New World Campaign

[Agrabaeus]

Promiscus, anxious for action and tired of waiting for his procrastinating comrades, ventures down the stairs with his longest ally, Raywynor.

The steps were steep and narrow, though they managed easily. But once in the stairwell, a breeze can be felt rising up from below. The door at the bottom turned out to be slightly ajar with some twinkling of light seen through the cracks. The door is old, though made of stone and oak, and expertly constructed. There is a symbol of of Taimat engraved on the door, though it was obviously etched by an inexpert hand and long after the door itself was crafted. The heat of the chamber above keeps the place dry and seemed to have served to preserve this place well. It looks like some small doorstop has been used to keep the door open, otherwise even this small wind might have forced it closed.

[DM Nik]

Promiscus motions for everyone to stay quiet and peers through the cracked door. If he cannot get a good vantage point of the room, he will slowly open the door.

[Agrabaeus]

Raywynor nods to Promiscus and the Dragonborn moves closer to the gap between the door and the door frame. Looking inside he sees a candle-lit room with stone walls with some shelving for books, and wooden furniture. The room is approximately 15 feet long and ten feet wide. Two doors are visible from the Swordmage's vantage point, both of them wide open. There are bookshelves, two tables, some chairs, and a desk. There is also an open chest on the floor in a corner though his view of it is mostly obscured by the presence of other furniture.

The general condition of the room gives the impression that it is often used but perhaps only by a single person. One of the chairs is cushioned and given the bow in the seat, it appears as if it is the primary seat used in the room. Although the room does not appear trashed or dirty, it is obvious that not much has been done in the way of frequent cleaning or dusting. The stone floor is just a bit dirty and the three small rugs have not been cleaned in years. One of the shelves contains rows of unlit candles and other shelves contain the spent and burnt remains of much used ones. Candle-wax is splattered on carpets and the floor here and there with pools of it on the desk and tables where candles were left to burn too long.

The room is obviously unoccupied at the moment but seems to have been riffled through recently. The chest appears to have been emptied in a hurry with some papers and small nick-knacks strewn around it. Two of the drawers in the desk are open with papers pulled partially out as if someone had searched them in a hurry. A third drawer is closed but something is sticking out keeping it from closing completely.

The bookshelves are empty except two books laying down on their side on top of each other.

There is a lantern lit inside one of the adjoining rooms and what looks to be a bed can be seen.

There is a strange chemical smell in the room. Promiscus has experienced it before, the faint odor of sulfur. He knows it is sometimes associated with the teleportation of minor demons and also with alchemical labs.

[DM Nik]

Thoughts race through Promiscus' mind, but he is ready to move on. The sulfur smell bothers him, but he does not bother waiting for his companions to react. He swings open the door and moves into the room. He is fully prepared for someone to jump out. If nothing happens, he will further examine the room.

[Agrabaeus]

Promiscus entered the room with no surprises waiting for him. There were indeed only two other doors to the room. Both of the others were open. The one leading to the bedroom contained a lantern somewhere within and a quick peek through the door revealed something odd. The bed has been altered considerably, enlarged actually, to twice its original size, and numerous supports have been added to allow for a greater weight. Given that the construction used portions of other pieces of furniture, it does not look pretty. And it does not look all that comfortable. But there are many pillows and blankets and three mattresses on the construct..

This bedroom is very large and would be quite roomy if not for the expansive, hodge-podge like bed. There is little other furniture other than a night stand on which the lantern rests and a set of stacked cabinets. Under the night stand are jugs of lantern oil. The cabinets are fully open with stuff strewn here and there as if a frantic search was conducted recently. Nothing of value or use is evident. The only thing of immediate interest is an over-sized robe. It looks like it might fit an Ogre or troll, but certainly no creature of medium size.

But despite its apparent banality, Raywynor insists upon a complete search. So under the bed, wedged underneath a pillow, a large book is found. It is written in a mixture of Common, Giant and magical runes. Even a word in Orc is mixed in now and then. The book appears to be a journal and is the only thing found in the room worth taking, unless the large-sized robe or the lamp an/or lamp oil are of interest.

The other room is quite different. It is a large chamber filed with tables of every size and description. These tables look to have been brought here from other places within the complex beneath the temple and mostly consist of night stands and small, low tables. The place appears to be an alchemy lab, complete with beakers, small braziers and numerous containers of components. This place looks to have been in continual operation for years, though there does not appear to be anything recognized as useful. This room's original purpose appears to have been either some prayer chamber, an audience chamber or something far less interesting than an Alchemy lab.

Two doors lead off from this one. Both of the doors are also open. One leads to the stairs going up and is filled with debris. The door here appears to have been damaged and, unless you force it, will not likely close. Through the other door Promiscus can see a dark hallway leading away, only five feet wide. The candle-light from the Alchemy lab flickers through the open doorway but does not shed enough light to see more than five feet into the hallway though instinct, experience, and common sense suggests it continues further on.

[DM Nik]

OOC: Can I have a visual map by chance?

[Agrabaeus]

Sure, try this:


http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp32 ... Temple.jpg

[DM Nik]

Promiscus makes sure the group has ample light and heads down the hallway. If the hallway is empty, he moves to open one of the doors.

[Agrabaeus]

OOC: The group at this point is only Promiscus and Raywynor. The other three stayed up stairs:

Spoiler: Show

From:
Jan 26. Thread 27: Vatlaaw's Dark Dreams
Posted by Agrabaeus on Fri Oct 30, 2009 1:45 pm

The room flickered with bright lights from braziers placed here and there as well as burning statues of some ancient red dragon...or were they statues of Dragonborn warriors? The images were vague and a strange mist seemed to blanket the room. It appeared to be some sort of temple with a vaulted and heavily engraved, painted ceiling depicting some battle from a different age.

But there was darkness, deep and penetrating somewhere within the room. This feeling of damning and destructive evil had been growing stronger as of late, disturbing the Ranger’s dreams. They had begun nearly a year earlier during the bonding with Abraxas. The deep and foreboding feelings and disturbing dreams seemed to have reached a peak just a couple of days ago, bringing him out of feverish nightmares covered in a sweat, his heart pounding.

This dream seemed to be a continuation of his last, well, almost. The difference now was that the evil seemed to have a focus or specific source. The scene became far more vivid, moment by moment, than ever before and Vatlaaw felt that he was in the very room with the evil artifact. It was carried in a sheath at the side of a human who stood near a Drow and another human. Both of the others appeared to be spell-casters of some kind, though it was difficult to tell.

The human seemed suspicious of something, and began to separate himself from the small group. But there was a fourth creature in the room. This creature became visible the instant it threw a vial of something. The creature was large with a blue cast to its skin and a single horn protruded from the center of its forehead. It was muscular and carried a huge sword at its side. It had armor of some kind, a mix between hide, leather, and the finest chain links Vatlaaw had ever seen.

The vial landed between the three original occupants and exploded with a violent hiss of gas and smoke. The two humans immediately grasped their throats and began coughing as they collapsed to their knees. The Drow turned and tried to cast a spell while raising a wand. But as he opened his mouth he was overcome by the gas and also collapsed to the ground.

The Oni, for that was the only name that came to Vatlaaw’s mind, approached the fallen trio and looked them over. The three were alive, apparently alert, but paralyzed and barely able to continue breathing. The Oni was drawn to the Human with the long dagger at his side. Reaching down, he drew the vile weapon from its sheath and his eyes flashed in surprise. The Oni opened his mouth a moment in apparent shock before some look of glee passed over him. Smiling broadly and chuckling softly he bent down to deal with the three fallen comrades, the dagger clutched tightly in his grip.

The scene changed and the Oni was walking away, a faint sound of laughter could be heard, though just barely. On the floor were three dried husks. One of them cracked and collapsed into dust inside his robes. Vatlaaw felt the evil moving from the room as he looked down upon the lifeless creatures whose souls were probably destroyed forever, consumed by the dark artifact that was the dagger.

IC:
The hallway lit up as Promiscus provided some source of illumination (OOC: Please let me know what is is) and proceeded forward. The first door opened easily. Inside was a bedroom with all of the furniture stripped out. In the corner there ares the remnants of a mattress. Bones are piled in the room. A close inspection reveals that most of them are Dragonborn, though there are many Orc and goblin bones. Some kobold and wolf bones are also present. They have been picked clean, some of them crushed and the marrow sucked out. This appears to have been the work of Ogres, given the teeth marks.

Two other rooms appear much the same. The rest of the rooms in this hallway are completely empty. It appears the Ogres either re-used the furniture for other purposes or used it as firewood. Promiscus remembers the bonfires where the dead were being burned or cooked. He now knows where all that wood came from.

The hallway dead ends but there are large double doors to his left and right. Some sound, like dripping water, can be heard coming from beyond the right-hand set of doors.

[DM Nik]

Promiscus listens intently to the dripping sounds. He motions to Ray, and they head through the left doors, away from the sound of water.