Category Ptolus

In the silence that follows Zaal’s killing blow, there is the distant sound of rapidly approaching feet. The group fans out and prepares. Fingers generates an illusion of a Rat Lord and sends it towards the likely avenue of approach while the rest ready spells and missile weapons. The illusion does its job well enough and the pair of running ratbrutes slow to a walk as they approach the image. They recognize the danger just as Zaal’s sleep spell overtakes them and they die at the point of Kegdrain’s blade.

Some quick exploration is undertaken and they find a dwarf’s sleeping quarters. The dwarf in residence is not in residence so they steal as much as they can. They poke through the Ratbrute’s lair (yuck) and find a large waterfall and slippery cavern beyond that...

The area beyond the door shows the bloodstains from the recent battle, but the bodies of the fallen have been removed. THe situation is dynamic and evolving as the days go by. They explore one of Bayga’s hunches and travel away from the structure – out into the sewer lines. In that direction they find traps, gelatinous pseudopods and signs of passage, as there is a ladder in a shaft that connects to another, smaller pipe. Eventually they return to their initial entry point and decide to follow stairs that lead deeper into the underground.
These are followed and lead to a large underground cavern, a remnant of a previous civilization upon which the city has been built. Therein, a tower spans floor to ceiling, flanked on either side by curtain walls...

Dropping into the sewers is accomplished and the group travels towards the metal door. They find it locked and trapped, but Fingers the Second bypasses both obstacles and the group gains access to the large room in which they encountered the rat lords on previous visit. The gnome’s illusionary magic is deployed to screen the party’s advance and Zaal’s rope bypasses the illusionary concealment. Once the group is ready, the wizardly knock opens the door and they burst into the room beyond, surprising some of the occupants.

The quartet of foes is seasoned and recovers quickly from the momentary setback. The battle is pitched and in the end Digin is slain before the defenders are vanquished...

Journeying to the apartment building is uneventful. The party gives it a good hard looking over and notices there are no external windows. Odd. The gnome is sent roofwards and discovers no access from inside the building, only vents – presumably for venting things. If only they could become gaseous…but no. Looks like the front door is the only avenue. So, they enter through the front door. Immediately things go south. A violet blob of jello drops on Digin’s head and attempts to dissolve him before it is slain with fire. Across the foyer is some sort of cocoon remnant, now crawling with brightly colored and presumably poisonous millipedes...

After stewing a bit over the galling robbery of their hard-won items by Wuntad the cultist, the group investigates the contents of the cultist’s folio they discovered in the icy walls below the cult-keep. They ponder a bit over the contents within and come to the realization that there are multiple organizations afoot in the city that are actively working to bring about an apocalypse of some sort. This could interfere with some of Bayga’s long-term plans of establishing a temple, and it certainly doesn’t intersect with a general trend for self-enrichment that runs in the party.

The group is approached by the local armorer...