After some deliberation the party headed north to a crossroads then east to a chamber holding a number of alcoves and the young boy Thurann Kelfem who had been trussed up to a fountain. Searching the alcoves they discovered some enchanted platemail armour which Garig laid claim to. No sooner had he donned the armour, the sound of approaching footsteps could be heard. The party turned to face a group of ghouls and zombies shamble in to the room. The fight was fierce, however the tide turned when Garig and Ben loosed expert attacks felling the zombies instantly. With the zombies annihilated the ghouls soon followed.
The next room was dominated by a stange black sun mosaic on the floor. Ben felt that this mosaic was connected to the Shadowfell in some way and advised caution. Indeed, when entering the room the bright light from the party's sunroad became a mere flicker. Carefilly skirting the room the band headed out of a passageway. A series of cracks spanned the length of the corridor indicating the floor here may be weak. Crossing one at a time the group opened the door in to the next chamber.
They were greeted by an unnerving sight. Bound within some kind of arcane force field was what Ben identified as a Evistro (commonly referred to as a carnage demon). Warily, the group moved through the chamber, whilst the foul beast slammed it's body against the magical barrier in a bloodthirsty rage. Just when it seemed they would be able to cross without fighting the unholy monster, a pair of wererats appeared from a passageway to the north. Uttering the required phrase to release the demon, the force field was dispelled. Nalklyr reacted first, using his innate Drow ability to limb the demon in darkfire and following up with a vicious attack before retreating back down the cracked passageway. Enraged the carnage demon pursued him clawing him. The combined weight of the drow and the demon was too much for the fragile floor of the passageway triggering a collapse taking both Nalklyr and the Drow with it.
Melech rushed to aid the Drow whilst Garig, Grogar and Ben fought off the wererats. Taking advantage of the demon being half buried in rubble Melech and Nalklyr tore in to the beast as it rose to its feet. Sensing the desperation of the situation Ben moved to join the battle taking a nasty bite from a wererat in the process. He let loose with a psychic blast which downed the monster in a fit of agony. They quickly rejoined Grogar and Garig to finish the wererats off. Ben noticed that the wound inflicted by the wererat was oozing puss and would need medical attention.
After taking a short rest, the party headed down a long corridor flanked with stone pillars which opened in to a grand audience chamber. Seated at the two thrones in the centre of the north wall sat a emaciated figure dressed in robes beside which was a bleached bone skeleton. The robed figure lisped "Intrudersssssssss. Conssssume them!". Withe that several piles of bones scattered troughout the room began to magically animate and form into perhaps half a dozen decrepit skeletons.
Grogar belched forth a bolt of electricity which splintered several of the newly formed skeletons, and Garig charged in to the room convinced the best option would be to engage the undead mage and disrupt his efforts. However, as he closed to attack the creature unveiled it's horrific face causing Garig to stagger backwards several paces. Melech, Grogar and Nalklyr surrounded the large skeleton in an attempt to bring it down quickly, however as their blows connected there was an explosion of bones which tore in to the companions. The undead wizard flung a bolt of dark energy at Garig and whilst his magical armour absorbed the worst of the damage the unholy bolt magically held the warrior in place. Ben then summoned a sphere of magical fire which he mentally moved across the room toward the undead spellcaster, blasting several decrepit skeletons in the process.
During this time the rest of the band had been engaged in furious battle with the Boneshard and decrepit skeletons. The warriors pummelled the Boneshard skeleton with attack after attack until it once more exploded flaying all in the vicinity. Perhaps the battle had turned.
Although clearly pained by Ben's adjacent flaming sphere the undead mage uttered a series of arcane words and the Boneshard rose from the ground to once more wreak havoc. The Boneshard hit Melech with a claw dripping in necrotic energy. The wight then fixed Ben with a malevolent stare and charged him tearing in to him with it's vicious claws. Nalyklr reacted quickly dodging several sword thrusts from the ever increasing number of skeletons being summoned forth by the wizard he took deadly aim with his hand crossbow and hit the wizard squarely in the chest putting a swift end to his foul existence.
Meanwhile the newly risen Boneshard tore in to Garig, Grogar and Melech. Eventually Melech was overcome by the foul necrotic energy which had begun to decay his body and fell to the floor. The dragonborn paladin rushed to help whilst Garig held off the attacks to the Boneshard. Although Grogar could bind his wounds, there was little he could do to stave off the evil energy which was necrotising the warlords body.
Finally the battle was ended when Nalklyr's precise crossbow bolt struck the Boneshard, bringing forth the now anticipated explosion of bone. Garig dodged, however Grogar took the full impact.
Although there was nothing which could be done for Melech, Ben advised that if they were to take a small piece of his body, there existed a ritual which may be able to restore life to the tiefling and proceeded to sever the fallen warlords finger. A search of the area revealed a magical Fullblade mounted on the wall and gold and a much needed potion of healing under one of the thrones.
With Melech dead and the parties resources stretched they contemplated their next course of action. They knew their were potentially two captives left to rescue, however the latest raid on the dungeon would surely provoke some kind of reaction from the remaining denizens of the tombs should the party retreat to rest. Was it better to press on and risk all their skins or perhaps regrouping and taking any consequences might be the wisest course............
No comments:
Post a Comment