Session 75 - Corrupt Crypts

General Summary

45 Sov'van - contd.

As the Banedead began to rise, Tear fired a couple of blasts into the Voidling as Denye fired off a Firebolt into the writhing mass of darkness. Hearing a noise from the nearby hall, and not wanting to get surprised, Janora sent Forest to have a look. What she found made her freeze in place, a number of ghouls sat around chewing on bones. Over the link she warned, "We have more hostiles up here, I don't think they have heard us yet, but watch how much noise y'all make."
Back in the hall the Voidling lashed out at both Denye and Tear. The wizard managed to dodge both blows, but the goblin wasn't quite so lucky and hissed in pain as the tendril leeched energy. Dropping her crossbow, Jilken whipped out her spear and as the lightning tip kindled thrust it deep into the center of the Voidling, causing the writhing tendrils to freeze and jutter. Spinning the spear she brought it down in a slicing move, cutting the creature in half. As the shadows broke apart, drifting into the general darkness of the Vault, the Aiel spun on her heal and ran for the fight in the other chamber.
In the other room, Ranunkel used the marble sarcophagus lid to slam into the nearest Banedead, sweeping it off it's feet and knocking it into one of the others. Dropping the lid, the druid grabbed the first Banedead by the feet and slammed it into the wall, crushing it's skull. Looking into the room, Denye did a quick calculation and threw up her hands and conjured a bead of fire. Tossing it into the room, she shielded Ell, Ranunkel and Jilken as the Fireball exploded through the room, with an BOOM and a rush of air.
The three remaining Banedead swarmed toward the stone druid and the warlock. Two of the slashed at Ranunkel with their long, knife-like fingers, but they weren't super effective against his rocky hide. Ell wasn't quite as lucky and the Banedead left three slashes down one arm. As it did so, there was a howling from further up the passage and Janora started swearing over the party radio. The screaming ghouls boiled out of the chapel as the witch sent Forest backing away, towards her friends. Snarling in response Janora threw out a Vitriolic Sphere catching all four of the monsters.
The acid burning them, the ghouls rounded the corner and Tear took a couple of shots at the lead monster. The gun overheated and did not fire on the second shot, instead draining the power crystal and burning the goblin's hand. Muttering in his native tongue, the young fighter swapped out the power crystal and wrapped a cloth around his hand. In the other room, Jilken took down the undead creature that had attacked Ell with a flurry of spear strikes. Ranunkel tried to do the same, but the Banedead avoided the first fist. The second however managed to smash quite soundly into it's chest, crushing the monster's rib cage. Ell swore and fired off two Eldritch Blasts, finishing the Banedead as the final remain Banedead screeched and lashed out at Ranunkel and managed to pry away some of the stones from his back.
Recognizing that her friends had that situation in hand, Denye spun around and threw out a Shatter spell over the ghouls. The loud noise caused the monsters to stumble but still they rushed forward. One of them dropped as the acid from Janora's spell burned more flesh, but the other three advanced into melee range. Two of them slipped pass Forest toward the other. The dogesus snapped at one but missed as the third tried to bite at one of his wings. All of a sudden, the lead ghoul flung back it's head and let out a blood-curdling scream that managed to freeze Ell and Janora in place.
In the other room, Ranunkel finished off the final Banedead, knocking it down with the first fist and crushing it's skull with the second. Running over to Ell, he shook the young noble, but it still took Ell several seconds to shake the fear. Jilken blocked a pair of attacks from the last ghoul and returned it with several strikes of her own, downing the creature. Denye called for Jilken to back through the doorway and and then warning Janora and Tear to hold still, she dropped another Fireball. That was enough and the last two ghouls fell to the ground screaming before going still as the smell of burnt flesh added it's own aroma to smells of death that seemed to fill the Vault.
When nothing else attacked, the party took a few moments to breathe and Zendack cast Mass Cure Wounds on everyone. They took some time to look around, after Ell and Janora spent several minutes impressing on Ranunkel the importance of not touching any tombs. While there was no other creatures in the nearby rooms, they did find signs of desecration throughout. About half of the rooms had messages painted in blood on the walls. most seeming to call the release of both the Dark Titan and the Chained Oblivion and none of them gave the party happy vibes.
As they looked around, the sound of chanting began echoing through the space. It seemed to draw the attention but also scratched at the ears. A few of the party looked around wildly in alarm but Janora only swore and said, "That's our cue...something tells me we don't want to find out what happens when that chanting stops. Deciding to try the door that lead onto another face of the inner cube, the witch sent Forest through first, finding a long hall with several doors along it.
Pointing at door directly across the hall, Denye said, "If there is a door to the left through there, it should lead to the Sanctum." Ell moved forward quietly and tried the door. Finding it unlocked, he eased it open but closed it quickly. Over the link he said, "Hey, Denye got another one of those Fireballs? It's a square room and there are three more of those ghouls."
The wizard did indeed have another spell slot and conjured another bead of fire. Jilken kicked the door in and Denye tossed it in where it exploded, shocking the monsters and scorching the large golden statues. Jilken and Ranunkel rushed in after and quickly slew two of them. Tear and Zendack took out the last with a pair of force blasts and a Sacred Flame.
The room was some sort of shrine with a large golden statue of a man in ornate robes and a series of kneeling benches, but there was in fact a door to the left. Ranunkel took a moment to use his stone sense and warned that there were quite a few creatures beyond the door. Janora only smiled and said, "Let me go first." When everyone was ready, it was her turn to kick the door open and drop a spell. As the hordes of zombies turned in the party's direction the witch melted the stone into a thick and heavy mud. Ranunkel, who had dropped back to dwarven form followed that up with a Lightning Bolt while Denye summoned up a bowl of shimmering fire and shot out a Sunbeam. A bursting arrow from Jilken and force blasts from Tear and Ell finished off the first two groups. Janora quickly changed the mud back to stone, trapping the bodies but allowing her friends to rush across and destroy the remaining groups. Denye scorched them all with another Sunbeam and the others finished mopping up the zombies.
A 20ft tall set of golden doors stood in the center of the hall and it was clear that the chanting was coming from beyond. Jilken tried the door first, but it was quite locked. She tried kicking a few times but it barely moved. Ell tried as well, using his new found telekinetic strength to shove the doors open, but beyond a bit of bending around the hinges. It was Denye who opened the doors, blasting it with a Sumbeam and melting a hole through the door, large enough for everyone to slip through.

Character(s) interacted with

Zendack Duskhill - Halfling Sunpriest, who the party first met on their first trip from Haven

Report Date

14 Jul 2023