The Mouth of Doom: Session 33

General Summary

Clattering Teeth

Following their scouts, the Wrenjer’s left the Awakening or Experience room with a plan on returning tomorrow when the statue would reset. Artem and Jarvis moved down past Yaza’s. The hallway snaked for a short period before turning east. On the far wall of the hallway they noted two doors. Artem could see that the hallway turned south again and continued out of his sight. As he stepped in the area, his hackles raised with the feeling of being watched. The scouts fell back to the group informing them what they had found and felt. Before continuing on though, they move back to the trapped room.
Nothing had changed while they were away. There was still a 30 foot pit near the western wall and a door with conjuration magic that would teleport anyone touching the door. They would pop out just above the pit. The rogue climbs the wall easily to investigate the ceiling above the hole. They hadn’t investigated it before and upon closer inspection Artem found that the ceiling piece could fall and it would just fit inside the hole. Unable to disarm the trap, Artem climbs down and joins Jarvis. The others were still in the hallways outside. Zetwuzadi was trying their best to focus on keeping watch from the south while the others were monitoring the two other passageways. Inside the room, they understood that if the door was touched the victim would be magically dropped. They ponder what magic would open a door without touching it and Jarvis remembers Thaumaturgy. The artificer focused on their multi purpose tool and was able to learn the spell they needed. Rather convenient.
Before opening the door, the scouts request Zetwuzadi to enter while the others remain close but outside the room. The wizard and her familiar replaced the paladin at keeping a watch on anything creeping from the south. Artem could see the magics interacting when Jarvis casted his spell. As the transmutation hits the conjuration aura, the door swung open towards them. The rogue could see the conjuration magic follow the trajectory of the spell back to Jarvis and as it washed over the artificer he teleported above the hole. Unable to stop himself, Jarvis falls and lands on the bottom. As the ground settles underneath him they hear a noise that sounded like something clicking into place. They worry that if Jarvis moves, the pressure plate underneath him might be the triggering mechanism for the ceiling to fall.
The door that Jarvis opened was still sitting open. The nondescript room looked to mirror the other room in size but instead of a hole there was a pool. Meanwhile down in the hole, Jarvis called Sorin down to assist while Leofric moved and lowered his octopus familiar down the rope to boop the artificer with some Guidance. With the help, Jarvis was able to climb out of the hole without the ceiling falling down upon them. They pressed into the other room to investigate the pool; however, before they did so they called the entire group to move into the trapped room. Just in case they triggered someone or something when they entered the pool they wanted to make sure the entire group was together and to muffle the sounds with a closed door.
Zetwuzadi submerged into the pool. At the bottom of the pool the paladin found a chest. It was either rather heavy or secured to the floor. With further investigation she found that it was indeed secured to the stones with no way to move the iron chest and that it’s not trapped or locked. With the pool’s eddies, the lid moved. Upon opening she found a medium sized skull made of solid gold with ruby eyes. The paladin relayed what she had found and after a bit of conversation and a partially emptied bag of holding, Artem was able to determine that there was no magical trap on the skull. Zetwuzadi swam down and collected the fancy grotesque skull.
With the rooms fully investigated, they make their way down the hallway. As they approached the creepiness seemed to seep from the farther door, the paladin confirmed that the area was desecrated. The wooden doors, reinforced with iron, are not locked or trapped. Before opening the doors, they moved to the secret door that Jarvis was able to spot. It led back to the mushroom room. Moving back to the first door, they wait patiently for the artificer to open the door. The rectangular room’s ceiling, floor, and walls were adorned with screaming skulls. With the others waiting safely outside, the scouts moved into the room and moved to the other door. It opened to an empty room with three sets of manacles on the southern side of the room. It looked to be a torture area.
Standing in the manacle room, the scouts could hear faint mechanical clicking. Opening the door they could see that the room was filled with webs, stretching from the walls to the ceiling, rendering the entire area difficult to move through. From the door they noticed the crack in the ceiling. It was small and about a foot long with a slow drip of water gently traveling down the webs. As the door opened, thousands of tiny mechanical spiders swarmed the scouts. Jarvis quickly yells to the others that they would need assistance. He then turns his attention to the room and casts shatter before shutting the door. Unfortunately, the door was not flush with the stone floor and the tiny creatures would be able to crawl under. The door is reopened. With expert marksmanship, Artem bounces his arrow off the wall, nailing and slaying a bunch of spiders. Zetwuzadi, who had been tagging along with the scouts for her extra holy protection, waded through the webs. From her vantage, she smacked and killed a bunch more spiders. One of the swarms approached the paladin only to die right at her feet as she swung her massive glaive.
Two of the swarms surround Zetwuzadi and Jarvis. The first to act from those who were rather surprised at the battle, Vadim moved into the skull room. Noticing the spiders crawling on his companion, he targets the swarm on Jarvis with his crossbow. His aim is true, he nails the mechanical beasts. Jarvis was able to finish what the bard had started, knocking the dead spiders off of himself. The wildfire druid moved quickly through the area and healed the artificer. Stowing his bow, Artem drew his shortsword and stepped into the webs near Zetwuzadi. With dexterous grace, the rogue vanquished the final spiders. Across the room they could see the door stuck with webs. Enya is called to burn the sticky webs away and with them many of the tiny bodies of the mechanical marvels.
Behind the next door they find a long room. The stones leading away from the door are patterned up to a teleportation circle. It is clear to the arcane proficient that this circle is an ending point. The glyphs are in abyssal and Artem ponders if this is where the demon portal from the Mender ward would lead too, unfortunately they are unable to determine this. Upon further investigation, they find three loose flagstones. Sorin retrieves a poisoned satchel, knocking out an ivory figurine of a trumpeting elephant. Ansible moved into the room, committing the circle to memory while Te’Leyuura copied the runes into her notebook.
Falling back to the hallway, the scouts approach the second door. This is where the spookiness seemed to seep from. The door opens to a room with a statue of the Master pointing at the door. The scouts note two secret doors flanking the statue on either wall. Artem can detect there is a presence in the room that has an evocation aura, radiating the creepy and desecrated vibes. Moving into the room, it felt like their skeletons were straining against their bodies. Moving to the western door they open the secret door. Within the room they could see three tables with rotten coffins resting upon each table and sitting up against the far wall. Each coffin had a skeleton and when the door opened the creatures became animate and turned toward Jarvis. Quickly Anisble moves in and launches a small bead of fire into the room. After the burst of flame, only the black skeleton remained standing. Before moving safely away from the door, they call out that the skeleton seemed unphased by the fire. Artem swiftly follows the fireball with a well placed arrow. The skeleton managed to dodge Leofric’s spell as Jarvis stepped into the room and engaged the creature.
The bard moves in and as he tries to make the skeleton laugh, the statue’s eyes and the skeleton’s eyes glow red. Jarvis could hear the teeth clatter in the skull but it suffers no effect from the laughter. The black skeleton lays into Jarvis, nailing him twice and draining the artificer of some of his strength. Te’Leyuura cautiously moves into the room and scans her memories for any knowledge about these skeletons. She had read that these creatures made up most of the Master’s armies and that bludgeoning or radiance would be most effective. Turning her attention to the room, she tried to dispel the desecration but the Master won this round. Zetwuzadi moved to the doorway and slashes into the black skeleton, smiting them over and over again until the skull rolls onto the ground.
Behind the eastern secret door they found a horror show. The room has bits of bodies lying about it, leading up to a sacrificial altar. The altar is uncomfortable to look at. It is covered in death and evil iconography and lording over it was another statue of the Master. Both the statue and the altar radiate necromancy as well as four black candles that are still magically lit. A few of the Wrenjers moved into the horrid room to investigate. As they near the altar they can feel the cold, like their soul is trying to be torn from them. From outside the side chamber, Leofric focuses on the room and dispels the desecration but it doesn’t touch the altar room. The pink mohawked cleric chased the gloom away with his spell, causing it to retreat into the statue. Suddenly a crack appeared from the crown to the navel of the statue before it started to fall slightly apart. Zetwuzadi finished off the statue as those outside the room could hear the whacking and crumbling of the stone.
It seemed that the altar room was desecrated by the sheer amount of evil from the altar. After a small discussion they decide to attack the altar from the doorway. First a javelin is thrown but it only clatters against the stone. When Artem nails the altar, the arrow disappears and hits Vadim instead. The paladin moves to defend the bard from an unseen foe. Zetwuzadi removed the arrow and Vadim is healed; however, it scars as a permanent mark upon them. Artem heard a voice inside their head to finish off the sacrifice. It takes a few moments for the paladin to realize that the arrow was from Artem, not an unseen foe. The Wrenjer’s learn that the altar is similar to an artifact and that they might have to subject themselves to the magic of the altar to break it. Vadim offers the arrow back to Artem stating “That was rather unpleasant. Would you like this back?” The rogue declines the arrow as if they don’t trust that arrow any longer. The voice returns to Artem as the rogue asks Enya to burn the wood.
With the voice still trying to have Artem finish off Vadim, they press forward out of the desecration. After another tour of hallways and doors, they find themselves outside the room with the heavy evocation aura. Leaving that for another time they press further down the hallway. The next door they come to has a tent on it and upon opening it opens to a small antechamber that connects to a well appointed inn room. It is larger than most inn rooms and rather fancy. This level has had some rather peculiar rooms.

Report Date

29 May 2021