The Curse of the Four Wizards, Part 2

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About the Saga

The Blackrazors bested the first level of their trap-filled and cursed basement, but can they survive the second?

Timeframe

Cast of Characters

Notable Quotes

  • "Welcome brave adventurers … and congratulations on surviving long enough to hear this voice. Look high and look low. Look left and look right, but don’t forget to look." -- Warning left by the Four Wizards

What Has Come Before

A contingent of Blackrazors have finally penetrated the magical barriers protecting the upper level of the guild's basement complex. After besting the wards and monsters they found there, they are ready to delve to the second level.

The Saga

Wealsun 4, CY 587

On to the Second Level

After besting the first level – and finding almost nothing in the way of treasure – the grumbling and slightly disappointed Blackrazors made their way down a large spiral staircase to the second level.

The first room they found had two doors – one to the north and one to the east. Situated between them was a large stone face, which spoke when they entered the room.

"Welcome brave adventurers … and congratulations on surviving long enough to hear this voice. Look high and look low. Look left and look right, but don’t forget to look.

The party took its advice, but found nothing. They then opened the door to the north, which revealed a short, 15 foot long corridor with strange holes drilled into the walls at regular intervals. Not knowing what the holes did, but assuming that it had something to do with a trap, the Blackrazors decided to try and think their way through the situation.

Reaching into the bag of almost anything, the Ragnar pulled out a large, heavy stone ball which he threw into the corridor. This immediately set off the pressure-sensitive floor panels, which in turn unleashed a noxious gas. Falgar, who was impervious to the gas thanks to his necklace of adaptation, slammed the door shut as the rest of the Blackrazors fled to the first level.

Once the others were safe, Falgar opened the door to find another hazard – six large and angry trolls. Acting on instinct, the mage unleashed a lightening bolts on his opponents. The trolls shrieked as the eletrical bolt ripped through them, flew down the corridor, bounced off the opposite end, and then travelled back through the trolls to hit Falgar.

It didn’t kill the trolls. It singed Falgar.

Hmmm, Falgar thought to himself, I can take that kind of a hit again. He unleashed a second lightning bolt, killing the trolls and toasting himself again in the process.

With the trolls neutralized, the rest of the Blackrazors returned to the second floor and opened the eastern door. It revealed a second passage way identical to the first one. Summoning some clay form the bag of almost anything, Aaron used his special spider climb ability from his suit to plug the poison holes. The party then opened the door at the far end, and fled to the first floor. They killed the trolls who foolishly followed them and then returned yet again to the second floor.

This time, they looked more closely around the room with the magical stone face. Heeding its directions, Ragnar found some writing on the stairs leading down. After Greggor read it for him they realized that the phrase was "Say Open", which the party promptly did.

Don’t open that vase

Saying the command word forced the stone face to open up and reveal a door way. This door in turn led to a small room with two doors to the north and west. It also had three large stone vases with stone tops, one of which Falgar promptly opened. A shrieking fungus immediately sounded, nearly overwhelming the Blackrazors with its piercing scream.

It also attracted the attention of one of the level’s guardians – two clay golems. Ragnar attemtped to smash the constructs with his sword and trident, but to no avail – nothing he did even dented them. That’s when he struck upon the idea of using his head as weapon. He head butted one of the golems and was please when the creature recoiled.

The others weren’t as lucky. Fuglar, Aaron and Sven all took serious, debilitating blows from the constructs before they were able to use spells to drive them back. The Blackrazors once again retreated to the first level, where they licked their wound and prepared for a second assault, which was able to destroy the golems.

The Metal Guardians and worse

Next up the party decided to turn north, where the found a room that had converted into some sort of prison … and which had two guardians the likes of which they had never seen before. These man-sized creatures – made entirely of metal and having two arms and two large tentacles -- attacked them with a barrage of physical blows and alien heat magic. The Blackrazors managed to knockout one of the guardians before the other reacted with a sleeping gas which incapacitated the entire guild contingent.

They woke to find themselves stripped of their gear and locked into prison cells. The remaining guardian was no where to be seen. Acting quickly, Ragnar bent the bars on his sell and freed his friends. As he did so, the sounds of fighting began arriving from the south.

The Tyrant of Blood

The Blackrazors picked up their weapons – the guardians had left them in their armor – and began exploring the corridor. Greggor found the second guardian inactive in the shrieker’s room but heard the sound of voices from the east. He and the rest of the party withdrew to the north. They were soon attacked by human warriors, a cleric of Hextor and a mage, who began screaming curses about what the "Tyrant of Blood" would do to them.

The Blackrazors had almost defeated these forces when the aforementioned "Tyrant" appeared. The creature was a beholder, and it easily defeated most of the party Blackrazors with its powerful magical eyes. Within minutes all of the Blackrazors had been defeated. When they awoke several hours later, they found that the beholder and its followers were gone … and that they had never actually existed. It had all been an illusion.

A nice place to visit...

With the level’s major guardians defeated and having been trounced by a powerful illusion, the Blackrazors rested and prepared to explore the rest of the level. By this point a full day had passed. On the 4th of Wealsun, CY 587, the guild members began cataloging the second level. They found:

  • A large spiral stair case leading down, which they promptly ignored
  • A second floor kitchen, smaller than the one of the first floor but without the elemental air-kin guardians.
  • A large, nicely decorated meeting room complete with a huge, magical fire place, a gold chandelier, a "blackboard", and two concave, wooden desks.
  • A sitting room complete with a tropical rainforest illusion covering two walls, a central reflecting pool and pure white sand for a floor.
  • Simple and empty servants quarters
  • A secret door that when opened by Aaron, unleashed a flood of green slime. The standard green-slime counter measure was used Falgar fireballed Aaron and every thing around him.

The Way Down

After Aaron triggered the green slime, the party discovered a second secret door. This one led to a hidden chamber toward the center of the second floor complex. Aaron and Sven entered the room only to have the secret doors behind them slam shut. Suddenly a very angry air elemental appeared in front of them.

The two Blackrazors attacked the deadly whirlwind while their companions tried to break down the secret doors. They finally succeeded and together they were able to slay the creature. With the elemental guardian gone, the Blackrazors found themselves at the top of a long corridor heading down to the third level.

Experience & Loot

  • No experience and/or loot is avalable for this saga.
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