PCs
1.(Judith) Aeshma, lvl 6 Kalayan Sacred Slayer of Mithra (h-f), Swashbuckler Rogue-3/Fighter-1/Warlock-2.
2.(Matt) Finnris, lvl 5 Dhari Outcast of the Narthan Highlanders (h-m), Slayer Barbarian-5
3.(Bill) Vorstag Iceslider, the Frost Giant's Son, lvl 5 Goliath Ice Reaver of the Tjokren Glacier (g-m), Assassin Rogue-4>5
4.(Jack) Zérda “The Defier” of House Saväschu, lvl 5 Atlantean Noble of Katagia (h-m), EK Fighter-4>5
5. (Hasnah) Lu, lvl 2 Hurgan Elk Rider & follower of Mithra (h-f), Barbarian 1>2
The Cult of the Broken Gate
Minutes after leaving the Sedarnel Palace, Aeshma notices a Hurgan barbarian, Lu, who has been staying at the Temple of Mithra and invites her to come with us as the prospect of fighting unnatural flying apes will likely mean we need more swords.As the Palace of the Golden Minotaur is adjacent, Zerda decides to pay a visit to Prince Dredan Taroth who, it turns out, is expecting him. Prince Dredan has managed to get Zerda added to the guest list of the next Royal Ball so he will finally be able to meet the Queen. He and Vorstag speak with the Prince while the rest of us go to the kitchens to eat.
It is pointed out that as there is still blood from whatever kidnapped Metira on a broken shard of window glass, whatever it was is corporeal, not otherworldly. When Zerda mentions Metira’s movements over the past two days, visiting the Quosa Bourse and the Hall of the Broken Gate, the Prince compares the “self-improvement group” based there with a cult…
Leaving the palace, Filigree reports that while talking with the Prince’s staff he heard word of a small villa to rent: 100gp/month or 1000gp/year. We decide to follow this up later as the deal on our current accommodation will last only another week.
The following day we plan to go to Hall of the Broken Gate, but as the Quosa Bourse is on the way, we decide to visit it en route. It is a cluster of high class shops with a back courtyard which is currently a building site. Zerda goes to enter the perfume shop, but Aeshma grabs his collar and pulls him back as she picks up the scent of jasmine coming from the building site. Moving closer reveals a wide pit spanned by a few unsecured beams.
She sneaks forward along with Vorstag and Finnris, but the two flying apes lurking in the pit are preternaturally aware and wake as we approach, red eyes gleaming in the murk of the Long Night. Between us we attack them with spells and thrown axes, while Finnris manages to dislodge the beams and drop them down onto the apes. Bloodied and angry they emerge to fight us, but we are finally able to defeat them.
The startled Perfumier gives Zerda a Perfume of Bewitchment in thanks while he questions her about her supplier of jasmine and wonders at her links to Ahreb Gluor, the spice merchant, as well as Prince Dredan. She also mentioned that often when Metira visited she would go out to the building site alone, leaving her guard in the shop. The Perfumier assumed it was a secret assignation.
At the same time the rest of us investigate the pit. Vorstag notes the smell of jasmine in the pit is cruder than the fine jasmine perfume Metira favours, and guesses that the apes had been trained to follow that scent to enable them to kidnap Metira. At the bottom of the pit is an entrance into the sewer storm drains. Aeshma investigates and almost immediately spots graffiti in the form of a red blood drop above a painted skull above a heart. This graffiti is repeated elsewhere as we follow the line of the sewer south – in the direction of the Hall of the Broken Gate.
We walk for about thirty minutes until the tunnel ends at a solid stone door which has five symbols embossed on the stone: a skull, a lightning bolt, a heart, a droplet, and a flame. Deciding that the graffiti was a clue we decide to press the droplet, then the skull, then the heart. Recalling last time a trapo went off in the Ziggurat of Meng, Zerda activates the Cube of Force to protect himself and Finnris while the rest of us retreat down the tunnel.
This time our caution proves unnecessary as the doors open to reveal a strange cave. A wide red-tinged pool blocks our progress with three rocky islands in it like widely spaced stepping stones. Weird red fungus drips from the ceiling turning into puffy fungus foam in the pool. Using Aeshma’s 6’ staff we test the pool – it seems to be about 1’ deep at the edge and the staff is undamaged, but when we test the ceiling, the red fungus starts hissing when it touches the staff only to be extinguished when the staff is dipped into the pool.
As the walls of the cavern are quite rough and there appears to be less fungus around the edges of the ceiling Aeshma decides to try to cross the room by climbing along the wall. Unfortunately she misses her grasp halfway around and for the time being cannot continue, but that is when the creatures in the pool awaken.
Foul amorphous blobs move towards us, one on Aeshma and the others heading for the group at the entrance. Aeshma is nimble enough to get to the platform far side of the pool before it can attack her, but as they close with us their insane babbling throws off our sense of reality while their spittle blinds several of us. Clearly affected by their abberant nature, the ground around them starts to warp and soften making it hard for us to keep our feet.
Finnris and Zerda move into the pool to attack them but are hindered by the creatures’ discombobulating attacks. Vorstag employs hit and run tactics to keep out of their range while Aeshma, calling on Mithra’s power, blasts them from the far side of the pool. Eventually we are victorious but both Finnris and Zerda are badly wounded so we decide to rest.
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