Session 21: Lots of Empty Rooms and then Something Very Nasty

The Adventurers rescue a captive, explore several seemingly empty rooms and then encounter something very nasty - the Brain of an Imprisoned Demon.

Written by our scribe Carl with a few edits by myself. It is based on our Sunday, June 5, 2022 session. Jimmy took the screen shots on Roll20.

Continued from: Lots of Empty Rooms and then Something Very Nasty.

Location:  Inside Tegel Manor.

Just off a bugbear massacre.

Continuing southward in our quest to navigate the entire floor, and clear it of foes and loot, we boldly went where probably many had gone before. A musty smell awaited us in the corridor.

Through a door to the west we could hear a woman saying 'Is anyone out there?'

She says she is Khaidhlinn Galbreda and is a prisoner....Hmmmmmm.
 
Aefir, feeling the need to open the door, still was on the alert with weapons drawn.

Syndra conujured two huge dire wolves... good doggies.

Opening the door, we saw a torture room. A dwarf woman in a chain mail bikini was chained to a wall. Moving in slowly, we gave the room a twice over.

She said the bugbears ambushed her party, aided by goblins. They were holding her for 'the master'.  All her gear and armor was taken. She told us that the key was on a table in the room.

Syndra found the key and unlocked the bindings while a search of the room was going on. She said she was a trained Ranger, using a bow for preference. She looked for her stuff, but found nothing. She said that she was captured at the graveyard and brought here through a back door. She was not clear on the specific path, just a couple of right turns and a hallway.

We found a small chest under the table. Opening it revealed gold, platinum, a large wooden comb and a book: Golden Evening (An epic love story, volume 1).

When asked what her parties objectives here, she confessed they had come to loot a tomb here, outside, south of the wizard's tower. We noted it in our walking about when we first got to the manor but did not investigate it.
 
Aefir sensed 'extreme evil' about her but she was NOT undead, and asked more about her motives. She asked to join the party. She seemed charming and friendly.

To the north of the torture chamber was a small hallway ending in an alcove that just screamed secret door, but no one could find one after a search.

Out into the hallway and on to a door to the east.  Not getting it unlocked, Arkelm cast Knock.  The room was mostly empty, with a great sword on the floor. Reebo's mage hand wrapped it up and Aefir carried it.

We went west and down a hallway, Shadow found a pit trap in the floor. He leaped back and saved himself. It was the 10' pit that we had encountered before but forgot about.  DOH!!!

Wanting to use the dire wolves, Aefir kicked in the next door. It fell into a room with two doors and one curved wall.  Maybe a tower was here at one time?



Neither door out was locked, so Aefir continued.  Another area of nothing. Lots of webs but no big spider. Room beyond had more webs, and it smelled like water leakage.

Looking around at that point, we did NOT see Khaidlin any more.  We all checked our pockets but no one was missing anything. Maybe she went back to loot the crypt?

We went northish to a room with a painting and a statue with a brass plaque that said "Retort Rowanter". The painting was labeled "Roparoc the Raider".

Searching around the statue revealed nothing special.  As Reebo approached a door to the north he could hear squeaks and machinery noise.

Opening to the machinery noise room revealed an elaborate system of mechanical boilers that popped and groaned. Three zombies were at work and ignored us when we walked in.

We decided to leave them to their tasks.

Leaving the boiler room to the southward, we entered a corridor. Another empty room to the east, and a door to the south. From the empty room, a south door opened onto a corridor with a creaking floor. LOTS of creaking....

We found an empty room with a rat hole. Those were starting to look good, at least we might find something to clear out if we went down.

One door opened onto a closet with a ghoul hiding in it.

It went down fast and looting the body yielded an ivory chess piece (queen), 8 GP, and parts of a shattered sword.

The southwest door opened onto a room and corridor to the west. Another place that looked like there SHOULD be a secret door... Natalie asked, "Were they drunk when they designed this place?"

The south door was big, metal, and locked. While Reebo was trying to unlock it, Syndra spotted a glyph of some sort on the frame of the door. Arkelm took a look at it and could tell two things: it wasn't one glyph, it was two. They were glyphs of warding. One was set to release Flamestrike, the other Dispel Magic... Good thing we didn't trip them. Contact triggers.

We cleared out of the room, and Reebo opened the door using Mage Hand. There was a flash and the northern door slammed into Reebo's face from the blast as he peered around the corner.

Looking after the blast, the glyphs were gone and the door was open. Not an armory after all, but a laboratory. A brain floated in a force field in the middle of the room. Arkhelm identified the brain as being from an imprisoned demon. There was a book, several tables and chairs, and a dead imp inside the force field as well.

There was a large lever in the southwest corner of the room. We left it alone. People who needed spell components started restocking from the containers on the shelves.

Sudenly, KaPowie! Reebo got hit with a mental blast, Syndra and Aefir were attacked also. Everyone bailed out of the lab into the north room. Aefir locked himself into a closet along with the magic boots that had been following us.

No back door for him...

Syndra fought off a mental takeover, just barely. We noticed that Aefir had NOT come out of the lab with us. We backed off and out of sight. Syndra used her dancing longbow to try and shoot the force field, but the arrows bounced off it with no effect.

Yelling back and forth we clarified what happened, and Aefir made a dash for safety. He carried the boots with him. The brain made an attack on him with some kind of concussive blast. Reebo went down under the blast, and Arkelm got hit too.

Shadow ran up and closed the door to the laboratory and spiked it shut, hopefully proof against further blasts.

Reebo was unconscious and barely breathing.

Our Healers went to work on Reebo and then everyone else who had been injured. Everyone got fully healed up, and it seemed like a good time to head back to town. The dwarf in the chain mail bikini would have to look out for herself, we weren't going to try to find her.

The boots would not leave the manor, so we left them behind in the hall.

On the way back we ran into a slight bump in the road : a flock of stirges. Two arrows and one sleep spell later nine stirges had become zero.

Back into town safely, ready to check out the loot. Identify for sure was gonna be a big factor in our first evening back in town. Party time can wait til later.


Continued in The Torture chamber and Temple of Harmakhis.