We were all standing at the bottom of the shaft that Oliver had opened, and that Dexter had burnt out. Black smoke still coiled off the walls and other contents of the room and drifted around. The stone trapdoor had been pulled closed above us and the air was dead still. The smoke was not dissipating, so we were trying to keep low and breathe shallowly. Bear was coughing, as his head was up near the ceiling.
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| The charred door courtesy of Dexter |
The room was square, about twenty foot to each side, and hacked roughly out of the rock. There were five barred gates into small cells along one side, opposite the shaft and ladder that we had just descended. On our left a closed and well charred door led off somewhere else, and in the centre of the room was the charred and smoking body of a large skeletal dog. The guard dog!
Myrtle was still invisible and she gave a little squeal from somewhere in front of the door as the electrical trap was triggered. An awful hullabaloo also started screeching as the Alarm on the door handle also went off. She had tried to open the door!
"Why didn't you ask us to check for traps?" yelled Ouzo over the screaming alarm.
"Too slow" replied Myrtle from somewhere near the door, "we can't waste ten minutes here"
"Well, I don't think there are any traps left now" stated Ouzo.
Scuttle was off poking around near the cell doors, so Ouzo slipped his lock picks into the keyhole and fiddled around.
"You've busted the lock too" Ouzo complained, stepping back from the door.
"Let me" puffed Scuttle as he hurried across from the cells.
Snick ...
A well lit passage lead straight off for about fifteen feet, where there was a four-way intersection.
 |
| Dexter's cat Cellar is scared. |
"Um, do you hear that?" Oliver asked.
"What?" replied Tu.
"Some kind of chanting, from up ahead there. Can't you hear it?"
The element of surprise definitely lost, we hurried up the corridor towards the intersection, Bear in the lead and itching for battle. Gillard was running hard behind him, not wanting to miss any action.
"To the left" yelled Oliver from the back, "definitely to the left."
"We shouldn't listen to him" muttered Tu, "he's one of them"
Oliver was feeling very strong compulsions to abandon the party and rush forward towards the distant chanting that only he could hear. In fact he occasionally started forward to do just that, but as he tried to push past the others someone would grab him, and he would "wake" up and return to the back.
Scuttle pulled the door closed behind him and relocked it.
"Just in case anything follows" he noted.
The three directions from the intersection all led off to closed doors not too far away. Bear turned left and rushed up to the door there. "I'm not touching it though" he stated.
Myrtle pushed forward and flung the door open. [Myrtle was visible again now. She is also a priestess of VINGT-ET-UN and has a seriously good saving through, against everything, on account of her high LUK stat. She also has a re-roll opportunity so she is the perfect trap triggerer when the party is short of time. Myrtle, or Debbie who is similarly lucky, but was currently prevented from such activities due to her Marmalade status.]
The door led into a very comfortable looking and well appointed Lounge room. It was empty, of people, but there were some nice comfortable armchairs and couches. Debbie slumped into one. There was one other entrance out of this room. A closed door on the opposite wall.
"Oh, look at that" exclaimed Scuttle.
He had noticed a very nice painting of Ophelia Treacle's house on one of the walls. Oliver walked over for a closer look, but of course had no spells except a few more Magic Missiles.
"Check this out" said Oliver, and spun the painting carefully by the edge of its frame. As the painting rotated through ninety degrees, a different picture appeared in the frame. He rotated it around a full three-sixty and it changed four times. Each ninety degree rotation revealed one of four different scenes.
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| The visible invisible warrior |
Dexter and Tu moved in for the next melee round while Ouzo sliped around behind. Bear and Dexter both missed, but Tu struck into the joint between the breastplate and vambrace. The fighter jerked back and Tu's sword jerked back with him. It was stuck in his armour. [Tu rolled a 1 followed by another low result that "missed", a fumble. Fortunately, or not, he then rolled a 17 on the fumble table, "Hit so well that your weapon is wrenched out of your hand, Loose weapon. Do normal damage." His damage roll was six, minus four for the armour, dealing two points of damage.]
As the tough fighter pulled back with Tu's sword lodged in his armour, Ouzo struck from behind and sliced him across the back. [Ouzo rolled a twenty followed by a "hit". A critical hit, with seven rolled on the critical hit table. One extra damage and ignores the targets four point armour reduction. Also a nasty enough wound for him to suffer minus one to the rest of his attack rolls for the combat duration.]
The combat went on for another few rounds, Bear unable to get a decent hit, leaving Dexter to wield the killing blow. Oliver did discharge a Magic Missile, but against four points of armour they are not particularly effective, so only one point of damage inflicted.
"Gosh" said Oliver, "I nearly shot that at you Dexter. I suspect that I will become an obstacle soon if something isn't done about this strange mental compulsion"
[Oliver was having to roll a saving through against magic every time he tried to do anything. A fail would mean that his will would be overcome by the evil emanations from MALECHAI, and he would likely act against the party. Or head off towards the room on the other side of the door to peruse whatever evil purposes MALECHAI had in mind. Not good.]
"Better lay me out" suggested Oliver.
Oliver took a seat in one of the other comfortable armchairs and Scuttle obliged, rendering Oliver unconscious. Scuttle looked up with a big grin.
"Wanted to do that for ages" he stated.
Oliver's dagger drops to the floor and and slides along the floor on its own. It scutters across to the door, where it lodges against the crack, vibrating and chattering against the door. It wanted in!
We wanted in too. The low chanting that Oliver was hearing earlier could now be heard faintly from the other side of the door. Whatever was going on in there seemed to be be heading to a crescendo. Myrtle flung open the door and steeped back. The fighters prepared for action.
Another dark shrine to MALECHAI. The centre of the room was dominated by a black stone altar. A body lay slumped across it, blood leaking across the top of the altar, and a huge shimmering figure of a women stood on the far side, her arms raised towards the roof, and chanting in some unknown language.
Oliver's dagger leapt forward across the floor and thunked against the base of the altar, splashing up a small wave of blood, which seemed to get absorbed by the dagger. It's vibrating could now be heard, a sharp and high-frequency humming.
The strange woman's chanting reached a loud finale.
 |
| A firestorm erupts from the room |
From the doorway, Dexter, Ouzo, and Tu fired off magical arrows. Only Ouzo hit.
Then the fighters rushed into the room to take her out, just as a massive fireball of flame exploded from the altar and blasted out of the room, through the doorway, and across the lounge.
Bear toppled back and fell to the floor unmoving.
Ouzo toppled back and fell to the floor unmoving.
Dexter toppled back and fell to the floor unmoving.
Scuttle toppled back and fell to the floor unmoving.
Gillard was already on the floor,
and the flames washed over her unmoving form.
and the flames washed over her unmoving form.
Debbie slumped further down where she was sitting,
in her armchair, unmoving.
in her armchair, unmoving.
Oliver was unconscious on another armchair,
and the flames also washed over his unmoving form.
and the flames also washed over his unmoving form.
"Umm" stated Myrtle, smoke rising from her singed hair, "I have no spells left"
"Umm" noted Tu, smoke puffing off his armour, "There are no more potions"
A quick check revealed that there was nothing left alive in the altar room, but that no one in the party had actually expired.
"Thank VINGT-ET-UN" exclaimed Myrtle.
Myrtle rushed across to the altar and tied up the body of the woman which was lying on the ground next to the altar. Tu then rushed over and stabbed her through the heart with his magic sword. Her body crumbled into black dust which swirled up into a shimmering column, hung suspended in the air for a few seconds, and then collapsed back into a pile on the ground.
"Shit" exclaimed Tu, as he raked through the dust and pulled out a hairclip, a dagger, and a ring.
Myrtle cautiously used a piece of cloth to wrap up Oliver's dagger and drop it into her backpack. It had stopped vibrating as the explosion went off, and wasn't looking as black and nasty as it had previously.
From the body of the fighter in the lounge, Tu recovered a key and passed it to Myrtle.
"Better get some spells back" suggested Tu, looking down at all the unconscious party members.
"No connection to VINGT-ET-UN" complained Myrtle, "No resting or spells possible"
They looked at each other, slight signs of panic dawning in their eyes.
"Let's try back down here" Myrtle suggested, heading back to the four-way intersection of passages and going left. Slipping the key into the lock, she gave it a quiet turn and eased open the door.
An unoccupied study, no other way out, and nothing of use to be found.
The door back into the original entry room was locked, and not by this key, no way out there.
The door at the end of the third passage was locked. The key didn't fit there either. No way out.
"Soooo ..." wondered Tu, looking at the painting on the wall of the Lounge.
The four scenes that could be revealed there included Ophelia's house back in Toluene, the Penstoke farmhouse where Hayley Price lived with her husband and two kids, the Ravished Incubus Inn at Trino, and someone's study.
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| The picture shows a study! |
"Where is that study?" wondered Tu, "I don't recognise it"
"Nope" replied Myrtle, "we have never been there"
It seemed the safest option. Even though we did not know what might be there, we did know the others were either destroyed or definitely had occupants.
"If I'm not back in five minutes" stated Myrtle, "Chuck everyone through and follow"
Myrtle set the picture to the unknown study, reached out, and touched the centre of the picture.
"Pop"
Tu nervously waited five minutes, and then started dragging bodies across to the painting, lifting them up and cautiously laying their hands against the canvas. He slung the splint mail, shield, long-sword, and other miscellaneous items recovered on various members of the party and sent them all through.
Giving a last look around the room, Tu laid his own hand against the canvas. "Pop"
Myrtle had appeared in the study depicted by the painting and had immediately touched the painting on the wall behind her. No effect.
The room was empty, and slightly dusty. No one had been in here for some time! Peering out through the window Myrtle could see a pretty normal street. A few small houses were visible across the other side of the street. And no people. It was daytime. Off to the left it looked like the outskirts of a town, and not much different off to the right. Myrtle was sure she had never seen this place before.
"Better make some space for the others" she thought, "Less than five minutes"
Then the unconscious started appearing, one by one. Myrtle dragged them across the study floor and arranged them comfortably in the recovery position. Once Tu appeared she was ready for a decent rest and spell recovery. Tu stood watch.
Some three hours later Myrtle was able to cast a full suite of Healing spells and bring everyone around. Still injured in the case of Bear and Ouzo, but all awake and alert.
Oliver was feeling anxious about his dagger.
Myrtle reported that it had been left on the other side of the portal.
The room was searched. Letters mentioning a bunch of familiar witch's names were found. The usual suspects. At least they were not here themselves.
The house was searched. Scuttle found some sweet smelling small bags, there of them.
"Don't open those" yelled Myrtle.
Too late. A small puff of powder and Scuttle's head vanished.
Fortunately it was just invisible, which caused much hilarity.
 |
| The mistresses red dungeon |
The customary cellar below the kitchen contained a well appointed mistresses dungeon! Red themed.
Which also caused much hilarity. You can imagine!
Dexter stretched out on the back of a couch, and literally purred!
More papers revealed that this was the home of an Elizabeth Winchester.
A name we had not come across before.
She had the coven symbol on the door so we added her name to the list of confirmed coven members.
Once we were absolutely certain the house was empty and not trapped, we settled in for more rest. Oliver and Myrtle undertook another full round of spell recovery.
Scuttle hunted out all the nocks and crannies, including a secret compartment in one of the desks.
A fancy looking letter opener and four vials of liquid. The vials were investigated and revealed to be two of Healing, one of Remove Paralysis, and one of Diminution.
Dexter and Myrtle ventured out into the town to see where we were.
Panma apparently. With a large REAL church and barracks.
Into which we moved after vacating witch's house.
We also hear that there is a magical wanted poster that has just appeared on the town guard notice board. An accurate likeness of Oliver, with a complete and accurate description. Five thousand gold reward. Report to Annie Wallace to collect. Another name we don't know.
The local master of the Panma Wizard's Guild (more a single room Bed and Breakfast place than a real guild) was so pathetic that he was unable to assist Oliver in his training, [Oliver was ready to advance to level three and needed a level five Wizard to "train" him.] so the party decide to move on to Gazebo.
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| Panma and its locale |
Tu figured the witches had fled from us to that location. "I told you we should have gone there first" he crowed.
We snuck out of Panma and took the two day joinery to Gazebo. While camped out overnight around half way there, we observe five-six humanoid figures that passed nearby. They were hunting for something, maybe us, but we let them pass. The rest of the night was uneventful, as was the next day. We did encounter a mounted patrol of suspicious soldiers just outside of Gazebo, but Oliver keeps himself hidden, and Ouzo doesn't speak,
"Why is he rolling in the dust?" askes their captain.
Sure enough, Dexter is laying down on the road and rolling in the dust.
"Touched" whispers Myrtle.
And they rode on.
We take a couple of rooms in an Inn and keep a low profile.
Oliver slips into the Wizard's Guild for his training.
Three uneventful days pass.
...
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