Even before Nihil’s lifeless body hit the floor of the tower, Wren was flying downwards at full speed. She landed beside Erin, and gasped as she realized the full extent of the dead paladin’s wounds. The woman was all but beheaded, and her entrails bulged from the horrible gash across her midsection. “Pharasma – please grant me the power to revive my friend!” Wren prayed earnestly. She closed her eyes briefly, seeking to commune with her goddess in this unholy place. Then she bent and kissed Erin lightly on the forehead, gently parted her pale lips, and exhaled into her open mouth. A golden light flowed out of Wren and into Erin as the Breath of Life passed between them. Erin’s wounds began to close and slight color returned to her cheeks. Her eyes fluttered open, and she drew in a ragged breath. “By the gods – that hurt!” she gasped.
The rest of the party hovered in the air above them, and now heaved a collective sigh of relief that Erin was not permanently dead. With that concern passed, they began to give the Lord’s Tower a closer inspection. Although over forty feet tall, there was no stair or ladder to lead from the floor to the opening at the top through which they’d entered. Nevertheless, the inside walls of the tower were lined with niches in an ascending spiral leading from the floor to the tower’s roof. There must have been eighty in all, and most contained a wealth of artwork: statues, jewelry, paintings, along with a few weapons or other items. However, nearly half held simple, polished skulls. Shadow was using Detect Magic as he descended, collecting anything that showed up as magical. “Um … guys? All these skulls are magic,” he reported in a worried voice. He studied their auras more closely. “Looks like some sort of Magic Mouth spell.” Worried about unforeseen consequences, everyone gave the skulls wide berth.
“Shhh!” Tomas said suddenly, and
everyone froze in place. “Do you hear that?” Everyone strained their ears, but
finally Nat whispered “I don’t hear anything.”
“Exactly!” Tomas replied. “It’s
completely silent.” Ever since they’d first arrived in Castle Scarwall, there
had been a near constant background of spectral noises: distant screams or
laughter or sobbing, heavy footsteps just around the corner, the sound of doors
slamming shut or creaking open. But now, for the first time, the halls of
Scarwall were utterly silent, and that silence was almost as unsettling as the
unseen haunts.
“Hey! Look at this!” Jax had been poking
around the gilded throne along one wall, assessing how easy it would be to pry
out the dozens of glittering gems embedded in it. Now he knelt and picked up
something from the floor behind it and held it up for the others to see. It was
large, round, and flat, like an oversized coin, but it gleamed a bright indigo
blue. “I think it’s some sort of scale.”
“Here’s another one!” Shadow said,
pulling one out from the dust bunnies under the bed. He held it up to the light
and examined it closely, and his eyes grew wide. “This … this is a scale from a
blue dragon!” Everyone looked around the room, realizing that this had indeed
been the bedroom of Kazavon himself.
Wren was eyeing the mattress on top of
the bed, which hung suspended on heavy iron chains. It looked exceedingly lumpy
and uncomfortable, and she grasped it to pick it up to see what it might
contain. The ancient fabric tore away in her hands and thousands upon thousands
of gold and platinum coins spilled out. Jax let out a low whistle. “I think we’re
going to need a shovel.”
“We need to make a decision guys,” Nat
interrupted. He’d been keeping a running clock in his head, and it had nearly
expired. “Our Fly spell is about to
run out. We either need to fly back to the mainland now, or we need to be prepared to spend the night here.”
Everyone remembered the nightmares that hand plagued them the last time they’d
tried to sleep in Scarwall.
Suddenly Laori let out a cry of horror.
She clutched her hands to the sides of her head, eyes wide in terror, then beat
at the air as if trying to fight off some invisible attacker. Everyone’s
weapons were instantly in their hands, but they saw nothing to fight. After a
moment, Laori stopped struggling, and sank down to a sitting position against
the wall. “What was that?” Wren asked in concern.
“I … I don’t know.” Laori said softly,
her face pale. “I felt some malevolent presence inside me, trying to take
control. Trying to erase me
and replace me with … someone else.”
“There is still danger here,”
Shadowcount Sial said solemnly. “We have defeated three of the Spirit Anchors,
but Mithrodar, the Chained Spirit who controls them, still remains.” He looked
at Laori with what might have been actual concern. “He may be trying to replace
his lost Spirit Anchors with new ones. I do not think it is wise to attempt to
rest here in Scarwall while Mithrodar still lives.”
That settled it, and everyone took
flight (Jax eyeing the hoard of coins, gems, and artwork left behind with
regret). They flew back over Scarwall, expecting another gargoyle ambush at any
moment, but they flew over the castle walls and across the dark waters of the
lake without incident. They had barely reached the shore before they felt the
magic leave them, and settled more heavily onto the ground.
As they passed the rest of the day,
Shadow busied himself identifying the magic items they had been able to carry
away with them. Most of the others gathered on the shoreline, staring back
across the water at the dark battlements rising up from it. “We have one more
Spirit Anchor to deal with,” Nat said, “and it’s the lich, Zev Ravenka.
According to Risibeth, he’s somewhere inside the donjon – the question is, how
do we get inside? The doors are sealed.”
“We could always just bash down the
door,” Erin suggested.
Nat nodded. “That might be our last
resort, but those doors are heavy bronze, and the stone sealing them is thick.
It won’t be fast, and it won’t be quiet.”
“I have another idea,” Jax offered. He’d
been studying a lot since they’d left Kaer Maga, and his skills had been
growing. “What if I cast Disintegrate
on the door? Poof! No more
door and we just walk inside.”
Nat arched an eyebrow – Jax continued to
surprise him with his arcane knowledge. “Hmmm … maybe. Although when I tried to
use Passwall to get inside the
donjon, that didn’t work so well.” He grimaced as he recalled the painful
reaction to his spell. “I’m thinking there might be a simpler approach. The
stone lip that Mandraivus used to block the doors from opening was created with
Stoneshape. What if we just used
another Stoneshape to remove it?”
Laori had been unusually quiet since
fighting off her attempted possession, but now she perked up. “I could do that!”
she offered.
“So we have at least three options for
getting the doors open,” Nat summarized. “But that still leaves us with the
problem of getting past the Forbiddance magic
that protects the donjon.”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Shadowcount
Sial said. “When you first described the contradictory Forbiddance wards on the donjon it didn’t make sense to me, but Risibeth’s
story clarified the history. According to her, when Mandraivus and his band
invaded the castle, Zev Ravenka called upon Zon Kuthon to ward the donjon
against entry by any save worshippers of the Midnight Lord. Hence the protections
that allow only lawful evil creatures to enter the building. But when
Mandraivus found he could not enter, he created his own wards to prevent any
but good creatures from leaving the donjon.”
Nat nodded. “I get that. But how does
that help us?”
Shadowcount Sial gazed at the castle
thoughtfully. “The wards that Zev Ravenka called for are not uncommon in sites
that are especially holy to Zon Kuthon. But even the holiest sites must
sometimes allow entry to non-believers, if only for the purpose of serving as
sacrifices to the appetites of the Midnight Lord.” Wren grimaced in disgust. “Often,
if a devout Kuthite enters first, it will suspend the protections for a short
time, to allow non-believers to safely enter. Perhaps that is also the case
here.”
Satisfied that they had at least some
inkling of a plan for how to enter the donjon, the party spent the rest of the
day sharpening weapons, repairing armor, and studying new spells. As night
fell, Castle Scarwall remained dark, with no ghostly lights such as they’d seen
on previous nights. The day dawned with broken clouds overhead. Wren prepared
them all a Hero’s Feast to prepare
them for the day. She’d somehow acquired a new wardrobe overnight, with elegant
silks and embroidered brocades beneath her glittering elven armor, and the
transformation from the shy girl in an oversized homespun cloak was
breathtaking. She in turn cast Magic
Vestment on Erin’s buckler, and the shield glowed with a soft blue light.
Once everyone was prepared, Nat again
cast Mass Fly and the party took to
the air. Again, they expected battle as they approached the castle, but
Scarwall’s remaining gargoyles remained stoically at their posts. The main
entrance to the donjon was from the castle’s courtyard, but they’d been
attacked by unseen bowmen the last time they’d passed through there, so they ignored
that approach. Instead, they landed on the second floor balcony where they’d
first entered Scarwall. A short walkway led to a smaller door into the donjon,
and they approached cautiously, staying low to try to stay hidden from any
guards looking out of the arrow slits into the courtyard below.
“What do we try first?” Jax asked
eagerly. He was itching to try out his new spell, but Nat pointed to Laori. “Let’s
try to undo what they did.”
Laori cautiously approached the door,
and cast Stoneshape on the stone
walls surrounding it, then began to smooth out the lip of stone with her
fingers. The protruding stone melted away, until at last there seemed to be no
obstruction to the door’s opening. Lead had been melted into the seam around
the door, presumably to prevent anything from escaping in Gaseous Form, but with the stone lip gone, they were able to easily
peel it away. When it was gone, Laori looked over her shoulder at the rest of
the group, took a deep breath, grasped the door handle, and pulled.
The door didn’t budge. She tried again,
pulling harder, but to no avail. “Uh oh. I guess it’s locked.”
“No problem,” Jax said confidently, and
pulled his lockpicks out of a side pocket. Sure enough, there was a keyhole
that had also been sealed with lead. He worked his picks for nearly a minute. “Um
… Tomas? Think you could help me with this?” The pair of them worked the lock
for another minute before it finally turned over with an audible thunk.
Laori again grasped the door handle and
pulled. The heavy bronze door swung smoothly, as though the hinges had been
freshly oiled. Inside was a small alcove, with another door on the right-hand
wall. Taking a deep breath, Laori said a prayer to Zon Kuthon, closed her eyes,
and stepped across the threshold.
She felt a momentary tingle, as if
passing through a wall of cobweb, and then she was inside. She looked back at
the others with a grin. “So far, so good!” But now came the true test. Jax
stepped up to the door. He wasn’t much for religion, but now he said his own
little prayer: “Calistria – if you let
this not kill me, I promise to visit six whores in a row once we get back to
civilization.” Confident his offering would please his goddess, he stepped
into the donjon. There was a moment of resistance, as if he were pressing
against a taut curtain, and he began to feel a deep ache in his joints, as if
they were being stretched and twisted. But in an instant it passed, and he was
safely through. He let out his breath and gave those behind him a thumbs-up.
The air inside the donjon was cold and
stale, undisturbed for 800 years. Laori carefully opened the other door,
revealing a short hallway with yet another closed door on the left. She and Jax
examined that door as the others filed into the donjon behind them. All entered
without incident – apparently the Shadowcount’s hypothesis had been correct.
When everyone was inside, Laori opened the door. Beyond it was still more
hallway that turned to the right just ahead of them. Looking around the corner,
Laori could see that it continued about thirty feet before turning again, this
time to the left. There was a door on the right where the hall turned, and
another right behind her, this one leading back west. Once she was sure
everyone was inside, she opened the door behind her.
Another short hallway that turned right
ten feet in. Immediately inside was a sturdy iron door, with a narrow window set
with bars. Peering in, the cell appeared to be empty save for a smattering of
moldy straw on the floor, so Laori made no move to open the door. She advanced
to the corner and peeked around. The hall continued for another twenty feet or
so, ending in a small, triangular closet, its door hanging open on broken
hinges. To the right, the hall appeared to open into another room, and Laori
advanced to try to see what might be inside.
It was an oddly-shaped room, the
sharply-angled northern walls apparently the seamless black stone of the Star
Tower. Partially collapsed cabinets lined the walls, and a circular black rug
sat in the center of the floor, caked with long dried gore. A huge creature
squatted on the rug, as if patiently waiting for something. It looked like it
had once been an ash giant, but the Curse of Scarwall had transformed it into a
juju zombie. At the sight of Laori peering around the corner, it let out an incoherent
moan and lumbered to its feet.
With a nod from the Shadowcount, Asyra
flew to see what trouble Laori had stirred up. When she spotted the giant, she
flew over Erin and Laori’s heads, taking a punch from the giant in the process,
and then discovered what Laori already knew: her spiked chain was far less
effective against this thing. Tomas followed, but stayed well back; however the
confusion of trying to shoot past all his friends caused his arrow to fly wide.
Jax, cursing that no one had the patience to wait for a good ambush, flew into the
room, unseen by the giant, and swung at it from behind, but also missed.
Erin continued attacking, but the giant
knocked most of her blows aside with its great fists, although one managed to
get past his defenses to open a smoking gash on his side. The Shadowcount flew
up in front of Tomas (further interfering with his aim) and did what he did
best: he opened a pit in the floor directly below the giant zombie. But the
giant had surprisingly good reflexes for such an ungainly-looking creature, and
it jumped into the air as the pit appeared, coming down with one foot
straddling each side of the pit. Laori dinged it again with her chain, but
realized that the tiny damage she was dealing was not worth the risk, so she
flew back out of its reach (although she took another punch in the gut as she
fled). The giant eyed the two foes facing it, side-by-side, and drew back its
fists to try to Cleave the pair.
Asyra deftly dodged both blows. Erin was not so lucky; the giant’s fist caved
in her breastplate, leaving her bloody and gasping for breath. Asyra scored a
direct hit with her spiked chain, and despite the giant’s resistance to poky
weapons, did significant damage. Wren, hearing Erin wheezing in pain, flew to
her side and cast Cure Critical Wounds to
try to keep her in the fight.
And not a moment too soon. There was
another door along the southern wall of the giant’s room; now that door opened
a crack and a Blade Barrier sprang up
from floor to ceiling along the southern wall, stretching into the hallway
beyond. Tomas, Asyra, and the Shadowcount all managed to flit to safety as the
spinning blades materialized, but Erin, cornered by the giant, could not
escape, and felt herself being flayed alive.
Tomas was in the air beside the Blade Barrier; Shadowcount Sial was
still in the path of his aim but the others were all below him. He fired off
arrow after arrow at the giant zombie, hoping the Shadowcount would have the
good sense to hold still as the arrows whizzed past his ears. He did, and all
three arrows found their mark. With a plaintive wail, the giant’s knees
buckled, and he tumbled down into the pit.
Jax was hovering over the pit. He’d seen
the door open just south of him, but had no idea who or what was casting spells
from behind the safety of the Blade
Barrier. Saying another prayer to Calistria (no sacrifice was too great),
he clenched his eyes shut and flew at full speed directly through the Blade Barrier and into the partially
open door. His goddess must have been pleased, because he somehow managed to Evade every one of the flashing blades
of force. He hit the door with his shoulder, flinging it wide, and continued
into the space beyond. Behind and below him was a stairway, leading down; ahead
of him was another short hall, with an open door on the left. Between him and
the door was a dessicated figure wrapped in crumbling linen rags. The mere
sight of it filled him with horror and despair, but he fought down his panic. “There’s
a mummy in here!” he screamed.
Erin heard him, but could do nothing but
scramble out of the Blade Barrier and
float by Wren’s side, knowing she desperately needed healing. The Blade Barrier had split the party – Nat,
Shadow, and the Shadowcount were separated from the others – and blocked their
path to the creature who had cast it. Unless they were willing to take the risk
Jax had, and fly directly through the wall of death, Jax would be left to face
the mummy alone. That seemed ill-advised to Shadowcount Sial, so he focused all
his concentration and cast Dispel Magic.
The whistling hum of the blades receded, and the Blade Barrier vanished.
That opened the room up, and allies
began rushing to support Jax. Laori was the first to fly into the hall, taking
a hit from the mummy as she flew past it to hover by Jax’s side over the
stairs. She recognized the creature as no mere mummy, but a Mummy Lord, and its
holy symbol and rotting vestments, woven of the darkest silks, marked it as a
prelate of Zon Kuthon. Shadow flew out over the pit to where he had a clear
view of the Prelate through the now-open door, and fired off a Lightning Bolt. The blast of electrical
energy enveloped the Mummy Lord, but seemed to have no effect on it whatsoever.
Asyra also rushed into the room, but her chain missed. Wren, feeling especially
brave, flew to her side, and swung at the mummy with her Thundering warhammer,
but missed badly.
The Prelate smiled an evil smile – they could
see that its teeth were filed to points – and took a step back, muttering as it
did so. The entire area – the hallway they were in as well as the room where
they’d fought the giant – were suddenly swathed in Deeper Darkness. No one could see an inch in front of their face,
although they were uncomfortably certain that the mummy had no such impediment.
Tomas flew forward, hoping to find an end to the darkness, but collided with
the far wall instead.
Nat recognized the spell at once. “Erin!
This calls for some daylight!” Erin took the hint. “Iomedae! Grant me your
grace this day!” she called, and her Power
of Faith blazed forth from her sword. As the holy light met the unholy
darkness, they cancelled each other out, and although the area was not bathed
in Daylight, a dim light returned.
Unfortunately, the light allowed Tomas to get his first glimpse of the Prelate,
and the sight of the Mummy Lord filled him with such despair that he was
paralyzed with terror.
As soon as the darkness vanished, Jax
darted forward. He was still invisible, and the Prelate had no idea he was
there until he stabbed his sword at him from behind; unfortunately it passed
through the mummy’s wrappings without hitting any desiccated flesh. The
Shadowcount flew to where he could also see the Prelate, and conjured yet
another pit beneath and behind him. To the Shadowcount's dismay, the Prelate simply hung suspended in mid-air above his pit. Shadow hammered him with a set of Maximized Magic Missiles and Laori tried to cast Silence on him, but the spell failed.
Asyra flew past him to swing at him from over the pit. Unlike the giant, her
spikes seemed to do full damage. Wren again tried to hit with her warhammer,
but her swing was so feeble that she realized this was not a good strategy, and
backed away.
The Prelate glared at the intruders who
had at last invaded this holy place. In a tongue that none but Laori and the
Shadowcount understood, he called upon the unholy power of Zon Kuthon, and Channeled a blast of negative energy
that washed over the entire party. And as the unholy energy sapped their strength, the mummy's own wounds began to close.
The PCs earned 6,400 XP, putting them at
307,768 with 425,000 required for Level 15.
No comments:
Post a Comment