Session 45 - The One Where They Escaped The Isle
In-game timeline: DR1489 Eleint 27 - Marpenoth 5
Our Heroes stand in a covered walkway over a lake, planning their next moves and the plan for attack on what they hope to be the final room. Wanting to avoid their usual "Storm the room!" approach, a combined approach with allocated roles was agreed upon.
Step 1. TC uses Mage Hand to open the door to the room from a distance. Unfortunately the door is too heavy to open any significant amount. So TC needs to manually pull the door open.
Step 2. With nothing obvious moving in the room, though TC does detect an undead around the corner, currently out of sight, the second step is put into action. Using Mage Hand once more, TC puts a cloak over the body on the altar, cutting down the smoke emerging from it, and also casts some caltrops on the floor in front of one of the winged, dark coloured, crystal statues standing each side of the altar.
Step 3. This was originally planned to be Mahtis using Hold Person on the strange figure that they know is around the corner of the room. However, with TC detecting a heavy undead presence from that area using his Divine Sense, and Mahtis suddenly realising that Hold Person would not work on undead, this is the third of the three step plan that didn't quite go as intended.
And so they change their plan back to the tried and tested - Storm The Room!
As soon as TC and Mahtis cautiously enter the room the crystal statues come alive. As they rise from their pedestals, unfurling their wings, they both throw their flickering globes towards the approaching adventurers. The globe thrown at TC luckily misses and hits the wall behind, splashing lamp oil on the area and igniting it. Unluckily the one thrown at Mahtis hits her full on and she is heavily splashed in burning oil, causing her some damage and forcing her to spend some time putting out the fires on her burning body and clothing.
The caltrop plan proves useless as the crystal gargoyles rise up and fly towards Mahtis and TC. While Mahtis pats herself down, TC rushes in hoping to take on the BIG BAD round the corner. As Mahtis manages to avoid the initial hits from the gargoyle attacking her, TC proceeds to laugh in the face of the Bodak undead creature he is faced with - a sight that would scare a lesser person out of his or her skin, though an opportune use of his lucky die probably helped him avoid the intense fear that could have ensued. TC runs to engage and swings with his trusty Dragonsboon and backs up his hits with some powerful paladin Smites. Two great hits with significant damage (a total of 71 points of damage in fact - possibly a record!) and the mighty undead is taken down before it is able to unleash its not insignificant powers! Our Heroes have arrived!!
As TC jumps up and down on the body of his defeated foe, waving his arms in the air in triumph, the others are meanwhile dealing with the crystal statue attacking the dragonborn. Mahtis is taking a little battering, whilst Carro does his best to fire in some arrows, but they have only partial effect at damaging the creatures, and the shards that fly off when they are hit seem to cause Mahtis and TC some problems. Kandi puts his mocking talents to good use, and manages to reduce the likelihood of a crystal attack landing. The statues are tough to bring down, but their attacks are manageable and the four Heroes manage to bring the two statues down eventually, with Mahtis using Moonbean effectively and Carro finally taking the other down by very, very slowly chipping away at its crystals with bowshots.
The big battle over, and not wanting to hear TC recount tales of his derring-do, the group press on. Behind the curtain they find Clarice - alive but unconscious and fading fast. TC gives a boost of health, which helps to stabilise her, but she remains unconscious. The altar is investigated - the human male body is left well alone, but it is noted that the body is split open and a large chintz crystal has been placed in the chest cavity. An ancient tome, written in an unknown language but exuding evil, is recovered from the altar. It is bound with skin, possibly human. Our Heroes decide to burn it, which creates an awful smell permeating the temple buildings. Two golden chalices are nabbed, after emptying them of their worrying contents - possibly blood.
The other body seems to have been killed by fear. His body is looted, gaining another anti-skeleton amulet and a few keys, some money and a very useful ring, that they later find out is a ring of spell storing.
Our Heroes decide to leave, quickly. The large, stone statue in the room is recognised as Velsharoon - the God worshipped by the Clerics. The golden crown upon its head is not easy to remove, so the party abandon it. They run back to the room with the chests and decide to try to grab some loot on the way out. Mahtis looks and finds a couple of chests to be "a bit weird" and a couple seem to be trapped.
Re-reading the poem they found on Ozymandias' body, they decide to completely ignore it and go for one of the trapped chests using mage hand and the key they found. And set off the trap. The room is almost entirely filled in darkness. Magical darkness that seems to not be pierceable by any light, and through which darkvision does not penetrate. Luckily the group were standing near to a door and they decide upon a hasty retreat, rather than to see what else may be in that strange darkness (a good decision, as it happens!).
Our Heroes run back through the temple, keen to make it back to the slaves and pirates by dawn. They pause to attempt to get the strange urn beneath the green statue of the handsome elf. Not the best move. The statue immediately comes to life and the face of the elf turns into a hideous visage! Our Heroes run. Fast. And bolt the door behind them, delaying any pursuit.
Back in the open air, Mahtis quickly turns into a horse, and another horse is summoned by TC, who save a precious spell slot for just this reason, and the group manage to make good progress back to the big rock and the forest, where they meet the slaves and still bound pirates, along with Harile and Mahtis' sister, Ruhin. Clarice regains consciousness and Bart and Helen are overjoyed at the safe return of their daughter.
Between them the group decide to leave the pirates behind, still bound, but with a means to free themselves after a while and a spare amulet so they can safely cross the dunes. Our Heroes are bloodthirsty, but not that callous (though the amount of discussion this needed may suggest otherwise!)
The group, plus the slaves, head back across the dunes, facing no challenges from any crystal skeletons! Woo Hoo - the amulets seem to do the job of keeping the strange undead at bay. They arrive at the beach mid-morning and manage to signal the ship, that is, as arranged, waiting for them off shore. Captain Trax is happy to take the slaves back to Neverwinter for no charge - a gnome with a conscience!
And so our Heroes arrive at Neverwinter. They are rewarded for their efforts on freeing the Isle from the evil Clerics of Shar with a payment (500gp) from a number of Temples in Neverwinter, who are now keen to organise a journey to reclaim the Isle on behalf of the Benevolent Gods. Our Heroes are pleased to discover they have enough experience to LEVEL UP to their 6th level, and they plan for their next steps. Ruhin scoffs at Mahtis' over-protective big sister concern and decides to head back out to sea, finding work on a merchant ship - though she does placate Mahtis' worry by agreeing to write a letter home. Some meetings are had in Neverwinter while the group level up, and then plans will be made to progress the search for more Splinters - maybe in a place called Moonfall to the south?
