Game log for 2 August 2015

Dramatis personae:

Caleb, a wizard of the Order of the Sun (Chris)
Mayhem, a short barbarian of the Dragon Claw Clan (Chris)
Kim, a thief (John)
Yémos, a cleric of Dōsaútōr (John, covering for Eric)
Anêr, a swashbuckler (NPC/Chris, covering for Eric)
Kúflaug, an orc slave (NPC)

Plus scriptum de quoquo facto:

Still the 28th of Blôs.

The heroes went up stairs, then opened a set of double doors at the top. They heard a din down the passage to the right, and saw a dim light. Kim found a secret door right before them, and there’s a foul smell behind it.

Kind of like this, but no umlauts.

They went right, and saw two guards. The guards were wearing brown cowls over their head and upper chest, and bore spears. Yémos knew that the worshippers of Ažbrátōr, god of death, wear cowls over their heads. The guards waited for the gang to come to them, and shouted, “Get her ready!” The heroes struck, and the guards fought back with their spears.

They took down the guards after a few seconds. Kúflaug went down in the fighting, and Yémos couldn’t heal him with his prayers. Mayhem took a spear hit, but kept his cool, not going berserk, while he and Anêr made fast work of the guards.

After a few more seconds, two more guards burst through the door, and with them was a black bear. Mayhem got a good swing at the bear, and down it went. Anêr killed one guard, and another threw down his sword right after. Kim bound the guard, while Yémos bound Kúflaug’s wounds. Kúflaug, however, was still out.

They went inside the room, and saw four torches, two chests, a set of double doors on the other side, and a lever next to it. They went past the doors, and down the hall to a cave. There was a portcullis in the air at the opening of the cave, and the cave smelled of the bear. The gang guessed that the lever opens the portcullis. There was residue of an ooze on one of the walls, left within the last few days. They looked over the bodies of the guards, and took off their cowls and armor.

Kim asked the bound guard what is in the chests. The guard said back, “Wouldn’t you like to know?” Kim checked the chest, and didn’t find a trap. She opened it, and the chest gave her a jolt, sapping her strength. After she reared back in shock, a cloud came out of the chest. Everyone coughed but otherwise the cloud did nothing to them. The guard laughed and Kim snaped and stabbed him.

The gang rested. Yémos healed both Mayhem and Kúflaug, the latter waking up, groggy and hurt. Kim barred the door. After an hour, someone banged at the door, and yelled, “What the hell is going on in there?” Kim, Yémos, Anêr, and Caleb put on the brown cowls the looted from the dead guards. Mayhem and Kúflaug hid in the hallway to the cave, and Kim took the bar out of the door.

Four guards in brown cowls came barging into the room, and one guard asked, “What did you do with Átilos?” The heroes looked at each other, having no idea who Átilos is, and tried to look like they’re with the cult. This did not fool the guards, so Kim pointed to the chest that she had opened earlier. The guard walked up to the chest, then opened it and chuckled, “It only works for you heathens.” Caleb asked what is in the other chest, but the guards walk off. Kim barred the door again.

Kim opened the other chest with the arm of the dead guard. Once opened, Kim picked up the treasure inside with her sword, taking care not to touch the chest itself: a jeweled mace, a bag with gems, an iron box, and a platinum box. She didn’t have time to look them over when everyone heard the banging on the door again.

Then, Kim got an idea: she takes all the torches off the walls and douses all but one of them, which she puts in the bear cave. Everyone waited by the door, and eleven men in cowls burst into the room. They had no light, and saw the one down the hall. One of them bade six of the cowled men to check out the light while he went out to grab the torch in the hall. He walked in, and checked to the left of the door. Kim steps out from the right and swings her sword at one of the guards. 

A fight happened next, mostly in the dark. The foes’ leader dropped to the ground from Anêr’s stab, and passed out trying to cast a spell. His lackeys did better with their spell, one of them bidding Anêr to drop his sword twice. Both Kim and Caleb dropped from their blows, though Kim was still awake as Yémos reached the lever to drop the portcullis, hopefully with the guards on the other side.

And we broke, as John had to go.

Aliquid Latine scriptum quod vos legere nequitis sed quod vobis ego dicere possum esse de ludo: 

The picture shows the state of play. Kim (on the right) and Caleb (on the left, with the sword, which happens to be his power item) are both down, and Caleb has failed his HT roll to stay conscious. Kúflaug is the figure raising his knife in the air, and is moving down the hall. Yémos is at the other side of the room, and the little dice near my notepad are the guards who are hopefully trapped. (Chris moved to new lodgings for the next few months, and his minis are packed away.) The two d8s are the lackeys, who are clerics who keep casting Command on Anêr and Mayhem. The one whose face is too dark to see, #7, is the one who keeps winning his contest against Anêr. The d10s are both guards, and the d12 is the unconscious lead cultist; Anêr is kneeling before the cultist to get his sword. The red d6 with the 3 showing is Chris's, and the big polyhedral are mine. I like big dice.