Last week, the party managed to get it hands on an juicer and managed to capture a devilman in the process...
Session 36 - 27th of Shocktober 1391
This week's adventurers:
Sotar (Cleric 4)
Blossom (Rogue 3)
Mayfly (Magic User 3)
Anston (Fighter 1)
Liminal Space (Changeling 2)
Cherwe (Cleric 3)
Mechtild (Fighter 1)
Maelwyn (Cleric 1)
Verinka (Changeling 1)
Hirelings:
Ticze (Changeling 1)
Downtime In the Village
Sotar starts working on a spell scroll during the week. Now that he's level 4, he has access to level 2 Cleric spells. Since he only gets one a day, I think that scribing some scrolls to have as a backup will be useful. He starts working on a Bless scroll. Mayfly and Anston spend the week learning rumors. Mayfly is on the search for magical knowledge and spells. He hears of a wizard named Edric who created many of the magical creatures in the Sword Brothers' dark army - surely his spellbook is still around, waiting to be found. Anston wants to learn more about the Sword Brothers who founded Nightwick Abbey. He learns that they came to the Dark Country to spread the Law to the pagans here but they began using "strange and unwholesome magics" to this end and their efforts became genocidal. We also had to deal with the devilman we took with us out of the abbey last week. Sotar proposes that Mayfly might be able to hire him as a hireling due to their shared evil nature, but it's doubtful that he could be trusted, so we sell him to the Lord of the village for 100sp. He strings up the devilman from a tree and has his guards hit him with sticks. Wholesome family entertainment for the whole village!
We've also ruled that if our party has more than 10 people in it, we'll make more noise and be more susceptible to wandering monsters finding us. So this week, we're only taking Ticze with us.
"Can You Shoot Around a Hug?"
We decide to return to level 2, by the juicer, as we continue our search for the Gardens of Nightwick. We hope that by taking the eastern stairs down, we might better avoid Bloatus. On our way to level 2, we stop to force open a door blocking our path and find, behind it, around 6 robed figures who draw swords and make to approach us. We form a bottleneck behind the door and let them funnel into our spears (an absolutely goated weapon in Nightwick). Liminal hypnotizes one and tells it to hug its friend, which stops the front rank from advancing and we're able to fire missiles at them and kill them off at range. We collect 11 short swords to sell later and continue on our way.
We open the door to the room that has the stairs down to level 2 and we hear a voice calling out for help. Advancing carefully, we pass by a hanged devilman and deerman, who both had their blood drained. We continue down the hall and see a monk in red robes, hung up from the ceiling, but still alive. Sotar questions him and he said he was travelling when he was captured by deermen on the road. However, Sotar notes that he uses names for places that haven't been used in at least 200 years. Some of the party think this is a trap and want to either leave him here or kill him, but Mechtild goes to untie him and bring him with us. As Mechtild approaches, the monk closes his eyes and when he opens them, they have become pale pink orbs with no pupils. He lashes out at Mechtild, but misses as he is still tied up and Mechtild stabs him with her spear. After he died, we see that the bowl under him is filled with blood, just like the dead deerman and devilman. Sotar is disappointed that he wouldn't get to meet a fellow brother of the faith from ages past and the party descends down to level 2.
Strange Thoughts in the Dark
Down on level 2 of Nightwick, Mayfly immediately casts ESP, allowing him to read thoughts of beings up to 60' away, even behind most walls. He starts scanning around us to see what is around us. He senses the strange thoughts of devilmen in the room east of us. We go north instead, to outside the juicer room. To the northeast, possibly beyond the juicer room, he detects the thoughts of a being too alien to comprehend. Just trying to read these thoughts gives him a migraine, they're so beyond his comprehension. We're not encouraged by that and go west through a steel door - unusual in Nightwick. Beyond is a 30' by 30' room, painted completely black. North is a shiny red steel door and south is a black steel door. Mayfly and Blossom recall once having found golden torture instrument in the room beyond the red door. We open up the south door and see a hallway ending in total darkness. Sotar plunges his 10' pole into the darkness and pulls it out with not ill effects, but no one is quite willing to risk walking directly into it. Mayfly detects strange thoughts to the west - unreadable like the thoughts he detected earlier, but not as strong. Liminal decides to search the western wall for a secret door - and finds one! However the presence of a multitude of strange minds behind the door discourages us going through. Instead, we decide to take the stairs by the juicer room and descend to level 3.
Cold, Wet Vermicelli
The party comes out into a small room with doors leading to the west, north, and east. Mayfly detects a lot of somethings to the east of us. The room is decorated with 2 pillars (NOT columns - they're totally different) set with skulls. The architecture here is noticeably different from the upper levels of Nightwick Abbey. As the party takes in its surroundings, diabolic laughter rings out from deeper in the dungeon.
The party decides to explore to the west and opens up the door to a highly decorated room. The design on the floor is of a poorly made map of the world. Entering the room, we find that the ceiling is a well detailed depiction of heaven, only it shows the angels and saints being tortured! A metal sphere is painted in the center of the ceiling. This depiction of the God of Law is pitted and rusted with several large real eyes. From here, we have the option to go south, west, and north.
We go south to a room with a sarcophagus with a broken lid and a white, stringy substance all over the room. The GM refuses to tell us what this gross substance is, so we just assume it's cold, wet vermicelli noodles. To the west, we see several open rooms with glowing runes on the floor. By the illumination of the runes, we see at least four figures in the distance. They are all wearing ropes and one has a horned, silver mask, assumed to be their leader. They see us and one draws his sword and motions to attack us.
Luckily, they're at least two rounds away from us, so the party has time to get in position to receive them. Sotar casts hold person (one of his new 2nd level spells) and manages to paralyze the one wearing a mask. With missiles and spears, we're able to dispatch the rest of the cultists quickly. Searching the bodies, we get the silver mask and discover that the leader also had plate armor (which goes to Mechtild) and a mace that looks like a goat's head. Mayfly finds a book, though we do not yet know what language it is written in and the leader also had a gold covered box, encrusted with gems containing several figs. We grab the valuables and leave Nightwick for the week.
After the past two weeks, we now have a juicer machine and a gold covered box that are both either too valuable or niche to sell on the general market. We'll have to find specific buyers for them, which I suspect will take up sessions in the near future.
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