20.3: Getting stoned

Dramatis Personae

Beltin (Aasimar Dirge Bard/Cleric 12).

"Jake" aka Alex, the actual character name but I refuse to go back and edit the old entries (Human Wizard/Rogue 12).

Zai (Human Tetori Monk/Lore Warden Fighter 12). MISSING PLAYER, PLAYED BY GLORY.

Glory, aka the Righteous Fury of Heaven (Aasimar Synthesist Summoner/Bloodrager 12).

Getting stoned, Session 20.3 - 12/13/14

Day 51-52

Walking and walking and...

The party and their captives march through the Desolation, the captives being miserable as they are not properly geared for anything beyond being city boys; the still dominated gang leader is the only one who is undisturbed by the hike. As they trek they hear and see the usual sights and sounds of the Desolation: The incessant wind, sometimes carrying screams of both the damned and the dying (which the party is used to, but the new guys? Not so much), shambling corpses roaming in the distance.

By the end of the first day the gangsters are exhausted from the desert heat and the walk. The party decides to camp at the Crossroads and Jake created some magical cabins for everyone including the captives... unfortunately for them not all can fit. Yay, several get to sleep under the undead Mallerix for protection! Those few are especially unhappy about this but all pass out almost at once. Guess they won't be taking watches, but who would trust them to anyway?

Being the only one here who knows of the Dweller at the Crossroads, Beltin says he will take the midnight watch. He doesn't want anyone getting any stupid ideas. Like clockwork, the Dweller appears at midnight directly after a feeling of intense static electricity and growing power. It stares at Beltin and beckons to him, but he refuses to approach. It continues to stare at him for a few minutes and then departs.

The next day the walking continues. Occasionally creatures from the Desolation approach, but none are any match for the party. This does not reassure the captives and some are beginning to freak the hell out. No one in the party is concerned at all besides Glory who gets the feeling something is wrong here.

Day 52, dusk

Come on in

The group arrives at the walls of Tsar. The captives are awed by the sight and filled with dread. They don't want to go there, but since when did they have a choice? Glory takes on his eidolon form and carries several of the men and Jake and Beltin magic the others; they fly up to the roof of the fortress and a few hundred feet away is the Tower of Weeping Sores.

It looks inviting. Really. The doors are open and everything... and perched along the tower are 10 collared vrocks. They begin cawing, mocking, when they see the party but they make no moves to stop them from approaching. The party is expected it seems.

Jake orders the captives to go first... they disagree with that plan and say the big angel thing should. Jake sighs and orders their dominated leader to go first, then Glory, then them. As they climb the steps up to tower's entrance, a magical rune above the door glows and black energy ripples out toward the party! Symbol of Fear! The party and the gang leader make it, but the other 11?

Straight fails. Morale is broken. They flee.

The vrocks on the tower cackle as they watch but stay at their positions. The party considers trying to corral the fleeing captives until the magic wears off, but decide, "meh." The 11 gang members run off in different directions away from the central tower and will most likely never be seen alive again. Jake is glad he went through the effort of kidnapping these guys for cannon fodder now.

The party continues and Jake tells the remaining gangster to charge and he does. And directly in front of him in the entryway is a large spiked pit. Too late to stop! He goes over the edge and... doesn't fall? Oh, it was just an illusion of a pit. The party wonders why that would be there, and then slits open on the walls. Spears come out and their last captive dies horribly. Oh, it was a distraction so that could happen.

By now Glory has had enough. He buffs the hell up, blood rages, and charges in, right down the entryway to the secured set of doors at the end. Smash! More token resistance from arrow/spear slits along the walls but he keeps charging, battering down doors in his wake. The undead follow, then the rest of the party. They clean up the weak, token defenders.

Glory continues. He's buffed to hell and some are only rounds per level after all. Crash! He finds himself in a large kitchen with mysterious dark stains on the floor. Dead end. Back down the hallway and to the other side of the hallway. Crash! More hallways! He runs down them and sees two doors. He chooses the furthest one at random and it splinters under his might.

Inside are a couple empty tables and in the back corner are a few lockers. Standing in front of one of them is an incredibly realistic of an armored hobgoblin with his hand on of the cabinet's handles. Glory rushes forward and breaks open the lockers and shatters the statue with one blow; he ain't got time for any of this and he's trying to find his lost gear.

The d20 gods show their displeasure

But yeah about that. The hogoblin statue? Not a statue. Flesh to stone victim actually. Seems there was a trap on the cabinet. A trap that has been reset since that hobgoblin failed, probably hundreds of years ago. Glory makes a fortitude save! The only way he can fail is by rolling is a 1! Glory rolls a 1!

Glory, in all his furious, large-sized might, gets turned to stone!

And then Jake's cursed wound burns and the pain is almost enough to bring him to a knee. He feels an intense feeling of amusement that isn't his own and he knows that their enemies know what just happened. Jake knows they are coming. Soon. Less than a minute most likely. Things are not going well.

Jake and Beltin realize they have no way to actually un-Flesh to Stone Glory. Yep, Break Enchantment doesn't fix that. Well shit.

The party buffs up and preps. Jake puts an Invulnerable Globe around the exquisitely crafted Glory statue. Due to the narrow hallways and the size of the room, Beltin had to keep Mallerix stored in his scepter. Yay, narrow spaces!

And then the enemy Greater Teleports among them, but to their displeasure realize the room is rather packed and one of them has to teleport in on top of the magical globe over Glory, meaning he has to squeeze if he wants to be part of this fight. Yay, narrow spaces!

A chaaor demon and three baregara. The same fiends who the party were fighting when Jake got them captured by triggering Getaway, and the same ones who watched as the party walked out the front door later that day. What's left of them anyway.

One of baregara has a crooked arm, like it was badly broken and then healed improperly. That one stares at Zai with a look of intense hatred. Oh yeah, this time they are pissed. This is their chance to redeem themselves.

Long story short: They don't redeem themselves. The fight is vicious, but they are clearly outmatched even without Glory in the picture. The fiends give it their all but it is not enough. They die horribly and now there is even less space to move around in the room.

With that done, the party members wipe the sweat from their brows and now wonder what the hell to do with the several thousand pound angel statue... yeah, this whole tower raid isn't going well.

End of Session. Casualties... it's complicated. Not dead, but Glory manages to turn himself into several thousand pound stone statue by botching a fortitude save. It is truly an impressive failure.

20.2: Politics & Prostitutes

Dramatis Personae

Beltin (Aasimar Dirge Bard/Cleric 12).

"Jake" aka Alex, the actual character name but I refuse to go back and edit the old entries (Human Wizard/Rogue 12).

Zai (Human Tetori Monk/Lore Warden Fighter 12). MISSING PLAYER, PLAYED BY GLORY.

Glory, aka the Righteous Fury of Heaven (Aasimar Synthesist Summoner/Bloodrager 12).

Politics & Prostitutes, Session 20.2 - 12/13/14

Day 49, night

Straight up gangster

Glory and Jake meet back up with Beltin and Jake leads them into a seedier section of the city, but not before magically disguising himself to look both wealthier and less threatening.

He has a plan. A very poorly conceived plan. He is going to find a street gang and "recruit" them as cannon fodder for the inevitable assault against the Tower of Weeping Sores... really the only reason he brought the party along for this is his own (not exactly misplaced) paranoia that his enemies with at will Greater Teleport may come for him if he is alone and vulnerable. It's probably for the best.

Now to find the proper gang he needs to look like an easy mark, but that is a bit difficult with an angel (no matter how not threatening he looks) at his side but hey, maybe that will keep the amateur robbers away so he can try to "recruit" some people with actual skill. Or stupidity. Either works.

The walk through the bad side of town continues and the party notices two men following them who are trying very hard to not seem like they are following them. They are doing a pretty good job actually. And then from an ally in front of the party steps out three more, these three considerably less subtle about their intentions, especially as they are armed with clubs.

The two men from behind step up and the party is surrounded. Jake immediately picks out the man who looks like he is most in charge and demands to be taken to his leader. The thugs seem unconvinced and laugh, getting ready for violence, but Glory speaks and they cannot withstand the Heavenly speaker's 40ish diplomacy check. The thug in charge smirks and says okay, they can meet the top man.

The five surround the party and march them further into the slums. Their destination is a half burned down warehouse with a stylized, flaming eye painted on the wall nearby. Gang graffiti. The party saw the same mark on some walls where they were "mugged." A sentry steps out of the shadows at the sight of the approaching group but gets waved aside by the head thug.

The party is led through the warehouse and then down a concealed staircase. They find themselves in a dingy subterranean bar, clearly the HQ for this gang. A man stands behind the bar pouring himself a drink while a few others play cards at a table. Another man is playing a honky-tonk piano. The music stops and everyone looks up as the party is forced inside.

The music resumes and the men pretend to get back to what they are doing, but each is clearly alert and watchful now. The head thug knocks on a door and the party is led into an office. A massive man adorned with tattoos of a flaming eye sits behind a desk that is mostly covered by various bags of coins and a scale. A slender man with a black hood pulled up (clearly trying to look like a menacing professional) leans against the wall nearby.

The tattooed man, the gang leader, sizes the party up as the thug spokesperson explains what happened. The leader turns to Jake and asks what he wants with the Burning Eye.

Jake says he has a business proposition. He will pay for the gangs' services for help with a little B&E job he has planned, but that's all he can say. Just get his men, all of them, ready to go for tomorrow. Jake's tone leaves no room for debate and the gang leader is not impressed.

He starts on about the price and what exactly the job is, and who the hell are you anyway, but Jake isn't interested in hearing that. All he wants is obedience. So he Dominates him. The gang leader fails. He is suddenly quite compliant and agrees that he will have his men ready for tomorrow morning. The hooded man, the second in command, starts arguing with the gang leader about this, but you can't argue with mind control.

The gang members hear some of what is going on and they don't like where this is going. Something isn't right. Fortunately for Jake's plan, they are more afraid of their leader then the unknown job they just got signed up for. If only they knew where exactly they were going they would reevaluate that fear...

The two are still arguing as the party leaves the gang HQ and then teleport back to the Camp.

As they arrive back in the Camp, Glory says he needs to speak with the Usurer, but Beltin tells him that it would be impolite to go knocking on his door in the middle of the night. Get him tomorrow. The party rests; Jake of course continues to have horrible dreams.

Day 50

Heavenly discourse with the Usurer

The next morning Glory heads over to the smithy and sees perhaps two dozen armed mercenaries standing around outside the place; though Glory wouldn't know it, this is a rather larger number than the Usurer normally has guarding his money changing station.

Glory summons forth his eidolon and stands before them dressed in the full strength of Heaven's might. He tells them he wishes to speak to the one they call "The Usurer." The guards tense up and heads go to weapons, but none actually make hostile moves. To their credit, none look like they are about to bolt either. Professional killers here.

The sounds of work inside does not cease, but the Usurer steps out to greet the embodiment of Heaven's Righteous Fury and he wears a look of disdain. He tells Glory to cease trying to intimidate him with the eidolon. It's disrespectful. If Glory wishes to speak, says the Usurer, then dismiss the show of force and follow. The Usurer starts walking around the back of the smithy toward his living area. Glory dismisses the eidolon and follows.

Inside the Usurer's abode, Glory is shown a seat and the the Usurer sits down across from him. He stares at Glory, waiting for him to begin speaking. It's his meeting after all.

Glory explains he is here on behalf of the Crusade and wishes to repair diplomatic strains that have occurred between them and the Usurer. The Usurer seems unimpressed but continues to listen. Glory lays out what he wants: A better gold/bit exchange rate for the crusade and let the crusaders help police the town along side the sheriff.

The Usurer explains his side of things. The crusade used to have a better exchange rate (5 gold to 1 bit; standard exchange is 3:1), but they refused the offer and insulted him. Instead of doing business with him, they set up their own encampment to the east, but it failed, destroyed by the horrors of the Desolation.

So then they came back to him and wanted the same deal he had offered before, but they had down all they could to spite him before, so why should he give them the same deal as before? No. They disrespected him and his authority. That meant punitive measures were required, hence the current 7:1 crusade exchange rate. The crusade getting gouged that badly is its own doing, explains the Usurer.

As far as letting the crusade help police the town, they are doing that already with their "vigilante justice," says the Usurer. Also incredibly disrespectful of the town's "legitimate" authority. And now Glory wants him to cave and make their acts of unchecked aggression and anarchy legitimate? The irony of his own argument is not lost on the Usurer, but it is on Glory who doesn't quite know all their is to know about the man.

The Usurer also explains another source of diplomatic tensions. According to the crusade and Bard's Gate, great swaths of area in the wilds north of the city belong to the city, including parts of the Desolation. Including the Camp. Therefore they are the legitimate authority here.

The Usurer and many others disagree with that assessment as though Bard's Gate claimed the area hundreds of years ago, they never did anything for it. They never provided services, aid, or protection for the Camp. They never helped the Camp. Who the hell are they to come in and act like they own the place now when they had no hand in the building of it?

So squatters rights, thinks Glory, but he can see both sides of the argument and he tells the Usurer that both sides make valid points. Really Glory finds himself feeling more sympathetic to the Usurer's side of the argument, but decides not to declare his support to the man's side at the moment.

The debate continues and Glory realizes the Usurer is putting up a token fight, but is going to cave, at least somewhat. The Usurer offers this: A 5:1 exchange rate and he will deputize certain crusade members, but they will only be able to enforce certain laws of the Usurer's choosing. Glory is unsure of the second part of that, seeing how the stipulation could just make the crusade technically empowered but actually powerless, but they make a tentative agreement.

Out of game, the Usurer knows his position is growing unstable; he probably can't win in an open fight against the crusaders in town now. At least not yet. The only thing to do is cede ground to placate them for now.

It is decided that a proper meeting between the crusade and the Usurer will need to take place to hammer out the finer details and perhaps Glory can act as mediator. Glory agrees and says he will speak with Tyrian, the (unnamed until now!) crusade commander and a time and place can be set. The Usurer says that would be lovely and shows him the door.

Kidnapping for fun and profit

Beltin begins work on Stone Shaping up some extra barracks for the "new recruits" and Jake teleports back to the Burning Eye HQ. He finds 12 men including the dominated leader and second in command. The second looks mutinous and the men look like they are definitely having second thoughts. Too late now though. The second starts demanding more info as Jake arrives, he tells him its too late for that. Teleport away!

Jake makes the few trips necessary to grab the dozen kidnappees. The members of the Burning Eye look dazed as they stare around at their new surroundings. Welcome to the Desolation! They are unhappy about this. Extremely. They've heard horror stories about this place and they want none of it.

Jake explains that if they don't want the job now they can go. Bard's Gate is only like a thousand miles to the south, a thousand miles filled with nothing but wild lands and dangerous beasts. They better get going if they are going, and he waves them off. They all decide to stay. The dominated leader just stands there serenely.

The gang members are handed off to Yohan mostly just to keep them busy and they are told that tomorrow they will be heading off for the job. Once it's done, Jake will take them right back to Bard's Gate. Promise. Note: It's a lie.

Shh, it's a secret

Glory heads over to speak with Tyrian and he explains the proposed deal. Tyrian is impressed by Glory's work and tells him that he will set up the meeting, but it won't be for several days, maybe up to a week. He needs time for the backup plan to be prepared in case things don't work out.

What backup plan, asks Glory. Tyrian gives him a hard look and says that what he tells him now must remain secret. Glory must tell no one, not even the party... thinking of Jake and Beltin, especially not the party. A squad of the church's elite special forces have secretly been brought up north. They are currently carrying out reconnaissance in Tsar itself, but he will want them here for the meeting with the Usurer.

Glory understands where this is going. The crusade was planning on assassinating the Usurer, but now may not have to. Glory does not like that murder would even be considered by the church and expresses that sentiment, but Tyrian explains that it was always an option, but to be a last resort. If it came to open hostilities, killing the Usurer would prevent the need for a slaughter; his mercenaries and supporters would not carry on the fight without him.

Really, it would save lives. Plus, they must never forget why they are here. Justice must prevail. The Desolation must be cleansed. The Usurer and his petty claims cannot be allowed to hinder that mission.

Glory's sense of disquiet deepens, but he continues on. The party had decided that it may be worthwhile to seek the crusade's aid in taking the Tower of Weeping Sores; really Jake just wants more bodies to go in first and die to soften the defenders, not that Glory would know that.

Now, against his better judgement as he now knows the extremes the commander is willing to go, Glory brings up the party's plans to again assault the Tower of Weeping Sores. Tyrian says that they can prepare a detachment of veteran crusaders to help take the tower, but it would take some time. They can be there in five days.

Once cleansed, the tower and fortress would be a great tactical asset in taking the fight to the city itself, continues Tyrian. It seems the commander thinks the tower will become crusader property... that's not exactly what Glory meant and Jake and Beltin certainly won't like it (Jake at least will have plans for the place), but Glory does not try to argue the point. He doesn't like where this is going.

In the mean time, the commander continues, they can try to get word to the special forces group in Tsar to see if they could support the party's assault, but that is iffy. Magical communication methods are problematic within the city. If that group renders aid it won't be openly though, says Tyrian, due to them officially not being there and all.

Glory departs and heads back to the Greed Elemental base. Once there it doesn't take him long to swear the party to secrecy and then tell them everything Tyrian told him. The party is also not pleased by this turn of events. They decide not to wait for the crusade to act as cannon fodder after all.

Tomorrow they will go and settle unfinished business with General Mirak and his fiendish advisers.

The corruption of Glory

With their plans decided, Glory again heads off to get some food at the Sip of Blood, but as he heads over he sees beggars and invites them to join him for a meal. He leads his flock of miscreants to the tavern and orders some of the finest foods for them all. Floyd looks delighted as he takes their orders and asks if the group could use some of the establishments "special services."

The beggars, selfish and ungrateful bastards all, guilt Glory into agreeing and footing the bill. Though he doesn't know what Floyd means by "special services," they do. Glory asks how much it will cost and Floyd does a quick calculation. Should be about 4,600 bits he says. Glory hands it over. Glory has now spent all his money on hookers, opium, and booze for a group of beggars!

Completely oblivious and unsure about what is happening, Glory spends his night drinking heavily, smoking opium, and banging hookers. Fort save? Failed. Don't worry it's not an STD. Glory is now an opium addict!

Day 51

Glory wakes up the next morning feeling completely horrible and not really remembering what had happened. Naked girls and naked beggars lay on cushions around him. Heavens, his head hurts. Some of that smoke from the night before was lovely, he remembers. Maybe some of that would ease his pain.

By this time the rest of the party has gotten up and are ready to head into the Desolation. It will be them plus the kidnapped gangsters; Jake isn't bringing any of his own men for this. As Glory does not show up at the designated time, eventually Beltin goes to track him down and finds him in the tavern as Glory is deciding on whether or not to take a hit from an opium pipe.

It is a pathetic sight and Beltin realizes (though Glory does not) that the angel is now an addict. Guess the anti-drug PSAs were right; one hit and you're hooked. Sighing, Beltin casts Cure Disease and Lesser Restoration on Glory to get him in shape to go. He suggests that the angel not do whatever he did again and Glory thinks Beltin may be offering sound advice.

The two of them head back and meet Jake and the dozen kidnapped and now looking distinctly unhappy gangsters. Time for a forced march into certain death!... At least for 12 people here.

To be continued...

20.1: Paranoia & Predatory Loans

Dramatis Personae

Beltin (Aasimar Dirge Bard/Cleric 12).

"Jake" aka Alex, the actual character name but I refuse to go back and edit the old entries (Human Wizard/Rogue 12).

Zai (Human Tetori Monk/Lore Warden Fighter 12). MISSING PLAYER, PLAYED BY GLORY.

Glory, aka the Righteous Fury of Heaven (Aasimar Synthesist Summoner/Bloodrager 12).

Paranoia & Predatory Loans, Session 20.1 - 12/13/14

Day 49

"What's interest?"

Glory gets up the next day and wanders around looking for a place to get some breakfast. He stumbles across The Sip of Blood Tavern, A Hospitality Guild Establishment and decides to head on in.

The place is much changed from the days of Lucky Fjork. The walls are hung with silk curtain and low tables with hookahs and cushions have replaced many of the tables and scantily dressed women lay passed out next to customers who seemed to enjoy their pipes a bit too much. There is a second story with tables and a smaller bar that acts as a balcony overlooking the ground level.

So now the place is an opium den as well as a bar, but that fact is lost on Glory, who merely seeks some breakfast. He sits at one of the tables away from the opium den portion of the establishment and in short order the bar tender Floyd comes up to speak with him, clearly not surprised that a clueless angel just stumbled in; word travels fast.

Why yes, they do have a great assortment of the foods available in quality ranging from fair to the highest quality, explains Floyd and Glory decides to go for the finest quality that is the way of Heaven, but what is this "price" you speak of, Glory asks. He's not from the material plane after all.

Floyd explains that in this plane, you exchange money for goods and services, and says that if Glory doesn't have any bits they can work something out. The Hospitality Guild also offers short term loans to capable adventurers, up to 5,000 bits... 20% interest, compounded daily.

Glory doesn't know what the second part means but doesn't ask. He says he'll take the 5,000 and Floyd smiles. He explains that normally they don't give that amount to just anyone, but isn't he part of the Greed Elementals? Perhaps if he has trouble making repayment the Hospitality Guild can hold them liable for it, says Floyd. That's a strange way of putting it, thinks Glory, but he says of course, as why wouldn't his new, dubious friends help him in his time of need?

Floyd just keeps on smiling. Glory signs the paperwork and receives his money. The pact is sealed.

With that done he enjoys a rather large breakfast of the finest foods and then pays his bill of 400 bits. It was delicious but certainly not Heaven quality cuisine.

Pleasant dreams

Jake has a night filled with haunting dreams of atrocities committed at the Tower of Weeping Sores, culminating in a a dream so intense and vivid that it could more properly be called a vision.

He sees a young woman with horrible, but healing, wounds all over her body. She is pregnant, or was, as a midwife stands nearby holding a newborn baby, making gentle calming sounds to soothe the crying infant. Standing next to the bed is a man in similar shape as the woman, clearly wounded but healing and smiling, telling her that everything is okay, they escaped from that horrible place. Everything will be okay.

The young woman is in a daze, she can't remember how she got here. She is amazed, shocked, relieved. Then she thinks of the man, her husband. How did he survive? She saw him die, die horribly while the creatures in the tower laughed. How can he be here? As she thinks this, the illusion bursts apart. She is still in the tower. She never made it out. She never will.

She begins to scream.

Her husband's mutilated corpse hangs from a hook nearby, skinned, and the creature wearing her husband's skin smiles even wider as the illusion falls away. The woman goes into hysterics and turns to see the midwife is another fiend, wolf headed with spikes ripping out of its flesh, holding onto her newborn baby.

She sees a two-foot around hole with a grate over it in the middle of the torture room; it is used to flush down the larger pieces of viscera and flesh extracted from the victims of these beasts. She knows many pieces of her husband rest at the bottom of that pit. The grate is open and the demon stands above it.

The demon catches her gaze and smiles. It is a look devoid of anything close to compassion or sympathy, but it does contain a large amount of cruel amusement. The creature cradles the crying newborn baby and makes soft, comforting noises. Then drops it down the drain.

Screaming, sobbing, and hearty laughter follows, but the image of the dream is breaking apart. Jake wakes up in a cold sweat and knows what he saw wasn't just a dream. His wounded shoulder burns. He briefly wonders if he could still be in the tower. Did he ever leave? Will he ever? He uneasily dismisses that notion, but is shaken all the same.

Paranoia rises in him, fueled by not only the dream, but his lack of restful sleep and the way his men stare at him and stop speaking in their quiet tones as he approaches.

He gets up and orders his men to stay on guard. Beltin gets up with him and Jake says he is going to Bard's Gate. Beltin agrees to follow and they go to look for Glory.

Business in Bard's Gate

As Glory is perhaps the most conspicuous person in town, it doesn't take long to track him down to the Sip of Blood as he is finishing his breakfast. The subject of the loan doesn't come up, but when asked if he wants to go to Bard's Gate, Glory agrees.

Teleport away!

The party arrives at the northern, little used, gate of Bard's Gate, the way heading toward the Desolation. At least it used to be little used. With the crusade, hopeful caravans, and adventurers seeking to make their fortune heading north and plunder from the Desolation heading south, the way is actually pretty busy now.

As the party enters the city a guard approaches and asks them for papers (yay tax purposes!). Jake swears and gets ready to do something stupid most likely, but Glory cuts both men off. He stretches out his wings and declares that he is a messenger of Heaven and he has business in the city. The guard is awed and confused, but still looks like he is going to insist that they fill out some forms, but a 40ish diplomacy check from Glory makes the man reconsider and let them through.

Jake, who was hoping to be inconspicuous in his visit, realizes that ship has sailed. As they walk through the city a small crowd gathers and follows Glory, some seeking his blessings and others just wanting to gawk.

The first stop on Jake's to-do list is the mage's university. Though he never had an official education in the magical arts himself (and he and the magic schools tend to hate each other on general principle, with him thinking they are over-educated assholes and they thinking he is dangerous hick dealing with matters he cannot comprehend), he recognizes they got resources he can use.

He wants some spells and they have them. Time to buy! At the gate of the university most of the crowd is turned away by guards as they clearly have no place here, but the party is let in. Jake and Beltin head toward the library.

The university's courtyard is a beautiful garden and has a magnificent magical fountain in the center; Glory is happy as finally here is a place that kind of looks like it belongs in Heaven, though of course it would have more marble and such if it really did.

He meets some mages who are quite keen to know what manner of creature he is and hear his tale; some look at him with awe, mostly the younger students, but most aren't impressed just by a guy in ragged clothes with angel wings. They are "masters of magic" after all. Regardless, Glory spends most of the day in the garden talking to the mages while Jake and Beltin do their thing.

Jake speaks to a librarian and says he needs to learn from spells, namely anti-scrying and anti-divination spells. And he has money. He pays to copy Nondetection and a few other spells into his spell book and also has to pay a visitor's fee for the library. They offer him a yearly pass to the library for 200 gold (non-spell books only of course), but he is cheap and pays the one day price. Fuck these snooty mages.

Beltin is even cheaper and decides to screw paying to visit the fancy mages' library and seeks out one of the less extensive free libraries in the city. He tells Glory where he is going and heads off into the city.

Eventually he finds the city's large public library. He browses and tries to find general info about Tsar and the Desolation and such, but as he doesn't quite know what he wants and the public library is hardly a place to find rare tomes, he doesn't find out anything he doesn't already know.

And so passes Beltin's day.

Around evening Jake emerges finishes getting his spells copied and tells Glory it is time to go. They go to exit the university grounds and find Beltin, when suddenly a wild perception check appears. Only for Jake. He makes it.

Sitting on a ledge is a single raven, sitting unnaturally still and seemingly staring at Jake. As he looks, it takes off and flies away. Paranoia returns. Ravens have scouted the party before. Could it be from the Tower of Weeping Sores? Do they know he is here? What does it all mean? Jake is now tense and on edge, but he still has a scheme to finish in the city.

Side note: It was just a random bird sitting on a ledge, nothing more. Not that Jake knows that.

To be continued...

19.3: Totes escaped

Dramatis Personae

Beltin (Aasimar Dirge Bard/Cleric 12).

"Jake" aka Alex, the actual character name but I refuse to go back and edit the old entries (Human Wizard/Rogue 12).

Zai (Human Tetori Monk/Lore Warden Fighter 12). MISSING PLAYER, PLAYED BY JAKE.

Glory, aka the Righteous Fury of Heaven (Aasimar Synthesist Summoner/Bloodrager 12).

Totes escaped, Session 19.3 - 11/28/14

Day 48, night

Mama Grim makes the boo boo feel all better... sort of

The party arrives back in Camp near the Greed Elemental barracks and Jake heads inside immediately to Mama Grim; his shoulder hurts and he wants his mommy to make it better. Zai and Beltin follow immediately, but Glory is horror struck by what he sees.

The Camp, a shanty town composed of scavenged shelters that barely contain the elements and tents. Beggars sitting in abject poverty, their pleas for aid ignored. This is not how things are supposed to be. It is not like this in Heaven. This is all wrong. A single tear runs down his cheek as he is exposed to another depredation of the material plane.

Glory eventually regains some composure and steps into the barracks. He is not reassured by what he sees inside.

Meanwhile Jake stumbles into the barracks in obvious pain and his men, some sleeping, some playing cards, turn and look at him surprised by the sight of their fearsome, ruthless, invincible leader in such a state. Jake moves toward Mama Grim who is busy cooking a delicious midnight snack for the men who are still up: Her cooking is always delicious, even though it is highly poisonous if eaten before she says it is ready after all.

He collapses on the ground near her work section and calls to mommy to make him feel better. She tells him in a tone you would use to lightly scold a naughty child that he has to wait his turn as mama is cooking right now but it is almost done. And so Jake, the cunning, vicious mercenary commander, does as he is told and waits in agony for dinner to be done.

In a few minutes it is and the men thank Mama Grin as though she was their own mother and she beams at them. Now then, to Jake. She inspects his shoulder and tuts, saying it is a bad wound, a cursed wound, but he got off lighter than she had expected. Not many people come back from the Tower of Weeping Sores in such good shape. Beltin and Jake notice this offhand comment revealing she knows much more than she tells, but before they can inquire further she has already moved on in her doting, senile way.

She applies an ointment and makes him drink his medicine and most of the pain is eased and the wound closes, but a the area remains heavily scarred and raw looking. It will never really heal Mama Grim says, but that's all there is to be done. Jake asks what happened to him and Mama explains that the demon's blood is his now and his blood is the demon's. They are one and the demon will always be watching now.

Jake asks for a cure for this and Mama Grim suggests taking out all his blood, but "that may not help you unless you want to be dead, dearie."

Mommy goes on to mention off hand that Jake must have made an impression at the tower because they only do this to their most dangerous and elusive guests. It's not like Jake and the party would be the first people to get out of the tower, explains Mama Grim. It's just that it doesn't count as an escape unless you remain out, she says with her little cackle.

Reasonable responses

At these words Jake goes cold and paranoia washes over him ("But is it really paranoia when they really are out to get you?") and he yells for his already somewhat shaken men to form up. He tells them he wants this barracks secured. Watches set. No one goes in or out!... except the other PCs who do what the hell they want. Beltin sighs and decides he will settle in here for the night for Jake's sake.

Around this time Glory walks in and sees the hag attending to Jake and immediately gets ready to fight before Beltin explains she's cool. Glory does not look like he values Beltin's opinions very highly at all, nor does he look comforted, but he sits down at a table and keeps an eye on her.

Mama Grim brings over some food for her favorite boys and upon seeing Glory in his angelic splendor (bronze skin and heavenly white wings help) immediately thinks he is one of her grandchildren but is distressed by his appearance. Oh, what have they done to you? Where are you beautiful horns and your lovely red skin? What of your darling tail? She dotes over him, obviously distressed by the loss of her grandson's handsome demonic features.

Glory says nothing but is looking more and more tense and uncomfortable as she goes on and on about how unwell he looks and asking him what happened. Finally he breaks when she mentions how she is so proud of him as the last time she saw him, her grandson, he was ("Or will be, maybe it hasn't happened yet...") leading the forces of the abyss to shatter the high heavens and slay the heavenly host himself.

This is just too much for him and he walks away from her and table, still saying nothing to her. Mama Grim remains distressed about the change in her "grandson" ("Oh honey, I hope it's just a phase!") and insists that Jake make Glory drink some "medicine that will make him feel more himself."

By this time Glory is as far away from Mama as he can be in the barracks and doesn't hear the exchange and drinks the medicine with minimal deceit from Jake... and immediately spits it back out, nearly throwing up. Unholy water: Just the tonic a sick demon needs to get better soon. At this point he makes for the door and heads off into the night, still ignoring Mama Grim's concerned pleas that he finish his medicine.

And Glory wept

The Camp is much worse than he had thought at first glance. The callousness he sees in the men here with their cold, cold eyes. The filth. The despair. The smell of blood and death. It is almost too much to take and he walks through the streets in his angelic beauty with tears threatening to overcome him.

He is noticed due to his extremely unusual appearance by those still out so late (mostly those on their way to their vices or on the way back from), but when he comes upon some beggars who asks for his aid and his blessing, he grants it and gives them the small amount of gold he has. They take it and one man says that though he appreciates it so much, could the nice angel find it in his heart to find him a place to stay out of the muck? He suggests a room at the Moaning Whale... the brothel.

At this point Glory begins to suspect that these people will take him for all he's worth, but even if he wanted to give more, he has no more to give and continues on. Eventually he finds his way to his destination, the crusader encampment. He will fulfill the wishes of Heaven and aid them.

Outside the main command tent he sees two guards and approaches. They see an angel come to them, though one splattered in blood and muck and wearing rags, and they don't know what to do. A diplomacy check later and they are bringing news of the heavenly messenger to the highest ranking man still in the command tent and that man comes out.

It is the unnamed bureaucrat of Thyr, the one who in his cold indifference gave the job of disposing of highly dangerous biological weapons to a band of psychopaths (i.e. the party) simply because it was convenient and "cost effective." He seems distinctly unimpressed by the poor looking angel and asks what Glory wants, every word thick with disdain, disgusted at the thought that this ragged figure be so near him.

Glory decides that he has not descended from Heaven and endured unspeakable cruelty and pain just to be talked down to by someone in middle management. He calls forth all the righteousness and power of Heaven and manifests his eidolon form, the large four armed obviously divine being bathed in golden light.

He opens his wings to their full span and tells the middle manager that he speaks with the divine authority of Heaven and that he WILL speak to the leader of the crusaders. The two guards drop to their knees and bow before him and beg his pardon for any offense they may given. The middle manager stands in stunned silence for probably a good 30 seconds and then he wordlessly gestures and leads Glory on, away from the command tent.

The divine messenger

The middle manager leads Glory through the crusader encampment and out, past a few large lavish stone buildings (Beltin's mansions) and beyond to the very edge of the camp. Glory keeps his eidolon up as they go. Some crusaders prostrate themselves as he passes and others just gawk. It's clear Glory's arrival will be the talk of the Camp by morning.

Finally they arrive at a small simple adobe cottage standing alone, more in the Desolation then in the Camp. The middle manager knocks on the door with one last uneasy look at the Righteous Fury of Heaven.

A few seconds later the door opens and the commander of the crusaders stands in his doorway wearing simple clothing, almost peasant clothing, clothing certainly beneath his station, but then so is his house. His eyes widen as he looks at Glory in all his glory and he listens wordlessly as the middle manager explains. The commander tells the man to go back to the command tent and await further orders and then he invites the angel into his humble abode.

As the middle manager leaves, Glory dismisses his eidolon to more easily fit and steps inside. The commander's house is a tiny single room. There is a mattress of stuffed straw and a rough table and one chair. On the table are reports and a map of the Desolation. It is not the home one would expect of a man of power.

The only clue as to whose home this is sits in one corner; a stand holding a set of battle worn but flawlessly cleaned armor bearing the holy symbol of Muir and a greatsword that glows faintly with white light.

While his officers and his superiors back in Bard's Gate may have fallen into the temptations of wealth and comfort, the commander stands out as a man of principle. He is a humble servant of Good and he will not be corrupted. He is here for Muir's glory, not his own. He is a true believer.

All admirable characteristics, thinks Glory, but is this man a zealot? This question weighs heavily on him; the path of zealotry can lead to damnation after all.

Glory says he was sent by Heaven to investigate the evils of Tsar and cleanse this land of evil. He is here to aid the crusade. And so he starts his tale of what befell him in the Tower of Weeping Sores and his escape. He mentions the party in less than flattering terms and the commander nods; oh yeah, he knows those guys all right.

The two talk for quite some time and the commander bestows him with official power among the crusaders. He will have the authority of one of the commander's personal retinue. Anything he needs for his divine mission, just ask.

Well he does need some necessities, like a place to stay, some food, and maybe some clothes that aren't prisoner rags. The commander says that can be easily arranged and they walk back to the crusader encampment together, Glory staying in his less conspicuous form. The commander takes him back to the middle manager and tells him to obey Glory and do as he asks.

And so the middle manager does, though some of his condescending manner returns now that Glory is not a 12 feet tall, 900 pound warrior of light. He gets him some basic grunt clothes and trail rations and then assigns him a tent all his own before making himself scarce.

By this time it is practically dawn and Glory settles in to get a few hours of sleep before greeting the new day. Before he does so though, he casts Contact Other Plane and asks the will of Heaven. What should he do now?

"Watch and see."

Very helpful, Heaven. Thanks for the input.

End of Session. No casualties.

19.2: Y'all come on back now, ya hear?

Dramatis Personae

Beltin (Aasimar Dirge Bard/Cleric 12).

"Jake" aka Alex, the actual character name but I refuse to go back and edit the old entries (Human Wizard/Rogue 12).

Zai (Human Tetori Monk/Lore Warden Fighter 12). MISSING PLAYER, PLAYED BY JAKE.

Glory, aka the Righteous Fury of Heaven (Aasimar Synthesist Summoner/Bloodrager 12).

Y'all come on back now, ya hear?, Session 19.2 - 11/28/14

Day 48

The party minus Jake

With "the playground" behind them, the party finds themselves in a massive armory. Does any of it look magic? Nope. Masterwork? A few things. Oh. One of them belonged to Glory before his whole getting captured and tortured thing, so he takes it back. Now to find that lost undead menagerie... and Jake.

And so the party begins to explore. They find the barracks next door and look through some chests to find all there to find of monetary value (yay, maybe like 100 gold worth of trinkets!). On one wall they see two cranks and a release lever and wonder what it is and eventually decide to just pull the lever... and a resounding crash follows and then silence.

What was that? Why, it was a giant stone block over the large set of doors across from where the party fought the Bargeras and Jake triggered his doomed Getaway spell! Fun fact: Those massive doors that seemed to lead further into the fortress? Stone wall behind them. Trap. Trying to force the door would result in that giant ass block landing on you. Unfortunately the party never got to figure that out first hand. The party briefly wonders if they just crushed Beltin's undead.

Exploration continues. The party finds the balconies they saw overlooking them in the previously mentioned failed Getaway fight and realize where they are; if they jumped down they'd be right where they were before. Awesome. As ranks of undead with bows and arrows stand up here waiting for orders, they decide to just Fireball them and not have to worry about them being annoying later.

Onward! The party heads the other day and, after breaking down two doors barricaded from the other side, find themselves in a room with a circular hallway. All around are rooms for officers. Huh, based on those double barred doors the officers didn't have much trust in their enlisted men.

Something seems off about the area but it takes a moment to realize what. The temperature is fluctuating wildly, but mostly its getting colder. It's cold. Suddenly so very cold. At times the party can see their breathe and at other times they think they can hear the faint sounds of battle, but then the sounds are gone. There is a definite air of wrongness about the area.

So haunted you don't even know

Religion check from Beltin? Place is haunted. Super haunted. Holy shit is it haunted. As this conclusion is reached the party sees a translucent man in armor appear in the middle of the hall, his throat cut so thoroughly that he looks nearly beheaded.

He screams incoherently and charges the party... and past them. Materializing behind the party, a ghostly orc in similar armor appears and briefly clashes with the throat cut man and then both dissipate. Both phantoms wore the heraldry of the Tower of Weeping Sores.

Yep, haunted, but the uneasy spirits here seem to be stuck in a loop. One that doesn't involve the party. At least not yet.

The party continues along the circular hall, checking all the inner doors and as such all the officer rooms. They collect what minor magical loot they see. As they do so they sometimes see (or feel) the gazes of the dead upon them, beginning to take notice.

After nearly making the whole circle, a ghost of a man steps out of a wall near Zai. He sees him, yet also seems to be looking through him. "Reinforcements at last!" is exclaims and steps into Zai, who manages to resist the possession attempt. The spirit then continues onward and through a wall, disappearing.

The party takes this as the cue to get away from this area. The haunting is escalating and they are definitely beginning to be noticed. Beltin figures that if they vacate the area for some time then the spirits will forget them.

They finish the circle and get to the door they started at, but left for last: A set of larger double doors, clearly important. Across the hallway they see a sign for the command room, but decide to leave that and the other outer rooms for the moment.

As the party opens the double doors a blast of fire hits them, obviously alchemical in nature. A trap. They crash through the doorway, now ready for battle, but the room beyond is empty besides a stairway leading up. They decide to take it as up is obviously better than down and it will get them away from the ghosts behind them.

At the top of the staircase they find a small room with a set of small, but intricately decorated doors detailing the tower's sigil. Zai approaches the door and as he is beginning to push it open he thinks he hears a faint click coming from the door, like it was just unlocked...

Outside he sees night sky. He sticks his head out and sees a maimed looking tower raising above him, clearly the Tower of Weeping Sores, the fortress's namesake. Also above he sees several creatures flying in a search pattern. Vrocks, though he doesn't know it. Further away he sees strange creatures reminiscent of centaurs on patrol, but something is definitely off about them.

Jake sees the party at this point, as well as the massive four armed angelic being that is Glory's eidolon suit, but as he is with his friends it's obviously cool. And so Jake teleports from in from the other side of the door, still invisible, drops his invisibility, and falls on the ground moaning. Fix it, fix it, fix it, says the 9 HP Jake to Beltin. Beltin sighs and does... strangely that shoulder wound doesn't seem to want to heal and stays open, almost like it's cursed. Fuck.

Well anyway: The party has reunited!

"Does it look evil? I charge it."

As this heartwarming scene is playing out, Glory steps out of the door and onto the roof of the main fortress. He sees the Vrocks in the air and they look evil. He cries out, challenges them to face Haven's Fury and they decide they want some. So much for subtlety. Initiative!

Seven Vrocks, split into two groups and each wearing a collar depicting the tower, descend upon the party and from further away the strange centaur-esque creatures, now identified by Beltin as Marrow Knights (undead, torso of a man stitched onto a horses body, has a lance it charges with, has barbed wire sewn through the skin on the back of its horse half to keep people from trying to ride it) begin to rally.

Glory goes airborne and charges one of the Vrocks belonging to the group of three, pouncing and utterly destroying it. The other two move in close and drop spores onto him and try to take him down with limited success. And then Glory destroys the second vrock in one round and the last of that group turns tail and flees, perhaps seeking more reinforcements.

The other group of Vrocks lands around the rest of the party, one flying through the doorway and landing on the top of the staircase the party had climbed. Spores, spores everywhere, and Jake again finds his life dwindling.

Fighting continues and Zai grapples the hell out of some vrocks, making them wish they had never landed, but now reinforcements come in the form of several marrow knights, herding three cloud giant skeletons bearing massive clubs behind them! Yay, thinks Beltin, at the sight of the mindless undead ripe for the taking.

The marrow knights charge Zai and make Zai bleed his own blood quite thoroughly due to those "times three damage on charge" lance hits, but then they immediately regret their decision as Zai manages to grapple and pin, not one, not two, but three of them simultaneously. Yes, he essentially pins three horses at once. Don't ask how.

Glory lands to do battle with the cloud giant skeletons, much to Beltin's dismay. He manages to take control of one though and keep it away from Heaven's Fury, but really he would have preferred to have the whole set. Glory does not seem to like Beltin's necromantic antics.

The remaining vrocks, marrow knights, and giant skeletons go down and there appears to be no more reinforcements on the way. At least not yet. The vrock spores continue to ravage the party, nearly putting Jake unconscious, but Beltin does his thing. Upon being caressed by Beltin and receiving Death's Kiss, Glory is thoroughly disturbed by his temporary feeling of what undeath must be like.

He gets his negative energy healing like the rest but tells Beltin to never do that to him again. A threat is heavily implied.

If I were undead where would I be?

With that threat taken care of the party considers their options. They are running low on resources. They are tired. And yet they still have at least three powerful enemies to kill here... They might not be able to do it.

They quickly debate the merits of getting the hell out while they can and regrouping, but Beltin doesn't want to leave without finding his undead and Glory wants to find the 20k gold worth of starting gear he had from character gen but never got to use due to being captured in his back story.

They settle on trying to cast Locate Object on undead Mallerix's skull to find the undead and then seeing from there. It points them back the way they came. They head back through and find themselves in the armory directly outside of the playground entrance, but things are different now.

Racks of weapons and armor are destroyed, the contents scattered around the room. There is fresh blood on the ground. The party sees one of the doors leading into the barracks next door is ripped of its hinges (wasn't like that before) and they go in, ready for combat but the room is empty, though similarly damaged.

Perhaps that "infernal intruder" met resistance here after they had gone... but where are the combatants now? The party stays on edge and follow the locate object spell. It leads them past the balcony with the undead they fireball'd and into a side door. Looks like this area is directly over the hallway where they got Cloud Kill, demonic bug swarms, napalm, and portcullises dropped on them.

The door gets kicked in and inside the room the party sees a hallway the same size as the one below, but at intervals there are trapdoors in the floor, some clearly broken open from the party's earlier battle down below. Noxious fumes come from various boiling cauldrons and stacks of metallic barrels line the walls at intervals. Inside the room are three siege undead, but these ones have bandoliers with flasks strapped to their chests and each has a flask in hand. They seem to be ready... and intelligent.

The party rushes in and are met with alchemist bombs from the three undead. They explode in fire and a poisonous miasma: Cloud Kill, Cloud Kill, Stinking Cloud!

The party makes it through the poison mists mostly unscathed and the alchemist undead become regular dead quickly, but as the fighting is happening, perception checks: At the end of the hallway directly above the main entrance to the fortress is a number of large vats with black fumes rising from within. Sticking up from behind them is a large scorpion stinger.

A Derakni demon steps out from behind those vats and an Insect Plague joins the dangers of the already poison gas filled hall way. Enervations follow and as Zai moves toward the fiend to do what he does best, it stabs him in the chest with its stinger and Zai gets to know how 1d4 con damage a round for six rounds feels.

Note: It doesn't feel good.

Regardless, the demon goes down quickly after that and Beltin makes it like the poison never even happened.

Back to business. Beltin investigates the large vats and finds them to be full of a highly concentrated acid, perfect for stopping things that regenerate from regenerating. And inside are his precious bloody skeletons, though Mallerix is spread into several containers. The party gets them out and throws them into extradimensional storage.

Advancing in the opposite direction

With Beltin's stuff recovered he takes the philosophical approach of "fuck you, got mine" in the face of Glory's concern for his own gear and the party decides to get out while the getting out is good and still possible. They jump down the trapdoors that were used to dump death on them from above and are in the hallway leading out of the infamous and "inescapable" Tower of Weeping Sores.

The doors, which were open before, are now thoroughly locked but the strength of Heaven's Fury is legendary. As he works to break down the door, the party sees three collared Baregara step into the doorway at the other end of the hall... but they don't approach.

One has a broken arm and it glares at Zai. Seems they don't want none of this, at least not while they are alone and no one is ordering them forward. They remember what happened last time.

The party breaks down the doors, but as they go to make their escape into the night Jake is struck with a blinding pain from his demon cursed shoulder and nearly collapses. He gets the distinct impression of being watched by more than just the demons at the end of the corridor. The pain passes, but the sensation does not.

The party flees into the night. Totally not running away with their tails between their legs. Once back outside the walls of Tsar they teleport away and back to the Camp and "safety."

To be continued...

19.1: The surprisingly easy "escape"

Dramatis Personae

Beltin (Aasimar Dirge Bard/Cleric 12).

"Jake" aka Alex, the actual character name but I refuse to go back and edit the old entries (Human Wizard/Rogue 12).

Zai (Human Tetori Monk/Lore Warden Fighter 12).

Glory, aka the Righteous Fury of Heaven (Aasimar Synthesist Summoner/Bloodrager 12).

The surprisingly easy "escape", Session 19.1 - 11/28/14

Day 48

Jake

Not a clever man

Jake finds himself in a mage deadened cage and bound with dimensional shackles just to be safe, though his gear is still on him for the moment. He is in an elaborate and well maintained torture chamber, obviously a place for professionals to work as opposed to the crude room Zai and Glory found themselves in.

In front of him is a man in ceremonial, yet functional, black armor emblazoned with the insignia of the tower. He has a sword on his back and a ragged bandage over one eye.

He introduces himself as General Mirak and says that he looks forward to speaking with Jake for the coming hours, days, weeks, months, or maybe even years. They will have all the time in the world to get to know each other after all, but first off he wants to know who Jake is and why the hell he is in his tower.

"Who are you and who sent you?"

Jake, cocky and unphased, says his name and how he and his friends were interested in Tsar and thought this giant evil looking fortress would be kinda cool to go into. The general detects the obvious sarcasm but then realizes that bravado aside, his new guest is telling the truth.

Incredulous, Mirak asks if Jake and company seriously just decided, out of the blue, with no real purpose, with no special preparations at all, to just break down the front door of the infamous Tower of Weeping Sores and walk in like they owned the place. Jake confirms that is pretty much how it went.

The general looks dumbstruck for a second and then laughs his ass off. Mirak suggests his guest may not be a clever man and asks if Jake is beginning to regret his compulsive trespassing attempt, especially now that he will be staying for much longer than he had intended, unless of course he had intended to stay for the rest of his life. Jake politely smiles in response and says he thinks he will be out of here much sooner than that.

And then he offers a wager to the general: "How about if I escape I get your sword?"

Mirak smiles and says he accepts the bet, but what if Jake fails to escape? The general looks into Jake's eyes and says that though the defiance there has been amusing, he now grows tired of it. If he wins the bet, he will take Jake's eyes.

In fact, since no one has ever escaped from the tower, why don't they just call the bet concluded now? Jake begins to object to this, but the general is already walking over to his wall of instruments and comes back with several spoons of various sizes, each with razor sharp edges. He takes his time and holds them up to Jake's face to find which one is the most appropriately sized for Jake's facial structure.

As he makes his decision and begins to move forward, Jake still objecting that this is not how bets work, the door to the chamber opens.

Minor problems

In step a large metal creature, an iron devil (some kind of construct or something, thinks Jake). It lumbers forward with the mindless gait of a golem, but Jake can see the malevolent intelligence its glowing eyes. Though Jake doesn't know it, this creature is the Seneschal, the general's secretary and top adviser. Even at first glance Jake can sense a barely contained murderous rage in the creature and gets the feeling that it wouldn't be amused, unlike the general, by his flippant attitude.

Behind the Seneschal walks a horned wolf headed bipedal fiend with armor embedded into its flesh and wings folded on its back, a gallu demon (some kind of demon or something, thinks Jake). The general's head of security you could say.

The iron devil steps forward and briskly tells the general that there is a situation and walks him off into the corner of the room away from Jake. The gallu ignores them and instead walks toward Jake's cage and stares into his face with unblinking eyes and a small, feral, smile. It is a look of hunger and soon to be fulfilled anticipation. It makes Jake a little uncomfortable.

The Seneschal and Mirak converse in hushed tones but aren't really trying too hard to not be overheard by Jake; it's not like he's going anywhere anyway. Jake overhears most of the conversation. The other two captured prisoners have escaped from cells along with the aasimar; they are now in the "playground" and most likely will be for some time. The more pressing issue is that it while the party was assaulting another intruder used the chaos to slip in unnoticed until now.

An "infernal intruder" says the Seneschal with emphasis and a meaningful look though he doesn't elaborate further. The general goes from "playful" to all business. Play can wait; there is urgent business to attend to. He walks toward Jake's cage, Seneschal in tow. The gallu silently turns and looks at the general, as if awaiting permission for something. The general nods.

With surprising speed the gallu reaches through the bars of the cage and pulls Jake toward him and rips into the space between Jake's left shoulder and neck with his teeth. Jake screams as the demon pulls back with a large mouthful of his flesh, leaving a vicious open wound. It reestablishes eye contact with Jake and then bites open its own wrist and begins to move it toward Jake's nearly bit open throat.

Jake struggles, but there is no real contest. The gallu grabs him by the hair with one clawed hand and jams its own open wound into Jake's. Jake feels the creature's blood mixing with his, flowing into his own veins, not knowing what this means, but still he struggles to stop what is happening. But it is done.

The gallu withdraws its wound from Jake's throat and brings its face close to Jake's. For the first time it speaks, low and guttural, barely more than a growl.

"You are mine. You will never escape me."

And then it viciously slams Jake's head against the bars and walks out of the room.

Dazed from the sudden blood loss (and gain) and potential concussion, Jake hangs limply from his bindings. As he struggles to regain his composure, he hears the general give his orders to the Seneschal: Find out Jake's and his party's capabilities and if he knows anything about the the new intruder, though Mirak doubts it.

But don't kill him try not to damage his skin anymore than it has already been damaged, the general says flashing a grin at Jake. It may prove useful. Once you are done extracting information come join us, concludes the general. And he leaves, closing the door behind him.

The Seneschal turns toward Jake and gets down to business.

Tense, easily angered

Jake starts to answer the Seneschal's questions in a satisfactory manner and without lip. He tells him all about how Zai grapples the shit out of things and how Beltin is a necromancer. Jake himself is good at teleportation. Doesn't know about the other intruder.

The Seneschal listens and nods, not seeing the need for violence. At least not yet.

While they are talking Jake begins to formulate a plan. He can sense how close his jailer is the tense, easily angered type, yet he also seems dutiful and he has orders... how much would it take to get him to want to open the cage to teach Jake a lesson?

And so Jake begins to taunt the Seneschal as he answers the questions. Stupid insults and comments. The kind of things that are so juvenile that a well adjusted person would just blow it off, but that description is not even close to describing the Seneschal. Jake tries to bait him and finds it isn't hard.

For a second Jake sees a look of mindless fury, the kind of fury that doesn't care about orders. Jake begins to wonder if he went too far but then the Seneschal reels it in and sighs. Murderous rage successfully quailed, but still a lesson must be taught to the prisoner.

Just as planned, thinks Jake, as the Seneschal unlocks the cage and gets ready to beat him for his insolence. The cage door swings open and the devil gets ready to break some bones and SURPRISE ESCAPE ARTIST CHECK. Jake slips his bindings, the dimensional shackles attached to the cage!

He tries to tumble past the Seneschal and... fail! The devil slams him back into the cage and throws the door shut again, locking it.

Jake stares at the devil and the devil stares at Jake. Well it seems they are at an impasse and the Seneschal certainly can't leave him alone in his cage now. He decides to just stare the prisoner down and wait.

Jake is undeterred. The childish insults and taunts continue. He begins to throw copper pieces at the Seneschal and though they bounce harmlessly off of his iron body, they are obviously leaving a mark on his mind.

Ting! Insult. Ting! Insult. Ting!

The cycle continues and the Seneschal tries to find his happy place. It isn't working.

Ting! Insult. Ting! Insult. Ting!

The Seneschal barely holds control. He struggles and manages to keep the rage from overwhelming him. Barely. Just barely.

Jake stops talking and smiles at the devil... and then throws one more copper.

Enough is enough. The Seneschal approaches the cage and Jake gets ready to dodge around him when the cage opens. Instead the devil pulls a large piece of metal off of its back and then there is a blade. A scythe. It holds it for a second, seemingly calm, and then it screams with mindless fury and slashes through the cage and into Jake.

It hurts Jake. A lot. But hey, the cage is open now! Jake moves out of the cage and feels the magical suppression lift from him but the Seneschal slashes him again and he knows one more hit like that and he will never leave this room alive. Time to go. Teleport to the door, open, step out, close. Cast Greater Invisibility and down the stairs!

Escape!

Behind him Jake hears the Seneschal break open the door and begin to come down the stairs after him. In front of him Jake sees several doors and picks one furthest away from the others; he quickly looks out the keyhole. He sees sky! He tries the handle and its locked. He teleports to the other side.

The Seneschal crashes down the stairs and Jake hears the other doors he passed get violently opened and the door he just teleported past shakes as the Seneschal tries it, finds it locked, and continues down the stairs of the tower.

Jake takes a couple seconds to catch his breath and enjoy the time he has with his 9 remaining hit points. It is dusk, which seems strange as wasn't it just morning when they came in? He looks around and below him he sees the roof of the fortress and various smaller buildings. A giant crane at one end. Siege weaponry. Undead patrolling in the distance and Vrocks in the sky.

He shrinks away as they fly over but then remembers they can't see invisible. He looks over the edge of the balcony he is on and sees the steps leading into the inner tower and a small inconspicuous side door. He teleports down to it and tries to open the side door. Locked. He begins to pick it.

The main door of the tower slams open and Jake, still invisible, tries to make himself inconspicuous just in case as the Seneschal runs down the stairs. He yells for a group of vrocks to land. He tells them a prisoner has escaped. Find him! The vrocks take off again and the iron devil rushes off away from the tower, perhaps to continue the search or to find the general and inform him of what had happened.

The sun has practically set by now.

Jake sighs in relief and finishes picking the lock, but as he finishes the door is opened from the other side! Jake quickly pushes himself flat next to the door and gets ready to act... and then he sees Zai quickly stick his head out the door, look around, and pull it back in.

Yay, Jake has found the party!

To be continued...

18.2: "Are you sure this is a playground?"

Dramatis Personae

Beltin (Aasimar Dirge Bard/Cleric 12).

"Jake" aka Alex, the actual character name but I refuse to go back and edit the old entries (Human Wizard/Rogue 12). MISSING PLAYER

Zai (Human Tetori Monk/Lore Warden Fighter 12).

Glory, aka the Righteous Wrath of Heaven or something similar (Aasimar Synthesist Summoner/Bloodrager 12).

"Are you sure this is a playground?", Session 18.2 - 11/14/14

Day 48

The "Break Room"

The "break room" is dominated by a fairly large table with long benches on either side, and the table is filled platters of various meats, cheeses, and breads suitable for making sandwiches. Also on the table is a covered silver platter. A glance with detect magic/poison and knowledge rolls identify the food as safe to eat and, surprisingly, not from a sentient race.

Continual Light comes from a sconce on each wall and on the other end of the room the party sees an open doorway leading a darker room, but one filled with the fire light, and from that room the party can hear a fire crackling in a fireplace.

As Glory was tortured and starved for about a week, he prepares to eat from the table once it is clearly safe, but decides to lift the lid on the covered platter first. He does so and looks into the blank, staring eyes of a child's severed head. Appetite lost.

The party continues into the next room and sees a couple large comfortable looking chairs sitting on a rug in front of fireplace containing the previously seen and heard fire. There is a small table between the chairs containing an almost full bottle of brandy and a few crystalline glasses. A closer look reveals the rug to be made of human hair and skin.

At the other end of the room is a well, a closed door, and a bookcase.

Beltin examines the bookcase and finds several disturbing looking tomes, mostly in abyssal. Most seem to be the equivalent of trashy romance novels, but two stand out: "The 37 Lessons of Orcus," a banned heretical tome supposedly detailing the life of Orcus; and "The Book of Suffering," another banned tome, this one THE comprehensive guide to inflicting pain and supposedly authored by the demon lord Shax, a torture connoisseur.

Beltin decides to take them both because you never know and he notices a bookmark in The Book of Suffering. He opens to the page and sees it is to a passage describing the use of psychological torture. It suggests keeping the victim off guard, never sure of when danger will strike, to disguise danger as safety and safety as danger.

It continues to use the example of offering genuine aid to the victim, say food and water to one dying of starvation and thirst, but place the aid in such a position where they will refuse it due to their own paranoia and even starve to death with salvation an arm's reach away. Always hilarious to watch, says the book.

This sounds quite familiar, thinks Beltin, and as he thinks this the party hears a high, terrifying wail from the darkness of the well. The party jumps and prepares for battle, but nothing follows. Cautiously they look down inside and see a small mechanical siren clearly designed just to fray the nerves of those already on edge.

"Fucking playground," thinks the party, and Glory again asks if the whole material plane is like this with disgust in his voice.

Beltin goes back to the bookcase for one last look and what is this? Secret compartment on the bottom of the shelf? Oh yes, here's where all the loot will be! He opens it and... reflex! The needle trap misses him and inside is the equivalent of "HA HA HA" written in Abyssal. Fucking playground.

The party heads through the next door and finds themselves facing another crudely made maze, and as they step out of the break room they feel themselves leaving the aura of preservation.

Back to the grind. On the ground is another blood trail and the words "SAFE PATH" are written in blood at the beginning. Seems dubious thinks the party, but they begin to follow it.

The home stretch

The safe path proves to be safe as the party continues on, but at one point they notice that they can see the other side of the blood trail across a gap in the walls. Shortcut? Shortcut! They take it and find a trap. Yay, traps! Eventually ahead they see a small flickering light, like a small flame. The blood trail takes them to it and they realize they seem to have hit the actual wall of the room.

The light is coming from a pile of glowing coals (perpetually glowing, as in magically enchanted to not go out) in a forge set in along the wall. Next to it is an anvil and a rack of tools. Looking further along the actual wall of the room they found, the party sees other forges setup at intervals; no Wall of Stone blocks the path between them, but the blood trail leads away in a different direction.

The party decides that they are done with the maze and are just going to walk the perimeter of the room now until they find the next door. As they decide this they walk closer to the anvil and suddenly a previously invisible rune flares up on its service. Fireball trap!

The fireball does minimal damage, but after it goes off, Glory notices movement in what he mistook for a scrap pile set into the alcove. It's another one of those weird metal skull things with wire all around it! And it's reaching a wire out to touch the anvil... this time Beltin sees it and recognizes it for what it is, a Gearghost.

That would explain all the traps they found, he thinks, but there must be quite a few of them around to make all this happen. Beltin explains it is resetting the trap as the gearghost touches the anvil... and resets the trap! With one round before it re-triggers, Zai and Glory easily destroy it with a full attack and then Glory, with his already cast Resist Energy Fire, just lays down on the anvil and absorbs pretty much the whole fireball with no ill effects. Crisis averted.

Before moving on the party examines the gearghost one last time and then notice what looks like a hilt in the scrap pile it had been hiding in. Cautiously they investigate and find an adamantine dagger just laying there for centuries apparently. Glory is all for taking it before realizing that the sigil of the Tower of Weeping Sores is engraved on the blade... and then he just drops it. Beltin decides the symbol doesn't offend his delicate sensibilities and stashes it.

The party continues along the wall and around a corner, finding a few more mechanical traps at times, but is mostly unaffected. Then ahead is mist. More mist. An obscuring cloud actually and it is blocking their way. The party does not like the idea of going through, but they certainly aren't going back now. Beltin tries to dispel the cloud but his dice hate him and so it stays.

Eventually they decide to just man the fuck up and walk in. Zai goes first and one thing he immediately notices is that it suddenly became quiet. Too quiet. Supernaturally quiet. He tries to communicate this to the others and realizes he can't and the others outside ask him what is happening and he doesn't hear them. Silence does that.

He steps out and explains and the party deliberates a tiny bit more before manning up for real this time and just walking in. About 30 feet into the mist they find a door, this one surprisingly not trapped when Zai opens it. The mist ends at the doorway and he steps inside to a fairly small antechamber with another door about 15 feet in.

On the wall is a message in blood: "EXIT: Congratulations you have escaped from the Tower of Weeping Sores! You may count yourself among the other (here is a nail with small sign hanging on it with "0" on it) lucky guests to do so! We hope you enjoyed your stay and feel free to sign the guest book!"

Next to the door marked exit is a small lectern with a tattered looking book on it, opening to a page covered in blood splatter. A small inkwell and quill sit next to it untouched. Apparently General Mirak and his circle are actually really good sports about people escaping.

Yeah, that's not happening, thinks Glory and he walks forward from the mist and to the entry door, Zai directly behind him, and Beltin in the rear. About halfway across the antechamber Glory feels the silence end, but when he pushes open the door, suddenly another large rune flashes on the ceiling.

A black serpent made of smoke lashes down and strikes him the chest and Glory finds himself Sepia Snake Sigil'd on the threshold of the doorway out of the playground. So much for the owners being good sports and the game not being rigged. That kind of cheating wouldn't stand in Heaven, Glory would surely think if he wasn't trapped in stasis.

Zai moves forward to check on Glory as it is clear the trap is expended and behind him Beltin moves into the antechamber. Or he would like to, but...

While Glory was getting trapped and Zai was distracted, the reason for the Obscuring Mist and Silence became clear, at least to Beltin, as the hidden Crimson Death made its presence known by attempting to envelop him, which is not good for the squishy caster.

As the crimson death gets ready to gorge itself, Zai makes his perception check and notices something is amiss and turns to see Beltin facing his inevitable-if-fought-alone-in-magically-silenced-area death, and runs back to change that.

He pulls the mist like creature off of Beltin and begins to do what he does best and wrestle it. The crimson death wrestles back, but finds itself outmatched. It tries to flee back into the mist and safety, but Zai catches it and puts it down. Another crisis averted, but about that issue in the next room...

Beltin offers homage and promises of blood sacrifice to his d20 and this time it favors him: He manages to dispel the sepia snake binding Glory and now they have escaped the playground! They step through the doorway into the next room and find themselves in a vast, but mostly decrepit looking armory.

They savor their victory as with the playground defeated, the Tower of Weeping Sores is surely ready to fall, right?

Right?

End of Session. No casualties.

Out of Game Notes: The "Playground" area is used by the general and his associates as entertainment as well as a test of worthiness for which guests deserve more personal attention. Prisoners are normally thrown into the cell Beltin was placed in and then freed at a set time by the skeletal guard (hence the watch) and left to run the gauntlet while suffering from both the normal horror of their situation, but also drug induced hallucinations, as experienced by Glory. The general and his people find it hilarious to watch.

Normally people of the party's caliber would not be down there, especially not so armed and especially not in a group, but such was the circumstance here. Most former victims were common folk and certainly weren't armed to the teeth and high level adventurers. The modified sepia snake sigil trap was placed to catch the (very) few that made it out of the playground under those rather fixed circumstances. Strangely no one who made it that far ever stopped to sign the book.

If you could beat those odds, being stripped, tortured, drugged, alone, and forced to run through a nightmarish gauntlet of traps, then obviously you would be worth keeping as a "guest" in the upper tower. The general enjoys meeting people with spirit... and then breaking it.

Which will be where Jake starts his session off.

18.1: "The Material Plane is awful!"

Dramatis Personae

Beltin (Aasimar Dirge Bard/Cleric 12).

"Jake" aka Alex, the actual character name but I refuse to go back and edit the old entries (Human Wizard/Rogue 12). MISSING PLAYER

The Smith (LN Half-Giant Aegis/Psychic Warrior 11). RETIRED CHARACTER

Zai (Human Tetori Monk/Lore Warden Fighter 12).

Glory, aka the Righteous Wrath of Heaven or something similar (Aasimar Synthesist Summoner/Bloodrager 12). The Smith replacement character. The polar opposite of Vol, Glory is a heavenly diplomat as well as an instrument of Heaven's fury against evil.

Even in the high Heavens there is bureaucracy and councils that debate policy issues, and one issue of contention has been the whispers of some lurking peril in the ruins of the once great bastion of darkness, Tsar. Eventually it was decided that a decision about what to do could not be made without more information, and thus Glory was chosen to investigate and evaluate the situation on the material plane.

He descended from the Heavens and found himself on the northern side of the Desolation. He was told to go south and there he would meet men of righteousness on a crusade against evil and that they would help him on his mission. But, as it was his first time on the material plane and the fact that he was bad with directions, Glory ended up mistaking the city of Tsar for the Camp and walked toward it. In the night, demons from the the Tower of Weeping Sores ambushed him and dragged him back to their master.

For a week straight Glory was tortured by General Mirak and his right hand men for both information and sport. They found the idea of an army of angels descending upon them especially humorous.

Then as a new round of "fun" was about to begin, the general was pulled aside and informed of something that interested him greatly. He told Glory he would speak with him later and left him in his cage. He pulled out an amulet from beneath his armor. It glowed briefly and then Glory found himself teleported to a dingy room filled with cages and rusty torture implements.

About 30 minutes later Zai appeared in a cage not far from his, and Glory rejoiced for clearly this meant that the armies of Heaven were assaulting the fortress and coming to save him. Yeah, about that...

"The Material Plane is awful!", Session 18.1 - 11/14/14

As the person making Glory got confused and made him at 12th level instead of 11th, to cut back on confusion and to be fair the party DINGS to level 12. Don't ask for another level at the end of this dungeon because it ain't happening now.

Day 48

Prison break!

Glory is most joyous upon seeing Zai arrive and asks if the forces of St. Alexander (I have no idea...) have come to deliver him from evil and smite the wicked, and at this question Zai is just as confused as the DM.

"Well, I don't know if I would call him a saint," starts Zai, thinking of his amoral mercenary boss Jake/Alex. And then what is really happening comes to light. Bunch of stupid adventurers walked in and quickly got in over their heads. Teleport trap. Captured. So on. Glory is mildly disappointed to say the least, but the two decide they should make their escape.

As his new temp cage isn't magic suppressing, Glory calls forth some of his righteous heavenly wrath, aka summons eidolon suit and rages. That cage didn't know what hit it. At this point the eidolon would get described, but who can remember that shit? It will have to wait for next time.

He then breaks Zai's cage open and the two of them take a closer look around the room. Yep, still looks as bad as it did before from inside the cages, but they notice that in one of the full body cages next to where Glory was detained is the skeletal remains of a man covered in black robes. Knowledge check? Yep, those totally belonged to the priesthood of Orcus. That's weird, thinks the two of them, but yeah better things to do then ponder this mystery.

They make perception checks, fail, and then move toward the exit to the room flanked by the four iron maidens. If they had made it the perception check they would have realized that one of them closest to the door had changed position slightly since they broke free. Instead this comes as a surprise to them when as the near the door, one of the iron maidens flies open and a zombified corpse is ejected, hungry for brains.

Initiative and Glory goes first and throws everything he has at the zombie. It is just a zombie. Like a 1/2 CR zombie. It dies, but "just as planned" thinks the DM: Waste that full attack. As this happens there is another perception check to be made and Zai gets it. The way that zombie came out? It didn't push open the door and lunge, it was forcefully thrown out. With this in mind he looks suspiciously at the iron maiden in time to not be flatfooted when it quickly dashes forward toward him.

Surprise, it's an Iron Maiden Golem! The DM loves this creature so much.

It is open wide, ready to give him a deadly hug. The lid slams down on him and tries to scoop him in, but unfortunately for the golem, it is trying to grapple the grapple master. Zai is nearly closed in but manages to jam his arm into hinges to keep it open, and oh wow does that door slamming hurt.

With the element of surprise gone, the golem goes down quickly not too long after and mostly uneventfully as it never does get to feel Zai inside of it. As a side note, I wonder if the party would take Craft Construct if they knew it only costs 30,000 to make one of these things.

With the battle done, the two go to the door, find it open, and step out of the torture room. They are now in a prison. Cells everywhere with a hallway snaking between them. The cells they see are either empty or have old corpses inside. On the floor is a dried blood trail that is interrupted at times with arrows, also in blood, pointing to in one direction. In common, and also in blood, they see the word EXIT painted on the floor next to the pointing arrow.

How nice of someone to make a blood trail to show people the way out, they think. Seems legit. As they ponder whether to follow the arrow way of the blood trail or follow it backward (as there is no way not involving a blood trail), they hear a loud clanking sound from the non-arrow way, like someone is running a tin cup across the bars of his cell.

They decide to investigate that.

Back in his magically suppressed cell, Beltin contemplates his options and after a while hears what may be the distant sounds of combat (perhaps against an Iron Maiden Golem). He doesn't know what that means, so decides to do what St. Alexander would almost certainly approve of, help himself.

He rattles something metallic against the bars of the cell and tries to call forth his supernatural bardic powers over undeath and make that fucking skeleton walk him over the key. He finds his bardic magic also suppressed, but makes a lovely racket. And then he hears people approaching.

Around the corner walks Zai and some sort of angelic abomination, which based on the glowing caste mark, he recognizes as an eidolon. The skeleton turns toward the newcomers, hostile, and quickly goes down. On its ribs they find a key as well as a pocket watch. They open the cell door for Beltin, introduce themselves, and then examine the watch.

In regards to introductions, there is usual awkwardness surrounding Beltin but it mostly goes unsaid as it's not like he has an undead menagerie with him right now. Upon learning Glory's story and seeing the eidolon, Beltin is reminded of a "heretical" dissertation he had read concerning the strange forms taken by both some evil outsiders as well as angels.

The theory proposed that such beings were simply channeling the power known on the material plane as "eidolon," though perhaps to a greater mastery than commonly seen. It proposed that the "divine" beings were hardly divine so much as shaping their own forms with arcane magic and were actually not much different in reality than the other races.

The author of that work was burned, so Beltin decides not to ask Glory about the truth of those sentiments. He examines the pocket watch found on the skeleton and determines that it is magical; looks like it is an alarm clock that can be magically set from somewhere else and there is seemingly no way to tell when it will go off.

Correctly assuming that if they take the magical trinket it will go off at the most inconvenient time for them, the party decides to leave it on the broken skeleton.

Back down the blood trail goes the party. It winds them through the cell block. As the party goes they notice small silver mirrors on the walls at random intervals and a knowledge check recognizes them as sensors for scrying. Security cameras. The party breaks the ones they see and continue on. The blood trail leads to a large reinforced door. Written on the wall next to it in blood is a single word: "PLAYGROUND."

That claim seems dubious, but it is the only way out. It may even be fun, says Glory, thinking of what playgrounds are like in Heaven. Clearly he has never been to the material plane, and certainly not to a bastion of evil and despair like the Tower of Weeping Sores.

The "Playground"

Glory opens the door and has to make a fort save. Contact poison on the door? Excellent! He makes his save, but as he starts to look around things begin to seem... off. Glory is now high on fear inducing hallucinogenic!

Ahead the party sees rough stone walls at odd irregular angles, seemingly constructed without rhyme or reason, perhaps through many, many castings of Wall of Stone. It is a labyrinth, and the blood trail ends at the beginning. Only darkness and silence awaits.

The next section of the dungeon is the party moving through the claustrophobic passages, first quickly, and then rather slowly once they realized it is full of traps. Darts spit from a wall, there is a pit with spikes and razors that rip your leg as you pull it out, spears from the ceiling, and, of course, obvious pressure plates that spring no trap and are simply there to sow paranoia. More scrying sensor mirrors also appear at seemingly random intervals along the walls.

As the party advances, they begin to catch sight of small flying figures dodging around the maze around them. Glory gets the best look at one of the creatures, a skull suspended in a mass of coils and wires, but by this time he is beginning to realize that his nerves are shot and he is beginning to doubt his perceptions, especially when he started seeing blood running down the walls that no one else could. He doesn't recognize the creature for what it is at any rate.

As they go, Glory rants about the "playground," about how anyone could call this one. This is not how things are done in Heaven, he continues. This isn't right.

"The material plane is awful!" he concludes.

They continue on until finally they find a door, which Zai opens. A needle shoots out from the handle, but he pulls his hand back in time. This act becomes a theme for the rest of the maze, with Zai immediately opening doors without looking for traps that are always there and always the same. At least he has good reflex and always made it.

The party enters into a large hallway. Here too there are random walls of stone blocking straight progress, but they are more haphazard and function less as a maze and more as dividers in the hall to block line of sight to the ends.

At this point perception checks are called for and very faintly the party can hear the sound of a an alarm clock ringing back the way they came, waaaay back.

The party picks one of the two possible ways and begins to walk and as they round a corner Glory sees an emancipated man in rags against the wall. Glory is concerned and begins to move forward and ask the man if he is okay.

As he does so the figure turns to him and begins to scream as it claws out its own eyes with ragged fingernails. And then the figure is gone. It was never then to begin with, but Glory's obvious reaction gives Beltin enough motive to try a heal check.

Check made. Yep, Glory is hallucinating. Tripping balls in fact. A Remove Poison stops that and only then does Glory realize how trippy everything had been since the playground sign, but it does not change the fact that this is not how playgrounds are supposed to be.

At the end of the hall they see two ways to proceed. Straight on is a door and to the left the hallway turns but the way forward there is blocked by a strange fog, seemingly a permanent Obscuring Mist effect. Out of game and not shared with the players, that way is also about 100 feet or so away from one of the two exits out of the area.

The party decides to do the door, Zai opening and triggering the trap of course. Inside they see more stone walls forming a maze, but directly off to one side they see a pile of rotting corpses. Beltin immediately perks up, hoping they belong to him, but a brief glance shows these are just normal dead people. Probably commoners. Not even worth the effort of bringing back.

Still they can't leave the dead like this says Zai and Glory, so they move up to the bodies to cleanse them by fire. As they move up they notice slightly movement from the mound and get ready. They blast the corpses with fire and screeches and a mass of blackness erupts from the burning flesh and rushes toward them.

Shadow Rat Swarm! Fortunately this swarm can be hurt by weapon damage and it goes down easily after the initial blast, with the few remaining rats slipping through the walls incorporeal. They continue around a few corners and see light ahead.

They advance into a open room seemingly free of dangers and as they enter they feel themselves move through a magical barrier of sorts. They easily identify this magic as warding this room against corruption, both from age and from vermin. On the wall is another large written word: "BREAK ROOM."

To be continued...