Dungeon On A Shelf - SPOILERS

Here are some pictures of the dungeon awaiting my Friday Ptolus  (Wayward Sons) players. Images include both complete rooms and a partially assembled wide-view. These will reappear as the adventure write-ups are posted.

Below is a shot of the partially disassembled dungeon.

Thursday Knights

Eberron.

The party entered the ethereal stairway to ascend into the lobby of the library tower, accompanied by one of the nothic librarians. It was a good thing because the giantess curator was about to rain ruin upon our heads for violating the prohibition against entering the observatories without permission. The librarian explained that we had saved the library from a demon infestation, cleared the advanced research lab and closed the portal to the home world of the demons. This won her grudging acceptance.

Entering the next ethereal stair they returned to the entry chamber of the large pyramid and from there exited into the desert. They then prepaired to camp and Ennark gathered and fed the mules. We had spent a couple of days within the library and the animals were starving and parched.

The librarians had granted each of us information on a topic of our choosing before we departed. Visions had been displayed for all of us to see. Ennark's knowledge request showed him the nearby area which included the ruins atop hills half a day away that may hold the prison of one of the many defeated demon lords of ancient times. He very much wanted to seek relics from the site to bring back to the church. The next morning the party set out for the ruins.

On the night before setting out, some flickering lights were noticed amid the distant ruins. Ennark took this as indicating the location of the prison, protected by a silver flame, When daylight came they could no longer see the lights.

After half a day of travel into the hills they reached their objective. The ruins were comprised of low lying rubble that may be the foundations of buildings. Nearby was a huge cave mouth, 30' tall by 25' wide. Speculation about the cave being a dragons lair was quickly put aside. The mules were behaving normally and there were no indications of anything residing at the site.

Entering the cave they were greeted by the sight of 6 stone sarcophagi on large stone plinths, three to each side of a wide aisle leading to a pair of enormous doors. One of the graves had been slightly disturbed, having its lid ajar. After casting light into the sarcophagus they were able to see an accumulation of dust, likely the long decayed remains of the buried individual, accompanied by a spear, a bow, a helmet, and suit of scale mail armor of ancient design, all in excellent condition. They noticed also, a broken set of manacles, and scratches in the stone that seemed to indicate a live burial of an unwilling person.

Collecting the grave goods, the group moved to the next grave, forcing open the seal. Inside was a similar scene and items, except this one showed no signs of struggle to escape. It was then that the doors at the far end opened and two 20' tall undead giants bearing huge morning-stars emerged.

The battle was joined with each party member seeking the best position from which to fight. A'lan posted himself forward to engage the creatures as they came at the group. Cotton sought a hiding place from which he could attack by surprise. Anton fell back to a place of cover from which he would employ his hand crossbow with which he was deadly. Eldrid stood atop a plinth and drew her longbow, and Ennark placed himself in the middle from which he could employ most of his spells effectively.

Proving themselves to be very effective against foes when coordinating their capabilities. Ennark displayed his latest divinely granted power, unleashing a ball of silver fire that engulfed the giant abominations. The others assaulted first one and then the other giant. The fight went well, with only A'lan suffering injury before the undead were destroyed. 

Finishing the job of looting the 6 stone coffins presented them with 6 magic spears, 6 magic bows, and 6 sets of ancient non-magical armor which Anton collected into the bag of holding he carried. They then proceeded into the chamber beyond the doors. There they found an incredible sight. Centered in the cathedral-like chamber was a 30' long stone sepulcher.

All around the room were painted scenes of what they assumed to be the interred giant. A search revealed the giant's name, and a hidden compartment within which Cotton identified to be a magical trap. He was hesitant to attempt disarming it until with a prayer of divine guidance, he succeeded. 

The monumental task of moving the tomb's lid fell to their combined might and with a struggle it eventually moved aside enough for them to get inside. Within was a large pile of dust, several rings the size of bracelets, a crown large enough to encircle two people with room to spare, and a great mask the size of a dining room table which weighed 600lbs.

Recovering the items from the coffin proved difficult, but eventually it was achieved. The rings joined the previous items in the bag of holding and the spears were withdrawn to build a litter for the mules to pull, to move the crown and mask.

Lich In A Box

CaptCorajus' game turned into a life or death puzzle this session.

As you may have read in the last session report, the party fought off an iron golem and then rested before trying to open the next puzzle door. It then turned into a laugh riot for Chuckles the Bone Boy while we worked out the puzzle and unlocked the door.

Beyond the door was another set of stairs downward. Which the party was cautious about descending, all while Chuckles taunted from his undisclosed location.

Dividing the grand hall of a crypt was a wall flanked by two sets of portcullis. Behind them were a dozen skeleton archers, which once we figured out how to attack them and suffer minimal damage (poor wizard got hit with arrows from skeletons with held actions), the party destroyed a few and learned that their owner is dedicated to recycling. The skels were reconstituted and returned to the firing line.

We decided to explore the side crypts before dealing with the recycling issue. In those crypts we discovered areas that still remained consecrated, and uncorrupted by CtBB's evil. If we needed a rest (and we soon did) we could find relative safety there. 

In one we discovered an animated heroes sword and in the other a well of holy water. (Again, where is a stone bucket when you need one?). Eventually the sword would be used as a key to get us past the portcullis's and Roysen turned most of the skeleton archers. Torul moved near the reconstitution circle the try and keep things tied down so the rest of the party could come on through.

Having gotten into the back half of the grand crypt, Sophia discovered the lever that could shut off the factory that kept pooping out undead assailants. Thankfully it worked well because it was getting nastier with the crap it was sending the party's way. The last new undead was a minotaur skeleton with a huge axe. The switch not only stopped production, it caused existing ones to vanish. Sophia found this amusing and for a moment or two played with the switch. (Skels on/Skels off).

This did not amuse Chuckles the Bone Boy so he sent two flaming skeletons to give the party a warmer welcome. Fortunately Sophia had an Ice Storm to drop on them and that was that. The party broke the power system before more of those anorexic arsonists could be ported into the room.

It was off to the deeps of the crypts and soon to a face to face with Bone Boy himself.

Descending the stairs led into a long hallway lit by flickering glyphs moving from the stairs to a distant door and starting over, and over. Note: the d6 represents the Guardian of Faith Roysen had cast when we rested by the holy water well.

The door was carved to appear like an angel of the good faiths, though over time had become worn. Roysen figured around a thousand years. Mulva, the ever reluctant, was finally cajoled into examining the door for a mechanism to open it. She located a button hidden in the detailed carving, and refused to be near the door when eventually Torul and Roysen did the job.

Hello Chuckles!

Valendros the Wicked rose from his throne and stepped to the edge of the dais. "Come in" he laughed. His ancient, wrinkled, undead form was resplendent in robes as new looking as the day they were made. (Ah Ha! He does buy new on occasion! Faux hipster biatch!)

Roysen sent his Guardian of Faith forward and it ceased to be as it crossed the threshold. That gave the group more than enough reason to hang back in the hallway. (CR 21 Lich, damned right we were hanging back! CtBB has Legendary AND Lair actions with which he could swat the group to death in a single round.)

Conversation and repartee confirmed for us that this former Set worshipper had changed allegiance over to Orcus in exchange for becoming a lich, and after a millennium of running rampant in Traladar (our original neck of the woods) the immortal he betrayed put him in this cage and conveniently provided the tools to finish the bugger off for those canny enough to learn the means.

During the talk, the party was given a "gentle" coaxing to enter the room with the captive and not too happy lich, by the appearance of two Death Knights blocking our exit and advancing slowly. (Two CR17 heavy hitters either one of which could vaporize the party by launching a necro-fireball.) 

That is when the session MVP, Roysen, locked the group in with the lich and away from the death knights by casting a spell of shaping stone to put a 5' thick wall between us and them. There seemed to be a possible flaw in the plan, as in, only exit, however, maybe destroying Chuckles would get us a safe way out.

Torul broke open a canopic jar on a hunch and located a beating heart and after killing it, he found three arrow heads of obvious power. Roysen bashed open a treasure chest to spill thousands of platinum to the floor. (What the fark were you thinking! We could have carried that loot out!)

Eventually our recalcitrant halfling was cajoled into using the arrowheads and shooting the phylactery, destroying it. Good thing she hit on the first shot since Torul and Roysen had just released the lich thinking that was required for the arrow to reach the phylactery. Close call.

You'd think that being the Chosen One of Set she would have happily done in Valendros the Betrayer, but we had to bully her into taking this crusty cadaver of evil down for good. Torul hates having to bully the halfling because he absolutely despises bullies. He ends up angry and down on himself each time. Eventually Mulva may drive Torul to commit acts of great evil, which being the Chosen One of Set, may be her true purpose all along.

The Phylactery and throne exploded, destroying Valendros and sending reverberations throughout the dungeon. Quakes shook the tombs, and all undead in the region ceased to be and the party was able to break free of the stone wall. It was now a race to escape the crumbling ruins, back to the surface and help from the beastmen.

In their escape Torul managed to scoop up about 300 platinum coins out of the thousands scattered on the floor. Thousands of platinum coins, spilled, by the dwarf.