Session date: Monday, March 6, 2017
Game date: Saturday, July 5, 209
PCs:
Caryatid, Magic-user 4, hp 19, xp 14952/20000
Simon Sackwell, Halfling 2, hp 6, xp 3724/4000
Adrien, Fighter 2, hp 6, xp 2414/4000
Retainers:
Brother Chase Pike, Cleric 2, hp 11, xp 1812/3000
Kevon, Fighter 1, hp 5, xp 18/2000
Debbi, Magic-user 1, hp 6, xp 19/2500
Well, we had a month between sessions, and a corresponding month therefore passed in game time. Caryatid took advantage of the downtime by scribing four scrolls of Magic Missile. That business taken care of, three PCs and their retainers (Gulleck's player being, unusually, absent today) descended into the undercity in search of adventure.
In the Temple of Hedonism's upper level, Simon used his recently acquired olfactory powers to sniff out a large sack containing hundreds of silver and gold coins, hidden beneath a pew. In the basement of the temple, the adventurers were suddenly set upon by a dozen angry giant baboons. They quickly hid in a small library room, and Caryatid cast Wizard Lock on the door to prevent entry. They looked through the shelves of scrolls and books while they waited for the baboons to move along. The shelves contained documents of all sorts of hedonistic pursuits: recipes for decadent feasts, directions for brewing beer and making wine, "instructional scrolls" full of embarrassing illustrations, etc. They found a scroll labeled "A Spell to Enhance Sensation" (Debbi translated from Ancient Idalian) and another labelled "A Spell of Bondage", which Brother Chase believed he might be able to cast from the scroll. They took these along with them and, hearing no more baboons, left the temple. Caryatid dispelled her Wizard Lock, so the hedonist acolytes would not be locked out of their library. (This is a bit of a house rule, but it seems reasonable that a magic-user should be able to dispel their own permanent magical effects.)
Next they headed to the Temple of Fate for more spins on the "Wheel of Fortune". Debbi took another ride on the wheel (which had given her frequent fits of sneezing last time, that still affected her a month later) and when she arose, she clutched at her chest with alarm. She was experiencing stabbing twinges and pains in her left side. Caryatid took a spin on the wheel, and discovered that like Simon, she too could now smell gold! Kevon was the last to ride the wheel, and when he get off it, he found that multicolored puffs of smoke now emerged from his ears at a steady pace, increasing in pace the harder he thought!
It took a while to decide what to do about Debbi, who didn't feel well at all. Eventually, the adventurers thought to immerse her in the pool of resurrection, which they knew would heal a living person of all their wounds. Would it cure them of impending heart failure? Well, it was right around the corner, so it wouldn't take much to find out. On the way, they ran into a half dozen goblins, who exchanged friendly words with them and urged them to get rid of the orcs that lived just to the north. "That's our plan," chirped Caryatid.
In the tiny chamber containing the pool of resurrection, Debbi cast her mage's robe aside and jumped stark naked into the warm liquid. She felt the warmth pervade her body, smoothing out the twinges in her erratic heartbeat. Her sneezing fits also stopped, and she received a permanent +1 bonus to her constitution score. She climbed out of the pool with a huge smile on her face. Brother Chase, who was not suffering from any illness, but obviously impressed by Debbi's description of her improved health, stripped down to his adventuring skivvies and took a dip in the pool as well, receiving a +1 constitution bonus as well. Brother Chase and Debbi dried themselves off as best they could, put on their clothes and armor, and the party was on their way again.
Refreshed and ready to take on the dungeon, the adventurers headed towards the lair of the orcs, passing through the room adjacent to the shadows' shrine. Now that the room was no longer shrouded in magical darkness they could see the broken up pews and other furniture filling the room. They also found an empty suit of plate armor, still wearing a backpack. Evidently these were the remains of a former adventurer killed by the shadows. Caryatid and Simon could smell gold in the backpack and they found it to contain over 300 gold pieces.
Then, they entered the hallway outside of the orcs' lair. Two orcs stood guard at the entrance to their lair. The orcs took a long look at the adventurers, and recognizing Caryatid and the others, one exclaimed, "Hey, those are the *******s who stole our gong! Get 'em!" An orc charged directly at Simon and would have run him right through with his jagged short sword, if not for a Magic Missile from Caryatid that instantly eviscerated him (she rolled the big green d30 for damage). The other orc ran screaming down the stairs into the lair, and the adventurers decided to make themselves scarce rather than face a pitched battle with the orcs.
The group explored a few more empty rooms and avoided a few encounters with the help of Simon's mindreading amulet, and eventually decided to call it a day and return home. Passing through the Temple of Hedonism they found two teenaged urchins furtively poring over a luridly illustrated "training manual". Pretending not to notice, Caryatid just reiterated the warning to avoid her "sister", and then the adventurers returned to the surface, pleasantly weighed down with gold coins for a change.
* * * * *
Unbeknownst to the players, in a small room lit with a dimly diffuse pink glow, Brother Chase and Debbi gasped as they broke the surface of the pool of resurrection. They pulled themselves out of the pool and kneeled at the edge, soaked to the bone and dripping. They were alone in the dungeon, naked apart from Brother Chase's thin undergarments, without armor or weapon to protect themselves.
"Caryatid?" called Brother Chase. "Adrien?" called Debbi, panic rising in her voice. "Where are you?"
"Why did they abandon us!!??"
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