Careful exploration and some new puzzles found. Less combat. While there was a lot of time spent discussing the element rooms and pushing panels on the walls, a lot got done during this session in regards exploration and experimentation.
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3rd Brewfest: Lanliss moves forward and almost immediately feels that something is wrong with the floor. He notes a set of cracks and chips running across some tiles, and a line of cracks on the ceiling. Moving forward he notes the later part of the floor start to drop and pulls back. Bacon moves forward to look at the floor and they determine that a thirty foot section of the passage is on a pivoting plate like a see-saw, and more weight on the far side will tilt the whole section, presumably into a pit. Hardaz stands on one end with their collapsible planks set between the floor and ceiling. Lanliss crosses to check and unlock the door. Bacon, Merxif, and Seldrel follow once he has opened the door at the end and they thoroughly search the room. It appears to be a shrine to Pyremius (Evil Suel god of fire and murder.) Seldrel spends half an hour checking many bottles and jars, separating alchemical items worth keeping. He and Lanliss identify some magical potions – Lanliss samples poison but isn’t effected. Seldrel and Merxif exit, and Hardaz removes the braces; ready to hold the floor panel if required. Lanliss pushes the floor down and Bacon lowers him into the pit, unfortunately he doesn’t evade the spikes at the bottom. An old corpse is amid the spikes, which is stripped of value – a magical ring and rapier are brought up. The rapier has flan runes (Luth Aithris, “energy reaper”) and resembles the other two named weapons the group has found.
They head west into room with a brass ring in the floor and circle images engraved within. Seldrel recognises the symbol as the moons (Luna and Celene) and Bacon stands within the circle and it drops 3’ into a shaft. 2’ down is a copper ring around the shaft. Lanliss gets in and drops lower, revealing a brass ring with 2” holes. Seldrel translates writing on the ring (which relate to phases of the moons) and they discuss what everything means. Seldrel recalls a brass plug found at the Incabulos shrine, and Bacon feels there should be a second set of smaller holes to match their plug. They try placing different items in the holes. Lanliss feels something bad will happen if they keep lowering the platform, so they decide to move on.
West again and there is a long hall with stairs going down to the south and bricked up passage to the west. Seldrel recognises the symbol of Mayaheine painted on the plastered over bricks, and translates a damaged message in oeridean which may be a warning to those seeking to disturb or loot the tomb within. Hardaz and Bacon use picks on the wall to break one side open. They let the air clear, then all enter. Lanliss is confronted with a skeletal warrior, and Bacon moves down the passage a little to find two more. All are quickly defeated. The eight tombs are all carefully opened and searched. Each has a name plaque, three being already open. One decorated tomb has the stone coffin clamped shut, and when pried open holds a corpse and good quality armour and weapons.
A narrow side passage from the main north-south hall breaks into four. Each of the spiralling passages ends at a wall engraved with lever and a scene of a house, forest, fields and mountains. Each scene appears to show the same location in each of the four seasons, and the lever is made from a different metal – Winter (iron), Spring (nickel), Summer (bronze) and Autumn (copper). Lanliss pushes down each lever as they find them. The levers stay down, but nothing appears to happen. The next room along the main hall has an engraved symbol on the floor – a star in a circle, in a square – which has been seen before. Moving into another room, Lanliss is attacked by blue conical creature clinging to the ceiling. He is poisoned by its sting. Hardaz and Bacon move in to help fight. Winter casts Lesser Restoration and returns some of Lanliss lost health, while others check the dead aberration (a Tentamort) and search an ogre that the creature killed earlier. Lanliss is quite surprised when he opens a door and looks towards a wall of water. Some fish swim past and occasionally bubbles rise from the floor. Seldrel determines that its all a powerful illusion within the room and most of the group are able to disbelieve it. Bacon notes an open pit in the room and Seldrel is attracted by stone blocks in each corner, each engraved with Suel glyphs for one the four elements – fire, earth, water and air. Seldrel notes that two of the blocks have a number subtly engraved on the top. (He notes the numbers and which blocks.) Lanliss and Bacon are both lowered into the pit, which holds deep murky water. Their searching locates bones, some silver coins, a magical green key gem, and another magical piece of crystal. This large piece, nearly a foot across, looks to be a quarter of a sphere. Its clear on the rounded edge, becoming green to almost black in the centre.
The next chamber is larger, and leaves blow around in the audible wind. (Another illusion) Stone blocks with the element symbol (larger than before) radiate magic. Again, two have a number engraved on top.
Through a broken door from the main hall, the next room is cool, with packed earth walls, and loose soil on the floor. A magical bolt of force zaps out striking Lanliss. The group push forward quickly to confront a sword wielding skeleton that casts blink, and as it phases in and out, either attacks with its sword or casts magic missile. It proves difficult to defeat as most attacks either miss or inflict little damage. Once destroyed, the group search the illusion filled room, again locating a number on two stone blocks. The last room here is hot and bright – with an illusory column of flame shooting out of a square well in the floor. The well proves to be very shallow, with some pieces of bone within. The numbered stones now give the group a sequence – 1 air/air, 2 fire/water, 3 earth/earth, 4 earth/water, 5 water/fire, 6 air/earth, 7 fire/fire, 8 water/air (Stone/Room).
The last narrow passage off the main hall has five deep alcoves. The floor of each is marked with an element symbol – Air, Earth, Fire, Water and ??. No-one recognises the final symbol. The back wall of each alcove has four panels (that can be depressed), each marked with one of the four elements. Lanliss also locates a secret door in the water alcove, but cannot open it. While winter stands guard, each of the group stands in one of the first four alcoves, and Seldrel calls out instructions. In the number order they have, someone presses a element panel for the stone block in an alcove that coincides with an element room. Nothing happens. Seldrel realises that he has listed the sequence wrong, and they repeat, also with no result. They try pressing the sequence in one alcove and find that after eight presses, the person doing so takes minor elemental damage. Bacon takes the last alcove with the unknown symbol and presses the panels in sequence – he takes minor negative energy damage. Around this point, Summer hoots a warning and Winter sees a small insectoid creature approaching her. As its antennae reach for her armour, Seldrel recognises it as a rust monster. Winter dodges aside. She pulls back, and it is killed with missile fire. They quickly check on the levers and note that each is back in its raised position.
Returning south to the long stairs, Lanliss moves down cautiously and reports on mountain carvings – he thinks one wall shows the Lortmils and the other the Yatils. Bacon and Hardaz start down the stairs – Hardaz’s weight triggers a trap, converting the stairs he is on to a slide. He falls into a pit while Bacon leaps across it. Hardaz is pulled out and healed. Lanliss finds a compartment with a lever that closes and locks the pit and stairs. They head directly south to the centre of this level, and find a Wood Golem – carved in humanoid shape, with a bird-like head. Fire spells are predominate in destroying it.
Heading back around the eastern side, a loud howl startles both Winter and Seldrel. Winter flees into a northern dead-end, where most of the group gather. Bacon runs after Seldrel, who running south is attacked by the shadow hound they encountered another time. The rest of the group run down to help, attempting to surround it. It is very difficult to hit soundly. Eventually they block it in, and Seldrel casts grease to aid in destroying it. There is more healing, and since most of the group is low on spells, they consider returning to town.
Dragons of Lancasm 