Post by Van on May 7, 2009 1:48:04 GMT -5
Our heroes (Idky, 'Beaver, Lowdog, Robyndella w/ Meldenya, Maedhros, Ichi, and Yavin) sleep in late the next morning, when the bottled vampires are forced back into physical form and burst into flames in the morning sunlight. A number of items they were carrying survive the conflagration, so Maedhros casts detect magic to isolate any that are magical. They divide the treasure up among themselves to carry and use (if necessary) for now and head off to the Palace of the King-Priests where the harpies had been nesting. Yavin casts an augury, which answers weal for entering and exploring the Palace. Maedhros casts find traps and finds that the doors they first intend to enter are magically trapped. There is also some writing there that 'Beaver tries to read but doesn't understand. The spirits reveal to him that slay living will be cast upon anyone who enters without speaking the password. They also reveal the password: "the king-priest of Marduk." But they warn that the "abomination" Maedhros would not be allowed to enter, so the spirits guide them to a different door. They suggest that the vampires are probably drinking from the Hall of Blood, one of the great halls in the Palace.
Through the alternate door that the spirits direct them to, the heroes enter a chamber with several still-burning braziers. Also in this chamber are two statues: one of a handsome man, representing the Healing Earth, and another of a woman, the Morning Star. Jewels on both statues are trapped. The spirits counsel 'Beaver to sacrifice something on the altar. He decides to sacrifice his bag of good berries and feels the Healing Earth bless him with increased healing ability (i.e. all healing this day will be at full power). Yavin is suddenly struck with an insight that anyone touching one of the trapped gems would get great power. No one acts on it, though. Robyn decides to offer up a magical scroll on the altar and receives an unidentified blessing.
Robyn gets a strength spell cast on her from 'Beaver before leaving this area. Robyn uses a cantrip to unlock the door to the next room, a large banquet hall where there are a pair of massive stone carved bulls. The heroes notice two harpies roosting in a corner, buried in the dust and looking bewildered. Their fresh neck wounds indicate that they are newly-risen vampire "recruits." They start to sing, and Robyndella falls victim to their charm. Unfortunately, she no longer has the protection of the orange cube rhion stone.
'Beaver immediately jumps at Robyn to snatch her bow from her hands to prevent her awesome archery skill being used against them. Maedhros tries to turn the vampires and fails as Lowdog and Ichi move in to engage. Ichi notices that there are bull talismans around their necks. That's when the stone bulls animate and charge at the two fighters. Lowdog forces his harpy into gaseous form, while Ichi and 'Beaver stake the other, turning it to bone. Unfortunately, he ended up having to use his living wood staff/spear, which got splintered in the process.
Idky aids Ichi, who has been badly damaged by the bull, as Maedhros, guided by Ichi's sight, walks into the gaseous form of the harpy and ignites his magical robe to start burning the vampire. It starts to float up, so he casts fly on himself to keep up with it. The heroes are desperate to free Robyn from the vampiric charm, as she has the best chance of damaging the stone bulls with her bow. Lowdog attempts to use the newly found dagger on his stone bull but it proves ineffective. Meantime, 'Beaver becomes a target of the bull attacking Ichi--a reward for his bravely stepping up to heal Ichi. The bull steps on his belly and stuns him. Horrified, Idky immediately pulls the hapless shaman out from under the bull as Ichi moves in to resume his attacks.
During the battle, Yavin had been casting a spell to summon a dust devil. His spell now complete, Yavin sends the dust devil to suck up the gaseous vampire and sweep it out into the sunlight, freeing Robyndella. Lowdog's bull now takes him out, knocking him to the ground unconscious. Coming out of her charmed state, Robyn fires a fox arrow at the bull that brought down Lowdog, doing no damage but keeping it engaged for a round. Yavin steps in front of Ichi to take an attack from his bull as he sends his dust devil against the bull that was on Lowdog. Maedhros does damage with his magic golden mace, one of the few weapons our heroes have that can damage these creatures--even magic missiles didn't work. Unfortunately, this gets its attention, and it now orients on him! He gets savaged by the bull in return. Robyn gets firebow from 'Beaver and discovers the blessing she had earlier received: she does maximum damage with her arrows the rest of the day. She unleashes this gift on the bull engaging Yavin. Maedhros flies up to the ceiling trying to keep his bull's attention him, but it doesn't work as it gets attacked by other party members.
Robyn quickly kills one bull, and she starts on the next one as Lowdog gets healed back up and starts attacking the bull with two magic daggers, finally doing damage to it himself. Within seconds, the last bull golem is also destroyed. This battle has taken more from our heroes than they expected this day. 'Beaver and the priests get to work healing the group.
Current stats:
Idky 50 hp CLW x3, aid x2, find traps, CSW x2
'Beaver 49 hp [5] CLW x4, spk spir, strength, firebow x2, CSW x2
Lowdog 79 hp [14]
Robyndella 38 hp cantrip
Meldenya 14 hp
Maedhros 43 hp [4] MM x2, fly, CLW x3, aid
Ichi 65 hp [15]
Yavin 32 hp [1] CLW x2, aug x2, dust devil, 28 PSPs
Total eeps to this point: 38,000
Magic treasure distribution (this is still party treasure)--
'Beaver: Feathered clasp, vibrant purple prism
Ichi: Potion of speed
Idky: Crude bone carved skull
Lowdog: Bronze dagger
Maedhros: Scroll: det. invis., locate object; scroll: whispering wind, phantom steed; scroll: dispel magic, invisiblity
Robyn: Lion cloak; Scroll: dimension door, magic jar; scroll: lightning bolt, monster summoning
Yavin: Potion of "anti-fatigue", gold Egyptian-style scarab
Through the alternate door that the spirits direct them to, the heroes enter a chamber with several still-burning braziers. Also in this chamber are two statues: one of a handsome man, representing the Healing Earth, and another of a woman, the Morning Star. Jewels on both statues are trapped. The spirits counsel 'Beaver to sacrifice something on the altar. He decides to sacrifice his bag of good berries and feels the Healing Earth bless him with increased healing ability (i.e. all healing this day will be at full power). Yavin is suddenly struck with an insight that anyone touching one of the trapped gems would get great power. No one acts on it, though. Robyn decides to offer up a magical scroll on the altar and receives an unidentified blessing.
Robyn gets a strength spell cast on her from 'Beaver before leaving this area. Robyn uses a cantrip to unlock the door to the next room, a large banquet hall where there are a pair of massive stone carved bulls. The heroes notice two harpies roosting in a corner, buried in the dust and looking bewildered. Their fresh neck wounds indicate that they are newly-risen vampire "recruits." They start to sing, and Robyndella falls victim to their charm. Unfortunately, she no longer has the protection of the orange cube rhion stone.
'Beaver immediately jumps at Robyn to snatch her bow from her hands to prevent her awesome archery skill being used against them. Maedhros tries to turn the vampires and fails as Lowdog and Ichi move in to engage. Ichi notices that there are bull talismans around their necks. That's when the stone bulls animate and charge at the two fighters. Lowdog forces his harpy into gaseous form, while Ichi and 'Beaver stake the other, turning it to bone. Unfortunately, he ended up having to use his living wood staff/spear, which got splintered in the process.Idky aids Ichi, who has been badly damaged by the bull, as Maedhros, guided by Ichi's sight, walks into the gaseous form of the harpy and ignites his magical robe to start burning the vampire. It starts to float up, so he casts fly on himself to keep up with it. The heroes are desperate to free Robyn from the vampiric charm, as she has the best chance of damaging the stone bulls with her bow. Lowdog attempts to use the newly found dagger on his stone bull but it proves ineffective. Meantime, 'Beaver becomes a target of the bull attacking Ichi--a reward for his bravely stepping up to heal Ichi. The bull steps on his belly and stuns him. Horrified, Idky immediately pulls the hapless shaman out from under the bull as Ichi moves in to resume his attacks.
During the battle, Yavin had been casting a spell to summon a dust devil. His spell now complete, Yavin sends the dust devil to suck up the gaseous vampire and sweep it out into the sunlight, freeing Robyndella. Lowdog's bull now takes him out, knocking him to the ground unconscious. Coming out of her charmed state, Robyn fires a fox arrow at the bull that brought down Lowdog, doing no damage but keeping it engaged for a round. Yavin steps in front of Ichi to take an attack from his bull as he sends his dust devil against the bull that was on Lowdog. Maedhros does damage with his magic golden mace, one of the few weapons our heroes have that can damage these creatures--even magic missiles didn't work. Unfortunately, this gets its attention, and it now orients on him! He gets savaged by the bull in return. Robyn gets firebow from 'Beaver and discovers the blessing she had earlier received: she does maximum damage with her arrows the rest of the day. She unleashes this gift on the bull engaging Yavin. Maedhros flies up to the ceiling trying to keep his bull's attention him, but it doesn't work as it gets attacked by other party members.
Robyn quickly kills one bull, and she starts on the next one as Lowdog gets healed back up and starts attacking the bull with two magic daggers, finally doing damage to it himself. Within seconds, the last bull golem is also destroyed. This battle has taken more from our heroes than they expected this day. 'Beaver and the priests get to work healing the group.
Current stats:
Idky 50 hp CLW x3, aid x2, find traps, CSW x2
'Beaver 49 hp [5] CLW x4, spk spir, strength, firebow x2, CSW x2
Lowdog 79 hp [14]
Robyndella 38 hp cantrip
Meldenya 14 hp
Maedhros 43 hp [4] MM x2, fly, CLW x3, aid
Ichi 65 hp [15]
Yavin 32 hp [1] CLW x2, aug x2, dust devil, 28 PSPs
Total eeps to this point: 38,000
Magic treasure distribution (this is still party treasure)--
'Beaver: Feathered clasp, vibrant purple prism
Ichi: Potion of speed
Idky: Crude bone carved skull
Lowdog: Bronze dagger
Maedhros: Scroll: det. invis., locate object; scroll: whispering wind, phantom steed; scroll: dispel magic, invisiblity
Robyn: Lion cloak; Scroll: dimension door, magic jar; scroll: lightning bolt, monster summoning
Yavin: Potion of "anti-fatigue", gold Egyptian-style scarab