The Saturday Game 2/16/19 – Doors Are Always Problematic
The party regroups outside the Necromancer Spire. Transforming into a wolf, the Druid unsuccessfully attempts to track the scent of the drow elf. Resigned, the party reenters the tower to explore.
We enter a 40 by 40 foot room. Lining the walls are vault doors the color of bone and a green haze hangs in the air. Two doors exit the room to the east and west. Suddenly, the vault doors open and nine reanimated figures of humans, drow elves, yuan-ti and naga shamble out. The Monk jumps into the room to start the fight. Attacks from the Warrior Princess, the Sorcerer and finally the Bard land to kill the first. One undead hits the Druid in wolf form who quickly cancels the form and casts shillelagh. The Luchador grapples one and knocks it prone. The Cleric clutches his holy symbol and turns undead affecting three who attempt to run. The Monk hits three times in a row and decimates the second! An undead unleashes a lightning bolt which causes the Sorcerer and the Bard to fall to the ground grievously injured. The crew break out the heals and the Paper Merchant downs a healing potion. As the fight continues a blast from the Warlock kills the third prone under the Luchador. The Warrior Princess critical hits and takes down the fourth.
There is an extended discussion on how a twinned spell works.
The Sorcerer uses her twinned chaos bolt and kills two at once! The Warrior Princess gets an attack of opportunity and kills the seventh. The Druid and the Warlock take out the eighth and ninth. We take a long rest to heal. During this, we notice the room looks like a morgue and the undead appear to be a kind of exotic creature collection. We surmise they were the result of necromantic spells and experiments that were performed. We also note quite a few more unopened doors so we might want to leave!
Heading through the west door, the Monk leaps into the room followed by the Luchador, Paper Merchant and Warlock. The rest of the party lingers outside. In the middle of the room, there is a square outline in the floor different than the surrounding stone and an ornate door on the opposite side. As the party investigates, suddenly the square outline rises as a stone column with a button on top. Simultaneously with a grinding sound, a stone door falls to trap them in the room. An ominous voice shouts, “Ten!” The Monk presses the button. Again, “Ten!” Again, the Monk presses the button. “Ten!” The Cleric and the Bard outside attempt to cast shatter on the stone door to no avail.
The trapped members discover the ornate door is painted on and not an exit. The decision is made to see what happens as the countdown goes on. As the voice shouts, “Eight,” a viscous liquid emerges from slats in the ceiling. The Paper Merchant attempts to shoot a flaming arrow into the ceiling with no results. The Warlock takes over the obsessive button pushing while the others attempt to lever the door unsuccessfully. They try to create a tower with the halfling perched atop the elf standing on the goliath, but still cannot reach the ceiling. Dejected, the trapped members surrender to their fate and stop pressing the button. As “Six,” tolls, vapor-emitting tubes appear. At “Two,” an inch-wide panel in the floor slides aside and liquid rushes in. At “Zero,” the stone column retracts back to the ceiling. The ornate door slides up revealing an exit and all the illusory traps fade away.
The entire party moves through the false trap room to a hall with four side rooms. The first room contains relics of those who study the dead. The second houses antiquities: wands, rings and similar items. The third has religious icons from various gods. In the fourth, the Cleric senses magic. Inside, a ghost of a male drow elf pantomimes an activity and disappears seemingly without noticing the party. The Paper Merchant grabs a cloak and searches it. He finds a brittle roll of parchment that has unrecognizable writing on it. The Bard identifies it as Abyssal, a language she knows, and translates:
“Avail Bewilder Conquer Dismay Entreat Forget.”
The Warlock and the Bard try on the cloak and it seems to have no effect.
We go back to the original undead room and head east. After going up a spiral staircase, we enter a room where the far wall is curved and has a dais in front of it. A statue of an enormous spider statue sits constructed of bones and fangs. Portions of the room are covered in spider webs. As the Monk makes his signature jump into the room, the spider comes to life. A swarm of smaller spiders appears and attacks as well. Every time we cast a magic spell, the spider glows and the Cleric conjectures that spells heal the monster. We kill the spider swarm to concentrate melee damage on the large construct. After a volley of spikes from the creature, we pause for emergency healing. Finally, the Warrior Princess cleaves the spider in half, and it explodes. A small compartment in the front of the dais contains a cache of loot which is noted by the treasurer. Defeating this minion of Lolth propels the party to the fifth level!
