Bahamutsville Part 2:
The Lost Tomb of Khaem
The Lost Tomb of Khaem
Dramatis Personae:
Fidget Stonegear, the Deep Gnome Inventor who thinks he's a myconid and everyone is out to get him, and thinks like a kobold
Miarielle, the Lythari Priestess of Corellon
Thecker Powdercraft, the Deep Gnome Gunslinger
Lady Claire Thundersword, the Human Swordcaptain of the Purple Dragon Knights and wielder of Dawnbringer
Kazul, the Copper Dragonborn Shadow Monk of Bahamut
Lady Claire Thundersword, the Human Swordcaptain of the Purple Dragon Knights and wielder of Dawnbringer
Kazul, the Copper Dragonborn Shadow Monk of Bahamut
Topsy and Turvy, the Deep Gnome Wererat Rogue Twins
Stool, the Myconid Child
Glabbagool, the Gelatinous Cube and a great warrior
Rumpadump, the Myconid Child
Ol' Sparky, the "blind" Derro Beggar, as Jacky Quicksilver, the surface gnome
The residents of Bahamutsville:
Kibbik, the Kobold Paladin of Bahamut and leader of the kobolds
Sillis, the Kobold Bard
Vevvev, the Kobold Gunslinger
Cyrryc, the Kobold Gunslinger
Renner, the Kobold Rogue
Xiccix, the Kobold Weapon Master
Gabtar, the Goblin Inquisitor and Kibbik's squire
Rumpadump, the Myconid Child
Ol' Sparky, the "blind" Derro Beggar, as Jacky Quicksilver, the surface gnome
The residents of Bahamutsville:
Kibbik, the Kobold Paladin of Bahamut and leader of the kobolds
Sillis, the Kobold Bard
Vevvev, the Kobold Gunslinger
Cyrryc, the Kobold Gunslinger
Renner, the Kobold Rogue
Xiccix, the Kobold Weapon Master
Gabtar, the Goblin Inquisitor and Kibbik's squire
Comrades we have lost:
Ront, the Orc Fighter- turned into hamburger by Pwent
Buppido, the Derro- smashed by Orvald
Eldeth Feldrun, the Shield Dwarf- killed during escape
Hera Adaar, the Abyssal Tiefling Wild Sorceress- swept away
Luna Trelawny, the Human Divination Wizard- skull caved in by rock thrown by Fidget, then finished off by black pudding
Sarith Zekarit, the Drow Scout- drowned
Phillip Johnson, the Human Cleric- in a seemingly irreversible coma, left in Hemeth's care
Jim Jar, the Deep Gnome- eaten by grell
Prince Derendil, the Quaggoth- killed by sea troll
Shuushar, the "Awakened" Kuo-toa- turned into shuushi by sea troll
Hemeth, the Duergar Arms Dealer- parted with group in Gracklstugh
Thimblepwent Battlehammer, the Dwarven Battlerager Barbarian- turned into dog food
Orvald Abershaw, the Mousefolk Barbarian- became a squeaky toy
Lythana Belmyr, the Half-Drow Blood Hunter of Eilistraee- sacrificed to Demogorgon
Zenit 'Dracon, the Drow Fighter and Orvald's wife- abandoned the party because Orvald died
Codsworth, the polite Flumph- shredded by crossbow
Zarrus, the Tiefling Favored Soul Sorcerer of Mephisto- vanished during gnoll fight
Aura, the Air Genasi Storm Sorceress who injures the party almost as much as the enemies- accidental self-vaporization (bitch blew herself up)
Kyri, the Minotaur Scout and former slave of the duergar who thinks she's the greatest at everything- vaporized by a jackass
Friendly fire overall: 74
Thimblepwent Battlehammer, the Dwarven Battlerager Barbarian- turned into dog food
Orvald Abershaw, the Mousefolk Barbarian- became a squeaky toy
Lythana Belmyr, the Half-Drow Blood Hunter of Eilistraee- sacrificed to Demogorgon
Zenit 'Dracon, the Drow Fighter and Orvald's wife- abandoned the party because Orvald died
Codsworth, the polite Flumph- shredded by crossbow
Zarrus, the Tiefling Favored Soul Sorcerer of Mephisto- vanished during gnoll fight
Aura, the Air Genasi Storm Sorceress who injures the party almost as much as the enemies- accidental self-vaporization (bitch blew herself up)
Kyri, the Minotaur Scout and former slave of the duergar who thinks she's the greatest at everything- vaporized by a jackass
Friendly fire overall: 74
Party members killed: 15
Overall party members lost: 19
NOTE: Things will be mostly from Claire's perspective, anything with italics is from a third party, since the knight can't be everywhere at once.
***** Kythorn 24, 1489 DR (The Year of the Warrior Princess)
Renner and the twins climbed out of the apparatus to see three drow on riding lizards, with a surface gnome tied up and walking behind them. The drow told the group to lay down their weapons and surrender; Renner gave them a counter offer- that they lay down their arms and he could give them mercy. The drow laughed and fired their hand crossbows. The three of them killed a drow each without taking any real damage themselves- then the riding lizards attacked the party, so they knocked them unconscious.
The gnome said her name was Jacky Quicksilver, and would gladly go with them. The four stuffed the unconscious lizards into the apparatus and walked the rest of the way to the refuge.
Jacky passed Bahamut's judgement and was allowed to stay, though Kibbik kept giving her odd looks. They were relieved that the bulk of that group returned alive, they didn't know if any of them had escaped Aura's blast.
***** Elle's group
The group stopped at the goblin camp again to rest, but before they could settle in they heard noises coming from both ends of the tunnel. They began debating an escape when a human in golden armor and a copper dragonborn appeared on the ledge above them.
Kazul and I had just stopped to camp for the night when the drow attacked us. We had been evading them for a few days now, but they kept catching up to us. We came to a ledge with a small drop and saw three kobolds and a surface elf below. I announced that drow were chasing us, and we ran with them- gnolls were pouring in another tunnel toward them. I felt a bolt ping off my armor as we fled, and then the elf fell off a small ledge- she said she heard a cry for help.
"A soft feminine voice sounded out in Elle's mind suddenly, faint and distant. “Hello? Is someone there … ? Oh please, I need your help! I have been trapped in the dark for so long … so very long. Please, won’t you help to free me?”*
We couldn't leave someone who needed help to fend for themselves with drow and gnolls hot on our tail, so we went toward where she said the noise was coming from. Behind us were the sounds of battle- the gnolls and drow had ran into each other and began fighting. Elle said she had an idea of the general direction of the voice, which we followed. Eventually we came up "to a dirty marble wall with a deep-set door made of bronze-encased stone, green with age."* Xiccix blew the door, while Kazul silenced the explosion so the drow and gnolls wouldn't hear us. Once they knocked it loose I forced the door open, the inside smelled disgusting- I now also heard the cry for help within my head.
"A stone diorama stood to the right of the entrance, depicting the sorcerer Brysis Khaem as a Netherese noble in her prime."* Thanks to the obnoxious history lessons I had to endure growing up, I recognized the image before us. Directly in front of us were "empty stone torch sconces flank a dusty staircase descending 20 feet to a landing. Set into the back wall of the landing is a Netherese calendar stone."* Apparently my lessons of ancient Netheril stuck more than I had realized. We continued down the stairs, reaching three more landings, those ones were empty.
When we finally reached the bottom of the stairs we saw "shreds of dusty tapestries lie scattered across the floor. Friezes on the walls are defaced with deep gouges, making them unrecognizable. An altar of pale gray marble stands gouged and cracked against one wall."* The damage looked recent, and there were no tracks on the dusty floor. There were two more doors of marble and greenish bronze, we chose the one on the left.
Inside were "Four stone sarcophagi mark the resting places of Brysis’s most faithful servants. The lid of each sarcophagus bears the sculpted image of a robed human figure in repose."* We decided to check the sarcophagi, Vevvev opened one of them, and screams filled the room as the other three opened on their own. Angry specters rose from the sarcophagi, looking ready to rip us to shreds.
Elle launched a bolt of fire at one, and Vevvev followed up by shooting it- the specter screamed out in pain and rage, in a tongue I did not know, probably Ancient Netherese. Cyrryc finished that one off, leaving three more of them to deal with. Kazul jumped between two of them, bludgeoning them with her staff, and I stepped into the small room behind my chérie and stabbed at one with my Javelin of Lightning- a precious family heirloom. Elle shot it with another bolt of flames, and it vanished with screams of rage.
One of the two remaining angry spirits passed through me, chilling me to the core- though it didn't seem to do much more than that. The other made a vicious attack against my chérie, hurting her badly- I narrowed my eyes at it, no one hurt Kazul. The bastard looked more solid after hurting her, as if it had healed itself with her blood. Vevvev and Cyrryc both shot at the bastard, and Kazul finished it off with a whirl of her staff. I vented my anger at my chérie being hurt on the remaining spirit, but it refused to fall; Vevvev finished it off. As they removed the treasures found in the first sarcophagi, Vevvev said the temperature in the room felt colder- though the rest of us did not feel it.
They moved to open the next casket, and the specters returned, but as we watched, two of them vanished- the two whose coffins we had not yet opened. Elle sent another blast of flame at one of them, while Cyrryc and Vevvev opened fire- but Cyrryc hit his sister's ear instead of the target... Kazul finished that one off. As Elle threw flames at it, the specter passed through my chérie again- bastard- and moved up to Vevvev.
Hands emerged from one of the closed coffins, and grabbed Kazul's ankle, tugging on them and vanishing again. I threw my javelin at the remaining foe I could see, and accidentally speared Cyrryc instead. Vevvev finished off the spirit that was in front of her, leaving only the ones we couldn't see. Cyrryc set the corpse that rested in the sarcophagus on fire, and we heard a howl of rage as it died the final death.
The hands popped out again, grabbing my chérie's legs again, but this time she was able to hit them before they retreated again. Arms sprang out from the walls and grabbed hold of Elle. Vevvev grabbed the loot from the next coffin and dumped oil on that body- setting it aflame. Again our ears were assaulted by rage as it died. We had to open the caskets and burn the remaining two bodies to finish this.
Kazul grabbed the lid of one and hurled it across the room, cracking the stone. I came up behind her and stabbed the corpse that was inside- I thought the specter might be inside its body. The specter appeared and lunged at me, missing horribly. Cyrryc told my chérie to loot the body before setting fire to it, she answered by throwing the kobold into the coffin, telling him to do it himself. The spirit passed through me again, but this time I was wracked with pain, and felt a little weaker. I stabbed it in retaliation and it was gone- for now. Vevvev cried out "justice" and shot my chérie in retaliation for throwing her brother in the coffin- from outside I could hear Xiccix mutter "dammit Vevvev," apparently she did this kind of thing often.
Once Cyrryc was out of the sarcophagus, Kazul set that one on fire, and opened up the next casket. She touched it with a strike that is designed to disrupt a foe's Ki, but since it wasn't alive, it froze and blinked at her, a puzzled expression on its face. I took advantage of the confusion and killed it. Elle set the corpse aflame as I finished the spirit off.
As I inspected the room further, I found one of the sarcophagi was on rollers, and after shoving it aside I saw a hidden room below. The room below me "had murals on the walls decorated with rich pigments and inlays of semiprecious stones. A gilded sarcophagus stood atop a stone bier along the west wall."* Cyrryc jumped into the hidden tomb below, and a wraith appeared, slashing at him- injuring the kobold. The wraith looked like Brysis Khaem, the Netherese sorceress I'd seen in the entryway to this tomb. My chérie leapt into the tomb and bludgeoned the creature, of course I followed her and stabbed at the monster; it responded by attacking me.
Vevvev threw a flask at it, shooting it to break it open- I think it was holy water. From above us, Elle hit Khaem with a bolt of radiant energy, it seemed to be hurting after that- until it hit both me and my chérie, which appeared to heal it. My chérie responded by hitting the wraith with her staff, and it vanished in an angry puff of smoke.
I heard something calling for help from inside the tomb- the same voice that had led us here. I opened the sarcophagus and found a beautiful sword hilt resting on the chest of the mummified remains of Brysis Khaem. The feminine voice asked me to pick up the sword and turn it on- it glimmered in radiance. She introduced herself as Dawnbringer, and said she had been forged by ancient sun worshipers to bring light into darkness, and fight the creatures of darkness.
Dawnbringer asked me to keep her blade on, as she was frightened of the darkness, and of course I obliged. A sword of light had been trapped in a dark tomb for at least two centuries, if she needed the light I would be glad to grant it. Plus, she would prevent my chérie from having to use her Ki to grant me the ability to see in darkness. I hate this darkness, I miss the light, so Dawnbringer was soothing to me.
After getting back to the level above, we took a brief break, then decided we should still go through the final door. "In the middle of the room rested a wide stone sarcophagus atop a black marble bier. The lid of the sarcophagus is inlaid with dust-covered mosaics depicting great floating cities high above a beautiful landscape. Stone blocks standing against the western and eastern walls are carved with niches, inside which rest a dozen clay canopic jars containing desiccated organs."*
Elle decided it would be safer for us to open the coffin from afar, and she used a spell that conjured a hand- it couldn't get the lid off. Kazul strode across the room and grabbed the lid, flinging it aside, and it crashed into one of the walls with a loud cracking sound. "The sarcophagus contained a life-sized statue of Brysis, sculpted and painted to make it appear that she is sleeping comfortably."* Nothing happened when she opened it, so we left and continued making our way to the kobold's city, Bahamutsville. Looks like chasing these blasted gnolls has led Kazul to another holy location on her pilgrimage.
***** Kythorn 25
As we continued our trek to Bahamutsville we heard some screeching coming from just around the bend in the tunnel- four of those bloody alarm mushrooms. We destroyed them quickly, and hoped they hadn't alerted anything to our presence. We quickly learned the obnoxious shrooms had- a group of quaggoths started towards us from both ends, blocking our way.
One of the quaggoths doubled in size and went for my chérie- they all began surrounding her. I noticed one slightly off to the side from the rest- a cleric. He had to go down first. Suddenly there was an explosion right in front of me- Vevvev's gun had heated up and gone off in her hand, hitting me too. The bastards kept beating on my chérie, and I saw her go down. Rage pulsed through me as I cut one down.
Another explosion went off near me- Cyrryc's gun. The cleric was using a spell to heat metal, which made the guns hot enough to set off the bullets. Elle revived my chérie while Vevvev dropped the healer. Kazul, of course, dropped one the second she rose, and Xiccix came in behind her and sliced down another one.
The big quaggoth slammed into me, knocking me over, and began pummeling me. One of its friends joined and stars swam in my vision as I fell unconscious. They knocked Kazul out again, and two of them began eating the dead remains of their healer. Xiccix dropped another quaggoth while Elle revived Kazul and threw a fireball at the cannibal quaggoths, incinerating the body they were eating, killing one, and badly wounding the third. As quickly as she rose, Kazul was back down again. Xiccix stabbed the big quaggoth in the thigh and it howled in rage, lashing out at Cyrryc. The gunslinger shot the big one and dropped it; its buddy began eating it while snarling in anger. Elle revived Kazul and Claire; together, my chérie and I killed the final quaggoth, who seemed to be rabid.
After the battle we gathered ourselves and continued towards the refuge.
***** Kythorn 26
We finally arrived at the refuge around midday, we introduced to their leader, Kibbik, and brought up to speed on their plans. We were told we had two days to prepare.
***** Kythorn 29
Today Fidget had finished making a bunch of bomb traps- that gnome is strange- and small teams spent the day placing them in the tunnels around the city to trap, and hopefully kill, some of the damned gnolls.
***** Flamerule 1
The last two days were spent with teams trying to lure some of the gnolls into the tunnels to kill off some of our foes in advance. I stayed behind since I cannot see in the dark, nor can I turn off Dawnbringer right now, she's terrified of the dark. My chérie says I'm being too nice, but the poor dear was trapped in the dark for about 200 years, it's more than niceness that's driving me to keep the sword on.
That night we were in the temple conversing about what tomorrow's battle would bring, when suddenly the statue of Bahamut activated, announcing this to be a test to our endurance and resolve. As the words were spoken, a winged humanoid with green opalescent skin replaced the statue- a planar. Dawnbringer would not be too helpful in this fight.
Thecker opened fire on the celestial, while my chérie began bludgeoning it with her staff- it didn't seem to like her attacks, and whacked her in response. I activated my javelin and hurled it at the creature, it seemed wounded from the lightning damage. Fidget threw a rock at it, hitting it right between the eyes; it blinked and looked puzzled by the svirfneblin's action. Stepping between my chérie and myself, the planar stabbed Fidget and he went down; had the celestial been trying to actually kill us, Fidget would have likely been eviscerated. In Fidget's unconscious slumber a glowing silver light visited him. The light made him a slightly better person, and he became marked by Bahamut.
Thecker shot the planar in the balls- assuming they have balls, while Kazul hit it hard in the kidney region and delivered a kick to the back of its knees. It glared at my chérie and snapped its wings out, as I stabbed it. As the planar flicked its wings again, I heard a buzzing noise and a swarm of cicadas swarmed from its wings and bit us. My chérie breathed her acid breath at it, and it responded with a slam that dropped her.
I felt a burst of warmth as Elle healed us, reviving Kazul and Fidget. It looked utterly annoyed at the lythari and whirled to attack her- losing its grip on its sword, which went sailing end over end into the wall behind us. Thecker took the opportunity to chuck a bomb at it, and Kazul hit it so hard it fell. As it hit the ground there was a bright flash of silver light and the planar was gone, the statue of Bahamut returning to its place.
The sword was still in the wall, and the only one who could take it was Kibbik. I tried, but it didn't like me; no matter, I have Dawnbringer.
*Author's note: Many of the events, locations and characters that occur in this story are from the Out of the Abyss Adventure Module by Wizards of the Coast. Anything with an asterisk next to it is a quote from the book.
Renner and the twins climbed out of the apparatus to see three drow on riding lizards, with a surface gnome tied up and walking behind them. The drow told the group to lay down their weapons and surrender; Renner gave them a counter offer- that they lay down their arms and he could give them mercy. The drow laughed and fired their hand crossbows. The three of them killed a drow each without taking any real damage themselves- then the riding lizards attacked the party, so they knocked them unconscious.
The gnome said her name was Jacky Quicksilver, and would gladly go with them. The four stuffed the unconscious lizards into the apparatus and walked the rest of the way to the refuge.
Jacky passed Bahamut's judgement and was allowed to stay, though Kibbik kept giving her odd looks. They were relieved that the bulk of that group returned alive, they didn't know if any of them had escaped Aura's blast.
***** Elle's group
The group stopped at the goblin camp again to rest, but before they could settle in they heard noises coming from both ends of the tunnel. They began debating an escape when a human in golden armor and a copper dragonborn appeared on the ledge above them.
Kazul and I had just stopped to camp for the night when the drow attacked us. We had been evading them for a few days now, but they kept catching up to us. We came to a ledge with a small drop and saw three kobolds and a surface elf below. I announced that drow were chasing us, and we ran with them- gnolls were pouring in another tunnel toward them. I felt a bolt ping off my armor as we fled, and then the elf fell off a small ledge- she said she heard a cry for help.
"A soft feminine voice sounded out in Elle's mind suddenly, faint and distant. “Hello? Is someone there … ? Oh please, I need your help! I have been trapped in the dark for so long … so very long. Please, won’t you help to free me?”*
We couldn't leave someone who needed help to fend for themselves with drow and gnolls hot on our tail, so we went toward where she said the noise was coming from. Behind us were the sounds of battle- the gnolls and drow had ran into each other and began fighting. Elle said she had an idea of the general direction of the voice, which we followed. Eventually we came up "to a dirty marble wall with a deep-set door made of bronze-encased stone, green with age."* Xiccix blew the door, while Kazul silenced the explosion so the drow and gnolls wouldn't hear us. Once they knocked it loose I forced the door open, the inside smelled disgusting- I now also heard the cry for help within my head.
"A stone diorama stood to the right of the entrance, depicting the sorcerer Brysis Khaem as a Netherese noble in her prime."* Thanks to the obnoxious history lessons I had to endure growing up, I recognized the image before us. Directly in front of us were "empty stone torch sconces flank a dusty staircase descending 20 feet to a landing. Set into the back wall of the landing is a Netherese calendar stone."* Apparently my lessons of ancient Netheril stuck more than I had realized. We continued down the stairs, reaching three more landings, those ones were empty.
When we finally reached the bottom of the stairs we saw "shreds of dusty tapestries lie scattered across the floor. Friezes on the walls are defaced with deep gouges, making them unrecognizable. An altar of pale gray marble stands gouged and cracked against one wall."* The damage looked recent, and there were no tracks on the dusty floor. There were two more doors of marble and greenish bronze, we chose the one on the left.
Inside were "Four stone sarcophagi mark the resting places of Brysis’s most faithful servants. The lid of each sarcophagus bears the sculpted image of a robed human figure in repose."* We decided to check the sarcophagi, Vevvev opened one of them, and screams filled the room as the other three opened on their own. Angry specters rose from the sarcophagi, looking ready to rip us to shreds.
Elle launched a bolt of fire at one, and Vevvev followed up by shooting it- the specter screamed out in pain and rage, in a tongue I did not know, probably Ancient Netherese. Cyrryc finished that one off, leaving three more of them to deal with. Kazul jumped between two of them, bludgeoning them with her staff, and I stepped into the small room behind my chérie and stabbed at one with my Javelin of Lightning- a precious family heirloom. Elle shot it with another bolt of flames, and it vanished with screams of rage.
One of the two remaining angry spirits passed through me, chilling me to the core- though it didn't seem to do much more than that. The other made a vicious attack against my chérie, hurting her badly- I narrowed my eyes at it, no one hurt Kazul. The bastard looked more solid after hurting her, as if it had healed itself with her blood. Vevvev and Cyrryc both shot at the bastard, and Kazul finished it off with a whirl of her staff. I vented my anger at my chérie being hurt on the remaining spirit, but it refused to fall; Vevvev finished it off. As they removed the treasures found in the first sarcophagi, Vevvev said the temperature in the room felt colder- though the rest of us did not feel it.
They moved to open the next casket, and the specters returned, but as we watched, two of them vanished- the two whose coffins we had not yet opened. Elle sent another blast of flame at one of them, while Cyrryc and Vevvev opened fire- but Cyrryc hit his sister's ear instead of the target... Kazul finished that one off. As Elle threw flames at it, the specter passed through my chérie again- bastard- and moved up to Vevvev.
Hands emerged from one of the closed coffins, and grabbed Kazul's ankle, tugging on them and vanishing again. I threw my javelin at the remaining foe I could see, and accidentally speared Cyrryc instead. Vevvev finished off the spirit that was in front of her, leaving only the ones we couldn't see. Cyrryc set the corpse that rested in the sarcophagus on fire, and we heard a howl of rage as it died the final death.
The hands popped out again, grabbing my chérie's legs again, but this time she was able to hit them before they retreated again. Arms sprang out from the walls and grabbed hold of Elle. Vevvev grabbed the loot from the next coffin and dumped oil on that body- setting it aflame. Again our ears were assaulted by rage as it died. We had to open the caskets and burn the remaining two bodies to finish this.
Kazul grabbed the lid of one and hurled it across the room, cracking the stone. I came up behind her and stabbed the corpse that was inside- I thought the specter might be inside its body. The specter appeared and lunged at me, missing horribly. Cyrryc told my chérie to loot the body before setting fire to it, she answered by throwing the kobold into the coffin, telling him to do it himself. The spirit passed through me again, but this time I was wracked with pain, and felt a little weaker. I stabbed it in retaliation and it was gone- for now. Vevvev cried out "justice" and shot my chérie in retaliation for throwing her brother in the coffin- from outside I could hear Xiccix mutter "dammit Vevvev," apparently she did this kind of thing often.
Once Cyrryc was out of the sarcophagus, Kazul set that one on fire, and opened up the next casket. She touched it with a strike that is designed to disrupt a foe's Ki, but since it wasn't alive, it froze and blinked at her, a puzzled expression on its face. I took advantage of the confusion and killed it. Elle set the corpse aflame as I finished the spirit off.
As I inspected the room further, I found one of the sarcophagi was on rollers, and after shoving it aside I saw a hidden room below. The room below me "had murals on the walls decorated with rich pigments and inlays of semiprecious stones. A gilded sarcophagus stood atop a stone bier along the west wall."* Cyrryc jumped into the hidden tomb below, and a wraith appeared, slashing at him- injuring the kobold. The wraith looked like Brysis Khaem, the Netherese sorceress I'd seen in the entryway to this tomb. My chérie leapt into the tomb and bludgeoned the creature, of course I followed her and stabbed at the monster; it responded by attacking me.
Vevvev threw a flask at it, shooting it to break it open- I think it was holy water. From above us, Elle hit Khaem with a bolt of radiant energy, it seemed to be hurting after that- until it hit both me and my chérie, which appeared to heal it. My chérie responded by hitting the wraith with her staff, and it vanished in an angry puff of smoke.
I heard something calling for help from inside the tomb- the same voice that had led us here. I opened the sarcophagus and found a beautiful sword hilt resting on the chest of the mummified remains of Brysis Khaem. The feminine voice asked me to pick up the sword and turn it on- it glimmered in radiance. She introduced herself as Dawnbringer, and said she had been forged by ancient sun worshipers to bring light into darkness, and fight the creatures of darkness.
Dawnbringer asked me to keep her blade on, as she was frightened of the darkness, and of course I obliged. A sword of light had been trapped in a dark tomb for at least two centuries, if she needed the light I would be glad to grant it. Plus, she would prevent my chérie from having to use her Ki to grant me the ability to see in darkness. I hate this darkness, I miss the light, so Dawnbringer was soothing to me.
After getting back to the level above, we took a brief break, then decided we should still go through the final door. "In the middle of the room rested a wide stone sarcophagus atop a black marble bier. The lid of the sarcophagus is inlaid with dust-covered mosaics depicting great floating cities high above a beautiful landscape. Stone blocks standing against the western and eastern walls are carved with niches, inside which rest a dozen clay canopic jars containing desiccated organs."*
Elle decided it would be safer for us to open the coffin from afar, and she used a spell that conjured a hand- it couldn't get the lid off. Kazul strode across the room and grabbed the lid, flinging it aside, and it crashed into one of the walls with a loud cracking sound. "The sarcophagus contained a life-sized statue of Brysis, sculpted and painted to make it appear that she is sleeping comfortably."* Nothing happened when she opened it, so we left and continued making our way to the kobold's city, Bahamutsville. Looks like chasing these blasted gnolls has led Kazul to another holy location on her pilgrimage.
***** Kythorn 25
As we continued our trek to Bahamutsville we heard some screeching coming from just around the bend in the tunnel- four of those bloody alarm mushrooms. We destroyed them quickly, and hoped they hadn't alerted anything to our presence. We quickly learned the obnoxious shrooms had- a group of quaggoths started towards us from both ends, blocking our way.
One of the quaggoths doubled in size and went for my chérie- they all began surrounding her. I noticed one slightly off to the side from the rest- a cleric. He had to go down first. Suddenly there was an explosion right in front of me- Vevvev's gun had heated up and gone off in her hand, hitting me too. The bastards kept beating on my chérie, and I saw her go down. Rage pulsed through me as I cut one down.
Another explosion went off near me- Cyrryc's gun. The cleric was using a spell to heat metal, which made the guns hot enough to set off the bullets. Elle revived my chérie while Vevvev dropped the healer. Kazul, of course, dropped one the second she rose, and Xiccix came in behind her and sliced down another one.
The big quaggoth slammed into me, knocking me over, and began pummeling me. One of its friends joined and stars swam in my vision as I fell unconscious. They knocked Kazul out again, and two of them began eating the dead remains of their healer. Xiccix dropped another quaggoth while Elle revived Kazul and threw a fireball at the cannibal quaggoths, incinerating the body they were eating, killing one, and badly wounding the third. As quickly as she rose, Kazul was back down again. Xiccix stabbed the big quaggoth in the thigh and it howled in rage, lashing out at Cyrryc. The gunslinger shot the big one and dropped it; its buddy began eating it while snarling in anger. Elle revived Kazul and Claire; together, my chérie and I killed the final quaggoth, who seemed to be rabid.
After the battle we gathered ourselves and continued towards the refuge.
***** Kythorn 26
We finally arrived at the refuge around midday, we introduced to their leader, Kibbik, and brought up to speed on their plans. We were told we had two days to prepare.
***** Kythorn 29
Today Fidget had finished making a bunch of bomb traps- that gnome is strange- and small teams spent the day placing them in the tunnels around the city to trap, and hopefully kill, some of the damned gnolls.
***** Flamerule 1
The last two days were spent with teams trying to lure some of the gnolls into the tunnels to kill off some of our foes in advance. I stayed behind since I cannot see in the dark, nor can I turn off Dawnbringer right now, she's terrified of the dark. My chérie says I'm being too nice, but the poor dear was trapped in the dark for about 200 years, it's more than niceness that's driving me to keep the sword on.
That night we were in the temple conversing about what tomorrow's battle would bring, when suddenly the statue of Bahamut activated, announcing this to be a test to our endurance and resolve. As the words were spoken, a winged humanoid with green opalescent skin replaced the statue- a planar. Dawnbringer would not be too helpful in this fight.
Thecker opened fire on the celestial, while my chérie began bludgeoning it with her staff- it didn't seem to like her attacks, and whacked her in response. I activated my javelin and hurled it at the creature, it seemed wounded from the lightning damage. Fidget threw a rock at it, hitting it right between the eyes; it blinked and looked puzzled by the svirfneblin's action. Stepping between my chérie and myself, the planar stabbed Fidget and he went down; had the celestial been trying to actually kill us, Fidget would have likely been eviscerated. In Fidget's unconscious slumber a glowing silver light visited him. The light made him a slightly better person, and he became marked by Bahamut.
Thecker shot the planar in the balls- assuming they have balls, while Kazul hit it hard in the kidney region and delivered a kick to the back of its knees. It glared at my chérie and snapped its wings out, as I stabbed it. As the planar flicked its wings again, I heard a buzzing noise and a swarm of cicadas swarmed from its wings and bit us. My chérie breathed her acid breath at it, and it responded with a slam that dropped her.
I felt a burst of warmth as Elle healed us, reviving Kazul and Fidget. It looked utterly annoyed at the lythari and whirled to attack her- losing its grip on its sword, which went sailing end over end into the wall behind us. Thecker took the opportunity to chuck a bomb at it, and Kazul hit it so hard it fell. As it hit the ground there was a bright flash of silver light and the planar was gone, the statue of Bahamut returning to its place.
The sword was still in the wall, and the only one who could take it was Kibbik. I tried, but it didn't like me; no matter, I have Dawnbringer.
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| Photo from Out of the Abyss Adventure Module by Wizards of the Coast |
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