In which our heroes, against their better judgement, explore the depths below the semaphone machine.. INTO THE DARKNESS The group stood in the bottom floor of the under-construction tower, surrounded by bits of blackened armor that had once adorned the undead creatures they had slain. Foul-smelling black earth was scattered about the building supplies being stored in the room, and the rusty longswords the things had carried also laid on the floor. It was the middle of the night, past the witching hour, but it was anything but quiet as they could hear the sounds of animals and other, less explainable noises coming from the nearby woods. In the middle of the room was the trapdoor from which the creatures had entered the tower. Inside, the top of a ladder could be seen, but the floor could not, only an inky-black darkness. The trapdoor had a single, hexagonal-shaped hole in it, which appeared to be a keyhole. The creatures had dropped something else, too - a small rod, about 8 inches long, hexagonal in shape. The group examined the spoils of battle, and decided to leave the battered armor alone, but Hugo picked up the two rusted, cruel-looking longswords and placed them in his backpack, and picked up the small key-like rod, which hung from a simple iron chain. At this point, Red the Slayer headed back to the boat, yawning. He clearly required more rest, which raised some eyebrows amongst the others. Dronk heard him board the Wayward Derelict and quietly slipped off as Red boarded, not wanting to be around the moody and potentially dangerous Slayer. As he made his way to the semaphore tower under construction, Dronk could overhear the dwarven workers whispering among themselves. "Did you hear that? We HAVE to get out of this cursed place!" Dronk grinned to himself and continued to the tower. Inside he found Drake, Hugo, Cornelius and Baroon all clustered around the hole. "What's this all about?" he asked, and they told him the story of the creatures attacking from within. "Let's get out of here" said Dronk "We did our part, and you can get paid, and we can carry on to Dies- I mean, to Grissenwold." Drake looked at him sternly and said "Brother Dwarf, we were to be paid on finding the source of the evil that haunts this place. 50 gold crowns, a hefty purse. We must go down." The others nodded their agreement. Hugo was first down the ladder, his war-mail Vilkas strapped to his back, a lantern loosely gripped in one hand. What he could see as the dim light of the lantern spread about the room, was a large space, completely covered in dust. The room was round, with the ladder in the middle. Dust carpeted the floor, and fell from the ceiling, and motes of dust floated in the air giving the place a strange, magical atmosphere. Four heavy stone doors ringed the room, at the cardinal points of north, south, east and west. THE RING OF FIRE, THE RING OF FIRE As Hugo reached the bottom of the ladder, he stepped onto the floor. It was only then he noticed the strange pattern etched into the floor which strangely the dust did not cover. As his boot touched the circle, a ring of black-blue fire burst out of the runes and circle, setting his hair afire. With a howl, Hugo threw himself out of the circle, sending the lantern bouncing across the floor. He shouted up to his companions, even as smoke curled from where he had been roasted "Watch your step, there is some thrice-damned trap down here, the work of a cursed wizardling!" Luckily for Hugo, the burns were not severe, his quick reflexes saving him from a painful death. The rest of the group made their way down the ladder carefully, each leaping from the ladder to the land outside the strange circle of arcane runes as Hugo recomposed himself. Dronk's keen dwarvish eyesight quickly adjusted to the darkness as he began checking the room carefully for further traps. Cornelius examined the rune circle on the floor, Baroon said a quick prayer to Sigmar and Drake readied his greatsword, feeling reassured by its familiar weight and heft. The four doors appeared to be hewn from solid rock - possibly magic was used to build these Dronk thought, and spat on the dust-carpeted floor. The eastern, western and southern doors were nearly identical. Each had a strange iron gargoyle set on the stone, and within the mouth of the daemonic creatures sat a hexagonal hole. To the north, the door was bound with iron and instead of a simple gargoyle, a dragons face leered back at them in the dark, casting eerie shadows from the flickering lantern. Inside the dragons mouth were not one, but four holes, each shaped like the rod the undead monster had dropped. In the corners were two stone sarcophagi, each smashed, as though something within had shattered them. Dronk discreetly searched the ruined stone coffins, finding nothing but dust and foul-smelling black dirt. All five had a creeping sense of impending doom, but none mentioned it to the others. Drake gestured at the doors, and Hugo nodded, silently. As he approached, Hugo could hear a voice whipser in his ear "GO BACK, INTRUDER". Hugo looked to the others 'Did you hear that?" but none of them had. Baroon mumbled another prayer to Sigmar, as Hugo inserted the rod into the gargoyle mouth of the east door. The room was silent..and nothing happened. Hugo looked puzzled a moment, then turned the rod clockwise, and they could all hear the sound of hidden gearwork - then the door slid into the wall, revealing a hallway as dark as the room they were in. THE ALCHEMIST'S LABORATORY There was another door in the hallway, and the group proceeded to the door. This one had a conventional-looking iron handle, and Hugo grapsed it firmly then pushed, opening into a large space. The lantern cast flickering shadows around the room. In the corners were several tables covered in glass decanters, flasks, bottles and other equipment, all covered in a centuries worth of cobwebs. A large drainage sink sat in one corner. The floor was laden with dust, though not so much as the entrance room, and through the thin layer they could see blackened stains on the floor. In one part of the room a small depression, like a pool, was set into the floor. It appeared to be filled with a translucent liquid that reflected the light back. They could see the pool appeared pitted and burned, as though with acid. The group started poking about, looking for treasure or anything of interest. They quickly found several flasks which still contained liquid, though they were unlabeled. and in the sink, sitting on a black layer of fuzzy-looking mold, was an eight-inch iron rod on a chain, much like the first they had found. Dronk and Cornelius, searching the desks, found at least two sets of alchemist's tools, for distilling potions, strong drink, or even poisons. They carefully began to set the flasks and other tools within their bags. Hugo's eyes lit up when, searching another desk, he found a large bag filled with silver coins, hundreds of them. Examining them closely, he realized they were centuries old, minted during the reign of the Empress Margitte, the only Empress in the history of the Empire, during the Wars of the Three Emperors. Drake watched his companions and the room closely. As Hugo counted his coins, Cornelius found what appeared to be a journal. Though badly aged, the parchment falling apart in his hands, he was able to make out the title "Journal of Dagmar von Eshloe". He carefully wrapped the book in rags and placed it in his pack, then turned to the others. "What is in this pool? Should we try to take some?" Hugo nodded and began to search for something he could use to take liquid from the shallow pool, but found nothing. Cornelius closed his eyes and mumbled arcane words, summoning a spectral hand which he commanded to gather some of the liquid in the pool. As soon as the hand touched the surface, it..recoiled. With a slobbering, sucking sound the clear fluid began to draw in on itself, and grow taller. In seconds, the blob was nearly 7 feet in height, oozing and flowing like melted wax. It surged forward, out of the pool, directly towards the closest food source - Baroon Pratgar, Warrior-Priest of Sigmar. Baroon drew his warhammer, calling on Sigmar to protect his loyal servant, as Dronk, his keen senses alert, fired his heavy crossbow directly into the thing. They could see it enter the blob, popping one of the obscene organs floating within it, then the bolt began to disintegrate, as though eaten by a strong acid. Clearly, they didn't want this abomination to touch them. Drake hurled a javelin with all his might, the spear puncturing the thing and coming to rest inside it. The thing continued foward towards Baroon, seemingly unfazed. Could it even feel pain? With a war-cry Hugo charged forward, behind the thing - if indeed, it had a behind - swinging his smaller, one handed warhammer directly at the thing, sending bits of it flying everywhere. Where the goop landed, the stone on the ground began to smoulder and burn. Cornelius uttered the arcane words of power and threw a glimmering orb at the thing, blasting it with arcane energy. Still the thing came on. Dronk fired again, hitting the thing again with a crossbow bolt. The thing was now noticably reduced in size, but Baroon could only stare wide-eyed in horror as it pulled itself closer. He could see what appeared to be transparent tentacles forming, then they lashed out towards him, trying to pull him into a deadly embrace. Drake cried out as he hurled another javelin, recognizing the acid the thing was made of would probably dissolve his greatsword. The tentacles were inches from Baroon's face, he could now smell the amoeba, a revolting smell of burning garbage on a summer day. Just before they reached him, Hugo swung his now smoking warhammer again, crashing into the top of the thing, the force of the blow carrying through it and to the floor. Globs of the ooze flew everywhere, falling onto Baroon and burning him. He quickly wiped the goop from his clothing as best he could. "This place - is not what it seems." said Drake, his eyes wide. Baroon, slightly singed but not seriously hurt, could only nod. Hugo grabbed the iron rod, careful not to touch the mold it sat on, and gestured to the group. "Let's get on with this.", he muttered. TANGLED THREADS OF DOOM They headed back to the central chamber, and inserted the second rod into the door. Again, the door opened, nearly silently, revealing a large space, pitch black and covered in dust. They headed in, careful to avoid stepping on the rich floor carpet that sat near the inside of the door. Drake and Hugo had seen similar carpets in the palaces of noblemen. Cornelius said to Dronk "That looks valuable.." and Dronk began examining it carefully... The lantern cast a dim light, and they could see one corner of the room had collapsed, crushing a strange looking suit of armor beneath it. Another suit of armor stood beside the collapsed section of the wall. Book shelves covered most of the other walls, and in the center of the room was another, circular carpet, on which sat a desk made of fine wood and covered in papers. The group had hardly had time to enter the room, when Dronk, attempting to pick up the carpet with the tip of his rapier, cried out in surprise. The thing had come alive! The others turned to see Dronk struggling with the carpet, which writhed around like a thing possessed. Drake yelled out a war-cry and swung his greatsword, cutting off one of the tassels and the entire corner of the carpet. At the same time, they heard a strange metallic noise, and turned to see the remaining suit of armor lurching towards them. While it carried no weapon, it was covered in small spikes, sort of like metal thorns, and the gauntlets each were spiked, killing weapons. Hugo drew his war-maul, setting aside his scorched warhammer, and charged the thing. Meanwhile, Dronk, engaged in a life-or-death struggle with the rug, used his rapier to stab a large hole in it. The cursed thing then pulled suddenly, its strength surprising, and nearly wrapped itself around Dronk, but he quickly shifted his weight before it could envelop him. The cursed armor swung its fists at Hugo, who ducked quickly, but he could feel the force behind it, and knew if he were to be hit, it would hurt..badly. He swung Vilkas and smashed the thing directly in the chest, causing a loud ringing noise as though a bell had been struck. Cornelius threw up his arms and gesticulated wildly, a bolt of frozen energy materializing and striking the thing in the chest, causing its joints to cover with ice and slowing it slightly. Drake, seeing his friend Dronk nearly pulled in, cried out in rage and swung his greatsword directly across the carpet, nearly cutting it in two; but still the thing fought on. The armor tried again to hit Hugo, but the ice slowed it enough he was able to block its attacks with Vilkas. Dronk, being pulled ever closer into the carpets grasp, sliced with his rapier in desperation, hitting the exact point Drake had, completing the cutting. As the rug dropped, split in two, the thing stopped moving, the magic that animated it dissipated. Hugo, his face a mask of rage, spittle flying, smashed the armor with his hammer again, this time knocking the helm clear off the armor and sending it rattling across the floor. As this happened, the armor fell to pieces on the floor. All was silent, and the group looked at one another, wide-eyed. After composing themselves, they began to search the room carefully. On one wall, a number of oil potraits hung, each with a brass plaque underneath. All were of members of the Von Eshole family. They all had a distinctive, broad and wide nose. Cornelius piped up "I have heard of these people - nobles, they are. They have a fief near the town of Eshloe, to the north." Drake and Hugo began examining the books. None appeared to be magical texts, but there were mundane books, fine books, on every subject imaginable, but mostly books of astrology, of prophecy, and of poetry. Drake found a large series of books titled "Birds and Beasts of the Empire" and stuck several in his bag, ripping out the pages of others he found interesting, as there were far too many to carry, given their huge size. Hugo was disappointed to find no books of military tactics, but took several books that appeared of value, including a large cookbook. Baroon found a finely-crafted shield near the collapsed armor, and finding it perfectly balanced, took it, giving his old shield to Hugo. Drake collected the spiked gauntlets dropped by the cursed armor. Inside the desk, Cornelius and Dronk found another hexagonal rod and a small coin purse, filled with gold coins of a similar old vintage, as well as several books already open and a small notebook. The books that were opened were "Sternschau's Astronomical Records - Being a Guide of the Mysterious Phenomena of the Nighte Skye" and a series of scrolls called "Omens and Prophecies of the Seer Unserfrau". Quickly studying them, Cornelius found that one talked about a time, centuries ago, when Morrsleib rained 'spit' down on the earth, with one gob falling near the headwaters of the river Narn. The prophecies, meanwhile, talked of a time when the enemies of Chaos would relax their guard. Cornelius, examining the notebook, realized the scribbled calculations were an attempt to predict the erratic orbit of the cursed moon, Morrsleib. THE DWELLER IN THE POOL The group returned for a third time to the central entrance chamber and opened the western door. This time, the room was not covered in dust, but completely clean. The floor was made of polished-looking marble. A sound like flowing water could be heard. The group moved in, cautiously. The light revealed a large room, about the size of the others, dominated by a huge round pool filled with brackish, dark water. From a tiny-demon mouth in the side, more water trickled into the pool. In a corner, several rich-looking robes were hung on pegs. Sitting on the rim of the pool, on a flat pedestal, sat another iron rod, exactly like the first three. As they moved into the room, all heard a insidious, evil-sounding voice inside their heads. "I can't be seen, I can't be felt, I can't be heard, I can't be smelt. I lie behind the stars, beneath the hills. I end life. I kill laughter. Who am I?" The group, startled, looked at each other uneasily. They quickly conferred among themselves. As they did so, they cast glances back at the slowly swirling surface of the pool. "I've no fucking idea what it is" said Hugo, the others reflecting back his confusion. Cornelius searched his mind for an answer. As they did so, the surface of the pool exploded outwards. A large snake, appearing to be formed from the water itself, emerged from beneath the pool, its eyes blazing with arcane light. "I AM THE DARK" they heard screaming inside their minds. Tentacles formed in the snake-things body, and began lashing out at the party. With a warcry, Drake charged the thing, cutting it in half with one sweep of its greatsword, but the creature did not fall, instead reforming itself as though nothing had happened. Hugo smashed it with his war-maul, sending water spraying across the floor. Baroon readied his warhammer and advanced, praying for Sigmar to bless the party, and Dronk fired his crossbow, narrowly missing the thing, his bolt bouncing harmlessly off the far wall. They hacked at the thing repeatedly, water splashing everywhere, but couldnt seem to do any damage. Cornelius, his wits recovered, formed a spell of lightning in his mind and unleashed it at the thing, blasting it with arcane energy, yet it continued to lash out with tentacles, seemingly unfazed. Drake swung again, this time loosing his balance on the wet stone, and nearly dropped his greatsword in the water. The eyes of the thing burned suddenly, turning a deep purple color, and then a scream of psychic insanity pummeled their minds. Dronk, hugging the southern wall, was unaffected, but the others felt searing pain as incomprehensible symbols filled their thoughts. Baroon was overwhelmed by a wave of terror, his mouth wide open as the tentacles reached for him. Drake tried to shout to warn his companion, but found he couldn't speak, instead only gibberish came out "Ftanghn iuhjs ihjdslo!" he tried to shout. Cornelius found himself overcome by a compulsion to drink the water of the pool, and rushed forward. Hugo, meanwhile, felt blood pour from his nose, but recovered himself, and raised his warmaul for another strike. It was then that the tentacles reached Baroon, wrapping themselves around his legs, pulling him completely into the water. He felt its enormous strength as the serpent wrapped around him, then forced him deeper into the pool, the air being forced from his lungs. The others could only watch in stunned horror as the thing moved beneath the surface, no longer visible. Instead, they could see only Baroon, struggling with an unseen enemy, being dragged deeper and deeper.. Cornelius had reached the pool now, and though he tried to resist, found himself taking water in his hand from the pool and drinking it, as though a man parched in the desert. As he did so Drake quickly grabbed the rod from the pedestal, before turning to face the bubbling surface of the pool again. Baroon struggled, a cold realization filling him. If he did not free himself now, he would be dead in moments, the last vestiges of air forced from his crushed body. Already he could feel himself weakening. With a final effort, he invoked the power of Sigmar and forced outwards with all his might. He felt the thing slip, and suddenly, he was free, pushing up, towards the surface, his legs kicking, moving as fast as he could. His warhammer had already been dropped when he was pulled into the pool, sinking into the darkness and disappearing. Baroon broke the surface, gasping for air, and Drake stretched out a hand, babbling incoherently. Seizing his hand, Baroon felt the mighty Templar pull him out of the pool, throwing him beside it. As he did so, the water-daemon burst forth once more in a spray of water. Baroon coughed, water coming from his lungs as he tried to stand, and Hugo tossed him his spare warhammer, the one melted partially from fighting the blob-thing. Hugo swung his warmaul, bashing the thing but again, it reformed instantly, tentacles lashing about. One nearly wrapped itself around his leg, before he could pull back. Dronk fired again, this time hitting, but the bolt passed through the thing, seemingly unharmed. As Baroon soaking wet, unsteadily regained his feet, they could all see its eyes again begin to glow with a deep purple light..all thought they could hear laughter, as of a small child. "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh !" Drake cried, desperately trying to warn his companions, his tongue twisting into knots. Recognizing the danger, even as he continued to drink the brackish, foul-tasting pool water, Cornelius began to chant the words of a powerful spell, putting all his remaining vitality into it. With a scream, he unleashed a glowing orb of frozen eldritch power, striking the water-snake directly. The energy crackled up the snakes torso, freezing it completely, leaving only the face - if face it was - exposed and liquid. It writhed furiously, trying to escape the prison of ice it found itself in. Dronk, seeing his opportunity, loaded another bolt in his crossbow and aimed carefully directly at the face of the thing. He fired, the bolt arced across the room, and hit home, exactly where he aimed. As it struck, the thing collapsed, the ice shattering into hundreds of pieces, water spraying everywhere. The tentacles collapsed into ropes of water, and fell back into the pool. The ice floated lazily on the surface. THE CALM AFTER THE STORM Cornelius was still drinking compulsively from the pool, unable to stop himself. Hugo tried to grab his hand, but Cornelius pulled away, taking another gulp. Dronk, seeing this, quietly crept up from behind and grabbed Cornelius, forcing him away from the pool. Cornenlius struggled and tried to get away, as Drake shouted "Mbabhu besshel utilzaniot!" Then, as quickly as it began, he felt the compulsion fade. Drake turned to him and said "Can I speak now! Oh by Sigmar! Finally!" They took stock of the situation. No-one was seriously hurt, though Baroon had been within a moment of drowning. Drake had taken the iron key-rod. Dronk was already busily searching the fine silk and linen robes, apparently bathrobes, hung on the wall but found little of value. He kept the robes anyway, as they were clearly worth a pretty penny. Hugo then tried to force Cornelius to retch, first by punching him in the stomach, then shoving two fingers down his throat. Cornenlius tried to pull away, but found himself vomiting the foul-tasting water all over the floor. Hugo grinned as Corenlius pulled himself away. "For fucks sake, man!" he yelled. "It could save your life.." replied Hugo. Baroon removed some of his heavier equipment and dived into the pool, looking for his warhammer, before the others could stop him. The pool was only about 16 feet deep, and Baroon, feeling around, quickly found his hammer. Also on the bottom were what felt like bones, and metallic pieces, possibly coins. He returned to the surface with his warhammer, and pulled himself out. "Thats enough swimming for today, I think." he said sardonically. Cornelius, feeling weak, his magical energies expended, told the group he needed to mediate before they continued. Drake agreed, but didnt want to try doing so in the room with the cursed pool, and suggested they head back to the study, with the books. They all headed back, through the central chamber, careful not to touch the blasted circle, into the study, where Dronk pulled the heavy desk into the hallway to help block the doorway, as Cornlius settled into a deep trance. Hugo and Drake pondered the four rods in their possession. They would open the dragon-faced door, they thought. What horrors hid there? Who was Dagmar von Eshloe, and what was this place? More questions, than answers...
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The WizardIn time, you will come to know the tragic extent of my failings... Past Journals
September 2017
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