The Serpentmen's Sacrament - Session 6 & 7

The four adventurers stood outside the cave entrance for the last time. After weeks of exploring, they were ready to root out the undead snakes and their Dwarven allies. Once more, from the top:

• Gavel, Level 2 Fighter.
• Godwin the Green, Level 2 Fighter.
• Haisam, Level 2 Necromancer.
• Heiwae Mann, Level 3 Thief.

Accompanying them were two retainers, both in the employ of Godwin:

• Burned Leaves, Level 1 Elf.
• Ditch-Twitch, Level 1 Halfling.

Rounding out the party's equipment was a comical amount of holy water (purchased in-bulk from the Church of Fat Sun) and a pair of lichhounds. These small but vicious dogs had a bark so fierce that, once per day, it could turn the undead. Once Heiwae Mann trained them to bark on command, Godwin packed them into a padded pouch for ease of transport.

The Deadlifters had augmented the dungeon's defences. A row of vicious spikes interlaced with coils of razorwire stood at the narrowest point of the cave. Godwin used his magical gauntlets to carefully clear a path through the deadly obstacle. Filtering through in single file, the party arrayed themselves in front of the temple's entrance. The smell of alchemical fuel was in the air again - the Dwarves were using the cultists' forge for something.

The adventurers decided to use the sallyport instead of braving whatever defences the halfmen had prepared on the front entrance. Godwin, first to wade across the river, noticed something glittering below the surface. Without warning, a pair of metallic skeletons burst from the icy waters and laid into the party with warhammers.

The mercenaries scattered, dodging the bronze-clad monstrosities frenzied swings. As melee began in earnest, each side exchanging blows, the distinctive clanging of a cowbell was heard from within the flooded chamber to the North. The party prevailed after Godwin commanded a lichhound to repel their attackers with a high-pitched bark. One of the skeletons was smote after being glassed with a vial of holy water, but the other fled into the darkness - clambering through barbed wire into the baptismal chamber.

La Mort Saint-Innocent

Catching their breath, the party noticed that the cowbell had stopped ringing. Assuming it was another skeleton - likely equipped as an early warning system - they quickly ducked into the sallyport before someone investigated the commotion. 

They made good progress thanks to Ditch-Twitch. Being a natural tunnel fighter, the halfling took up the vanguard and easily guided his taller companions through the cramped tunnel. Once they were out of the crawlspaces, the party arrayed themselves and marched towards the flooded baptismal chamber. Concerned the cowbell skeleton might've returned to its post, Godwin ordered the two demihumans to clear the room.

His retainers performed admirably, quickly locating the undead sentry and dispatching it with holy water. Ditch-Twitch even snatched the cowbell before it struck the floor, preventing another noisy racket.

Once again the party stacked up on the door to the waiting room. Once more they heard the sounds of an active forge, the smell of something burning. After a brief discussion, they settled on the same tried and tested tactic: Haisam breaching the door with Knock, Burned Leaves blasting the room with Sleep and the fighters wading in to kill anything left standing.

With a prayer to Anubis, the necromancer smote the bronze door from its hinges. 

Tactical Breach Wizards

The room was filled with skeletons, arrayed in a loose formation to protect the two remaining Deadlifters. Though busy repairing the damaged bronze skeleton when the adventurers breached the door, the halfmen were fast on the draw. One snatched up a large snake fang dripping with venom, and the other drew an enchanted khopesh from a dragonskin scabbard. 

Burned Leaves was the first to enter the room. The Deadlifters shouted desperate commands to the bronze skeleton before the elf's magic laid them low. Godwin followed his retainer in, using his second lichhound to immediately rout most of the defenders. As the frontliners pushed through the scrum towards the Dwarves, Heiwae noticed the bronze skeleton maneuver behind the forge. Though he and Ditch-Twitch destroyed construct with a volley of holy water, it wasn't in time to stop it's final order.

With a ear-splitting crash, the forge toppled to the ground. Burning alchemical fuel pellets flew everywhere, striking skeleton and adventurer alike. While the mercenaries recovered from the sudden explosion, the reawakened Dwarves surged to their feet and beat a hasty retreat down the northern corridor.

Despite raining down a barrage of arrows, knives, burning oil and slingstones, the Deadlifters soldiered on with grim determination. With a loud thud, they dropped a pair of serpentmen statues behind them, delaying their pursuers and securing their withdrawal.

After destroying the remaining skeletons, the party clambered over the fallen statues and moved down the hallway. They advanced carefully, concerned the halfmen may abuse their infravision to fire crossbow bolts from the darkness. It never came - the Dwarves had fled deeper into the temple complex. Strangely, they hadn't triggered the glyph of alarm in their retreat.

Rather than pursue the Dwarves deeper into the darkness, the party instead opened the secret door they'd discovered months prior. With a low grating, the statue's shield arm twisted and the stone block raised up. Ditch-Twitch went first, clutching Haisam's hand mirror, backed up by Gavel. The pair saw a bright, artificial light shining down the tunnel and felt a dry heat come into the air. Creeping forward, the halfling peeked around the corner. With a shit-eating grin, he scrambled back to the fighter. 

The next room was a nursery of some sort. The floor was made of sand, heated by magical flames burning on the walls and illuminated by a Continual Light spell cast onto the ceiling. And nestled in the warm sand were twelve gigantic snake eggs. They'd hit the motherlode. 

Swords drawn, the party waded through the knee-deep sand and beheld the clutch of treasures before them. Once it appeared the room held no threats (beyond a disconcerting number of human bones), Heiwae Mann eagerly reached for the nearest egg.

Godwin was the first to notice it, but his shout of warning came too late. A writhing amalgamation of clattering bones and glittering jewellery burst from the sand. It was a snake, 12-feet-long with a fanged human skull inlayed with glowing quartz crystals alight with ancient malice. The Necrophidius twisted into unnatural patterns as it advanced on the party, ensorcelling their minds. Only Godwin and Burned Leaves resisted its sorcery, the others were left staring into the middle distance.

Reaching into his belt, Godwin drew his Wand of Light and blasted the Necrophidius in the eyes. Roaring in anger, the half-blinded beast was occupied long enough for the others to shake off the hypnotism and join the fight. Realising it was surrounded, the Necrophidius snatched up a scroll from the sand. Before anyone could react, Gavel fell to the ground screaming - himself now blinded by the Continual Light spell boring its way into his optic nerve.

UCSF Health X-Ray

As the fighter writhed in agony, the clattering of metal emerged from a nearby crawlspace. The Deadlifters crawled out the tunnel, beards slick with ambrosia and clutching armfuls of scrolls. Panicked, Heiwae Mann tossed burning oil at the halfmen, but only managed to burn one of the magical papyri. With a roar of triumph, the Dwarves tossed their precious cargo into the sand before the Necrophidius, who gleefully snatched up one of the scrolls.

Burned Leaves' face went white as he recognised the syllables of the spell. But Godwin and Haisam only heard the first syllable of his warning cry before the Hold Person spell washed over them, sending them into an involuntary seizures.

One of the Deadlifters drew his poisoned dagger and advanced on the paralysed Haisam. The necromancer didn't need to speak Dwarven to understand the red-faced shouting of the wrathful halfman. He'd stolen his father's corpse, perverted his mother's soul. Knife held high, he moved to cut out the sorcerer's heart.

But Hold Person wasn't the only spell Burned Leaves had recognised amidst the scrolls. Scrambling through the sand whilst Ditch-Twitch held off the Necrophidius, he scooped up the surviving papyri and sprinted towards Godwin. With a babbled incantation, he slapped his gauntleted hand onto Godwin's chest. The spell coursed through his body, freeing paralysed muscle and galvanizing the fighter into action. Surging forward, he drove his broadsword into the back of the dagger-wielding Deadlifter.

With a wet gurgle, the murderous Dwarf toppled to the ground - poisoned blade landing an inch from Haisam's foot. The surviving halfman released a shriek of rage, gave up on chasing Heiwae Mann and charged the knight. But Godwin met his frenzied strikes with measured precision, buying time for Burned Leaves to use the other scroll of Cure Light Wounds on Haisam. 

Together, the party piled vial after vial of holy water onto the screeching snake, before the necromancer finally struck the decisive blow. The Necrophidius' bisected halves fell to the ground, belching black smoke as the sanctified fluid melted it into ash.  

The final Deadlifter didn't fare much better. Godwin swept aside the exhausted Dwarf's enchanted blade, and drove his own deep into his armpit. He tried to spit out a death curse, but the sword had pierced both his lungs. The last of the halfmen collapsed glassy-eyed into the sand.

James Purefoy in Ironclad

Exhausted, the adventurers gathered the eggs for transport in their hired barge. The blinded Gavel was led out of the temple and onto the boat. Hopefully the Church of Fat Sun could restore his ruined eyes. Bounty secured, and with improbably few casualties, the party mounted up and made course for Fallowfields.

Its defenders slain and coffers looted, the ancient temple now laid quiet.