Session 38 (Part Two): The party arrived in a chamber with a defaced statue of Heironeous with a Medusa Triumphant statue. Moving on they found a chamber with four pools. Looking closely at the medusa emblems at the bottom of the pools caused Ilmarinen to turn to stone. After being revived, the party found the doors out of the chamber were fake. Looking for secret doors they found one on the opposite wall and proceeded down a long corridor. They came to a door along the corridor which opened up to a massive domed chamber, peaking at seventy feet above the floor. It was painted with knotted geometric designs in muted reds and golds. Another Medusa Triumphant statue dominated the alcove at the room’s western end. An inscription decorated the statue’s base. The inscription indicated that a sword had to be placed in the statue in order for anything to be revealed. They found another chamber at the end of the hallway. The chamber’s twenty-foot-high ceiling was held aloft by pristine granite pillars. The walls were covered in murals depicting battle scenes, while a twelve-foot-tall aquarium occupied the west end of the room, framed in iron and with thick glass. Four elaborate chairs of carved mahogany sat before this water-filled tank. A great Symbayan rug of intricate geometric designs covered the floor. Front and center in the aquarium floated a bloated, unusually preserved corpse, its arms and legs shackled with chains attached to floor and ceiling, clad in an extraordinarily wrought breastplate emblazoned with the cross-eyed medusa, and bobbing in the green-hued water. The pommel of a sword protruded from the body’s belly. The floating cadaver’s dead eyes were wide open, and its black hair wafted back and forth, as though cast about by a gentle breeze. A bronze plaque, green with age, mounted on the glass above, read: “‘Then Let Them Drink’— Bartolomae Adella, 1196–1242.” A gilded bathtub stood to the corpse’s left, its legs great lion’s paws. Thick seaweed grew at the back of the tank, obscuring whatever might lie at the rear of this grisly aquatic display. After opening the tank and prestidigitating the sword, four disgusting omox demons attacked—essentially, pooh monsters. After their defeat, the Nathanial pulled a chest out from the seaweed and the party gained even more treasure. Using the sword, the evil artifact named Infensus Mucro, the party stabbed the Medusa Triumphant in the previous chamber and she attacked them. They defeated her and following the instructions that had been on the statue previously, sprinkled the ash from that first statue on a second that had appeared when a secret door descended across the room. The party were drawn into a vision of Bartolmae’s desecration of holy birds by drowning and his suicide. They also saw the death of Lucretia and the birth of Reginald II of Doran. Asmodeus became aware of their observations and sent devils to kill them. It was a nasty fight, but the party prevailed. In the alcove that had been revealed, they found intense shadows. Reaching in, Khavros found a rapier almost made of shadow. This called itself Skallon, and was the last of the eight items to fight the night of evil and the Hulks of Zuardinth. The party decided to give Infensus Mucro to Avarwen to place in the new vault at the Academy to keep it out of the wrong hands. Their mission at the Tomb complete, the party gathered the shepherd’s daughters and the bodies of his wife and son and left the tomb. Natalia made an enquiry through her cards as to whether she could raise the two people. Only one would be allowed: the mother. Given the circumstances, Natalia chose not to pursue that option. They returned the daughters and bodies to the grieving widower, who was grateful to the party. Ilmarinen then teleported the party into Avarwen’s office, startling her again. She agreed to throw Infensus Mucro into the vault for them. The party then went back to the Lion Sleeps Inn to catch up with Hanoris Dellum. They soon informed him of their findings and that the family was as accursed as rumor had led to believe. The more sensitive members of the party realized that Hanoris was faking his disappointment, and they soon got him to reveal (with a combination of intimidation by Vincent and diplomacy by Natalia) that he was actually Hanoris Zarger, Karl’s cousin and a spy for Berghof. The information they provided would be useful in the Berger invasion of Doran. The party informed Hanoris that they did not like being used, and if Karl Zarger wanted something from them, perhaps he should just ask. Hanoris conceded the point, then thanked the party and left for Berghof. The party levelled up.
Posted on: Sat, 14 Sep 2013 21:08:14 +0000