Category The Tormentors

Pressing onward, the group explores a small and intimate hidey-hole. Whomever lived here, it is clear that he/she/they/it loved books, as there is an altar to a deity of knowledge and learning. Later on, the group (after battling another stone golem) discovers a library – completely devoid of any books, though the warped and bent shelves tell a tale of many tomes once stacked thereupon. They also find a book detailing how one progresses to lichdom…an ominous sign. More ominous, they discover many half-empty jars of the components needed to help one along the path to unlife. Along the way they thrust the paladin into a corridor full of flesh eating grasshoppers and deadly rot grubs, and they pass by two trapped and locked doors.

After exploring every available option except two – they choos...

After spending a few weeks in Arabel, the group decides to try and obtain an adventuring charter. Inquiries direct the party to the Dancing Dragon, where they plan on interviewing prospective employers. On the way there, they witness a muggin and decide to give chase. The victim is rescued and the assailants are chased until they produce a cloud of smoke and evade capture.

The city watch is summoned and statements are given. As the watch details the contents of the occupants purce, the cleric asks for a copy of the contents and the guard is obliging enough, believing the letter to be a load of bollock juice. The group journeys on and eventually is hired by the trading coster with whom they did business earlier.

The letter and the enclosed map reference a name and a location not too far dis...

There is the usual round of frantic strategizing about possible plans and options. In the end it is decided that the Lad, Gal, Kormier and Goldpiece will just have to apply the beatdown to the iron maiden iron golem. Malchor and Ofelia will provide cheerleading services.

The battle is pitched and the damage dealt is staggering. Goldpiece nearly is slain when the golem crushes his shoulder, but the cleric is ready to restore him to health. The battle rages for several minutes before the Gal unleashes a series of savage blows that hack the ambulatory torture device into pieces and halts its rampage.

Trapped exits are bypassed with passwall spells and the group briefly surveys a series of holding cells before climbing stairs and entering a ‘conference room’ at the top of the tower...

The secret door is chosen, much to the party’s dismay. For, behind the door lurks a large and angry humanoid that pulps the Lad’s head with a single blow and nearly kills the mage as well before retreating into the corridor. The party pursues and slays it near some large doors.
The doors are opened and investigated. A cavern is found and explored – a river runs through it and large boulders litter the floor. A strange substance coats many of the rocks. The substance is explained when the giant slug heaves into view. It is slain in short order after the mage transforms it into a fish and the adventurers resume exploration mode.
The party deploys the galley as a bridge and begins to cross over tot he other side. There, more doors that conceal a band of barricaded orcs...

The next days pass in much the same way as the previous ones. A bit of idle speculation about the motives of the lunatics who built the monastery, a bit of exploration, some pitched combat, the odd trap and doors. So. Many. Doors.
Eventually, the doors end in the foyer of the second tower – on the opposite side of the monastery from where the party defeated the lich, lo about two tendays ago. Although stairs lead upwards, they also lead downwards and it is on the downward path that the party treads onward.
The bottom of the stairs give rise to five paths, some more menacing than the others. The least menacing path ends up pelting the party with multiple magic missiles before they retreat...