Abomination Vaults – Session 40: Rise of the Daemons

Oathday, 24th of Neth, 4722 AR

The crew is back at it this week and the session started with a bang… Or a “roar” would be more appropriate… Gouts of flame… Infernal creatures casting spells… It was a whole thing.

• Four ceustodaemon climbed up the walls of the ravine.
• NOTE: Unfortunately, the group failed to identify the creatures. They were forced to fight without intel on the monsters they faced.
• At first, they were confused by Rasp’s erratic motions and gestures, but soon it became apparent as the monsters emerged from the darkness below. They looked like brutes and they were that, but they surprised the party with the ability to spew flames and cast spells.
• ShaiLu and Konnor hung back and lobbed fireballs and force barrages while Rasp tried to put distance between himself and the daemons to do the same. Meanwhile, Jorne, Trulk, and Hound charged in to help the cleric only to face the spewing flames. Jorne and Hound managed to dodge the flames entirely and Trulk was barely hurt. The group focused fire and dropped the first of the daemons.

• Trulk struck and destroyed the second daemon [with a crit that did 96 points of damage]. The rest fell like dominoes with several more crits. The dice favored the party heavily during this battle.
• Finally, the group returned to Dulac’s shrine to rest. The cult leader fed them the last of the chuul stew and provided Angrael with a spear so he could stand guard while the others slept.
• Once they recovered and daily preparations were completed, Angrael wandered off to feast on the spider corpses (see last session). Dulac asked if the group liked fungus wine and said she had a recipe they might like to try when they next returned. They mentioned the wine to Angrael and he returned to the shrine to enjoy himself.
• There were several options for exploration, but the group decided to help Murmur first. Konnor reminded everyone not to look into her eyes. They found the medusa where they had left her. She hadn’t even tended to her wounds. Rasp cast Clear Mind and freed her from the power that influenced her.
• The medusa was not happy by the situation she found herself in. The group learned her real name was Moadenn and she was an adventurer. She found a creature she called a nilith in the room she guarded. It had tricked her and took control of her mind. More than anything, she wanted vengeance against the creature and the group decided to help her.
• While the group conversed, Moadenn noticed no one would look her in the eyes. She jokingly noted it was 4722 AR and she thought these types of prejudices had died out by now. She eventually convinced Konnor to look her in the eyes and when he did, he was fine. She confessed she could turn people to stone, but it was a conscious ability she needed to invoke and concentrate on. Casual glances wouldn’t harm anyone.
• With that settled, the group organized and burst through the door. The small room was filled with vines from which the nilith hung. The creature tried to negotiate with the party while reading their minds for tidbits of information. Everyone had been forewarned about his tricks and no one paid attention. The beat down was brutal and Moadenn was avenged.

• While Jorne tended to his wounds (and those of Moadenn), Trulk searched the room and found treasures hidden among the vines.
• Moadenn thanked the group for their help, in triplicate, and offered to travel with them for a little while to repay her debt. The group accepted.
• As they turned south, Trulk noticed a red glow marking an arch in the cavern where they had fought the floating fungi. When he got close, he saw a glowing indentation that resembled the fulcrum lens he carried. No one else could see the glow but Konnor suggested placing the lens in the indentation.
• When Trulk did, a secret door opened into a circular chamber with a well in the center. A tendril of necrotic energy leaped from the well and continued to the ceiling where it disappeared. They recognized it as the energy of the Gauntlight. Jorne estimated it was growing in strength and might be close to the levels needed to launch another attack on Otari. Time was running short.
• The group left the chamber and returned to the south. There was a quick debate about using the ladder to move lower in the vaults, but before they could decide, a wandering krooth interrupted their exploration. The reptile was charged by Jorne and surrounded, but not before it managed to strike three of the party members and impale them with its broken teeth (which left them drained and bleeding). They managed to destroy the beast and then took some time to remove the impaled teeth and heal the lingering wounds.
• Konnor decided to check on Angrael at the shrine while the group checked three small rooms that looked like sheds from the outside.
• The first once held gardening tools but a rust monster had gotten inside and ruined them. It then found itself trapped inside the room and eventually died of starvation, leaving its corpse behind for the group to find.
• The second held gardening tools in good repair and fungi wood. Some wondered who had been using the tools; they suspected it was the Children of Belcorra but were not sure.
• When they opened the third door, they were surprised by a large ghonhatine, a lizard-like fleshwarped creature. Its stench filled the area and gagged the party. They had seen one of these before on the prison level trapped in one of the stasis fields, but knew little about them. This one was surprised by the party and lashed out in anger, but Trulk had it trapped in the room. The rest of the party lined up behind the barbarian and sniped the creature to death. Like fish in a barrel.

• Trulk searched the room and found Armbands of Athleticism under a loose flagstone in the room. He also found a secret door to a fifteen-foot-long hallway to a normal door through which they found another teleportation room.
• While Trulk dragged the ghonhatine to the lagoon water (to subdue its scent), ShaiLu performed the ritual to reactivate the teleportation circle.

END OF SESSION