RQG 199 - Rock and a Thorn Place

## Content Warnings

Undead & zombies, physical violence. Discussions of: human remains, rot & decomposition. Mentions of: death (inc. mass death), body horror, heights & falling. SFX: water sounds, roaring & growling, repeated thudding & smashing.

## Summary

Zolf creates an impromptu prison for the fossil construct as the party scouts ahead. The construct's noisy attempts at an escape seem to get the attention of creatures throughout the complex and the party tries to make haste when they find an ominous room with overgrown plants and too many zombies.

## Synopsis

The party starts to enter the building with the domes. Zolf securely ties a rope to some wrought iron filigree and levitates down through the open window dome window they found. Everyone else shortly follows.

Zolf explains his plan. He is going to cast stone shape twice to block the entrance to the room with the fossil construct so that they can go past without having to fight it. He plans to pull stone up from the floor to both make a moat on the construct's side and to create stone pillars that are 5 feet wide with 5 feet between them so that the huge construct won’t be able to pass through.

Zolf gets on the floor in front of the entrance to the construct room and does his best to cast sneakily. As he starts casting, there is a loud splash and a roar from the construct. Zolf sees that the construct is currently distracted as a shambler has approached it and the construct has punched the shambler into a wall, instantly killing it and destroying the surrounding hydroponics with a loud noise. The construct continues to pound the shambler's corpse until it's nothing but dust.

Zolf is able to shape the stone pillars without being noticed. He also spots another shambler in the room opposite the fossil construct, but it has not noticed him yet either. Zolf beckons for everyone to move and they try to sneak past. By fluke, the fossil construct looks up just as Azu and Zolf are visible between two pillars.

Hamid casts greater invisibility on Skraak and Skraak scouts ahead to a large and ornate set of doors. He also hears thumping from behind a smaller door to the north. Azu casts ironskin on herself and the fossil construct becomes noticeably agitated when she uses magic. The construct is briefly confused by Zolf's newly created moat and pillars but starts bashing against the pillars as everyone moves further down the corridor.

The shambler from the opposite room has heard the commotion and shambles out to investigate. It spots the party and charges at Azu but Zolf hits it twice with his glaive and kills it before it can attack her. As the fossil construct makes a ruckus trying to break out of its impromptu prison, the party starts hearing noises of more creatures throughout the building.

Zolf sees a big sign above the ornate doors that approximately translates to "the industry of genesis". Skraak investigates the room beyond the doors. It is a huge room with a very large dome overhead. All of the hydroponics in the room are wildly overgrown and there is an island in the middle which seems to have large amounts of machinery on it. There are tubes with lava flowing through them and there seems to be some sort of pit at the very middle. The island is also completely crowded with zombies but unlike the shamblers, these don't seem to be phasing or have blue veins, they just appear to be "regular" zombies. There is a large set of doors at the north end of the room and a smaller door at the south end.

Everyone moves down the corridor and Cel, Hamid, and Zolf enter the big room and start sneaking toward the northern door. The fossil construct continues to bash against the stone pillars and they start to break under its attacks.

## Quotes

**Helen**: "Nothing you can do can kill me in any meaningful way." (*Everyone laughs*)
**Alex**: "Challenge accepted!"
**Ben**: "Helen, no!"
―Helen tempts fate.

**Zolf**: "So I'm gonna take stone from the walls, which are made of- just to reiterate, made of stone I think, right?"
**Alex**: "Yes, that is a correct statement, yes."
**Zolf**: "Thank you; the universe. Right, yepp."
―Zolf addresses the fourth wall.
## Dice rolls & mechanics

* Zolf makes a Stealth check to sneakily cast stone shape: 15
* The fossil construct makes a Perception check to spot him: nat 1
* Everyone makes a Stealth check to sneak past the fossil construct: Zolf (11), Azu (5), Hamid (27), Cel (26), Skraak (33)

## Combat Breakdown

**Ongoing effects:**

* Skraak: +2 on attack rolls, saves, and skill checks from heroism.
* Hamid: +4 AC from mage armor.

**Initiative:** Hamid, Zolf, fossil construct, Cel, Skraak, Azu, shambler,

**Round 1**

* Hamid: Casts greater invisibility on Skraak and steps back a bit.
* Zolf: Moves along the corridor, ending up next to the invisible Skraak.
* Fossil construct: Moves right up to Zolf's moat and looks very confused.
* Cel: Holds their action.
* Skraak: Scouts ahead to the big and ornate doors. He makes a Perception check of 20 and hears thumping coming from a smaller door to the north.
* Azu: Casts ironskin on herself, giving her +5 AC for 10 minutes. She then moves along the corridor. The fossil construct becomes agitated when she starts to cast the spell.
* Shambler: Comes to investigate the noise, spots the party, and immediately charges Azu. It passes through Zolf's reach and he takes two attacks of opportunity, 29 (10 damage), 19 (17 damage). Zolf, Cel, and Azu have to make Fortitude saves as it dies and pops into a cloud of dusty rancidness. Zolf (22), Cel (12), Azu (23). They are all successful.
* Cel: Inserts their action and moves 30 feet down the corridor.

**Round 2**

* Hamid: Moves further down the corridor.
* Zolf: Moves down the corridor.
* Fossil construct: Tries to smash the stone pillars but does not get through. Everyone makes a Perception check, Zolf (27), Cel (27), Skraak (27), Hamid (20), Azu (13). Everyone but Azu starts hearing activity throughout the building.
* Skraak: Opens the big door and peeks in. They see a 30-by-30 foot horde of mostly zombies that are stood on an island in the centre of a large aquaponic area. All of the aquaponics are overgrown to the point of being difficult terrain and will cost double movement to move through. The horde of zombies seems dormant but is beginning to stir. Skraak closes the door again and describes the room to everyone.
* Azu: Moves down the corridor as there is the continued noise of bashing and thumping elsewhere in the complex.
* Cel: Moves up to Skraak and asks if there were any doors in the big room. Skraak says there was a small one to the south and a big one to the north. Cel starts sneaking through the big room toward the northern door.

**Round 3**

* Hamid: Moves into the big room and starts sneaking toward the northern door.
* Zolf: Also moves into the big room and starts sneaking toward the northern door.
* Fossil construct: Continues to bash the stone pillars and they start to give away.