Session 4 part three.  After the ultimatum was issued, the cryomancer and others began seriously looking around at the camp of the wolf-men.  Before long a tampered with tree stump when investigated revealed a most curious apparatus... some kind of object with wires and gears and obviously of foreign origin.  The prisoner was reluctant to reveal what little he knew about this, only to say "it came out of the sky, part of the great fallen ship."  Now with curiosity piqued, the party wanted to know more.  Further combing of the grounds in depth along with traversing afield revealed other previously unknown implements.  This heralded something greater.  The party then decided to advance full speed (or is that fool speed ahead?)

Marching double time towards the rendezvous of potential peril led them to a plain where they could see a formidable sized army.  Not a great amassing of peoples meant to assail large fortifications, but an organized troop with clear leadership.  As the party began to move closer, they found grisly road markers making them cautious... Body parts impaled on spikes or casually discarded on the ground bore the raiment and distinguishing marks of Xik Tannas' ill fated troop.  Still no sign of Xik Tannas.  The party entered the mass of bodies making up the camp and mingled within.  They were welcomed with opened arms and praise for the Lady of Chains attracting more able bodied warriors and assets to the cause.  Before long, the party was brought before the Lady and her Voice.  The voice was a tribal painted man with leather armour made from human skin, much like the leather strips dyed various colours the lady wore.  She gesticulated her queries and the voice gave sonorous detail to her demands.  She judged them worthy of recruitment and wished them to enlist.  They were going after long forgotten caves at the northern shores that were protected by the basest of the elements in a personified form.  The party was promised a stipend and that all their carnal needs would be met as well as reasonable monetary needs.  Shortly after the terms were laid out, the cryomancer, paladin and bard realized something was amiss at the camp.

Scenes, such as a fight breaking out, a nude alluring camp follower running from a potential suitor, merchants speaking the exact same sentences when promoting their goods, etc. seemed to replay over and over.  With distrust at a high, the party focused on the minutiae and realized at least two thirds of the camp was an illusion!  Also, they realized the Lady of Chains owned various apparatuses of her own capable of powering illusion on a massive scale!  Armed with this knowledge they went to the Lady, only to be confronted with her final terms... Kill Xik Tannas and his last starved and tortured loyalists to prove their commitment to honouring the Lady's terms.  This was unacceptable to the party and the cryomancer began formulating his ice storm from from his wondrous wand to strike the Lady in her barbaric throne dais and the "voice" beside her.  Suddenly a mass wall of flames sprung up and the camp sprang into uproar!

The paladin began to cut down those of evil intent with the ranger picking off anyone who got too close.  The bard began his counterattack to wear down morale of those assailing the party.  The cryomancer bided his time as the barbarian loosed a vicious fusillade of blows!  The ice storm dropped along with other attacks destroying the raised dais and revealing that the "visible" Lady was also an illusion!  She quickly unleashed a counterstrike of baleful magic that buffeted the party.  That plus the few within her forces that maintained a level head to move in and attack had the ranger and barbarian mortally wounded and bleeding out.  The cryomancer kept unleashing waves of ice and snow, some by magic, some by wondrous object to provide cover for the paladin as he invoked prayers to Apollo to heal his comrades before death carried them past the impassable river.  In the tumult and fray, the voice fell shredded by icicles and flying missiles from the bard.  The Lady tried a last ditch effort of summoning demons from her summoning circle, but the intelligence within the paladin's sword warned them of that and the resuscitated party members focused their attack on purely the demons summoned and the Lady.  The Lady then passed from their midst unwilling to further the combat whilst her army crumbled around her fighting among themselves as the illusion of order and joviality was shattered amidst the chaos.  Most demons were sent back to the abyss, but eventually the party had no choice but to flee the spectacle of destruction.  Elemental caves forgotten, they hobbled as best they could back to Calencia.

After days they discerned they forgot about searching the caves, much less finding Xik Tannas, but it was little work to imagine his potential gruesome fate.  They knew they needed their necromancer and runegraver before they proceeded further....

And that is the end of Session 4, Session 5 commences either January 12 or 19 so expect a report shortly thereafter!  Happy new year all and happy adventures in Hyperboria!

Session 5 part two!  Clambering into the sludge below, thus the party descended!  Upon their arrival to the brackish stained walled structures of ages gone by they allowed torchlight to enter to a region that sunlight had long forgotten.  In caution they heard noises from either end of possible points of travel, one leading to a closed door, the other to a larger man-made tunnel that expelled said foul liquid.  The PC's opted to try for the dryer option, and eschewing traditional points of entry, the door was smashed open to reveal rats scurrying for cover as they saw foodstuffs and barrels full of liquids as well as a sarcophagus in a small room along with holes that showed small points where burrowing creatures could leave the confines of a cave and the flowage of sewage lapping against its borders leading to the relative opposite direction of what they sought they should attain.  After further investigation of that region they found scrolls and loose leaf papyri stating that the inventory in said room predated the "Green death".  They also found that these poor souls outlived the "Green death" but died here to natural predators.  It didn't take them long as they investigated further in the sewage laden environs.   Shortly thereafter quite large crocodiles began to encircle the party thinking "dinner was here!"  As melee ensued and PC's fought these creatures, soon one they dubbed "Mom" showed up working her way from the enclosed space of the partially eroded tunnel and the PC's were surrounded!  The PC's in a dubious attack strategy forced Krakanigon down to fight for them as a "meat shield".  He didn't last long.  After being ripped apart, his necklace with the kraken symbol began to twist and tighten like a constricting wire.  Before long, their "benefactor" was slain as his head popped off and rolled into the sludge as the crocodiles continued their vicious assault.  Unsure if the victim was an ally or spy, the PC's carried on the battle.  After vicious tail slaps, bites and claws, the PC's were ground down until at the end they were victorious but the outgoing scouts consisting of the runegraver and ranger had sent the lesser of the crocs retreating down a corridor of slime and sewage whilst the cryomancer, paladin and bard were able to slay the "mother" of these abominations.  The chosen of the bedraggled party then kept watch while the rest frantically skinned the crocs to possibly fashion armour or clothing from their roughened exterior.  As this happened, the runegraver consumed a potion that seemingly gave him a fire breath.  As his tremendous belch echoed down one corridor all life withered and died as flame licked the walls and melted down every being that drew breath.  Shortly thereafter the party found a solitary grime laden ladder leading up.

Could this be their vantage point to the tomb of Argach Larh?  They were unsure and as such decided to hold the sewer as best they could as they slew a couple more crocodiles of prodigious size, although none like the one they dubbed "mom".  Hurt badly, the general consensus was to rest before trying the door above.  So in the dripping confines of tunnels they rested (if you can call it resting) before bursting forth to what the map of Xu-Thanidon proclaimed was the courtyard of Argach Lahr.  Part Three to follow shortly!

Last edited by MrManowar (1/13/2019 1:52 am)

Session 6 part one!  "WHAT.  HAVE.  YOU. DONE?"  Thunders the voice of Xu-Thanidon, the high priest of Khalk-Xu as he leers over the PC's as they try to assuage the crowds with tales of heroism.  The paladin and bard try to placate the crowds with encouraging speech while Xu-Thanidon recalls ALL their actions and potential threats to Calencia.  Soon all paltry signs to Apollo and other good luck charms have dissipated as the citizenry turns borderline hostile on the PC's.  Ice trolls?  It's not even in the beginning portion of the wintry years even though according to the astrological signs winter is indeed approaching soon.  Public opinion soon turns against these "unwelcome" visitors despite no attacks from the ape-men this past month or so since the PC's arrival.  Rianorix and his family soon fall under suspicion of aiding the PC's since he allows them to stay in his workshop with no inns to be found with vacancies.  After hurried discussion, Rianorix states he and his family will seek asylum in the mainland of Hyperboria with familial allies he knows.  The PC's offer to protect them in their travels.  So, in the cover of night with clandestine escape routes revealed now, the PC's depart the stilted fortress town.  Descending ground gives way as exhaustion settles in due to the forced march.  Most stay upright with some of the stronger carrying or pulling those whose constitution isn't up to the long hike.  Once the coniferous regions are left far behind and scree and switchback hills and peaks emerge in the gloom of morning the ever weary traveling entourage collapses into uneasy sleep.

When morning or at the least daylight illumines them all from rest, they take stock.  All are here, the paladin, runegraver, cryomancer, ranger, barbarian, necromancer and bard... but wait, no Theresa!  Somehow in the haste to leave Calencia they realize they left a survivor from the Crow's Nest expedition behind!  In sullen silence they also recall the madman who believed them, Sorinstargos.  They trusted that fate (or in the paladin's case, Apollo) would protect them.  At least they had the maps and books they'd accumulated... including the Crow Man's book,,,, hahahaha....

As they traversed on, they noticed peculiar webbing here and there, but it was oddly disjointed or capriciously laid out.  Ignoring that since no immediate danger was sighted they sauntered on towards the impending rocky landscape.  As they did so, crab-like greyish spiders began to leap towards them, expending no webs but attacking with bite and pincer!  Melee ensued with Rianorix protecting his wife and children and the PC's dealing with the spiders.  Almost all were subject to bite and stab, but the battle hardened PC's slew most of them with few escaping in search of easier prey.  Weary for the day, the ranger and barbarian scouted ahead and found what looked like a great cave to rest for the night before the next stage of the journey would ensue.  What could go wrong?

End part one, part two coming soon!

Been enjoying the writeup!  Did they find out if they picked a safe cave (are there safe caves in Hyperborea)?  

BTW good to see you at Gary Con!

Session 7 part one!  The party began this expedition still bruised and battered at this unforgiving mountainous pass of the Spiral Mountain Array's distant tendrils.  They camped out and only briefly explored the area whilst they recuperated.  Investigation revealed that deliberate attempts to make the pass difficult to traverse was committed fairly recently.  The party was enamoured by the strange sculptures and carved relief around another particular cave that appeared to see a high amount of foot traffic so the bard used magical gloves he acquired some time back to create the illusion of an orc and loped about to the entrance.  Curiously, the faces were chiseled out of the grand sculptures and the feet of images of what appeared to be a grand commander leading an army as the depiction of the relief in the cliff face above the cave entry.  As the bard lumbered closer a lone orc sentry challenged him as the bard entered the cave proper!  The bard mimed losing his speaking and vigorously gestured about enemies needing to be slain outside as the sentry braced for attack following the disguised bard outside where the barbarian and ranger were waiting as they promptly slew the hapless guard.  Once a torch or two was lit, the investigation with the dusty cave commenced.  Rianorix and his family said they would guard the caravan and clear debris to allow further travel. 

Then our intrepid bard, barbarian, cyromancer, necromancer, paladin, ranger and runegraver explored the massive cavern that opened up before them with multiple darkened corridors branching off.  The downward slope soon slightly leveled off as they saw multiple branches, one that seemed to lead upwards with a pinprick of light suggesting another entrance/exit to the cave.  The party snaked along the left wall cautiously surveying each corridor or alcove.  In one they saw a lone pillar with a crow statue perched precariously on it.  Leaving the ill omen behind, they went around a branching corridor that terminated in a closed door with runes scrawled upon it.  The bard went to read it and as soon as the last syllable was pronounced a fiery explosion engulfed the unsuspecting bard as he went down batting out flames and coughing ash!  The paladin laid hands on the bard as the door clicked open.  Inside they found ten stoppered flasks and a chest with a mixture of differing liquids alongside two scrolls and a parchment with an artistic rendition of the pass which was labeled "Connacht Pass" and a crow flying above the topographical piece.  Taste tests began as some of the liquids were consumed.  It was determined that most were healing potions and two others they couldn't figure out.  The scrolls were in an arcane script that the cryomancer and necromancer coveted as a chance to learn precious spells was tantalizing.  Noises from the main massive cavern then garnered their attention as they heard someone screaming and running!

Upon arrival back at the main cavern, a lone well armoured figure was screaming about a "blood curse" and the "Lady of Chains"!  Soon the blood began to boil as ruptures in the skin occurred spattering blood in various places as the figure experienced a violent death.  Orcs began running from multiple orifices of the cavernous hall and the PC's then noticed the sinkhole where water runoff started churning!

Dozens of orcs joined melee with the party led by a captain and accompanied by a shaman who sent spells of deviltry at the PC's!  As the fighting men fanned out to meet the threat and cut down the orcs, the bard still in the baffling disguise sowed confusion in their ranks.  The necromancer grinned and calmly raised the slain to a service of unlife!  The runegraver and cryomancer noticed something happening in the water and warned the group to stay back.  The necromancer sent one of the new "zombies" to the water's edge as a massive sinewy creature with a large teeth lined mouth reared up sending water and gravel flying as it quickly swiveled its head down to consume the orc zombie whole!  A legendary purple worm kept it's abode here!  Dismay swept the PC's as they spread out to avoid the central area while pushing the orcs away into the reach of the dreaded worm.  After sustaining cuts and wounds, the last of the orcs were slain and all prevented from leaving to alert any other allies.  The corpses thrown to the purple worm to consume save another that the necromancer raised.  Huddled quietly together and hoping not to be "dessert" for the worm the party waited out the worm consuming its grisly snacks.  While the sickening sounds of bones and flesh were being chomped and swallowed, the PC's silently appraised their spoils.  It appreared they had a cursed sword and other malevolent items alongside coin and useful weapons.  Casually sliding the sword into a dead orc and kicking the corpse to the worm, glee shone on their faces as the worm ate that too.  Then the worm exhibited signs of sickness and sores emerged along one side of its mouth.  It seemed to be done with its meal and having some digestive issues as it retreated.  Once it descended and water engulfed the hole more gravel and erosion filled in the depression in the center of the room.  The ranger quietly investigated the tunnel the cursed human ran in from and confirmed that it was indeed an exit, past the deadfall and landslide area.  Once he came in a brutal looking troglodyte entered from another cave area and once spotting the PC's he sounded an alarm and shambled back to depths he came.  The PC's started off in hot pursuit, not wanting another immediate fight!

End part one!

Last edited by MrManowar (3/25/2019 10:12 pm)

Session 7 part 2!  In hot flight following the troglodyte, the PC's shimmied and shambled down the lower depths in the stifling humid cave, quite an atmospheric change from their previous high elevation traversing this distant tendril of the Spiral Mountain array.  Passing by corridor and byway in heightened pursuit of their prey whilst sending missiles aimlessly at it they landed on a warmer room with multiple points of entry.  Things dripped from the ceiling.  Grayish oozing things.  The PC's were wary and didn't enter recklessly.  A larger platform beckoned them as they could see troglodytes lining up to attack them as their fellow returned.  Soon a giant chameleon formed out of the seemingly benign rock and snarled and bit the paladin.  As melee ensued, the troglodytes sensed a kind of evil affinity in the necromancer.  They whispered of glories and secrets so the necromancer was led away in search of what dark secrets and blackened arts they had to show.  The rest of the PC's were in pitched battle against the remainder of the troglodyte army as a shaman and chieftain raised battle implements and spells at the PC's who stood strong.  The cyromancer and barbarian were hurt badly as the the ranger, runegraver and bard stoically suffered wounds whilst the necromancer left his party behind eager to learn new secrets and potentially the ability and knowledge to hone his craft to better summon powerful undead.  After heroic blows, the PC's defeated the troglodytes and ventured cautiously below in the path their necromancer followed.

"Aah, a new recruit... perhaps a new student!" spoke a gaunt hideous looking humanoid with an overlong tongue and a wicked looking cleaver.  The necromancer stood in a laboratory of madness.  A tall creature seemingly created out of flesh and bone and sinew of musculature of humanoid beings was there along with another that appeared to be a living suit of armour that capered about was there.  Various corpses of differing states of decay lay strewn about as the troglodytes who led the necromancer to this room gave vague gestures of obeisance to the sickly looking individual who was dressed in blood spattered nobleman's clothing.  "I have much I could teach you." The bald headed disease ridden man prattled.  "Then teach." the necromancer replied.  The tenseness left the remaining troglodytes as the necromancer seemingly became a student.  At that point, bloodied and harried the PC's arrived to witness the laboratory of madness and filth.

Without warning the ranger, barbarian and paladin raced in to cut down these implements of evil and slay these brutal beasts.  The iron contraption and the foul flesh golem came to life and moved to counterattack the PC's actions!  The runegraver sounded his magical horn to cause a warrior from his realm to appear in ghostly visage and attack in a berserker rage.  The paladin and barbarian focused their fusillade of blows on the gaunt wicked creature whilst the cryomancer and ranger picked off the troglodytes and distracted the fleshly and iron automatons that reigned pain upon them.  The bard sent magic and proffered up motivations for the rest to succeed.  As the combat ensued, the barbarian and bard fell unconscious from the blows dealt and proceeded to bleed out.  The paladin then summoned all his courage and with an oath to Apollo dealt the mortal blow to the necromancer who sent his forces to attack.  Before said necromancer died, the party's necromancer used his ventriloquism to mimic the voice of the aforementioned one and said "Obey whatever this one tells you to do." while pointing at himself.  The flesh golem obeyed, the iron contraption seemingly went insane destroying whatever was in its path.  While the living PC's were frantically healing the downed, the flesh golem made short work of the remaining troglodytes and stood guard by the necromancer.  The paladin was on edge, becoming more convinced that this "magic user" they had was truly a necromancer.  Dodging around the maddened iron golem who smashed pillar, post, wall or itself the PC's either revived the fallen or grabbed what treasure they could.  More scrolls, weapons, etc. were taken as the necromancer ordered the flesh golem to guard them as the iron beast destroyed two of the necromancer's earlier summonings to unlife: the zombies. The flesh golem was then ordered to pound rocks and cause a barrier to prevent the seemingly insane iron creature from reaching them.

Clambering out to the original chamber, the PC's gave a wide berth to the gaping hole the purple worm emerged from and joined Rianorix and his family who began screaming as they saw the flesh golem accompanying the PC's at the behest of the necromancer.  The barbarian offered to guard the family as they crested the apex of this distant tendril of the Spiral Mountain Array and surveyed the scene.  Mount Forp to the northeast and the Kimmerian Steppe to the southeast.  Bloodied and tired the PC's examined their options of traversing what was to come.  In high elevation amidst cold winds and bare rock of mountainous crag, they deliberated their next move. 

End Session 7, Session 8 to come soon!

Last edited by MrManowar (4/12/2019 11:58 pm)

First of all answer to a question and commentary!

Lige - of course my PC's didn't grab the costumes/puppets.  To them it was extra encumbrance or maybe not worth money; however it might have saved their reputation in Calencia.  That bridge was left forgotten however.  It would have been cool if they did though!

Chainsaw - Thanks for comments.  Agreed on the cleaver.  I will make a mental note to add another! 

Having said that, Session 8, let's do it!

Last edited by MrManowar (4/16/2019 10:09 pm)

Session 8 part two!  Making their way down gravel strewn slopes the PC's strayed off the path with the exception of the barbarian guarding Rianorix and his family.  The latter hunched in sullen mutterings over another delay in getting to the Steppe.  The PC's held up the tattered map along the landscape surveying for matches.  At long last, the topographical and detail-laden paper artistry mostly matched a section of Hyperborian landscape.  Less trees and foliage, more undergrowth and bramble, but no mistaking the foundation of a once great building along with it's fountain of clear nourishing water and some new impeccably carved sculptures which even from this distance looked incredibly life like.  In a semi-circle arc, the cyromancer, bard, ranger, necromancer, runegraver and paladin approached the stilted trees and warped tangled growth warily.  A lilting, enticing song melodiously rose about them beckoning them on with promises of satisfying dreams and pleasures fulfilled.  The bard's goosebumps and misgivings gave way to a courageous countersong that turned the entrancing lullabyes to discordant cacophonous jarring screeches.  At that moment a very voluptuous hooded woman drew a pitcher of water from the fountain and lazily swaggered toward the PC's swaying her hips.

"Show yourself woman!"  Shouted one of my PC's who probably wasn't expecting what came next...  The gorgon known as Azriphale lowered her hood showcasing her snake infested locks as she stared down the group with a suggestive smile!  At once, two of the PC's began to turn to lifeless stone before they eyes of their comrades as decrepit unclean females with wings gnawing on bones cackled their maddening sound!  A gorgon with harpies!

With two PC's down, the paladin tried to get close averting his eyes to strike the foul Azriphale.  The runegraver and cryomancer positioned themselves on either side to strike at the harpies flying overhead as they swept down to rend and slash.  The bard cast a dazzling array of colours at Azriphale and the resulting flash sent her into a frenzy.  She bandied about a wand that sent paralysis in the direction she pointed!  In the melee, her first victim was a harpy (1 in 8 chance) and the creature plummeted and crashed in that state.  The cryomancer stole a scroll from the necromancer's rapidly solidifying body that he was aware the raiser of dead obtained in the past.  The runegraver summoned a warrior from his horn and the ghostly spectre of rage embodied sprinted towards the gorgon with death on it's lips.  The paladin landed glancing blows along with the summoned warrior whilst the bard and runegraver fended off the harpies assault to give the cryomancer time to read the scroll out loud, a magic beyond his ken.  Once the cryomancer finished the scroll, it went up in a fiery blaze as stone returned to flesh in the necromancer and ranger; but alas, the trauma was too much as the ranger fell unconscious and dying.  The necromancer quickly snarled for the golem to attack the gorgon in it's blinded state while the zombies tried to snatch and harm the harpies.  The paladin then retreated to see if his fallen comrade the ranger was able to be saved and laid on hands in fervent prayer to Apollo.  The cyromancer now turned his fury on a harpy and laid it waste with magic of his own.  Once the ranger was able to join the fray again, his arrows dropped a harpy from the sky which the zombies pounced upon.  The bard was able to further cause harm to Azriphale and despite so many of the group being close to death the last harpy and gorgon were at last subdued as blood obscured the eyes of the PC's as talon rakes and other slashes let loose a film of red over their eyes as they fought for their lives!

Weary and beaten down, without spells and loathe to use their dwindling potion supply in this wildlands area; the PC's scrambled and crawled about upending rock and root searching for the gorgon's treasure.  They did stumble upon a sizable loot squirreled away in various locations.  As the sun set to close another shortened day, the PC's staggered and fell into the outskirts of the abandoned bandit camp only to see two unnerving sights. 

The first: a head on a spear of a bandit lieutenant they had released earlier after he told them all they wanted to know and swore and oath not to resort to banditry again.  A lone placard hung on chains, showing a silhouette of the Lady of Chains with the lone word "Oathbreaker" written in multiple languages.  The second: far off in the plains hulking figures with muscles and crude weaponry were clearly behaving like they saw the activity in the area they were now encamped in.  With no time to waste, a sturdy constitution was necessary to relocate to a more sheltered area.  One foot in front of another, they transferred all they had with the golem doing heavy manual labor until they could get a defensible camp for them and Rianorix and his family.  One by one, the PC's passed out in the night.  Sleep of the hard working or sleep of the dead, none cared what took them first.  Morning's light would reveal the next day's trouble...

End Session 8!  Session 9 coming in May!

Session 9 part two!  The old man still dressed as an adventurer, haggard though he looked identified himself as Maximus.  He informed the PC's in pleading tones about a friend of his named Regelus who was imprisoned in a tower that only showed itself to Hyperboria once in the 13 year cycle and that he was investigating this to free his friend who was trapped by an unspeakably evil entity.  He said for 52 years he'd been trying and that the rest of the initial group they were part of had passed on except him and that he feared it was the last chance to save his imprisoned friend.  Compassion shone on the PC's whilst the bard altered himself to a flying creature to take to the skies to further examine the gigantic corpse impaled on nothing.  The bard flew the distance and discovered amidst crushed bone, brain splatters and gore that there was indeed an intrusion made in the tower high above.  At the same time the cryomancer unleashed a spell allowing him to detect invisible objects and was able to see the tower structure clearly alongside a desk that looked like a console unit with buttons and gadgets and the like outside the "icicle-like" structure.  The globe that the paladin had now issued sporadic static noises and communication that was hectic and frantic detailing some kind of intense fight within the structure.  As the bard chiseled away at the break in stone, he discerned a massive one eyed creature with a drooling maw and limbs like some kind of distorted perverse dog gnawing on bones and occasionally beating its limbs against the walls that confined it to one area.  When the eye settled on the bard, the grotesque creature retreated to a corner area and warily watched.  From this vantage, the spear, if it could be called that... was clearly visible inside the room and more spattered gore splayed about the abode.  The bard began loosening the belts and pouches of the gigantic corpse and lowering it's property to the ground.  Meanwhile the globe sent a series of numbers to the paladin, calling him Apollo based on the god he served.  The rest of the PC's then entered the code numbers in and soon a floating door with no steps revealed itself.  After consultation the PC's decided to enter the complex, except the bard who flew himself upward after setting aside the (his term; keg of healing) that the giant creature had.  The PC's used rope and piton aided by the cryomancer's direction into the invisible structure and the climb began. 

When the PC's entered, they saw a wide circular room with another console unit.  This room was strewn about with long dead bones of a final last stand with many slain on what appeared to be two sides of a conflict.  Also, twelve windows shone with scenes of misery, slaughter and woe; not reflecting the outside environs at all.  Shadows began to lengthen in the room and form of their own accord!  Soon after form and definition gave way to evil beings beginning to move to strangle the PC's!  Battle was on!  Early on in the melee it was apparent only magic or magical weapons could cut or pierce these creatures.  Some felt the ghastly cold of the grave as fingers lunged for throats.  The bard upon hearing Maximus giving him warning flew to the door to assist his friends.  Grabbing the keg/barrel he flew up and in.  Then the way of escape outside slammed shut hemming them in.  The ranger and barbarian moved about to draw away various shadowy creatures and the necromancer's flesh golem punched and thrashed in futile motions to hit creatures not physical in nature!  The paladin's sword spoke up to him about these abyssal shadows and morale was improved as the tide turned.  With only a few of the party in waning health, the last of the shadows was vanquished to the relative peace that a room full of the fallen can grant.

Approaching the next console unit, the paladin consulted the globe and another series of numbers was issued.  Soon this revealed a lift of sorts bringing the PC's up to the next level.  This time the circular room was wider and had the look of a harem.  A harem with one occupant.  As the slender attractive female form demurely arose from the bed she addressed the PC's in lilting inviting tones.  What to do now?

End part two of Session 9, part three coming!

Last edited by MrManowar (6/09/2019 8:37 pm)

Nice write up!  Session 9 has definite Barrier Peaks crossed with Event Horizon vibes.  What was the “Origin Story”?