| DM | Beyond the door is a
small cavern that swiftly narrows to a tunnel. The walls and ceiling appear to
be made of rubble. Judging from the appearance of the tunnel it was cleared
after the collapse of the local landscape.
You walk along for at least half a mile. The tunnel doesn't turn much so you
conclude that it is heading roughly northwards.
Finally, it makes a sharp right hand turn and opens into another cavern. This
is about 30 feet east-west and 20 feet north-south but only the north wall is
smooth. That wall was clearly part of some structure that is now buried
beneath the rubble. It disappears into the ceiling after about 20 feet.
At the south-eastern corner of the room (you are at the south-western corner)
another tunnel leads off into darkness.
There is a large pair of doors in the north wall. They appear to be bronze
and are covered in a script that you do not recognise. |
| Dreylin | [Wanders
across the chamber to look at the doors] |
| Narond | [Joins Dreylin
in the wandering and door examining] |
| Leanna | [Surmises that
the other passage to the south east is the way Rahib has or will use to come
in]
[Also wanders over to the doors to see if, perchance, they appear to have
been recently opened] |
| DM | The doors are tall. The
writing is shallowly engraved on their surface. They look old and slightly
battered. They are also slightly ajar, although not enough to see through.
|
| Narond | [Attempts to
listen for things through the small ajarness] |
| DM | You can't hear anything.
|
| Narond | [Opens the door
and stands back] |
| Berillia | [Wonders
what's so worrying about this door in particular, and wanders
over] |
| DM | It takes a fair amount
of effort to get the door moving. By putting your shoulder to the one which is
leaning in slightly you get it to swing far anough to allow access. |
| Dreylin | [Leans
through the opening] |
| DM | Standing back you can
see a small way into the gloom of the Tower. Inside a 10 foot wide corridor
stretches north into the distance. It is lit intermittently by sputtering
torches. There are large areas of shadow between each set of lights. You
cannot make out the ceiling clearly but it seems high and possible vaulted.
|
| Leanna | [Goes inside
and progresses cautiously along the corridor] |
| DM | You wander into the
corridor. The walls are bare apart from the remains of some hanging which have
disintegrated. There is dust on the bare stone floor although several tracks
lead through it.
Once you are about 30 feet into the building you can see that the corridor
eventually leads into a larger hall. As you pass a shadowed region three
shapes shuffle out of the shadows. They may once have been orcs but have
clearly been dead for a good while. They all draw roughly made swords as they
approach you. |
| Berillia | Bugger
thyselves off, abominations! [Invokes holy power] |
| DM | An unusual version of
the incantation but no less effective. They run into the distance fading into
shadow.
Passing out of the corridor you enter a large hall (50 feet square). It is
badly lit but you can make out that it is strewn with rubble. Moving around
you find that there are corridors off to the east and west and some double
doors in the north wall. |
| Shianara | Given our
time constraint, shall we press on northwards? |
| Leanna | Agreed. [Has a
brief look down the east corridor on the way to the door to see how long it
might be] |
| DM | The corridor leads for
about 20 feet before breaking into a T-junction. There is also another set of
doors at the junction head. |
| Shianara | [Considers
the west corridor in a similar way] |
| Berillia | [Wants a
corridor to consider too]
[Considers the floor] |
| DM | It's primarily made of
limestone flagstones. The occasional glint implies the presence of one or more
contaminant minerals. Several of the paving stones are cracked. |
| Narond | [Considers all
the people considering things] |
| Dreylin | Why don't we
examine the floor to see where the dusty footprints lead? [Does so]
Guys, there are tracks in the dust going in all three directions, but the
more recent ones go east and west... although they could just be from the
fleeing undead.
[Ponders] Maybe we'd get a clearer picture of the tracks if we look
just inside the door and the corridors, then they wouldn't be affected by the
others.
[Moves to do so, leaving the doors until last] |
| DM | There are several tracks
leading into the west corridor and slightly less leading into the east
corridor. There are very few near the northern doors.
Opening the door you can see into a large vault. It is 30 feet east-west and
leads off 50 feet northwards. The hall continues after that but is blocked by
an enormous red curtain. There are tracks in the dust but they are quite
faint. |
| Narond | Well it doesn't
seem like there has been anyone around here for a while.
[Tries to see where the very faint tracks lead] |
| DM | They lead off towards
the left hand side of the curtain. |
| Dreylin | [Moves to
dramatically sweep aside the curtain... and then does so] |
| DM | Behind the curtain the
vault continues to the north.
Most of this region is taken up by a platform, three steps above floor level.
The room is lit by a single brazier which stands in the middle of the
platform. The flame glows an intense blue.
Three stone coffins are arranged around the brazier. The largest is at the
front. They are made of black stone and covered with several layers of strange
carvings. At the back of the platform is a large ornate iron throne. A metal
stand next to the throne supports a large leather book. On closer inspection
you can see that the book is chained to the stand. |
| Leanna | So these would be
the witches, I assume... and the book is perhaps part of the ritual to either
trap or untrap them... might be best not to touch it in case we accidentally
reincarnate the witches? |
| Narond | Seems a good
assumption that these three coffins are for the witches, what with us
expecting three of them and everything. [Has a closer look at the coffins
to see whether they've been opened] |
| DM | Actually they may have
been. There is no dust on them and the break between the lid and the base is
clear in every case. |
| Leanna | Since Cat hasn't
got here yet, seemingly at least, we might consider doing something to hinder
their reawakening... anyone good with rituals? Otherwise, we could explore the
other rooms in the hope of finding Cat before he finds the witches' bodies.
|
| Narond | It might be that
just by taking/removing or even burning the book we can stop him. Though I
feel the book should be investigated.
[Wanders over to the metal stand supporting the large book and attempts to
have a look (no touching) at the front of it, to see if it says anything in
particular] |
| DM | The book has a plain
cover. It is angled in such a way that it would be easily readable to anyone
sitting on the throne. The stand it is on is embedded into the floor.
|
| Dreylin | [Examines the
throne for dust to see if there's any sign of someone having been sitting
there and reading] |
| DM | Dust clear and sparkly.
|
| Shianara | [Looks for
writing on the cover of the book, or any sign it's been opened
recently] |
| DM | No writing that you can
see. The spine is creased so it may have been opened recently. |
| Dreylin | Assuming that
he's not already done the deed - and we may have noticed, as he doesn't seem
the type to pass up on the chance for revenge - then we can probably assume
that he'll be coming here soon, and we could lay a trap for him... |
| Leanna | [Wonders
whether anyone has a bucket of water we could prop over the door] |
| Dreylin | [Thinks that
might be an excellent place to hide...] |
| Leanna | Sorry, let me get
this straight - you actually want to hide in a bucket of water propped over
the door?
Catharandamus would definitely be surprised by that! Lets do it... |
| Dreylin | No, I was
thinking of hiding myself over the door ... after all, Catharandamus
isn't the only one who's out for a bit of revenge... |
| Berillia | Hey, Dreylin,
why don't you hide in one of the coffins? |
| Dreylin | Because I doubt
that I could even lift the lid! |
| Narond | Fair enough,
anyone want to have a look inside one of these coffins then?
[Looks like a man who doesn't want to look inside the coffins] |
| Dreylin | I agree that we
should have a look. The girls may be inside, after all!
Habib, can you lend a hand? |
| Berillia | [Moves back
a couple of steps] |
| Leanna | [Draws her
weapon] |
| DM | Dreylin and Habib try to
slide the lid of the front coffin off. The rest of you stand with weapons
drawn.
After some struggling the lid slides over a small way. Inside is the body of
a woman. It is in an advanced state of decay although you can tell that it was
sealed in wearing a deep blue robe. It holds a small bag in what remains of
its hand. |
| Leanna | I'm for a spot of
decapitation before we look at the bag. |
| Dreylin | I don't think
desecration will help us this time. [Mutters] The Abbot told us that
the souls could be brought back if new bodies were found... which suggests
they won't be needing these again. I'm guessing Black Opals in the bag.
|
| Narond | Yes, they are not
likely to want to use these bodies again, or in fact to be able to given the
current state. Why do you guess black opals in the bag?
Anyway I think we should have a look in this book to see if it is of use to
Catharandamus, and if so, we remove or destroy it. |
| Dreylin | Well, the Abbot
said that Elyas was planning to use Black Opals as the key to the prison he
was building. I suppose the only way to find out is to look... [Looks in
the bag] |
| Narond | Oh yeah. Well you
do that while I have a look at the book. [Has a scan of the book]
Looks like this book is something like a diary. It gives some information on
the last days of Elyas though, which might be useful. Apparently he lured the
witches into this tower to perform the soul capture spell, but it was not
fully completed. It is a bit useless on telling us how the soul capture was
performed, however it does say that a particular black opal was needed to
destroy the trapped souls.
The witches are effectively in suspended animation until their souls can be
put into new bodies, for example those of the girls we are looking for. Though
it does mention that the power of the witches would be limited by the bodies
that contain them for some time. |
| Dreylin | [Whistles] Well, looks like I was wrong about the opals,
there's just a lot of money in here... |
| Narond | Well, as I
mentioned from the book, a selection of black opals would probably be useful
about now.
So there was money in the first coffin. Shall we investigate the two
remaining ones to see if there is anything useful? |
| Dreylin | Why not?
|
| Leanna | [Opens the left
hand coffin with Habib's help] |
| DM | After a few seconds of
straining you shift the lid of the coffin and peer in.
There is a skeleton inside. It is dressed in armour and furs. In one hand it
holds a sword and in the other a rolled-up scroll. |
| Leanna | [Takes the
items] |
| DM | Leanna takes the scroll
and unrolls it. It reads the following in flowing handwriting.
My body is long gone, my dear
if you did think to find it here
and now I have a new one too.
I've left a present, just for you.
S.
The skeleton in the coffin swings the sword catching Leanna across the leg.
It clangs off her armour. The skeleton begins to climb out of the coffin.
|
| Leanna | [Jumps back and
draws her sword] |
| Dreylin | Oh Bum, that
means he's got the girls and we're too late! |
| Narond | Too late for this
one at least, since the first was fine. We best get rid of this skeleton,
check the last coffin then get moving! |
| DM | The skeleton swings
wildly for Narond as it climbs out of the coffin. Sadly it misses and clatters
to the floor.
It attempts to get up. |
| Berillia | [Attempts
to channel divine energy up its arse] |
| Dreylin | Bollocks to
that, grind its bones to make my bread! |
| DM | Berillia's command has
no discernible effect whatsoever. The skeleton gets up and takes a swing at
Leanna. The sword crashes into her side putting a dent in her armour.
|
| Berillia | Hmm. That
shouldn't happen... |
| DM | Dreylin takes a swing at
it and hits the skeleton's hip with the flat of his axe. It crashes sideways
but maintains its balance.
Leanna takes the opportunity and aims for the neck as the skeleton rights
itself. She is dead on and its head flies in an amusing arc across the room.
The body makes one or two comedy steps forwards and then collapses. |
| Dreylin | [Turns to
make certain that the other opened coffin hasn't disgorged its
contents...] |
| DM | Body's still there, and
still dead. |
| Dreylin | [Listens for
any noises from the other coffin] |
| DM | Quiet as the ...er...
grave. |
| Dreylin | On to the last
one then... |
| DM | You shift the last
coffin lid.
Inside is the remains of a woman in a long red dress. She has seen better
days.
There appears to be nothing else. |
| Dreylin | So chaps,
what's the plan? Do we think that Rahib has been here yet to release the
witches, or if not what could he be waiting for? |
| Leanna | Personally I
don't think he's been here to release the witches as the footprints in the
room were faint. I suspect that the lack of dust on the book and throne is
magical since it's unlikely that even if someone had been here they would have
cleaned every speck of dust off.
On the other hand, one of the witches is undoubtedly gone, which either means
that Cat has released her from afar, or that someone else released her ages
ago. The implication of that note was that the skeleton was not that of the
witch. Which implies that the witch actually escaped with her own body either
as a lich or whilst still alive/after being reincarnated.
Anyhow, Cat ain't here, so I say we might as well go and find him. Only
trouble being there are two ways to go outside... |
| Narond | Well, I didn't
think the book itself was inherently magical. But given that staring at
corpses isn't really going to help us get Catharandamus, or stop these witches
we should indeed be off. Keeping a lookout for black opals. I wonder if
Catharandamus knows about this missing witch... [Muses] |
| Dreylin | Well I think
it's bloody strange that Cat hasn't either come straight here with the girls,
or looked around this place before - at least enough to know that one of the
witches is missing. Assuming that Cat does know about the third witch, we can
only assume that one of the girls was 'unsuitable' - probably Rhea - so he
needed a third. I guess we have to assume that he's off somewhere preparing
for the ritual or whatever is required to bring the witches back... unless
he's done so already.
Let's go west. |
| Leanna | It looks like
west will be the way he's coming from. We could post a guard and go east. But
I don't mind either way. |
| Dreylin | [Puzzled]
Why do you think he'll be coming from the west? |
| Leanna | Because west is a
long corridor whereas east looks like the inside of the tower. Since we didn't
see any other entrances from within the Siswa complex, I'm guessing he's come
from outside. |
| Dreylin | But we're
inside the tower already, remember the large ornate doors with the undead
behind!?
[Looks at Leanna like she has a very bad memory]
Before we came into the tower, we travelled down a long passageway from the
abbey, which led us into a large cavern with the doors to the tower along the
northern wall. The passage we came from was in the south-western corner, and
another passageway led off from the south-eastern corner! And, Leanna,
you thought that that would have been the passage Rahib was using to come in.
|
| Narond | So you are
suggesting going along the long corridor to the west? I would say go East and
search there first since it is closer. |
| Dreylin | My thought was
west so that we didn't have another massive debate about whether to go through
the door, or down either of the side corridors! East is fine if you want to
though. |
| Narond | I was going to
cut short that debate by just going straight through the doors. So let's do
that then. |
| Dreylin | But what if we
get tempted by the view down one of the side corridors!? |
| Narond | No, don't tempt
me with side corridors... I might not be able to resist...
[Grins] |
| Dreylin | [Grins]
Let's do it. |
| DM | You pass back through
the long hall and into the room fulled with rubble. You then pass into the
east corridor. At the T-junction you can see that the northern corridor turns
sharply while the southern one continues on for a while before turning. You
can also make out a doorway at the far end.
Opening the bronze doors you find yourself in a long hallway. Along its
length are four curved alcoves. Inside each alcove are several life-size
platinum statues of people. They vary in age and sex but all look very happy.
Each statue appears to be in an action pose.
At the far end of the corridor is another set of double doors. |
| Leanna | Let's have a
quick look at the statues without touching and then go through the doors.
|
| Dreylin | You're just no
fun - if they really are platinum, then they're fantastically valuable!
[Investigates the statues, with reference to which "actions" they are posed
in] |
| DM | They're generally
running, but also walking and in a couple of cases on their knees picking
something up.
On close inspection you can see that the statues are incredibly detailed.
Every face is different and every curve of the clothes has been captured
perfectly. The artistry is really very impressive. |
| Leanna | Almost as if they
were turned into platinum from life... [Attempts to guess their
value]
Not bad... 500-5000 daros depending on whether it is solid platinum. If you
include the artistry it could be more. |
| Narond | [Goes misty
eyed at the potential value of these pieces of work]
Although now, for something so lifelike, it makes me wonder given the power
of Elyas and those witches whether these were not in fact alive at some point.
Not that it matters now. |
| Dreylin | Hmmm, well they
don't look likely to be hostile if they did happen to spontaneously animate.
[Gingerly touches one of the happiest-looking ones] |
| DM | It goes 'ting'.
|
| Berillia | Aha! It's a
Ting statue! |
| Leanna | Let's go through
the doors and worry about the statues later. |
| DM | The doors open into a
circular chamber about 30 feet wide with a domed ceiling. There is a large (10
feet wide) circular hole in the centre of the room which appears to be some
form of well. It drops down into darkness. A slight breeze blows from the
hole.
On the far wall the words 'Pah' and 'Nawd' are carved in old but recognisable
script. |
| Narond | [Goes to
investigate the writing on the wall] |
| DM | The two words are carved
deeply into the wall. They are clearly part of the orginal structure.
|
| Leanna | Shall we
investigate this room later since Rahib doesn't seem to be around? |
| Narond | I have no idea
what the two words mean. |
| Dreylin | Pah! |
| Narond | Just checking
huh? |
| Dreylin | Wondering if
they correspond to something like 'Up' and 'Down' and that this is a magical
lifting device of some sort. |
| Narond | Could be I
suppose, or something magical based on that well. Either that or they say
water in a language we don't understand. |
| DM | The word echoes around
the chamber and dies away. After a few seconds you feel that the breeze from
the well has become a little stronger. It continues to increase until a strong
wind is blowing from the hole. The wind dies away. The hole is now filled by a
large disk which glows blue. It traverses the last few feet up the shaft and
settles at floor level. |
| Dreylin | I was right!
[Gingerly steps onto the disk] |
| DM | It takes your weight
with no difficulty. |
| Dreylin | Anyone plan to
join me, or shall I have an explore on my own? |
| Leanna | Why not?
|
| Narond | Lets have a
gander down there then. |
| DM | You all get on.
|
| Dreylin | [Duly
impressed] I've heard about these before, I think my Dad ran across one of
these when he was exploring an old tower - that one was above the ground,
though, not stuck under a mountain like this one. Anyway, he and my Uncle had
found this glowing disk, and had stepped on it when they noticed this sort of
writing on the wall, and while asking each other if they knew what it said,
set the thing flying upwards at an incredible rate.
Now I don't want to appear gloomy, but theirs had obviously suffered a bit
over the years, because their ride was far from smooth - up they shot, faster
than a dwarf chasing gold, but as they approached the chamber above, the thing
just didn't slow down and carried on upwards, straight towards the ceiling
above! Fortunately, in those days they were both nimble chaps, and managed to
dive over the side before the impact occurred. The disk, however, smashed
itself on the ceiling and shattered into tiny pieces - leaving my Dad stuck
without a way down. Now how did they get down from there... it'll come
to me.
Nawd! |
| DM | There is a slight echo.
Nothing happens for several seconds. Then the disk starts to descend the
shaft. It goes really quite fast and for a few seconds there is a peculiar
feeling of lightness. The only light illuminating the stone walls is from the
disk.
After a minute or so you feel heavier and the disk starts to slow down. You
pass out of the bottom of the shaft and the disk settles onto a raised
pedestal. You are in a room almost identical to the one far above (including
the words on the wall). There is a large hole in the ceiling immediately above
you.
The only exit appears to be a set of double doors in the west wall. |
| Leanna | Onwards and
westwards? |
| Narond | Well that was
entertaining. I must get me one of those. [Grins] Though preferably one
that doesn't do something like the one mentioned by Dreylin in his story. Yes
indeed, onwards and westwards. |
| Dreylin | Well that was
slightly disappointing really. |
| DM | You head west.
The doors open onto a corridor 70 feet long. There are several alcoves along
its length which contain more of the platinum statues. At the far end is
another set of double doors. |
| Leanna | [Has a general
perusal of the statues] |
| DM | All the same as before.
|
| Narond | Through the doors
we go. |
| DM | You head through the
double doors in the western wall.
You are in a square room about 20 feet square. There is a further set of
metal double doors to the west. The northern and southern walls are large
silver arches which glow softly. Several strings of multi-coloured light
stretch between either side of each arch. The room beyond each arch is a
brightly lit hexagon with doors in the east and west walls. The southern
hexagon appears to be empty but the north is filled with an enormous amount of
treasure. Piles of jewels almost obscure the open chests revealing thousands,
perhaps tens of thousands of coins. Mostly they are gold although you catch
the white glint of platinum amoung them. |
| Dreylin | [Gawps at the
treasure] Gosh! |
| Leanna | I have a really
bad feeling about this... no sudden movements, guys. I think we should go
through the double doors opposite first; this just looks like a trap to me.
Don't suppose your father had any sage words about big piles of treasure,
Dreylin? |
| Dreylin | Well, as far as
I recall, any of his stories which did involve huge piles of sparkling
doo-dads, there was usually a large and anti-social beast of some sort with a
personal interest in keeping them exactly where they were! |
| Leanna | [Considers the
possibility of it being a double bluff and goes to check the western doors for
traps] |
| Narond | [Eyes glaze
over...]
[Shakes his head] I wouldn't expect there to just be a big pile of
treasure with no guardians of some sort, be it anti-social beasts or some form
of magic trap, perhaps of the sort that turns people into large platinum
statues or something. Though of course it could just be an illusion. I have no
idea why anyone would want to leave a large pile of treasure in a random room,
not even secured. |
| Leanna | The shimmery
lights are probably some kind of magical alarm system.
I think these doors are trap-free. Shall we leave it alone for the moment and
go through to the west? |
| Shianara | Perfectly
fine idea, they look trap-free to me too. |
| DM | You go through the doors
in the west wall. You find yourself in a short corridor. It is 30 feet long
from east to west and 10 feet wide and there are double doors in the east and
west walls. There are also single wooden doors in the north and south walls,
half way along the corridor. |
| Dreylin | Well, shall we
go south? |
| Narond | Lead the way...
|
| DM | The door is locked.
|
| Leanna | Do you guys want
to try the north door while I try and pick this lock? |
| Dreylin | Will do.
[Does] |
| DM | The door opens into a 20
foot square room. It is beautifully decorated. There are rugs and carpets and
a fantastic four poster bed. The place is also strewn with women's clothing.
There is a dresser with a mirror and several bottles on it. There is also a
wardrobe.
The north-west corner leads to a 10 foot square alcove. There is an iron gate
currently stopping entrance. There is also a large lever on the west wall near
the gate. |
| Leanna | [Walks in]
No luck with the other door I'm afraid.
[Has a look in the wardrobe to see if any of the clothes look
familiar] |
| DM | The clothes are modern
but of reasonable quality. Some are clearly quite new. Others you recognise as
Rhea's. |
| Narond | So we have had
some of the women we are seeking staying around this tower.
[Goes towards the iron gate] |
| DM | There's a big empty
alcove beyond it. |
| Dreylin | [Has a look
underneath the bed] |
| Leanna | [Has a look at
the bottles] |
| Dreylin | [Reappears
from beneath the bed] Well, nothing of interest there.
[Considers the alcove] I wonder if it's another of those teleporting
alcoves, like in the abbey? [Gets on a chair and pulls the
lever] |
| DM | The gate smoothly raises
into the ceiling allowing you access to the alcove. |
| Dreylin | [Gets off the
chair and walks into the alcove to examine it] |
| DM | Dreylin vanishes in a
flash of darkness. |
| Narond | Looks like it
might be a teleport device. Or something like that. Question is, do we send a
couple of people to follow Dreylin while the rest of us look to see if there
is anything useful around this area, or do we all dive for the alcove?
[Muses] |
| DM | It has now been about a
minute since Dreylin vanished. He has not re-appeared.
It has now been several minutes since Dreylin vanished.
Another minute or so has passed.
There is a muffled male scream from somewhere outside the room. It dies off
rapidly. |
| Leanna | [Suggests that
we use the teleporter, swords drawn] |
| Narond | Let's go.
|
| DM | You rush into the
teleporter. There is a faintly uncomfortable feeling and everything goes
black.
When your sight clears you find yourself in a small alcove looking out into a
different room. It is about 30 feet square with a corridor in the far wall.
The room is filled with dust and cobwebs. There are several benches which are
covered with ancient bottles and equipment. Some of it may once have been
magical. There are some books around but they seem to have been badly eaten by
rot.
Stepping out of the alcove you see that there is a second alcove a little
along the wall from where you are. |
| Berillia | [Looks in
the dust for Dreylin's footprints] |
| DM | There are indeed
footprints. They are very clear and go directly to the next alcove. |
| Berillia | Everyone
happy with walking into more risky magical devices?
[Looks significantly at the other alcove and walks into it] |
| Leanna | [Throws the
rest of the party in] |
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