Date: 30 April
Moon: Waxing Gibbous
Zenith: Alaunus
Events:
--- Emaciated Priests
- We rejoin our heroes deep in Dwimmermount. The walls and floor are classic dungeon, carved from the very stone of the mountain. They are gathered around a stone mouth carved in the wall which has stamped everyone (and their caveman minions) with the symbol of Terms Termax and given each person a chunky physical key.
- Aximander returns! The Elven wine he's been guzzling down for the past several weeks has, miraculously, healed his broken leg! He, too, puts his hand in the stone mouth and receives his stamp and key.
- Aximander returns! The Elven wine he's been guzzling down for the past several weeks has, miraculously, healed his broken leg! He, too, puts his hand in the stone mouth and receives his stamp and key.
- They all continue down the corridor, hoping to find the fallen god Eris who was legendarily shot out of the sky by Terms Termax and secreted within Dwimmermount.
- But lo! Shapes emerge from the darkness! It's a set of emaciated priests in priestly robes marked with the cross-in-circle symbol of Terms Termax! When the party reveal their hand-stamps and keys, the priests brighten up and motion them to follow.
- They lead the party through a bunk room with more emaciated people and into a larger room with a desk. Behind the desk is another priest named Viator. It transpires that he (and the priests in general) will only talk to the Honoured Ones at the front of the party, not the Useless Ones in the second rank. They will, however, listen skeptically to those Useful Ones in the back ranks.
- They inform the party that Terms Termax is beyond the elaborate angel metal door, but imprisoned within a prison barrier that lets anyone enter but only lets Lawful creatures leave.
- They open the door and see the barrier, and also see that the whole area beyond is made of angel metal like the inside of the Seraphim they entered in the apocalypse. All shining brass and whirring gears, and of course a shimmering pearlescent barrier as promised.
- They open the door and see the barrier, and also see that the whole area beyond is made of angel metal like the inside of the Seraphim they entered in the apocalypse. All shining brass and whirring gears, and of course a shimmering pearlescent barrier as promised.
- To test the barrier they send through a caveman. Indeed he cannot leave! He cries.
--- Terms Termax
- A huge clanking robot stomps into view, at its very centre is a head in a jar. It sees the stamp on the caveman's hand and greets it in every language at once, saying that its name is...
- Terms Termax!
- Terms Termax!
- The other cavemen, enraptured, follow through the barrier. The true god!
- Sydney throws a bunch of huge frog legs through the barrier so they'll at least have something to eat. Terms Termax calls for a woman, Pericleia, similarly imprisoned, to gather the frog legs for him.
- Terms Termax rambles on about how he was trapped in here by his lover the "Whore of Babylon" who betrayed him, and he will reward anyone who frees him with mighty abilities.
- Sydney throws a bunch of huge frog legs through the barrier so they'll at least have something to eat. Terms Termax calls for a woman, Pericleia, similarly imprisoned, to gather the frog legs for him.
- Terms Termax rambles on about how he was trapped in here by his lover the "Whore of Babylon" who betrayed him, and he will reward anyone who frees him with mighty abilities.
--- Portal Experiments
- Grog slops a bunch of Portal Milk (from Christmas, long curdled) onto the barrier, and it opens a portal to the Milk Dimension! Alas, no way through, and they cannot even enter the milk dimension. It seems that no dimension-shifting, portal-making or other such magical nonsense will work in this area.
- They try to get a caveman to come back out, but despite charging with all its strength it ponks off the barrier and falls backwards, definitely a concussion.
- Aximander sticks the tip of his finger through the barrier and casts Reknit Essence on the fallen caveman. It works, but unfortunately reforms within the barrier. No way out that way.
- They try to get a caveman to come back out, but despite charging with all its strength it ponks off the barrier and falls backwards, definitely a concussion.
- Aximander sticks the tip of his finger through the barrier and casts Reknit Essence on the fallen caveman. It works, but unfortunately reforms within the barrier. No way out that way.
- Aximander's finger is, however, stuck in the barrier and turning black since the blood can't come back out. He beseeches Terms Termax, who slices off the fingertip with a cigar chopper that he forms from his metal body. Aximander is free! But sans a fingertip.
- Sydney tries his Stolen Sanctum spell, hoping to steal the room despite the anti-extradimensional nature of the prison. It goes off... strangely. Using his slime familiar as a makeshift viewing portal, Sydney sees that a room has been added, but it's just a room in the shape of the room he tried to steal completely filled with angel metal!
- The others ask Terms Termax the full name of his betrayer, and he spits the name at them... God-Shall-Smite-Asunder-The-Whore-Of-Babylon Snels!
- The party is in shock. Isn't she meant to be a Dwarf? Is there a Dwarf in the Snels family line? She was certainly a Denialist!
- There is debate over whether they go up to the Great Machine which will turn off the barrier, or down to meet the Snels matriarch and find out more lore. Eventually they reach consensus - down it is!
- Backtrack to Go Forward
- They invite Viator into the party (he agrees as long as he can be in the honoured front rank) and head back up to find the way down. The prison is the lowest level, you see, but there's an even lower level if you find the right way down.
- They all head up, past the big stone dwarf golem which allows the Termax-branded party through, and back to the cavemen den. They inform the wives and children that the men are trapped in a magic prison due to following a false idol. They wail!
- Party don't care. They keep going. At the south end of the massive caveman cave they run into another group - this a host of eight double-wide Dwarves and their wizened leader Cosmog! Cosmog is a fellow wizened Termaxian priest, but he's extremely anti-Terms Termax and considers him a false idol. He and Viator have WORDS! They want to FIGHT!
- Sydney casts Reknit Essence on Viator to make him vanish for a few hours. They step forward to take Viator's place in the honoured front rank, and parleys with Cosmog.
- It turns out that a great rumbling about 24 years ago allowed him to escape, and he's been plotting to defeat Terms Termax ever since! These double-wide Dwarves were to help him with that!
- They allow the party to camp out with them and the cavemen, who donate some big chunky cave crickets for dinner.
- Sydney casts Reknit Essence on Viator to make him vanish for a few hours. They step forward to take Viator's place in the honoured front rank, and parleys with Cosmog.
- It turns out that a great rumbling about 24 years ago allowed him to escape, and he's been plotting to defeat Terms Termax ever since! These double-wide Dwarves were to help him with that!
- They allow the party to camp out with them and the cavemen, who donate some big chunky cave crickets for dinner.
- Grog uses them to cook up "Grogg's 'Famous' Drunk Cricket Porridge" by combining them with stale beer and giant millet. It's tasty!
- Everyone rests up and gets ready for the next descent...
Total: 5000 exp
Foes Defeated:
- Viator, technically. (1000 exp)
- Viator, technically. (1000 exp)
Total: 1000 exp
Exp Totals:
- Carter / Sydney, Level 8 Magic-User: 167594 (Level up at 288000)
- Kitty / Julian & Aximander, Level 7 Languid Wastrel: 80470 (Level up at 144000)
- George / Hagen the Heretic, Level 6 Dwarf: 56142 (Level up at 64000)
- Ollie / Divinity, Level 6 Battle-Cleric (Fighter 3/ Cleric 3): 55338 (Level up at 72000)
- Charles / Grogg Greedy, Level 4 Inheritor: 12012 (Level up at 18000)
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