D&D Campaign Session for January 21st, 2001

Played with 3rd Edition Rules

Player Characters:

Azaki Ushento, Half-Orc Male Fighter, 3rd Level (Josh)
Glothe Longstride, Dwarf Male Fighter, 2nd Level (Caleb)
Ithil, Elf Female Rogue/Fighter, 1st Level/1st Level (Dennis)
Kari Morningdew, Human Female Ranger/Cleric of Fharlanghn, 1st Level/3rd Level(Andy)
Kessem Chexz, Female Elf Wizard, 2nd Level (Neil)
Kobort, Half-Orc Male Cleric of Heironeous, 3rd Level (Bart)
Mike Steel, Human Male Fighter, 3rd Level (Patty)
Odlits Burdfriend, Male Half-Orc Wizard, 2nd Level (Bill)
Borik, Half-Orc Barbarian, 1st Level (Greg)
Zeismer Schellenhorn, Human Male Rogue/Sorcerer, 1st Level/1st Level (Andrew)
Selena, Human Female Monk, 2nd Level (Scott)

A Hunting we will Go...

Flocktime 9th, on the way to the Caves

Other than the trolls, which we only left once they stopped smouldering, we have not been harrassed and have not managed to harrass anything else along our way. Targ and Glothe and the other dwarves are disappointed, but it has not damaged their good cheer. We enjoy songs and tales of past Cleansings, and ale at camp at night.

Flocktime 10th, Caves of Chaos

We arrived at the familiar caves in the afternoon after an uneventful day of travelling. Plans had been made for Targ and Cedasar to take their parties and split off from our usual group, hoping to pinch the humanoids from two sides. Of course, none of us knows the layout of these caves, but we can be pretty sure they all connect somehow.

As we came down into the valley, we were all alerted by the sudden appearance of half an orc flying out of one of the caves. Having just cleaved through it, a large naked orc charged out with axe still swinging, saw us, and halted. No further pursuit came from the cave, and the orc, ill-equipped to fight us without armor or comrades, seemed uncertain. We greeted him, and he seemed to understand common only minimally. Kobort stepped forward to deal with him in orcish, and discovered that, as strange as it might seem, the orc was as much against the evil humanoids as we are. With an uneasy truce in place, we ignored Glothe's mutterings and agreed to help each other out. He needed healing, and we could use any information we could get about the caves and its residents.

Borik, the new orc -- possibly a half-orc, but so close to full that it is nearly impossible to tell -- had been held prisoner by his tribe and his mother killed, having been singled out by Beltar's priests. The tribe, he tells us, moved into the caves we cleared out just a couple of days ago, so it seems the priests are trying to fill the gaps we have made in the humanoid population.

We went into the same cave that we were in the last time, wary of a possible trap and finding none. The orc was true enough to his word, and the whole tribe was gone -- to a meeting, Borik said, called by the leaders. He led us to a storeroom that held a lot of weapons, some even of decent quality. After he picked up his gear, we continued on to a chamber he told us was the chief's. He began to bash at the door, so I put my shoulder to it as well and he burst in. Two females leapt up with daggers, but soon met the edge of Borik's axe; we all let him take care of it -- for him, it was personal, and I think he got a little satisfaction from it.

The chief was nowhere in sight. His chamber was crudely furnished; the only item that showed any care was a tapestry with the eye of Grummsh, an evil orcish god. Concealed behind it was an alcove into a smaller cave. We discovered armor and swords, and in another chamber hidden with a boulder there were items of a magical nature, along with a chest of coin. Glothe noticed a further secret door; most of us couldn't see it even after he had pointed it out to us. It led into a small room that held two shields mounted upon the wall, one with the eye and one with a foot. A table and two chairs looked like a concealed meeting place which, by the looks of the dust, had not been used in some time. The only other entrance was another secret door, which led down a corridor that Borik had never seen. Some rooms along it contained more loot, including a wine barrel that we plan to return for. According to Zeissmer and Kessem, it is a good vintage whether we sell it or drink it. Odlits has laid claim to a curious rope, so tightly coiled that none of us can budge it; it was in a bag full of platinum. For the first time, I am beginning to think that adventuring might turn me a profit, but there remains work to be done. The whole of the orc complex was empty and the sun was heading toward dusk, so we looked up the hill to where Borik told us the orc tribe was meeting. Targ and Cedasar were nowhere in sight, and must have gone into one of the other caves.

There was some disagreement within the party at going in, but in the end we decided that we knew of no better way. We arrayed ourselves in a battle formation for the wide hallway and stepped into the mouth of the cave -- very literally the mouth, for it was carved into the shape of closing fangs. Immediately, Glothe and I felt a staggering blast of energy. Magic, I have no doubt, and probably something to do with the strange writing above the entrance. The sturdy dwarf was knocked off his feet, and I knew another blow just then would have killed us both. Luckily, we we two were the only ones affected and we had a few moments for our healers to tend to us before the zombies began to shuffle down the blood-red stone corridor.

Our battle was unnaturally loud in that corridor, and it was pervaded with a sense of evil. Weird piping and groaning sounded from somewhere unknown, and everything echoed strangely. The undead were fresh, some so newly dead that they had barely started to rot. We were sorely pressed, but with a solid fighting line to the front and the orc eagerly fighting even over our shoulders, we were able to gradually work through them, falling back and filling in for each other as we were weakend and healed. Without Kari and all her preparations, we would not have survived this day. When the undead were finally put to rest, Borik pointed out the one that had been his mother.

Uneasy in the red and black polished hallway and hoping for a less frontal route, we retreated from the cave to see if an entrance that we had passed farther down the hillside would connect into this one. We passed a caved-in entrance on the way to it; I cannot remember if it has always been that way.

We came to the lower entrance and advanced in, Selena scouting ahead. She returned to us almost immediately, pointing out a greyish ooze that was following slowly. None of us had ever fought an ooze, but it seemed to swallow fire and rock alike. It did not follow us out of the cave, so we shot into it and it retreated; we began to pursue, but noticed another approaching from the other side. Time was wasting, and with sunset coming we concluded that if we wanted to make progress before dark, we would have to make a frontal attack.

Nothing happened as we stepped cautiously through the fanged cave mouth. The zombies had not been touched, and still lay scattered messily on the floor. The bit of stone that Glothe had chipped from the wall, trying to identify the red and black-veined rock, was undisturbed. We advanced into the southern passage, even the slightest whisper magnified. At a junction of archways and hallways, a great seal of Beltar was set into the floor. From the hallway before us, more zombies shuffled from the shadows, and Kobort immediately charged forward to prevent them from getting any closer to that evil symbol. He, Glothe, Selena, Azaki, Borik and I took the battle to the undead and held them to the corridor as the rest of the party shot spells and arrows past us into the abominations. I was surprised to hear Zeissmer yell out as a smoking hole appeared in a zombie we were fighting, but I never had a chance to ask him about it. I did not think he knew any wizardry, though there may have been more to him than he let on.

As we began to make a dent in the line of stinking zombies before us, an alarm went up from the rear as ranks of skeletons and priests began to close. Each of the priests wore a bladed gauntlet, some of which seemed to darkly glow and crackle with evil energies.

By that time we knew that a couple of blades could deal with the remaining zombies, so we left Glothe, Azaki and Selena to finish them off while Kobort, Borik and I rushed to the support of the rear where Kari and Odlits were pressed. Zeissmer was nowhere to be seen, and Ithil and Kessim had already taken up better positions and were each using their skills to advantage. Celestial hawks appeared, swooping overhead to attack the evil humanoids, and at that point there was confusion in the ranks of priests as Zeissmer attacked from his hiding place right beside them. I saw him take a serious wound from one of their wicked gauntlets, but he tumbled past them and out of sight around the corner.

As the priests began to call upon their malicious god for favors, Borik let out a growl, his features contorting in a sudden rage. His axe clove through skeletons, scattering bones haphazardly with a frenzied strength. Eyes wild, he let his fury propel him into the foe, and they fell before him. Meanwhile, Odlits was compelled to walk through the fighting skeletons to meet the gauntlet of one of the cowled humanoids. Amazingly enough he got through unscathed, the bone knives of the skeletons missing him as he ducked by. One tried to kill Kari with a word and I saw more spells being prepared.

One gestured at me, speaking a word I have never heard before and hope never to hear again. A wave of terror engulfed me, a fear so absolute that I could not face it. The cavern walls closed in, the skeleton before me weirdly distorted. A formless fog of evil seemed to coalesce from the bloody walls, and time disappeared into the darkening battle. I clenched my sword and tried to fight against it, my heart bursting and my breath caught in my chest. My feet betrayed me and I fled the sight. For a moment I knew not where I was, only that skeletons seemed all around me, either slashing at me or standing, strangely still, in columns along red polished walls. I must have run in circles, looking at the place later, and can only guess what my fellows thought. Eventually I stopped, my back to a wall that seemed to pulse with evil, facing the seal of Beltar, but the echoing sounds of battle were around the corner and the skeletons out of sight.

I breathed, my focus returning only gradually, though it must have all happened in a few pounding heartbeats. Our lantern still lit the corridor, shining beside the elf wizardess. I had not gone so far, after all. Sharp steel loudly cracked bones, shattering them, and at last the terror lifted from my shoulders, the memory of it urging me back to the fight. My blood surged and I charged around the corner, invoking the name of Saint Cuthbert, and he must have blessed my sword and arm. The body of an orcish priest split in two at my blow and collapsed in a crimson heap before me.

The zombies and skeletons all were dispatched in those moments, and our full force of arms met the remaining priests. Their gauntlets were fearsome, inflicting wounds by magic and metal both, but with the help of our gods we were able to press them back. As the way momentarily cleared before me, I realized that there were more attackers around the corner, two undead ogres flanking a priest. I recognized him -- he had fought us before, at the orc cave. Now, Zeissmer was fighting him alone. He fell, stabbed by the high priest's gauntlet, and Selena and Kobort fought free and charged forward to help him. I saw the courageous half-orc burst past the guarding undead and fall, pierced by the gauntlet of Beltar; and Zeissmer passed away, beyond help.

Orcs and bugbears, mostly, cowled and robed in black and red, the humanoids were fewer now as we sent their bodies to the bone-scattered floor. Kari ran through the fray to aid Kobort, and we dispatched the priests, their magics exhausted. Only the high priest and his guards remained, and Borik, Glothe, Azaki and I charged them while the monk threw fists and feet in a fast and furious attack on the remaining orc. Borik was determined to get to the high priest, slicing at the undead ogres only long enough to get by them. In a vicious stroke, he brought his axe down to split the orc's breastplate, cracking bone beneath; retreating, the priest slashed into Borik and wheezed an order to the undead, which they followed without question: "Attack him!"

As one, Glothe, Azaki and I found openings and struck the ogres down even as they reached for our ally. Arrows and bolts whizzed between us to strike the priest, and I thought he must soon fall, but he began to fade from sight as he fled, rising into the air as mist. Kobort held forth his hand and spoke as the mist began to float down the corridor; the mist halted, not even the air currents of the hallway disturbing it. By Kessim's magic and by more mundane means, the fog began to disperse, and we waited, tending our wounds and searching the dead for their symbols of evil and for their coin. Soon, the fog coalesced into the grisly remains of the orc priest, and we stripped him of his symbols and magic. I would hate to see it used against us again by others who might loot while we continue on.

This whole place is magical. We felt it, but Kari has confirmed it with Fahrlangn's aid. The seals radiate evil, and the throne room contains skeletons, standing at arms, probably ready to animate at a signal. After Kari and Kobort have rested and prayed, they will consecrate the place, so we have left the skeletons for now and hope that they will crumble as the evil is dispersed.

We continued our explorations, leaving the scene of battle behind. A room, a living area for the now-dead priests, holds books which describe the unspeakable rituals they carry out in the name of their god. We will seek Curate Bradas' advice on how best to destroy them. Farther in was yet another altared room, stained with blood and with tapestries depicting demonic scenes. Wanting to continue our explorations, we left it; it too will be consecrated as soon as our clerics are able.

At the end of the hallway, we came upon a vaulted room so large that our lamp could not penetrate all the way through it. A curtained wall led away into the darkness, and a black bell shape loomed in the middle of the shadowed chamber. Kessim took a bullet which, at her command, glowed with light, and flung it at the bell; it rang, shattering the silence, and a door next to me opened. Zombies moaned, a mass of them pushing from within; from somewhere in the darkness before us, clattering skeletons issued forth.

We sprang to battle, hacking into the rotting undead flesh to drive it back and send the cursed creatures to their final rest. Beside me, Kobort drew himself up and, clasping longsword and his holy symbol, turned the zombies back from us. To the front, the multitude of gleaming undead were reflected in the polished floor; when Kari held up her hands and spoke, the shattering shards became millions.

Selena and Glothe ventured into the room to meet the remainder of the skeletons, cracking bone and snapping withered sinew; as they reached the center, the whole place came eerily alive. Torches burst into magical flame and the back wall, behind a raised dais, glowed with hypnotic images. Glothe and Selena both fought off its effects, and the dwarf shouted a warning to the rest of us as he laid about him with his axe.

Hordes upon hordes of teeming undead seemed to have been stored up, waiting for us; time again Kobort and Kari and their gods sent more of them fleeing and shattering. Finally, the skeletons gone, Selena and Glothe circled around behind the zombies to finish them off as they fled Heironeous' and Fharlanghn's power, and eventually we followed the last of them in as they cowered, cutting them down in a gruesome exercise. I pray that their souls are now freed.

We are all well spent by this time, and everyone needs rest. We have not ventured down the stairway we discovered, and though I am uneasy at making a camp in a place I cannot secure, we would be at a greater risk to continue looking for trouble tonight. A night in the Caves of Chaos is not something I am looking forward to, but the sun is already down and even surrounded by evil in this temple of iniquity seems a better option that showing ourselves to every nightwalking creature in the valley.

Here endeth the session, as excerpted and translated from the journal of Mike.