Legacy
Part 6 – Secret Lair Lower Levels
Details
Start here for 7/16
Recap:
- Day 2 the party followed the tracks of an early rising group toward the tunnels on the east side of the Citadel ruins
- The tracks continued past an obvious opening but the party explored the tunnel and found a group of swamp giants living there along with a huge dragon turtle
- Rather than engaging in combat, the party negotiated, learned about some naga who were causing trouble in the area and were led to a secret underwater entrance to the nagas’ lair
- Through a secret entrance, the party confronted a pair of ‘guards’ and found a couple of fellow competitors (Night Stalkers) that were tricked and then defeated earlier this morning by the naga. The are missing two of their own party
- The party revived and freed the two prisoners and then continued on to find a pair of missing members of another group, Four Winds, missing since yesterday but these were dead apparently from weapon damage
- The party then encountered a pair of verdurous oozes and a dead wizard sponge. They descended a spiral staircase down deeper into the lakebed and arrived at a damp grotto where they found another missing competitor and a large naga! The missing adventurer, a changeling, interposed herself between the naga and the party
Futurecap:
The naga are not fools and will flee if they get down to <90hp. They will try to charm a couple party members to even the odds, but if they are not successful, they will lob spells and then use Black Tentacles to help them escape.
- Once the naga are defeated/flee the party will find the gear of the captured adventurers
- They may find the entrance to Rowena’s lair and another couple missing adventurers
It may seem like this is the end of the mystery, but it is not. After the defeat of the nagas and possibly Rowena, one of the hags will come by this evening to collect the latest batch of prisoners. If the dead are brought back to Blackcross, the priests will be surprised to learn that their souls are not recoverable and have been possibly captured. It will take some investigation to determine what happened unless they catch one of the hags in the act or find a different way to get the info.
SL8 – At the bottom of the spiral stairs, 25’ below the last room, the tower has collapsed into a damp grotto with various pieces of the ruins scatted around and shallow pools of murky water. One of the missing adventurers, Selarea sits cross-legged on the ground staring into one of the pools. Nearby, upon two matted nests of moss, a pair of large snake-creatures stir as the party enters.
The sister nagas still have Selarea under their heightened Charm spell and if the party attacks, they will plead for her to help which will allow Selarea another saving throw (DC30 Will)
The nagas will first cast Mirror Image on themselves, then Shield. They will then use another heightened Charm spell to try to gain the alliance of two of the more dangerous-looking melee opponents (Grimtooth and Nogara?). If forced into melee, the sisters will position themselves back to back and against a wall so no one can flank them.
If brought to 90HP or less, they will use Baleful Poly or Fly and try to escape back up the stairs. They are willing to negotiate for their lives and if the party allows them to leave they will disclose the whole scheme with the Hags and the hags’ purpose to drain the lives to create their Soulgems. They also know that the Hags usually come by after sunset to collect. One deceptive thing they will say is that there are more captives downstairs past a hidden stairway. They are hoping the GK will take out the party so the lot of them can continue their arrangement.
At the base of the fallen statue is a hidden passage that can be opened by moving a buckle on the fallen stone statue which slides the opening revealing hidden stairs. DC30 Per to find the mechanism.
Near each nest is a large chest containing the stolen gear of the captured/dead adventurers. These chests are protected by a heightened Lock spell (DC30 to open). Included are the belongings for Nilak, Etward and Heuberk as well as Azi, Jahsi, Nairu and Selaria.
| Chest 1: Nilak, Etward and Heuberk’s goods | Chest 2: Azi, Jahsi, Nairu, Selarea |
| +1 Strik Comp Bow | |
| +1 Leather | |
| +1 Strik Dagger | |
| Mod Alch Fire | |
| +1 Leather | |
| Pend of Occult (great) | |
| Scrolls | |
| Alch items | |
| +1 Str Mace | |
| Spellbook | |
| Laying around on ground | |
| Rare candles/incense | |
| Thief tools – infiltr | |
| Form book | |
| Leather armor | |
| Dagger | |
| Items that do not belong to recent captures: | |
| +2 Striking Crushing Battleaxe (10) | Arboreal Boots Grt (9) |
| Broadleaf Shield Gtr (9) – player rolls rand ssn | Smoothing Aeon Stone (7) |
| Spiritsight Ring (6) | Clawed Bracers (7) |
LEVEL UP!
SL9 – The sanctuary of Lady Rowena. Seething anger and unbearable anguish combined with unleashed necromantic power when the Citadel fell transformed the crushed body of Osanna’s lieutenant, Lady Rowena into a powerful Graveknight. For the past several decades, Rowena has been exploring the ruins and gathering the trappings of her old liege. She feels that the necromancer still lives (can a necromancer really die?) and she will regain her favor with the most powerful belongings she has collected.
Meanwhile, to alleviate her boredom, the GK heads out to the lakeshore every month or so to find a sturdy body to challenge her skills. Recently, a pair of sister nagas discovered her lair, but they were not interested in a fight and instead made her an enticing offer. In exchange of their freedom to be about their business, the naga sisters would bring challenging opponents to her for her amusement. The remains of these poor souls can be found in various locales throughout her domain. Recently, she had the opportunity to dispatch the adventurer called Heuberk who did a fair job of defending himself. And then just this morning, the nagas brought another captive, a female necromancer named Azi who the GK has other plans. She plans to enlist her in a search for her former mistress!
When the party arrives, Rowena is seated at her throne, lounging back nonchalantly (but ready to spring up) and humming an old marching dirge. She attempts to deal with the party by one on one combat for all to go free, but if they don’t agree, she will lower her visor and ready for the attack. She opens with her Returning Javelin or Devastating Blast if they group together. Rowena has stowed a small gauntlet under the water nearby (DC40 to find) which will recreate her body if the rest of the armor is destroyed.
SL10 – Rowena’s quarters. Although she does not need to sleep, Rowena still enjoys the trappings of her old quarters. Recent acquisition is a magical greatsword (Tuck’s) that lays on the bed.
SL11 – Rowena has been collecting old items from the Citadel and especially from her mistress. The GK places items in this round room in hopes that someday she can regain the favor of Osanna again. Items of note:
- Osanna’s personal bed from her room atop the highest tower
- Some of Osanna’s favorite rugs that originally came from her homeland in Lastwall
- A spare Cloak of Illusions (Greater) 12
- Golden skull made from her father’s skull dipped in gold
- Various spell books and research books
- A marble cabinet with rare reagents for alchemy
- Osanna’s personal desk from her rooms in the Citadel
- Osanna’s favorite standing mirror (cracked) that still functions as a Mirror of Sleeping Vigil 7 (20% chance to fail to activate)
- Ghastly Cauldron 10
- Boots of Elvenkind 5
- Tome of Dripping Shadows 10
- Flying Broomstick 12
- Mage’s Hat (Greater) 9
Mention Selarea’s missing familiar (waiting by shoreline – saw her getting kidnapped and dragged into water)