Ancient Dread: Octagon's End and the Rock Faeries

Continued:

Past where the mural was is a square room with a ladder in the center, carved out of stone, leading up.  It opens up into more of a traditional cavern, stalagtites and stalagmites surround us.  The ceiling is about 25' above us. It leads off to the SE. We follow to the left until it curves back around south.  A path through the stalagmites opens to the left (NE) and to the right (SE). We follow the NE path following the 'Left Hand' rule through numerous caverns.  Something lands on my back.  I shake it off.  It appears to be some sort of tiny gnomelike creatures.  Echo pulls out her light gem making them pull back a bit. I activate my bracelet of charismatic aura.  They become my best friends.  Whispering in Faerie they are.  Rod talks with them.  There are spiders in the caverns.  They ask if we are friends and I respond that we are. They start leading us down a cavern.   The fey creatures lead us to a huge set of double doors, obviously dwarven carving. 

To be continued.

Ancient Dread: Phantom MVP

Continued:

We move to the flame symbol. The cover is warmer but not scalding. Opening it, warm, dry air comes out. The tunnel, as before, is dark and requiries crawling. The heat increases as I move forward. The hatch at the bottom is warmer still. I open the hatch. On the wall, opposite to to the tunnel, is a grate. The podium, as in the other rooms, is centered. Rod expands to look into the grate. Heat is considerable from it w/ an orange light at the far end, about 20 feet. Rod volunteers to go down the tunnel but Echo suggests sending a phantom. It reports a bright orange room surrounded by about 5' of lava. Easily enough, Echo commands the Phantom to retrieve the key. The key turns. The mural shifts.

The dashed lines. We open the cover. The air is refreshingly cool and pleasant. Moving down the tunnel, I move the the panel aside and look out. There is an archway at the other end. Past the archway is a web, about 20 feet long and ten feet across. On the far side is a cave like room filled w/ stalagtites and stalagmites. We send the phantom forward. Inhuman screams in the distance. The phantom returns, severely wounded. It had fought a giant cave spider and defeated it. We send the phantom back to retrieve the key then dismiss it. The key turns. The mural shifts.

The infinity symbol. Cool air and damp. The dais is octagonal instead of just round. A rope bridge on the far end. No railings. Echo, the most nimble of us, even for a human, crosses and ties a rope for the rest of us to cross safely. An ice elemental and the dias are the anchors. The far room is a huge octagon, two steps down is water. Hanging from the ceiling and covering much of the steps are vines, bluish-green in color. The party crosses over. There is some movement in the water, what it is we're not sure. The air is thicker than in the entrance room. Rod summons a Shadow Beast to search the waters. We send both the creatures in and they get attacked by multiple serpentine creatures. Rod and Echo recall their beasts. Several of the eels are floating dead on the surface but more are still there. Rod casts a portal into the pool, draining it into the cavern behind us. Several eels follow. The rest are left swimming in the few feet of water that remains. A lower portal drains the rest of the water and many more eels, the last flopping around in the few inches of remaining water. Echo sends the ice elemental in to send the rest of the eels into the portal and search for the key. We discover the key inside one of the large eels. A quick vivisection gets the key. The key turns. The mural shifts.

To be continued.

Ancient Dread: The Eight Sided Ambush

Continued:

We move past the wall, writhing and squirming around us in anger. The imposing ceiling is not quite as imposing. The buildings become more densly packed and less fire damaged. The quality of the buildings have become more urban than rural seeming. They are less built than carved from the living stone. Are we actually inside the third island?

We come upon a wall with a gateway. Closed. Two giant brass rings. Opening in. There was once a mechanism to assist opening but it's long gone. Rod casts a Portal spell allowing us to easily pass through. A long, pure white marble walkway stretches out before us, 15' wide. A large, ornate door ends it about 1000' away. On each side is infinite darkness instead of walls. The door, marble and inlaid with gold, an 8 sided design is depicted. A classic octagon. Various symbols surround it. The only recognizable one is an infinity symbol, flames, and some gems icons. Others are wavy lines, a three sided shape w/ one side open, and others. Acdor and Strongbow together open the door.
Inside is, unsurprisingly, an octagonal room, huge, about 25' in height. Seven separate panels circle the room set in from the walls. The six symbols from the door are on the floor, one in front of each panel. Between the walls and panels are circular hatches with a whitish metal. The panel directly across from the entrance has no symbol. Strongbow tosses an arrowhead at one of the symbols but nothing occurs.

We decide to try the wavy lines first, whether air or water, we have a strength there. Echo goes first, stepping on the symbol. Four Shedim demons and three gargoyles suddenly appear, attacking Echo. The blows come fast and furious, hurting several demons, Echo, and Ackdor. Echo summons an Ice Elemental to fight. King fells one of the Shedim. Strongbow uses his bracelet of Charismatic Aura to stop 6 of the creatures but is hit by one of the Gargoyles, tearing his face. King and Ackdor face off against the remaining Gargoyle while Strongbow calls on the demons to return to their fell dimension or face their wrath. They shake in fear and disappear with the smell of sulfur in the air. Rod raises her holy sword and expels the remaining monster. We rest for a few while Rod heals the party.

We move to the three sided square. Stepping on it, the hatch behind the panel opens up. A dwarf sized tunnel is behind it. Ackdor, the shortest of the group, takes point. A room, ten feet in height. A pedastal is in the middle of the room w/ a key. At the high end of the back wall is another tunnel. Rod takes the key. The tunnel leads to another room. Ackdor goes through and calls out that there is a keyhole in the floor. Turning it, there is a grinding noise from behind us. Returning to the octagonal hall, on the North Wall, there is a mural of an octogon. The section of what would be the the three sided square has slid out, revealing the symbol.

Again we move to the wavy lines. The tunnel is filled with water. Brackish and black. Echo summons a phantom to cast breath without air on the party and scout ahead. It returns and describes a room. The party swims down, unable to see but feeling our way with a rope. Pulling ourselves up on a ledge, we send the phantom to find the key which it quickly does. In the center of the far room is the keyhole. We return to the Octagon room. The mural is shifted.

 We move on to the gemstones. The tunnel is sparkling. Jagged. We make it down with only Rod sliding down with some injury. We find three keyholes in the first room. The following room has a wall of solid ruby, one of solid sapphire, and one of solid emerald. The keys are buried inside them about a foot in. Strongbow teleports the gem wall away to reach the keys. The phantom, hauling our a chunk of gem, gets destroyed by energy bolts in the tunnel. We decide to leave the rest. The keys turn. The mural shifts.

Ancient Dread: The Loch Chess Monster

Continued: 

Moving on to the next room past the next set of double doors. Inside the walls are marble and decorated w/ arms and armor. One side in white metal , the other black.

There are two lances, two long swords, two miters (hats), two breast plates, and two short swords on each side. There is a single crown on the white side.

Strongbow chooses a white short sword. Ivory grip, silver, and white steel for the haft.
Rod chooses the white crown. White gold inlaid w/ pearls, mother of pearl, and diamonds.
Echo begins to choose a white lance but the dwarven spirit inside her compels her to choose a black one, obsidian lance, onyx haft, and blackened bronze. It's weight is nearly more than she can bare.

A checkered board is laid out in front of us. It appears to be floating on water, easily jumped onto. It contains numerous statues, one side white, one side black. We match up our chosen items with those on the board. The black king has the white pearl glowing brightly on his crown. Our third item.

Strongbow leaps to reach an equivalent spot and falls throughthe board onto the water. He pulls himself up onto the board and takes his place along w/ Rod and Echo. A silence befalls the room.
Rod calls to one of the white pieces to move and it responds. The game begins. Pieces swiftly fall through the board as they are taken. Eventually a quandry comes up. Echo is moved involuntarily into a position to take Strongbow. A pawn takes her. She falls through and manages to swim to the shore. We check the king and it falls through the board into the depths below.

Rod and Strongbow feel a loyalty to the Dwarven empire. Echo attempts to have her water wisps retrieve the statue but they are devoured by a sea monster. Rod summons a Shadow Beast to delve and retrieve the statue. After a time, we realize it wasn't coming back up. A combined effort between the two mystical creatures wears down the beast and they manage to drag the statue to shore. Strongbow manages to pry it out of the crown. The geas goes away.

Now we have to obtain the crown. The last door leads to a bridge, unstable looking, a 50 foot span of river to a small island. On the other side is some sort of Dwarven crafts table. Echo ties a rope to a point and walks across, securing it on the other side. On the table is a crown of a meteoric metal. Intricately carved. It seems to have its own presence. It has three spaces for the jewels. What order is the question. We decide that power and loyalty feed into Dominion. Loyalty is on the right hand and power on the left.

Echo calls on the skills of Grim Ax to place the gems. On the table is a case for the crown. We place it in the box and latch it. Echo feels its pull. We return to the Ashman. He is ecstatic and burns through the wall of corpses. Beyond the wall is a tunnel leading to our final destination. The Ashman warns us that his opponent is a Baalrog that is raising an army and will do everything he can to stop us. No more puzzles, just blood and ashes.

Ancient Dread: Roll the Bones or Greed is Good for You.

Continued:


Following intuition, we avoid the North door and move on to the Easterly one. A strange sight befalls us. It is reminiscent of a great hall but is in ruins.

 A small gravel pit is in the center of the room w/ another obelisk. No gem tops this one. A great stone table is on the North side, carved in many Dwarven designs. On the other side, a skeletal dwarf w/ glowing, hateful eyes stands behind a half-moon bar, the back stocked w/ many fine. In the center of the back wall is a chained dwarf corpse, glowing w/ power from its chest. On the obelisk is an inscription which, surprisingly, we are all able to read. It makes itself legible.

To all great leaders, must ye show fealty. Give in not to pride, avarice, or debauchery. Only through these shall ye know truth.

Hung on the obelisk is a large sword, similar to a lochaber axe but with a shorter haft and longerblade , and a battle axe. There are many gouges and divets taken out of the obelisk. The dwarven bartender, as if reading our thoughts, tells us that they have dwarven mead and wine. Echo and Rod suggest that the bar is debauchery, the obelisk pride, and the table avarice. On the table is a very worn but lovingly crafted wooden box. 4” x 8”. There are no outside decorations. Echo volunteers to open the box. Inside is a pair of felt lined wooden cups and numerous bone dice.

Strongbow goes up to the bartender, sits and asks for a glass of his finest wine. The Dwarf asks if I am ready for this challenge and to accept fealty. He places a goblet of fine dwarven crystal in front of the elf and pours a glass of wine. It smells enticing, even for a dwarven vintage. It has an honey and oakey smell to it. Strongbow takes a taste. The bartender states that the challenge is fealty to the Dwarven lords. He continues drinking for a bit then declares he’s done. The bartender states “Your fealty is accepted”. A beam of yellow light shoots from the corpse on the wall and strikes Strongbow in the chest. Completely against his constitution, he feels slightly compelled to follow the dwarven lords. Echo bellys up to the bar and starts drinking heavily. Four drinks later and she is on the floor.

The Dwarf rejects her.

Rod moves up to the obelisk. The bartender follows. “Trial by stone?” Yes, replies Rod and takes the sword. The Dwarf takes the axe. Rod swings and takes a chip out of the obelisk. The dwarf strikes but the axe loses a piece. They continue the duel. After several more strikes, Rod breaks the stone in half. A beam of yellow light strikes her in the chest. She feels inclined towards the dwarves. Stone crumbles down into the gravel and a new one builds up. Strongbow moves up and draws Melina and strikes the stone against the protestations of the dwarf. As a piece comes off the stone, a burst of energy hits Strongbow in the chest, knocking him back several feet. The dwarf looks crossly at him. “You have failed”.

The dwarf walks over to the table and takes out the bone dice. Echo, managing not to waver, sits. The dwarf states that she must make a wager. She places the groups treasure bag, easily worth 200k gold, on the table. The dwarf pauses. Out of seemingly nowhere, he pulls out a beautiful gem and a bag of coins. He pushes the bag forward. “My first bet”. We place several magic items on the table. The dwarf matches w/ several other magic items.

Echo places the pink gem, the entire focus of our quest, onto the table. The Dwarf is befuddled. He glowers at us, filled w/ undying hate. “You have made an enemy this day”. The bones are rolled.
The dwarf rolls a 3.
Echo rolls a 7.

Unimaginable knowledge along w/ our riches are ours.

The wall spectre disappears. We collect the second gem.

Ancient Dread: The Ashman

Continued:

Passing through the portal, we continue our trek. The neighborhoods seem to get more ornate as we progress. The atmosphere, reminding us we are under millions of gallons of water, is disheartening. It feels…… thick. The emberflies continue to light our way. The passages narrow to a path. A gate blocks our way. To our left is a mound of rubble. Something tops it. Echo, the most nimble of us (unusual being a humie) climbs the rubble. Standing in front of her is the Ashman. He invites the group up after greeting her. He is standing in the middle of a circle. Echo and Rod recognize it as a Circle of Summon Devils. His skin looks like glowing coals.
He reminds us that the enemy of his enemy could be his friend and that the enemy we have in common is ‘Scorch’, a demon. He tells us that beyond the gate is a vault that contains something he wants. If we obtain it for him, he will get us past the next barrier which is otherwise impenetrable, a wall of animated corpses. Without his help, he claims, we will not have enough power left to defeat Scorch and his minions. The item he wants is a crown, made from arrogance. He is telling us the truth.
Continuing, he informs that the crown is in multiple pieces and that he will provide us with information on even greater enemies. We agree to work with him and he relates to us a story:
A dwarven king ruled the island and demanded his priest make him a crown. The crown was made but the priest made a second, later known as the fanatics crown, creating blind loyalty and dominion over those that served him. It was this king that caused the destruction of the island. The crowns jewels were separated into power, dominion and loyalty. Three stones must be placed on the crown.
Ashman gives us a box and warns us not to touch the crown. Three trials must be completed, the crown assembled, then brought back to him. He will then clear the way for us and owe us several favors which we may claim now or later.
We walk down to the gate. A pair of huge knockers hang from leering faces. It opens easily when we use the knockers. A building ahead of us is the vault. Behind it is a lake. Coming from the side of the building is the wall that Ashman told us about. From the ground to the roof is a writhing mass of animated corpses, moaning and squirming. Echo pokes it and narrowly avoids being grabbed by numerous hands.
Returning to Ashman, he tells us the first three trials are related to the items we need to recover. The fourth is a trial of desire, we need to reject our greatest wants. He gives us his name… Cinder. We move on to the vault. A giant building. Runes carved in many places. Entering the building is a long corridor. There appears to be some ancient traps that no longer work. At the end of the corridor is a circular hall, domed. Three doors lead out from it outside of the one we’ve entered from. A fence blocks off the back and in the distance is the lake and island. In the center of the room is another summoning circle. This one for Jinn. In the middle of the circle is a lamp.
Rod prays for guidance. He says we should bypass the temptation. We ignore the circle and lamp and move to the first door. It is filled w/ a reddish hue. In the center is an obelisk, at it’s peak is a glowing gem. Supposedly the gem of power. There are four statues. Three man height. One giant. All sense as presences. I attempt to pull it out using telekinesis. It stays put. Echo summons a phantom to try and grab it. As soon as it touches the stone, the statues begin to move towards us. Rod and I charge one, Echo, King and Ackdor charge the other. Two shoot arrows at Ackdor, another hits me w/ a lightning bolt. The melee continues. Ackdor continues to get hit w/ arrows while we strike various golems. After the three destroy the one w/ the sword, I notice that our hits on the magic user have had no effect. I realize that like calls to like. Echo destroys it immediately w/ her ball lightning. I drop my shield and sheath Melina, the archer is mine. His fear causes his next shots to fly off target. The rest of the group focuses on the giant. I quickly eliminate the archer and then we all turn on the giant. It eventually falls. The obelisk crumbles and we gather the gem in the box.

Ancient Dread: The Maze Runners

Continued:

We enter the tunnel. Dwarven sized, it presents some issues w/ the taller members of the group. While ominous, no being has been in here for millennia. As we move through, we sometimes have to take alternate routes to progress. A tingling in the back of our minds feels like we’re being watched. The architecture, again while dwarf, seems almost from a completely different civilization. For several days we encounter nothing but boulevards.

Suddenly, the area opens into a courtyard. It is illuminated by some sort of natural reddish hue, hanging in the air like embers. A giant fountain, w/ a four pointed star as its figure, centers the yard.

Echo’s attempts to grasp one of the embers proves fruitless, staying just out of her reach. On either side of the fountain are buildings w/ a wall farther out ahead. The fountain is dry. Nearby we notice a hatch. Ackdor and King manage to rip open it, leading into a dark pit. Looking down we hear water. Rod climbs down and steps into some shallow, rushing water. Some sort of old maintenance tunnel.

We decide to investigate this side of the wall first. Opens that used to be there are filled w/ rubble, making them impassable. The western building has steps leading to a second story. A guard building. At the top, a guard walkway continues along the top of the wall. About halfway down, it is collapsed. The east building looks to have been explored. A wooden bridge spans partway across a chasm that abruptly ends.

A quick exploration of the buildings, we note one building only has light from the emberflies. Echo enters. A man sits there, looking to be ash and ember himself, in front of a fireplace. He shushes her then disappears. The room itself was once a forge, relatively large. Echo discovers some sort of tunnel system. We decide on the sewers. They seem to be a maze as they branch off repeatedly. Damnable dwarves. All dead ends. We return to the forge vents. Ancient ash causes some serious discomfort as we move through the vent. We move past the wall and into another section of the bazaar. It has mostly caved in. Moving through the rubble, a building far to the west has survived. Rod opens the door and is greeted by a gust of wind. It comes from another chasm. A bridge leads across it. Roping eachother together, we attempt to cross. The bridge stops partway across leaving a gap too far to leap. Echo summons a phantom to carry us across.

A third section of the bazaar, we find another forge and hatch. Down the hatch. An open space leads out to four directions. More damn dwarf tunnels. We follow the lefthand north rule. Many dead ends. As we move north, the water on the floor gets hotter. Climbing over shelves gets us to another hatch, cool to the touch. We exit.

A new area. Covered in skeletons both Dwarf and Human, all seeming to have died in agony. Scorchmarks are everywhere. The buildings, seemingly built at random, are burnt out husks. In front of a sigil, a pyramid floating in a sphere of energy, is the Ashman. He giggles and disappears. Touching the pyramid, we pass the first shrine.

Ancient Dread: The Wedding

Continued

Leaving the cave entrance, we return to the fountain w/o difficulty.  As we arrive, the urge to drink once again overwhelms us.  We indulge ourselves of the water.  It appears cloudier than before, near opaque, but as we drink, it feels as if we become whole again, the part stolen from us seeping back into our beings. Our shadows return.  In an instant, the world itself appears normal and we are surrounded by the enemy islanders, those servants of Styphon, armed and posed at the ready but wild eyed and terrified, seemingly of us.  The chief stands among them, equally hostile and on edge.  In a disgusted voice, he informs us that we were not supposed to survive but he will honor his agreement. It seems that we went through not only a non-traditional form of their rite of passage but one meant to be a suicide mission.  It is nice to disabuse him.  However we, as members of the tribe, are now banished from the island but may leave unharmed.   The warriors make way for us as we walk through them,

We note to ourselves that King, now a member of both tribes, may face some interesting social ramifications in the future.  Will it lead to peace negotiations or trouble? 

A scout takes us back to our outrigger and the Virtuous Maiden.  The homecoming is rapturous.  Alta and Mug were overjoyed to see me.  Sleep, as much as it’s desired, doesn’t come easily.  On return to the village, the celebration lasts days.  Food, drink, and dancing fill the hours.  In the passion of the moment, I propose to my beauteous Alta w/ a ring that I searched out in the volcano.  She accepts with her whole heart. The islanders cheer w/ one voice. The night is filled w/ much rejoicing, storytelling, and more drinking.

The next morning… late morning… we begin discussing and preparing for the next phase of our quest.  A return to Ye'tu and traveling to the third island, the island of spirit.  We get our armor repaired, stocks resupplied, arrows and gear worked on.  All the necessary tasks for another long journey.  Alta and I spend much time together.  She is reluctant to leave my side, knowing how dangerous the past has been and the future has become.  During the down-time, I send off a magic pigeon to the family, general notes on our well being and an aside of the news of my engagement, just to aggravate my sisters. Unbeknownst to be though, it doesn’t make it through the barrier we passed through those many weeks ago, hitting and exploding in a puff of magical feathers.  We are truly isolated.

The decision is made to take King w/ us.  Not only are his hand to hand fighting skills none to be despised, he is also an expert in what we expect the native flora and fauna will possibly be.  I am also reluctant to put Alta in the face of the dangers like we’ve encountered so far.  To mollify her over my leaving again, I make a fateful decision.

Alta and I are married among the tribe at high noon on the clearest day.  The Chief and Rod jointly conduct the nuptials. While it will have to be repeated for the families upon our return, this, thousands of miles away from our homes and surrounded by skin covered human savages, will be a binding ceremony in the sight of the Gods.  As soon as the vows are said, the sky darkens as an eclipse covers the sun.  Rod closes her eyes, apparently in a trance. When she opens them, they are not hers, they are those of the Dragon, burning with wisdom and age.  In a deep booming voice also not her own, ‘she’  declares  “I hereby recognize this union, and give my blessing to its longevity and faithfulness”.   The tribe is on their knees, faces planted to the ground in genuflection.  Rod recovers, a bit lightheaded after being possessed by the spirit of Kym Nark Mar and the sky clears.  Wide eyes stare at us, unsure how to react to this direct blessing of the Great Blue Sky.  Theirs are not the only ones.  Alta appears a bit startled and shaken by the realization of just how powerful this relationship has become.  What is she thinking?  I’m sure I’ll find out later.

Over the next few days, we continue our preparations and my Honeymoon.   A dream reveals to us that Kym Nark Mar is using us to draw out our nemesis in order to stop him.   His/It’s goal being to find a source of power and use it to arm an army and destroy the Old Ones once and for all, an impossible task.  We, as heroes, have been chosen for this task since the nemesis is invisible to the Gods.  We are deific bait.  We will not be lambs to the slaughter though.  My suspicions as to what this source of power is, being a former Dwarven stronghold, leaves me wondering what to do w/ it if we survive.  Leave it hidden?  Bring it back into the world?  What consequences for the world might our decisions lead to?

I part from my bride as we begin the third part of our quest on these islands.  We travel to Yetu’s domicile once again.  He reveals to us that he is the guardian of the ‘passage’ to the third island and that our worthiness will be decided by the trials of the passage itself.  We move on to the mountains covering the west part of the island.  In the mountains is a stone gate which leads to a tunnel that connects the two islands, underneath the waters.  In the tunnel are three shrines.  Kym Nark Mar has enchanted them so that only those w/ the three keys (stone plate, jewel, claw), each one connected to one shrine, may open them and continue.   At the entrance, Yetu opens the tunnel for us.  Our first glimpse shows the ruins of an ancient trade way long abandoned.  He warns us that darkness and dangers lie below.  I bite back a sarcastic comment as we enter.