Session One Hundred and Twenty-Four Summary (Graveyard of Empires: After the Fall)

Session 124, January 25 2023

Introduction

We continue at 4:10PM on the 23rd of Denrilden (00.000.09.08 on the Apocalypse Clock) with the party locked in combat with Amon, the DVL lieutenant of Geryon. While the infiltration of the Inquisitorial Citadel began well, a random barbed DVL stumbled into the party and managed to inflict fear upon Bortham. Bortham, fleeing through the dungeons of the fortress, then ran straight into a pair of minotaurs and the Canine-headed Duke of the City of Brass. Now the party must decide whether they can continue to stand against this powerful enemy or sacrifice Jardin while everyone else flees toward the secret archives ...

Larry's Summary

Druul uses his re-roll to win the first initiative.

We do a fighting retreat and Jardin stays behind.

Lambertus grabs the unconscious Druul.

Felix casts Protection from Evil on Jardin before he flees.

Jardin is bit by the winter wolf and Amon hits Jardin with his mace and bites Jardin.

Jardin begins to transform as Felix flees.

The wolf misses and Amon drops another Wall of Ice on Jardin.

There is shouting and hammering behind the iron bound doors as we move past them.

Khelratha plows through a gate that blocks us.

Behind us we hear a sound of the flesh re-arranging itself and either bones crunching or walls falling and a scream of a large beast and a black tail flop into the intersection.

There is a deeper rumbling noise and the passageway behind us starts collapsing and lose site of Jardin. The collapse appears to come at us and the entire hallway collapses all the way to the gate we ran through and another ten feet beyond.

The ceiling collapses just behind Felix, bringing up the rear. There is still a deep rumbling but it is not collapsing.

The rumbling does not let up, it is distant, but it sounds like something giving way with a creaking crunch. It gets louder and louder above our heads somewhere.

The sound becomes overwhelming like it is right on top of us and basically sound ceases and ringing in our ears and a shockwave travels through us from ahead of us most of us stay on our feat, but Kauri falls, as does Oskar.

A wash of heat comes down the hallway, no flames.

Alisceon's hand on the wall, she is saying something that we can't hear and is motioning ahead to the right.

Lambertus casts Cure Serious to get Druul on his feet.

We do more healing and drinking of potions.

The ringing in our ears. Alisceon says, end of the hallway to the right is the base of the tower, up 2 stories, then we'll be near the lift to the secret archive.

T intersection to left is long hall with no doors or intersections. To right doors halfway to N & S, door at the end is left open, pushed up against the wall.

Still feels warm and warm breeze still coming in.

Velkin asks Ithirialma to make him invisible. She is in shock and Velkin has to ask her again before she does.

Velkin scouts ahead to look up the stairs. We have 1 hour and 45 minutes left of Beelzebub's sigil.

Circular staircase with a central pillar. Can see around the first corner. Still occasional rumbles from up above and that warm breeze and shouting in the distance.

We resume our marching order and work our way up the stairs.

Get to a landing on the landing is a door it is also open and getting warmer up here. Step through door to left as per Alisceon and the stairs continue. There is another door knocked of it's hinges and to the right some of the walls have partially collapsed. Can hear shouting and running in the distance. Occasional booms in the distance from somewhere above us.

Continue up the winding staircase.

We reach the long gallery in an open space. Stairs do continue up. To right 20 foot hallway to East, and things do not look right. The ceiling has partially collapsed. The Heat is on the still burning door. There are holes in the ceiling and burning bits of whatever are falling through it. The South wall used to be windows and they have all been blown out.

If we peek out, part of a tower has fallen and crashed onto the buildings below.

(The tower fell and exploded.)

We are about 70 feet rom the door on fire, and bits of masonry keep falling.

We prepare

Through the burning door is a creature covered with melting ice with 5 bone DVLs. They are surprised. They look injured and not expecting to see us here.

Kauri hastes us and we fight.

Lambertus casts prayer, Oskar, Khelratha, Druul, and Velkin charge, only Khelratha hits.

Kauri Magic Missile on Ice Devil.

Ithirialma cast Magic Missile at the Ice Devil.

Khelratha is hit by a bone devil and pierces Khelratha who cannot run.

Khelratha is hit again. 5HP left.

Ice Devil selected to go after Khelratha and used his re-roll and Alisceon was the target and was hit three times.

2 bone devils try to summon and fail, one disappears.

Ice Devil collapses from Ithirialma's Magic Missile. (but simultaneous)

Oskar is hit by 2 bone devils and is pierced by one. 2 bone devils from the back step up and one hits Alisceon and pierces her. Last one charges Alisceon and she goes down.

Velkin grabs the magic sword from Alisceon and fights with a long sword and a short sword.

Bone Devil Kills Alisceon.

Lambertus tried to turn DVLs and fails, Felix also tries and fails.

The invisible bone DVL grapples Oskar and flings him out the window over the cliff.

Oskar tries to counter grapple and fails and falls. 10d6 for 46 HP. (Oskar has the vial of Jardon acid, so there may be nothing left of him and his gear.)

Fleix uses the god stone to turn the DVLS and they go scrambling and it does not crack.

Lambertus grabs Khelratha.

Kauri picks up Alisceon.

Velkin grabs Alisceon's sword.

We head to the secret door to get into the secret library lift.

Velkin peeks through the door. There is a 30 x 30 open space with a door to the right and a short hallway with another door. To the left see the wall. Still stuff falling, burning, and people running.

Run and push the mechanism. 10 x 10 room with buttons on the right.

Get in and push the button.

There is a lurch as it starts to move and we feel it dropping into the rock of the cliff.

There is a sudden crash as the thing goes to a quick halt. We haven't gone down more than 50 feet. It is hundreds of feet down. Under an hour on the sigil.

We look for doors and latches. It is wood paneled, so can make an opening if we need to.

Velkin makes a hole in a corner of one side of the top. and comes to the metal outer shell of the lift.

There is a bit of space between, but not enough to look. Velkin sees in the opposite corner is a hatch. He hacks a new hole and reveals a hatch with a handle on our side.

Opens the hatch. Looking up a dark shaft with a bit of room

Velkin climbs up and there is a complex mechanized pulley system attached to the center of the top.

There are tracks on the side with rollers to center the car away from the wall.

Velkin cuts a hole seeking a lower hatch and finds it.

Velkin ties a rope and hands to the living among the party and gets out and looks underneath.

The wall has bulged out in a pretty significant way and has messed up the rollers of the track.

Wall is bulging about 2 feet.

Tracks Velkin can climb, others would need rope for safety.

Cut the cable free to lower down since it is long enough to reach. Lower the bodies of Khelratha and Alisceon first, then the rest of the party descends the cable.

By the time this is accomplished the sigil is gone.

Velkin goes first to check it out.

Use rope to make a harness.

It is about 250 feet to the bottom. (It is then I realized I once again forgot to sacrifice my shield.)

The door at the bottom is stuck.

We all fail and Ithirialma forces the door revealing a large library two floors high.

There are 20 x 20 bays on each side off into the distance. The second floor has a similar arrangement but smaller.

All the shelves are packed with stuff.

We cannot see the far side of the room.

Ithirialma says that this is the main stacks. The poison cabinet and the poison well are straight ahead.

Kauri does a scan with his mask for anything that is glowing. Kauri sees some glowing light blue (same color of DVL magic) books on the upper level, perhaps nine of them bound the same way.

Velkin checks the stairs for potential traps. There are no traps Velkin can see.

Kauri said to stick to the mission and find what we need to find then consider other things.

Velkin uses his telescope to look for the titles and they are numbered 1 - 9 and looks for a title. Comprehensive catalog of Enchantments and Charms is the book next to it. Velkin hands Kauri the telescope from Khelratha.

There is a whole shelf of books titled catalog.

Kauri will try to find how the books are referenced. The catalog is chronological and a map of each bay and shelf is numbered.

Kauri skims the catalog looking for package of nine books.