Chapter 3 / Episode 90 – The Gaze of Stone
Date: Planting 13, 576 CY — Night
Region: Drachensgrab Hills, south of Highport — Slave Lords’ Stockade
Weather (Outside): Cold drizzle. Low clouds. Mud and mist clung to stone and bone alike.
Weather (Within): Smoke, sweat, and the iron tang of confinement.
Players
Dog the Ranger
Irving the Reluctant (with Harvey the Hare)
TerryOr the Cleric
Silversun Ubermage the Magic-User
Slash the Bard
Tiger Wong, Monk of the East
The Jester
Kern Blackshield of Safeton
Lady Morwen Ellisar (NPC)
Planting 13 — The Cry Behind the Door
With Icar dead and his quarters searched, the party pressed deeper into his chamber. The smell of cooked meat and damp stone clung to everything.
Then came the sound from what appeared to be a closet.
Crying.
Soft. Desperate. Female.
Irving, Dog, and Kern volunteered without hesitation. The door opened under careful hands.
Inside stood a woman of unnatural beauty.
Bare feet. Pale skin. Crown of serpents.
Irving bowed slightly.
“My apologies, my lady—”
He never finished the sentence.
Stone crawled over him like frost.
Harvey leapt clear as the Paladin of St. Cuthbert became a statue mid-breath, apology frozen forever on his lips.
The Snake Queen
Kern looked away in time. Dog shielded his gaze.
The Medusa moved forward, slow and confident.
Dog loosed an arrow without meeting her eyes—biting into flesh. She shrieked.
Then she struck.
Kern faltered under her venom. The fangs cut deep—and poison followed. He collapsed, clutching his throat, eyes rolling back, foam from his mouth.
Slash struck up a sharp chord to draw attention, to break rhythm, to buy seconds.
Silversun, invisible, waited for a clear shot of a dagger.
Terry kept his shield angled, refusing her gaze, muttering prayers through clenched teeth.
The battle was awkward and brutal—blind strikes, half-turned faces, faith over precision.
At last, steel ended her.
Silversun removed her head cleanly.
No one celebrated.
Irving stood silent and gray.
Kern was dying.
Poison and Resurrection
The venom was relentless.
Terry tried curing beads. No effect.
Potions were searched. None helped.
The chaotic crown was considered. Quickly dismissed.
Kern’s breathing slowed.
There are moments in a campaign when you either let the dice decide—or you make a statement.
Terry made one.
Resurrection he remembered from a scroll.
Risky. Costly. Not guaranteed.
The miracle worked.
Kern gasped back into the world, coughing, weak—but alive, first thought was his beloved wife.
“I owe you,” he rasped.
“You do not,” Terry replied.
The Statue of Irving
They debated what to do with Irving. This was not death. It was waiting.
Irving stood as a monument to politeness.
Plans began forming immediately:
Stone to Flesh
Quest-based atonement
Divine overreach
Possible antidotes within the stronghold
The Medusa’s head was wrapped carefully. Its power would not last forever. Silversun felt powerful with the new weapon.
The Pantry and the Stairs
Beyond the Medusa’s chamber they found:
A pantry filled with smoked meats and preserved rations
No coin
No magic
No mercy
Tiger discovered the seam in the wall.
A secret door.
Beyond it—a stair descending into blackness.
Kern checked for traps with his trusty 10' pole. Terry cast Find Traps. Down they went.
Dog was in the lead, inching slowly.
The Goblin Den
At the bottom: a 10x20 chamber with a raised platform and a small hidden door.
Dog bent down examining the corridor, finding serveral tracks leading to and from the wall. Obvious secret door. He pushed and it gaveway.
Beyond it: twelve goblins eating around a crude table.
Slash moved first singing softly followed by the weakened Kern.
One goblin dropped before finishing his curse.
Dog followed with his bow.
Steel and arrows cut the rest down quickly.
Three were captured alive due to Terry'Or casting hold person.
A prisoner was all that remained after the battle, held captive in a small cage on the north wall.
The prisoner begged for food, looking like he had not eaten for days. Suspicion thick in his hollow eyes.
They found:
144 silver pieces
Several scimitars
Brass keyring with multiple keys
The goblins were questioned, only defiance and the promise that Markessa would kill them.
Silversun had enough and pulled out his new weapon, the medusa head. Crack!!! A grim reminder of who held power in that room.
Outcome Notes
Medusa slain
Irving petrified
Kern killed by poison → successfully resurrected
Goblin squad of 12 defeated; 3 captured / then medusa'd
Starving prisoner fed but reluctant to talk
Secret stairway discovered
Goblin keyring retained
Medusa head secured (Silversun happy)
XP Awarded
Medusa encounter: 200 XP per player
Current Status
Irving remains stone
Lower levels opened
Markessa still unaccounted for
Specialist Quarters still ahead
Medusa head ticking toward uselessness
Next Steps
Restore Irving (Stone to Flesh or equivalent)
Proceed cautiously down web-filled hallway
Inside the stockade now stands a stone paladin, a resurrected warrior, and a cleric who has called on his god thrice too many.
The walls are starting to close in.
And somewhere below…
Markessa waits.
No comments:
Post a Comment