In Through The Out Door#

Regrouping at the Halfmoon, the party sat down to food, pints and planning. Ulland approached the party, formally, and told us he wanted to travel with us on a permanent basis. He also told us that when we returned to the dungeons below the monastery, he wanted to find his cousin’s evil party and take them out, cousin and all. All right, then, welcome aboard!

He also informed us of his desire to change his gender profession and become a thief, in the hopes of surviving long enough to immerse himself in his own native bardic tradition. He paid Flint 500 pieces of gold to train him for the entry level of Rogue. This training was provided, unlike any details of said event. Ulland is now operating as first level thief with the hit points of a 7th level fighter ^{[PHB pg. 33 “The Character With Two Classes”]} .

Ulland asked around, looking for elvish chain mail. Lycovyne had retired an old set of elvish chain mail to the Bag of Holding - he retrieved it and Ulland put it on.

Arkadios told us he had found better employment elsewhere, demanded his share of the party’s treasure, was granted it and then took his leave.

Around this time a rather large Celtic fighter, armored, with a two-handed sword slung across his back, entered the Inn. He looked road worn and bellied up to the bar, asking after a pint and saying that Phaeldera, of the local Temple of Diancecht, had sent him here.

Hearing that name, Menka approached the man at the bar and made his acquaintance. Cathal had left Hibernia to see the world and spread the faith and, he hoped, return to the Temple on the Coast of the Serpent’s Teeth to dispel the evil which has fouled it. Indeed - Patrick O’Donnabhain was Cathal’s uncle, and Cathal believed he carried a very powerful sword with him into the monastery.

During his travels Cathal had signed on with the merchant Meadswallow as protection while on life’s road. The long and twisting road of Meadswallow’s travels eventually brought the caravan to the Hall of Seven Pillars.

Of main interest to Cathal in the Hall is the Temple of Hidden Light, a shrine to Diancecht run by a Priestess, Phaeldera. Cathal has heard that the valley above the Hall may have a back route through the mountains to the coastal temple, still hundreds of miles to the east, and that Phaeldera may have information regarding this.

She assured him that such a journey would be perilous and difficult but told him that a group of interest had recently come to her for healing and restoration, and she has prayed and the light had told her that this group may be of great help to their faith, although the healing light above had not informed her HOW.

Menka motioned Cathal over to the party’s table and made introductions. We told him that we had indeed been to this temple and that we intended to return, forthwith. At that very moment, the barmaid told us that there was smoke billowing out from under the door to our shared rooms and that, if we did not investigate, she would have to.

Our smoky, foul smelling, foul mouthed friend had returned and awaited us in our rooms. He demanded something to drink and, handing Menka and Kyril each a written missive, ejected his disgusting self out a nearby window. The missives invited the priest and the druid to meet a person of interest in a bar one day hence.

Kyril made a charcoal rubbing of the sigil he carried and handed it to Menka. Menka hoped to take it to Father Amon and see if the good father could give us some information on who it represented. With this object in mind, he headed over to the Customs House to see Orin Tor and arrange another meeting in the Tower.

Cathal accompanied Menka to the Customs House. One of Brugg’s soldiers recognized Cathal. An Hibernian like himself, he suggested Cathal join up with Brugg’s guards. Brugg ran a tight ship and the money was decent. Cathal politely declined.

Menka was able to meet with Orin Tor. The minister was sure Amon would not have time to spare to meet with Menka again. Menka asked him to pass on the request anyway and Orin Tor agreed to do so.

Menka and Cathal left the Customs House and returned to the Halfmoon. Kyril, Lycovyne and Cathal then walked over to the Temple of Hidden Light to speak with Phaeldera and see about getting some healing gear charged.

Phaeldera had heard about our adventures in and under the Temple of Diancecht. After speaking with Kyril and Lycovyne and hearing that Cathal wished to journey back to the Monastery with us she offered to do everything she could to help. Kyril and Lycovyne presented the Periapt of Health and the Staff of Healing to her for charging. She said she would do what she could in the short time allotted and that we should come back to see her in 2 days.

While the 3 were gone, Bennick the Wanderer entered the Halfmoon Inn. The minstrel wished to start a gambling ring and Gonchar offered to sponsor the activity. Gonchar lost several pieces of gold at the table before he quit…

Hanging Out At The Mall#

Once Gonchar’s short, painful career as a gambler ended, we retired to our suite of rooms at the Halfmoon Inn to sort through our gear, some of which needed to be identified. To get the ball rolling, Kyril equipped the Ring of Spell Storing. It communicated its contents to him, and contains 5 wizard spells:

• Ring of Spell Storing
  • Power Word Stun (7th level, PHB) Teleport Without Error (7th level, UE)
  • Legend Lore (6th level, PHB) Grease (1st level, UE)
  • Duo Dimension (7th level, PHB)

Lycovyne cast identify on the Wand of Frost and was able to determine that is contains 87 charges! Lycovyne added it to his own hear. The Necklace of Missiles was equipped by Menka, praise Thoth!

• Necklace of Missles
  • 4 x 3rd level globes
  • 2 x 5th level globes
  • 1 x 7th level globe

Kyril added the Staff of Defending +3 to his gear list. Ulland added the +1 arrows to his quiver and donned the Cloak of Protection +1, giving him an armor class of 0. Lycovyne equipped the Sword of Sharpness, while Flint equipped the +2 long sword. Gear upgrades, indeed! Lycovyne was unable to determine how many charges the Wand of Wonder contained, but he noted that the Ring of the Ram holds 15 charges, praise Thoth!

Thus equipped, the party headed out into the Hall to visit some of the various shops. Our first stop was at Gendur’s Curios. It seemed a simple little equipment shop, with a male drow behind the counter. Menka found nothing worth purchasing. Flint bought 2 +2 darts for 150 GP. Kyril examined a magic potion, thinking it may be Levitation. It was certainly magic but may have been cursed and he didn’t trust the drow shopkeep and so did not buy it. Ulland inquired about any magic bows in stock. The drow said “yes”, but a (later?) detect magic said “no”. Gonchar managed to score a +2 battle axe in the shop, however!

We next visited Dreskin the Provisioner. For 25 pieces of gold Menka purchased a quill and five sheets of vellum.

• Gendur’s Curio Shop
  • 2 darts
  • +2 battle axe

We left Dreskin’s shop and headed back to the Inn to tuck in for the night. The night passed uneventfully, though Menka never heard from Orontor or Amon overnight.

In the morning, Kyril and Menka informed the party that the missives delivered by the excellent and admirable messenger the day prior had included an invitation to a meeting elsewhere in the Hall. We explained to Cathal that this invitation was given by an acquaintance of extra-planar origin, and that the invitation did not yet apply to the paladin himself. Cathal agreed to await the party’s return at the bar of the Inn.

We made our way to Rothar’s Taproom. It was a disgusting rat hole and stunk like the mephit messenger. The barkeep was a female dwarf of surprisingly high charisma. The taproom was infested with all manner of orc, goblin and gnoll and none of them were particularly happy to see us. An old Hobgoblin (apparently named Nuuurrrm) entered the bar, just to add to its character.

It was difficult to see clearly in the Taproom, the smoke was so thick. Filthy human and orc workers carried swill around to their loathsome customers.

Lycovyne put on his Eyes of Charming and \sout{disappeared into a nearby chamber with a gnoll of indeterminate gender} ordered drinks for the party. The bartender told Lycovyne that “the handsome man is in the back”. We entered the back room. The air was clean, the reek and smoke did not penetrate to the back room. Seated at a table, flanked by two uniformed ogres, was the cosmic satyr. He enquired after our health and our plans. He then gave us some more information about the situation below the Temple.

• Apparently, the Huntress is in the process of breeding followers. Obviously, she must not be allowed to do so. We should find her resting place first, somehow destroy it, and only then destroy her. He told us it would be much easier to close the gate Ulland had seen if we took her out first.
• Somewhere deep beneath the Temple is an Elder Sign.
• An ex-friend of the satyr’s, one Lord Hillgauntlet, had created his final resting place below the Temple. He is undead and may be able to give us information on the location of the Elder Sign. We were to show him the sigil we carried and inform him that a debt he owed the satyr had come due.
• He also suggested, in the strongest possible terms, and with all respect and deference to Menka’s mandate to seek knowledge of all types, that Menka discontinue his attempts to identify the owner of the sigil.

Our meeting ended on a friendly, formal note, with many felicitations and assurances of future support from the satyr. We took our leave, walked back through the filthy taproom and returned to the Halfmoon Inn, to meet with Cathal and head over to the Temple of Hidden Light to check on the priestess Phaeldera’s progress.

She was able to add 4 charges to the Staff of Curing, bringing it to 14 total, and also added 6 charges to the Periapt of Healing, bringing it up to 10 charges, praise Thoth and Diancecht! She only charged the party 188 GP for these services, though we paid her 2000 more pieces of gold by way of a tithe.

We thanked her and returned to the Inn. We stayed for one more night so that Lycovyne could run one more identify round. He was able to determine that the Wand of Wonder contained 9 charges, total. He also identified the +2 darts from Gendur’s shop, as well as Gonchar’s +2 battle axe. The night passed uneventfully and Menka did not hear from Father Amon. Oh well. Kyril cast know alignment on Cathal before we retired for the evening, just to be sure.

We took our leave of the Halfmoon Inn, some of forgetting to re-up our spell lists, bid its hostess goodbye and headed northwest to the security gate. Brugg was there and said, simply: “Off with you, then!”. We assumed marching order and left the Hall of Seven Pillars, via the Road of Lanterns.

The Road Of Lanterns#

Not long after we set out on the Road we were attacked from behind by a bunch of flinds. Probably friends of the group we had given such a pasting on the way in. We did, however, win initiative.

• initiative win
• Menka tossed one of the smaller globes from the Necklace of Missiles in their direction, doling out a 7-point fireball
• Kyril cast faerie fire on the group of flinds
• Lycovyne hit a flind for 6 points
• Cathal missed, badly, and chipped a fingernail
• Gonchar hit a flind for 14 points, killing it
• Ulland hit a flind for 26 points with an arrow (?), killing it
• Flint hit twice for 20 points, killing a flind
• Ulland’s second shot hit a flind for 18 points, killing it
• the flinds all missed
• initiative win
• Lycovyne killed a flind
• Menka hit one for 5 points
• Kyril hit the same one for 8 points, yet it lived
• Cathal hit a flind for 11 points, killing it
• Gonchar hit one for 15 points but didn’t kill it
• Ulland hit a flind for 24 points, killing it
• Menka hit one for 3 points
• one of the bigger flinds hit Gonchar for 1 point, though the second big guy missed
• Ulland killed the big guy with an arrow through the eye
• initiative win
• Menka hit a flind for 6 points, killing it
• Cathal nailed one for 18 points and killed it
• 10 flinds (25, 19, 18, 18, 18, 18, 16, 16, 15, 15, 14 hp)
  • 80 pp (the big guy)
  • 90 gp
  • 120 ep
  • 40 pp

Cathal bound Gonchar’s wounds. Having dispatched yet another group of flinds without taking any real damage we continued onward on the Road of Lanterns.

We reached the secret room containing the portal back to the drow prison (see the map, Session 19) without further incident. We used the secret door - Kyril, Menka and Cathal first, then the remaining four party members. Once everyone was in the room, Cathal set the four stones in the appropriate slots in the wall, the floor section turned golden, we announced ourselves as friends and teleported back to the spotless room under the monastery. Looking around, we noted with dismay that the 4 stones used to activate the portal had been removed from the room. We would need to find them, surely.

Monastery, Revisited#

The light emanating from the floor gate dissipated and we were left in darkness, broken only by the glow emanating from the Sword of Sharpness. We opened the secret door in the opposite wall (C, map). No sounds or traps were found on the door. Lycovyne handed Cathal two continual light stones just in case.

In the room we found a woman, chained to the wall and writhing, dressed in garb like that worn by the pilgrims from Innsport. Cathal, failing a charm save miserably, became immediately entranced by the woman and attempted to save her. The rest of the party knew evil when we saw it and attacked her.

• Kyril cast stone shape, causing 3 stone pillars to appear around the creature, pushing her and Cathal backwards
• Cathal continued to attempt to dissuade us from injuring the poor, helpless woman
• Ulland, arrow nocked, shaft drawn, missed
• initiative win
• Lycovyne used his Eyes of Charming in an attempt to bring Cathal around
  • Didn’t work - Paladin v2 is 90% resistant to charm, Cathal saved
• Ulland nailed the evil woman for 28 points of damage
• Menka hit her for 6 more with the Flail
• Ulland hit her with his second hit and a +2 arrow for 22 points of damage, killing her
• minor vampire, 25 HP

Cathal bound wounds (on who - no damage incurred?). Lycovyne now has the Ring of Mind Shielding. We entered the records room with ledgers and writing bits and dust all over the place. Neither Ulland nor Flint heard noises at the door in the eastern wall.

We resumed marching order, entered the long north/south hallway and took a right, heading south to the rubble pile. Cathal detected no evil beyond the general low buzz of evil pervading the place.

We stopped at the portcullis to the east but, given a chance, Cathal was unable to lift it. We then continued to the rubble pile to the south (A, map). Looking over the rubble pile again, we found ourselves gazing down a dark corridor heading due east. Old wooden beams seemed to be holding the ceiling up on the other side of the rubble pile. We decided to climb over the rubble and check it out.

Once over the pile it was clear that this was a recent excavation and quite unfinished. The corridor continued east for 60’-70’ and the wooden beams seemed to be only just barely doing their job and it looked dangerous. We marched a bit farther down the hall and it terminated in a cavern that seemed to have collapsed inward upon itself (F, map). Laden with rubble and broken rock but nothing else of apparent interest. The dwarves suggested that we not investigate the area further and backtrack to the rubble pile, leaving the cavern alone. We did so.

Westward, Ho#

We climbed back over the rubble and headed west, back to the large cavern into which we had dropped from level 2. Lycovyne’s webs were gone, as were the chumps webbed by them in the first place. Curious. We checked out the stairs heading down (Level 4, map) and heard water running. Traveling farther into the depths seemed unwise at this point so we headed to the western passage (G, same map).

We passed through the cavern exit in the western wall. The passage turned due south 5’ in and then continued west again. The corridor continued for 70’ when we came upon some collapsed doors. We were able to clamber over them with ease. Past these doors the passage widened considerably.

It terminated in a large room. None of it seemed to be of recent construction. High, vaulted ceilings; black, rotted tapestries lined the walls, as did a red, glowing lichen, the like of which the druid had neither seen before nor ever heard of.

A large pillar stood at the room’s center. It was covered in writing and had a stone altar at its base with a large, metal ring embedded in the top. Cathal was not able to read the writing, but Flint was able to read languages:

Here sleeps Lord Hillgauntlet […] <br>
Take care ye <br>
Do not meet his end <br>

Without further ado, Gonchar pulled on the metal ring and opened the stone top of the altar. A black, winged creature, a cross between a wyvern and a pterodactyl, flew up out of the altar and attacked Gonchar twice!

• the creature hit Gonchar for 8 and 4 points of damage
• Cathal hit it for 10 points of damage
• Ulland hit it at point blank range for 24 points
• Flint hit it with a natural 20 with his long sword and the creature dissipated
• darkenbeast, 40 HP

During the excitement one of the black tapestries wrapped itself around Kyril, enveloping him completely. The Cloak of Displacement didn’t seem to hinder it.

• Kyril took 4 points of damage immediately
• Kyril shape changed into a large porcupine
• Menka attempted to pull the thing off Kyril and got attacked by what appeared to be its barbed tail, though the creature missed, praise Thoth!
• Gonchar attacked it, doing 14 points of damage to the creature as well as 7 points of damage to the porcupine
• Ulland lit a torch and began incinerating the other tapestries
• Kyril did 3 points of damage to the creature with his quills
• Flint got hit by the tail and took 4 points of damage
• Kyril took 2 more points of damage, being bitten
• Gonchar hit it for 16 points of damage, plus 8 points to Kyril
• Flint missed twice
• Cathal missed
• Gonchar hit again, doing 12 points of damage to the creature and 6 to Kyril
• initiative win
• Cathal hit for 12, 6 more for Kyril (ouch)
• Menka missed
• Gonchar nailed the thing for 18 points of damage, killing it, doing 9 more to Kyril, knocking the druid down to 16 points
• cloaker, 39 HP

The DM’s mom called around this time and said he’s an asshole. The party heartily agreed.

Kyril shape changed back to an elven druid, regaining 50% of his lost hit points in the process, bringing him back to 37 HP. Cathal looked down into the hole in the altar. It seemed to be a 6' drop into a chamber filled with bones. Flint got volunteered to drop down into the hole and did so. He found himself in a room filled with human bones of every description. Scattered coins, rusted weapons, stacked skulls, but nothing of interest. He climbed back out of the hole.

There was a door in the western wall of the room, on the other side of the pillar from where we entered. Flint listened for any noises and checked for traps but heard and found nothing. Cathal cautiously opened the door.

The door opened into a 10’x10’ closet, lined with shelves. The shelves were laden with human and humanoid skulls and bones. A lone human skull lay on the floor. There was a door on the other side of the closet. Flint checked that door for noises and traps and found neither. Gonchar opened the door in the western wall and the door in the eastern wall closed. The party found themselves split into three groups.

Kyril was on the other side of the western door by himself. Menka, Gonchar and Ulland were on the other side of the eastern door. Lycovyne, Cathal, Gonchar and Flint were stuck in the middle. Kyril was unmolested. The 4 stuck in the middle found themselves being attacked by flying bone hands while screaming skulls flew around in the air. Gonchar, Ulland and Menka got attacked by a stone golem. Of course.

• Lycovyne was hit by the flying hands for 7 points of damage
• the hands missed Flint and Cathal
• Lycovyne killed one
• Cathal killed one with his hammer (he has a hammer?)
• Flint killed one with his long sword
• Kyril, the western door still open, hit one with his staff, shattering it
• initiative win
• Lycovyne hit one for 5 points, shattering it, then hit another for 7 points, shattering it a well
• Cathal destroyed another
• Flint missed, then hit, shattering one
• Kyril shattered another with his staff
• the flying bone hands nailed Lycovyne twice for another 5 points
• initiative win
• Lycovyne shattered another one
• The bone hands were clinging to the party - Cathal hit himself for 5 points while killing one stuck to him
• Flint missed, again, then hit, again, shattering one
• Cathal takes 4 more points of damage
• initiative loss
• Lycovyne got hit for 4 more points
• Kyril got hit for 2
• Lycovyne killed 2 more
• Flint stabbed himself for 6 more points while killing another one
• Kyril killed another
• initiative loss
• Flint missed
• Cathal shattered another
• Lycovyne killed the last one stuck to him
• Kyril shattered another
• initiative win
• Cathal shattered one
• Lycovyne killed one as well
• Kyril shattered one, as did Flint
• initiative win
• Flint killed the last one and the screaming skulls dropped to the floor an shattered
• 26 crawling claws, 4 HP each

Meanwhile, on the other side of the eastern door:

• the stone golem attacked
• Gonchar missed
• Menka cast stumble on the golem but it seemed to have no effect
• the golem hit Gonchar for 18 points of damage
• Gonchar hit it back for 17 points with the Rod of Smiting
• Menka cast 2 cure light wounds on Gonchar, curing him for 14 points
• Ulland hit the golem with a +2 arrow (4 left) for 28 points of damage
• Gonchar hit it for 12 points
• Menka nailed it with the Flail for 9 points
• Gonchar got hit for 16 more points
• Gonchar nailed it with the Rod and a 23 - destroying it and using 2 of the Rod’s charges
• stone golem, 60 HP

We picked up the pieces, bound our wounds and made our way through the western door into a room filled with statues. As soon as we all filed through into the room, the door closed behind us, locking us in. The room was huge, and filled with statues, indeed. Given previous history we were wary in the extreme. There were large double doors in the far western wall, flanked by massive 20' tall fighter statues.

Kyril screwed up his courage and wandered into the room. 6 of the statues became rotting ogre zombies. Menka was able to turn them. Flint approached the large double doors and the large fighter statues opened the doors outward. A wraith appeared through the door and Menka was able to turn it as well, praise Thoth!

• 6 ogre zombies, turned
• 1 wraith, turned

The double doors stayed open. Walking through, we set off a crossbow bolt trap, though both Kyril and Lycovyne shrugged off the shots. Flint then found another trap mechanism on the floor. A smooth, polished area on the floor was a pit trap.

There was no easy way for the party to get over the pit trap. Kyril shape changed into a lizard, climbed the wall and walked past the trap. Immediately several bolts loosed from the trap down the hallway and Cathal took 3 points of damage from one. Every few feet Kyril the lizard moved forward more bolts loosed from the trap. The party lay on the floor behind Menka’s and Gonchar’s shields. We were protected from the bolts in this way.

Kyril made it to the end of the corridor and found a stone door and a bas relief on the door from which the bolts were firing. Kyril shape changed back to his native elven form and gained 5 points in the process. Kyril plugged up the bas relief with his dagger.

The party used the carpet of flying to get over the pit trap in groups. Soon the entire party was at the end of the corridor by the stone door. Cathal opened the door, it disappeared, the ceiling opened up and the party was attacked by 7 skeletal sturges.

• Menka failed to turn them, and then Cathal failed to turn them
• initiative loss
• the sturges missed
• Menka missed with a 1 and nearly hit Flint
• Lycovyne hit one for 8 points, then again for 9 points, killing it
• Cathal hit one for 5 points
• Gonchar hit one for 11 points
• Flint hit one for 13 points, killing it
• Kyril missed, barely
• initiative loss
• Kyril got hit for 2 points
• Cathal got hit for 2 points
• the sturges do not draw blood when they hit, since they’re dead
• Menka missed
• Lycovyne missed, then hit the one on Ulland for 8 points
• Cathal hit one for 6 points, killing it
• Gonchar hit one on Kyril, killing it
• Flint hit one on Ulland, killing it
• Kyril hit the last one on Menka
• initiative win
• Menka missed again
• Lycovyne killed the last one
• 9 skeletal sturges, 9 HP each

Kyril and Cathal were bleeding badly. Cathal was able to bind wounds on Kyril, staunching the flow of blood. He then bound his own wounds. The sturges had issued forth from a small chamber over the door. We found, entertainingly, secret doors to the north and south. We opened the secret door in the norther wall in the corridor.

Lord Hillgauntlet#

The door opened into a large room with a canopied bed and a withered, brown skinned figure reading at a desk. All of our light sources dimmed as we looked upon the figure. It looked up as we opened the door and smiled. Several figures materialized - 7 female skeletons. Menka failed to turn them ( even with a good roll). Lord Hillgauntlet, we presumed.

Kyril showed Lord Hillgauntlet the sigil.

“So. The Devil Duke sends humans, elves and dwarves to collect his due?”

We spoke with the undead Lord. Threatened, cajoled, insulted him. He was receptive but not a pushover at all. Largely bored and unconcerned.

“Louis” ???? (no idea, it’s in the notes with question marks)

We asked him about the Elder Sign.

“The Elder Sign is deeper below. You must pass the Guardian and the beast with the mouth from the top of its head to the middle of its body. The Sphinx, also below, has more information about the Elder Sign. Have you slain the vampire bitch yet? No?”

Lord Hillgauntlet yawned, looked bored and unconcerned and told us he would provide more information if we would simply give him something to read. We pondered his offer, looked through the books we’d found so far in the Bag of Holding. We offered him the Grimoire Illuminati. He smiled and accepted.

“What is it you seek?”

We told him we wanted more information about the Huntress and the location of the Elder Sign.

“Find the Huntress’ halfling - he will be hiding her.” (Rendil at the Halfmoon Inn?)

“The Elder Sign is below us. Follow the river in the direction opposite to its flow and it will lead you to a string of guardians which will lead to the Elder Sign.”

We handed over the Grimoire Illuminati as agreed. Cathal was inclined to destroy all the undead in the room and several in the party sympathized with that desire. We decided to leave them be as the Lord Hillgauntlet may be useful in the future. We can always come back.