Session 6 - S1E35 - Voice In The Void

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Adryl Hestrom reveals trouble at the Blakros museum. Nigel Aldane needs help again.

Imrizade Blakros (daughter) went missing along with some watchmen.

Normally this would be referred to district guard. If we help him the society gets access to the museum, and the daughter recently arrived back with some ancient osirian artifacts.

Daughter was carrying a metal cylinder on her way back. She went straight to the basement muttering about whispers and old tapestries.

Nigel didn't hear from her for a couple days, sent watchmen, didn't return, sent more watchmen, didn't return, so called us.

Aegnor discovers that in the early days of Absalom, the building was constructed by Rosaros the Overwatch (mad astrologer). Speculation about how it was built. Might have been built to hide a secret artifact. Roasaros disappeared in a mage battle.

Aegnore discovers that the Blakros family is an extended clan. Beautiful daughters, marrying off making people rich and powerful. Dowries form Blakros fortune and collection.

Everyone loads up and heads to the museum, where we meet Nigel, and escorts us into the museum into the back room with the pyramid which has a door in the back. Door leads to a stairwell down to the basement. Brayden goes to look for dead things. Aegnor casts mage armor.

Basement

Descend into basement and pop in earplugs, pop out Ioun stone for light. Open the door to the left into a storeroom. We see the back of a large dead animal. Dancing lights illuminate taxidermied monsters and beasts. Brayden saunters in trying to animate something. A bear with feathers starts to shuffle forward. Brayden keeps advancing until he's right on top of the owlbear.

<combat num=1 enemy=Owlbear>

Round 1: Ash advances and puts away his stone. Brayden swings his sword and backs up. Aegnor steps up and casts Earpiercing scream and the owlbear takes 4 sonic damage and covers his ears, dazed. Pinchy steps up and hangs out outside of stomping range. The owlbear is cowering in the corner. Wulfbaella charges in mounted and drives Fang deep into the owlbear (10 damage), blood spurting from its side.

Round 2: Ash rolls up and single attacks for 5 damage, and the left wing of the owlbear goes limp. Brayden drops his longsword, pulls out his long bow and kills the owlbear dead with a crit through the gaping lance wound.

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"Bones of the past" sign, no humanoids to animate. No idea what animated the owlbear. We open the door on the Western wall. The room is full of boxes and crates. Plant with vines and yellow flowers is growing out of the center of the room.

<combat num=2 enemy=plant>

Round 1: Aegnor steps up and casts burning hands on the plant. Pinchy goes into flanking position and tries to pinch the plant missing. Brayden misses with the longbow. Plant reaches out a tentril towards Ash and releases a cloud of pollen, making Ash sneeze. Ash slices the tentacle clean off with his wakazashi. Wulfbaella lances the center of the plant cleaving it in two.

Round 2: Aegnor casts a ray of frost and turns the remaining plant into icicles, and pincy snaps off the icicle.

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We find a door behind the boxes on the Western wall over which "Archives - Private". Over the door on the Northern wall "Scriptorium, quiet please". We open the Northern door.

Columns holding up the ceiling, and Aegnor casts another dancing lights.

Scriptorium has East and West doors, 3 desks. Something slumped in the NW corner. Western-most desk has been used recently. The something looks like the body of a watchman, with its legs eaten away by an acid or flesh-eating agent. Mold on the body, lantern with spilled oil.

Brayden tastes a bit of the body's severed legs.

Who are you ? Hodd

What are you? Watchman

How did you die? Statue

When did you die? Last night

On the desk are books and scrolls Aegnor finds some passages that are underlined about the dark tapestry and the gate of beyond. References to a sorceror Kubburum Ishmedagan. Also references to Rosaros the Overwatch. Also finds a sheet of parchment beneath the desk written in Osiriani. Imrazad's notes! Sketches and diagrams of a large circular gate, and a metal canister covered in hieroglyphs. The canister is called the "Brain canister" with notes about how to attach it to the gate to open the portal. "The eye is always vigilant" is written at the top of the parchment.

We go back to the secret door and the door won't open. Wulfbaella pounds on the door with his flail until a small hold forms. We can see into the the room beyond and the floor is covered in fungus that is preventing the door from opening. The fungus is brightly colored and lights the room.

Wulfbaella holds a vial of acid through the door and sprays the fungus with acid. The acid melts the fungus. Wulfbaella amputates the hand of the watchman and drops the hand, and it sits on a fungus.

Brayden goes upstairs and talks to Nigel. He tells him the watchman is taking a shit. Brayden threatens Nigel and Nigel runs off. Hestrom shows up irritated. Nigel shows up with a crowbar. Adryl comes to the 2nd room and opens the door with his shoulder.

Ash sneaks into the room and a purple mushroom screams "Aaarggh!!!" Our earplugs save us all from that mushroom. Ash slices the mushroom, stopping the shrieking.

The room is an Archive, and the Southern half is covered in the fungus. Brayden and Aegnor feel some cold from a patch of brown fungus and take heavy damage. Brayden sees a depression in the fungus in the South of the room. He mage hands a book straight through the depression. There is a GIANT SHAFT with with a set of spiral stairs going down into the shaft. We proceed cautiously down the staircase (except Ash), and Pinchy slips falling into the center taking damage.

Cavern

Architecture has changes, cavern seems very organic. There is an archway covered by a black curtain with a pulsing green light emanating from its edges. There is a plain iron box in the center of the room. There is an "eye" on the box. Aegnor says "The eye is always vigilant". Brayden opens the box, and OH SHIT, FUCKING SPIDERS!!!

<combat num=3 enemy=spider swarm>

Round 1: Everybody delays, and Aegnor BBQs the spiders with burning hands.

</combat>

In the box is a small stone engraved with the image of a wide open eye.

The stone is a "stone of alarm" that was disabled with a password.

Aegnor sent pinchy behind the curtain and said "What the FUUUU!!!"

Ash snuck into the room and saw a sickly green magical glow and there is a dias with an arch with pinpricks of light shimmering through.

Aegnor tried to pull a green light off the wall, and it winked out.

We see a hot chick at the end of the room in front of the arch. Presumably Imrizade. Incredibly impractical and sexy Lara Croft outfit. Eyes completely black, attached to the portal with five umbilical cords.

<combat num=4 enemy=many>

One watchman standing upright protecting the woman, 2 other watchmen on the floor disabled.

The canister is attached to the portal.

Round 1: Ash delays. Brayden attempts to control one of the zombie watchmen on the floor and succeeds. Imrizade delays. Pinchy hits the standing zombie watchman for one point. Unfortunately undead are immune from poison. Wulfbaella charges and lances the standing zombie watchman, killing it outright. Aegnor tried to mage hand the brain canister out of the portal, but failed. Brayden's zombie friend melee attacks, and fails, evoking an AoO and took 1 damage. Imrizade misses Brayden's zombie friend with a masterwork rapier.

Round 2: Ash steps up to Imrizade's threaten range, but no AoO. Brayden casts Gravity Bow. Wulfbaella attacks the umbilical on Imrizade's right hip and does 10 damage, causing the umbilical to disconnect from Imrizade. Aegnor casts "Ear-Piercing Scream" on Imrizade and does 4 adamange and she is dazed. Dazed Imrizade attempts to cast spectacular colors, but then realizes she's dazed.

Round 3: Ash attacks the 2nd right tentacle on the right side and hits the tentacle for some damage on the 2nd right side umbilical . Brayden fucked Imizade but she didn't cum. Wulfbaella severed the right shoulder umbilical. Aegnor casts ray of frost and misses. Brayden's zombie friend hits in melee on the left shoulder umbilical. Imrizade casts "Color spray" on Ash and Wulfbaella and dazes them, both, for 4 rounds. (!!!!!!)

Round 4: Ash is dazed(1), Brayden misses, Wulfbaella is dazed (1). Aegnor moves and casts burning hands on Imrizade, burning the zombie to a crisp, and burning Imrizade a bit. Imrizade whips out a magic missle back at Aegnor for 5 damage. The umbilicals pulse and flow into Imrizade and close her wounds.

Round 5: Ash is dazed (2), Brayden moves up and provokes an AoO for 4, Wulfbaella is dazed (2). Aegnor moves into 10' of Imrizade and casts burning hands on Imrizade and tentacles. The flame chars Imrizade, and the tentacles are destroyed. Imrizade casts shocking grasp on Ash, but that provokes an AoO for Brayden with his long bow in meleee, which failed. Ash takes 7 damage.

Round 6: Ash is dazed (3), Brayden drops the long bow, drawing the long sword, provoking an AoO for 3 pts on Brayden. Brayden missed with his longsword. Aegnor casts his last burning hands on Imrizade for 18 damage, and Imrizade is "dead as a motherfucker". And she is completely toast.

</combat>

Wulfbaella pries the brain canister out of the arch using the crowbar from earlier. Let's get the fuck out of dodge.

At the surface, Nigel wants to know what happened. Aegnor explains to Nigel how Imrizade perished by unnatural forces, and returns the crowbar to Nigel. Hestrom is pleased that the situation is resolved, and that access to the archives has been restored. Word gets out that WE killed a blackros daughter? WTF?!? (we totally did) Through GMT, we work our connections to improve relations with Blackros family and they still don't trust us. We did not gain eternal hatred of the Blackros family. Lost 1 PP for killing Imrizade.

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