Session 13

Members

 * Oleander Thorne the Fighter (Matt)
 * Paldrag Adinon the Paladin (Alexander)
 * Enjolras "Jojo" the Tiefling Wizard (Brian)

The Adventure
We begin our adventure with a message. A cryptic and taunting letter from a long though dead wizard named Keraptis. The party spend a day in town outfitting themselves for a three day journey. They filled their packs with ten days of rations and food. The idea of bringing horses and pack animals came up, but was abandoned. Ten days worth of water and rations for three totaled 210 lbs. Even with half of that in the bag of holding, the party set off with heavy packs.

The trip to the mountain took three days. Searching for the entrance took another two. The few day surplus is quickly drying up. On the sixth day of the adventure, the party finally found a rusty iron trap door. A nearby vent seemed to be actually breathing, exhaling a large cloud of steam and then slowly inhaling again, like a man breathing on a cold day.

The door was rusted shut, and no amount of strength would open it. The pary finally smashed it to pieces and went in. The door opened to a square vertical shaft. Inside was a rusty metal staircase. The air was humid and musty. Slowly making their way down, the party could feel a slight vibration, as if the stairs were in tune with some inaudible subterranean rumbling. The bottom step was submerged in murky water. The walls were covered in green and white patches of fungus and algae.

Upon reaching the bottom of the stair, the party followed along an 80 foot passage. Stealth was nearly impossible with the standing water. At the end of the passage, the wizard found an arcane mark. The party was able to disarm it with a cantrip, and following around the corner, they encountered a bedraggled sphinx. She was sitting on a pile of bones. The creature had the body of a mangy lion with great tattered wings folded at its sides. A tangled mat of hair covered her head.

The sphinx introduced herself as Etruska and asked the party what they were there for. She offered three riddles, one for each of the possible passages available. Had the druid been there, they would have surely gone right, but today was not the case. They headed left. The three riddles:


 * West Passage
 * I have a mouth but never speak.
 * I have a bed but never sleep.
 * I run smoother than any rhyme.
 * I love to fall but cannot climb.
 * Answer: A river.
 * North Passage
 * Round she is, yet flat as a board,
 * Altar of the Lupine Lords,
 * Jewel on black velvet, pearl in the sea,
 * Unchanged but e’erchanging, eternally.
 * Answer: The moon.
 * East Passage
 * My creator wants me not,
 * And much in dread will I be bought.
 * My cold embrace is fiercely fought,
 * Most all who need me know it not.
 * Answer: A coffin.

After asking the questions, the sphinx asked if she was free to go. The party replied with a yes, and she slowly walked out of the mountain. Tensions were high as the monster headed out, but when she turned the corner, she was long gone.

The left fork was a 100 foot hallway. Taking point, Paldrag cautiously felt along the murky water with a javelin. Midway, he came across a concealed pit. Paldrag, in his heavy armor could not make it across, and in fact sank many times in the muck. He finally pushed off the edge and made it to the far side. The rest of the party jumped the gap and they continued. As the corridor veered off to the north, they came across a hallway filled with 6-foot square copper colored metal plates. The plates were sealed into the walls and with a little investigation, they were found impossible to remove.

It was some strange magical induction trap. Many tests were done, and finally, the party decided to remove their metal armor and equipment and push through the strange trap. The door at the end was waterlogged and stuck shut. Paldrag broke it open and headed in only to get ambushed by a pack of ghouls and ghosts. The ghouls were happy to see the party in their unarmored state and went to town. Half the party was frightened, and couldn't move closer. Paldrag took the brunt of the attacks. In the end, the undead became the dead.

The party found a seared door and searched the stinking water for over an hour. They also took a short rest before venturing further. The next door was waterlogged and stuck as well. Paldrag pulled it open and the party saw a stairway. A welcome sight compared to the stinking water they had had to slog through up to this point.

The next door was easier to open. The party encountered a strangely clean room. Not a mote of dust was on the ground in this 20 food wide chamber. Stepping forth, Oleander lost his footing on the friction-less floor and was seduced by a strange and captivating song. He and Paldrag fell through the illusionairy floor into a spiked pit. The wizard tossed a grappling hook to the far door and the party made it across, but not without Oleander falling once again. Oleander secured the rope again to the outside of the frame and the rest of the party made it across. They left the harpy and her song behind and moved forth.

The next room was a strange sight. A stream of water was running through the far side, but instead of cascading to the floor, it hung ... suspended in midair a couple of feet above the ground. Entering and leaving through two narrow tunnels, each about 6 feet in diameter. The party enjoyed the strange rectangular rafts they found there and sat for a rest. Oleander decided to venture ahead and took a potion of gaseous form. He floated along the top of one of the shafts and entered a room with a strange crew of rogues. moving forth, he slid under a secret door and through another hallway. At the end, he found the ziggurat.

Unseen light sources illuminated the vast chamber. Sets of ledges ringed the room, creating a stair step effect to the bottom, some 40 feet below. Strange creatures roamed each ledge. Huge scorpions, strange lobsters, evil looking fish, and some manitcores populated each tier. Sensing time was a factor, Oleander headed to the bottom and through a strange mist.

He entered another room. The light there was normal and the chamber was opulent. The 15 foot high ceiling was decorated with mosaics and scrollwork. Thick Mallorean carpets lined the floor and cushions were strewn about in the corners. Tapestries covered every wall. The strangest piece was a 12 foot long divan, in the corner was a six foot hooka. The gas form of O hit the smoke plume of Fenseq the halfling and O's presence was seen. Fenseq tried to talk with the strange intruder, but chose to cast charm person instead, as Oleander tried to escape. Oleander overcame the spell and slid out of the room, to the chagrin of the halfling.

Oleander made it back to the party and told them of his exploits. This is where we ended the session.

XP
5,000 Each

Current XP: 19,750

Current level: 6; 3,250 XP until next level
 * Freeing the Gynosphinx: 4,752
 * Submerged pit trap: 300
 * Heat trap: 1,500
 * Ghosts: 4,200
 * Friction-less Room: 2,250
 * In Town RP: 1,500

Loot
Loot list is updated and current to this recap.
 * 32 pp
 * 193 gp
 * 412 sp
 * Potion of lesser restoration

Purchases Made
Thieve's Tools of Stealth

Cost of 10 days or water & rations already removed from loot