RC: No America Tue/Sun - Tomb of the High Sorcerer

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The Altar, having been pivoted, revealed its secret, a set of stairs leading down. Phineous pulled out his torch and lead the way downward. He was followed by Xalen, Pimm, Talia, and Pheldas, Calin and Nockien remained above to keep guard. They descended 10 feet came to a landing, descended 10 feet more and came to another landing, this one had a door on each side. Phineous managed to drop his lock pick through the key hole and into the room beyond, so Pimm cast Bull’s Strength on himself and tried to force the door. He failed but Xalen gave it a go and was able to get it opened. Inside the small room, besides Phineous’ lock pick, there was a statue of an unarmored dwarf, holding a hammer above his head in one hand. Xalen discovered a lever on the back of the statue, and upon inspection, Phineous figured it would raise and lower the hammer and possibly other things. At the request of Pimm, Phineous moved the lever, and the hammer arm on the statue was lowered until the hammer was down. At this point, a click could be heard coming from the base of the statue. The opposite door revealed a similar statue, except it depicted an armored dwarf holding a halberd slanted forward. This statue also had a lever. The party decided to leave this lever alone.

Another 10 feet of stairs and another landing with a door on each side. These two rooms also had statues. The room on the west had an unarmored dwarf holding a crossbow while the eastern one had another armored halberd holder. The two statues holding halberds were very similar indeed except that the halberd was held in a different hand, the first one held it in the left hand and the second one held it in the right hand.
Each statue had a lever in the back. The levers on the statues holding the hammer and crossbow had their respective weapons lowered, while the ones with the halberds moved the halberds from being slanted forward to upright. Pheldas remembered having read somewhere that Guards stood at a position of ‘attention’ when the lord passed, and this position was similar to when the statues held the halberds upright. He also noted that when the halberds were slanted forward, they looked as though they were blocking something. The significance of these statues was discussed for a time, and in the end, the hammer and crossbow were put in the lowered position, and the halberds were in the upright position.

Continuing down the stairs, they finally opened up into a chamber 20 by 20 with a support pillar in the center, a set of double doors on the east wall, and a passage leading to the south. The passage to the south was another set of stairs, this time 10 feet wide rather than the 5 foot wide ones they were coming off of. Phineous checked fro traps at the double doors, but found none, he also noted that they were unlocked and opened easily. Beyond the doors lay a passage 20 feet wide and over 60 feet long, with support pillars running down the center. This passage was well lit, having torches attached to the walls every 10 feet. Beyond the 60 foot point, the passage opened up. Phineous crept along the wall, checking for traps, while Pimm, Talia, and Calin followed. Pheldas and Xalen decided to remain in the other chamber. At the 20 foot point, Phineous discovered a set of pressure plates which he believed would cause the doors to close and lock. He could not disable them, but was able to point out a path to avoid them. Upon continuing further down the passage, Talia noticed two humanoid figures coming from around the corners ahead, each was wrapped in burial cloths. Phineous decided to retreat, followed by the others. Talia stumbled as she turned to leave, and hit one of the pressure plates, the doors slammed shut and the sound of the locking mechanism could be heard by all. They were trapped. Calin threw a dagger, missing the two guardians. Pimm attempted to turn the undead creatures, but failed, while Phineous began to fire his bow, hitting one. The guardians moved closer. Xalen attempted to force the doors open, but was unable to make them budge. Pheldas charged back up the stairs, looking at the first statue he came to holding a halberd. He noticed it was in the ‘Blocking’ position. Calin, having borrowed a sling from Phineous, hurled a stone at one of the creatures, hitting it. Pimm tried again to turn the creatures, but was unsuccessful. Phineous hit with another arrow. Meanwhile, Pheldas moved the lever on the statue causing it to return to the ‘Attention’ position. Hearing the right door unlock, Talia quickly opened it and ran out, followed by the others. Xalen, seeing them emerge, shouted up to Pheldas who quickly moved the lever back, causing the door to again close and lock.

The party decided to explore the stairs and passage to the south. At the bottom of the stairs, Phineous discovered a Pit fall Trap. This could be easily avoided by keeping to the walls. Pheldas figured the other two statues controlled the traps, and decided to test his theory. Returning to the statues holding the hammer and crossbow, he returned the weapons to the ready state. Descending the stairs, he hit a trigger plate, and was hit by a crossbow bolt while entering the 20 by 20 foot room. Phineous returned to where Pheldas was, and located the trigger plate at the bottom of the stairs. Jumping over it onto the stairs, Phineous returned the statues holding the crossbow and hammer to the down position, then descended the stairs again.

Each Party Member receives 100 Exp.

Both returned to the location of the pit trap, and Phineous skirted around the edge, carefully avoiding the trap doors, the others soon followed. Continuing down the hallway, the group came to the end, a chamber which was 20 feet by 30 feet. The hall entered on the northern wall in the western corner and there was a door on the east wall. Two pillars were located in the center of the chamber. After successfully picking the lock on the door, Nockien opened the door and stepped back. Behind the door was a room about 20 by 20. There was an altar located on the north wall and a Flesh Golem stood in the center of the room, motionless. While discussing what to do, Nockien, frustrated at the delay, walked into the room activating the golem. He quickly retreated out of the room, and the golem followed. Phineous retreated back beyond the Pit trap, followed by the others except for Pimm and Nockien. Nockien decided to fire an arrow at the creature before leaving, and Pimm cast sanctuary on himself. Nockien’s arrow was unable to penetrate the hardened skin of the golem, and the golem proceeded to hit, and knock out Nockien. It then moved up the hall. Pimm dragged Nockien into the room, and healed him. Meanwhile up the hall, the others were planning a surprise for the golem. Phineous had continued up to the room containing the statue holding the hammer, while the others taunted the golem from the other side of the Pit trap. When the golem was over the trap, Xalen called up to Phineous who pulled the lever releasing the trap doors. The golem fell into the pit and Phineous returned the lever to the up position, closing the doors.

Returning to the door, the others entered the room where Pimm and Nockien waited. Nockien noticed a secret door in the corner. Pimm discovered a holy symbol on the altar with an inscription on the back, in Dwarvish of course. Phineous discovered two traps, which he deactivated. He then proceeded to unlock the secret door, which slid open revealing a 5 foot wide passage. Following the passage to the end, the party entered a large chamber, in the center was a sarcophagus. Nockien checked the sarcophagus for traps and didn’t find any, but Phineous did. He was able to disarm the trap, and Xalen and Pimm slid the lid off.

Inside was the remains of a dwarf, wrapped in burial cloth. The figure sat up and began to speak. After reassuring that it meant the group no harm, the creature proceeded to explain that he was bound to answer 3 questions for each person who entered his tomb. After answering several questions for several of the members, the party left. Pimm, Phineous, Calin, Nockien, and Talia headed toward “The Forge”, while Xalen and Pheldas headed toward the Vergence, the former traveling above ground, and the latter using the sewer complex. Avoiding a small pack of reddish brown dogs, the main group arrived at “The Forge.”

Each Party member receives 600 Exp.


[This message has been edited by Baldak Oakfist (edited December 14, 2001).]

 

Nockien did not look at all like he wished he had a wrestler nearby.

 

By party consensus, this adventure is finished. The Tuesday/Sunday group will be begining a new adventure in my own custom world on Tuesday January 15th.