Moonday 10 Ready'reat (continued)
Under the ruins of the abbey, following a fierce battle, the
Try-hard Misfits settle down for an hour to rest and recuperate. As they begin to get comfortable, the door handle suddenly rattles and turns. The barricade creaks, but resists and holds fast. After a moment, the handle's rattling settles, and it returns to a dormant state. The rest of the hour passes without incident. Feeling revived, the group discusses what to do next.
Kyra opines, "We should finish exploring this area. Once we clear it, then we can head after the treasure that Bayleaf referenced."
"Hmmm," Karia speaks up, "Won't Bayleaf just go get it himself? I mean he did try to use his knowledge as a way to buy his passage off of here."
"Yea," Nar joins in, "He's likely going after it himself right now. I'd feel a lot better knowing that we have it instead of him."
The
Try-hard Misfits quickly pack up, then carefully crack open the door to peek into the main room where the veterans continue to play dice and drink. The party crosses over to the meditation room. Nar inspects the concealed door behind the curtains discovering that the door will open easily. Behind her, Kyra summons her dark, arcane energies to animate another skeleton from her magical bag.
The party opens the door revealing a ten foot wide hallway that opens into a larger room twenty feet away. Two large skeletons with horns curving out of their white skulls wield giant axes block the way forward.
Hiding behind these lumbering hulks, a shadowy figure hulks within a tattered hood. Kyra's animated skeleton shuffles forward and strikes toward the lead
minotaur skeleton as the rest of the part engages at the entrance to the guard room. Around the corner, two ghostly figures hover beside a door leading deeper into the Winding Way. Suddenly, the hooded figure looks directly at Karia and pain presses against her brain
before she's able to block it out and steps forward to engage alongside Kyra's animated skeleton, Steve. The battle rages within that hallway. The first minotaur falls in a heap and the second rushes forward slamming into Steve hurling its separated limbs backwards through the party. As the bony hand passes above, Nar reaches up with a high-five in thanks to Steve's sacrifice. The battle continues and the
bodakcauses mental anguish each time it looks at a defender. Finally, the second minotaur skeleton collapses. The two ghostly figures float through the door deeper into the Winding Way.
Armando and Karia rushes forward to engage the Bodak as its deadly aura continues to assault them. The entire party focuses their attacks and the Bodak succumbs quickly. As its undead presence fades so too does the psychic aura that radiating from it which allows the party to ease their defenses.
The party takes a few moments to breath and collect themselves before pushing through the door and into a ten foot wide hallway that branches in several directions. After Karia immediately pulls Armando back from the corner as she spots a tripwire stretching across the hallway. Avoiding this trap, the party approaches the next corner, sees a door thirty feet away, and cautiously moves toward it. The vigilant Karia spots more trip wires a few feet from the door which Armando bypasses before opening the door and a crossbow bolt pierces his shoulder. Suddenly, the ghostly figures form behind the party trying to drain Adlia and Kyra before retreating back into the walls. Realizing the door was a dead-end trap, the party turns around to head back up the hall.
Continuing through the dungeon, the party moves into a new room dominated by a green stone statue of an elf. Scattered throughout the room are chests upon chests with gold and jewels glimmering as they overflow and there's a closed door on the west wall. Sensing something amiss, the party cautiously enters the room testing to see what might attack them. The room quietly waits. Moving deeper into the room Nar and Karia inspect a large chest against the east wall. Noticing a hidden door, Karia prompts, "What do you see Nar? Is it trapped? Do you think you can open it?"
Nar carefully reaches forward as she responds, "Yep there's a poison needle just here." An audible click echoes from the chest as Nar disarms the trap. Behind them the elf statue animates. Its face curling into a sneer as Karia places herself between Nar and the statue. As Karia strikes with her dual swords,
the statue reflexively bites back at her narrowly missing. Armando moves into melee as well protecting Adlia and Kyra behind him as the vampire statue bites again. Then Kyra screams from behind as the two ghostly figures phase through the dungeon's walls trying to lay a ghostly hand upon Kyra. Kyra steps forward to escape and hurls arcane energies impacting the statue. The battle ends quickly as the party overwhelms the statue and the specters vanish back into the walls, once again moving out of sight. Adlia vents her frustration, "If they'd just stay still for a minute we could smite them."
The party carefully reverts their attention back to the gleaming coins and jewels. A bewildered look crosses Karia's face as she picks up a coin. Cursing, she tosses it back into the chest with a soft thump, "Gah! It's wooden and worthless." Inspecting the other treasures the party realizes that they've been duped as Nar pulls out a note that mocks the party.
Dear Thief: A lot of work for nothing, wasn't it?— Ozymandias
The party grouses for a moment, then Kyra suggests, "Let's head through the normal door first. We can take the hidden door afterward."
Warily, the party approaches the door. Cautiously they open it and see a winding hallway serpentines until it fades out of view unfolds. Following it, they navigate through the route turning occasionally as it twists and turns, eventually arriving at a choice between a door and another hallway. Opting for the door, a loud thwack sounds as a trapped crossbow cracks, firing a bolt which lodges itself into the floor of the doorway.
After more exploration, and a few dead ends, Armando opens the door as Karia notices something amiss with the floor and pokes her sword straight through it. Startled, she exclaims, "It's just a projection! There isn't anything really there!" as another twang is heard from a crossbow trap behind them.
Kyra activates her boots to hover across the gap as Nar follows along climbing along the wall. Together they examine the far wall looking for a hidden door, but find it solid. Retracing their steps, the party tries a new path.
Suddenly, the specters come floating through the wall attacking Adlia, but she quickly responds and brings the divinity of
Ehlonna upon it blasting it from existence. Together the rest of the party joins the battle until the other specter dissolves into nothingness.
Looking back up the hallway, the party sees a crystal statue carved into the shape of a minotaur and a foul odor permeates the hallway. Quietly Kyra asks, "Ugh. That's rank, but why do I know that stench?"
