September 05, 1998

Game Start Date
3/3/10026
Game End Date
3/5/10026
Game Master
Steve Ames
Adventurers
Difuge
Claude (Dead now, but not really)
Melvyn
Difuge
Angus
Titus
Brigandor

Hook

The Sepulcher is in open defiance of the Solarium. The priests are holed up in Is'Damor but will not be able to hold out long without your help. See Boss Dobbs for additional information.

Plot Synopsis

The party heads to Prall to meet up with Boss Dobbs. Difuge who hasn't been in town in a while flies out to Is'Damor to talk with the high priest of Anubis. As he approached the island he sensed danger and tossed an object ahead of him. The object stopped midair at the edge of the island, shimmered blue for a second and was gone. Not to be daunted, Difuge opens mental communication with the High Priest and gets the scoop on what's been happening the last couple of weeks. Difuge reveals that she has found the bodies of the missing Torite expedition. The priest allows that that will be useful and suggests that Difuge visit Boss Dobbs.
A short while later the entire party assembles at Boss Dobbs. Dobbs lays out the situation, emphasizing that the Sepulcher moved ahead of schedule and that this is really their own fault... However you can't let your allies hang out to dry even if they are stupid. Dobbs walks with the party to the southern shore of the island where there is a small boat cached. The boat, he explains, will get them through the wards around Is'Damor. Claude noted that this was stupid and Dobbs again denied saying they were clever at such things.

The party rowed toward Is'Damor. Near the docks they could see that three people had been tied to the docks with just their heads above water. The tied men where all well tanned and all quite dead (except for the one that winked at Difuge). The likely belief is that the dead-men were the priests of Ra minding the lighthouse. As soon as the party left the boat there was a feeling of danger. The doors of the mausoleum opened and priests waved the party inside.

Inside the priest brought the party up to date on what they were trying to accomplish. They had broken cover for reasons that would soon be obvious to the world. It is the belief of their best scholars that they would not be able to withstand an all out attack from the Solarium and its "allies". In order to survive they needed the answer to a puzzle that had perplexed their order for over a century. So saying the priest opened a floor panel and led the way down a ladder.

Once down the ladder the priest entered a corridor which immediately began to glow. He led the party down the corridor where it ended abruptly at a door. The door had no seems and no handle. The priest explained that they had tried every means they could think of over the last century to open this door and failed. Naturally the party had to take a whack at it.

After several minutes of banging and spell casting the question was asked how they knew there was anything behind the door worth having? Had they tunneled around it?

The priest angrily replied that, of course, they tried tunneling and found nothing. The open door must be a portal, there's nothing "physically" on he other side. We know there is something worth having because in the 806th book of the morto vojo (local history version) it is written:

I walked about 15 paces down the hall when a glowing, 8 foot tall elf with a beard appeared in front of me. He said that if I was here then my cities need must be great. He said he had the solution. The door behind the elf opened. Fearing for my life I ran to fetch others. When I returned a short time later the door could not be opened.


Further questioning by the party revealed that it actually said something closer to:
And I wandered down from my sleeping chambers after a hard night of debauchery with my acolyte and a kind bottle of gin. I was heading for the kitchen for a bit of the hair of the dog when a panel tilted under my foot slightly. I picked it up so people wouldn't trip over it and found a hole. It being cooler in the hole I crawled inside and found the hall of light. I walked about 15 paces down the hall when a glowing, 8 foot tall elf with a beard appeared in front of me. He said that if I was here then my cities need must be great. He said he had the solution. The door behind the elf opened. I let loose my bladder and withdrew, quickly, to the ladder and the safety of another bottle of gin. When I awakened hours later the hole was covered and the hall had no door that would open.


So having explained why they believe there might be something in there, the priest went on to explain how he thought the door could be opened. It is my intention to send your group back in time to talk with the Builder.
The party thought that was a little drastic and suggested alternatives such as speaking to the soul of the departed or delving his body. The priest took them to the 14th floor where the body of Master Telain lay. His coffin lay untouched and pristine. The priest reached out to touch it and was met by a shimmering blue field of energy. The coffin cannot be touched or opened. His soul cannot be found in Infero, going back is the only way. Back when Tarus still dwelled among us we had the hall of light delved. We saw the events but could not see what was beyond the door.

The party agreed to give it a whirl and were escorted back downstairs where large and intricate patterns were being drawn upon the floor. Difuge asked what they were doing. The priest said they were calling one of their more questionable allies... one that perhaps Difuge might recognize. We are summoning a demon who has the power of time. The priests finished their designs and invoked the Demon. He appeared as a column of flame and the flame took on human shape. The demon and priest talked for a time in Demon and then the Demon announced, "The Deal is struck then". The Demon then asked the party to step close to him.

The party stepped close to the Demon. Difuge used some of her few words of demon to say hey hows it going (Wasn't your mom my wiper?). The demon responded in kind and then disappeared. A quick glance around showed that the party had moved. The Mausoleum was no longer complete, the top was open and there was construction happening. As they looked a voice above yelled "HEADS UP!" as a beam fell and struck Melvyn, knocking him to the floor. He got up and brushed himself off.

The party inquired as to the whereabouts of master Telain and where told that he was with Shaylyn. The party started off in the direction of Shaylyn's house and then it occurred to them to wonder if she lived in the same place at this time. A couple of quick questions confirmed that she did not and the party headed for the correct address. At Shaylyn's they were greeted by her Butler... a gentleman that was slightly familiar. They were led to an anteroom to wait. After a bit Shaylyn came in followed by a man who was obviously Master Telain.

As the butler brought sandwiches the party started asking about the basement of Is'Damor. Telain hedged and then suggested they not bother Shaylyn and go to a coffee shop instead. As they were leaving, the butler offered more sandwiches. Claude offered him a "blue". The man claimed never to have seen a blue before and ingested it readily. Almost immediately he claimed to be the best sandwich maker alive and told the party what they were in the mood for and produced it in a flash... he was invariably correct.

At the coffee shop he continued to deny the basement until the party filled in enough of the future that he started to believe. Telain then escorted the party to the Archive where one of them would volunteer to be scanned to ascertain the truth of their story. The high priest of Tarus came out as a favor to Telain and cast a lot of spells. When he was finished he looked incredibly sad but said the story was true. Difuge offered the Priest her condolences. The priest said he knew too much and would have to leave now. He headed for the Guild.

Difuge gave chase but by the time she arrived at the Guild and was admitted, the Priest had already had himself put into a Type 1 blue field with instructions to release him in the year 10026. Difuge paid the Guild a lot to make it 10027 instead, then returned to the Party which was on its way to Is'Damor.

A couple members of the party sidetracked and did things such as leave messages with the pedophiles guild to be delivered at key times to key people... or invest in business.

Telain went directly to the floor opening and pulled up the stone. He climbed into the basement. The walls lit and Telain walked to the door. As he approached the door opened. Behind it was... nothing. "We are planning a portal there... one that will be needed in the future, perhaps in your time. It was only a dumb fluke that it was triggered prematurely by a drunken priest. Sheesh. I'll have to make rules against being drunk while on duty here. The door was set to only be opened once. I have the key here." So saying he held up a small hemisphere of black plastic with two buttons on it.

Difuge, suspicious, asked who built the hall. Telain explained about the land lizards. Difuge said those were bastadorians. Telain said nonsense, they were land lizards not space creatures. They then got together to formulate a plan for getting the key back to their time. They couldn't take it because Telain needed it to complete the construction. He would have to leave it someplace for them to find. He suggested his corpse but the party nixed that by telling him his body was protected. Telain thought that clever of himself. They finally agreed to breaking it and placing it behind one of the ravens' in the 14th floor fresco under a 200 pound rock that you could not accidentally move.

Almost as soon as they reached consensus there was a loud crash from back the way they came. Someone had shut the door leading back into the mausoleum. A quick look confirmed this and Telain said "Damn, it only opens from the top...". It was quickly decided to open the door with the plastic key and then tunnel upward. Fresh air spells and such would keep the party alive. Two and a half hours later had the party right under the Mausoleum floor. Claude swung upward, cracking the marble floor and pushing it upward. Almost immediately a fireball flashed wounding nearby party members. A quick combat later had five dead opponents and a party ready to return to their own time.

Telain wished them good luck... then the question of how to get back home came up. Difuge called the Demon. From the parties standpoint Difuge burst into flame and only ashes were left. The demon asked her what she wanted. Difuge gave the "I'm from the future" story and said that the demon had sent them here and they were ready to return. The demon didn't know he could do that but said he'd try to remember to snag them from about this time... if they could make it worth his while. He opened the bidding with the traditional half your party. Difuge countered and threw in the fact that they knew a lot about what was going to happen. The Demon agreed and said he got to copy someone's memories. Difuge offered up Melvyn. The Demon cloned his memories and then the party reappeared back in their own time.

The party led the Anubites upstairs to the 14th floor where Dom pulled aside the 200 pound stone and pulled out a note and a leather pouch with the broken key in it. The key was "Mend"ed and handed to the priest of Anubis. The priest thanked the party profusely, paid them and sent them on their way... asking that they burn the boat when they reached the other side... he was learning.

Noteworthy Postgame Events