It is a long sought after tomb, that belonging to an ancient sorcerer whose name is long forgotten, but his legend is so great that the Council of Ioun has given him the name Arcanus. For reasons not yet known, Arcanus's seal appeared on the side of a smooth rock wall, and it was verified that the Apprentice Rod, an artifact left over from Arcanus's only pupil, would remove the seal and allow our heroes to explore within. With promise of respect and riches, the Pushermen, as they call themselves, took up the task of venturing to the tomb and recovering the secrets within.
Samel the deva led this brave party to the seal. Accompanying him were doppelganger Nalied, goliath Ka-Moh, and warforged Chrome.
Samel was an avenger in service of the Raven Queen. His was a troubled journey from his birthplace, for though he remembers all of his past lives, he has not the slightest memory of his previous incarnation. Why couldn't he remember? Was his rebirth delayed? Was his past life erased? Did he or someone else wipe his eternal memories? Every possibility bothers him, and only knowledge will settle his thoughts.
The story of Nalied the sorcerer isn't clear to me exactly. I'll get back to you on him. Or her. I'm not sure.
Ka-Moh the goliath warden was a proud fighter who set out from his clan to find the ice dragon that terrorized his people and prove his might by besting it using only his shield as a weapon. He knows, though, that he still must become stronger before he can face the terrifying beast, and so he travels with other heroes to increase his strength.
Chrome the cleric is a mystery. He rarely speaks, and he follows Samel's orders without question. The adventurers found him deactivated in an old tower and replaced a missing piece, restoring his consciousness. Though Samel asked, Chrome could not remember his age, purpose, creator, or anything. The one thing Chrome knew was he felt compelled to help these people who found him.
The party gazed ahead at the seal of Arcanus, a large circle full of twisting orange shapes, pulsing with ancient magic. Samel stepped forward and held the Apprentice Rod in front of it, and the shapes moved away, one at a time, until the circle faded, and the rock face brushed itself aside like curtains. The smell of dank basement hit them as they entered, and before them sat a large iron sarcophagus, the lid of which pulsed with similar orange shapes. Samel again used the Apprentice Rod, but it had no effect.
With his great strength, Ka-Moh shoved the lid aside to find a dusty skeleton in plain royal blue robes. It took little effort to realize this was not Arcanus. Our heroes were not discouraged. Chrome removed the unknown skeleton and set it aside, removing its robes and storing them in its chest cavity to bring to the Council when they returned. A brief search of the room found little else.
Samel then had the idea to get into the sarcophagus and have Ka-Moh replace the lid. As he sat inside it, he fell through a trap door to a tunnel below, and the trap door swung back into place. With a little trouble, the others were able to follow. Chrome stored the skull of the skeleton in his chest cavity before he jumped down, and the trap door closed behind them.
Jeremy (Ka-Moh) prepares to attack, I wait patiently, and Matt (Samel and Chrome) ponders. Dan (Nalied) is behind the camera phone.
At the end of the short tunnel, the heroes found a room lit by torches and even more orange light surrounding the great glowing door in front of them. The four sections of the door each had a silver circle about 12 inches wide. There was no obvious way to open it. Samel again tried the Apprentice Rod, but nothing happened. There were two other doors to choose from, and finally the rod worked on something again. Behind the door they chose awaited the unexpectable.
As they entered, they saw nine zombies arranged in a triangle formation. The floor tiles beneath the zombie in front lit up with every step. The lead zombie was dressed in red leather, and each zombie was moving in strange ways, each with identical twitches in their right shoulders. From nowhere, the opening beats of Thriller began to play, and it dawned on the heroes what they were up against. Samel's player could only just contain his laughter.
Samel charged foolishly ahead, and though his magic purged many zombies with holy light, he suffered greatly. With the others' help, the zombies fell quickly, and the party took time to rest as they looted the lead zombie. They took his red leather vest and magic shoes that lit up the floor wherever they stepped.
(I had originally planned for an event every three rounds, but the encounter only lasted one. I should have known that would happen. Anyway, that event was for a sudden shift in gravity which the zombies would know to lean away from, Smooth Criminal style. This post-battle revelation got more laughs.)
The tweetle Beatle puddle battle nearly comes to a close. That's the room's shape poorly marked out in dice. Chrome has fallen forward unconscious, and Nalied is in the shape of Adam Savage.
After resting a bit, the party proceded to a room full of strawberries to face four Beatles. Or beetles. Each one breathed fires of yellow, pink, blue, and red. (Paul died first.) It was fun at first, but the fire beetles packed a lot of firepower, and Chrome went down, his life force nearly fading completely. As the remaining men suffered under the flames, they pulled out everything they had to bring down the horrible foes and finally succeeded. It was then that they decided to make camp there and have strawberries for breakfast in the morning.
End Chapter.
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