Adventure 2 - Oops! Too late.

The fighting continues.
The battlefield is the tight hallway at an intersection with the furnace room. We have them closed in on two sides and we're pressing them hard.
Seeing the tide of battle in our favor some of our number grow bold and leap over the others and slash at the cultists.
Dahli glides through the air with grace only an Elf could show, slashing down with a mithril longsword and killing the cultist with one blow.
We dispatched the enemies and after finding nothing of value on their persons we went back to our intended task.
Skel picked up a corpse of a cultists, carried him back to the pool, now covered in molted chicken feathers, and dropped the corpse at the edge.
We saw no effects happen to the body and so Skel rolled up the sleeve on his scaly gray arm and dipped a finger in the pool. He told us he only felt a slight tingle and so he descended into the pool. With a sharp wince of pain he surged forward and climbed out of the pool on the other side. He looked only a little worse for wear and so we all, by turn, crossed the pool. Each of us feeling some mild pain.

We continued on and found ourselves in a room with very large, egg shaped, closets, or armoires. Old Mac climbed inside one, closed it, and a moment later he climbed back out. Skel decided to do the same, only he didn't open back up. Kadelthin then approached the closests and studied the runes and was able to read them and he told us it was a transportation device. So, we all, in turn, climbed inside the many egg closets and found ourselves transported to a room that looked identical to the one we'd come from.
After looking around we found a hallway and so we went down the corridor and found another room.

Inside this new room we found a strange device, and within it was incubated a living thing. We saw tubes that wound around, and through the device and lead to the living thing. Sigorn must have thought those metal tubes were meant to be blown into because that's exactly what he did. He walked up to one and pressed down his mouth and blew into the tube.
He came away spitting. We figure he said it tasted nasty, but truthfully we couldn't make out his words as he held his tongue and kept spitting.
Immediately Sigorn was grasping at his stomach and grunting in pain. He looked visibly paler to some of us a and every few minutes he'd clench his muscles tightly and then relax, but every time he'd relax he'd sag just a little more. He was visibly wasting away before our eyes.

Stostine grew very alarmed. She tried to lay her hands on him to heal but she incurred displeasure from her deity. Mort tried to lay his hands upon Sigorn, but his deity smited him with a curse. When Mort tried to lay his hands on Sigorn again he felt the energies were out of tune, somehow weakened. Old Mac spoke of a concoction he'd made many a time. As a farmer he'd tended a herd of goats, and many times he found the goats had been bitten by a chupacabra and were sickly. This potion, brewed from the dander of a dog, wine that had been stored in a cave and rutabaga bits, had cured all of the goats. He made the potion and gave it to Sigorn, who immediately turned his stomach and everything came back up, splashing onto Stostine who had tried to help Sigorn keep the potion down. Old Mac made his potion again, making a double batch this time and gave them to Sigorn again. This time he was able to keep one of the potions down, but sadly he didn't look any bit relieved by the drink.
Not risking any more disapproval from the gods, the clerics said they'd revisit the issue later.
And so we travelled on, to see if we might find a cure deeper within.

We came upon a lone yellow robed cultists, sitting next to a very large egg, not at all unlike the transport eggs we'd used. Upon him seeing us he pulled out his dagger and sliced open the egg and out spilled another 10 foot Owl-octa beast. We've learned that there is no quarter with these cultists and so we attacked immediately.
Sadly, once again our innexperience shows as many of our warriors are not even succeeding in hitting.

We'll soon see who gets the better of the other...

Adventure 2 - Look Behind You

I still laugh every time I think about how awful we were fighting in the furnace room. Battlebeard and I are constantly making jokes and having laughs.

Our exploring continued and soon we found ourselves in hallways that we'd seen before. Finally we weren't lost. Knowing where we were we ventured down some paths we hadn't tried yet. We found ourselves in a long room with a pool covering the entire floor. The dark murkiness looked very dangerous and so we decided to test the water. We threw one of Old Mac's chickens into the water to observe.

Our answer was immediate. As soon as the chicken touched the water it flapped it's wings and flew upwards, only to come crashing back into the still water, dead. Some power or force had touched it and it had died. We began to think that since the laboratory was in the adjacent room that one of the potions might be the key to crossing. Since the gray robed cultists we'd killed had likely drank such a potion we decided to fetch back some of their bodies for more testing of the water.

No sooner had we arrived back at the furnace room then we heard feet shuffling and noises from a party coming down the hall. Sigorn and Battlebeard hid themselves in the furnace room. Searos lurked in the shadows, and Skel ran to go and get help. His running was so noisy that the cultists approaching noted their warrens had been invaded, or maybe it was the string of dead bodies we'd left behind us, and they pursued. In their pursuit, though, they noted that Battlebeard and Sigorn were in the furnace room and so they turned and attacked us.

Searos leaped from the shadows to deliver a wicked blow at the Tone monster, the one who looks like an owl-octo-beast. He then jumped back inside the room, staying behind Battlebeard and Sigorn.

The Crimson cultists began chanting and a wicked looking tentacle, with eyes and teeth came from a void and struck at Sigorn. He avoided the strike, only to see another strike coming in at him from another tentacle that the gray robed cultists had chanted into existence.

With a mighty roar, Battlebeard tried to shove the Tone backwards, but it was almost 3 times his height and the monster did not move. Still, Battlebeard delivered a vicious blow. Next came Sigorn with a strike at the beast. Not having done enough harm, the beast struck out at Battlebeard and missed. The two warriors then, again, struck out. This time Sigorn delivered such a powerful blow as to split the jaw of the Tone. The Tone sustained so many wounds that it succumbed and died.

Searos was not content to sit and wait, and while the two warriors fought the Tone, he tried to sneak past, to strike at the crimson robed.

His stealth was seen and the Tone took a bite out of Searos. Yet still, Searos struck at a crimson robed and hurt him enough to cause him to stop chanting.

With the Tone now dead, Battlebeard and Sigorn engaged the Crimson robed. Fighting in the narrow hallway there wasn't much to be done, and yet both Battlebeard and Sigorn killed a crimson robed cultist in one strike. With mighty deeds of strength they dropped the foes before them.

By this time Skel had reached the rest of us and told us we needed to come and give aid. We all rushed back and struck at the group of cultists in the rear, quickly cutting and slashing our way into the group of 6 grey robed cultists.

The work of death still continues.

Adventure 2 - The Warrens

We've totally lost our way. When we first descended into the pit, off the cliff, we found simple path ways, but now we find many different ways to go, and all of them built by labor. We barge in room after room.
We've run into a few more members of the cult, and we've cut them down. At least, we try to.

Just the other day we barged into a room and as we walked around it, some crimson robed cultists and an octo-owl-beast  came upon us. The bro's gave a ferocious roar and charged. But all of their swings went wild and hurt no one. How can you be that bad? It took the rest of us to cut down the cult. By the time the bro's recovered from their blunder they could only vent their rage on another shadowy octomass. They jumped and stomped on it, in their rage, not even bothering with their swords.

We continued exploring and we found a laboratory. Potions of silver or red, urns filled with grey powder, vials and dishes. Not seeing an immediate threat, we fiddled with the potions.
Old mac grabbed some potion and force fed it to his chicken. Even if that bird dies I don't think it's safe to eat it's flesh, not now it's been poisoned. Skel was helping Old Mac with that, but moments before he just grabbed some grey powder and poured it into a silvery vial. I saw a mist like talon come from the gray powder and swipe at Skel, but he paid it no mind and the apparition disappeared.

In going from room to room we found a furnace room, with big large coal burning boilers, and three gray robed cultists working the furnace with shovels.
Once again the bro's rushed right in, screaming their barbarian battle shouts. I could tell they meant to shove the cultists inside the furnace because they hunched behind their shields as they ran. But the fools must have been running with their eyes closes. Not only did they not knock down anyone, but Skel swung his sword with full strength right at the furnace. Hello? At the furnace? He smacked down on it so hard his sword shattered.
The cultists were shocked. Not only had they been snuck upon, but the sneakers failed to inflict any harm.
It only became more of a carnival.
Brunn charged the cultists and he too swung with full power and missed his target. His sword crashed into the floor with a mighty shattering sound. Two of our warriors gone completely brutish and laughable.
Mort charged up and attacked and the cultists dodged him, but then Merlin knocked and arrow and let fly. The arrow did not fly true, and instead shot Mort in the backside.
It was such a farce that Battlebeard could not contain his laughter. He saw these weakly gray robed cultists standing around, barely needing to defend themselves against 5 warriors who couldn't strike them if their life depended on it.
So intense was this circus that even one of the gray robes was laughing at us, until Stostine's hound ripped out his throat.
To add insult to injury, Not only was Mort hit in the back by an arrow, but the gray robe slashed him with his knife. Then after all was said and done, we pulled the arrow out of Mort, causing additional injury. I think Mort bled more at our own hands than he did at the hands of the cultist.

This adventure is turning bizarre. Maybe this pit monster is attacking our minds and turning our thoughts into jelly.

Adventure 2 - Cleaning House

Facing the Owl-faced octobeast we planted our feet squarely and then charged.
Our strongest warriors charged the beast and our rogues and mages attacked the attendants. Our skill as a fighting group is proven again as we quickly dispatch the cultists.

We riffled through their corpses and found some amulets and collected them up. More precious treasure to fund our adventuring.

In all of our travels we still have not found any clue of the kidnapped villagers. We go from room to room, hallway to hallway and find nothing but fights.

Just when we thought every room was going to be of no interest we came upon a spacious room with a vast maze covering the floor.
Stostine called upon her god and was told that the room permeated with magic. Since we didn't know the source of it we advanced cautiously, wary of traps.
Old Mac untethered one of his chickens and urged it forward ahead of us. The chicken walked out onto the black and white floor maze and with a sudden electric pop the bird flew up into the air and feathers flew in every direction.
Right, a deadly maze.
Now a tiny bit wiser, Sigorn decided to walk the maze, staying only on the white and trying to avoid touching the black. He kept wincing in pain and grimacing in agony. He reached the other side and told us he saw doors, but that he didn't want to come back as the process hurt to much.
So the rest of us traveled over the maze. When we reached Sigorn Stostine layed her hands upon him and he was healed.

United as a group, we opened the doors and stepped through. With each person passing through the portico they disappeared from sight. We all found ourselves in a new room, it too containing a maze, and on opposite sides of the room we saw doors. Knowing the maze to be dangerous, we opened the door behind us and passed through it.
We found ourselves in a hallway with a few rooms that proved to be bunk rooms. So we kept walking forward.

We came into a large room with a door opposite us, and immediately before the door stood a giant toad, blocking our way. He didn't make any threatening moves and so we called out to him. His answer came as a thought in our minds.
He said he knew our thoughts and that he could only let those who served his master to pass. We took the chance and told this toad that we did serve his master.
In our minds we heard that he knew the lie.
The toad turned his head and looked at the bothers, Skel and Sigorn, and just then Sigorn stooped down and gripped his head, as though a thousand voices screamed out in pain and once and were silenced.
The Toad looked from person to person, saying nothing but a few more curled up in pain.
Surely the toad must have known our thoughts, known that when something blocks our path we strike at it, and so it struck first.
Some of us had succumbed to no pain and they charged.
Stostines dog ran up and bit the toad. With a smack the toad hit the dog with it's tongue and pinned it down. Battlebeard was next to strike and he sheared through the toads tongue and sunk his battle axe deep into the toads body. Old Mac took a vicious strike from the murky monster but Stostine laid her hands on him and he was healed.
Once again we quickly dispatched our foe. As the toad died the body turned into magic and floated away.

We shall soon find out what secrets the toad was protecting.