"Ok, where next? Back to the other openings near where we came down, or push forward west and south?" asks Einnob, keen to keep moving.
After some discussion the party went back to check out the side corridors they had missed. The side-corridor branches again to the left and right. On either side, large standing stone slabs have been set aside to lean against the walls, opening the way to a pair of dark, quiet crypts.
"Vampires?" wondered Zap. "Vampires like crypts, right?"
You peer past the leaning stone slab to see an empty earthen crypt. The other door was the same.
Going back to the main corridor, they go south and look at the next side corridor to the east. This side corridor branches again to the left and right. Large standing stone slabs seal the entrance to the tunnels on either side, blocking the way forward. The slab to the left is etched with the name "Gustav Durst"; the slab to the right is etched with the name "Elisabeth Durst." Unlike the first two crypts, these slabs have sealed off the crypt beyond. The tunnel here is unnaturally quiet, and a thin mist clings to the floor. The ever present but distant chanting is muted here.
With some effort the party open the slab door of Gustav's crypt. The crypt beyond the slab contains a stone coffin lying atop a dusty stone bier. Silence hangs heavy over the lonely chamber. There is nothing of interest here, nothing on the walls, only the name "Gustav Durst" on the stone lid of the coffin.
Asha checks the coffin and declares it to be trap free. Then she and Einnob take the lid off. Danu moves further away.
A waft of cold air rises from the stone coffin, and a smell of rotten flesh. Inside is the skinless body of a man. He looks like he's been dead maybe a week. Bugs move around his exposed muscles and organs.
"Eww!" exclaimed Asha.
"Skinless, after a week," declared Zap, peering in. "So, someone skinned him after he was dead."
There did not appear to be anything else in the coffin. They discussed that there could be something hidden underneath, but no one wanted to turn the body over.
"Should we burn the body or put a stake through the heart or something?" asked Asha.
"I could use a cantrip to burn the body," said Danu, helpfully. She heard a stifled sob from Rose inside her. "Also... not sure Rose would be happy with that plan..and.. burning a corpse would produce smoke and alert other creatures..." Danu added hurriedly. Then she thought some more before saying "Surely it cannot be Gustav Durst, he looks like he's only been dead a week. How long have you been dead, Rose?"
Rose's voice came out of Danu's mouth.. "A long time.."
"Well that was creepy," muttered Danu, just checking she could speak in her own voice.
Einnob grunted. "Nothing in this place is right. If it is him, something has kept him from rotting and the bugs from eating him."
Asha asked "Should we bust into Elisabeth's coffin? What does Rose think about that, Danu? I fear there may be something more evil!"
Danu listened quietly and said "I think Rose is having trouble processing all of this right now."
"I think we should, I can maybe stay at the back so Rose can't see?" suggested Danu.
The party shortly found themselves in front of Elisabeth Durst's crypt. With some difficulty again they got the heavy slab door open.
A thick, acrid miasma hung over the interior of this crypt, which held a stone-carved coffin resting atop a stone bier. The floor before it was littered with the bodies of hundreds of dead insects.
After some discussion, the party decided Zap and Asha would lift the stone lid off the coffin, and Einnob would stand ready with her sword. Danu would hold back.
Zap noted some fear coming from Thorn's ghost inside him. At least, he thought it was Thorn and not himself.
Asha and Zap lift the lid, and as they put it down there is a rustling sound. Coming from the cracks between building blocks an insect swarm boils out and goes for the dragonborn sorcerer.
Einnob, who was ready and waiting for action, swings her sword, trying to get as much of the swarm in her swing as she can. She hit (rolled a 12 from her character sheet and displayed in the Game Log) and if this had been a single creature would have done a lot of damage. Because it's a swarm she only does half damage (7 points).
Asha jumped forward and stabbed with her shortswords and scattered the swarm before they could climb onto Zap. Not all the bugs were dead but scattered they could do little damage. Asha and Zap peered into Elisabeth Durst's coffin and found it empty.
Dead Pretty decided to head to the opposite opening in the corridor, and they found two more crypt doors, one with the name Rosavelda Durst chiselled on the stone door of the crypt, the other Thornboldt Durst. Carefully checking for any sign of insects, Asha investigates and searches for threat and finds none. Lifting the lid shows that both stone coffins inside each the respective crypts are empty, as expected.
Einnob holds out the bones of one of the children. "So are we doing this, then? I don't want to be carrying two dead little'uns around. I don't feel comfortable. Makes me sad."
"Rose, what do we need to do?" asked Danu.
"I.. don't know.. I can feel a kind of pull towards my coffin so I guess lay me inside it?" Again it was surreal hearing Rose's voice come from Danu's mouth.
Danu holds out her hands and Einnob passes her the light bundle that is all the earthly remains of Rosavelda Durst, wrapped up in her dress. Danu turns and lays her bones inside the coffin.
Everyone sees Rose drawn out of Danu's body. Danu feels the cold and light but noticeable weight leave her. Rose smiles. The party can see her body slowly fading. She speaks and her voice sounds like it is far away. "Thank you, thank you. Now I'll be reborn, as there is no afterlife here. No ghosts or spirits can escape the Mists. But.. I left you a gift Danu, to say thank you." Rose fades away completely.
Danu realises that Rose left her one of her cantrips she can cast whenever she wants. Danu closes the lid on Rose's coffin.
Einnob holds out Thorn's even smaller body, wrapped in his clothes, to Zap.
Zap takes Thorn's body and places him in his coffin. Thorn is drawn out of the dragonborn's body as his curse ends. Zap feels the cold and subtle weight leave him. Thorn just smiles shyly and fades away. Zap has the mage hand cantrip as extra available spell.
Having put the children to rest, or maybe to the recycle bin, the party turns and heads south. They come into a room which contains a plain wooden table flanked by long benches. Moldy humanoid bones lie strewn on the dirt floor. A thick stench of rot and gore fills the chamber, so coppery with blood that you can taste it on your tongue.
A few dozen moldy bones have been piled into a grotesque and misshapen pyramid in a dark alcove to the east.
Asha moves a little closer to the alcove to get a closer look at the weird thing.
As the elf approaches, the pile of bones, flesh, and sinew gives a little twitch. This allows Asha not to be surprised as the messy pile leaps out at her, jagged and sharp bones poised to stab.
Party initiative: 12
Creature initiative: 22
The bloody abomination leaps forward and bloody sinews lash out at Asha, trying to grapple the elf as she backpedals in horror.
Creature rolls a 19 to hit.
Asha is grappled. The sinews wrap around the elf, leaving bloody marks, and jagged, sharp bones stab towards her.
Creature attack roll: 6. - It missed!
CQ unleashes an eldritch blast but, being careful not to hit Asha, misses (rolled a 10 to hit).
Einnob comes barrelling in, snarling. She swings her greatsword, maybe not quite being so careful.
Despite being held by the bloody sinews, Asha takes advantage of the creature reeling from Eiinob's massive strike to stab with her shortswords.
She rolls a 14 to hit, and does 15 total damage including sneak attack, but the creature has resistance to non-magical weapons, so the damage is 7 points.
Asha stabs with her second sword and rolls an 18, with just 1 point of damage.
"Ok, where next? Back to the other openings near where we came down, or push forward west and south?" asks Einnob, keen to keep moving.
After some discussion the party went back to check out the side corridors they had missed. The side-corridor branches again to the left and right. On either side, large standing stone slabs have been set aside to lean against the walls, opening the way to a pair of dark, quiet crypts.
"Vampires?" wondered Zap. "Vampires like crypts, right?"
You peer past the leaning stone slab to see an empty earthen crypt. The other door was the same.
Going back to the main corridor, they go south and look at the next side corridor to the east. This side corridor branches again to the left and right. Large standing stone slabs seal the entrance to the tunnels on either side, blocking the way forward. The slab to the left is etched with the name "Gustav Durst"; the slab to the right is etched with the name "Elisabeth Durst." Unlike the first two crypts, these slabs have sealed off the crypt beyond. The tunnel here is unnaturally quiet, and a thin mist clings to the floor. The ever present but distant chanting is muted here.
With some effort the party open the slab door of Gustav's crypt. The crypt beyond the slab contains a stone coffin lying atop a dusty stone bier. Silence hangs heavy over the lonely chamber. There is nothing of interest here, nothing on the walls, only the name "Gustav Durst" on the stone lid of the coffin.
Asha checks the coffin and declares it to be trap free. Then she and Einnob take the lid off. Danu moves further away.
A waft of cold air rises from the stone coffin, and a smell of rotten flesh. Inside is the skinless body of a man. He looks like he's been dead maybe a week. Bugs move around his exposed muscles and organs.
"Eww!" exclaimed Asha.
"Skinless, after a week," declared Zap, peering in. "So, someone skinned him after he was dead."
There did not appear to be anything else in the coffin. They discussed that there could be something hidden underneath, but no one wanted to turn the body over.
"Should we burn the body or put a stake through the heart or something?" asked Asha.
"I could use a cantrip to burn the body," said Danu, helpfully. She heard a stifled sob from Rose inside her. "Also... not sure Rose would be happy with that plan..and.. burning a corpse would produce smoke and alert other creatures..." Danu added hurriedly. Then she thought some more before saying "Surely it cannot be Gustav Durst, he looks like he's only been dead a week. How long have you been dead, Rose?"
Rose's voice came out of Danu's mouth.. "A long time.."
"Well that was creepy," muttered Danu, just checking she could speak in her own voice.
Einnob grunted. "Nothing in this place is right. If it is him, something has kept him from rotting and the bugs from eating him."
Asha asked "Should we bust into Elisabeth's coffin? What does Rose think about that, Danu? I fear there may be something more evil!"
Danu listened quietly and said "I think Rose is having trouble processing all of this right now."
"I think we should, I can maybe stay at the back so Rose can't see?" suggested Danu.
The party shortly found themselves in front of Elisabeth Durst's crypt. With some difficulty again they got the heavy slab door open.
A thick, acrid miasma hung over the interior of this crypt, which held a stone-carved coffin resting atop a stone bier. The floor before it was littered with the bodies of hundreds of dead insects.
After some discussion, the party decided Zap and Asha would lift the stone lid off the coffin, and Einnob would stand ready with her sword. Danu would hold back.
Zap noted some fear coming from Thorn's ghost inside him. At least, he thought it was Thorn and not himself.
Asha and Zap lift the lid, and as they put it down there is a rustling sound. Coming from the cracks between building blocks an insect swarm boils out and goes for the dragonborn sorcerer.
Einnob, who was ready and waiting for action, swings her sword, trying to get as much of the swarm in her swing as she can. She hit (rolled a 12 from her character sheet and displayed in the Game Log) and if this had been a single creature would have done a lot of damage. Because it's a swarm she only does half damage (7 points).
Swarm Initiative: 5.
The party also got a 5 for initiative, but as their initiative bonus is better, the party goes first.
Einnob swings again, trying to slice up the bugs before they get to Zap.
Attack: 21 Damage: 10.
Einnob has great weapon fighting so she can reroll that 1 on the damage die 6
Zap charges up his shocking grasp cantrip hoping to electrify the swarm like a bug zapper on a warm Australian night.
23
Zap's shocking grasp fries a few bugs but the swarm overall is unaffected.
Danu casts frostbite on the swarm.
Swarm Con save: 4
Asha jumped forward and stabbed with her shortswords and scattered the swarm before they could climb onto Zap. Not all the bugs were dead but scattered they could do little damage. Asha and Zap peered into Elisabeth Durst's coffin and found it empty.
Dead Pretty decided to head to the opposite opening in the corridor, and they found two more crypt doors, one with the name Rosavelda Durst chiselled on the stone door of the crypt, the other Thornboldt Durst. Carefully checking for any sign of insects, Asha investigates and searches for threat and finds none. Lifting the lid shows that both stone coffins inside each the respective crypts are empty, as expected.
Einnob holds out the bones of one of the children. "So are we doing this, then? I don't want to be carrying two dead little'uns around. I don't feel comfortable. Makes me sad."
"Rose, what do we need to do?" asked Danu.
"I.. don't know.. I can feel a kind of pull towards my coffin so I guess lay me inside it?" Again it was surreal hearing Rose's voice come from Danu's mouth.
Danu holds out her hands and Einnob passes her the light bundle that is all the earthly remains of Rosavelda Durst, wrapped up in her dress. Danu turns and lays her bones inside the coffin.
Everyone sees Rose drawn out of Danu's body. Danu feels the cold and light but noticeable weight leave her. Rose smiles. The party can see her body slowly fading. She speaks and her voice sounds like it is far away. "Thank you, thank you. Now I'll be reborn, as there is no afterlife here. No ghosts or spirits can escape the Mists. But.. I left you a gift Danu, to say thank you." Rose fades away completely.
Danu realises that Rose left her one of her cantrips she can cast whenever she wants. Danu closes the lid on Rose's coffin.
Einnob holds out Thorn's even smaller body, wrapped in his clothes, to Zap.
Zap takes Thorn's body and places him in his coffin. Thorn is drawn out of the dragonborn's body as his curse ends. Zap feels the cold and subtle weight leave him. Thorn just smiles shyly and fades away. Zap has the mage hand cantrip as extra available spell.
Having put the children to rest, or maybe to the recycle bin, the party turns and heads south. They come into a room which contains a plain wooden table flanked by long benches. Moldy humanoid bones lie strewn on the dirt floor. A thick stench of rot and gore fills the chamber, so coppery with blood that you can taste it on your tongue.
A few dozen moldy bones have been piled into a grotesque and misshapen pyramid in a dark alcove to the east.
Asha moves a little closer to the alcove to get a closer look at the weird thing.
As the elf approaches, the pile of bones, flesh, and sinew gives a little twitch. This allows Asha not to be surprised as the messy pile leaps out at her, jagged and sharp bones poised to stab.
Party initiative: 12
Creature initiative: 22
The bloody abomination leaps forward and bloody sinews lash out at Asha, trying to grapple the elf as she backpedals in horror.
Creature rolls a 19 to hit.
Asha is grappled. The sinews wrap around the elf, leaving bloody marks, and jagged, sharp bones stab towards her.
Creature attack roll: 6. - It missed!
CQ unleashes an eldritch blast but, being careful not to hit Asha, misses (rolled a 10 to hit).
Einnob comes barrelling in, snarling. She swings her greatsword, maybe not quite being so careful.
Attack: 20 Damage: 7.
Einnob hits, but the blade does not do as much damage as he hoped (seems resistant to normal weapons).
Also the bone studded sinew does 5 slashing damage to Asha from the grapple.
Danu considers her spells, thinking fire would be a poor choice with Asha all wrapped up in the monster.
She casts Frostbite.
The creature makes its saving throw (Con): 12
"Take that, you bag of bones!" shouts Danu. The thing takes 4 points of cold damage and has disadvantage on its next attack.
Zap tries his short circuit cantrip, but misses.
Despite being held by the bloody sinews, Asha takes advantage of the creature reeling from Eiinob's massive strike to stab with her shortswords.
She rolls a 14 to hit, and does 15 total damage including sneak attack, but the creature has resistance to non-magical weapons, so the damage is 7 points.
Asha stabs with her second sword and rolls an 18, with just 1 point of damage.
The creature cries out in a distorted woman's voice, full of rage and hate.
It lashes at Asha with its bone studded sinew, and stabs at her with jagged bone.
Sinew Attack: 17 Damage: 7.
Jagged bone Attack: 5 Damage: 7.
Once again it is the bone studded sinew lashing and sawing at her that does the damage to Asha. The jagged bone attack misses completely.
(Asha is down to 3 hit points).
Party's turn.
Einnob yells in frustration at the thing and once again swings her sword in an attempt to get a massive hit on the monster.
Attack: 18 Damage: Unable to parse dice roll.
Unfortunately the flesh and bone monster absorbs the blow, and it is unhurt from the greatsword attack.
Asha tries to twist and turn out of the embrace of the creature's tendons.
Acrobatics check - "Rolled a 5
11 total"
The creature tries to hang onto the badly wounded Asha - 14.
Zap stands 15ft away from the fleshy sinew thing and cast lightning lure.
Creature's Strength Save - 10