August 4, 2024
Beggar 21, 5043 (cont)
(4:00 PM)
Still fighting with the chess board. We triumph over
the chess challenge and continue to try and find the next lever.
XP:
1,000
Along the way <see Level
3 Maze> we consider Barbie Yaga’s Dreamhouse. Enter the
Queen arch, Ben casts Find the Path on Arden, and off we go. Up and down we wander
up and down we wah-ahn-der. We find a lever with FtP and Arden does
a search around the wall with the lever.
Init: Arden, Zora, Ben, Beari.
Arden attacked by a Mimic Lever. ML attaches to
Arden, who is grappled.
Round 1:
Beari knows – Mimics are adhesive, slam, grapple,
alcohol reduces glue by ½.
Arden tries to stab ML with dagger, does 73, 52, misses, 22
(REF saves to keep dagger from being adhesively taken away)
Zora shoots ML for 20, 22, 19, 19, kills.
We find 8gp. Yay.
XP:
12
Follow FtP again. We stay the course – a thousand
points of light. "Another 100 feet. Another 100 feet..."
As many feats as we have, we must be a centipede: <see centipede>.
We find a small red dragon blocking the corridor and hear,
“I’d turn back if I were you.”. We successfully
disbelieve and he goes away. We go upstairs and downstairs and find no
masters’ chambers. We find a monstrous scorpion – ICK.
Init: Beari, Zora, Arden, Ben
Round 1:
Beari casts Cone of Cold for 46.
MS tries to attack Beari, misses.
Zora tumbles past Arden and Beari to hit MS for 119, 31,
25, kills
XP:
0
Arden disables a Lightning Bolt trap.
We find a Mirmarch – a kind of Formian - has
immunities, some innate magic – poison, no mind control.
Init: Arden, Beari, Zora, Ben
Round 1:
MM casts Order’s Wrath (lawful force) on all. Arden
is Lawful and not affected.
Arden tumbles past MM to flank, pokes it in its Anty Ass
<see picture>.
Beari casts Magic Missile.
Zora charges and hits for 49, kills.
XP:
0
(6:00pm)
We find a lever. Arden tries to assess its
leveriness. It seems pretty levery so we gather and pull. New
room. We follow the hall <see Level
4 Passageway> and look for a puzzle in the dark and the glowing.
Init: Zora, Beari, Arden, Ben
Round 0:
Arden is hit with a spell (Finger of Death) but saves and only takes damage;
Zora is hit with a spell (Disintegrate) but saves and only takes damage.
Beari is not hit with a spell.
Round 1:
Whatever is attacking us we can’t see it.
Zora activates boots – flies up and forward, sees a
giant eyeball ahead – Beholder. Zora alerts the others, then
charges and hits for 30.
Beari moves up and throws a light stone ahead.
Arden moves forward and throws dagger, hits for a critical
and 94.
Ben runs up and casts Destruction and Beholder is consumed by Holy
Fire <see campfire>.
XP:
219
We go, go, go, and find the lobby <see Level 4 Lobby>.
We solve the word puzzle and make camp to rest and get
spells back.
XP:
1,500
Beggar 22, 5043
(8:00AM)
Go through the arch marked GLIDE. Ben casts Find
the Path on Arden.
<see Level 4 Maze>
Find a Death Glyph – safe word is
“Ocean”. Find a secret door. Arden opens the door and a
trap goes off! Arden makes a Reflex save – see an empty hallway
– go back to the main corridor. Beari finds a Secret Door –
Arden opens (after checking for traps) – sees an empty hallway. We
follow the FtP.
See a small white dragon ahead and hear “None Shall
Pass.” We disbelieve and continue on.
Come to a dead end, but FtP keeps pulling Arden
forward. Arden finds no traps. Disbelieves in rock end of
passageway and it disappears – only to reveal a steel wall. Arden
looks for secret doors but finds none.
Beari dated a wall when she was a wall flower. She uses
spellcraft to determine that the wall has 180hp, SR 30, elemental spells will
only do 20% damage, AC 45, and that wall will swallow weapons which hit it (but
they can be recovered). Beari casts Greater Dispelling on it and all its magical aspects
go away. Then Zora beats the wall to death.
We follow the FtP. Found an illusion. Found a
lever but Arden takes 59HP electrical. Follow the FtP. We find a
monster. It’s a humanoid! Medusa!
Init: Arden, Beari, Ben, Zora.
Round 1:
Arden tumbles past, pokes several times for 43 and bleeding.
Beari casts Mordenkaimen Sword and hits for 20.
M meets Ben’s gaze but he resists; snakes attack
Arden for 8; M attacks Zora but misses.
Ben casts Destruction but M saves and only takes 40hp;
casts Flame Strike and kills.
XP:
95
Follow FtP. Find a monster. It’s a
Basilisk!
Init: Zora, Beari, Arden, Ben
Round 1:
Zora moves to B, hits for 32, 26, 30, criticals and kills.
We take its eyes.
XP:
0
Another monster. It’s a cockatrice!
Init: Zora, Beari, Arden, Ben
Round 1:
Zora hits for 28, 21, 26, 27.
C hits Zora but she saves vs petrification.
Beari Magic Missiles for 17.
Arden shoots for 23.
Ben reserves.
Round 2:
Zora hits for 48, kills.
We take its head.
XP:
0
FtP. We see a group coming towards us – they look
familiar – it’s a mirror. We turn with the FtP and all is
well.
Arden avoids falling when an illusion hides stairs going
down.
We see a monster; it looks like a savage bull; it’s a
Gorgon!
Init: Arden, Beari, Zora, Ben.
Round 1:
Gorgon breathes but we all save against petrification.
Arden tumbles to back of group and shoots for 3.
Beari Magic Missles for 20.
Zora kills it.
We don’t take any body parts this time.
XP:
0
FtP. We find a pit, fly over it. FtP. find the
lever, pull it. New level.
(11:00AM)
We leave the alcove and go to the monster <see Level 5 Passageway>.
It’s a Shiverblade! Zora tells us all about it
from her Memory Cards. It moves very slowly, so we duck back around the
corner and take turn poking out and using distance weapons & spells on it.
Init: Beari, Arden, Zora, Ben.
Round 1:
Beari casts a Maximized Fireball for 60 (it save for ½ damage).
Arden shoots for 7.
SB moves 5’ closer.
Zora shoots for 12 (+ an ignored 6cold)
Ben casts Implosion and kills it.
XP:
570
It is a Sudoku puzzle!
Everyone agrees that the answer is the leftmost arch.
XP:
2000
Everyone
is now 20th level! [Except
the advances will not take effect until the next run.]
Step inside and Ben casts Find the Path on Arden.
[No
map until the maze is finished.]
We see a green dragon. We disbelieve. Oops.
Init: Arden, Beari, Zora, Ben.
Round 0:
GD breathes acid mist on us. We all make our FORT
saves and take only ½ damage.
Round 1:
GD tries to cast a spell but it fizzles.
Arden hits for 36, 40, 38 and then tumbles to back of team.
Beari casts Fireball for 40 and kills it.
No body parts left.
XP:
0
FtP.
Round 0:
Suddenly everyone notices as Beari falls to her knees,
uncontrollably retching (nauseated).
Init: Beari, Arden, Ben, Zora.
Round 1:
Lich appears and casts Wall of Force around Ben.
Beari is nauseated.
Arden tumbles to behind Lich and hits for 13, 15, 15
Ben reserves for a target.
Zora does a partial charge and hits for 33,40,39,31, 38.
Round 2:
Lich casts Bigby’s Interposing Hand at Zora; Enervation on Arden for -3 levels.
Arden hits for 12, 14, miss, 11.
Zora hits for 28, 26, miss, miss, 28.
Round 3:
Lich casts Enervation on Arden for -4 levels; Vampiric
Touch on Arden to
steal 17 hp, but Arden saves vs Paralyzation.
Arden hits for 15, 14, miss, miss; fires Rod of Negation at
Wall of Force around Ben (hits but does nothing).
Zora hits for 24, 24, miss, miss 28.
Round 4:
Lich casts Vampiric Touch on Arden to steal ? hp; casts Blink on himself.
Arden hits for 11, miss, miss, miss
Zora hits for 24, 27, miss, miss, 23.
Round 5:
Lich uses Magic Missile wand on Arden for 12; both
Arden’s and Zora’s AoO fail.
Arden hits for miss, 14, miss, miss.
Zora hits for 22, 24,22,miss, 24.
Round 6:
Lich casts Magic Missile on Arden for 15.
Beari, no longer nauseated, casts Disintegrate on the Wall of Force around Ben.
Ben, having reserved for a target, Turns the Lich, dusting it!
Found stuff: bracers, cloak, empty potion bottle with
writing on outside, ring, monocle & gem, wand.
Beari casts Detect Magic, and finds that the bracers,
cloak, ring, gem and wand are.
Beari determines that the words on the potion bottle are
written in magic, casts Read Magic, and find that they say, “Gaseous Form.”
Beari uses Detect Magic to find where the Lich’s
phylactery is hidden in the ceiling. Arden flies up, sees it is a small
box about the size of a pill box, uses his crowbar to pry it out. It
falls to the ground. Zora beats it apart and parchment with writing, plus
skin with writing, spill out. Ben casts Flame Strike to obliterate those.
XP:
2,538
END OF RUN.
