D&D Post game 6-23-18 Part 2

Back into the wastelands……

The party awoke, ate a quick meal, refilled their water skins and took stock of their remaining supplies. Lukas consulted his notes and a pair of maps of the region. He decided that straight South for a day and then in a Southeast direction from then on would take them to the center of the Argenian Wastes and to the lair of Ariahiri the warlock. The now much larger than normal party struck out in the dusty rocky wastes again.

By late day the party had crested their fourth rocky valley and were getting worn down from the dry warm air, blaring sun and climbing up and over rocks. It was then they all seemed to hear what sounded like melodic singing and they moved in its direction. They continued on until they discovered a large area full of bubbling and boiling muddy pools of water and the singing was echoing off the nearby hillsides.

 

Suddenly the monk, fighter and rouge began to stare blankly and slowly say back and forth. Then they began to walk toward the nearest boiling mud pools. The barbs elven resistance to charms, the barbarian’s tenacity (and possibly hatred for pretty music), the archeologist shoved some candle wax in his ears and the holy might of the paladin kept them safe from the alluring song. These three drew weapons and looked for the origin of the music. Above then they saw the origin, six bird women we riding the thermal updrafts while singing their song of charming. The harpies continued to sing as they spread their talons and dove toward the unaffected party members. 

Ranged weapons and spells let fly toward the bird women as they descended. The rouge and fighter continued walking toward and eventually into the boiling pools of water and mud. They began to slowly cook inside their armor. The monk was able to shake the effects of the charm before he entered the scalding water and mud. He too drew weapons and joined combat.

As the harpies dove into the party ranged weapons were swapped for melee. Steel met feather and talon in a fast and vicious combat. As the harpies numbers dwindled so did the effect of their charming song. The fighter and rouge awoke from their haze waist deep in boiling water and mud. They scrambled out as fast as they could, before their first and second degree burns got worse, and joined the melee just as a second flight of four harpies swooped in from the West to aid their embattled sisters. The bird women soon realized they had picked the wrong party to ambush. Without the aid of their mesmerizing song they stood little chance of defeating the warriors before them. They were all cut down even as some tried to flee. After a quick reconnoiter of the area, the party moved on until dusk.

The following day was more of the same; rocks, barren landscape, bigger rocks, scrub brush, lots of sun, geysers and very little in the way of animal life. This truly was every definition of a wasteland. By mid-day they did find what looked to be a possible ancient burial ground. They found a clearing that contained a large circle of standing stones surrounded by many smaller stones. These stones were covered in sharp swirling designs. Within this circle of stones were eight wooden frames or scaffolds that stood about ten feet high. Upon them looked to be bodies wrapped in sackcloth blankets. The party slowly approached the area.

As they got closer the barbarian and archeologist stooped to investigate the designs on the stones. The rouge and fighter rushed in to check the bodies on the scaffolds. The monk, paladin and bard survey the area unsure of what they were looking for or at. The archeologist was able to decipher a bit of information from the marked stones. He knew that these were ritual symbols used by the long dead race of goliaths. The barbarian had never actually seen these markings, but had researched barbarian tribes in his youth. He knew of a noble tribe of goliath wanderers and warriors known as the Grim Boulder Clan. This had to be one of their burial sites for their nobility and holy people. The rouge and fighter were busy searching bodies and finding various trinkets, charms, weapons and elaborate bone armor on the bodies. That and discovering many of the bodies had limbs that appeared to have been surgically removed.

As the party began to investigate the area a cold wind blew through the stones. This was followed by a forlorn moaning. They also found what looked like ectoplasmic residue on many of the scaffolds. There were also small piles of bones from various creatures in piles would rattle when passed by. The light in the circle would dim as though clouds were passing in front of the sun, but there was nary a cloud in the sky. These events unnerved the party a bit. Well that and various encounters with the undead in their past and the defiled corpses made leaving this area a priority. The rouge and fighter were torn as to whether to pilfer bodies or not. The barbarian talked them out of it since this was a holy area and these were noble people who should be left in peace along with their belongings. Plus it might anger the spirits if they removed anything. There was enough paranormal activity to support that theory as well. The group left the area not knowing why the bodies had been defiled and why all the belongings had been left behind. This was a mystery left to be solved by someone else.

As the day moved on toward evening, the party entered another rocky valley. They had been hearing distant howls through the afternoon. They chalked it up wild dogs and no threat, until it became one really big threat.

Six two headed dogs rushed over a ridge toward the party. Bellowing orders behind them strode a giant with a large singular eye and a hunk of cylindrical rock in his hand. He ordered his death dogs to attack! Then he reached down to pick up a sizable boulder and heaved it at the party. It flew wide right missing the party completely (depth perception is a real problem with cyclops and ranged weapons we all thought it and now we saw it).

The two headed dogs rushed the party and they responed in kind. The barbarian flew into a rage and moved to engage the cyclops. Rouge dove into the shadows to hopefully get the drop on the cyclops. The monk engaged a pair of death dogs. The fighter and paladin did likewise. The bard began to bolster the party with song and spell. Lukas fired crossbow bolts and magic missiles when he had available targets.

The death dogs bit and tore into the monk and fighter as they battled them. This disease filled saliva mixing with the blood of their foes. The barbarian cut down dogs while absorbing blows from the cyclops. He was shouldering the burden to keep the paladin and rouge (and eventually the fighter too) from taking too much damage.

The monk continued to battle death dogs like he had a personal vendetta against them! He slew many of them, but they took a heavy toll on him as well as inflicting his with their horrible rotting wasting disease they carry in their saliva. The same happened to the fighter as well, unbeknownst to either of them. The cyclops also flew into a rage as his death dogs were killed. The paladin began to channel the power of his god to bring righteous fury to his attacks. The rouge struck from the shadows. The fighter rushed in with multiple swings from paired maces. The bard unleashed gunfire into the chest of the beast while giving a rousing motivational speech. The cyclops was in such a rage that he was unaware of the damage being inflicted to him. It was this damage over time that was his undoing. His stone club grew heavy and his vision dimmed. He staggered back three steps and hit the ground with a thunderous tremor.

As the party tended to their wounds and prepped camp for the night they saw what looked like a large hill in an open field in the distance.

“That is where the maps and notes I have are leading us.” Lukas told the party. “Maybe just a half day’s hike from here to there.”

The next morning the party struck out toward the distant hill. By mid-morning the landscape has changed once again. No longer were they in rocky valleys. They were travelling through a rolling barren plain full of hot springs and geysers. The hill in the distance was soon discovered to be no normal hill. It was a giant mound that spewed forth a torrential gout of  water high into the sky almost 20 minutes. If this was the lair of Ariahiri then it was within a huge active geyser.

Soon they were outside the giant geyser mound. Lukas quickly found what appeared to be  doorway into the hill. Inside was a stone stairway leading down 20 feet to a hallway filled to ankle with warm water. This hall turned left and went down another 70 feet. Besides the standing water the party noticed the air was heavy hot and incredibly humid. There were also small stalagmite and stalactites forming throughout the hallway. It appeared that these were unintentional as the floors and ceiling looked to have been cut stone. It looked as if the geyser was staring to reclaim the hallway thanks to  combination of humidity and dripping mineral rich water. The party made their way down the hall until they walked into what felt like an invisible wall.

It was then a voice boomed through their minds “ Entry requires appeasement to Ug'Bothat. The great and mighty Ug'Bothat.“

A plain metal dagger then dropped from the ceiling on a thin cord. Lukas inspected the dagger, lifted it and then quickly cut his left palm. He then walked forward and past the invisible barrier. The rest of the party also did this and was able to pass. The paladin, however, had second thoughts. He was unwilling to pledge even a drop of his blood for some heathen god. Bahamut was his patron and through his guidance he declined to partake in this blood ritual ( because our paladin was unable to make the next game so it made sense he skipped out like this). The rouge skipped past him, cut his hand looked around and then removed the dagger from the cord. If suddenly turned from a pristine simple dagger to a worn, rusted and decades old blade instantly. The rouge shrugged, dropped the blade into the water and hurried after the party.

It was then the booming mental voice spoke again.....

“Welcome travellers. The mistress has been gone for 4,324 days. All defenses are active. Please have all required documentation prepared, and all praise Ug' Bothat. Be warned the Grue have not been fed for 4,304 days."

Lukas looked back to the party and says," I think I made a huge mistake."

Lukas looked back toward the party and said, “Guys, I think I made a huge mistake.”




HEY follow or go check out @Regthebarbarian for live tweets from this game!