symbols of the Master littered throughout. Odd arcane symbols are also chiseled in places and standing in unholy brilliance is an image of the Master. And as Jarvis stands there, they are hit by the guardian and the glyph of warding. Inside the second room, a door opens and the cleric of the Master walks out wearing a helm which the horns looked more like tentacles than goat with the aura of darkness radiating from them.
The paladin moves in, takes some damage and calls for someone to dispel the aura. More ghouls fall as the party targets them. Vadim presses forward, pushing through the pain of the guardian and dispels the magic on the cleric while their own cleric Papa Bless himself, Leofric, moves in and drops a Moonbeam inside the second room. The wizard had stepped in, well past her comfort point to try to get in range to counterspell, but the cleric of the Master saw through her and stepped back before casting his spell and stepping into the group. Enya’s fire spirits whisks away anyone around them, to a much safer spot away from the cleric. The battle continues with Zetwuzadi grappling the cleric and shoving him into the Moonbeam which finishes them off. With the unconscious, but not dead, cleric they talk about what to do. Some wish to save him and talk with them to gain insight and help heal the cleric, while others believe he will be one of many they will fight and have to deal with in the dungeon.
They bind him and strip him of everything that could be deemed a danger to their group while Artem and Jarvis investigate the room of rantings. Quickly the artificer gets uncomfortable with what they are reading and takes a breather out of the room while the rogue continues. They are able to piece together a bit of the story in the room as it constantly refers to things over and over again. It also seems that there is a possibility that anyone reading the rantings might succumb to the madness. Stepping out of the room, Artem informs the others that the cleric was focused on something he referred to as the Anima Engine. Te’Leyuura is rather shocked as it was something that was only rumored to have existed. She shares that it was one of the reasons why the Army of Light went to sack Tsar. The engine was said to be able to suck the souls of aethrin and Inaethri harnessing the energies to perform magics well past the ninth circle. It was rumored to have the capabilities the Inaethri have but it was all rumored. She seemed rather keen on reading the rantings but trusts Artem worries about the room.
Leofric makes a thorough examination of the cleric noting the extreme fatigue of someone who magically pushes sleep away. The third room, from where the cleric emerged from, was quickly investigated revealing a bedchamber, a statue of the master that Jarvis smashes, and a small chest. Before they leave for the night to camp amongst the trees, Vadim asks what they must do before they can return to society and Leofric explains he made a treatment plan. Zetwuzadi explains that tomorrow they all can work on the problem of the pestilence.
