BGE1-4
Episode 4 of Season 1 of Beyond Good and Evil.
Dates
- Real Life
- R 12/8/2011
- S 12/10/2011
- R 12/15/2011
- U 12/18/2011
- U 1/1/2012
- In-Game
- 1385/3/14 through 1385/3/24
Synopsis
Eldain hires the party to aid an archaeological expedition in Chult being undertaken by Maven Blackstone. The expedition is defended well enough from local threats, but the Tabaxi mercenaries they have hired are unwilling to enter the "cursed" site itself...so when monsters start attacking archaeologists, sterner solutions are needed.
He provides transit to and from the site care of his associate Meridian Jones, sailor and oftime pirate, on his rather special elven ship Meridian. It so happened that Eldain was also sending past associates Therim Kincaid and Kerris Zultir on an errand to Mezro, so they might as well share a boat.
After a few days of smooth sailing, the ship arrives at the port of Mezro, an uninspiring harbor for such a large city. The port itself is a small town in its own right, connected to Mezro by a snaking uphill path; the actual city gates are over a mile away.
Before leaving the village, they are intercepted by Race Mullar, a hunter and woodsman who is in the employ of Maven. He guides them to the dig site, pushing them hard to make the trip as short as possible.
On the way, they discover a Tabaxi village that has been raided, its men slain, and its women and children taken as slaves. Curiously, the attack seems to have come from the Batiri, who are not known for enslaving. Some quick magic work by Aemhan reveals the Batiri are selling the slaves to some very northern-looking fellows on the fringes of a port city.
They press on, but cannot reach the site before the short early spring day ends. They camp in a cave for the night, observing the beauty of the exotic jungle from their high perch.
The following day, they reach the site with no further complications. They observe a clearing in the jungle, abutting a large mound of old stone, mostly excavated from the dirt. It is a step-pyramid, surrounded by totem-like obelisks reflecting a clear Yuan-Ti origin. The temple itself seems to have been a site of ritual sacrifice, as an altar suitable for such a task has been uncovered on the top level.
On arrival, Race tersely introduces them to Maven, who dismisses them as inadequate to the task. After some discussion, she confesses to simply being overstressed, and explains the situation:
:A few days ago, two of the archaeologists working in the passage to study the seal were attacked. A third witness described terrible monsters, including a very prominent flying serpent that seemed to be on fire. The two victims disappeared, presumably taken into the temple, whose seal remains intact.
The Dungeon
====Entering the Dungeon====
The party investigates the seal, noticing that a slot at its center seems to be waiting to accept an embossed disc of some kind. The stonework of the door seems to indicate something involving the sun and the apex of the temple. They form a cast using the slot itself as a mold, packing it with clay and firing it (a la Scarlet) to produce a ceramic disk with the appropriate embellishings.
At the apex of the temple, they find an array of lenses, still in good order, mounted to a metal scaffolding above the altar. The altar itself seems to have a mold matching the one in the door. They place gold coins in the mold and melt them into a cast disc. They then focus the sun's light on the disc with the lenses, which causes a magical reaction, charging the disc with the necessary energy.
Reentering the temple, they insert the empowered golden disc into the slot, which causes sunlight to seep from the seal, and spread throughout the stonework, before being devoured by swarms of black shadow snakes. The door opens.
====Level 1====
Beyond the seal is an antechamber, adorned with relief in obsidian of yuan-ti figures in worship. Upon entering this chamber, the seal slams shut, and poison gas fills the room. The party flees the antechamber into the dark room beyond, crossing a magic wall inflicting lethal poison on any who cross it, but also blocking the gas. Well-protected against poison, they survive, recover, and move on.
The main chamber on this level is a large, square room, with a sunken pit on the floor filled with black, impenetrable mist. The walls are decorated with the same obsidian relief of yuan-ti making ritual sacrifices to some figure above. The ceiling does not depict any divine figures, only empty black stone.
The black mist is parted to reveal thousands of shadowy snakes, apparently feasting on something beneath their mass. Fearing the light shone upon them, they attack the party. Dispatching them proves difficult, as their shadowy nature makes them nigh immune to magic, while their incorporeal nature makes them nigh immune to physical weapons. Inevitably, the party prevails, only to find their constant feasting was the only thing keeping the perpetually-regenerating ghost of a Couatl from animating and attacking them.
The demidivine entity, after tens of thousands of years of post-death torture, was weakened, but still bound by the will of the temple's creators. It command the party to destroy it, that it may return to the celestial realm from whence it came. It gives them little choice in the matter by attacking fiercely.
After defeating the couatl, Scarlet shines the light of the sun on its bones, destroying its physical remains, and liberating its spirit to return to the heavens.
With the chamber cleared of threats, they explore further, finding an exit door which can only be opened by pulling levers in the correct sequence. Maven is able to translate the glyphs on the device into numbers, aiding the party in entering the sequence. The door is opened, and they move on.
====Level 2====
The entrance to the next level is blocked by a hybrid wall, the combination of a portcullis of white glass-steel in the shape of interlocked bones, and a magical wall which kills any who cross it. The portcullis opens with a lever, but the spiritwall remains. Aemhan sends an undead servant safely through it, and orders him to pull a lever on the inside, which deactivates the spiritwall. They enter the antechamber.
The antechamber bears a podium topped with a basin. The door to the chamber is an iris of strange, ultra-hard metal, and is currently closed. An inscription reads "A freshly dead heart shall open the way". Indeed, the basin is about the right size for a heart to be placed in it.
Unwilling to sacrifice any living humanoids just yet, the party examines the offering basin. It seems to drain down the length of the podium into the floor, where it enters a channel heading toward the iris door. Breaking through the floor, they find it to have been a layer of thin stone tile over an open drain leading far downward. The channel guides the blood into the drain, not before splashing over a crystal suspended by wires. The crystal seems magically linked to the iris door.
Faen determines that the substance of which the door is comprised is actually "summoned", in that it is evoked from an infernal plane into the shape of metal, but is, in its own way, alive, and malevolent. Having access to the crystal, he applies his will, and manages to "banish" the door for a few moments, making it totally intangible.They cross into the next room, which seems to feature six obsidian statues of a grotesque being surrounded by huge piles of skulls, all of which seeming to have been petrified into black glass. The statues bear the likeness of a powerfully-built humanoid male, whose neck and head are replaced with a massive serpent bursting from the collar cavity.
Predictably, the statues animate when the party bypasses them without offering skulls in tribute. Though extremely resilient against both physical and magical attacks, the statues are powerless to stop Aemhan's undead from draining their animating force. When their energy is completely sapped, they become inert, and are defeated.
To exit the chamber, it seems they must pass through thick wall of solid stone, through which the only path is a winding tube barely big enough for a large snake. Scarlet transforms the party into snakes so they may pass. Deviously, the temple's builder lined the tube with lethal poison, enough to nearly kill Faen as he attempts to slither through--but for Aemhan's quick magic, he would have died.
To eliminate the poison, Scarlet fills the tube with an inferno of flame, rendering it into char. The rest of the party slithers through without incident.
====Level 3====
The final level is guarded by a powerful divine spell, which seems to absolutely ward against any transit by those unfaithful to the temple's patron deity. It might be taken down, but only by practitioners far more powerful than anyone in the party. Instead, they ponder alternate approaches. The wall seems to be an effective barrier to ethereal travel, and a dimension lock beyond prohibits teleporting past the door. Unlike a Wall of Force, the wall is not easily taken down by disintegration spells.
After much brainstorming, they realized they could use a warlock ritual to conjure magic items from mysterious planar merchants. They conducted the ritual, purchasing a Rode of Cancellation. Aemhan entered the ethereal plane, and used it to shatter the wall, as, from the material, the wall could not be touched by a material object, serving instead as a portal to some dark divine realm.
Beyond, they found a the massive tomb of the temple's builder and High Priest. Stuffed with treasures, valuable in their own right, but priceless as archaeological artifacts, the tomb's pièce de résistance is the massive sarcophagus at its center, and the mummy within.
Within the tomb are the still-living archaeologists, who appear to have been psionically reprogrammed to serve the malevolent spirit of the High Priest. They meant to lie in ambush for the party, but Faen incapacitated them without a fight. They are immediately returned to the surface (via teleportation) and given unto the other archaeologists for care.
The party then opens the sarcophagus, revealing the mummy of a Sarrukh. They had prepared for something to emerge, and had surrounded the sarcophagus with an empowered circle. When the uncarnate spirit of the mummy manifested, it found itself trapped in the circle, unable to project its power onto the party outside. When Scarlet entered the circle, he forced his way into her mind, but was ultimately ejected by a supreme act of will. However, now liberated from the circle, he was able to choose a new target, one less likely to escape his domination: Maven.
Maven, as host to the spirit, manifests its psychic powers as powerfully as it can, limited by her form and her own lack of innate psionic power. Still, it makes for a formidable opponent, wielding the already tricky powers of the Invisible Art with the grace of a grandmaster. Still, the party prevails, defeating the ardent worshipper of Dendar the Night Serpent by conjuring a miniature replica of the sun itself, using Scheherazade, Staff of A Thousand Suns.
With the spirit destroyed, the couatl reappears, fully restored, manifesting his fully divine might and beauty as a greater servant of the Great Sun God. He thanks the party for dispatching his foe, and cleansing the land of his taint. In gratitude, he grants them a boon, and resurrects Maven.
Having played host to the spirit, she recalls all of his memories--tens of thousands of years of them, in perfect, eidetic detail. She realizes the true extent of his horrible existence, the countless humanoid (mostly elven) sacrifices to his glory, his devotion to a being that would devour all light and life everywhere. She is able to explain that the purpose of the temple was both to appease the Night Serpent, delaying his wrath for another day, and to further the personal power and glory of its high priest, who sought to achieve the ultimate liberation, freeing his mind from his already immortal body, freeing it from the confines of the universe itself, that it may avoid the fate of all other things when the Night Serpent devours them. For all the sycophants praying to dark god, for all the acolytes and servants, for the untold hordes of sacrifices, it all served better only one...the High Priest himself.
She explains that the being they fought was only an eidolon--a small schism of the High Priest's mind--tasked with guarding his body (and possessions) until the inevitable devouring of the world. His true power would vastly eclipse anything the party could must, and that even at the moment of death almost 20,000 years ago.
With the malevolent force expunged, and vast treasures liberated, it seemed the dungeon was thoroughly explored.
Until Faen stumbled over a secret switch inside the sarcophagus itself, leading to a secret level below.
====Level 4====
Below the tomb of the High Priest, there is a massive chamber, in which countless spiritual masses flow into writhing sphere, seeming to be crowding around some object of terrible interest. The relief on the walls depicts a massive serpent, whose head turns forth from the wall, aimed and agape as if to devour the contents of the room. Inside its maw is absolute darkness, a field of annihilation. Occasionally an errant spirit-form wanders too close to it, and gets pulled in, disappearing from existence. But for the most part, they remain fixed around the object in the center of the room.
Contact with a single spirit-form causes a creature to instantly experience a creature's nightmare, with all of the primal, atavistic fear that such things entail, bypassing any mental discipline or protections. It is impossible for anyone to approach the mass too closely, as they are bombarded by the spirit-forms, incapacitated by fear.
Except, of course, for Eris, who endures the fear, the pain, the despair, wading into the mass, assailed by thousands of nightmares, but undaunted. She finds, at the center, a shard of blackness about the size of a dagger. Once it is claimed, its pull on the spirits fades, and they are sucked into the maw of the serpent in a powerful vortex.
Out of the Dungeon
On the way back up to the tomb, Scarlet attempts to incinerate the Sarrukh mummy, but Maven interposes herself to preserve it. The situation is defused by the party, but Scarlet teleports home to Calimport. The rest exit the dungeon.
Soon after they exit, as the archaeologists and mercenary guards crowd around them to get news and see what they've liberated, the camp is attacked by a small army of riflemen, being led by an older gentleman with a fierce, malevolent stare. Osman Haggard demands the shard, in exchange for the lives of the party and their charge. He even offers to let them keep the rest of the treasure. They refuse to cooperate. As a guard approaches Eris to take it by force, she counterattacks, and all hell breaks loose.
The fight is brief, but fierce. Though every archaeologist, warrior, and party member had at least one rifle already aimed at their head, with its hammer cocked, Aemhan's quick magic beat them to the punch, protecting the entire expedition with a magical shield, and blasting away those enemies too close to it. Soon after, Maven, accessing the knowledge of the High Priest, caused the noncombatants (and the woefully outmatched warriors) to exit the stream of time. She nearly collapsed from the effort.
The elite riflemen were able to get inside the magic barrier, and between their fine weapons and expert marksmanship, they nearly overcame the party. Chaos reigned, as attacks came in from all directions; in that chaos, Osman attempted to take the shard by force. However, just as he seemed to overcome the last of the party's defenses, Maven manifested a tremendous psychic blast which propelled him over a mile into the air.
With their boss neatly removed from the fight, the Riflemen lost their nerve. A few stayed to fight, dying in the process; the rest fled, or tried to, mowed down by Eris' scythe.
In the aftermath, Race explained who the man was--a baron and crime boss, effectively the dictator of Post Castigliar, the primary port of Chult, and likely a senior leader among the Rundeen.
Remainder
- Went back to the port of Mezro
- Attacked by raptor-riding Batiri and Tyrannosaurs
- Escaped the harbor by taking to the air...turns out the Meridian can fly!
- Arrive home, meet with Eldain
- He teleports them to his ultra-secure tower in Evermeet, where they talk about the Nightmare Shard
- After much discussion on the nature of the shard, they decide to hand it over, after which it will be shipped into space and out of the sphere entirely
Rewards
Session 1
Session 2
- Monsters Defeated
- 10x shadow asp swarm (minion)
- 1x tortured couatl (elite)
- Traps Handled
- 1x poison room trap
- Puzzles Solved
- 1x math puzzle
- XP Reward
- 4,950 xp each (new total: 67,113 xp, level 12)
- Treasure
- Couatl skeleton made of gold; total value as pure gold: 56,419 cp
- Malachite serpent figurine (yes, you can keep this). Value as art object: 20,000 cp
- Gems and precious stones worth 16,336 cp as Jewelcrafting mats
- Shadow asp leather and scales worth 11,473 cp as Leatherworking mats
- Prismatic dust, a rare form of rich quasi-magical matter, usable as a universal spell reagent. Value: 14,939 cp as spell reagents
- Chromatic essences, left over from the passing of the couatl. Value: 16,384 cp as Enchanting mats
Session 3
- Monsters Defeated
- 6x Obsidian Guardian (strong)
- Puzzles Solved
- 1x bone+wall of spirits threshold
- 1x heart sacrifice
- XP Reward
- 2,700 xp each (new total: 69,813 xp, still level 12)
- Treasure
- A crapton of obsidian. This is a blacksmithing component, which can be used to create weapons and armor.
- Rank: 4
- Effect on weapons: +10 Hit, +20 Crit, +40 Cpow, +40 Armor Penetration, can be used to parry targeted spells. Mkt Value: 20/30/40 gp for light/med/hvy weapon.
- Effect on armor: +20 Soak, Hardness 10%, Spell Reflection 10%. Mkt Value: 40 gp for mail, 60 gp for plate.
- Just how much did you get? Well, that depends. If you melt down the golems, you get 60 gp worth, enough for 120 gp in mkt value of finished goods. If you melt down all the skulls, you get an additional 30 gp worth of obsidian, although you'll be desecrating elven remains (not to mention valuable archaeological finds).
- 6x greater soul gem, used to bind the elemental spirits that animated the golems. The spirits have since fled.
- A skilled warlock/jewelcrafter can cut these into special black gems. They will be the same as normal rank 3 black gems, except that the negative effect of the gem's daily power is doubled in effectiveness.
- Were one to have captured one of the spirits, one might create an interesting trinket. Of course, one would have to be a warlock/jewelcrafter with the foresight to trap the spirit of a golem before it was destroyed...
Session 4
====XP====
- Aspirations Achieved
- Aemhan: Secret: Pass up the opportunity to exploit a corpse or undead creature in the name of something noble. 2,750 xp, Aemhan gains +1 Wisdom, 5 AP.
- Scarlett: (Minor) Do something impulsive. 1100 xp, 1 AP
- Scarlett: (Major) Use your magic in a way you've never done before. 2,750 xp, 5 AP
- Thelonius (Minor): Successfully take no damage or ill effect from the mightiest attack of a mighty creature (i.e. boss). 1100 xp, 1 AP.
- Monsters Defeated
- 4x mummy (minion): 3,000 xp
- 2x enslaved archaeologist (minion): 1,500 xp
- 1x uncarnate sarrukh schism (boss): 15,000 xp
- Puzzles Solved
- 1x Wall of the Faithful: 4,500 xp
- 1x Door of Snakes-Could-Pass: 2,250 xp
- Total XP Reward
- From aspirations: 7,700 xp (23%)
- From puzzles: 6,750 xp (20%)
- From monsters: 19,500 xp (57%)
- Adjustment from previous session: 4,500 xp (for puzzles solved for which no XP was awarded)
- Quest bonus: 5,000 xp
- Total XP received: 43,450 xp
- 8,690 xp each
- New total: 78,503 (level 13)
====Treasure====
Session 5
====Aspirations Achieved====
- Minor (Thelonius): Disarm a foe. 1 AP
- Minor (Aemhan): Heal another in need. 1 AP
- Minor (Scarlet): Rescue a helpless animal from mortal peril. 1 AP
- Minor (Thelonius): Use an Engineering trinket for a useful purpose. 1 AP
- Secret (Aemhan): Convalesce under the healing ministrations of another. 5 AP, learn a special healing technique
====Monsters Defeated====
- 22x minion
- 8x elite
- 1x boss (rout)
====Treasure====
- Quest completion: 100 gp in cash, or other investment opportunity (use forums to discuss)
- GP value: 160 total (final treasure TBD)
====Experience====
- Total for session 5: 13,108 xp each (new total: 91,611 xp, level 14)
