After we realised that we would get no more information out of Shanzezim, we gave his room one last casual glance to make sure there were no further exits and then left to explore the rest of the underground complex.
We passed back through the pool room and explored the short tunnel and doorway to the west. The room was devoid of anything of interest except for a load more pipes and three cogs which we looked up briefly on the parchment Shanzezim gave to us to see what the did.
A quick discussion led to us following Navda back to the large room with the numerous doors, behind one of which we rescued Shaselle, and we decided to look closer at the door at the top of the stairs. The painted eye symbol on the door gave us all the creeps, but we opened it anyway.
Beyond the door was a staircase down, which didn't make much sense - why go up the stairs just to go down them again? At the foot of those stairs we encountered a room with four different sized bells suspended equidistant from the ceiling by ropes. We noticed that footprints led mostly via the north side of the bells, so Navda scouted ahead in that direction. A quick listen at the door told him that there were people in the room beyond. He then pushed the door slightly ajar to make out five cultists within the room mid argument. He motioned us forward with a finger to his lips but, unfortunately, Druss managed to knock into a bell that set it ringing.
The game was up so we all advanced to support Navda. We noticed a few of the cultists cast spells but without any verbal components to them. Puzzled, as nothing seemed to affect us, we none-the-less entered into the room and a melee erupted. As soon as he entered the room, Druss started to act strangely and dropped all of his weapons before he turned around and left the room. Gladreth, leaving nothing to chance, cast a Lightning Bolt that severely injured three of the cultists, whilst Navda and I loosed arrows and slingshot at the leader (we assumed he was the leader as he was wearing a necklace of teeth in addition to the usual eye insignia). Unfortunately, the leader had a few tricks up his sleeve too, and he Fireballed the entire room singeing us all in the process. Gladreth returned the favour by casting her own Fireball that killed three of the cultists, and then Navda shot the leader dead.
Druss came out of his fugue and closed the door at the bottom of the stairs that led to the bell room. All the other three doors in the room were closed. Despite this, we still felt uneasy. As the combat had stopped, we decided to take up positions guarding each door and investigated some of the contents of the room. We searched the bodies for treasure (we got a pouch of gems and a few of the amulets each cultist wore for our troubles), and found that the basin in the corner contained normal water but the bottom of it seemed to be gold coated. The tables contained some bread and goblets of what looked like cheap wine; we did not attempt to eat or drink any of it.
Just as we were beginning to relax a little, the door to the north of the room opened. A robed, skeletal figure stood in the doorway. Druss charged it down and struck it mightily with his battle axe whilst Navda simultaneously loosed a shaft that ended its un-life.
As the body crumpled to the floor we heard the bells peal from the bell room. Dharion cast a spell that created a tangled web of thorny vines that filled the stairwell to slow down any potential intruders.
The door to the west now opened, but this time we did not see anyone. Navda took a quick look only to see an empty bed chamber. Suddenly, a cultist appeared from beneath the stairs in the main room we were all in and cast a Fireball. At this point I was knocked unconscious by the blast. From what was said when I came to, Gladreth had rushed to my aid and the warriors took down the cultist very quickly.
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| The Helix Mausoleum |
After a quick discussion, we realised that Invisibility must be being used, so not wanting to get caught out again, we trapped the doors to make a noise if opened. Gladreth, Druss and I then quartered the room in search of further cultists, whilst Dharion stood watch and Navda explored the guard room (there were only a four cots and a few piles of bones in there). We didn't find any more cultists, but just as we finished up our search, Dharion heard a knock at the bell room's door. Then silence.
Just as we thought we might be safe again, the items that we had set to the trapped northern door fell down with a clatter. A few moments later, another cultist appeared levitating close to the ceiling. She cast an icy blast kind of spell and, as I was not fully healed from the previous Fireball, I went unconscious again.
Gladreth was Commanded to give the cultist, who had now descended to the floor, a hug which meant no-one could strike her (the cultist). Druss didn't give two hoots and took the risk. He cut the cultist down with his battle axe whilst Navda struck her with an arrow as she let go of Gladreth. Gladreth rushed over to administer aid to me to keep me alive whilst Dharion Healed me. The cultist's body was searched and a key chain with four keys on it was found alongside another pouch of gems. As the search was going on I cast a Prayer of Healing to give everyone back some health.
Whilst we got ourselves organised, Navda went through the northern door to explore a little further. He came back after a few moments to say that there was a long corridor with several rooms along it, some with new padlocks. He mentioned that he had stuck his head inside one of the rooms only to discover several cultists and a couple of ghouls. One of the rooms had the potential to be a holding cell.
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| Vecna Cultists - courtesy of Fantasy Grounds |
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