Skylar was apparently away on woodsie business. He sent his keystone to the Green Forest Inn for our use to gain access to the Stargate. Everyone was a little leery about going into the Accursed Halls without our scout.
Shakes said he seen a side job on the Blue Basilisk message board requesting aid at at one of the out lying farms. Some farmers wife watched a giant ant cut one of her cows in half and carried away its corpse. It paid 50 gold.
50 gold split 6 ways was only 8 gold, 3 silver and some copper. Not worth our time we decided. We still had a problem with our wayward scout and point man though. Aramel and Mordin both agreed they could handle Skylar's duties, so it was off to the Accursed Halls we went.
As we were making our way to the junk room door that was locked and who's key we found on the half faced one, Mordin, who was at point, stopped, yelled, and began to thrash about.
Not expecting trouble, as we had previously cleared out this area of the dungeon, we were caught unawares. When Draco raised his lantern we seen our Half orc caught in a huge web that spanned the width of the passage before us.
"Uh oh." said Aramel, who was next in line, pointing at a dark mass that moved along the floor before us. Draco raised his lantern higher, giving us a full view of the swarm of spiders travelling swiftly towards us.
And behind them, something huge and dark, filling most the corridor. It had eight glowing eyes each the size of a gold piece. It wasn't hard to imagine what that was, and it was bearing down on our entrapped barbarian with a chittering sound.
Mordin went berserk and screamed. " I HATE SPIDERS!" and tore himself free of the webs. He started stomping and swinging his axe at the swarm around him to little effect. Aramel also started swinging and stomping as spiders swarmed up his legs.
Shakes climbed up the wall, looking much like a spider himself, to escape the swarm. Only a few of the tiny arachnids chased him as the rest bore down on the cleric, Draco and I. We back pedaled frantically.
Seeing their weapons were only having a minuscule effect on the swarm Mordin and Aramel turned their attention to the arachnids big brother that was charging like an eight legged warwagon down on them.
Mordin raised his shield and braced himself. The giant spider crashed into him and stopped dead in it's tracks. It's mandibles penetrated the barbarians shield but missed his arm. And a good thing they did as venom started to squirt out of the ends of them and all over Mordin's chain mail.
The berserker swung his battle axe and connected soundly. Aramel chopped at one of it's legs and Shakes somersaulted off the wall and onto the things back and started pounding the thing in its head.
In the meantime Abrandon, Draco and I continued to back up down the hall away from the oncoming swarm. The sorcerer fired a bolt of fire into the heart of the mass of tiny spiders, burning a six inch diameter hole in the center that was quickly filled in by the thousands of arachnids left.
Seeing the fires effect, a plan came to my mind.
On our first trip into the Accursed Halls a goblin spell caster had blasted us with a Burning Hands spell. Almost killing poor Skylar.
I knew that spell well.
Stepping forward past Abrandon and Draco, I touched my thumbs together and spread my fingers as wide as I could get them. Quickly speaking the incantation, flames poured forth from my fingers in a fan shaped area, engulfing the whole of the swarm.
No more swarm.
I looked up from my handy work to see Shakes riding the back of the Giant Spider like some farm hand riding a bull. He Continued to punch it in the back. In what appeared to be desperation the spider reared back on its four hind legs, throwing Shakes backward.
Mordin seized this chance to charge up under the thing and heaved upward with all his might. catapulting it up and onto its back, narrowly missing Shakes who tumbled sideways.
Down came Mordin's Axe.
The bulbous abdomen actually popped and exploded with black ichor all over the barbarian. Slowly Mordin turned to us and said in a whisper, " I really hate spiders."
" I get that." Shakes replied as he kicked the curled up form of the giant Arachnid.
Abrandon tended to to the various spider bites the party endured and pronounced everyone fit to travel on. I swear that man could cure anything.
We proceeded to the locked door in the junk room and opened it with the key. There were steps going down. The group seemed a bit more nervous descending these steps. Probably because Skylar wasn't our point man. They spiraled downward a ways and ended in a hall some 10 feet wide and 30 feet long. A barred window was on the left wall and beyond that at the end another passage going left also.
Creeping up to the window we peeked in to see an octagonal room. The floor looked like the night sky.
I mean we are talking stars, constellations, planets, the works.
Our route circled this room three quarters of the way and a door lead into it. It was kind of weird walking across the night sky. It somehow made me feel... superior...
I only dabble at astrology but I swear this floor looked just like the night sky above Thornkeep. The large double doors leading out of this room had words written above them in Ancient Azlantian. I could only decipher two of the words however.
" There " and " Enigma's. "
I wrote the rest down for decryption later.
Not ones to be daunted by unreadable words, we kicked the doors in.
A round room with no floor was before us. A stone bridge spanned this room leading to another door.
" Maybe it's bottomless." said Aramel, doing wonders for our courage.
We definitely couldn't see the bottom with Draco's lantern. I lit one of my torches and debated tossing it over the side. I quickly changed my mind as I read about one trap that was a room such as this and the floor was covered with oil. When the party tossed it's torch over the explosion did wonders thinning their ranks.
No thank you.
Carefully, we started across.
About halfway a creature materialized out of nowhere and blocked our way.
No it was not a Troll.
The only way to describe it is that it looked just like the statue of Abraxus two levels above. Only it was incorporeal. We could see right through it like a ghost.
It spoke, and none of us could understand what it said.
Mordin looked at it and shrugged.
It said something again, and this time I understood it, because it was speaking in the Elven tongue.
Which I am fluent at. Did I mention I speak five languages?
I informed the party. "It said, "In whose name do you seek the Enigma Vaults?"" While we pondered this the ghost demon once again asked something in a third language.
Mordin grabbed me and pushed me forward, saying, "Answer the man!"
Now, I wouldn't actually call this thing a man. And I was a little concerned that if I answered wrong I would get tossed to my death into this bottomless pit. But I just knew that if I backed out Mordin would probably toss me to my death into this pit.
Probably in pieces.
I had retrieved a lot of notes and books so far. We found a lot of stuff in that half faced wizards room. Long ago this whole place belonged some powerful evil wizard. I stepped forward and said his name.
" Mer Anthamon."
Ghost Abraxus slithered aside on his serpent legs and said. " You may pass. But touch nothing lest you be purged."
Now that had an ominous sound to it.
We were ready to go forward but at this point we got into an argument on who should take point.
Apparently giant spiders and ghost demons were enough to fry everyones nerves and no one wanted to be point man. After a lot of finger pointing and name calling it was 'decided' I should go first.
I did not like this because it is strategically unsound to have your snipers be point man. But to save time and hard feelings I reluctantly agreed. Moving across the bridge to another set of double doors I checked for traps and listened. I didn't find anything or hear anything untoward so I stepped back and kicked them open.
It was a large cavernous chamber with another chasm, 15 feet wide, descending into darkness. To our right about 30 feet was a rickety swinging bridge crossing this chasm. Across this expanse was a narrow ledge and on this ledge was two of what only can be described as Two Headed Humanoid Skeletal Veloci Raptors.
Ya. That's what I said.
Well them two headed skeletal thingies seen us at about the same time as we seen them, and then Aramel came charging past me yelling, " I CAN MAKE THAT JUMP!"
Yes. That kid tried to leap that chasm.
I don't know if Aramel can normally make a 15 foot leap, but this time he didn't even get close.
As soon as he was airborne we heard an " OH SHIT!" and then, as he fell away into darkness, an " Ohhh....Shhhittt....."
There was a load crash from below and then we heard Aramel holler. " I'm alright." seconds later, " I think I might have broke something though." and then, " And it's dark down here."
Now the Undead Two Headed Veloci Raptors were not standing around with their mouths agape watching Aramel's antics like we were. They were charging us. And those things were quick.
They were halfway across the swinging bridge before we reacted. I clipped one with a beam of positive energy and Draco hit one with a firebolt. Mordin and Shakes stepped in front of me and then they were on us.
Shakes ducked a couple of bites that looked like they would have taken his head off, kicked one in the kneecap and while it was off balance , threw a punch that I swear looked like it was on fire, shattering its spine.
It crumbled into a pile of Two Headed Humanoid Skeletal Veloci Raptor bones.
Mordin wasn't faring as well. The thing tore into him and tore him up pretty bad. His axe wasn't as effective as Shakes Fists of Fire.
Luckily he had Draco and I to back him up. We both blasted it until it joined it's friend on the ground.
Everything got quite as we all caught our breaths. Then we heard from the bottom of the crevice, "guys... Is everything okay up there?"
We tossed Aramel a torch and a rope and hauled him up.
Abrandon exhausted all his curative magic fixing Mordin and Aramel. With our cleric out of magic we decided not to press our luck down here and called it a day.
It was a disgruntled group that left the dungeon. One, we argued a lot more than normal. Two, we didn't find any treasure. And three, we were not carrying out Skylar's critically injured body. It seemed without our scout nothing could go right.
I retire for the night hoping Skylar is not gone long.
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