Difference between revisions of "The Curse of the Four Wizards, Part 3"

Revision as of 11:40, 3 February 2008

About the Saga

Mechanical monstrocities and killer illusions greeted the Blackrazors on the second level of their basement -- what awaits them on the third?

Timeframe

• Greyhawk Date: Wealsun 5, CY 587
• Real World Date: 06/29/1998
• Read other Blackrazor Guild Sagas

Cast of Characters

• Ragnar Blackmane, Suel barbarian
• Sven Kildare, terramancer
• Greggor, bladedancer
• Falgar, battlemage
• Aaron Windstalker, arcane rogue
• Calvin Cloudmore, billet of St. Cuthbert
• Tanevir, elven ranger spellsword

Notable Quotes

• "But how could a chicken survive down here for 10 years?" -- Unknown Blackrazor

What Has Come Before

By the time the Blackrazors made it to the third level, two days had passed since they had entered the manor house. Fulgar, Aaron and Sven had taken permanent damage from the clay golems on the second level, and their supply of diamond dust for their stone skin spell had been all but exhausted.

Still, on the 5th of Wealsun, CY 587, they pressed on. They had no other choice – they couldn’t leave until they found a way to open the magically sealed portal to the outside world on the first floor.

• Read the previous saga

The Saga

Wealsun 5, CY 587

Stone & Lightning

The entrance to the third floor held a large, reinforced steel door, several wooden benches, and two finally crafted stone statues. The statues – one of a warrior, the other of a mage – stood on either side of the door. Fulgar was able to magically unlock the door, which revealed a corridor with a discolored floor. Thinking ahead, the party had Cal cast protection from lightning upon himself.

With Aaron walking behind him, the cleric of St. Cuthbert walked down the corridor ... and was immediately hit by a lightning bolt. The energy was absorbed by Cal’s spell, and the rest of the party followed him down the corridor. Once there Sven struck upon the idea of fastening a mirror in front of the trap to reflect the lightning back at its source. Using some of the clay Aaron had summoned to plug trapped holes on the second floor, Sven carefully set the mirror in position. The party then entered the third floor proper.

Stone & Fire

One they entered into the corridor, the party found a door on the eastern wall that had a stylized symbol of a blazing sun on it. As the party was examining the door – which Aaron believed was wizard locked – Greggor crept carefully to the south. Once at the end of the corridor – which opened up into a large space to the east – the blade specialist heard the sound of something large dragging its feet across the stone floor. He rejoined the rest of the party, and told them about the space … but not the sound.

Fulgar used a knock spell to open it, and the front man – in this case Aaron – was immediately attacked by an enraged fire elemental. The creature’s blazing barrage knocked down the thief-mage, who had to be pulled from combat. The others were quickly able to destroy the creature.

As the brief fight with the elemental continued, the sound Greggor had heard drew nearer. Ragnar – who was on guard during the fighitng – was able to hear it. He threw a torch down the corridor and was suddenly able to see the source of it – to his horror and that of his companions.

The large reptillian creature was the stuff of legends and its deadly gaze instantly turned Calvin – the guild’s ranking cleric and the only one on this expedition – to stone. The others hastily covered their eyes and tried to fight the horrific creature. Ragnar and Greggor were almost overwhelmed by the things foul breath as they fought it. Fortunately they were able to stifle their revulsion long enough for Ragnar to kill the creature.

With the basalisk dead – and after Fulgar had torn out the thing’s eyes – the Blackrazors turned their attention back to the room the elemental had been guarding. They found doors on the east and south doors. They opened the western one, which apparently held the remains of a bedroom. They entered and were immediately attacked by a imp-like monsters that were outlined in fire. After defeating these guardians they found and opened a door on the southeastern wall – which led to some sort of library/laboratory. Sitting behind a large stone table was a skeleton dressed in the remains of red robes. When Ragnar stepped up to look at the creature it suddenly animated and flames surged from its finger tips. Ragnar and the others fell back as the undead mage unleashed fireball after fireball upon them … until Sven had a flash of insight. As the others fled, Sven concentrated on disbelieving the events around him. It worked. The undead mage and the trappings of the library vanished, leaving only the crude stone table behind. The party examined the table and found that it hid a passage way in the floor.

After resting for a few minutes, they decided to explore the passage way, which led to the true bedroom and library of the gnome illusionist, Tumblefoot. Inside it they found a number of magical items, including a much needed potion of extra healing, a wand of fire (later revealed to be a wand of illusions), and a clear ioun stone. Sated with the room, they turned their attention to the other areas.

=The Diabolical Chicken and other Dangers

Once they left the relative safety of Tumblefoot’s rooms, the adventurers heard a strange clucking sound. As they closed in on it, they realized the source of the sound was a chicken.

"But how could a chicken survive down here for 10 years?" someone asked.

"Maybe its polymorphed. Maybe its not really a chicken maybe…" Fulgar said.

"Maybe we should leave it alone." Sven said. And they did. Carefully avoiding the chicken, they skirted around the rest of the dungeon. They found that the center of the third level was empty, and that 40 feet round area at center of it was slightly discolored, as though it was made from a different kind of stone. They also found:

• The ruined remains of the wind mage Kanthis’ rooms: The wind mage’s rooms had been all but destroyed, apparently by some sort of magical implosion. Amid the rubble they found a cube of force a tattered old cloak with protective magical properties, and a sealed, but magical, scroll
• The lair of the basilisk ... and the rooms of Bolaris, the invoker: While Bolaris’ bed chambers had been ravaged by the basilisk, which made its lair there, his magically protected library/laboratory was fine. After they breached its magical defenses, the Blackrazors found that it contained a large stone slab that apparently served as some sort of testing area for invocation spells. They also found an iron flask – which contained a salamander (they promptly released it, re-captured it, re-released it, and then killed it) as well as brazier used in summoning some sort of creature from the elemental plane of fire.
• The chicken: Was apparently just a chicken, although it was obviously a magical sort of chicken. After Ragnar broke the thing’s leg with a well-placed stone (when the party still thought it might be some sort of powerful creature from another plane), Sven befriended it. While he was setting the chicken’s broken leg he found that it had a small metal band around one leg. The metal band had a stylized B on it – a B they had come to associate with the archmage Bizarre…
• The false floor: While the others explored the level, Sven decided to fireball the center of the room so he could empty his staff of elementals. In the process he destroyed the false floor in the center of the chamber, revealing a carefully-concealed wall of force. On the other side of that wall were a small horde of demons – some looking like apes, others appearing almost vulture like. After backing away from this magical barrier, Sven summon an earth elemental using a scroll he had purchased earlier. He then captured it in his staff, and used the staff’s powers to tranform Cal back into flesh and blood.
• The rooms of Greylen: The leader of the wizards’ room was guarded by several foul, ape-like demons which the party – through careful planning – was able to defeat. Further examination of the lead mage’s room revealed a door painted onto the wall. Once Sven said that he "believed" in the door it suddenly became a real door, which led to Greylen’s real library and study. In that study the party found number of magical items and spell books as well as several very informative tomes about Pomarj and Greylen’s adventures.

The Blackrazors spent days recovering from their various fights on the third floor, and after more than a week below ground they were able to find the secret rooms which controlled the traps and programmed illusions scattered throughout the complex. They also found a treasure room filled with bags of platinum pieces.

The Battle with the Demons

Once the third level was secured, the Blackrazors turned their attention to the demon menace. According to a scroll they’d found in Graylen’s inner study, the wizards had been attempting to open a portal to Rauxes when their the portal instead opened one of the hundreds of levels of the Abyss … specifically layer 732.

According to the scroll the portal opened once every six years, on the sixth day of the six month. Based on the scroll, it seems that the portal had opened at least once in the time since the wizards had abandoned the third level. And that it was likely to open again soon – the manor house’s foundation had been sealed in CY 576. If it had worked according to schedule, the portal would have opened in 582, and would be scheduled to open again in Wealsun of CY 588 – nearly a year to the day when the Blackrazors finally retook the manor house dungeon.

Still, that battle was in the future – the more immediate problem was the demons already infesting the portal area. Not wanting the world at large – especially guildmaster Damaculas – to know they had succeeded, the Blackrazors snuck out of the dungeon and recruited a few trusted members to fight with them. Beyond that, Fulgar went to the mage’s guild to purchase two scrolls of disintegration . Since Fulgar had been a trusted member of the guild for more than a year, and since it was widely known that he and his men would be part of the expeditionary force heading out to Blue – the mages agreed to sell the scrolls for 3,000 gp a piece.

The Blackrazors returned to the third level, reactived all their traps, and prepared for battle. Each member was given stoneskin armor by Fulgar, and nearly every member had fly cast upon them. Then Fulgar used one of the scrolls, and dropped the force barrier. The battle was short, bloody and decisive. The magically-enhanced Blackrazors – who had cast haste upon a number of the members as well as the special spell improved strength – tore through the demonic ranks. Within minutes, the fiends had been banished back to the Abyss and the exhausted Blackrazors were able to prepare for the inevitable crash that accompanied their power-boosting magic.

After the battle they were able to read more of Graylen’s notes, and discovered the following information about the "Room of Doors", which had held the demons.

• The Door of Greyhawk: Once per month, in accordance with the full phase of Luna, this door becomes active for 24 hours. It opens in the basement of a merchant building on River Street in the River Quarter of Greyhawk.
• The Door of Rel Mord: This door allows travel to Nyrond’s capital city once per quarter as Celene moves through its four major phases. It opens into a back alleyway in Nyrond. When the time is right, a door appears there for one day; it disappears when the day has ended.
• The Door of Keoland: This door allows travel to Nyrond’s capital city once per quarter as Celene moves through its four major phases.
• The Door of Sunndi: Allows travel to the Kingdom of Sunndi, to a small stone fortress just inside the Vast Swamp Allows travel once per year, when both moons are at full.
• The Door of Demons: This is the door that – once opened – drove the four mages from their place. Once every six years, six months, and six days this door opens, creating a gate to the 732rd level of the Abyss.

After examining the doors, the Blackrazors prepared to head topside, where they would proudly shout news of their victory. They would emerge from the complex on the 15th of Wealsun, more than a week after they had entered.

Experience & Loot

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