Chp. 3: La Muerta Espara

[Marcanus_da_Lich]

Grindhelm the Dwarf

"Fellas!" Grindhelm calls from his current spot. "We may be dealing with something far larger than we thought..." his voice lowers ever so slightly. He peers into the hole for only a few seconds before attempting to gather everyone else together, half-heartedly looking for any gems or unique stone to add to his collection

[Inferno]

Azoth Al-Aziz, occultic priest:

The red-eyed cultist says, "Gentlemen, this room is clear of traps, magical or otherwise.
"And these corpses aren't going anywhere.
"While my spectral vision endures, let me gaze upon more chambers and clear them of traps. Please ready yourselves as I open this door."

Azoth attempts to open the portal nearest the majority of his compatriots.

[Storm11]

How many steps are left before hitting the bottom? The gnome might try and jump the last and avoid the steps entirely. Otherwise he will climb the wall and move down the stairwell along its surface instead of the stairs.

[Grognardsw]

How many steps are left before hitting the bottom? The gnome might try and jump the last and avoid the steps entirely. Otherwise he will climb the wall and move down the stairwell along its surface instead of the stairs.

Bruno is in the middle; 30' to bottom and equal to top. Go ahead and roll Climb Walls with -20 for difficult lateral climb.

[Storm11]

[1d100] = 54

Just

[Mant72]

Calto the Druid:

Calto stands after crouching to examine the skeletons beneath the rubble. He then goes to join Grindhelm at the mouth of the tunnel. "I like not the looks of this, my dwarven friend. Are you aware of anything that could make such a tunnel? I've heard tales of giant worms that burrow deep in the earth, but I've never see one for myself. As far as I know, that could simply be exaggerated rumor."

[OGRE MAGE]

Siavel allows Surge to run amok in the room once it has been cleared and there are no traps. The weasel crawls around in all the tight places the big folk can't get to. He looks for anything suspicious in the places the others can't see.

The elven mage then follows the black cleric in case he is in need of any backup.

The hall of suns! Amazing! What does it all mean to us?

He looks around at the mosaics as Azoth opens the door.

[max_vale]

Alex 'Blade Rain' Vam; Human male Fighter


'Blade Rain' was out of his element here in an underground temple, filled with traps and mosaics of ancient Gods and what-not; the city-born warrior just stayed as alert as possible, ready to respond to any dangers as best he could....

[GreyWolfVT]

Tabai just shrugs it should be apparent that this place will be surrounding them in death and danger.

[Dram]

Kitchi- Will continue watch Bruno to make sure he safely makes it down the stairwell.

[Dogma]

Leomar will carefully start to shift some of the rubble to get a better view of the skeletons. If if looks like this action might cause a further cave-in he will stop his excavations. He softly whistles a mindless tune while engage in moving the rubble.

[Grognardsw]

Chamber of the Suns


Azoth the dark priest takes advantage of his second sight and quickly checks the south, southwest and west doors (see map.) The south door opens to a 30' corridor ending at double doors. The west door leads to a 50' hallway with a double door. The southwest door proves most interesting...

Map

Beyond the southwest door:

Siavel the elven enchanter follows Azoth, voicing his wonderment at the chamber. This seems one of many chambers to different old gods that the party has encountered, which seems logical given the place is a shrine. Siavel's giant weasel Surge scurries about the room. It stops and sniffs the hole in the north wall, twitching its tale, and looks at his master in a way the elf knows is a worried warning from the weasel.

Grindhelm voices concern, for the dwarf realizes that the structural integrity of this room is weak given the collapse of so much ceiling and wall. He answers Calto's question: "Aye, there are any number of underground beasties that could make such a hole. A big carrion crawler, an umber hulk, giant ants, a small purple worm, a..." The dwarf rambles on as he walks the chamber searching for gems (roll a 1d6.)

Under the watchful eye of Blade Rain, Leomar the thief and Calto the druid examine the bodies under the rubble. From the forearms and lower legs of the two corpses they can tell these have been dead for sometime. There is a large fallen block on them. Leomar and Calto think maybe they can push it over, should they try. The surrounding rubble in this particular area seems stable enough. Grindhelm is brought over to confirm such.





Meanwhile, Bruno the thief-acrobat carefully scales down the stairwell wall. The gnome knows if he touches another stair the stone dragon at the top of will blast him with a scalding jet stream. He climbs carefully and slowly, exercising all his dexterity and roguish skill to reach the bottom and safety. Tabai and Kitchi breath a sigh of relief that Bruno is back down and the group returns to the others. In the Chamber of the Suns Tabai studies the mosaics about the suns.

[Marcanus_da_Lich]

Grindhelm the Dwarf

Search for Gems: [1d6] = 6

[Dogma]

Leomar continues his tuneless whistling while they examine the bodies. "What do you say Calto, shall we push this block over and see what's underneath?"

[OGRE MAGE]

Si commands Surge to steer clear of the dangerous hole in the floor. The two of them enter the hallway with the pit. Surge has another look around as the elven mage takes a closer look at the rotting planks to see if they would still function as a bridge.

This must be the correct way through this place. Why else would these planks be here set up like this?

He commands his magical porter to float down into the pit and investigate the strange white plants.

[Mant72]

Calto the Druid:

Leomar continues his tuneless whistling while they examine the bodies. "What do you say Calto, shall we push this block over and see what's underneath?"

Calto responds, "Let's have a look, but be prepared for anything." He loosens his scimitar in his scabbard before attempting to push the block over and hopes he doesn't regret his decision.

[Dram]

Kitchi- Glad that Bruno made it down safely. Lets find the others.

[Storm11]

The gnome agrees and they send their way back to the rest of the group.

Bruno watches the excavation from the entrance to the lair, guarding the companions rear for a change.

[Grognardsw]

Leomar the thief and Calto the druid find they cannot lift the stone block. Grindhelm joins in the effort and the block is flipped, revealing:

Grindhelm searches the chamber for gems or valuable raw minerals but doesn't find anything. However, the dwarf does discover a cracked crystal sphere of polished quartz, 3" in diameter. (Referenced in above text.)

Bruno, Kitchi and Tabai join the others in the great chamber. Blade Rain keeps watch for dangers.



Elven sorcerer Siavel motions Surge the weasel away from the hole in the north wall. They go down the southwest hallway to examines the barred long pit with Azoth.

"This must be the correct way through this place. Why else would these planks be here set up like this?" asks Siavel.

"Those are bronze bars set every five feet on the top of the 40' long pit," comments Azoth. "Perhaps used as a means to cross? I'm not sure what the small pile of rotting wooden planks is at the front edge of the pit nearest us. Given the pit presents a difficulty in further progress, it implies that what lies beyond may be of worth. Or perhaps not - a trap meant to entice?"

Siavel beckons his loyal porter Panguine to descend and investigate the spidery white plants at the bottom of the 25' deep pit. Azoth holds the torch down so the light touches upon the ghostly albino bushes. The light shows a sparkle of dew upon them, and pale yellow blossoms. The unseen servant Panguine brushes the plants, and they react by flinging a volley of flying thorns in Panguine' direction!

The description of the pit area again:

[max_vale]

Alex 'Blade Rain' Vam; Human male Fighter


'Blade Rain' looks at the 'steps' and thinks he could probably jump from one to the next if he had too, but it wasn't something he particularly wanted to do. In the meantime he kept a sharp eye and ear out for any threats that might appear….