Session 9: Fighting Back - Part 3 Report

General Summary

Further exploration of the underground temple revealed some interesting but disturbing features. In one of the rooms rows of skulls were embedded into the walls, some smashed and damage by the years of silent watching but some possibly showing signs of violence. In another room crude images had been daubed on the wall showing dismembered and headless humanoidsof varying sizes and shapes. Moving into another room Citrus noticed that the walls here were deeply gouged and scratched as though a strong creatures had drawn it's claws along the walls... Meanwhile, the rest of the party were curious abut the demon statue and Citrus retured to them, disturbed by what he had seen in the other rooms. Khorg and The Giant attempted to examine the statue further but the intense heat made this difficult and Khorg found his weapons to be ineffective against the centuries old alabaster. The party moved on through the areas Citrus has visited. As the Giant moved on futher, peering into the darkness using his magically-enhanced sight, he saw more worrying signs of violence. Several kobold bodies lay here....they had obviously been hacked to pieces in a frenzied attack. Looking up from the gory scene The Giant saw a terrible sight. At the end of a long corridor a huge fire pit burned intensely and in front of the pit a large skeletal, horned figure stood wreathed in flame. As The Giant watched, the figure began to run towards him, bellowing as it came...  

  It was quick thinking from Khorg that saved them. Deducing that the hideous creature had only one route to reach the party he coated the walls and floor in a thick, magical grease greatly slowing the skeletal minotaur and eventually causing it to fall to the ground. This, combined with the party working together and The Giant taking spider form to finish off the creature carried the day and they continued on, grimly determined and unscathed but a little more cautious.   In the room beyond the corridor a strange but magnificent site awaited them. The fire raged in a huge circular pit. No obvious signs of ignition were visible but the fire seemed to burn with intensity and some party members thought it had probably burned this way for hundred of years. Above the pit an opening was visible some 60 ft up with daylight beyond it. Leosin gazed up at the openng as the party explored the area. They found various items that had been hastily piled up at the back of the room, trophies from former victims of the minotaur perhaps?     Leosin spoke up, conjecturing that this might be his chance to escape and bring word of the cultists to Greenest and Waterdeep. The party, tired and inured from many fights, wanted nothing more than to rest but they helped Leosin to make his escape first, another use of The Giant's shape-changing skills allowing him to slip away safely through the opening.   After a a well-earned rest, the party made their way back to the cave entrance. It was now the early hours and dark and silent outside in the camp. At first it seemed they were not being watched but a slight movement and sound in the darkness and a cough alerted the party that guards were watching the cave entrance. The companions tried to move out steathily to take care of the guards but were spotted and combat ensued, the guards attacking with their heavy crossbows. Some quick footwork from Picasso stopped one guard as he tried to escape, Citrus brought down another with his chaos bolts and they made short work of their attackers, surrounding the last one with weapons and claws shown. Under duress he told the party of a way into the Nursery cave when the guards changed shift but he managed to give the party the slip and ran into the darkness shouting to alert the other cultists, he was quickly silenced but not quickly enough and within seconds torches were being lit and horns sounded from the camp. The party quickly realised there was nothing for it but to escape and slipped away into the night....

Notes

This is a camp of the Cult of the Dragon-praise Tiamat's glory! (Some cultists extend their right hand with fingers outstretched to represent the five heads of Tiamat when they praise her glory. Others curl back two fingers, to show that Tiamat's strength is hidden. This is not mandatory, but adepts and hard-core cultists look favorably on those who do it sincerely.)   Not everyone here is a full-fledged member of the cult. Many are new initiates working toward full acceptance, and many others are simple mercenaries, hired to flesh out the camp's strength during raids or if it should come under attack.   The cult has been ranging far and wide on small raids to collect treasure. Greenest was the closest target to the camp, the biggest of all the towns they've attacked, and the most profitable-praise Tiamat's glory!   Prisoners are used for manual labor.   The cave at the back of the camp (area 4) is off-limits to all but those who've been cleared by Mondath and Rezmir, which includes a handful of guards and kobolds. It's known around camp as "the nursery".   The half-blue dragon Cyanwrath is Mondath's right hand and is seldom far from her side. He has a rigid sense of honor, but you don't want to make him angry.   The monk is of special interest to Rezmir. Why else would she keep the creature alive that way?