Session VIII - Trapped in Sewers (2001-06-19)
After the fight Drik tried to explore the other caves, which seemed to be the sleeping guarters for the orcs and humans. This exploration was stopped by the orcs. The tension run pretty high.
The party learned that the orcs and the thugs had been there doing their usual trade negotiations, when there had been flash of light and the walls in the chamber and tunnels had changed. Behind the barricades skeletons stepped out from the walls, and attacked. If somebody died, they just reanimated after a while and joined the skeletons.
Drik suggested dismembering the corpses to stop them from waking up later. The orc leader, a female orc by the name of Vagdral, agreed, but said the human wimps were against hacking their former companions' bodies.
While everyone was pondering how to get out of the situation, a man named Ofek introduced himself and boasted he could get them all out. Ofek claimed to be a mighty wizard, who was exploring the ruins beneath the current city (he explained there were old city ruins beneath the current one) when he had felt a powerful magical disturbance in the area and came to investigate. He said he had blasted his way through the undeads with his apprentice, a half orc, and joined the people trapped in the large chamber. He said he only needed to rest a little, after which he could guide everyone to some portal which would be a way to safety.
When Ofek was talking, there came a voice from behind the barricade calling for Ofek. Ofek got really upset, and wanted to take down the barrier and fight whatever was behind there immediately. He took the barricade down himself, and was prepared to enter.
Drik told the orc leader how they would proceed next. The orcs were not liking a mere human giving them orders, and liking even less their leader for even considering orders from humans. One orc challenged Vadgral. The fight was short lived: Vadgral sunk his axe into the head of the contestant, which ended the argument.
Drik then burned down the spider webs that filled the tunnel behind the barricade. They had not been there before, and Radagast was wondering if Ofek had cast them there. After the flames died down, Bardia carefully scouted forward to the intersection they could dimly see. He took a peek in both directions, and saw just empty corridors, unmoving skeletons and a lot of rubble on the floor (more rubble to the right). He was carefully edging back, until Vadgral shouted: "What do you see?" At that point Bardia run, and none too soon for zombies and skeletons were hot on his heels.
Ofek cast something, and two magical projectiles hit one undead which dropped dead. The orcs and humans had prepared a little for this fight, and were waiting in a semicircle for the undead assault. Drik was finally succesfull with his turn attempt, and two skeletons were whimpering in fear from him. Drik was also able to cast Bless, but he did feel a force trying to block him. Soon eight undeads were dead (again). This time they were hacked to pieces. The orc leader was really efficient, having killed three just by herself! Ulf, Drik and Vadgral were wounded.
Bardia again scouted forward, to the left in the t-intersection, followed by Drik and Vadgral. They found a room with two sarcofagi, but it was a dead end and Bardia did not enter it. Just before the room the tunnel again branched, and passed through a room whose floor had caved in. Bardia did not try to pass the room, since he thought the floor would be tricky. Vadgral did not care, and passed through the room to the tunnel behind, but came soon back: it was also a dead end. Ulf and Radagast checked the tunnel to the right, but it seemed to be filled with rubble. Just to make sure, Ulf and Radagast started piling the rocks to make it fully impassable. The tunnels from the t-intersection were only about five feet wide. The walls were simply filled with dead skeletons.
Suddenly some of the skeletons in the walls animated, and attacked! Both Radagast and Drik were surprised and got nasty hits. Radagast did not even have mage armor on. Ofek also got hit, and fell to the ground. He was soon followed by Gustav, who succumbed under the skeleton attack. Drik had almost lost it, but was finally able to heal himself. Radagast was also beginning to panic: the skeleton he was fighting seemed to evade all his hits, while scoring small wounds no matter how hard Radagast tried to dodge. And Ulf was behind Radagast, and could not help. The leader of the thugs had hacked down a couple of skeletons, and Radagast called for him to help. Vadgral was also doing good at his end, having killed at least one skeleton. Bardia finished the last skeleton at their end while Tarmalac finally killed the one threatening Radagast. "Damn, now I owe my life to a villain," was Radagast thinking.
Drik had failed some of his cure spells, and was in a pretty bad shape. The thugs had bandaged Gustav, and he was stable, but Ofek had bled to death. When they were retreating from the tunnels, Ofek stumbled back to his dead feet. Ulf and Bardia hacked him quicly to pieces. While Bardia searched his body, Radagast cast detect magic. He learned that Ofek had a magical scroll, and while Radagast checked the surroundings a bit more he also noticed Gustav had some magical gear. He did not search Gustav's body, though. The half orc, apprentice to Ofek, had a magical book. Radagast checked out the scroll, and found that it was Protection from Good. That seemed to confirm the suspicions of Bardia and Radagast: Ofek was a necromancer. He might have even caused all the problems in the first place.
Everyone was getting hungry. When the party checked their supplies, they found all of it was either rotting or filled with maggots. Drik suggested they eat their dead, which prompted curious looks from everyone. Drik was getting just weirder and weirder. Radagast and Bardia were wondering what kind of a cleric he even was.
Since there was nothing else to do, everyone decided to rest.
Soon their rest was disturbed. Radagast noticed the floor itself trying to suck Drik in. He called a warning to Drik. With some help from others they managed to drag Drik to safety.
Tarmalac pulled Bardia to the side, and said he had guessed Bardia and the others were not really the reinforcements. Bardia admitted that. Bardia also had an idea how to try and break free after the rest. They should make a ram/wall from a table, and have a strong orc push the table forward while somebody would be smashing the skeletons in the walls to dust so they would not be able to reanimate later. Tarmalac thought that might be a workable idea, but he wanted Bardia to keep quiet and let Tarmalac explain the idea as his own. He explained that his men were almost collapsing from fear, and it would help if he could still show up to be a strong and competent leader for them. Bardia agreed. Afterwards he explained his chat to Drik, Radagast and Ulf.
After the incident with the floor, everyone that was able to slept on a table, and people were keeping watch. Radagast had a strangely realistic dream where they were fighting skeletons and Lidya (the only human woman) stabbed Tarmalac in the back. He did not mention this dream to others, but it seemed like some others might have had a strange dreams as well.
In the morning - or time they assumed to be morning - they prepared for the fight. Drik, Radagast and Ulf studied for spells, and Tarmalac presented "his" idea. When Ulf started to take down the barrier they heard noises from behind. They decided to tie ropes to the barricade and then pull the barricade down with the ropes so they would have a little time to react to whatever was behind.
When the skeletons climbed over the rubble, Radagast shot a bolt at one. He hit, but learned that arrows aren't really that effective against skeletons. Drik called upon his god, and turned all eight skeletons who fleed back into the tunnel.
Ulf took the table shield, and advanced slowly. Bardia was busy smashing the bones behind the cover. The air was filled with bone dust.
Finally the pressure behind the shield became too much as the skeletons piled on it. Ulf was hit once, but before he could respond the ground shook as if in an earthquake. The skeletons fell, totally lifeless now. Green ichor started running through the cracks that had appeared in the walls. Everyone run back to the big cavern. It looked like the route the party had taken was now open, and several bandits bolted for it. Some passed, but then the walls contracted again and several seemed to be crushed in the walls.
Another quake, and the floor behind the barricade caved in. Some huge, black frog-like creature was rising from it. It had sharp teeth, and long tentacles. Everyone was nearly paralyzed with fear as the unholy apparition emerged. Was this the end?