Tag: flaming skulls

Elks, and Tigers, and Ghosts, Oh My!

On By ravonlockeIn Jin, JournalLeave a comment

Off to the big ice again. Without Twitch, but with Sammy back! It’s so boring out here. Eggy calls it tundra, but I think it’s just humdrum. Once we get close to the really tall ice, though, it gets more interesting.

First there are a bunch of men in elk hides – Tribe of the Elk, they say. They were looking for us, because their leader with a funny name I can’t spell had a vision. He says Tigers are coming to spill our blood to keep us from what the stupid goddess lady has hidden under the ice. Eggy says there’s tigers with sabers for teeth out here, or maybe it was teeth you could make into sabers. He said I could have one anyway. A tooth, not a tiger. He doesn’t think Yogi will get along with a tiger. The elk leader says it’s probably the Tiger Tribe, not actual tigers. We offer to share our food and the elk people escort us to the path into the ice.

Then we ran into twice as many Tiger people as the Elk people with us. One of them even had a big-toothed tiger! I shout out to warn them not to attack us because we’re just going to kill them. After we kill a bunch of them, I finally convince another bunch of them to surrender. Their leader lady with the tiger doesn’t surrender, though, so most of them die. Eggy does get me a tooth from the tiger, though. Maybe Leshy can make it into a sword for me. I take the lady’s snowflake symbol and Saalym and I carve a silly face into it, so I can wear it.

Then we leave the ones that surrendered with the Elk people and head into the ice. The mage lady reads the end of the goddess lady book and the whole wall of ice opens up. The tunnels are really narrow, Yogi doesn’t like it. We find an old shipwreck in the first room, it’s got a handful of headless skeletons and an iron safe in it. I work on the safe, while some flaming skulls come in and start trying to set everyone else aflame, too. I keep working on the safe while everyone else smashes the skulls. I find a cool bag inside. It doesn’t have money or feathers in it, but I’ll figure it out later.

Doc and I go looking around. There’s lots of dead ends. But there was also a kobold with glowing red eyes, but he doesn’t want to talk to us and runs off. One of the room has those friendly ice flying guys like on the island, but these don’t want to talk to us. It also has part of a tower frozen into a wall or something, with a skeleton inside, but there’s no way in. Saalym and Eggy start breaking down the wall while Doc and I keep exploring.

We find another broken tower. This one has a chest with some potions in it. Then we found the opposite side of the tower room the party was in, but the wrong side of the wall. Then there was a room with a giant metal head in it. It’s eye were glowing and it could answer yes or no questions by blinking. It wants its body back, but the goddess lady didn’t hide him. Then we found a room full of ghosty things, and Doc was too loud to sneak past them. They hurt a lot, but we put them all to their rest. Then went back to the party to rest. Eggy gave me another one of the feel better water vials. I did feel a little better, but still really weak. After we rested for an hour, though, Doc and I felt a whole lot better.

The Danger of Rushing

On By ravonlockeIn Journal, NetherdeepLeave a comment

Oh My! Why did I agree to do this? I don’t want to do this! I just came here to watch her and report back. I’m not an adventurer! Oh dear!

I wonder what’s down in this chasm, no one else seems to be worried. What if something flies up and carries me off? Oh, the door is glowing and we are going in. Good! The faster we get through this the better. I do wonder what we’ll find.

Oh! Oh no! Ochre Jellies! No! NO! Stay away from my books. Leave me alone! Protect Me! The big guy kept cutting them in half, but at least the smaller ones seemed to go down quickly. Oh dear, Those were nasty things. Good thing no one expected me to fight them. Gross, but at least they left behind some money. Must be the only thing they can keep hold of back and forth through those tiny holes.

Oh this is nicer. A wide open vestibule with no one trying to kill us. I wonder what was in these little alcoves. Long ago looted, I suspect. I wonder if we have any of the artifacts back home. Oh, read something for them. Okay, in Abyssal? Oh, well, I guess. Better move quickly though, it only lasts an hour. Accept death, relinquish hope? Oh dear, no that sounds terrible. They think so too. Table with a creepy vase now, read the table? Okay, cast something of value into Oblivion? Well, that’s better than death, I suppose.

The big guy, Jonas, I think he said, tries a handful of silver, but this must be a greedy god because it doesn’t work. The weird little gnome carves a pebble, but whatever horror is behind this doesn’t like that either. The autognome takes out some tools, and the pretty one is a bit aghast. This seems to be of enough value, and the skull’s eyes glow red, and the stone behind it opens up.

Now this looks like more of a sanctuary, maybe even a basilica would be more apt a term. Pillars all down the length and beautiful stained glass at the end. Oh! The braziers are alive! Well, the flames are anyway! They seem to be dancing to the soft music in the room. They’re so pretty, why is everyone afraid of them. The bard is beating his drum in a very unsettling manner. It’s so pretty in here, oh… oh those aren’t nice symbols on the stained glass. Not that I expected them to be in a place like this, but Every Betrayer? Even that old lich Vecna?? Maybe they’re right, and we should leave it alone.

Spiders! Why did it have to be Spiders! Oh, and Driders, too. But these look even more twisted than I’d heard. Must be this place does something to you if you stay too long. We have to hurry! Oh! Webs! Nonono! Fire, yes, fire will do it. Careful, not too much! Oh look, that’s why the Taskhand won’t send more soldiers. Several dead in here already. Oh, we’re gathering their things? A magic sword? Oh, to give back to their families. Well, I suppose that’s proper, if they even have families.

What’s this? A secret room full of books. Lots of Abyssal – demon pacts with betrayer gods. All falling apart. Oh, no! They would be so interesting to read! What’s this? Looks like that stained glass. Oh, and it talks about the gods. I wonder if this is how we get through. Kai’Osh thinks we have to go through the trials of these gods to get through. I hope not, I don’t know how many more trials I can survive!

So, we avoid the window again, and head back to the death wall. I do not like this. I don’t want to die! The others study it for a while. Shak’nul gives it a try, but he comes away just looking tired. There’s some more discussion, and then Kai’Osh disappears right into the wall!! No! Nope! Not interested! The little autognome, Shagwic, he said, comments that Kai’Osh got through alive and on the other side. The others start going through one by one, until only Shagwic, Shak’nul, and I are left. I think they’ve forgotten about me. They’re discussing the wall, and they decide to try holding hands to get through. Shagwic suddenly remembers me, and I grab hold, too. Thank whatever gods are listening, we made it through.

It’s utterly quiet here. Someone at the corner is firing at enemies ahead, so I stick close to the wall. No way back and no way forward. Fire lights up the corridor ahead! Oh no! I press harder back on the wall. I don’t wanna die, I don’t wanna die. Then things calm down and they retrieve me. Small skulls are lying shattered on the ground. There’s talk of taking a proper short rest in here, and there’s talk of pushing on through a hallway full of blades! Rest wins out, fortunately.

Oh, but not for long. The clues here are in Undercommon, fortunately, I can’t read Abyssal anymore. They through around words like sadism and masochism. The burly one goes on about how he likes fighting, and heads on into the hallway. Which immediately begins tilting back and forth. He slams into the blades, but makes it to the end. The little crystal container above the far door starts filling with blood. One by one, they head on in, until the canister is full and the far door opens, stopping the tilting floor. Oh, thank Ord! I did Not want to do that!

Stairs. Just stairs. Though there’s a wailing from below. Louder, louder, louder. Oh my gods! What is that!?!

~Prolix Yusaf
Allegiance of Allsight