Accusations

With this post, I am caught up on the campaign again. This past week's session we had the full complement of players (five). The players took longer than I expected which was great. With a few more people in the session, there was considerably more role-playing.

Session 82: Secret of the Blacksphere, Part II

Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Aashdoshan (human necromancer), Alrix (couatl sorcerer), Domago (human cleric NPC), Fenris the Filch (human thief NPC), Lantosh (human fighter NPC).

Looking for information on the mysterious blacksphere, some members of the Company of the Black Dragon went to see the wizard Zallin in his tower in the Ruvean woods. Unfortunately, whoever resided in the tower did not like visitors, using magic and undead zombies and wights to drive them off.

Back in Caster’s Ford, the entire Company meets in Paderus’ tower. They decide to return immediately to the forest tower. In hopes that the occupant will not have time to prepare more spells. They arrive and walk up to the tower that now seems deserted. Fenris checks the only door and unlocks it. The door eases open. Inside they find a few storerooms and a kitchen on the ground floor. There are some signs of occupancy but it also appears a little abandoned. Sacks of flour are inhabited by vermin in the kitchen. A run of stone steps curls up the outside wall of the tower to the second floor. Here they find an imposing oak door with a black iron lock. Fenris tries to unlock it but finds it is beyond him. The stair continues up to a third floor. The center of the tower is a circular chamber behind the locked door. A hallway winds around the outside wall of the tower with empty bookshelves filling the space. Lakima starts down the hallway and encounters the wizard Alrix described. A wizard in a dark robe, his features sunken and drawn. The wizard menacingly raises a wand and points it toward the adventurers.

“Begone at once from my tower trespassers!”

Lakima tells the wizard they wish only to talk, but prepares a spell just in case. The wizard angrily shouts again for them to begone and then raises his wand. A moment before the wand can be activated, Lakima creates a wall of iron blocking the hallway. He waits for the sound of Lightning or Magic missiles but hears nothing at first. Then he hears a faint tapping on the iron wall from the other side. Fenris moves up the staircase looking to see if there is another way to get around behind their adversary. Just then the wall vanishes in a sparkle of magic. The wizard stands on the other side the last vestiges of a dispel magic spell lingering in the air.

Again, the wizard raises the wand but Lakima calls out, “Wait! We want only to talk! If you continue this, we will be forced to kill you!”

The wizard pauses but keeps his wand ready. He bids Lakima speak. Lakima questions the wizard asking if he is Zallin if he owns this tower if he created the blacksphere in Caster’s Ford. The wizard responds that he knows nothing of a blacksphere and that this is his tower. He does not dispute that he is Zallin. Lakima asks the man about his former apprentice Palderus and the wizard claims to have never heard of him. He fumbles the name deliberately a few times. Lakima asks the wizard about his time in the Tower of the Resident mage in Caster’s Ford and the wizard says he recalls little of it.

The heroes confer and doubt begins to grow. Perhaps they have been set up. Maybe Palderus wanted them to kill this wizard who might be rivals. Or maybe Palderus is under a charm person spell and was instructed to betray them? They carefully back away down the stone steps and take their leave from the tower. The adventurers stop to confer outside the tower. Fenris tells them that he went up to the third floor and found a large, well-furnished bed chamber that looked like it has not been used in decades. Everything was covered in cobwebs.

They hear howls from the nearby trees and three undead wolves raise into the clearing toward them. As they get nearer, Lakima casts Lightning Bolt and destroys all of them. He looks back at the tower and sees the second-floor shutters snap shut.

The adventurers walk back to Caster’s Ford debating whether to confront Palderus or try to investigate his activities. They arrive in the late afternoon and decide to head to the Blue Dragon Inn. They take a table in the tavern and eat a meal. Lakima buys a round of drinks for everyone in the tavern. A group of what appear to be four adventurers nearby salute them for their generosity. Lakima heads over to talk to them. He meets a shabbily dressed middle-aged woman named Lyris who is clearly a magic user. He learns she has studied a few times with Palderus when learning new spells. She relates that she finds him to be a bookish magic user but a good sort. She has nothing bad to say about him. Asking about rumors regarding demons or Palderus does not turn up any leads. As it grows dark the tavern becomes busier. Lakima suggests they get some rooms for the night. Aashdoshan goes to talk to the innkeeper Geflion. Geflion asks him if they again will be sharing a single room, one eyebrow raised. Aashdoshan asks for two rooms.

That night Aashdoshan and Fenris retire into the Tower in the Book. Eathwund and Lakima take a room and Alrix, Lantosh, and Domago take another room. Expecting trouble, they set up watches. The noise of the tavern gradually dies down as people head home or to their rooms. On Domago’s watch in the middle of the night, he hears quiet footsteps in the hallway. The steps stop at the room’s door and then he hears the sound of someone trying to pick the lock. Domago quietly shakes Lantosh awake and tells him. Lantosh whispers for Domago to pull open the door while he stands by with his war hammer. The door flies open and they catch a sneak thief red-handed kneeling at their door his lock pick dropping from his surprised fingers. Lantosh swings his war hammer at the thief’s head narrowly missing and smashes the door frame. The thief scrambles back landing on his rear in the hallway. A moment later all five of the adventurers are awake and in the hallway.

Lakima questions the man and it is quickly apparent he was not sent by anyone. He saw Lakima buying drinks for everyone and wanted a cut. Lakima pulls out the Quill of Laminae and touches the thief on the arm. The thief vanishes into Lakima’s book. Lantosh goes a little pale at the fate of the thief and backs away into his room. Domago attempts to reconcile the thief’s fate with his beliefs and also returns to his room.

The next morning the group decides to confront Palderus. They arrive at the tower and are let in. Palderus curiously asks if they found anyone at the tower? Lakima and Aashdoshan pepper Palderus with increasingly suspicious questions. Palderus starts to become alarmed and begins to back away. Lakima checks Palderus for enchantments and finds none. Palderus makes an impassioned defense of his character and seemingly wins the group's trust once again. He also offers to journey with them to the tower to confront the wizard who may be Zallin. Lakima suggests that the wizard might actually have recently transformed into a Lich. To Eathwund that does not sound quite right but he cannot recall what sounds off about it.

Palderus walks with a limp and is clearly feeble, but he tells the adventurers that he can take them to the tower on his magic carpet. This way they can get there quickly and he will not have to walk. Lakima and Eathwund join Palderus on the carpet and the rest of the company join Aashdoshan in the Tower in a Book. The carpet rises and floats out of the tower, Palderus closes and locks the door behind them. Some locals marvel at the flying carpet as it swoops overhead. In a half-hour, they arrive again at the tower.

The carpet settles in the clearing and everyone emerges from the Book. Aashdoshan leads a parade of skeletons out of the Book. As they confer on an approach, a voice calls out from the tower, “You were warned, leave now or die!” All of the adventurers feel a compulsion to leave but all but one is able to fight it off. Domago turns and walks away. Lakima looks at Palderus and asks if he has Dispel magic. The library mage nods, and with help from his book casts the spell on Domago. Domago is now able to shake off the compulsion and rejoins them. They look at the tower and see a dark figure at the second-floor window. Lakima calls for the figure to surrender immediately. But there are only shouted threats. Lakima casts Lightning bolt through the window followed a moment later by a fireball spell cast by Aashdoshan. The tower reverberates with blasts and explosions, smoke belches from the window.

The group quickly heads to the door and Fenris expertly unlocks it. They rush to the second floor, run around the hallway and find a smoking corpse of the wizard lying on the floor near the blasted window. Nearby bookcases smolder and smoke. Aashdoshan pokes through the remains and finds a Black key with a black crystal at one end. He tosses the key to Fenris. Fenris hurries over to the locked door on the second floor and tries the key. It works and he pushes the door open. Inside they see a circular chamber in the center of the tower. In the middle of the chamber is a pit from which hellish light emanates. To either side of the door just inside the chamber are a pair of stone statues of robed wizards. Suspecting a trap, Aashdoshan sends one of his skeletons into the room first and nothing happens to it. So Aashdoshan is the first to step into the chamber and between the statues. Both statues glow blue for a moment and spells of Feeblemind and Confusion strike Aashdoshan. Aashdoshan stops and stands dumbly at the lip of the pit.

Nothing else happens so the group takes a few moments to confer. Alrix casts Detect magic on the statues and tells everyone that they appear to be still active. Eventually, Fenris suggests he might be able to grab the top of the door frame and climb the stone wall to the ceiling, avoiding the statues. Since Fenris volunteers to do it no one stops him and he successfully manages it. He drops to a wooden desk with a flourish. At that moment four flaming skulls fly up out of the pit in the center of the room. A Flaming Skull flies toward Fenris and three head for the doorway. They ignore the helpless Aashdoshan.

A skull approaches Fenris and breathes a blast of flame onto the thief. Fenris screams and tries to run away with the skull following him. The other skulls breathe fire onto all of the adventurers standing in the doorway. Eathwund fires arrows at the skull and then switches to his Longsword. Domago leaps forward to strike one with his mace. Everyone is careful not to step near the statues. The flameskulls attack again breathing fire onto everyone in the hallway and Fenris. Fenris yells, “Get me out of here!” Lakima casts summon monsters and three elves armed with longbows appear. “Defend us!” he yells. The elves and Eathwund pepper the skulls with arrows. Alrix casts a Magic Missile at the one near Fenris destroying it. Eathwund continues to slash at the skulls with his sword. The next round of breath attacks disenchants all of the elves. One skull breaks away from the door and chases after Fenris burns him again. Lakima summons monsters again. This time it is three hulking orcs holding rusted swords. He orders them into the chamber. The orcs enter and most fight off the confusion trap. The one that appears confused attacks the nearest target which is a flaming skull. They provide Fenris with a brief respite before being consumed by flames. Alrix fires more magic missiles at the skulls. Eathwund smashes one skull near the door in half. Now the remaining two skulls are in the chamber chasing Fenris about, the badly burned thief desperately defends himself with his sword and smashes one of the skulls. Eathwund switches to his bow again and Domago uses his sling. Just as it looks like Fenris will be incinerated, Lantosh bravely leaps into the room, the statues flash with magic but he fights it off. He smashes the last flaming skull with his Warhammer.

A Dispel Magic is cast on Aashdoshan from the doorway, bringing the necromancer to his senses, Fenris makes his way to the doorway and begs Domago for healing. Domago casts a healing prayer on him. Lakima tells Fenris to stay where he is as he will join him. Lakima casts Levitate and gingerly float inside the chamber and up over the statues landing on the other side. He directs Fenris to a locked door while he busies himself checking the items on a desk. He finds several books on magic and places them in his Bag of Holding. Fenris works the door lock and finds an open chest full of gold and silver. Lakima cautions him that it looks like a trap. Fenris carefully checks and declares it safe. He starts grabbing handfuls of gold and silver coins and fills sacks that are placed in the Bag of Holding. Fenris searches the chest carefully but finds nothing else.

Lakima looks down into the pit. It appears to be a howling tornado of flames, except it makes no noise and does not give off heat. It does light the chamber with an orange flickering light. Fenris steps up beside him and tosses a silver into the pit. It vanishes about ten feet down. With the levitate spell still active, Lakima carefully hovers up to the ceiling and then down behind the statues managing to exit.

The adventurers confer over their next course of action.