Rise of the Runelords Recap # 94 [RPG]

[3 Pharast 4708 continued]

 

Kang, immersed in Vraxeris’ journal, decides to stay behind in the dead wizard’s study while his allies Ava and Erik go to check on Jinkatsyu.  They find the previously-unconscious adventurer confused and just starting to wake up in the spot where his friends hid him.  Ava explains what happened with the battle against the six duplicate Vraxerises.  The trio decide to see if the portal is open yet, in the hopes that it was the evil spellcasters who caused it to close.  However, they find it just as sealed as before.  Ava continues to express her dismay that they may be stuck in Runeforge forever, but she calms down enough to perform the difficult magical ritual to bring Yuzo back to life.  The gillman is proud to consider the point that if someone had to kill him, at least it was his own glorious self!  The adventurers barricade the entry to the Shimmering Veils of Pride and manage to rest, unmolested, for several hours.

 

[4 Pharast 4708]

 

In the “morning” (a difficult concept in a demiplane that knows neither day nor night), the others awaken to realize that Kang hasn’t yet gone to sleep, and is in fact strutting around in Vraxeris’ cloak of peacock feathers muttering to himself about the “Lord of Shimmering Veils.”  Realizing he won’t be much use in his distracted state, the others leave him to his own devices and continue their explorations.  The location where the portal out of Runeforge should be remains just a brick wall.  Yuzo hammers at it repeatedly and punches through several inches of stone before giving up.  The adventurers decide to explore the wing of Runeforge known as the Iron Cages of Lust, only to find that an invisible magical force field bars their way.  Ava tries to dispel it, but her magicks aren’t powerful enough.

The four adventurers decide to try the wing of Runeforge that lays behind the statute of the Runelord of Gluttony.  They advance without impediment until they reach a circular, domed chamber with a set of double-doors at the far side.  The walls are decorated with a half-score of grinning skulls, each gripping what appears to be bits of flesh in their teeth.  Concerned that there may be a pit trap or some other nefarious hazard in the chamber, the adventurers tie a rope around Yuzo’s waist and send him in to explore.  He smashes one of the skulls with his warhammer just to see what will happen, and is taken aback when a secret door slides open behind it with an animated Thassilonian mummy ready to spring out!  The others rush in to give Yuzo aid, but more and more secret niches are revealed, each concealing another undead horror.  The adventurers’ teamwork is impressive, but the battle is a near thing with Ava finding herself temporarily paralyzed before Erik manages to drag her to safety.  After the battle, Ava’s magic reveals a disturbing fact: Yuzo has contracted the strange mixture of disease and curse known as mummy rot!

As Ava prays for guidance on how to cure the condition and Yuzo starts to panick, Jinkatsyu passes the time by smashing the remainder of the skulls—little realizing that someone (or something) has been sent to investigate the disturbance in the outer room of the so-called Ravenous Crypts of Gluttony.  A lithe, incredibly fast humanoid, obviously undead, sprints into the room and attacks!  Only Erik has kept his wits about him in such a dangerous resting place, and he’s able to open fire.  But in return, he becomes the creature’s target and finds his abdomen torn open by long, dirty claws.  Jinkatsyu joins the battle and lands some skilful thrusts with his rapier until one goes awry and the blade gets stuck in his own ally’s armor!  Fortunately, Yuzo’s brawn and Ava’s ability to channel divine energies to hurt the creature are enough to squeeze out a victory. 

This mysterious intruder 

exhibited surprising speed.

 

The bruised and battered adventurers immediately retreat back to the Shimmering Veils of Pride.  Erik, upset with the battle and Kang’s frustrating insistence on studying Vraxeris’ journal, gets into an altercation with the alchemist that almost results in bloodshed.  Back in a secure setting, Ava is able to cast the necessary combination of spells to remove the mummy rot from Yuzo.  Afterwards, the adventurers realize they haven’t fully searched this wing of Runeforge—several rooms past the study remain behind unopened doors.  One such room holds an uncanny sight: almost 200 identical looking dead bodies, neatly stacked, all looking exactly like an elderly Vraxeris!  But the final room poses actual danger, as six horned demons seem to revive from a state of suspended animation to howl, shriek, and charge forward to do battle.

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Director's Commentary

The exploration of Runeforge continues.  The battle against the undead in the Halls of Gluttony were pretty tough, and (if I remember correctly), the PCs didn't end up going back.  I liked the bit in Shimmering Veils of Pride with the hundreds of corpses of Vraxeris' clones--what a creepy room to enter!

This was the one time in the whole campaign that my prep had fallen behind the PCs' progress, and that's why there was the force wall barring the way to the Iron Cages of Lust.  With the complexity of high-level characters and antagonists, I thought it was just too risky (in terms of the possibility of me making mistakes) to try to wing it--and as we'll see soon, the encounters there are pretty involved.  I think I at least made the force wall seem like a part of the AP instead of GM intervention.