Day Fourteen

(Continued from the previous entry)

Hilda ate a bean and suddenly shrunk down to half her size. We found a secret door that led into a hallway that was only 3' x 2'. The rest of us ate beans and we entered the hallway. Whilst exploring it, we were attacked by three clockwork rats, but easily defeated them.

The hallway took us to a room with a toy gatehouse in it. Standing before it were four ogres of different colors. We noticed that we had returned to normal size. We approached the table that the toys were on. We then heard the green ogre say that Yellow was not first. The pink ogre said that green is between pink and yellow. Then white said that pink is between green and white. The yellow ogre said that we must choose an order quickly, do not touch and we will avoid a fight.

We figured out the puzzle and Solathis spoke the order aloud. White, Pink, Green, Yellow.

The roof of the toy gatehouse opened up. Inside we found a blue key. We found a secret door that took us back to the very first room of this tomb. We walked back to the god room. Laranthir placed his lock picks in the bowl in front of the god of thieves. He received a +4 bonus to his Dex. Hilda put a piece of armor in the bowl before the god of strength and received +4 to her Strength. Vikathra placed her morningstar in the bowl in front of the god of slaughter and was cursed. Tambar removed the curse.

Vikathra then removed the lock picks from the bowl and put them back in. She received the bonus. Everyone else did the same and got the bonus. Hilda tried it too, but did not receive a bonus.

Next, we went to the Blue door that had sprayed acid on us. We put the blue key in the keyhole and a secret door opened to our right. We entered this room, opened a door and found a room filled with various bits of equipment including Solathis's ring, weapons, armor and a climber's kit.

We went back to the room with the coin puzzle and the red sphere. We found a secret door in the alcove to the north. Laranthir and Solathis walked down the hallway. It ended in a dead end, but when they were within five feet of the end, gravity reversed and they fell thirty feet upwards into a shaft in the ceiling. There was a door to the east here. Tambar walked over to the edge of the gravity reversal field and threw an end of his rope up into the pit. Laranthir tied the climbing equipment to it and Tambar hauled it up. He attached a piton to the wall, tied the rope to it and we all climbed up into the pit.

We took the door into a room. On the east wall was a carving. It was a box divided into a 6x5 grid.

Y S T S A
U G H I N
T U I S E
O N Y S A
I T P U Z
S I E L Z

We figured it out pretty quickly. We followed the letters in a strange way and read the phrase, "This is an easy puzzle is it not you guys."

After saying the phrase aloud, the letter blocks recessed into the wall and slid aside to reveal a shelf. On the shelf were a sword and a book. The cleric cast Detect Magic. Only the sword was magical. The bard picked it up and was overwhelmed by feelings of sadness and melancholy. The cleric picked up the book. It had many pages, all of which were blank except for the first one. It read:

This sword is a reaper of evil (+5 to hit, +10 vs evil creatures, INT 18, EGO 18), a weapon placed on this plane to demolish the foes of good and order. It can turn undead 3 times per day as a 15th level cleric, it can cure disease with a touch, and it can allow the user direct contact with whatever good deity he or she worships, once per year. Sadly, however, it behaved in Yeager's hands as a mere longsword +1, as it is currently in a state of catatonia. Upon claiming this weapon from a dragon's hoard, he used the blade to fell a skunk, remove dragon poo from his shoes and clear a path through a field of bile-weeds. After the sword fully ascertained that this warrior was the last person on earth who should be allowed near magical items, it attempted to leap from his grasp, accidentally ending the life of a rather saintly monk who was picking flowers nearby. It is believed that the sword will need years of therapy or a miracle to return to its full strength.

We returned to the cistern. The soldiers were done piling up bodies. The corpse piles had been burned and were now smoldering. We spoke to some of the guards briefly, telling most of the tale of what happened. We spoke of Victor, puzzles and traps, but did not mention the holy weapon we had claimed. We returned to the city and found an inn. We ate, drank and rested.

(And so ends the chapter of Jeff's Campaign "Lost in Sembia." This campaign will be put on hold to give Jeff a break. Jim will start his new game in a few weeks time when our personal lives have settled down and we have a moment's peace in which to game.)