Entry #9 - Day 4 Uphir, Tetsuo and Akkiir once again were visited with vicious nightmares, similar to their previous dreams but changed slightly in small ways. As upset as they were by these events, they were quicker to recover this time and soon found themselves returning to slumber. When we finally stepped outside for Janlynn to do her morning prayers to Lathander it was at best guess - close to noon. As Janlynn went about her morning rituals we could see slowly shambling humanoid figures amongst the thick mist. They were quickly identified as mindless zombies and were moving toward us. Rather than expose ourselves for a fight that could be avoided, we decided to go back into the house. We did stop in the upstairs bedroom and from the balcony I got to have some target practice with my fey magic. We descended once again from the attic to the dungeon below. Our first area to explore would be to see what was in the room beyond the now dead toothy door. The pink acid of the rancid pool had eaten away at the dirt and stone of the floor where it fell. We avoided that dangerous puddle. Beyond there was a bed chamber with a double bed, a footlocker, an armoire and a crate. Our expert chest opener, Uphir, was once again called forth to do her delicate work with her axe. She opened the footlocker and as she did so, two of the walls of the chamber exploded outward spraying shards of plaster and debris everywhere. Flying out from behind the shattering walls were two ghastly cloaked figures who resembled the ghouls we had fought yesterday. Our warriors expertly attacked these fell beings, even as they choked from the horrible stench of death and decay filling the room. After a valiant fight we determined that these undead forms were Elizabeth and Gustov Durst. As the room was searched for anything of value, the bodies of the Dursts were wrapped in ragged blankets so that they could be interred in their tombs should we decide to do so. Nim was passionate in saying that they did not deserve a proper burial, because of their evil deeds in life and especially for their failure to protect their children. We collected what worthwhile treasure we could from this chamber and then, having no further tunnels or rooms to explore on this level, took the stairs down to the next level. The first room we encountered was a curious one - consisting of several wall niches with a variety of small items displayed within them. I used one of my tricks and was able to discern that some of the items were magical. The description of these items will be written elsewhere. (here) The sound of the chanting was much louder and more clear on this level. The voices were chanting "He is the ancient. He is the land" over and over again. Exploring one of the two passages leading from this room brought Nim and Tetsuo into a prison area where shackles hung from the walls at regular intervals. A skeleton still lay there shackled to the wall in this area. A gold ring was spied upon it's bony finger and was retrieved after some careful consideration and Tetsuo's decisive staff attack. The other passageway led to a partially submerged room with a raised dais in the center , a walkway all around the room interspersed with stairs leading into the dark water, and a rough hewn cave on the far wall. Shackles hung from the ceiling were positioned so as to receive some poor victims. As soon as the room was entered, the chanting immediately stopped. It was chilling and jarring to no longer hear the incessant chanting that has been luring us throughout this dungeon. The general idea that the troupe decided on was that this was some sacrificial room and that some trigger would bring forth a beast or challenge for us to overcome. Ancient human remains were found on the floor beneath the waterline. We decided to take a rest in the niche room while we planned our next move. The group set themselves along the ledge ready to take on any danger that should arise and Uphir walked through the two foot deep water to stand on the dais. As soon as she did, several apparitions appeared amongst us, right along the edge where we were standing. The began chanting "One must die" in unison. A couple of us moved to stand in the doorway and their chanting changed to "Lorgoth the Decayer, we awaken thee!" and then "The end comes! Death, be praised!" A rumble from across the chamber brought our attention to a large blackened undead thing rising up from the refuse near the cave opening.
Waves of chilling, life draining cold washed out from the creature to assail our group. I locked eyes with the dark voids of his hollowed sockets and I could feel doom. His eyes commanded death and I fell before it without any will to resist. I thank my friends, especially Janlynn, for giving me the chance to actually continue to chronicle our adventures - for I would have surely been doomed without them all.
The sheer monstrous evil and the waves of pain coming off this creature put us into a retreat almost right away. Some of us were falling from the freezing damage of this creature as it tried to tear our souls from our bodies, and were quickly healed and rushed along towards the stairs up. Akkiir had bravely put himself between the creature and the rest of us, buying us a little time as his blade slashed with good effect, but soon he was overwhelmed as well and fell into darkness. Tetsuo was the first to make the decision we were all struggling with - to continue to try and outrun the abomination or to turn and fight it. His bravery to be the next to stand against the beast after Akkiir had fallen inspired us all to turn and follow him. He struck the undead creature with his perfectly executed attacks and seemed to have some effect against it. As I prepared to cast a fey bolt at the beast, Janlynn stepped forward and released a massive sunburst of holy energy, destroying the foul thing utterly. I rushed forward and use a healing spell on Akkiir in the hopes that I could save him before he slipped away completely. The monster was defeated; we all suffered horribly before it's might; but we all survived!! We all felt drained - mentally, physically and spiritually from that colossal battle. We settled down into the niche room to rest. Some of us investigated the more interesting artifacts.
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