Find the Key

This next session, number 129 we were without the party leader. Lakima the mage has become the leader of the group over the 3 years of playing. His job times changed so it looked like we might be without him for a few months. I told him I would play his PC as an NPC to the end of the current adventure and then have his character take a break to study magic. As it turned out he only missed one session. He found a way to make it with us moving the time slot forward slightly.

This session was a classic "find the keys to move the plot forward" session. Without Lakima's player gone the other players had to step up and without a clear leader, there was a lot of back and forth without a clear decision. But we got there and no one's character died.

Session 129: Puzzles

Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Alrix (couatl sorcerer), Aldus (human cavalier), Fenris the Filch (human thief NPC), Domago (human cleric NPC), Ian of Darkhollow (human cavalier NPC), Apprentice August (human magic-user NPC)

The adventurers have traveled by the bridgeway to a strange world in another dimension where a red sun beams down about desolate wastelands. They are searching for the two previous groups of explorers sent here who have not returned. Recently they have entered the tomb of King Zoser.

Eathwund opens the metal door at the far end of the chamber. It leads down a short hall to an intersection of two hallways. With his darkvision Alrix can see a chamber to the north where human-sized statues line the west and east walls. There are four doors down the west and east passages here. Eathwund heads to the left and notices that warm, dry air is blowing toward him from under the door at the end of the hallway.

“That door might lead back outside?” Alrix says.

Eathwund decides to open the door before him on the north wall but Alrix warns they should be cautious and suggests they use the periapt vs. poison that Fenris was wearing when he was killed. Lakima pulls Fenris partially out of the bag of holding and they remove the periapt. After some discussion, it is decided that Aldus should use it since he is bigger and stronger than Eathwund. Aldus puts on the periapt and opens the door. The door opens outward into the hallway and reveals a 20-foot-square room. Two large chests rest on the floor. Aldus steps across the threshold of the doorway and vanishes. The entrance also vanishes and is replaced with a stone wall. Eathwund examines the wall and realizes that the room was an illusion.

“Where has Master Aldus gone?” Ian the squire asks.

Since they have no idea where Aldus has gone the group decides to move on, figuring that Aldus is likely somewhere nearby and will soon find the group.

Meanwhile, Aldus finds that he steps through the doorway and then the room is instantly covered in darkness. His foot comes down on something that snaps and feels like wood. Reaching down he finds it is a human bone. Aldus calls out to his companions but they do not answer. Feeling behind himself for the doorway he finds only air. Aldus decides to carefully walk forward and after several steps, he encounters a stone wall. He follows the wall to the right until he comes to the corner of the room. Continuing on to the right Aldus traces out a 20-foot-square room with no exits. The floor is covered in piles of bones. He carefully searches the walls but cannot locate any doors or levers. Aldus decides to clear a space on the floor and get comfortable and wait.

Eathwund moves to the door from which warm air is blowing. Placing his hand on the door he finds that it is actually hot – like the other side is in direct sunlight. Eathwund opens the door and beholds a large, square chamber about 50 feet square. The near half of the chamber has a plain stone floor. The far half is a pool of bubbling magma almost to the height of the surrounding floor. Rising above the magma is a throne of black stone. Seated on the throne is a humanoid creature made of magma. Eathwund quickly closes the door again and tells his companions what he saw.

They decide to head down the eastern corridor instead. As they approach the door on the north wall, a large eye forms on the surface of the door. The eyelid lazily opens and peers at them. Then a large mouth forms on the surface of the door below the eye. The mouth speaks in a dry, loud voice. Only Domago (wearing the Helm of Comprehending Languages) can understand the words.

“It said, I am hungry, feed me one of your friends and I will move aside so you can get to the treasure I protect,” Domago says.

“We could feed it a dead troll,” Eathwund suggests.

Eathwund heads back to the large chamber with the sand pit and drags an eight-foot-tall troll carcass back to the hall. He tosses the carcass before the door. Two tentacles lash out from the door and the troll carcass is slowly eaten. Once the troll is gone the mouth says something else which Domago translates to “I am sleepy now.”

The eye and mouth close and then vanish from the surface of the door. Alrix yells at the door asking about the treasure but there is no response.

Eathwund moves to the door at the end of the hallway and opens it. He sees a chamber with a sand floor and not much else.

“We need to find Aldus!” Ian the squire asks.

“Okay, let me use the arrow,” Lakima says. He takes out the Arrow of direction and asks it to point to Aldus’ location. The arrow points back in the direction of the exit. Lakima tells everyone they must hurry; the arrow will only point for a few seconds. He rushes back toward where they entered. Eathwund closes the door to the sand chamber and follows everyone else as they head back up the stairs where the arrow points to one of the alcoves above the stair where the stone block trap came from.

Using the wand of secret door detection Lakima points at the back wall of the alcove and tells them there is a secret door there. Eathwund checks and is able to see the outline of a doorway but it does not budge when he pushes against it. Eathwund taps the wall with his shield and calls out to Aldus. There is no response (Aldus hears a tapping sound in the distance but it sounds far away).

Alrix then suggests the cursed Helm of Free Action. Lakima removes it from the bag of holding and hands it to his apprentice August. He instructs August to put it on. August questions what it is and Alrix explains how it works. Domago assures August that he can remove it from him with a spell. Reluctantly, August dons the helm and following directions casts a knock spell on the secret door. The door starts to move forward down the hallway and then slides into the north wall. They see an empty hallway now revealed. With the wand Lakima again is able to point out that there is a door ahead. August uses another knock spell from the helm on this doorway and it also opens. The light from Ian’s lantern falls open Aldus who is sitting on the edge of a pile of bones napping. Ian heads into the chamber and moves to awaken Aldus but Aldus immediately opens his eyes.

“About time,” Aldus says.

They cast their light about the chamber Aldus was in and find it full of bones, bits of broken metal, and rotted cloth. The group forms up again with Aldus in the lead and they head back to the intersection of passages. This time they decide to head north. The hallway leads to a large hallway with four statues of humans on the west and east walls, all facing inward. The statues are of different humans in different poses but all have looks of horror on their faces. The group all agree that this looks suspicious. Keeping a close eye on the statues, Eathwund carefully walks down the hallway to the far end where there is another grey metal door. Alrix then follows. Since nothing happens, the rest of the group follows but once they reach the mid-point of the chamber the floor is revealed to be a trapper that rolls up engulfing Aldus, Domago, Lakima, and Ian. Alrix and Ian who were on the edges of the trapper manage to leap clear. In the center of the room, a trapper had rolled up into a 10-square pile and is smothering their companions!

Eathwund attacks the outside of the trapper with his longsword slashing long gashes in its leathery hide. Alrix casts multiple magic missiles while August also casts magic missile. Inside the trapper the four victims struggle, unable to move. Domago is able to cast cause wounds, and Lakima manages to use his wand of shocking. But Eathwund and Alrix’s efforts are rewarded and the trapper dies releasing its victims onto the floor. The trapper lies in a pile of bleeding leathery skin. The area of the floor that was beneath it is revealed to be covered in gold and platinum coins. The group immediately starts scooping coins in the bag of holding.

“Get the platinum coins first!” Alrix tells them.

They also find a few items that Lakima detects as magical, a sword, a battered shield, a scroll, and a ring. There is also a copper flask with liquid in it that does not detect as magical. Everything is put into the bag of holding until the bag is full. Then they fill up the pouch of holding as well. With no more space to store treasure, they are forced to leave a lot of coins lying on the floor.

The door out of the room is opened and it leads into a square chamber containing a 20-foot-in diameter circular stone door and two statues. The statues are immense and each holds a stone sphere over its head. On the back of the statues, they find what appears to be the indentation for a clockwork key. Eathwund pulls a lever near the door and it rolls back revealing a large chamber beyond. Immediately, howling winds fill the chamber and everyone feels themselves buffeted and pulled toward the doorway. Eathwund sees that the source of the winds is a hole in the center of the chamber beyond. He quickly pulls the lever again closing the door and the winds subside.

The group spends time examining the statues but to Alrix it is clear they need to find a pair of keys.

“I know tombs like these,” Alrix says, “we need to find a pair of keys to operate these statues and block the wind tunnel.” Alrix goes on to say that he expects the keys will be in the two rooms they did not explore.

They decide to try the magma room first. Eathwund opens the door and tentatively advances into the chamber. Ian, Aldus, and Domago follow. Alrix and Lakima stand ready by the doorway. August is told to wait at the intersection of the halls. At first, the magma lord ignores them. Eathwund tries calling out to it but nothing happens. But as soon as Eathwund moves close to the magma the creature moves scooping up a fistful of magma and rearing back to throw it.

“Look out!” Eathwund yells.

Alrix fires magical arrows at the magma creature and Domago fires a pair of magical bullets from his sling. Lakima uses the Staff of Power to blast the creature with a cone of cold. One handful of magma strikes Eathwund in the chest burning him. But he is ready for the second throw and deflects it aside with his shield. By this time Alrix’s arrows finish off the creature. Its top half collapses into the pool of magma and a metal disc appears sitting precariously on the black stone throne.

“I have this,” Lakima says and uses the Staff of Power to cast telekinesis and bring the metal gear flying through the air to his hand.

Lakima examines the gear and notices that it has four sockets while the statues in the chamber of the door had three projections.

“This might not be the right key?” Lakima says.

The group head down the hallway toward the other door. The eye appears they pass on the north wall again and watches them. Then a mouth appears and says something. Domago translates that it is hungry again and will tell them a secret in return for food. Eathwund goes and grabs another troll corpse. Before feeding the corpse to the creature they demand the secret first. The creature tells them that a lord of fire and a lord of air hold the two keys they need to enter Zoser’s tomb.

“I knew that,” Alrix says.

Eathwund tosses the troll corpse to the door and it is consumed.