Nightwick Abbey - Session 72 - LEVEL 4

Previously, in Nightwick Abbey...

Session 72 - 19th of Shocktober, 1392

This week's adventurers:

Blossom (Rogue 5)

Mayfly (Magician 4)

Mechtilde (Fighter 4)

Yevegniy the Coward (Cleric 4)

Verinka (Changeling 3)

Ulf (Magician 3)

Cherwe (Cleric 3)

Liminal Space (Changeling 3)

Krupe (Cleric 1)

Bluegum Lemony Spice (Changeling 1)

Downtime in the Village

During the two weeks of downtime we had, Blossom decides to search for rumors about the bandits to the south. She discovers that they likely have informants within Nightwick village.

Liminal Space researches Bloatus and ways to kill it. He finds an account from the Siege of Nightwick where a creature called the Piteous Worm is mentioned in conjunction to a man named "Balodis" who can produce a terrible heat that melts any around him.

Verinka recovers the magical sword "Slasher," that we "acquired" from the Great Goblin and had be lost when its previous wielder left the party.

The Changeling formerly known as Bluegum has become star struck by Liminal Space and has changed her name to Lemony Spice in honor her hero.

Liminal Space spends the week gourmandizing and gets terrible indigestion - he will have to rest every 3 turns down in the dungeon to "spew out of both ends."

Back in Session 36 we recovered a book from some cultists who had been investigating the glowing sigils on Level 3. This week, Mayfly and Ulf study it and discover a ritual to unseal the path to level 4 of Nightwick Abbey, where no party has ever gone before. We decide this week to return to the sigils in an attempt to enter level 4 for the first time. But first, we will have to reach it.

Down into the Dungeon

Make our way into the dungeon, as we quickly pass through level one, we come across a lone devilman, leaning against a pillar, smoking a pipe. 

He's clearly not a threat solo, so we chat with him briefly and he decides to accompany us down to level 3. At the time, we just took this at face value, but he really could have been preparing us for a trap, in retrospect. We're a little dumb sometimes.

On level 2, the stairs to levels 1 and 3 are close to each other, so we quickly scoot across and soon find ourselves on the landing to level 3.

Where Dark Things Sleep

The landing is a small 20' by 30' room with two pillars decorated with carved skulls. The devilman goes east and waves us farewell. We go west where we know the sigils are.

Leaving the landing room, we see the first seal to the west and Cherwe sees something moving in the darkness beyond it.

The cleric notifies the party and we carefully advance forward.

Ghouls!

Approaching first sigil's glow, we see creatures with pale moldering flesh and vulture-like heads by the next sigil.

Dhinron, Mechtilde's magical swords who can talk, cries out, "Ghouls! Slay them, ho ho ho ho ho" (we got Dhinron from Father Winter).

Mechtilde rushes forward and kills three ghouls, but the final ghoul attacks back and lands a soft hit on her. While not much damage is dealt, the ghoul's foul magic paralyzes her and Mechtilde drops to the ground. 

Cherwe steps forward and cleaves the creature's head from its shoulders before it is able to drag Mechtilde off into the darkness.

The Ritual

Mechtilde recovers after 2 turns, and while we wait for her we prepare for the ritual.

The four sigil rooms feel the most oppressive of anywhere in the abbey - the air is wet and heavy and it is hard to breathe.

Mechtile, Yevegniy, and Ulf all know Enochian, the language of angels, in which the ritual spell is written, and so they are chosen to perform it.

We spend 1 turn performing the sacred ritual during which Liminal relieves himself.

At the conclusion of the ritual, two secret doors open up in the sigil rooms, revealing a staircase spiraling down into darkness, seemingly hung in midair. A faint glow comes from below. 

The seals also go dark and the oppressive nature of the air lifts.

Level 4

We go down the stairs through empty space, becoming the first party to enter level 4 of Nightwick Abbey.

The stairs end in a 30'x30' room. On the western wall is a small pool of fetid water with a door on the norther end. The north and south walls also have openings leading into darkness.

The stone of the room to the south, which we can see at the edge of our torchlight, is unlike anything we've ever seen before, calling to mind stories of the sandstone of distant Zenopolis.

Back to  the Village

The night grows late, and so we opt to return to the village, happy with our new discovery.

We each get 40xp from killing the Ghouls and 400xp from setting foot on level 4 for the first time.

This is enough XP to push Ulf to level 4 and he learns the spell Continual Darkness!