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===Session Seventeen - 26th January 2024===
===Session Seventeen - 26th January 2024===
====SHORT VERSION====
====SHORT VERSION====
 
The PCs cr


====LONG VERSION====
====LONG VERSION====
  - <u>[[Media:The_Demonplague_-_Session_16.mp3|Link to audio file]]</u> -  (Sadly the battery ran out half way when we were only half-an-hour into the session :-(  )
  - <u>[[Media:The_Demonplague_-_Session_17.mp3|Link to audio file]]</u> -  (Sadly the battery ran out half way when we were only half-an-hour into the session :-(  )
As the party neared the end of their long rest, a second attempt to pick the locks disturbed them.  Quietly gathering themselves to prepare an ambush for whoever managed to unpick the door, Mogadon overheard two voices talking quietly in the corridor outside.  The first a deep gravelly voice - bringing to mind the image of the half-ogre, the other a more normal, if somewhat whiney.


Stepping outside into the light of an overcast late afternoon, the group quickly hid as best they could and readied themselves in case the half-ogre and his companions chased them outside.  After a moment, during which Cormir hid at the foot of a large brass statue of a giant dwarf - a pair of which were positioned outside the entrance to the ziggurat.   Drex jumped up and pulled himself up to the next level of the pyramid on the same side as Cormir, Morthos did the same on the other and Mogadon simply hid around the corner.
1st: "...that damn Shortcloak woman!  I ought to kill the bitch with my bare hands! Show her who needs to be the leader of the Black Skulls around here!"
2nd: "What about, you know, the bloody golem?"
1st: "Yeah, need to stop her controlling it!  Somehow get that bloody gauntlet off her first."
2nd: "But [[Bazig]], that's way too hard!  We need a plan!...  Maybe that dwarf and the other three that escaped?  We could track them down and persuade them to help?"
1st: "Pah!  I can't see them working with us to overthrow Shortcloak.  They killed Mcgonna, Shalk and Hamma!  Not to mention the other patrol that they probably killed!  There's only ... that's left!"
2nd: "Yeah, and that includes [[Therath Shortcloak]] and her three cronies!"
1st: "Oh shut up [[Thorn]]!  Are you going to get that door open or what?"
...
1st: "Oh I'm going back down..."


Up above them, hiding on a couple of levels higher up the pyramid, the couple of guards they had forgotten about started taking pot shots at them, as from inside, the half-ogre, a crossbow wielding bandit and a wizard start to poke their heads out the entrance and start to target Mogadon.
After the noise of lock picking Deciding they were rested enough, Morthos unlocked the door and the group crept out into the corridor, revealing the faint pre-dawn light seeping down through the hole in the top of the Ziggurat.  After a few moments, a figure appeared from the doorway to the room where they had fought the animated armour, holding his hands up in a gesture of surrender.  "Er...I think we might have all got off on the wrong foot..." he said quietly.  Speaking with the weasely looking fellow for a few minutes, it became clear that this was the second voice they had heard through the door and he confirmed him name as Thorn.  - and went on to persuade the party to help him, Bazig and two others overthrow Therath Shortcloak, the current leader of the Black Skulls.  Through the conversation, they discover that Therath Shortcloak, despite not speaking dwarven, can control the golem due to a gauntlet she wears.  She was put in charge of them by the necromancer [[Ralekai Gravemore]].  Bazig, Thorn and their other two companions want to go their own way, and need to overthrow Therath so they can a) get their share of the loot/supplies she controls, and b) start a new life elsewhere.  Oh, and there were prisoners downstairs as well that were waiting for taking to the Storm Elf Barrows - where Ralekai was doing his plague cure research.


A somewhat spread out combat gets underway - the group eventually being forced to retreat around the side of the ziggurat after Mogadon stepped between the two brass statues, causing one of them to suddenly turn into a fiery looking dwarf radiating intense heat.   As the half-ogre and the other bandits retreat inside - leaving the two outside guards to their fate (i.e. being blasted by Drex) - the group make it around the corner of the ziggurat, where they see the golem bogged down trying to wade through the mud slide that had engulfed the back left side of the pyramid structure.
With a tacit agreement to help, and having drawn a rough map of where Therath's room was, Thorn descended the stairs and quietly gathered Bazig and the other two that they trusted. Creeping past the prisoners - a tatty group of ten people huddled at the back of an alcove with no visible barrier to prevent them from escaping them, Bazig jerked aside the curtain to Therath's room, revealing Therath and the wizard in discussion, with the golem looming in the corner of the room.  A combat breaks out. Crossbow bolts fly, Therath uses her gauntlet to command the golem to attack and the wizard casts silence in the corridor.  Bazig and the golem clash, both striking each other hard and Bazig pushes into the room.   More crossbows are fired, and


Taking control of the golem, they decide to return to the top of the ziggurat and let themselves down into the structure again, creeping into the room with the hand-print on the door, locking it to give them somewhere safe to rest the night.  The golem, having given it pretty complex instructions about only taking orders from an actual dwarf, was left on the roof of the ziggurat itself.


Hours later, whilst they were resting, they heard the sound of the bandits exploring for the first time, the upper level of the ziggurat, and trying unsuccessfully to open the door that Morthos had successfully locked.




Revision as of 11:55, 16 February 2024

Session Seventeen - 26th January 2024

SHORT VERSION

The PCs cr

LONG VERSION

- Link to audio file -  (Sadly the battery ran out half way when we were only half-an-hour into the session :-(  )

As the party neared the end of their long rest, a second attempt to pick the locks disturbed them. Quietly gathering themselves to prepare an ambush for whoever managed to unpick the door, Mogadon overheard two voices talking quietly in the corridor outside. The first a deep gravelly voice - bringing to mind the image of the half-ogre, the other a more normal, if somewhat whiney.

1st: "...that damn Shortcloak woman! I ought to kill the bitch with my bare hands! Show her who needs to be the leader of the Black Skulls around here!" 2nd: "What about, you know, the bloody golem?" 1st: "Yeah, need to stop her controlling it! Somehow get that bloody gauntlet off her first." 2nd: "But Bazig, that's way too hard! We need a plan!... Maybe that dwarf and the other three that escaped? We could track them down and persuade them to help?" 1st: "Pah! I can't see them working with us to overthrow Shortcloak. They killed Mcgonna, Shalk and Hamma! Not to mention the other patrol that they probably killed! There's only ... that's left!" 2nd: "Yeah, and that includes Therath Shortcloak and her three cronies!" 1st: "Oh shut up Thorn! Are you going to get that door open or what?" ... 1st: "Oh I'm going back down..."

After the noise of lock picking Deciding they were rested enough, Morthos unlocked the door and the group crept out into the corridor, revealing the faint pre-dawn light seeping down through the hole in the top of the Ziggurat. After a few moments, a figure appeared from the doorway to the room where they had fought the animated armour, holding his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Er...I think we might have all got off on the wrong foot..." he said quietly. Speaking with the weasely looking fellow for a few minutes, it became clear that this was the second voice they had heard through the door and he confirmed him name as Thorn. - and went on to persuade the party to help him, Bazig and two others overthrow Therath Shortcloak, the current leader of the Black Skulls. Through the conversation, they discover that Therath Shortcloak, despite not speaking dwarven, can control the golem due to a gauntlet she wears. She was put in charge of them by the necromancer Ralekai Gravemore. Bazig, Thorn and their other two companions want to go their own way, and need to overthrow Therath so they can a) get their share of the loot/supplies she controls, and b) start a new life elsewhere. Oh, and there were prisoners downstairs as well that were waiting for taking to the Storm Elf Barrows - where Ralekai was doing his plague cure research.

With a tacit agreement to help, and having drawn a rough map of where Therath's room was, Thorn descended the stairs and quietly gathered Bazig and the other two that they trusted. Creeping past the prisoners - a tatty group of ten people huddled at the back of an alcove with no visible barrier to prevent them from escaping them, Bazig jerked aside the curtain to Therath's room, revealing Therath and the wizard in discussion, with the golem looming in the corner of the room. A combat breaks out. Crossbow bolts fly, Therath uses her gauntlet to command the golem to attack and the wizard casts silence in the corridor. Bazig and the golem clash, both striking each other hard and Bazig pushes into the room. More crossbows are fired, and



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