Doom of Daggerdale 3.5 (IC)

[Auranghzeb]

Udro storms out of the building and relates the quest to Ganzaya.

It seems we will be exploring some crypts before leaving town.

[Cygnia]

"They wish us to roll the bones then, yes?" Ganzaya flashed a quick grin, but it faded fast in sensing Udro's mood. More seriously, he asked "They think the source of this fever is in these crypts? Do they have proof?"

[Auranghzeb]

Udro grinned as he moved with Ganzaya far from unwanted ears while waiting for the others.

Ah! Ganzaya. Smart. No, I don't think they really believe this crypt to be the origin of the plague. I wonder what they really want out of that crypt. We must be as wary in the way out as going in.

[Cygnia]

"Aye, friend. They either want us to do the grave robbing for them, taking all the risks from angry spirits and gods. Or we are cleaning up a mess they made -- and may not want us alive to tell anyone about afterwards." Ganzaya scowled. "Neither is a pleasant thought."

[BelGareth]

"I'm guessing both, but definitely the latter." he says to Ganzaya. "Either way, lets go find out." he says with a grin, while walking in the direction of the crypt.

Spoiler

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Jericho
M NG Half-Orc, the Dalelands Barbarian 1/Druid 4/Warhsaper 1
Level 6, Init 9, HP 49/49, Speed 40, 60 (in predator form)
AC 19, Touch 13, Flat-footed 16
Fort 7, Ref 5, Will 6
Stats Str 18, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 6
Condition Immune to stunning & critical hits
Abilities Animal Devotion [1/1], belt of healing [3/3], anklets of translocation [2/2]

[dantiesilva]

Dwarves? Hasn't been any significant Dwaven presence in this area for generations. Not since old Colderan Morn drove them out. Whatever we're dealing with is in the here and now.

Delmuth takes a deep breath in as the man, clearly thinking very high of himself blows off the memory of a long lived race."So we are in agreement then, that dwarves were once a part of this area. I am glad to hear. And once we are done investigating and possibly solving the problem in the crypts I assume if the people have not awoken we are allowed to travel these lands looking for any other clues we may come across to help you awaken the good people under your care, and of course report back to you with our findings." Delmuth adds, the last bit as almost an afterthought.

Once outside with the others Delmuth shakes himself, as if trying to shake off a bad feeling before retrieving his weapons and walking with the others. "The sooner we go in the sooner we can find out, if its a trap the less time they have the better we will be able to escape it, best not to stray." he says slowly moving in the direction of the crypts.

[spectralphoenix]

The guards return your weapons as you leave and a runner escorts you to the site of the burned temple. There are a few Zhentarim guards outside, smoking pipes and playing cards. They don't seem keen to poke around in the ruins themselves, but wave you by at a signal from the runner.

With the formalities out of the way, you are free to explore the site. At first you see nothing of interest - burned wreckage exposed to eight years of weather. After a bit of looking around however, you find a stairway leading underground that appears to have been recently excavated. Descending, you come to a small cellar with stocked with casks of wine, which leads to a dark hallway and finally the crypt itself.

The crypt itself consists of a rectangular passageway lined with alcoves on either side. Thirty-two of them are occupied, closed with a stone slab and a bronze plaque listing the deeds and titles of priests and holy warriors of Lathander. At the far side of the rectangle, you make a grisly discovery. Two dead Zhentarim guards, as well as the body of some sort of horrid insectile monster. The corpses seem about a week old. There is a hole in the nearby wall. The perfectly smooth outline indicates it was bored by magic, though beyond appears to be a natural cavern that leads off into the darkness.

[BelGareth]

Following the runner, and seeing the guards lazily guarding the ruins of the former Lathanderite temple was cause for concern, but it got worse as they investigated the ruins, finding the cellar, and what was obviously the first members of a looting party being killed by whatever this monster was. He frowned, he wasn't in the mood to inspect a dead creature, but nodded to it with respect, two Zhents, nice.

He muttered a few words while touching everyone, he wasn't happy to be inside, and less so to investigate the tomb underneath a Lathander temple, so they would all respect it's solemnity, and he would help.

After that he transformed into his wolf form, growing tentacles out of his shoulders like a feral displacer beast, readying for action.

Spoiler

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Cast Pass with out trace (lasts 4 hours)
Transform into Predator form, and use Morphic weapons to grow two tentacles, using a standard action each to grow.

Jericho
M NG Half-Orc, the Dalelands Barbarian 1/Druid 4/Warhsaper 1
Level 6, Init 9, HP 49/49, Speed 40, 60 (in predator form)
AC 19, Touch 13, Flat-footed 16
Fort 7, Ref 5, Will 6
Stats Str 18, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 6
Condition Immune to stunning & critical hits
Abilities Animal Devotion [1/1], belt of healing [3/3], anklets of translocation [2/2]

[dantiesilva]

As the group makes their way down the stairs Delmuth calls out as his vision starts to fail him due to the darkness. "Anyone mind making a light, I doubt we want to light a fire down here." Once the light is lit Delmuth begins looking around the area, keeping an eye out for any forms of movement. The place remains dead however as they come across two dead Zhents and some dead bug. "We should try to determine what this is." he says ignoring the Zhents and instead focusing on the bug.

Spoiler: Knowledge checks

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Dungeon (1d20+1)[18]
Nature (1d20+2)[5]

"From what I know about those who worshipped at this temple I doubt they had anything to do with this creature, more so being the proof of the natural cave, it was as likely to get them as it was the Zhents." he says as he takes out a plain arrow and tries to puncture the creatures hide to see how difficult it would be.

Spoiler: Attack vs dead creatures exoskeleton

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(1d20+7)[21] Also a spot check near the hole just to be sure they are not being watched (1d20+13)[33] Lastly a search check of the room (1d20+11)[22]

[Cygnia]

"Guess something bugged them..." The joke was low-hanging fruit, but Ganzaya eagerly plucked it. Still, Ganzaya looked down at the corpse of the strange insect carefully. This potential threat shouldn't be taken likely -- even if those slain were merely Zhents. He sighed sadly anyways, jerking his head towards the dead men. "Not even brave enough to take the corpses out and give their own men a burial. Should we worry about them becoming undead?"

Spoiler: Actions

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(1d20+7)[8] Know: Nature on the dead bug
(1d20+7)[18] Survival (Track) attempt

[Auranghzeb]

I don't know much about undead, but these smell like they are beyond the turning into zombie thinks point.

Says Udro, covering his mouth and nose with his scarf and clearly disgusted at the stench.

As the ranger pokes around the insect, Udro almost loses it, the nausea a bit too much. He composes himself.

Let me look for traps. And be ready.

Spoiler: Actions

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Casting Ebon Eyes on himself to see in darkness and magical darkness. Duration 10min/level so 60 minutes. And then search (1d20+12)[17]

[spectralphoenix]

The chitinous monster is a Hook Horror, an aberration of nature that hunts underground. It's about nine feet tall and has arms that end in wicked hooks, beyond that you don't know much about it. A search of the area reveals no traps, though Ganzaya thinks there was a larger fight here. It appears that several other bodies were dragged off, implying more live Hook Horrors and more dead Zhents.

[dantiesilva]

"Odd" Delmuth says out loud to the others as he looks over the creature. "This is a hooked horror, I have only heard about them before and from what I have been told they only hunt underground. This one being so high up, close to the sky seems very odd, as if something drove it here." he explains to the others "What is more odd is that the Zhents killed it and haven't come back down. Surly there cannot be more right?" he says not seeing what Ganzaya did due to him studying the hook horror.

[rax]

"Not so strange if there was a larger fight and the Zhents were, in fact, sent running. And now the constable wants to see if we can solve his monster issue without losing more men. It would not surprise me in the least if this is in aid of allowing him to loot whatever treasures may be hidden beneath the ruins," Faurgar pipes up. "In any case, this beast seems unlikely to be the direct cause of the sleeping sickness."

[BelGareth]

With his darkvision, Jericho was at home, and he got annoyed when the others bough out some light, he slinked to the edges of the light. Hearing the conversation, he growls low and begins to head into the cave structure.

Spoiler

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Jericho
M NG Half-Orc, the Dalelands Barbarian 1/Druid 4/Warhsaper 1
Level 6, Init 9, HP 49/49, Speed 40, 60 (in predator form)
AC 19, Touch 13, Flat-footed 16
Fort 7, Ref 5, Will 6
Stats Str 18, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 6
Condition Immune to stunning & critical hits, Pass with out trace
Abilities Animal Devotion [1/1], belt of healing [3/3], anklets of translocation [2/2]

[dantiesilva]

Delmuth accepts Faurgar's assessment as it wasn't like he knew much about these creatures. However before he could reply he heard Jericho give a low growl and make his way into the car complex. "Well if that is the case seems we are about to go find out." he says making his way to follow Jericho, trying to stay somewhere in the middle of the group. These creatures hunted underground and thus would be able to see in the dark better than he. It would thus be wise for him to stay with the group.

[Auranghzeb]

Udro shared Jericho's impatience, but he didn't growl, instead he spoke openly, as he was bound to do.


Let Jericho and myself go slightly ahead, we can see in the darkness and won't draw as much attention as that torch will, at least for as long as my spell last. Then I'll be as useless in the dark as a bright colored feather hat.



He moved next to jericho and ahead into the darkness. Matta, his weasel familiar reared its head from Udro's bag, sharing his Ebon Eyes and sniffing the air.

[spectralphoenix]

The air grows moist and cold as the party proceeds down the tunnel. After a few twists and turns, the cavern widens out and you find a circle of enormous mushrooms. Many of them seem odd and somehow undefinably corrupted.

Before you can properly investigate, however, squat shapes come charging out of the shadows! You are attacked by four dwarves, but they look and act like no dwarves you've ever seen. They dress in filthy kilts made of vines and are armed with crude bronze scimitars, while their maddened eyes and silent attack leaves no room for parley.

Spoiler

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Roll Initiative and Spot checks! DC 24 to avoid being surprised - Jerico and Udro get +8 bonuses because they are scouting ahead without light.

[dantiesilva]

As the group walks down the tunnel Delmuth finds it odd that it grows colder, from what he knew the deeper you went underground the more the temperature stayed the same with very little fluctuation.

Spoiler: Knowledge (Nature)/Geography

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Not sure which it would fall under for the temperature and if this would be considered odd. But also fishing to see if this would be a good place for mold to grow (1d20+2)[8]

As the cavern widens out Delmuth notes the odd mushrooms and says out loud to the others "I have never seen mushrooms like this before they look corrupted compared to anything I have seen." he says getting ready to examine them when he notices something moving out of the corner of his eyes, sadly these dwarves, for thats what he saw when they came charging, didn't give time for him to call out a warning as he had to get ready to defend himself from the coming warriors and their strange attire and weapons.

[SCARY WIZARD]

Nanes-Il seemed to "hemm and haww" over whether or not her magical lights would be of any use. Then, she said, "Hmm... If you'd like to save that torch, I can produce magical lights for you to hold on it instead. In fact, I'd prefer that. Natural gases can seep into places like this, and once those come into contact with a flame, we're as good as dead from the explosion. If the gas doesn't kill us first. My lights last around an hour." IF the lights are accepted, she will create one. Otherwise, she will hold her spell and move near to the torch-bearer.

"And," She continued, "While I am loath to use them in such a place for I doubt any malice comes from here that the Zhents didn't... provoke... I've spells on scrolls to open locked most locked doors and lock doors we want that way." She seemed disgusted and uncomfortable at the prospect.

---

Out of Character: Actions

Spoiler

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The above was catch-up... I don't think Nanes-Il can do much outside of gasp, here...

[Cygnia]

"BWHAH?! Khelliara's eyes, what manner of men are these?!" Shocked by the arrival of the strange dwarves and the threat they held, Ganzaya came up short for any sort of pun towards the situation. His player, however, regrets nothing about the "short" joke.

[BelGareth]

Jericho leaps at the lead dwarf, attacking with a bite.

Spoiler

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Bite - (1d20+11)[28]
Damage - (1d6+10)[11] (P, S, & B|Magical)

Jericho
M NG Half-Orc, the Dalelands Barbarian 1/Druid 4/Warhsaper 1
Level 6, Init 9, HP 49/49, Speed 40, 60 (in predator form)
AC 19, Touch 13, Flat-footed 16
Fort 7, Ref 5, Will 6
Stats Str 18, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 6
Condition Immune to stunning & critical hits, Pass with out trace
Abilities Animal Devotion [1/1], belt of healing [3/3], anklets of translocation [2/2]