Dungeons & Delvers: Age of Worms, Episode 704

Cast

• Humal (level 11 wrathful cambion wizard)
• Corzale (level 11 dwarf war cleric/druid)
• Sumia (level 11 elf rogue/ranger/wizard)

Session Highlights

This time I'm abridging the play report because we played yesterday, which means this is already just over a week late!

The party starts out trying to sneak into Raknian's house, figuring that they'll find a secret door in the back that will get them safely underneath the arena--and maybe avoid the necromantic energies that are killing everyone else that tried to get in--but Sumia only makes it about halfway in before she collapses to the ground, wracked with pain such that she barely manages to roll back out the front door with her life.

Humal suggests making a sort of talisman or amulet to protect them, but given the available materials has to choose between them having to cluster together for safely, or several weaker versions that will only last for a short time, but allow them to spread themselves out if need be. The opt for the latter (they figure it probably won't take long anyway), and the next day they give it another shot.

This time when they cross the threshold they feel cold, but are otherwise fine. Humal has the talismans set up so that the bones they are assembled from will blacken and crumble as they begin to wear off, so they have a visual reminder as to how much time they have left.

Once they're under the arena, Sumia scouts ahead and spots a bunch of the people that act-but-don't-look like zombies. As before they're still shambling and looking about aimlessly, so Sumia takes a shot at one, and to her surprise takes it out in a single hit. Even better none of the others react to it. It was possible Sumia would be able to take them out one at a time, but they didn't know how many more there were scattered about, and they were pressed for time.

So Humal suggests a more...efficient strategy: Corzale steps forth and shouts a bunch to get their attention. Immediately several hordes of the not-quite-zombies bolt towards her, emerging from several different passages. When they're nice and packed together, Humal conjures a wall of fire several rows thick, incinerating them all. They wait for the duration to elapse just in case some latecomers show up, but when the flames die down the halls are completely silent and still.

They know from their previous escapade of sneaking around and looking for Kyuss shit that a circular hall encloses most of the understructure. Various chambers and halls are connected to it, as well as numerous, smaller passages that as best as Corzale could determine serve absolutely no architectural purpose (though Humal believes they could serve a magical function).

A few halls cut through this circle, all converging at a central chamber with a huge, glass dome at its center: it was here that Humal and Sumia originally noticed a flow of necromantic energy, which they eventually discovered was "growing" a massive, worm-like entity that could vomit forth undead. It ended up fusing with a priest of Kyuss named Bozal, and they just barely managed to kill it before it escaped from the arena.

That seemed like a good place to start.

Peering through the glass dome, the party sees a sphere of inky darkness. It floats above a heap of bones that fill the chamber to an uncertain depth, and thin, twisted bone arrangements slowly orbit around it. Assuming that it might be trapped, and not wanting to take the time to go all the way around, Humal has the shadow-gnoll break the glass sphere.

Nothing happens, but before they can jump in and more closely investigate the sphere, they hear a voice, cold and hollow but still recognizable as Bozal's. It whispers from the thick, creeping shadows that their torches do little to keep at bay, "Isn't it magnificent?"

Humal is impressed from a purely technical perspective, and Shadow-Bozal explains that, basically, after they killed him Orcus sent him back so that he could kill Kyuss. He provided him with the knowledge to make the sphere, which he refers to as a necrotar, and even thousands of souls to get it started. Shadow-Bozal has been using the innumerable ghosts that still lingered about the arena, and had hoped that as it grew it would begin feeding on the townsfolk.

Once it's big enough he intends to wait for Kyuss to emerge, and then use it to destroy him. The problem is that the combined might of the city's priests are keeping it at bay, for now, and he doesn't think it's sufficiently powerful enough to do the job.

Humal figures it can't hurt to have someone else around that wants to kill Kyuss, and it's not like the souls can be restored anyway. Bozal agrees to leave the city with it if they disrupt the shrine circle above, and even promises that once he's gone to use it on Kyuss cultists first (because he knows where they are gathering), but admits that if they end up not being enough he'll have to get souls wherever he can.

Of course Corzale is having none of this, and when it becomes clear that there is no way she is going to let Bozal or the necrotar go, each of the chamber's entrances darken, and an icy mist begins seeping in. Humal, what with his extensive knowledge of the undead and things related to undead, is very certain Bozal just transported the entire room to the Underworld.

Announcements

You can now get a physical copy of Dungeons & Delvers: Black Book in whatever format you want!

It look a lot longer than expected, but we finally released The Jinni. As with our other monstrous classes, this one is more faithful to the mythology (so don't go in expecting elemental-themed jinn).

After putting it to a vote, the next couple of classes on the docket are the warden (think 4E D&D warden) and apothecary (gotta go see what they're all about).

Dwarven Vault is our sixth 10+ Treasures volume. If you're interested in thirty dwarven magic items (including an eye that lets you shoot lasers) and nearly a dozen new bits of dungeon gear, check it out!

Just released our second adventure for A Sundered World, The Golden Spiral. If a snail-themed dungeon crawl is your oddly-specific thing, check it out!

By fan demand, we've mashed all of our 10+ Treasure volumes into one big magic item book, making it cheaper and more convenient to buy in print (which you can now do).