Game 08 - The Azlanti Lost

Sunday, 3rd day of Neth, 4711 AR

With the setting of the sun, the door to the pyramid had halted opening leaving just a gap of a few inches, effectively stopping the heroes from entering. However, they were undaunted and - while the campsite was setup for the night - some of the adventurers sought to learn more of what lay inside the pyramid. Kisarra sent in her lizard familiar Kos, while Lady Helena summoned up a small air elemental, and Adyel sent her psicrystal in; an act that went unnoticed by all, though Garmidius suspected her of some furtive actions. The explorations revealed chambers within, and some crystal elements in the room beyond the door, though there was no sign of any creatures inside. Deciding there was little more to be learned, the party decided to post watches and settled down to sleep.

Moonday, 4th day of Neth, 4711 AR

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An early wake-up call came from Alvaro the guide as the sky lightened with the imminent approach of dawn; he had spotted something in the sky and Lucciola spied three flying carpets laden with armed figures. As the heroes roused themselves - all except Lady Helena and Ziyana who slept through the warning call from Alvaro - they were engulfed in a fireball! The flames awakened the sleepyheads, though they also flung Garmidius to the ground with severe injuries that put his life in peril.

The forces were evidently Qadrian, and as well as magic they also rained a hail of arrows on the party as the first rays of the sun escaped the horizon. The dawn struck the crystal atop the pyramid and the door began to open once more, the gap slowly growing. The heroes worked quickly to stave off the attacks while they effected a retreat into the pyramid, somewhat hampered by the size of the opening doorway.

A whirlwind suddenly appeared from nowhere and passed over the slaves, scooping them up and carrying them away; Lucciola was sure this was the work of the hidden druid, once again helping the adventurers. Then another whirlwind appeared, though this was more sinister and Lady Helena recognised the act of summoning an air elemental. The party hurried to enter the pyramid - camels included - as the air elemental bore down on them. As the last entered, Adyel threw the lever inside the opening that operated the door but its speed of movement would be too slow to stop the creature from entering. Then her keen senses discovered a hidden setting for the lever: with a resounding thud the door instantly dropped fully closed, right in the face of the air elemental.

The heroes found themselves in a square chamber, with a ramp leading further down. In the centre of the room was a cage of crystal rods within which was a beam of light that seems to come from the crystal above and passed through the floor of the room to another space below. Around the walls of the chamber ran a band of carving of abstract design; none in the party could determine if it had any meaning.

The heroes elected to leave Alvaro to look after the camels while they explored further on to see what lay within the pyramid. They descended the room to a larger chamber below that also had a cage of crystal rods in the centre through which passed brightly focused sunlight. A series of work benches were set near the north wall, while on the south were a trio of large stone plinths atop which lay crystal semi-cylinders. In front of the middle plinth was a large pile of disarticulated human bones, and Garmidius noticed the remains of manacles on some of the bones. The only other feature was another downwards ramp on the opposite side of the room. Garmidius stepped forth for an initial scout of the chamber and he reported no obvious traps.

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Garmidius decided he would investigate where the light was going in the crystal cage structure - a feat he could achieve by squeezing his smaller gnomish head1 between the bars. A moment later Garmidius's hair was almost completely burned off and his scalp scorched before he hurriedly pulled his head free.

Immediately Garmidius decided to further test the caged light by putting something into it that was not part of his body; so he went to the pile of bones and sought to pull one free. He grabbed a femur and pulled but it would not come free, so he yanked harder to dislodge the bone from the pile. A warning shout from the remainder of the group on the ramp caught his attention and he looked up to see the pile of bones had risen up and formed into the semblance of a large humanoid creature: this was a bone golem.

Garmidius quickly scooted away from the monster as his companions moved in engage: this would not be an easy fight. Immune to magic, the bone golem proved a formidable adversary. It even had the power to summon a bone cage around an individual, and cause it to contract and squeeze the life from its captive: both Miria and Lady Helena were subject to this attack before sufficient damage was inflicted to the cage to allow its prisoner to escape. The bone golem's strength and resilience was indeed great, and several of the party were sorely wounded or unconscious before it was finally slain by Adyel.

With the monster defeated, the heroes searched the body and room, but the only item found was a wand of levitation that rested on a pair of hooks underneath one of the wooden work benches.

The adventurers's attention shifted to the stone plinths and their crystal semi-cylinders. Around the sides of the plinths ran an abstract design similar to the one in the room above. From careful examination Garmidius determined that the crystal atop the plinth would rotate and roll back into the plinth itself. Electing to try the right-hand plinth, he pushed the crystal semi-cylinder with both hands, and after a moment of resistance it did indeed roll back into the plinth. There was nothing beneath the crystalline canopy, although the top was carved with intricate magical runes. Lady Helena and Kisarra inspected these and found they were temporal in nature, and that the crystal coffins were intended to preserve their contents. Further checks by Garmidius revealed no hidden compartments.

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The heroes moved to the centre plinth and opened this in a similar manner to the first. This one was occupied, and within lay a desiccated figure that was dressed and adorned in robes and jewellery of quality, and Lady Helena commented they were doubtless Azlanti in style. At the figure's feet lay a similarly desiccated great cat - a leopard - that wore an ornate studded collar.

Suddenly the figure opened its eyes, as did the leopard, and Lucciola shouted a warning of "Undead!" as his spirit sense detected the true nature of the beings in the crystal casket. Battle was joined once more, this time against the terror that is the undead. The figure lurched up while its feline companion sprang forth, and a furious fight ensued. A wave of fear washed over those that saw the mummified figure and paralysed Kisarra, Miria, Ziyana, and Lady Helena's summoned creatures for vital seconds.

It was a desperate fight, and great wounds were inflicted on both sides, with Garmidius going down during the battle from a mighty slam from the mummy. Dio was also taken down from previous injuries and the claws of the undead leopard, which forced Lucciola to bravely stand over his animal companion's body and defend him from further harm so healing could be administered. During this defence, Lucciola slew the undead leopard, and it was Miria that finally managed to land the killing blow to the mummy.

With the undead slain, the heroes found a magical collar on the leopard, and a variety of magical items and equipment on the Azlanti; some small reward for their efforts.

Now was the time to take stock of their position and heal immediate wounds before venturing further, for who know what other trials and terrors lurked within the lost pyramid?

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