Imperial Destiny Campaign III
Session Fifty-nine
“The Vaults of the Ordocar”
Readying 4.9-5.0, 782 CY
4th SPECIAL SERVICE SQUAD, EMPIRE-IN-OTHERLAND
Recorded by Actarius Constans Maidenpool, as reported to Tribune Numerius Bessida
MISSION FOURTEEN: THE IRON CRYPT OF THE HERETICS
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE(S):
· Investigate the Iron Crypt to confirm that the undead threat in the area is ended
SECONDARY OBJECTIVE(S):
· N/A
CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVE(S):
· Find potential allies for the Empire, especially those with useful skills that can be employed
· Learn more of the wizard-kings and their former realms
· Learn of old Otherland history, especially the disappearance of the gods
· Learn all that can be learned of the All-Devourer
PERSONAL OBJECTIVE(S):
· Redjack: Find sorcerers in Otherland that can potentially be recruited
· Sparrow: Find old Otherland magic unknown to the Empire
· Kira: Investigate the unusually high level of negative energy in the Anzihein region
SQUAD REPORT:
Glomm was tasked with finding and disarming the energy drain trap on the brass gate while Naramis was to absorb the negative energy from the protection of her shield. Naramis realized at this time that she had erred in prematurely dispersing the large quantities of negative energy that she had absorbed to this point as she had only limited means to do so again. The energy drain spell fired at Glomm as he searched, however, though he managed to dodge it. The squad recognized that the energy drain trap was resetting at regular intervals of approximately 18 seconds. The squad hastily abandoned the effort to defeat the trap, instead opting to have Naramis absorb its wrath while Sparrow and Deatharc safely rejoined the squad.
The restored squad retreated to the entrance chamber to rest, having been seriously depleted of resources by the crypt’s traps. A motion to rest in the more defensible scythe trap hallway was vehemently rejected by Deatharc, who pointed out that the squad could become trapped should interlopers move the bridge, sealing the squad behind the door.
Ready’reat 24/Readying 5.0
Naramis dispersed the negative energy on Skullcrusher and Sparrow.
Sparrow teleported to Novo Elredd and back to acquire diamond dust at the Imperial Adaptation Center for use in restoration spells for Naramis to disperse more negative energy. Sparrow later reported that he had encountered unusual resistance in teleporting that he could not explain.
Sparrow learned in Novo Elredd that the Imjian delegation was meeting with Overlord Malhauven. Bishop Kestross informed him that while most of the Imjians’ goals remained unclear, he had discovered that one of their purposes was to reclaim the armor of the Tyrant who had fallen in the Battle of the Broken Masks. The Tyrant’s armor, being kept as a trophy of war in the overlord’s main hall, was said to be crafted with amazing intricacy, featuring numerous alchemical devices and weapons. Its loss was known to be a great dishonor to the Imjians, though what leverage they had with the Empire-in-Otherland to get the armor back remained unclear.
Sparrow also heard that the corpse of the dragon slain by the squad had arrived at Novo Elredd earlier in the morning, transported by the jubilant townsmen of Geldstadt. The overlord ordered the carcass to be paraded through the city for the benefit of the people and the Imjian delegation. The Imjians were said to have been less than pleased at the demonstration of imperial might.
Naramis led the squad through the energy drain trap, absorbing the negative energy to allow the rest of the group to pass through safely. She then dispersed the negative energy with a restoration spell.
Redjack decrypted the meaning behind the puzzle of the Istra statue’s query, answering with the word “wisdom”. Of interest is the fact that this word was also recorded on the map found on the energy-drained corpse. Redjack’s pronouncement of the correct password caused the statue to slide aside, revealing a passage beyond it.
Glomm closely investigated the area and discovered that nearly every inch of available surface on all of the walls was minutely engraved with eldritch symbols. Sparrow investigated with his arcane senses and detected faint magic of the universal type. Sparrow and Naramis examined the symbols to learn that they comprised an elaborate and powerful ward that when taken together would create a zone where transmutation magic would be very difficult to cast. In addition, teleportation magic would suffer a significant chance of disastrous results, explaining Sparrow’s earlier difficulties. The wards on the walls were found in every room inspected. The squad resolved to teleport from outside the crypt from that point on.
The squad determined that they would follow the passage revealed behind the statue and avoid the other two passages given that the poem from the abbey advised one to spurn glory and honor, the words written above the room’s other exits.
The passage led into a vaulted hall featuring three staircases that rose to towering iron portals. The doors were covered with a maze of gears, tumblers, pendulums, and rusty levers. A powerful force had shattered the room in the past, creating a deep fissure that split the room in two, separating the southern stairway from the rest of the area. One of the southern portals hung from its hinges, cracked by the titanic force. The damage also caused the huge pillars in the room to lean at drunken angles and rubble from the ceiling littered the area. The fissure seemed likely to have been the result of the earthquake mentioned in “The Second Insurgency” that led to the first eruption of undead from the Iron Crypt. Glomm attempted to investigate the 40’ deep fissure, but nearly fell in when the edge gave way beneath his weight.
Sparrow conjured an arcane eye and used it to probe the fissure and the areas beyond the southern iron portals. The latter area proved to be a series of hundreds of sepulchers bored from the walls. The squad surmised it likely to have been the resting place of the knights of Gorag the Brute. Only one body remained in its place, which the squad guessed was probably that of the wrongfully interred Dracail Faerus of the Ordocar.
The arcane eye discovered that one side of the fissure led to an octagonal pit with no other apparent means of entry. The floor 20’ below where the rift entered shimmered wetly and the iron walls were pitted and scarred.
The other end of the fissure led into a series of natural caverns of stone. The ceilings were wreathed in thick webbing, which in some places held what may have been cocooned corpses. The caves opened into a larger cavern in which an underground river emerged from a waterfall. A group of a dozen ragged Castigoth slaves were huddled about a fire near the river, each chained to a central staple set into the floor via a link to thick iron collars about their necks.
A group of 13 horrid creatures hidden atop tall stalagmites nearly reaching the ceiling vigilantly guarded the entrance to the caves. Each monster seemed to be a bizarre combination of parts that Sparrow noted bore a shocking resemblance to the driders known on Oerth. While the bulk of each creature’s body was that of a huge, hairy spider, the upper half was comprised of the torso of a Castigoth warrior. The discovery of the Castigoth driders recalled the squad’s previous discoveries in the Hexenkaiser’s inner sanctum of the wizard-king’s penchant for creating life from components of different creatures. It seemed likely that these creatures had been created by the Hexenkaiser, perhaps to serve as a force for battling in underground areas where the arachnid portions of their bodies would be of great use. The Castigoth driders stared upward to the webbing with intensity, longbows held at the ready.
Glomm picked the mechanical lock on the northern iron portals, causing the gears to activate and roll the doors back. A library hall was revealed beyond, the floor covered with dark rugs decorated with eldritch symbols. The shelves were all empty, the thousands of books instead having been piled in the center of the room in a mountainous heap. An enormous tome with gold-bound covers rested atop the heap. The cover opened as the squad watched, the pages slowly flipping by of their own accord.
Sparrow used the arcane eye to investigate the library and discovered that there were six wights resembling those fought earlier hidden amongst the books on the far side of the pile. The squad resolved to attempt to lure the wights from hiding so that Naramis could easily destroy them. Forays into the room by members of the squad caused the book atop the pile to suddenly flip to certain pages and stop with a golden flash, invoking arcane attacks. One such spell conjured the illusion of an armored wight warrior preparing to cast a spell, which tricked the squad into wasting a spell destroying it. Far worse, another spell caused a green ray to lance out and hit Glomm, disintegrating him to a pile of fine ash. Though the squad had initially hoped to capture the power of the tome intact, the loss of Glomm made it clear that they would have to destroy the threat posed by it before further harm was done.
The squad’s assault on the library led to a major engagement as 20 of the smaller books animated and took flight against them, frenziedly battering squad members from all sides. The wights seen in the room struck the squad’s front line while six others previously unseen attacked the squad’s unprotected rear at the height of the battle from an unknown hiding spot. Two of the huge rugs animated to defend the grand tome, enveloping members of the squad to constrict and crush them within their folds. The grand tome unleashed a wide array of powerful arcane magic including summoning spells to conjure a fiendish dire boar and fiendish crocodile, protective magic, and purely destructive sorcery. The squad won with moderate difficulty, hacking the books and rugs to pieces and destroying the wights with weapons, spells, and Naramis’ turning. Sparrow was badly weakened by negative energy he received from four blows from the wights. Naramis dismissed the negative energy, though Sparrow had already lost several spells from his memory.
Careful searching through the pile of books revealed 18 that were still intact. A series of six tomes bound in red dragon scales were entitled “Heresy of Mercy” and dealt with debates held within the Ordocar over whether the disobedient knights who later turned to the worship of Gorag should have been accepted back into the order. The “Heresy of Honor” consisted of nine books bound in gold leaf that contained a collection of theories that warriors willing to die for prideful honor are actually shirking their higher duty to their lieges and deities. A pair of tomes with dwur steel covers were called “Heresy of the Good War” and contained a collection of theories hypothesizing that violent acts, even those committed in the name of good, can only result in further violence. A final tome bound in simple yant leather called “Heresy of Truth” contained a brief treatise arguing against hiding evil deeds and artifacts within the Iron Crypt, theorizing that enough evil brought into one place would cause it to implode upon itself.
It seemed clear that the library was the Ordocar vault of “forbidden word” referred to in the abbey poem. The valuable books were gathered by the squad for future research and brought back to the Istra statue room for later transport to the surface. Naramis gathered Glomm’s ashes in hopes of having him resurrected.
The squad next entered the crypts to retrieve the body that the arcane eye had located. Redjack observed that the crypt was likely the Ordocar vault of “forbidden deed” from the abbey poem. The armored corpse was gathered in a blanket and deposited by the forbidden books.
The auxiliaries were brought across the bridge and into the main hall with the fissure with Naramis again taking the lead to allow all to safely pass the brass gate trap. The negative energy bolt missed her.
The squad and its auxiliaries prepared themselves with numerous protective and enhancing spells before descending into the fissure and moving to the caverns beyond guarded by the Castigoth driders. Their goal was to free the Castigoth slaves. A titanic battle erupted as the Castigoth driders revealed themselves to be every bit as formidable as true driders. The creatures unleashed initiate level sorcery, displayed moderate spell resistance, had envenomed bites, and fought with intelligent tactics. The well-prepared squad suffered heavy initial losses from waves of lightning bolts and magic missiles, but soon took the upper hand, slaying all but one foe. The battle took a shocking turn, however, when the slain Castigoth driders rejoined the battle having somehow been transformed into wights.
The wights demonstrated that they possessed the full abilities that they had in life, now enhanced by their undead state. The undead fought against the living Castigoth drider as well, creating a three-way struggle. The squad triumphed with great difficulty, nearly losing several members. Naramis and her underlings proved instrumental in the victory by turning the undead and healing fallen allies before death, and perhaps undeath, could claim them. The surviving living Castigoth drider escaped by fleeing along the webs on the ceiling to a deeper portion of the caves.
The squad would need to use its remaining resources to restore what they could of their combat effectiveness before advancing further. The squad would also have to determine the cause of the transformation of the slain foes into wights and its significance to their mission.
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