~ SESSION 8 > SESSION 9 – (BRIEF RECAP) ~
Welcome back my friends!
========================================================
When last we met, the party were sat inside the second burial chamber on the third floor of the cathedral, finishing up a short rest.
However, not all of them were ready to continue on in their journey, and Jack told the others to go on ahead, and that he would catch them up.
Lyra, Levi, and Arthas all agreed to this, and together they left the room, closing the door firmly behind them.
Arthas took the lead and headed along the narrow stone walkways, until he reached a split in the passage ahead.
He looked around, and noticed that there was a fresh pool of blood on the floor in one of the directions, and so wanting to investigate further, and believing that it may help him find who he seeks, he took that path.
Lyra and Levi of course, were following closely behind him.
The passage turned sharply into a room with a long stretched out red and gold carpet, which met a gaping hole in the wall with two fire stands either side of it.
On the walls were hung pictures of horrific images, some depicting blood covered knights, in war-like scenes, and others showed some form of puppetry… Devils controlling Humans perhaps?
On the opposite side of the room were a few large barrels, and a concealed wooden chest in one corner.
However, guarding this room were more of the Burning Dead, which the party had fought in the previous session… and just like before, as soon as the party were close enough, the skeletons launched their attacks.
The battle that followed should have been a simple one, but there were several mishaps along the way which made it anything but simple.
Levi tried to cast a “Ray of Frost” cantrip, and it failed miserably, which caused the magical essence of his spell to spiral out of control, to a serious level.
As a result, he managed to send his spirit into the Astral Realm, tethered to his physical form only by a single silver shimmering cord.
The Astral Realm is a place where time and space would seem to pass by slowly, and what may seem only seconds away on Sanctuary, in the Astral Realm, it felt like it was much MUCH longer.
During Levi’s out-of-body experience – Lyra tried to attack one of the skeletons, and also had a mishap with her spell.
Her out of control magic twisted and shrunk her body, instantly transforming her into a tiny household – pot plant.
Soon after this happened, Levi somehow found a way to combine his spirit with his physical body once more, and returned back to Sanctuary, only to see Lyra in her newest form… but hilariously, he never knew it was her.
During combat, Lyra’s form soon reverted back to her usual self, and startled Levi in the process.
Upon returning to her human form, Lyra felt an itch on her nose, and sneezed loudly.
Within seconds the air was filled with white feathers, as they shot forth from her chin and spread out a good 10 feet away from her.
Lyra tried to hide her embarrassment, and cast a spell once more, but failed again.
This time she ended up growing a couple of noticeable inches in height.
Strange things were going on in this room… or was it on this entire floor?
Meanwhile, while all this was going on… Arthas was dealing with the undead creatures that had set upon the party, whittling them down to just one left, which Levi was able to seize a moment of surprise, and with a quick slice from his blade, he managed to sever the head from the spine of the final skeletal guard.
The room went silent again – and after the barrels and the chest had been searched, it was time to move on.
Arthas led the way again, and the very moment he stepped onto the red and gold carpet area, two fire stands, one either side of the doorway ahead, lit up, and he was blasted by two jets of fire as he tried so desperately to take cover behind his shield.
Once the trap had once more become dormant, Lyra and Levi followed Arthas through the doorway, and along a thin connecting passage, which eventually led to staircase, which led them down to King Leoric’s tomb.
Upon entering the cold and dark tomb, the party heard a booming voice, echoing through the stone halls, and suddenly felt that the temperature had dropped to close to freezing.
It was as if they had stepped onto an ice cap – they could see steam rising from their mouth, with each exhaled breath they took, and felt their body shuddering all over, to help generate the heat it was now lacking.
Pressing forward, undeterred by the cold, Arthas turned the next corner and was peppered with arrows, as he had been spotted by skeletal archers in waiting, further ahead in the darkness of the widening hallway.
He managed to deflect some of the shots with his shield, but not all of them, and he realised this as he felt the pain of the arrows piercing into his body.
Combat was soon to follow with these defenders of the tomb, but they were weak opponents, and the party finished them off quickly.
After the fight, a quick search of the area was made, and a quick scan of the hallway revealed a few interesting things.
There were two doors, one on either side of the lengthy hall, and a tall black-iron spiked fence, which barred the passage leading them forwards.
Only one of the doors was opened, and inside Levi found a small room of skeletons, who seemingly guarded a single metal lever, which stuck out from the ground.
Again, the skeletons proved no real threat, and the party finished the fight quickly, at which point the lever was then pulled, and a loud rumbling sound, followed by a louder clicking sound, could be heard from the hallway they had just came in from.
Moving from the lever room, the party stopped to look at the black-iron fence, nothing had changed with it, and Levi, together with Arthas’s help, tried to climb over the fence – but the cold had got to Arthas a little more than he had expected, and a short sharp pain that he suddenly felt to his lower leg muscles, made his leg strength fail him as he tried to boost up Levi onto his back.
They both tumbled to the floor, collapsing around each other, and listening to Lyra laughing at them both.
The plan had failed, and now the second door was the only option left, and upon opening it up, the party walked into another dark room, but it was far smaller this time, and had only a couple of skeletons guarding another metal lever, to which the party put an end to the enemies immediately, and pulled the second lever.
Again, rumbling sounds, followed by a loud clicking sound, could be heard coming from the hallway they had just entered from, and upon going back to investigate the fenced off area, the party noticed that most of it had vanished from sight, it had somehow reformed itself, and the path forward was now open to them.
It was at this point in time that Arthas, Levi and Lyra all decided it was best NOT to rush in blindly, and that they would be better off coming back fully prepared for whatever awaited them down that passageway.
So, they took the stairs back out the tomb, and gathered Jack on the way as they ascended the cathedral floors, back up to the safety of the town above for a well earned rest.
========================================================
The Present Scene:
Three days have now passed since the party returned to the surface.
During their time in Tristram, they have all spent some effort in training, trading, eating, drinking, conversing… and sleeping soundly.
The third morning came all too soon though, and after a quick trip to the merchants to see what new stock had been crafted of procured, the party were ready to set off once more.
They headed back to the tavern to meet up, to gather their equipment… and to prepare to embark on their dangerous journey.
So join me my friends, and see what happens in this session of…. Adventure in Sanctuary.
========================================================