Enter the Void Hollow - Episode Two

== Summary: ==
"The Void Hollow," also known as the Endless Dungeon, was a tapestry woven from the remnants of ancient caves, fallen cities, and forgotten temples dedicated to obscure deities. Its halls whispered of a history littered with those who never returned and monsters that thrived in the shadows.
The dungeon was not merely a collection of corridors and chambers; it was an entire world unto itself, a realm where the very walls seemed to pulse with a malevolent life. There were secondhand accounts and a curious wizard's notes describing a place where dark fey drifts intersected with the remnants of lost civilizations. The dungeon's inhabitants ranged from lost souls unable to find their way back, to malevolent creatures luring unwary adventurers with hoarded gold as bait.
This place was a crossroad of the vast caverns, exiled fey, and fiendish domains. Legends spoke of dark fey banished from their realms, demons and devils trapped in a purgatory of their own making, and entire ecosystems thriving in the dungeon's depths. Six mercenaries navigated this living, everchanging dungeon, where every step could lead to fortune or death.
In this episode, the party explored the first floor of the Void Hollow, fighting skeletons. They ambushed an undead priest, set off a death trap, and found duplicating rats. Mr. T revealed a secret about his origins and Eisen repaired holy robes. Finally, they set off for the second floor.
== Mercenaries: ==
* Asher "Whiffle-Tongue" - Lizardfolk Wizard
* Eisen Mistburo - Human Cleric
* Eyalon Bogpyre - Deerfolk Sorcerer
* Gobin Glowstep - Halfling Druid
* Nwalmë Shadhavar - Shadar-Kai Rogue
* Mr. T - Warlock
== Adventure: ==
The party bunked down for a good sleep. They heard occasional bugs skittering, but no creatures seeming to replace what had been defeated.
After they got up, Asher performed funeral rites for the fallen Foultrappers and zombie lord. Aja saw that he was trying to purge the shadowtouched area. There was a lot of bad things happening there. In order to aid his endeavors, Aja blessed him with the magic of a Heroes Feast at his command.
Mr. T blessed carrots with a ritual of darkvision and gave them to Asher and Gobin. Asher thanked him for the aid and said the magic reminded him of something a friend of his could do.
Nwalmë suggested taking out the enemies on the floor so that they wouldn’t get ambushed on the way. Eyalon wanted to see the bone dogs in the area.
Asher led the way and caught the attention of a skeleton. He alerted the party to the encounter. Eyalon blocked one hallway with a Minor Illusion wall. Nwalmë cast False Life on himself. Mr. T prepared an Acid Splash and cast his Bubble Hex on Gobin.
Asher whispered a Mind Sliver at the nearest skeleton, keeping his voice down so that he wouldn’t attract the attention of other creatures. Then he stepped back down the hall. Gobin whispered to Nwalmë, “If you see something come down the hall, tell me and I’ll turn into something big.” He prepared to wildshape.
Eyalon cast Fire Bolt, but it bounced off the ringmail of the skeleton.
“What’s happening?” Gobin asked. “I saw fire.”
“Oh, just being myself,” Eyalon said.
The skeleton shambled into the hall, facing down Eyalon. Mr. T cast an Acid Splash. It missed the skeleton, but Asher’s eyes flashed; suddenly the acid covered the skeleton’s spear, burning off the tip. This set the skeleton off balance as it attempted to stab Eyalon, causing the attack to miss.
Eisen cast Bless on Gobin, Nwalmë, Mr. T, and himself. Mr. T cast Eldritch Blast and hit the skeleton. He hid behind cover, heading back down the hallway.
More skeletons entered the fray. They struck at Eyalon, some blows hitting, some missing.
Nwalmë dashed past the skeletons, taking attacks of opportunity. The first skeleton missed, but the second slammed into him with a greatsword. The hit stopped Nwalmë in his tracks. Nwalmë cast Sword Burst, hitting one skeleton. The skeleton broke into shards of bone, dropping to the floor.
The party heard hollow dog barks out in the distance. Nwalmë saw a corpse hound bounding into view.
Asher ran up to the corpse hound and tripped it with his Staff of Tripping, then used Green Flame Blade to burn it. The fire flared to the skeleton facing down Nwalmë and burned it as well. Then Asher ran back, casting Shield to prevent the fallen hound from snapping at him.
Gobin wildshaped into a giant goat and charged down the hallway. Eyalon hopped onto Gobin’s back. Gobin rammed a skeleton, doing critical damage and knocking the skeleton prone. Eyalon cast Mind Sliver on the corpse hound, but the corpse hound resisted.
Eisen cast Sacred Flame on the corpse hound, burning it. Mr. T cast Acid Splash on the skeletons, sizzling on them. One of the skeletons melted into a puddle.
The skeleton by Nwalmë lunged and swung at him, hitting him. Nwalmë pulled out his tonfas and smacked the corpse hound. He burned a death token to use Wails from the Grave, hitting the skeleton. He then used an off-hand tonfa attack, a glancing blow against the skeleton’s temple.
Another skeleton entered the hall and attacked Gobin, hitting him. The bubble hex absorbed the damage.
The corpse hound stood and bit at Nwalmë, but missed. Asher cast Mind Sliver on the hound and shattered its mind, causing it to reel in pain.
Asher looked behind him and asked, “Am I in anyone’s way?”
“You’re in my way, and I love the view,” Nwalmë said.
Asher chuckled and remained where he was.
Gobin the goat rammed a skeleton and smashed it to bits. He tried to maneuver around another skeleton but it struck him with its sword, halting his advance.
Eyalon cast Wither and Bloom, healing Nwalmë and sucking the necromantic life from the skeletons.
Eisen cast Sacred Flame on the hound. With a snap, crackle, and pop of holy fire, the dog yelped and became purified, falling defeated.
Mr. T cast Eldritch Blast and hit the last remaining skeleton. The skeleton in turn attacked Gobin and Nwalmë, hitting both. The bubble hex negated Gobin’s hit, but the greatsword cleaved Nwalmë.
Nwalmë tried to hit the skeleton with a tonfa, but missed the first attack. Undeterred, his second attack hit, dealing massive damage and dropping the skeleton to the ground.
The fighting done, the party saw broken doorways and a collapsed stairway headed down. The drop to the next level was thirty feet. The doorways were painted with skulls in black paint. There were also the remnants of Foultrapper supplies.
Gobin dropped his wildshape and investigated the bags. He found ten bottles of wine, three hunting traps, six cages, one large cage, seven portable battering rams, and a bag of treasure. There was also a golden tiara set with gems worth sixty ounces of gold, a platinum brooch set with gems, and a silver bracelet.
Mr. T found a dried font for holy water and broken pews. Asher saw the statue to Avadon which Maahes had earlier spied. He realized that there had been a shrine to a different God there, but that it had been desecrated and replaced with a monument to Avadon. He felt righteous indignation.
Nwalmë looked ahead for traps but didn’t notice any. Mr. T looked over the font of holy water. He felt something sinister coming from the statue and saw a glint of garnet for its eyes. He cast Acid Splash to melt the face of the statue. As he picked up the garnets, he felt a strange sense of foreboding. He dropped the garnets in a flask of holy water. The looming feeling didn’t go away, but he decided it was the room unnerving him and nothing more.
“I would urge you to be careful of desecrating the shrine of Gods,” Asher said, “but I must be honest. If you did not, I would have.”
Ahead of them, they saw a skeleton resting atop a stone dais. Nwalmë checked that room for traps.
Mr. T noted that a dagger was embedded in the sternum of the skeleton. Nwalmë wiggled the dagger around and got it out. He started violently shaking, pretending to be harmed. Mr. T Prestidigitated sparks in Nwalmë’s face to snap him out of it.
While the two were playing, the skeleton began to sit up. It grabbed at Nwalmë, grappling him. Mr. T chuckled.
Asher cast Vortex Warp to pull Nwalmë out of the skeleton’s grasp. Mr. T and Nwalmë cast Chill Touch at the same time, missing the skeleton but high-fiving over it. Mr. T ran back around the corridor behind Asher.
Eisen moved close and yelled, “I’m terribly sorry Sir, we didn’t mean to disturb you.” He cast Sacred Flame, but the skeleton dodged.
Gobin pulled out his Wand of Smiles and aimed at the skeleton. The skeleton resisted.
The skeleton whipped out multiple blades from the dais and moved up to Asher. Because he hadn’t attacked it, the skeleton ignored him and instead slashed Mr. T and Gobin. Gobin’s bubble hex absorbed his blow.
Eyalon used his Tides of Chaos and cast Fire Bolt, hitting the skeleton.
Asher reached back his hand and asked Nwalmë for the dagger, but Nwalmë refused to give it. Instead, Asher knocked the skeleton prone and hit it with Green Flame Blade. Then he ran, taking a raking blow across the back.
Mr. T backed up and cast Eldritch Blast, missing horribly. He almost hit Nwalmë, but the Shadar-Kai dodged out of the way. Nwalmë then ran up to the skeleton and thwacked it with his tonfas.
Eisen cast Sacred Flame, burning the skeleton.
Gobin wildshaped into a constrictor snake. He wrapped around the skeleton, grappling it.
The skeleton stabbed Gobin, poking him twice. Eyalon moved closer and cast Chaos Bolt. His wild magic surged, causing lightning to arc from him. The lightning plunged into Gobin, evaporating his wildshape; it shot into the skeleton, causing it to explode; and then it looped back around into Eyalon, wracking him with electricity. He fell to the ground, unconscious.
Gobin was indignant. “Why?” he yelled, which was a Healing Word cast on Eyalon. Eyalon gasped as he regained consciousness and started coughing.
With the battle over, Asher checked out the dagger, discovering that it had properties that could let it shoot Magic Missiles. Nwalmë offered it to whoever wanted it, but when no one took it, he added it to his dagger collection.
The party found a second sarcophagus farther into the corridors. It had a wax seal keeping it shut. Asher cast Detect Magic and didn’t notice any magic in it. Just as Asher flexed his muscles to lift the lid, Nwalmë slammed his hand on it and told him that there was probably poisonous gas in it. Asher swallowed hard and moved his hands away.
Deciding the party needed a way to open the sarcophagus without being near it, Mr. T gathered piles of rubble while the rest of the party hid away. Mr. T chanted:
“Breath the magic that's in the Air
Feel the warmth of Fires flare
The Waters crash on every shore
The Earth below your tomb no more
And though you've never been alive
Your body starts to shiver
For no mere element can resist
The power of the summon'r.”
Three golems rose from the ground. Asher immediately stiffened, recognizing the magic of his friend, Tar’ren. Mr. T noted his face and hushed him; there would be time for questions later.
The party let the golems open the sarcophagus. Gas flooded out. One of the golems pulled out skeletal remains and plopped it in front of Mr. T. The skeleton looked like a noblethem. The leg bone had two distinct grooves as if something had bitten it. Eyalon thought it was a leg vampire that bit it. Gobin thought it was a snake bite.
There was a ring on the skeleton’s finger. Mr. T took the ring and showed it to Asher and Nwalmë. The ring looked like a long mouse wrapped around itself. Asher identified it as a Mongoose Ring, which improved a person’s initiative but made them the target of snakes. Eyalon thought the benefit was worth the cost and took the ring. Gobin meanwhile took the bitten leg bone from the skeleton.
The party went down an eastern path and saw sarcophagi and a glint of gold. Nwalmë was sure that the skeletons would pop out of the sarcophagi as soon as they messed with the gold. Mr. T gathered his golems to block the way while the party searched another corridor.
On a wall, the party saw a mosaic of a priest’s life. In front of the mosaic was an ornate sarcophagus. It looked like there was a fight in the room. The sarcophagus was positioned as if the lid had been pulled down on itself.
Asher’s Detect Magic could see that there was something in the sarcophagus. Sensing an ambush, the party prepared themselves. Eisen Blessed Eyalon, Gobin, and Mr. T, along with himself. Eyalon cast Melf’s Minute Meteors. Gobin cast Conjure Animals to summon four giant goats. Asher prepared a Psychic Lance while Eyalon prepared a Fire Bolt.
The goats slammed against the sarcophagus, popping it open. A perturbed rotten priest rolled out into the fire of Eyalon’s Fire Bolt and Asher’s Psychic Lance. While it lay there, stunned, Nwalmë smashed into the skeleton, crushing it.
The golden sarcophagus looked like it was worth a small fortune. The priest’s garments meanwhile looked like they could have magic if they were repaired. They were damaged Vestments of Holy Might. Asher undressed the skeleton and stuffed the robes in his pack so that Eisen could repair them later.
The party prepared to perform funeral rites for the dead.
Along the south path, Nwalmë saw pressure points and smelled oil. It was a death trap. Mr. T sent one of his golems in to take on the brunt of the trap. Fireballs launched, obliterating the golem. The wooden sarcophagi were burnt to a crisp, revealing that they were empty.
Mr. T sent another golem into the hallway. He opened the stone sarcophagus and pulled out a rusty halberd attached to an arm.
The party went down a final hall. Nwalmë was so stealthy that he didn’t trip any of the tripwires along the path. He saw spears nestled in nooks. Through the darkness Nwalmë saw a small rat that hadn’t noticed him. On another branch he saw a large constrictor snake. Nwalmë drew his bow and steadied his aim. He shot the snake, killing it. The rat let out a panicked squeak. The rat duplicated itself into four.
Nwalmë realized that the rat was a doppelrat which could give people a degenerative cloning disease. He cast Invisibility on himself and ran away. He told the group what he had found.
Deciding that the floor was as explored as they safely could, the party rested and prepared to enter the second floor. Eisen repaired the Holy Vestments of Might. They were silk dyed dark red and purple with gold thread woven through it. He consecrated the vestments to Lianda. The vestments could double the duration or number of targets for Aid, Bless, and Protection from Good and Evil, and it made undead more likely to be turned.
The party used a rope to descend to the second floor. The new floor looked like a house with wooden floors and windows. Eyalon called it the Void Hollow Tavern.
In the distance they saw a blue-eyed ghoul gnawing on a severed limb.
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Enter the Void Hollow - 02