In the Tombs of The Toad Worshippers
sessions home previous session next session email
Party at the start:
Cullen De Filch (Chris; Human Rogue)
Mace Blackstar (Mike D.; Human Fighter)
Wilbered The Silent (Bob S., Human Cleric)
Castor Bean (Steve B; Human Bard)
Trygvie (Steve G.; Elven Wizard)
Kane (Al G.; Human Monk)
Geia (NPC; Human Fighter)
Last session had ended with the Cullen, Mace, Wilbered, Castor, Trygvie, Kane and Gaia all in a small cavern filled with broken coffins and the remains of the dead. There was a large double doors in the south wall that looked as though it hadn't seen much use in the past 100 years. They had just defeated a small band of undead guardians (skeletons and rotted zombies) and had found a magic shield (eagerly claimed by Wilbered) and a magic spear (snatched up by the bard). The bard noticed the word "agni" engraved on the spear, so he grasped the spear and said the magic word. The tip of the spear was instantly bathed in magical flame.
The players got out
their weapons and prepared to go through the double doors to the
west. Cullen carefully checked the lock for traps and thery
opened a door,. revealing a stinking, crumbling room. Mosaics
portraying the Toad God, toads and worshippers were crumbling from the
walls. The center of the room was dominated by a long, narrow
pool filled with what looked like a thick, scummy green liquid.
Six undead and feral looking humanoids snarled and came at them,
intending to rend with claws and teeth. Wilbered used his last
"turn dead" ability of the day and three of the ghouls disintigrated
while the fourth fled to the far end of the chamber. Two of the
creatures, however, were apparently ghasts --- they shrugged off the
cleric's prayer and attacked, emitting an odor that sickened several of
the party members.
Although the ghasts fought fiercely, the players managed to defeat them in a few rounds. The ghoul who fled went through a second set of double doors at the far end of the room and the party followed. Trygvie stopped to drop a dried fishman hand (a grisly trophy of his days in Marshville) in the slime in the pool. The slime appeared to dissolve the hand. Trygvie attempted to scoop up some of the slime with a copper plate he had plundered from the goblins, but it dissolved that as well.
The palayers followed the Ghoul through the westernmost double doors and found themselves standing in the enterance to a square room filled with three large stone sarcophagi carved with the by now familiar Frog motif. Pillars in the corners held up the cieling. An unmoving human skeleton stood with it's back against both the north and the south walls -- a glass globe filled with some sort of cloudy mist was held up by both skeletons. The lone ghoul turned upon them with a snarl as a ghostly shape of a shadowy figure dressed in robes rose through the lid of the coffin in the center. The ghostly figure gestured and croaked at them in an unknown tongue and suddenly the coffins on either side opened, as if the lids were pushed off from inside. Two creatures that looked like dry, decayed corpses wrapped in linen bandages sat up in the coffins. The wraith-like figure gestured towards the players and said, "Destroy them!."
Gaia seemed to be paralyzed with fright at the sight of the undead creatures but the rest of the party was unaffected. Mace advanced into the front and unsheathed Darkcleaver, his sword, as the Bard and Kane took up flanking positions. Cullen dodged around the door and headed towards the skeleton with the glass globe that stood against the north wall as Mace and Castor cut down the ghoul. Cullen smashed the glass globe with his sword and a wave of negative energy cut across the room --- killing Cullen instantly and wounding all of the heroes within range but healing all of the undead. The ghoul that Mace had just cut down leapt back up and resumed his attack.
The battle seemed to be going against the heroes. If Wilbered and Castor hadn't used the last of their healing spells, Mace would have fallen for sure and without their fighter it is likely that the mummies would have prevailed. The wraithlike figure drained some of Gaia's CON with his touch. Most of the attacks seemed to pass right through the wraithlike figure without harming him. Kane the monk struck at one of the mummies with his fists, felt the cold flesh of the undead beneath his hands and then unsheathed his matched kamas for the next attack. The ghoul attempted to run over to the skeleton against the south wall, presumably in order to shatter the second glass globe and release a second wave of negative energy, but an attack of opportunity from the Bard's spear finished him off. Castor pulled the last remaining globe from the skeleton's grasp in order to avoid having it shatter and release the pulse of negative energy. The mummies were cut down next and the wraith howled with frustration as he was finally destroyed.
The characters began to bind their wounds and check out the room. The crumbling remains of the mummies yielded only dried bones, linen bandages and dusty remains which the cleric stirred through. Other than some small, worthless looking amulets, there was nothing else of note there. The sarcophagus of the wraith was still sealed --- with some trepidation, the heroes knocked the lid off of the coffin while they redied holy water flasks. Inside they found an ancient dried corpse dressed in dusty robes and a copper mark that bore a resemblance to the wraith they had destroyed earlier. In his bony hands they saw an idol of the toad god; about the size of a fist, carved from a single large green gemstone. Coins, wealth and other objects he might need on the other side were piled in the tomb as well. 735 gold pieces, a small emerald, a shield, a wand and a scroll were found in the coffin. A plain looking iron sword, sheathed in a red leather scabbard decorated with hawks, was also lying under the corpses feet -- a trophy of a conquered enemy, no doubt.
When Mace unsheathed the sword, he saw silvery letters upon the blade. The bard surmised that these were writings in the celestial language but no one present could read them. Suddenly the ghost of Tayleen, the ancient Paladin of Muir who had been killed in the dungeon so long ago, appeared again and thanked them for retrieving her sword. She urged them to travel south, to the village of Nudlo, where she believed that Mace could learn more about his adopted Goddess, Muir. Since she had been dead a hundred years she was unable to offer much in the way of specifics, however.
After Tayleen faded from view, the players spiked shut the doors and rested. Nothing came to disturb them in the night. After they had recovered spells, healed and rested, they unsealed the doors and went forth again. They left the corpse of Cullen De Filtch, their former comrade, in the room. Determined to find the lost key of One Ear, they headed west back towards the enterance to the catacombs. They took an unexplored branch and this led to a room with a large toad painted on the wall. As soon as Mace entered the room to explore a likely looking tunnel on the other side of the room, the painting on the wall came to life as a large stone construct in the form of a toad leapt out and slammed into him. The party surrounded the statue and battered it into rubble, but not before it had inflicted some damage on the group.
A large alcove was now left in the wall -- the spot in the wall from which the attacking toad statue had left. Searching the alcove, they found a hidden stone door. When Kane opened the door he saw a downward sloping tunnel filled with water that had finger and toe holds carved in the wall. They surmised that it sloped down into one of the flooded tunnels and left it at that.
Another twisting tunnel led further west. This tunnel suddenly opened up into an enourmous cavern festooned with slightly luminous fungi that bathed the area with a dim light. he tunnel led them to a ledge nearly twenty feet above the cavern floor, and, near the enterance, the severed head of a goblin was displayed like a trophy on the end of a stalacmite. As they stepped forward to investigate, they saw that the deceased goblin had only one ear. Just as they were surmising that this was the mortal remains of "One Ear" and were asking where the key he supposedly took had gotten to, a huge form loomed up out of the darkness and came at them. In the darkness, it appeared as an immense, pasty faced humanoid dressed in tattered skins and rags and bearing a huge club. The creature's face appeared partially paralyzed and he walked with a limp as he came towards them out of the darkness. The party fired a few arrows and Trygvie cast a flaming sphere spell, causing the giant to roar in pain.
"My tiny delicious friends," he shouted. "My little tasty morsels -- please do not hurt me!" Puzzled, they allowed the giant to approach. As soon as he was close enough, the giant grinned evilly and smashed Mace with his club, nearly killing him. After a fierce fight, which turned against the giant as soon as they flanked him, the players searched a large leather bag that hung from the giant's belt. Herein they found some chewed looking goblin bones (more remains of One Ear), a huge ball of string, several rocks, a halbard blade that the giant was using as a pocket knife (with the pole snapped off), 200 gold coins, a chunk of raw jade and a large iron key.
The players felt pretty certain they had found the missing key. They began planning their return trip to the enterance room with the large iron door.
The adventure ended here for the night.
Cullen De Filch (Chris; Human Rogue)
Mace Blackstar (Mike D.; Human Fighter)
Wilbered The Silent (Bob S., Human Cleric)
Castor Bean (Steve B; Human Bard)
Trygvie (Steve G.; Elven Wizard)
Kane (Al G.; Human Monk)
Geia (NPC; Human Fighter)
Last session had ended with the Cullen, Mace, Wilbered, Castor, Trygvie, Kane and Gaia all in a small cavern filled with broken coffins and the remains of the dead. There was a large double doors in the south wall that looked as though it hadn't seen much use in the past 100 years. They had just defeated a small band of undead guardians (skeletons and rotted zombies) and had found a magic shield (eagerly claimed by Wilbered) and a magic spear (snatched up by the bard). The bard noticed the word "agni" engraved on the spear, so he grasped the spear and said the magic word. The tip of the spear was instantly bathed in magical flame.
The players got out
their weapons and prepared to go through the double doors to the
west. Cullen carefully checked the lock for traps and thery
opened a door,. revealing a stinking, crumbling room. Mosaics
portraying the Toad God, toads and worshippers were crumbling from the
walls. The center of the room was dominated by a long, narrow
pool filled with what looked like a thick, scummy green liquid.
Six undead and feral looking humanoids snarled and came at them,
intending to rend with claws and teeth. Wilbered used his last
"turn dead" ability of the day and three of the ghouls disintigrated
while the fourth fled to the far end of the chamber. Two of the
creatures, however, were apparently ghasts --- they shrugged off the
cleric's prayer and attacked, emitting an odor that sickened several of
the party members.Although the ghasts fought fiercely, the players managed to defeat them in a few rounds. The ghoul who fled went through a second set of double doors at the far end of the room and the party followed. Trygvie stopped to drop a dried fishman hand (a grisly trophy of his days in Marshville) in the slime in the pool. The slime appeared to dissolve the hand. Trygvie attempted to scoop up some of the slime with a copper plate he had plundered from the goblins, but it dissolved that as well.
The palayers followed the Ghoul through the westernmost double doors and found themselves standing in the enterance to a square room filled with three large stone sarcophagi carved with the by now familiar Frog motif. Pillars in the corners held up the cieling. An unmoving human skeleton stood with it's back against both the north and the south walls -- a glass globe filled with some sort of cloudy mist was held up by both skeletons. The lone ghoul turned upon them with a snarl as a ghostly shape of a shadowy figure dressed in robes rose through the lid of the coffin in the center. The ghostly figure gestured and croaked at them in an unknown tongue and suddenly the coffins on either side opened, as if the lids were pushed off from inside. Two creatures that looked like dry, decayed corpses wrapped in linen bandages sat up in the coffins. The wraith-like figure gestured towards the players and said, "Destroy them!."
Gaia seemed to be paralyzed with fright at the sight of the undead creatures but the rest of the party was unaffected. Mace advanced into the front and unsheathed Darkcleaver, his sword, as the Bard and Kane took up flanking positions. Cullen dodged around the door and headed towards the skeleton with the glass globe that stood against the north wall as Mace and Castor cut down the ghoul. Cullen smashed the glass globe with his sword and a wave of negative energy cut across the room --- killing Cullen instantly and wounding all of the heroes within range but healing all of the undead. The ghoul that Mace had just cut down leapt back up and resumed his attack.
The battle seemed to be going against the heroes. If Wilbered and Castor hadn't used the last of their healing spells, Mace would have fallen for sure and without their fighter it is likely that the mummies would have prevailed. The wraithlike figure drained some of Gaia's CON with his touch. Most of the attacks seemed to pass right through the wraithlike figure without harming him. Kane the monk struck at one of the mummies with his fists, felt the cold flesh of the undead beneath his hands and then unsheathed his matched kamas for the next attack. The ghoul attempted to run over to the skeleton against the south wall, presumably in order to shatter the second glass globe and release a second wave of negative energy, but an attack of opportunity from the Bard's spear finished him off. Castor pulled the last remaining globe from the skeleton's grasp in order to avoid having it shatter and release the pulse of negative energy. The mummies were cut down next and the wraith howled with frustration as he was finally destroyed.
The characters began to bind their wounds and check out the room. The crumbling remains of the mummies yielded only dried bones, linen bandages and dusty remains which the cleric stirred through. Other than some small, worthless looking amulets, there was nothing else of note there. The sarcophagus of the wraith was still sealed --- with some trepidation, the heroes knocked the lid off of the coffin while they redied holy water flasks. Inside they found an ancient dried corpse dressed in dusty robes and a copper mark that bore a resemblance to the wraith they had destroyed earlier. In his bony hands they saw an idol of the toad god; about the size of a fist, carved from a single large green gemstone. Coins, wealth and other objects he might need on the other side were piled in the tomb as well. 735 gold pieces, a small emerald, a shield, a wand and a scroll were found in the coffin. A plain looking iron sword, sheathed in a red leather scabbard decorated with hawks, was also lying under the corpses feet -- a trophy of a conquered enemy, no doubt.
When Mace unsheathed the sword, he saw silvery letters upon the blade. The bard surmised that these were writings in the celestial language but no one present could read them. Suddenly the ghost of Tayleen, the ancient Paladin of Muir who had been killed in the dungeon so long ago, appeared again and thanked them for retrieving her sword. She urged them to travel south, to the village of Nudlo, where she believed that Mace could learn more about his adopted Goddess, Muir. Since she had been dead a hundred years she was unable to offer much in the way of specifics, however.
After Tayleen faded from view, the players spiked shut the doors and rested. Nothing came to disturb them in the night. After they had recovered spells, healed and rested, they unsealed the doors and went forth again. They left the corpse of Cullen De Filtch, their former comrade, in the room. Determined to find the lost key of One Ear, they headed west back towards the enterance to the catacombs. They took an unexplored branch and this led to a room with a large toad painted on the wall. As soon as Mace entered the room to explore a likely looking tunnel on the other side of the room, the painting on the wall came to life as a large stone construct in the form of a toad leapt out and slammed into him. The party surrounded the statue and battered it into rubble, but not before it had inflicted some damage on the group.
A large alcove was now left in the wall -- the spot in the wall from which the attacking toad statue had left. Searching the alcove, they found a hidden stone door. When Kane opened the door he saw a downward sloping tunnel filled with water that had finger and toe holds carved in the wall. They surmised that it sloped down into one of the flooded tunnels and left it at that.
Another twisting tunnel led further west. This tunnel suddenly opened up into an enourmous cavern festooned with slightly luminous fungi that bathed the area with a dim light. he tunnel led them to a ledge nearly twenty feet above the cavern floor, and, near the enterance, the severed head of a goblin was displayed like a trophy on the end of a stalacmite. As they stepped forward to investigate, they saw that the deceased goblin had only one ear. Just as they were surmising that this was the mortal remains of "One Ear" and were asking where the key he supposedly took had gotten to, a huge form loomed up out of the darkness and came at them. In the darkness, it appeared as an immense, pasty faced humanoid dressed in tattered skins and rags and bearing a huge club. The creature's face appeared partially paralyzed and he walked with a limp as he came towards them out of the darkness. The party fired a few arrows and Trygvie cast a flaming sphere spell, causing the giant to roar in pain.
"My tiny delicious friends," he shouted. "My little tasty morsels -- please do not hurt me!" Puzzled, they allowed the giant to approach. As soon as he was close enough, the giant grinned evilly and smashed Mace with his club, nearly killing him. After a fierce fight, which turned against the giant as soon as they flanked him, the players searched a large leather bag that hung from the giant's belt. Herein they found some chewed looking goblin bones (more remains of One Ear), a huge ball of string, several rocks, a halbard blade that the giant was using as a pocket knife (with the pole snapped off), 200 gold coins, a chunk of raw jade and a large iron key.
The players felt pretty certain they had found the missing key. They began planning their return trip to the enterance room with the large iron door.
The adventure ended here for the night.