Abadius 21, 4712, part 3
Having discovered the body of the Hellknight commander, the Coopers stand around and discuss what to do about Chaid DiViri. Roscoe took the armor and now proudly wears it, but Aoz indicates that the body should be brought back to Fort Inevitable.
Daryle states that their options are rather limited. They can either go back up one level to the Lady of Thorns' domain, or they can continue to scout and find the Spire on this level. With access to the Spire, they could use one of the Spire token to bypass the Mistress and her minions.
Roscoe, Daryle and Thorne cross the bridge once at a time, while Darelle and Gerald, accompanied by their two Hellknight soldiers, remain behind. Thorne notices that there are three strange unnatural smoke floating near the cavern's ceiling. He tells his siblings to backtrack, and they carefully walk across the bridge.
After some observations, the Coopers notice that the creatures remain in their area. Gerald converses with Aoz, and they determine that the entities flying seem to be protecting something. A Hellknight is sent to the stairs, and he is not attacked. He returns, and he still is not attacked. The Coopers decide to explore and not walk back under the creatures.
Thorne walks ahead of Daryle and squeezes through a tunnel. The fumes are thick here and he almost chokes on them. Coming out of the small tunnel, he stumbles upon a pile of metallic slag. He fires an arrow at it, and when it moves towards him he moves back through the tunnel and reports. Roscoe listens to the description, then tells the rest of the party that it's probably some sort of metallic ooze.
Roscoe removes the armor, and squeezes through the tunnel, emerging on the other side. He also has difficulty breathing, and he tells the others. Daryle places a wet cloth on her mouth, and walks through the tunnel, followed in a similar fashion by Darelle and Gerald. Thorne remains behind with the Hellknight soldiers. The Coopers attack the ooze, which burrows into the ground and emerges between the Coopers, thus providing three different angles of attack. The fight is intense, and as they are hit they find themselves covered by metallic slag which immediately cauterizes the wound but causes burn damage.
Thorne, meanwhile, hears the sounds of battle. Suddenly a large creature bursts through the wall and attack. Tall and heavy, this monster charges the first Hellknight and bites his head off. Thorne runs away back towards the bridge. He knows he can't fight it off, but maybe he can trick it. The second Hellknight puts a valiant fight, but he is also overcome by the monster. He taunts it, then runs across the bridge. The monster leaps to the other side, but Thorne dives under it and emerges back on the bridge. As the monster turns around, it is attacked by the caustic stalkers. The combat is swift, and the grey render dies a horrible death. They do not cross the magma river, however. Thorne heads back to the tunnel.
Roscoe lands several impressive blows, while Daryle and Darelle attack them from their side. Gerald casts several rays of frost, which severely injure the ooze. Darelle manages the killing blow, and the metallic slag slowly begins to drain back into the magma. Within the remains of the ooze Thorne discovers a mighty bow, as well as a strange rune in the floor in the shape of a T, along with an arrow pointed to the southern ledge.
The party continues and enters a larger cavern. A large pool of lava is smoldering fifty feet below the floor of the cave, and a cliff leads down to the lava. Across the pool is a small island where the Spire is located, glowing eerily green in the reddish light of the cave. Gerald bends down and examines the cliff' surface. He finds that it would be sheer madness to attempt to climb down. Through much effort and many attempts, Thorne and Roscoe manage to secure a rope to the Spire so they can crawl across. and leave this level. Gerald, however, has other ideas. The sorcerer uses dimension door and takes Darelle and Roscoe with him to the stone platform by the Spire. Roscoe immediately senses that something is wrong. Suddenly two young magma dragons emerge from the magma and attack the Hellknight. Gerald returns to the cliff side and manages to bring Thorne and Roscoe with him, while the sisters fire arrows at the dragons.
Roscoe and Darelle use a spire token and they are the first ones back to the Splinterdeen level. The dragons continue attack Thorne and Daryle, while Gerald delays and launches another magic missile. Daryle falls prey to the female dragon and suffers a grievous wound but still manages to transport out with Thorne. Gerald grabs Aoz but cuts himself, falling unconscious. In the process, though he touches with his own spire transport the Spire and managed to arrive back on the 3rd level.
Abadius 22, 4712
Bloodied and bruised, the Coopers emerge early in the morning and begin the trek back to Fort Inevitable to heal and recuperate.
Showing posts with label Aoz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aoz. Show all posts
Friday, June 10, 2016
Friday, May 20, 2016
So that's what happened to the last Hellknight expedition
Abadius 21, 4712, part 2
As the Coopers proceed in the small hallway, the floor collapses. Daryle jumps out of the way, but the remaining Coopers and their two Hellknight soldiers fall in the pit along with the floor rubble. Most of them are lightly injured by the fall and by the spikes at the bottom of the pit, but Gerald's fall lands him straight on four spikes, skewering him. They find themselves ten feet below the floor.
With Daryle on one side of the room and the remaining members of the party in the pit, the Mistress of Thorns teleports in a flash of purple lightning. Finding them in quite a predicament, she cackles and launches two attacks on the Coopers. Thorne is the first one to regain his wits, and he begins to negotiate a solution with the devil. She really wants the spire tokens, but the Coopers will not exchange them. After much discussion, the Mistress agrees to arm the Coopers, and provide them with valuable information on the level below in exchange for Roscoe's soul as well as the right to come to Fort Inevitable and provide advisory services to the Hellknight Commander and his Council. She provides the Coopers with rings of protection against heat, as well as weapons. She informs them that the level below is called the Magma Vault and is ruled by two dragons with very hostile intentions.
The Coopers thus continue down to the Magma Vault. Reaching the floor, they discover that this is a very active volcanic environment. There are marks of recent lava flows. Walking through the first room, they discover a scene of ancient carnage. Heavily armored bodies lie about the room, pierced by thousands of crystal shards. More than three dozen Hellknights perished here some time ago. The Coopers carefully search the bodies, and discover that the crystals are in fact crystaline creatures from the outer planes. Their equipment is rendered and useless. Roscoe analyzes the situation and determines that the Hellknights were ambushed and perished here.
The Coopers are suddenly startled when one of these crystaline creatures floats in the room, chased by a strange floating ball of flesh sporting one eye and several blades sticking out in all directions. Gerald recognizes the creature as being an augur kyton. The augur kyton attacks the crystaline creature and kills it before the Coopers react. Roscoe recognizes the armor worn by the augur kyton as being Hellknight in origin and he even spots the insigna of the Order of the Pike. Wearily, both parties manage to establish a level of trust as it becomes clear that Aoz, the augur kyton, was part of the Hellknight expedition. Unable to speak, Aoz nevertheless manages to communicate that he wants the Coopers to follow him.
As Aoz floats ahead, Roscoe and the rest of the party follow. They arrive in a room cut in half by a lava flow. A small earthen bridge joins the two sides of the room. Aoz floats easily across, but Roscoe is weary of the quality of the bridge. The Coopers examine it and guess that it probably will support the weight of one person at a time, but since none of them are experts they are wont to take the chance.
Gerald eventually decides to mends the bridge. At least, this will provide a modicum of strength to the structure. Carefully, the Coopers cross one at a time along with the remaining Hellknight soldiers, and despite a few scares they all manage to safely cross the obstacle. Aoz floats down a corridor, and leads the group straight to a dead end. There, they find the body of three more Hellknights as well as that of Chaid DiViri, who has been missing. She appears to have been partially fused to the edge of the wall. Darelle and Daryle work together to pry her off the wall, and eventually they manage to take her out of her armor. She has partially burned in it, but somehow her body has not deteriorated any further. Aoz appears upset, and through much effort he manages to communicate to Gerald that he wishes that her body be taken back to Fort Inevitable. In her gear Roscoe discovers her journal, in which she relates her intent to continue exploring this level of the Emerald Spire and continue downward.
Gerald carefully wraps the body and the Coopers are now faced with a decision. They can head back to Fort Inevitable by climbing back one level, but that puts them back in the clutches of the Mistress of Thorns. Or they can forge ahead and hope to locate the Spire on this level. Aoz indicates that dangers lay in the direction of the Spire, but he can take them close. However, he does not wish to do so. What will the Coopers do?
As the Coopers proceed in the small hallway, the floor collapses. Daryle jumps out of the way, but the remaining Coopers and their two Hellknight soldiers fall in the pit along with the floor rubble. Most of them are lightly injured by the fall and by the spikes at the bottom of the pit, but Gerald's fall lands him straight on four spikes, skewering him. They find themselves ten feet below the floor.
With Daryle on one side of the room and the remaining members of the party in the pit, the Mistress of Thorns teleports in a flash of purple lightning. Finding them in quite a predicament, she cackles and launches two attacks on the Coopers. Thorne is the first one to regain his wits, and he begins to negotiate a solution with the devil. She really wants the spire tokens, but the Coopers will not exchange them. After much discussion, the Mistress agrees to arm the Coopers, and provide them with valuable information on the level below in exchange for Roscoe's soul as well as the right to come to Fort Inevitable and provide advisory services to the Hellknight Commander and his Council. She provides the Coopers with rings of protection against heat, as well as weapons. She informs them that the level below is called the Magma Vault and is ruled by two dragons with very hostile intentions.
The Coopers thus continue down to the Magma Vault. Reaching the floor, they discover that this is a very active volcanic environment. There are marks of recent lava flows. Walking through the first room, they discover a scene of ancient carnage. Heavily armored bodies lie about the room, pierced by thousands of crystal shards. More than three dozen Hellknights perished here some time ago. The Coopers carefully search the bodies, and discover that the crystals are in fact crystaline creatures from the outer planes. Their equipment is rendered and useless. Roscoe analyzes the situation and determines that the Hellknights were ambushed and perished here.
The Coopers are suddenly startled when one of these crystaline creatures floats in the room, chased by a strange floating ball of flesh sporting one eye and several blades sticking out in all directions. Gerald recognizes the creature as being an augur kyton. The augur kyton attacks the crystaline creature and kills it before the Coopers react. Roscoe recognizes the armor worn by the augur kyton as being Hellknight in origin and he even spots the insigna of the Order of the Pike. Wearily, both parties manage to establish a level of trust as it becomes clear that Aoz, the augur kyton, was part of the Hellknight expedition. Unable to speak, Aoz nevertheless manages to communicate that he wants the Coopers to follow him.
As Aoz floats ahead, Roscoe and the rest of the party follow. They arrive in a room cut in half by a lava flow. A small earthen bridge joins the two sides of the room. Aoz floats easily across, but Roscoe is weary of the quality of the bridge. The Coopers examine it and guess that it probably will support the weight of one person at a time, but since none of them are experts they are wont to take the chance.
Gerald eventually decides to mends the bridge. At least, this will provide a modicum of strength to the structure. Carefully, the Coopers cross one at a time along with the remaining Hellknight soldiers, and despite a few scares they all manage to safely cross the obstacle. Aoz floats down a corridor, and leads the group straight to a dead end. There, they find the body of three more Hellknights as well as that of Chaid DiViri, who has been missing. She appears to have been partially fused to the edge of the wall. Darelle and Daryle work together to pry her off the wall, and eventually they manage to take her out of her armor. She has partially burned in it, but somehow her body has not deteriorated any further. Aoz appears upset, and through much effort he manages to communicate to Gerald that he wishes that her body be taken back to Fort Inevitable. In her gear Roscoe discovers her journal, in which she relates her intent to continue exploring this level of the Emerald Spire and continue downward.
Gerald carefully wraps the body and the Coopers are now faced with a decision. They can head back to Fort Inevitable by climbing back one level, but that puts them back in the clutches of the Mistress of Thorns. Or they can forge ahead and hope to locate the Spire on this level. Aoz indicates that dangers lay in the direction of the Spire, but he can take them close. However, he does not wish to do so. What will the Coopers do?
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