Tomb of Horrors Chapter Five

The lever is pulled, and there is an audible click. After a brief rest, we descend back into the tunnels and begin exploring again. Eldaen peers out of an exit in a cliff-face, and sees the first entrance where we came in. We go back and look for more trouble instead. We come to a dead-end, cannot find a secret door that Pock is *sure* is there, so he blasts it. Eldaen climbs up, and a sudden dizziness comes over him, as if he had been partially teleported. The stone and brick walls around him are pitted, there is a faint chill emitting from the walls.

Eldaen checks in with Baltazar, and then goes back in and is in a different place with broken stones surrounding a filthy pool of water. He drops a rope down to Pock and the others. Erich recognizes it as the room he ran from when we were fighting gray angels. Flynn and Eldaen scout ahead and find an open door. Outside, we do not see the Garden of Graves, and it appears we aren't in Thelanis anymore, but there is a smoky wasteland. It looks like the Demon Wastes, which makes all of us very nervous.

Flynn and Eldaen go forward to explore the rest of the building. It looks like it's been abandoned for years. After exhaustive analysis of what turns out to be ordinary double doors, it turns out that the *stairs* exit back into the Garden of Graves. We find skeletal adventurers, search them for their gold. Then we head back in to find whatever the lever opened, by way of a clearing with some obelisks. Erich finds a round stone with some runes on it, and believes it is a beacon of sorts to teleport to the Garden of Graves. When we get back in, we find the door that opened when we clicked the lever.

When Eldaen and Erich try to unbury a cairn, an undead firbolg emerges and attacks Eldaen, grabbing him. Flynn moves in with an aerial assault and lands on the Firbolg, then moves into its space. The other cairns spawn undead fey knight zombies, and they attack Pock and Baltazar. Erich uses living missile on one of the knights to fling him into the firbolg and then away. An ivy creature emerges from where the knight has been flung, and then it attacks Baltazar and grabs him, bloodying him and then swings again and misses Flynn. Baltazar attacks the vine creature with blood designation. Eldaen uses radiant smite on the firbolg, then lays hands to heal Baltazar. Pock moves invisibly next to Flynn, curses the Firbolg and takes his second wind.

Firbolg slaps Eldaen, bloodying him. Flynn uses Rogue's Luck on the firbolg. The fey knight attacks Baltazar and misses, the other one moves to attack Flynn and misses. Erich uses living missile to fling the knight into the vine creature, then force pushes Baltazar out of harm's way and mind blasts the firbolg with a crit, bloodying him and uses an action point to use mind thrust on the firbolg. The ivy creature reveals a gem where its head should be and blasts Erich, dazing and restraining him and suffering infernal wrath damage. Baltazar uses war of attrition on the firbolg and misses. Eldaen breaks free of grab, lays hands on himself and hits the Firbolg with martyr's retribution. Pock drops a curse on a fey knight, then uses ethereal stride to get out of the corner he was in, then blasts the Firbolg with shared agony, destroying him.

Flynn uses jumping blade assault on fey knight and misses. The fey knight swings back and hits Flynn, immobilizing him, the other one moves in to Eldaen and crits him, immobilizing him, and the other one saves against being a living missile. Erich uses mind break on the fey knight next to Eldaen, and is now stunned. Ivy creature fires at Pock, damaging, dazing and grabbing him, then swings another vine at him. Baltazar fires off defensive rally, then shifts up to the fey knight and hit him with a guarding attack and hits him. Eldaen negates Erich's stun with divine mettle, hits the fey knight with resurgent smite, healing Pock back to full, then uses shield of discipline to resist damage. Pock uses mire the mind on the fey knight and crits him, bloodying him, then shakes off the poison.

Flynn hits the other fey knight with his sword. The fey knight attacks Flynn and misses. Erich uses dishearten on two of the fey knights and the ivy creature, hitting the knights. Ivyheart shoots more vines out at Erich, grabbing and dazing him and poisoning him. Baltazar swings warlord's strike at bloodied fey knight and misses. Eldaen moves and swings at the fey knight with holy strike, killing him and allowing Pock to misty step away. He uses witchfire and misses the Ivyheart.

Flynn tumbles behind the Ivyheart to flank with Eldaen and misses. The fey knights move to attack Eldaen and Flynn and miss them. Erich uses dishearten on the ivyheart and fey knight, hitting the knight. Ivyheart grabs Eldaen and fucks him up, leaving him at 9 hp and no healing surges. Eldaen falls and begins dying from poison. Pock moves next to Erich and bull rushes him free of the vine.

Flynn swings and misses the fey knight. The fey knight misses Flynn, the other one moves to attack Erich and misses. Erich uses dishearten on ivyheart and fey knight. Ivyheart strikes Baltazar with a vine, and he activates his recoil shield. Eldaen briefly regains consciousness. Pock tries to blast the vine holding Baltazar.

Flynn misses. The fey knight hits and immobilizes Flynn. Erich activates sky hook and flies away, using a blast to sever the vine. Ivyheart stands, fires a vine to grab Erich, Baltazar and Flynn, dropping Baltazar.

Flynn uses his drowmesh to become invisible, takes his second wind. Erich is also knocked out. Flynn flees, leaving Pock hiding and Erich, Baltazar and Eldaen dying. Eldaen shakes off the poison and wakes up, just barely, and feigns unconsciousness. The fey knights return to its cairn, Pock and Eldaen watch the Ivyheart beginning to move away. Flynn hides outside. Eldaen stealthily wakes Baltazar and tells him not to move.

The Ivyheart, having seen Eldaen, charges him and knocks him out. Baltazar stands and wakes up Erich, who grabs Eldaen and flees. The Ivyheart blasts Baltazar and drops him. Flynn gives Eldaen a healing potion to wake him up. Flynn passes another healing potion to Erich, who wakes up Baltazar, and they all flee down the hallway as the enraged Ivyheart comes at them again.

Pock hides and rests until he's sure he can get out, then sneaks back out of the room. We go to the map room and take an extended rest, then decide to explore the room that kept changing. We explore the room, which is tinged with Dolurrh. A walking corpse comes into the room.

Flynn, out of sight of the undead, takes a moment to become hidden. Undead moves in and fires bone shards at Eldaen, Baltazar and Erich, hitting Baltazar. Pock curses the undead, fires witchfire, but the creature dodges, then Erich force pushes it into the rubble. Eldaen swings his radiant smite and hits, then swings with heedless fury and misses. Baltazar grants us all bonus damage.

Flynn swings and misses. Erich fires mind break at the undead. The undead hits Eldaen, who is vulnerable due to his heedless fury. Pock takes an attack of opportunity from the undead, which takes radiant damage, then fires ring of pain at the creature. Eldaen misses with resurgent smite. Baltazar uses inspiring word on Pock, then attacks with guarding attack.

Flynn attacks and bloodies the undead, and a necrotic wave comes out and we take damage and he heals. Erich uses mind break on him again, and bloodies him. The undead takes ongoing psychic, hits Flynn and takes radiant damage. Pock uses shared agony on the undead and misses, doing damage only to himself. Eldaen misses with a holy strike. Baltazar directs Flynn to backstab the undead.

Flynn attacks with jumping blade assault. Erich blasts the undead with psychic damage, continuing the psychic vulnerability. Undead fires spines out again, hitting Flynn and Eldaen, then spends an action point to hit them again and hit Erich as well, dropping Flynn. Pock destroys him with a blast. Eldaen stabilizes Flynn. We try to take a brief rest, but are interrupted by a shadow humanoid.

The shadow attacks and misses Pock, who teleports away and becomes concealed. Flynn leaps over the head of the undead and attacks him. Erich steps back and misses. Pock misses. Eldaen moves up and misses with blood of the mighty. Baltazar uses bastion of defense, hitting the shadow and granting defenses to all allies.

Shadow uses vision of darkness, then slashes at Eldaen, who cancels most of the damage with divine counter. Flynn attacks and misses. Erich uses mind break on the shadow, making him vulnerable to psychic. Pock blasts him with eyebite, then uses his action point to blast him again. Eldaen hits him with blood of mighty. Baltazar orders Flynn to attack, and he misses.

Shadow attacks Eldaen. Flynn swings and misses. Erich uses mind break on the shadow. Pock uses eyebite. Eldaen misses with holy strike. Baltazar orders Erich to mind thrust, and he misses.

Shadow misses Eldaen. Flynn attacks and crits the shadow. Erich and Pock finish him off with psychic damage. We move out to explore and are attacked by another corpse.

The corpse attacks, Flynn returns. Erich mind breaks him, Pock teleports to the end of the hallway to continue investigation. Eldaen marks and misses. Another one comes down the hallway to join him.