7th Day of the Claw of Winter (February): DAY THREE
The Stag King’s Priest Cemetery (19:00 pm):
A Wererat, where? Sir Ly had no choice but to use his ‘Ring of Shooting Stars’ and activate its Spark Shower. Sir Ly was then surrounded by 5 hungry, hungry Ghouls, while Vicross was protected for now in the Crypt of Ilmater.
Only one of the two Ghouls that had jumped down was up and was distracted by the ‘Continual Light’ sling bullet held by the ‘Unseen Servant’, which was in front of the largest Tomb. The other was down due to one as Sir Ly’s ‘Ring of Shooting Stars’ which had sent one of them to its Hell.
Sir Ly’s fate has been sealed as the undead creatures are drawn to him, Ghouls flock to the Holy Light that is The Paladin, and he must stand and fight for his life. Meanwhile, Vicross has a cunning plan and cast ‘Rainbow Pattern’ and is able to capture all of the Ghouls in the Spells area of influence.
All but one of the Ghouls is mesmerised by the glowing, rainbow-hued band of interweaving patterns emanating from the fingertips of Vicross, and that Ghouls was standing right in front of the Paladin, let battle commence. Blows are exchanged but the Paladin is the one who blows actually connect and the Ghoul is easily dispatched. Vicross concentrates on holding the Ghouls with his Spell.
Vicross and Sir Ly agree that the Ghouls should not be let free, to be encountered by our Heroes on the way back out, that they have not time to deal with the undead creatures at this point of the mission and that they should be held somewhere safe.
Vicross: “May I suggest that we can use one of those smaller 3 tombs to hold them until we return, what do you say Sir Ly?”
Sir Ly: “Yes, that is indeed an excellent idea. It may give them time to contemplate their past actions and prepare for the Holy release that my ‘Flametonge’ with bring them.”
Vicross and Sir Ly move back over to the 3 Tombs, Sir Ly checking them while Vicross holds the Ghouls with his Spell of ‘Rainbow Pattern’.
The Northern most of the Tombs is checked first by the Paladin and being a Holy Man was granted the strength to lift the heavy portcullis that protected the holy body within. Beyond the portcullis is an ornate heavy wooden door, Sir Ly try’s the door while clutching tightly onto his Longsword.
Sir Ly: “Vicross, the door is unlocked, I will open it and then attempt to reveal any Evil that may be within.”
Vicross: “I have your back Sir Ly.”
Sir Ly begins his chant of Evil detection, Holy Symbol in open hand and gesturing with the other. The Paladin can sense nothing and feels that even though there are undead here he feels this area not tainted, for now. Inside the Paladin find the following:
The Ornate Tombs stands near the centre of the North-West wall of the graveyard. Each has 3 marble steps leading to a closed portcullis, a heavy ornate wooden door behind which is a large stone Sarcophagus.
Sir Ly informs Vicross of his finding and Vicross asks the Paladin to move before he moves the undead creatures towards the now open Tomb.
Sir Ly: “Look, there appears to be a key in the back of the door, that is why it was open, how fortuitous.”
Vicross: “That’s is, the undead creatures are now within the Tomb, close and lock the door and pull down the portcullis to be sure, they can’t be let go.”
Sir Ly: “That is the plan, is anything wrong Vicross…”
Vicross: “No I’m fine, let’s check the other Tombs while we are here.”
The second Tomb’s portcullis defies the thewes of Sir Ly and is far too rusty to be move, at this time. Sir Ly moves onto the last of the Tombs, plants his feet and mumbles a quick prayer to Ilmater. The Paladin succeeds and lifts the heavy portcullis up and out of the way of the wooden door. Sir Ly tries the door.
Sir Ly: “It’s locked. I could kick it down.”
Vicross: “Yes you could kick it down but I think you are missing something that may be ‘Key’.”
Sir Ly thinks for a while but is none the wiser until Vicross points to the Paladins pouch, where the Key to the first Tomb was kept.
Vicross: “Try the Key that you already have Sir Ly.”
Sir Ly: “It works.”
Inside Vicross and Sir Ly find the same arrangement as with the first Tomb. Vicross and Sir Ly examine the Tomb for Evil and find none. They then move to remove the heavy stone lid of the sarcophagus to see what they might find within.
Inside the Sarcophagi was a preserved body in a shroud, the body is wearing a Necklace of Gold & Rubies and in the centre if its body it holds onto a ‘Mace’. The lid of the Sarcophagi weighs 400 lbs and has to be lifted by both of our heroes at the same time.
Vicross: “These items may aid us in our task, I say I will take the Necklace and you can use the Mace, but first let me check them for Magic.”
Sir Ly: “Yes, the Necklace may help to get into something further on.”
Vicross: “Are there any other items we may have that I can use the ‘Detect Magic’ on or any other area we may wish to check?”
Sir Ly: “Not that I can remember.”
Our Heroes just check the last Tomb and leave the open graves in the North-East corner of the graveyard and the Skeletons and other bodies by the wall in front of the largest Tomb, the Tome of Ilmater.
Vicross casts his ‘Detect Magic’ Spell on the ‘Mace’ and ‘Necklace’ and only the ‘Mace’ Glows with a faint glow. Sir Ly takes the Mace and Vicross takes the Necklace. The two Adventures then move onto the Tome of Ilmater and look down the large spiral stairs heading down into the stygian darkness that awaits them.
Vicross sends his ‘Unseen Servant’ first, while holding the ‘Continual Light’ sling bullet aloft and radiation 60’ feet all around them. Vicross makes sure to count the steps and he descends so as to better calculate just how far down he has travelled.
The Wererat Lair (20:00 pm):
At the bottom of the spiral stairs, some 250’ feet below the graveyard, Vicross and Sir Ly find a long 60’ foot corridor. At the base of the stone the floor and walls are covered in thick green moss. A single Door is to the North, at the end of the corridor and partially open.
Sir Ly tries again to ‘Detect Evil’, while Vicross still has his Spell active and ‘Detects Magic’ along the corridor. Neither Evil nor Magic can be detected and Vicross and Sir Ly continue towards the door, with the ‘Unseen Servant’ some 30’ feet in front of the two Heroes. As Vicross and Sir Ly approach the door they both stop to listen out for any noise from beyond the slightly open door. They can both see the thin tentacles of mists escaping from the room beyond as gently dissipating beyond the door. Vicross and Sir Ly hear nothing and the ‘Unseen Servant’ commanded to open the door by the Sorcerer.
Beyond the door Vicross and Sir Ly can see:
A 30’ foot wide, 60’ foot long room is beyond the door. The floor and walls are also covered in thick green moss. A single Door is to the West, hanging partially open.
Sir Ly tries again to ‘Detect Evil’, while Vicross still has his Spell active and ‘Detects Magic’ in the room beyond. No Magic or Evil can be detected by the Adventurers and continue once again by instructing the ‘Unseen Servant’ to open the Western door. The mist lays thicker on the floor. Beyond Sir Ly, who is in front of Vicross, can only see some 50’ or so feet, as the corridor behind the door heads West for 30’ feet then veers off at a 95° angle and in a North-Westerly direction. The 30’ foot corridor had two doors in the middle of it, one on the Northern wall and one on the Southern wall.
Vicross and Sir Ly continue towards the corridor, with the ‘Unseen Servant’ 30’ feet in front of them both and move towards the two doors.
Vicross and Sir Ly Continue to the edge of the corridor as it veered North-Westwards and from there they can see that there is a large hexagonal chamber beyond it.
The door to the South is shut, and our intrepid Heroes listen at the door. The Paladin hears nothing but the Wizard can make out the sounds of chewing on flesh and the gnawing of bones, then the tell-tale squeaks of Rats, Giant Rats.
Vicross: “Let us not tarry here long, we should move on and leave the Rats to their meal. We should check the larger chamber beyond.”
Sir Ly: “I think that it would be tactical to secure our rear and we should listen at the other door to the North.”
Vicross: “As you wish commander.”
The two lone Heroes listen at the door on the Northern wall and can hear no noise at all. Sir Ly tries the door and finding that it is unlocked open the door NEW Magic Shield that is still to be ‘Identified’, rose before him. Inside the Paladin finds:
Several long stone benches line the far Northern, Easter and Western walls. Bits of faded paint can be seen on the walls.
The room is empty.
Vicross: “I have a few more minutes of my ‘Detect Magic’ Spell let me scan the room.”
The Paladin Sir Ly steps to the side and allows the Wizard to look into the room. There is no Magic and nothing else of note to see in this room.
Vicross and Sir Ly Continue again to the edge of the corridor, sending the ‘Unseen Servant’ 30’ feet in front of them both and Vicross moved it passed an open door and towards the centre of the hexagonal chamber, while holding the ‘Continual Light’ sling bullet aloft.
This is a large, hexagonal, chamber with a vaulted central area and a circle of columns. The area outside the columns is 20’ foot high, with the domed ceiling inside the circle peaks at 45’ feet. A Skeleton is at the base of one of the Western most columns. To the North, a set of stairs heading down are blocked by a pile of rubble and furniture. The floor is shrouded in a layer of mist 2’ feet deep.
Sir Ly: “What can you see within Vicross?”
Vicross and Sir Ly push the open door back and peer into the chamber and try to check as much of the area that can be seen and isn’t blocked by the many pillars within.
Sir Ly: “Looks empty to me.”
Vicross: “Not so fast my fine warrior, I can see the arm, all be it a bony one, of a Skeleton on the ground behind the far Western pillar. And there is more look”
This is a large chamber with a vaulted central area and a circle of columns. The area outside the columns is 20’ foot high, with the domed ceiling inside the circle peaks at 45’ feet. A Skeleton is at the base of one of the Western most columns. To the North, a set of stairs heading down are blocked by a pile of rubble and furniture. Two door are to the South and South-West, while the door to the South-East is the way you have entered.
Vicross decides to slowly move around the edge of the chamber while Sir Ly heads straight towards the Skeleton. Sir Ly and Vicross look over the Skeleton and they can see that it had been here for many a year.
Vicross: “I will check the body to see if there is anything of worth or aid.”
Sir Ly: “Fine, but be respectful of the poor dead soul Wizard.”
Vicross: “That’s an Oxymoron.”
Sir Ly: “What…?”
Vicross searches the skeletal body and finds a pouch under it. Sir Ly, feeling unhelpful finally chose to look up into the vaulted central area and he slowness allowed what he saw to gain a slight advantage on him and the sorcerer, a Giant Spider is slowly raising its abdomen while clinging onto the inner wall. Vicross is alerted by Sir Lys Cry but the creature is 20’ foot above the Paladin and out of reach of his ‘Flametonge’. The Spider shoots out its Web but misses the lucky Wizard.
Battle is about to commence, Sir Ly choosing not to wait for the Giant Spider to reach him drops his ‘Flametonge’ and pull out his NEW ‘Elven Longbow’, that is still to be ‘Identified’. Meanwhile, Vicross moves anti-clockwise around the pillars to gain a better advantage on the Giant Spider. Sir Ly fires a normal arrow at the creature and he hits his mark, Sir Ly fires again and is successful a second time. Vicross acts and casts ‘Magic Missile’ now that he had a better view of the Giant Spider.
Sir Ly, having nocked another arrow, fired again at the heavily damaged creature and hits and it was all too much for the Giant Spider which elected to move back off.
But there is never a respite in any Dungeon, the noise of more Rats can be heard from behind our heroes, from the area of the room with the Rat eating noises. The wake of the Giant Rats in the mist being the first they see and they head directly for the Paladin.
Sir Ly elects to drop his ‘Longbow’ and draws his NEW Two-Handed Sword taken from the Death Knight, that is still to be ‘Identified’, as his ‘Flametonge’ had already been drop by him. The Paladin makes short work of the Giant Rats with his weapon allowing Vicross time to see how the middle Southern door had opened inwards.
Vicross: “Sir Ly, someone or something has opened yonder door.”
Sir Ly is too busy fending off the Giant Rats to hear the Wizard, but the Wizard hears the noise of more Rats, normal ones but hundreds of them and they are also coming from the way our Heroes had come from. Vicross hold waiting for more enemies to exit from the door while Sir Ly continues to fight-off the last two Giant Rats, as the swarm of other Rats approach. Sir Ly kills another of the Giant Rats but fails to kill the last one, which takes his opportunity and bites the Paladin. Likely Sir Ly, being a Paladin, is immune to diseases, which is another stoke of, St Cuthbert, Luck.
Vicross, seeing that nothing came out of the doorway, turned his attentions to the ‘Mischief of Rats’ that was apparently heading towards the Paladin. Vicross chose to cast ‘Glitterdust’ at the oncoming Rats, which most were blinded by the golden particles created by the Spell. 50 to 60 Rats were unaffected by the ‘Glitterdust’ Spell and continued on toward Sir Ly, eventually surrounding him and all tried to bite him as he recovered his ‘Flametonge’ and ‘Elven Longbow’ from where he had drop them.
Vicross: “Look there that is the door which was opened inwards, the middle of the 3 doors.”
Sir Ly: “I did not see it open.”
Sir Ly finds it hard to move over towards the door to the South of the hexagonal chamber due to the Rats and is slow to join the Wizard. Vicross send the ‘Unseen Servant’, ‘Continual Light’ in hand, into the area behind the open door and see that there is a short 30’ foot corridor heading South-wards and joining onto another chamber beyond.
Vicross Casts ‘Web’ across the hexagonal chamber, preventing the ‘Mischief of Rats’ that were affected by the ‘Glitterdust’ Spell from attacking them and keeping them blocked.
Sir Ly enters the corridor shutting the door behind him and then leads the way into the room, with Vicross behind him, the ‘Unseen Servant’ having been sent in first with the ‘Continual Light’.
Two rows of collapsed wooden pews are in the centre of the room.
Not being able to see over the top of the pews, Vicross and Sir Ly each move round the side, each taking a different path around the pile.
On the South side of this chamber a 3’ foot high dais stands. On the dais is a raised altar, onto of which is an icon of the ‘God Ilmater’. In the South-West corner is a closed door.
Vicross and Sir Ly move over to the Altar and search it for clues or items of worth and help. They find nothing of note and so employ the ‘Unseen Servant’, ‘Continual Light’ in hand, to open the door in this waiting chamber.
Vicross and Sir Ly can see with the aid of the ‘Unseen Servant’, ‘Continual Light’ in hand, the small room was empty, save for another door in the South-West corner of the room. Vicross and Sir Ly move in and Vicross notice something on the North wall, previously unseen from their previous position.
6 musty robes hang on a line of pegs on the North wall, and against the far wall are stacks of crates.
Sir Ly checks a couple of the top crates and finds that the crates contain ceremonial pewter plates, cups, and candle holders of no real value.
Vicross checks the robes one by one from West to East. Most of the robes are just old robes; the second robe has a hidden pocket containing a ‘Gold Medallion worth 300 gp’. However, when Vicross searches the forth robe, he finds to his misfortune that is infected with a Yellow Mold which he disturbs and it in turn shoots out a cloud of spores. Sir Ly manages to covers his mouth in time but Vicross is not so lucky and succumbs to the spores effects and falls to the ground.
Sir Ly rushes over to aid his NEW comrade but Vicross is in a deep slumber and the Paladin can do nothing to wake the Wizard. Sir Ly makes the decision to move the body of Vicross back into the previous room with the Altar and icon of the God Ilmater.
The ‘Unseen Servant’ is left behind since it was now longer under the control of Vicross, with it still holding the ‘Continual Light’ Sling Bullet.
Sir Ly: “I Wish that I could call upon you oh pious Ilmater to aid and revive my chum.”
Sir Ly felt foolish in asking for the aid of such a passive God like Ilmater and drew Strength for his own God, Saint Cuthbert, and the Paladin begun to plan his next move.
Sir Ly then heard the noise of a door opening coming from the South-West. Sir Ly knew that the door in the Robe Room was closed and it must be this one that had been opened, but by who or what? The Paladin grasped hold of his NEW ‘Magical Shield’ in his left hand and held forth his ‘Flametonge’ in his right hand and moved to the edge of the door in the Altar room and looked within. Sir Ly could see nothing at first, except that the door leads to another chamber.
Sir Ly, nervous to leave the Wizard alone in his current state, thought it best to investigate what lay in front of him, to allow him to elect his next course of action.
Sir Ly: “I think it is best that I make sure that there are no enemies in the chamber, I just hope Vicross will be fine where he is.”
Sir Ly begins to walk southwards towards the now open door and is greeted with a weak cry from within.
Weak Voice: “Help Me…Please Help Me.”
Sir Ly: “Who are you and what has happened?”
Weak Voice: “Beware, they are still here.”
Sir Ly steps into the room and finds the following, the room half illuminated by the ‘Continual Light’ Sling Bullet and now Sir Ly’s ‘Flametonge’:
Two large stone tables are against the South wall. Various rusty hooks, saws, picks, and knives are hanging from an iron framework, also on the South wall.
An iron tub lies between the two tables.
On the floor and crawling towards the Iron Tub Sir Ly can see a poor tortured soul, human in form which is very thin, a wiry individual of shorter than average height. His eyes constantly dart around, and his nose and mouth appear to twitch if he is excited. It also has a thin, ragged moustache.
Thin Human: “They are there, hiding.”
The emaciated human was pointing towards the South-East corner of the room, yet the Paladin could see no door or doorway. Sir Ly moved into the room and began to look at the wall, deducing that there must be a Secret Door there somewhere. The emaciated human was still making his way up and over the tub now resting on the south wall.
Then the Trap was sprung as Sir Ly was otherwise engaged, yet Saint Cuthbert or Luck alerted him to enemies, the Wererat, sneaking up upon him, some from the door he had just entered from and more from another Secret Door in the North-East corner of the room. Sir Ly was taken aback at first, by the Wererat, when he saw the manner of foes that assailed him, more than one Wererat.
They were Wererats; in Ratman form and they are somewhat shorter than the human form that fooled Sir Ly. The Wererat head, torso, and tail are identical to those of a common Rat, but the limbs remain human. Wererats rely on weapons for their attacks, preferring Short Swords and Daggers.
Sir Ly then succumbs to a mortal attack, PRIDE. The Paladin choses to fight that which destroyed his confidence and lead him into this fools trap, the lone Human Wererat, sheltering behind the low iron tub. This allowed the other Ratmen, or Wererat, the chance to all surround the Paladin, flaked and taken from behind vicar.
The battle of the Wererat went as follows:
Sir Ly was intent on first killing the lone Human Wererat and then he turned his attentions onto the other 4 armed and armoured Wererats. This meant that the Wererat fighters had the advantage of Flank and Rear when attacking the Paladin, as a result of which they hit Sir Ly more time than he would have wished for. Having killed the Human Wererat, Sir Ly now turned and faced the remaining 4 Wererat fighters and once again took several blows whilst he inflicted damage on his foes too. A slow and laborious fight insured with the Paladin taking as many hits as he himself dealt.
Sir Ly: “How is it that these pathetic creatures are managing to strike me with their Daggers and Short Swords?”
Slowly the battle turned in favour of the Paladin and not the Wererat fighters as he dispatched of the 4 Wererat Fighters but fortune may not have favours the brave in this case as Sir Ly sees that there are 2 more Wererats, armed with Short Swords, by the door he entered from and they were just in the act of closing said door in the face of the Paladin. The Wererat fights have the upperhand for now but will Sir Ly kill every Wererat that comes..
Sir Ly: “Vicross fear not I will save you from these Wererat Creatures.”