After defeating the lumbering fungi creatures, the party (Gregor the paladin, with his cohort Violet; Talon the rogue; Halmod the sorcerer, Malf the bard and Kugel the summoner) attempted to search the bodies, but found no clothing, pockets, belts or bags. Suddenly a writhing mass of tendrils rose from the ground and Malf felt a presence in his mind.
“I am ‘the one who is everywhere,’ what is your purpose here?” As these thoughts formed in Malf’s mind, an image was also presented of a being whose body permeated the rock below the ground, behind the walls and in the ceiling itself.
Malf had a short “conversation” with the being where it was determined that the party would attack no more myconids and the fungal being would let the party pass. Malf asked if the fungal mind knew where Ceorl’s summer home was, but the ‘one’ responded only with the impression that the location was magically hidden.
After making peace with the “one who is everywhere”, which the party perceived to be some sort of fungal superorganism, the party continued to head down the right-hand wall of the immense cavern. Eventually they rested to regain spells and heal up, then continued on to seek for the Book of Ceorl.
As they headed through the cavern, they encountered what looked like a solid wall of stone. However, investigation convinced them that the wall was a mixture of stalagmites and illusions, and they managed to overcome the illusion to continue on. Shortly afterwards the party encountered a group of humanoid spellcasters and warriors. The leader of the group was casting powerful spells and nearly managed to kill Violet.
After a long and difficult battle, the group’s leader threw up a Wall of Force and fled, leaving his comrades behind to perish.
Here is a list of the gear looted from the bodies of the dead (and the decomissioned construct):
scrolls of fly (2), invisibility (2), minor image (2),
wand of magic missile (CL 5, 50 charges, arcane bond item), wand of shocking grasp (50 charges),
tanglefoot bags (3)
potions of cure light wounds, darkvision, invisibility, levitate, protection from arrows, resist energy
2 each of the following:
+1 breastplate, +1 greatsword, +1 composite longbow (+2 Str) with 20 arrows,
10 cold iron arrows, and 10 alchemical silver arrows, dagger, silver holy symbol
+1 heavy pick, tarnished silver locket
The silver locket is worth 25 silver pieces.
The holy symbols are for Rovavug, a Chaotic Evil god of wrath, war and destruction.
After looting the still-warm bodies, the party left them to rot in the cave as they decided that the hidden door to Ceorl’s mansion must be nearby, and was likely being guarded by the group you fought. Talon methodically examined every square foot of wall he could reach, eventually discovering an area that felt smooth, but looked like rough rock. After examining this thoroughly, Talon and Gregor were convinced they had found a secret door, but the rest of the party refused to believe them. After deciding there were no traps present, Talon ignored the lack of faith and pulled out his thieves tools and went to work. The lock was designed to be highly secure, but Talon’s skills proved the better, and he managed to unlock the door.
Gregor then pulled the door open and he and Talon were engulfed in a ball of fire, but both survived. As they recovered from the near-fatal fireball, a mouth on the door asked them to “State your purpose.” Talon began to say “We seek Ceorl’s Summer Home” or something like that, but Gregor beat him to the punch by explaining that they were trying to stop the apocalypse. The door immediately slammed shut.
We stopped there for the night.
rpgobsessed 