Barrowmaze: Crusaders and the Hand of Nergal

[Rex]

Orgoth

Just watching Cadeweed at this point.

[gurusql]

Cadeweed

Letting out all the stops

Round 1:
Cadeweed getting close to death in this Arena will with his next action drink his Potion of Healing: (Royal Jelly: 2d4+4hp)
Healing: [_2d4+4]=(1+3)=4+4=8

Round 2:
He will try to flank the zombie (Move Silently in hand-to-hand combat to gain a +2 rear attack advantage)
Move Silently (42%) [1d100]=52
and failing that a normal attack
Attack with Short Sword[1d20]=5, Damage with Short Sword S/M [1d6]=4 L [1d8]=1
Attack with Short Sword (off-hand) [1d20-2]=20-2=18, Damage with Short Sword S/M [1d6]=4 L [1d8]=3
Perhaps a critical blow.

Round 3 (if needed):
He will try to flank the zombie (Move Silently in hand-to-hand combat to gain a +2 rear attack advantage)
Move Silently (42%) [1d100]=46
and failing that a normal attack but he will use his Barrowmaze Easter Egg on his main weapon
Easter Egg Attack with Short Sword[1d20+4]=17+4=21, Damage with Short Sword S/M [1d6+4]=2+4=6
Attack with Short Sword (off-hand) [1d20-2]=9-2=7, Damage with Short Sword S/M [1d6]=4 L [1d8]=5

Sorry for the delay

[Spearmint]

Cadeweed vs Zombie-Cadeweed

A duel to the death upon a dusty, wilderness plane; a dance of blades and weighted nets, the bone dry gulch only partially sated with the sprinkling of hobbit blood, shed for the entertainment of the baying arena of portrait pictures and helpless comrades.

Cadeweed backs off from the previous slashing injury. Deciding to lick his wounds and and down the druidic elixir made from the Troglodyte cave honeycomb. He uncorks the stopper and glugs quickly, allowing the wondrous healing to accelerate healing in his body, +8hp just as another almost murderous stabbing comes in. -6hp Zombie-Cadeweed snaring the halfling in his attempt to retreat further. The two wrestle in closer quarters; one's breath fetid and foul, a face of sloughed skin melted off the bone and teeth rotted to the jaw, the other sweating profuseky, spitting blood and curses in equal measure, a honeyed-sweetened tongue of vehemence and defiance.

Cadeweed stabs out through the net cords, plunging his off hand sword between his nemesis' ribs, -4hp. The net nullifies his ability to dodge and feint. Both strike out, clashing blades, Cadeweed parries the zombie's thrust and in dual-wielding takes the advantage of an extra attack. Penalised for the paired swords imbalance but graced with a minor favouring trinket, Cadeweed's blade strikes true and cold iron plunges into the unbeating heart of his Undead simulacrum. Zombie-Cadeweed collapses upon him, breathing out a faint gasp of death throes and necrotic plasma before hitting the ground. Then dust billows up, filling the dry gulch and veiling it from view as lonely tumbleweeds billow by and the mirror vista fades back into a glassy reflection ...

Zombie Cadeweed: Net throw [1d20+3]=20+3=23 Short Sword [1d20+3]=16+3=19 [1d6]=6

Zombie Cadeweed: Net throw [1d20+3]=8+3=11 Short Sword [1d20+3]=7+3=10 [1d6]=2

Zombie Cadeweed: Net throw [1d20+3]=9+3=12 Short Sword [1d20+3]=7+3=10 [1d6]=2

In a moment, Cadeweed suddenly returns to the crypt interior, standing as he did an hour before, in front of the mirror pane and the gibbering portraits. They each give one final comment, "Hoorah ... cursed tomb robbers ... next time it will be You!" and more, before fading back into a mundane faded oil canvas.

next actions please everyone

[Rex]

Orgoth

"Welcome back Cadeweed, nice work in there. We best get out of here before the trap resets."

[gurusql]

Cadeweed

"Thanks, that is nothing that I want to go through again. I almost died in there and it was a very expensive trap in terms of magic used. We should mark this deadly trap on Guild maps for Guild members safety. But you are right let us get out before it resets. I assume when I was in there you looked for any treasure in the room."

[OGRE MAGE]

Sven

"Nope. We just stood here watching you struggle for an hour." He kids.

The young mage does as wisely instructed, making the proper marks on his ongoing map of the Barrowmaze.

"I want to take one of these weird picture frames with us to study once we return home."

Sven takes along one of the still active portraits (randomly) before leaving this room.

The intention is still to investigate the maze room we got lost in last time, but on the way there, Sven would like to check the room where we found the hanging mongrelman again to see if anything has changed with that situation.

[Rex]

Orgoth

Orgoth moves along with the others.

[Spearmint]

Exploring the Barrowmaze

A portrait is sacked up, a grim faced fighter type, impassively staring blankly. First stop is a sude room off the 'Efreeti' hall. The corridors look fairly undisturbed from your previous explorations. Bits of bone splinters dot the walls, a testimony to Gnimish's lightening strike on 'exploding bone' skeletons, they of the black hand print. North of the hallway some alcoves in between small mausoleums contain the aftermath of fights with 'sapphire skeletons' and the now rotted and maggotty body of 'pitfall Pete' who fell through a portal trapdoor clutching a prized jewel. The altar, inscribed with an Efreeti face design is still in place, a stone slab void of any other features. No undead pirates come from the side crypts, no spectral dealer inviting the gullible to wager souls for power. The target crypt is also investigated. Once a Mongrelmaid had hung from the rafters, eyes dug out of socket and tongue torn from its root. No body; living, dead or undead is inside. Graffiti though marks the walls, chalked warnings and boasts of typical 'around the campfire' nature. These are new, at least scrawled since your last visit. Interestingly they ring the room at chest high, no more so perhaps indicating adventurers of a small stature to humans.

Any relevant actions please.

So a reminder map: Going from the left:

69: unstable crypt, rubble in 2/3rds of room, dangerous to explore

68: crypt with unearthed flagstones.

72: metal door room, (the metal doors being the ones on the west & south)

74: corridor of small mausoleums with A being a Kali themed shrine, G the 'trapdoor teleport' in the ceiling, the access to the Barrow Mere in E? and D had an angry face and some unusual grainy sand.

75: Efreeti altar hall

76: Mongrelmaid room

77: Shadows Crypts
77A: Sunstone Dial.

78: passages and side crypts.
Q3 Ossithrax Tapestry room, D1 undead pirates, D2 Schmo Joe spectral card dealer, Q4 Jerome's laboratory, D5 unexplored

79: Hallway with Arnaud's pit (everlit candle lantern was hung as a memorial to the acclaimed trap-smith).

80: magic mirror crypt.

[Rex]

Orgoth

"We should go somewhere we haven't explored yet."

[gurusql]

Cadeweed

"Has the Guild explored that room?" Cadeweed points to the map at room 71

[Spearmint]

Cadeweed points to the map at room 71

yes: this room leads west to the Nergal Nave. The 'A' is an alcove with a statue surround by skulls. First encountered in the Delving for Power & Glory expedition:

viewtopic.php?p=592964#p592964

A deadfall trap is in front of the door A.

Also the corridor of mausoleums (74) were described like this:

Mausoleums
a. Kali's snake emporium
b. Sticky webs and maggot infested elven mage
c. Two open stone caskets
d. Dusty floor and magic stone face
e. Single grave decorated by bones
f. Poseidon gate
g. Trapdoors on ceiling, alcoves in eastern wall.

I think this next map is the total of Sven & Orgoth's Barrowmaze knowledge.

[OGRE MAGE]

Sven looks over the map carefully, realizing there are a few areas yet unexplored.

"This maze room was where I wanted to search next. I have to assume there is something good waiting at the end, if we can find our way through."

BM so far.jpg (293.84 KiB) Viewed 77 times

[Rex]

Orgoth

"That sounds good Sven. We can try there first. Then we could also go further east from the southern portion (by area 56). No one has gone that way yet."

[gurusql]

Cadeweed

"Sounds good."

[OGRE MAGE]

I love the massive scope of overall map.

So many places we missed.

Maybe the DM could direct us towards a few of the better unchecked areas?

[Spearmint]

you know how long it takes to screenshot the full map and then highlight blue over unexplored areas. And I still miss stuff like not fading secret doors out.

I just have to watch for 'continuity' with currently four known Player groups exploring in the Barrowmaze at the same time, though Sven's team are a few days ahead chronologically, so I have to work around that.

We are coming up to our third year anniversary and the discovered area map is great but in context of the above barrow mounds, covers less than a quarter of possible exploration.

So plenty to go for. You know factually that the main Nergal shrine is through the double doors on the right of the long corridor leading to the pit of chaos and an old Nergal Barrow, (Knievel) guarded by Wights is at the BMze entrance by the Ritual Baptistry' pool. The Set cult have a base 'east of the Nergal shrine', I don't think you have encountered many Orcus cult priests yet. Two large spaces of unexplored crypts in the NW and the central gap above the Mausoleums. You also have a known but blocked entrance in the 'Gnome's Map.'

You are aware of the existence of a few relics and know locations of portals to other planes (Barrow Mere, Barrow Grove). As well as cult factions, mention has been made of other groups, a gang of greater Gargoyles for instance.

And you know a few very odd npc characters, Gabby, Totenkopf and have met at least one rival npc exploring crew.

[gurusql]

Cadeweed

"Since this is only my second time down here, I will defer the next location to the experts."

[Rex]

Orgoth

I am fine with you linking the 2 groups for now if you want. I think I saw you post about that somewhere.

[Spearmint]

The present 'default' action is to go to the weird maze room where you used Moo-Moo to escape. So unless you want to deviate, I am planning the expedition to go that way next.

[Rex]

Orgoth

Sounds good to me.