Tomb of the Serpent Kings Play Report 04
Continued from here, where opening coffins went fine, until it didn't...
The Party:
GoodEye, a treasure-hunting Barber-Surgeon with body-modifications.
Talon, an Outrider blade for hire, seeking alternate streams of income.
Iwan, a Pale-folk haunted Half-witch, with a feathered companion.
Vex, a Half-witch with a budding interest in anthropology and an interesting buddy.
Session 4:
The black ichor was on Iwan faster than anyone could move. As it engulfed his brother, Vex skidded to a stop outside of the doorway and threw a small, smooth stone directly at Iwan. The stone embedded into the goo, and released a pulse of light. Suddenly, the goo relaxed, transforming back into embalming fluid. Vex then retrieved the stone, which had begun glowing. He explained that it was called a Hex Stone, and it absorbed the magic.
The party took a moment to catch their breath. Iwan was particularly winded so he stayed in the Atrium. The other three ventured into a room with a wooden door to the southeast. To Vex's excitement, the floor was scattered with scrolls: ravings in a forgotten language. Good-Eye was more interested in the silver-and-emerald icon hanging on the wall, and foraging for treasures in the hanging ceremonial robes. As they reconvened, Vex showed the others the only word he could make out in the ancient script:
BALTOPLAT
He shoved the pages into his pack before the group moved on. Nextdoor, they had the fortune of finding what looked like a caved-in ceramic workshop.
Finally, they approached the largest door in the Atrium, a heavy carved stone door to the east. The party pried the door open to reveal a staircase where they felt a cold draft rising out of the darkness. Good-Eye was immediately suspicious of the staircase, and instructed the others to investigate before stepping foot on them. This caution was rewarded when they found scratches on the wall between the third and fourth steps, indicating that the third step moved.
Rather than leave it alone or avoid it, the party decided to trigger it safely. To do this, Vex was volunteered to be held by his ankles, as he swung his mace down on the third step. Once the trigger was depressed, stairs all tipped together to form a smooth stone ramp, and spikes emerged the at the base. A deadly fate, narrowly avoided!
It was at this point that Vex reminded the party of the trap door in the clay statue room, along with the large chains he heard rattling on the other side of the secret passage. He argued that it might be a safer way to delve deeper.
Lined up in the secret passage, Vex, Talon and GoodEye crept towards the false door. Contrary to Vex's last intrusion, Talon carried a bright torch. As the door was unsealed light raced passed the threshold and illuminated a vast hall with 6 trunk-like pillars holding up a ceiling lost to darkness. From that ceiling descended a solitary chain, tracing a curved path to a horrible visage.
Partway behind a pillar stood a great reptile, with 6 legs and an elongated maw. Behind that maw were two huge eyes set in a brass visor, acting as blinders. The lizard that was perhaps longer than two men laid head-to-toe sniffed at them warily. As Vex moved into the hall, he felt the gaze of the beast fall upon him. He froze as it approached, leering hungrily. Good-Eye, being right behind him, pulled him back behind the doorway.
Recognizing how dangerous the situation was, the party quickly developed some strategies to avoid the petrifying gaze or to get passed the guardian.
Good-Eye removed his Ear-flaps and waited until the hungry sounds of the creature moved farther away. Swiftly, he opened the door for Vex and Talon to rush out. The beast was waiting for them; hunting. Vex immediately seized up again, while Talon rolled to keep a pillar between him and the lizard's gaze. It charged, snapping powerful jaws wildly as it ran towards Vex. One snap caught his midsection, mortally wounding him - and yet he still stood, for his body was slowly turning to stone.
Talon dropped his torch and scrambled up the side of the cracked pillar, hoping to find some advantage to slay the beast. Good-Eye, again, pulled Vex to safety, and yelled to Iwan to throw him the lamp-oil. In the chaos, as the petrification began to wear off, thick black smoke began pouring from Vex's eyes, nose, and mouth, swirling into the vague shape of a man, but with bestial claws and glowing yellow eyes. It darted out into the hall and began attacking the reptile. Talon saw an opportunity while it was distracted to drop down onto it's neck with a plunging longsword that was deflected by heavy scales. He found himself riding the beast like a horse, fumbling with a mechanism that allowed him to shut the visor.
The Basilisk reared up, trying to get at the party through the small gap in the door. Talon slipped off and managed to dance past a whipping tail into the hidden passage. Good-Eye tossed the lamp-oil onto Talon's dropped torch and it exploded in a large fiery blast. The Nightmare was vaporized instantly, while the Basilisk had to retreat to put out the fire.
Safe behind the door, the party hoisted a badly wounded Vex up to the statue room, and Good-Eye bandaged him up to stop the bleeding. He'd not be able to continue with a wound like that, so the party made the decision to return to Blackcrossing, scarred but not dissuaded.
Warden Commentary
Iwan's player was not present for this session, so he mostly hung back.
Vex's player had an item called a "Hex Stone"
Hex Stone:
Gathered from a river that flows from the other side. Removed from its iron tin, it can absorb the effects of an active magical effect. If destroyed, the magic is released. 1 use.
If this Black Pudding was just a natural creature, I don't think this item would work, but since it was the un-naturally animated remains of a failed mummy, I ruled that it in-fact was a magical effect. When he destroys the stone, it will act as a Create Unlife spell.
I was not prepared for the basilisk fight at all tonight! I was happy they were cautious with the stairs behind the snake-rain door, but I figured they would step over it! The Basilisk was a lot of fun. I did a reaction roll, and got a 'Wary' result. It is currently driven by hunger, I interpreted the result as a cautious curiosity. He didn't charge or attack the players when they first came through the door. He did begin to freeze Vex though. He may not have if he was satiated. The module says it sweeps its vision purposefully back and forth if it has fed recently. Once the party retreated, it triggered his hunting instincts and it decided they could be a small meal.
The combat was quick, dynamic, and creative. I had to make a few rulings on the fly. When Talon jumped down onto the Basilisks back, he first made a plunging sword attack. I ruled this as enhanced because of positioning, but he only rolled a 2, which was deflected by the natural armor.
Vex's player had forgotten about his Living Nightmare:
What did you bring back from the Unseelie Court?
A Living Nightmare that dwells within you but manifests whenever you are in danger. It has your same Attributes and HP and attacks with claws (d8+d8). It disappears on Critical Damage (take 1d4 WIL damage), re-appearing again on the next full moon.
It doesn't give the option - it must manifest when you are in danger. We had it come out when we remembered. I ruled that The explosion did 1d12 damage, based on an explosive item in one of the Cairn 2e backgrounds. This killed the Nightmare, but didn't reduce the basilisk's HP to 0. I ruled that it was still on fire until it rolled around for a turn, so it had to retreat to do that, giving them space to retreat as well.
After the session, I found a Cairn Calendar with 12 months and 24 days each. I rolled 1d12 and 2d12 to get the 17th of Sunrise. Then I set up a table for the moon cycle:
- New Moon (3 days)
- Waxing Crescent (3 days)
- Waxing Quarter (3 days)
- Waxing Gibbous (3 days)
- Full (3 days)
- Waning Gibbous (3 days)
- Waning Quarter (3 days)
- Waning Crescent (3 days)
I rolled 1d8 and got a 4 result. So the Living Nightmare will come back in 3 days. This works fine for Vex, because it will take a week to heal from the Strength Damage he took from the Basilisk's bite!
Next time, Blackcrossing!
P.S. the player of Good-Eye wrote an in-character journal entry after this session!!!