30: White Plume Mountain - Wave

Aardgal swam the brackish water and at the stairs he pounded an iron spike and threw a rope across. Kretch anchored the rope, and a second rope was thrown across to ferry gear and shields. After 20+ minutes of swimming, drinking horrible yellow-brown water by accident the group was across the room. They ascended the short flight of stairs and found two door ways. Ahead was a steel door with a steel door frame. The handle for the door was formed from 3 serpents entwined made of metal. The door to the right was a normal sturdy bronze-wood door.
Lath reported feeling a throbbing vibration through the hand guard of his sword ‘Nenharna’, he said he may be sensing the proximity of another legendary weapon.
The group opened the normal looking door and found a passageway and heard a grinding noise. Morgrim saw with his dark vision the passage went 30’ then the next 20’ was formed of a 8’ diameter circular tube, open in the middle which was rolling and the source of the noise. Beyond the tube they could see some dim light beyond.
The group decided to concentrate on finding Wave and closed the door and opened the metal door. This door proved extremely hard to open but Morgrim was able to muscle it open with Aardgal’s help. The passageway went 10’ and ended in a similar metal door with a metal metal door frame.
This door was opened and the group found a third metal door with metal door frame. Beyond this third door was a stone passageway which was 30’ long and after 30’ the tunnel floor was composed of rock but the walls and ceiling were made up of a swirling blue and aqua color which shed dim light. This strange corridor went 20’ before opening up into a chamber, the walls of which were also made up of this material.
As the group got closer the swirling walls were hot and shed dim light. Felnar cast Detect Magic and found it to be a moderately powerful spell effect of the Conjuration school. Not wanting to touch the hot walls the group proceeded forward. They entered a hemispherical oval room. 50’ deep and 40’ wide. The floor was made of natural rock and the walls of this 20’ tall chamber were composed of this odd swirling material.
In the center of the room was a large purplish/blue red rock and strewn around it were bones. As the group headed into the room the rock moved, extending pincers and legs and was a huge, monstrous crab! Bornir tried to get around the creature and it snapped him in one of it’s pincers. People rushed the thing and it proved resistant to most damage, though Morgrim’s adamantine war hammer seemed to hit it to maximum effect.
Felnar blasted the creature with his Rainbow Blast, and it seemed immune to a portion of the damage, unfortunately the blast went past the creature and blasted through the wall. Super heated water and steam burst into the room through the opening! Morgrim and Lath who had cast fire resistant spells ran forward to find the trident while the rest of the group ran back to the doors.
The doors had been spiked open and Aardgal started removing the spikes. Morgrim screamed as he dove into the super hot water. Lath dove after him, the two would barely out run the rushing water and steam as they slammed the doors closed. Morgrim reported opening a large stone box in which a golden trident lay. Lath grabbed the trident and ran for his life. Each reported seeing an object in front of the box, a circular stone disk 2’ high and 3’ wide. Atop the disk were 3 stone serpents. The whole piece was spinning slowly.
Healing spells were cast as Morgrim had suffered nasty burns and the group retraced their steps ferrying themselves and their gear across the water filled room.
They passed the sphinx, who regarded them coolly, and headed towards the entrance. The group rounded the corner and found the entrance blocked. A vertical wall of flowstone blocked their passage. Flowstone is a type of stone which accumulates from the flow of water in underground chambers, but takes centuries to form. Felnar examined the wall and guessed it may be a Wall of Stone spell, but one cast by a druid. He shrugged unsure.
Morgrim started battering on the wall with his war hammer. After a half hour of crude tunneling a hole 4’ deep and 5’ wide had been made. He still hadn’t reached the tunnel beyond. Aardgal went back to the sphinx room, and Shaft went to keep an eye on him for his own safety. Shaft’s ears perked up when he hear Aardgal talking with someone. At first he thought it was the sphinx, then he moved forward realizing something else was going on. On the opposite side of the chamber was a slight man in dark leather armor, bearing a slender sword he had red hair slicked back and grime coated his face and hands. Aardgal and he were wrapping up a conversation and he returned to the party.
The man was the were-rat who had escaped the party in Droskar’s Crag. He offered Aardgal a truce and had parlayed on behalf of a woman named ‘Snarla’. Snarla’s group were aware that Aardgal and company were in the possession of Wave. She is seeking a legendary weapon, be it Wave or another in the complex. The were-rat –Simon, offered a pact between their group and the party: First, mutual non-aggression between Snarla’s group and the party. Secondly, information about the other legendary weapons in the complex. Lastly how to get past the stone wall. In return they wanted one of the Legendary weapons for themselves. Which one would be left up to the parties’ discretion.
Aardgal had agree to talk it over with the group and the two would meet again in an hour. With the groups assent he returned and met with Simon. The Wererat returned with two other rats coming from the north. After Aardgal agreed to the arrangement he gave up the following information: The Wall of Stone will trap anyone in here until 3 legendary weapons are gathered before it. Snarla’s band is loosely allied with two other group. Each of these groups brought a legendary weapon into White Plume Mountain. To the west is a group called ‘the Blood Brothers’ led by a man named Quesnef. He bears the sword ‘Black Razor’. To the east is a dwarf ‘of sorts’ who bears the weapon ‘Whelm’. With this information imparted Simon sneered “We’ll be watching.”
Once Simon had left Edgrin whistled as if stunned and said while he knew nothing of Whelm, he had heard of Black Razor. A mighty Great Sword called ‘Black Razor the Devourer’ dates back 2000+ years, it is said the Sword was responsible for the destruction of the Kingdom of Sulm and the creation of the Bright Desert. Aardgal figured any weapon capable of such destruction shouldn’t be in the hands of a wererat like Simon and his boss.
Felnar piped up, since he had recognized the group called 'the Blood Brothers' "They are a fanatical group who follow a man killed in Greyhawk 20 year ago after he massacred dozens of innocents. They believe in killing the weak to make the human race stronger."
"A nasty lot based in the Bandit Kingdoms I've heard." says Edgrin.
The group decided to rest in the tunnel. Most sat on their packs and dozed against the walls with their armor off when it was their turn to sleep. After a long time had passed spells were prepared and armor donned. Kretch, it was found, could not feed himself or do much else, and Edgrin became his ‘shield boy’ so he could use his left hand. After a few hours standing in warm water it was not uncommon to hear Kretch yell “I gotta pee. Need help.”
The group decided to go to the east after the War Hammer ‘Whelm’. They examined the room with the globes. They then went to the magically locked door. Felnar was unable to open it with a knock spell, so the globe room was thoroughly examined. No magic could be detected in or on any of them. Finally Morgrim put a sack over one of the globes while Aardgal pulled down on it. The globe burst with a dull tinkling noise and the glass shards fell into the sack. Morgrim was about to examine the contents when a shadowy hand reached from inside the bag and attacked Morgrim! Aardgal slashed at the back and a shadowy undead emerged. It was struck by magic missiles from Felnar and it buzzed arounf the group seeking the mage. He was drained of strength, and the shadow destroyed before it could kill him. Inside the remains of the bag were broken glass and a golden key. Each globe in turn bore a golden key. One had a potion vial which hit the ground and was broken. The third had an agry air eelemental and 2 magic necklaces. Fourth had a potion which Felnar thought was a potion of fly. The next 11 gemstones. The next a grey ooze which ate two of Morgrim’s staves before being dispatched. The next a golden wand. The next a golden ring which spoke telepathically in everyones mind when picked up. It said “I am the Ring of Boccob. I will answer three questions true, but there is a price.”. The last globe had 7 gemstones. The nine keys were taken to the locked door and the onw which had been with the Ring of Boccob opened the door with a loud ‘CLANK’.
The room beyond was 30’x30’. It had one door in the middle of the room and standing in front of the door were 5 large man-like figures stitched together with gut and magic – Flesh Golems. Each had a number carved into the skin of it’s chest. The center one spoke via a magic mouth spell “ONE OF US DOES NOT BELONG. PICK OUT THE INTERLOPER AND GAIN PASSAGE. CHOOSE WRONG AND DIE. YOU HAVE ONE MINUTE.” The numbers carved into their chests were: 19, 44, 59, 71, 97.
After a brief talk Aardgal pointed to the golem with the number 44 on it’s chest, since it was a non-prime number. The golems stepped aside without a word.
The door led to a passage, around another corner was a rusty iron portcullis. Morgrim and Bornir tried to lift it, found they couldn’t budge it, and were in fact stuck to the thing. A fist formed from the bars and struck at Bornir. A dread Mimic! It was cut down with spells and weapons and probing the creatures gooey remains yielded a few items which were hard to identify. They were edged into a sack and the group moved along. Further down the passage the right hand side of the passageway had something scrawled in dried blood, more disturbing was that it addressed someone in the party by name: ‘FELNAR SAVE ME!’