Second Ptolus Campaign Journal, #33
23rd of Harvest
We notice some strange things on the bodies of the slain orcs down in the Halls of Cordaris. For instance, one fallen orc carried a coil of rope fused together with a bag, all made of glass. Another was wearing some sort of stiff blue sandpaper-pants, and a third carried a pouch filled with mysterious and smelly grey goo. Could all this be evidence of the Chaos Well at work?
When we charge into the next room, we find Velator Timerian’s organ utterly smashed. The crazy velator must be spinning in his grave. Orcs with a catapult pelt us with bags of flaming crap and fuel, but we beat them down.
A little farther and we arrive at the hall containing the Doors of Purification, now reduced to shattered bits of bronze and glass. We pass through and head down toward level three of the Halls of Cordaris, where we’ve never been (the doors always stopped us before). We make short work of a few more orcs in this area, but then are swarmed by many more, including invisible ones and spellcasters under the leadership of an orc sorceress with a deep, raspy voice. Mist and steam surrounds us during the battle. Within the mist where the sorceress retreats Archinemus can spy a building-sized statue of a winged humanoid. Upon closer inspection, Gregoran and Diethan can tell that it’s the blue angel Oread, who appeared to Timonius Creed in ancient times and was charged with rendering judgment on the world. They wonder whether this statue itself is actually the Order’s tower.
We stumble upon a room full of impossible plant growth here — the smell of rotting vegetation is powerful. But then the orc sorceress makes her presence known again with a devastating beam of black energy — the second one she’s inflicted on us in the fight. Granted the power of flight by Calista’s magic and wearing a mask that allows him to see invisible creatures, Tharn charges in to find her but runs smack into two blue-skinned big Spiremen (Toruk-Rul) and four plate-armored Sorn-Ulth orcs. We decide retreating is the better part of valor here, and Calista creates barriers of invisible energy webs to slow their progress against us. Our retreat is slow too, however. In the middle of it, we are surprised to see a fellow appear around a corner with skull symbols on his clothing and carrying a sickle. “I can save you from these orcs!” he tells us smarmily, but we don’t want anything to do with him — he could be one of the Forsaken keepers of the undead in this place.
When next we venture into Cordaris, we will come armed with even more magic to wield against those Sorn-Ulth and other orc sorcerers.
Session LXIV — 23rd of Harvest
With two eldritch web spells at our backs and a lot of vile damage on us, we hurry back up to the second level. The orcs ahead of us are fleeing as well. We make it back up through the sewers and to the Temple of Asche, where Gregoran’s associates heal our injuries. We stock up on some more potions for the morrow. Meanwhile, Diethan goes off in search of mercenary companions to take along on our next trip down.
24th of Harvest
We meet up at the shop with our mercenaries: a dwarf named Keld Staffbreaker and a human named Jenna Tavren (we saved her in the Temple of Destor some time ago). After explaining the notion of hired guns to Tharn (litorians don’t really use mercenaries out on the plains), we head back down and find ourselves almost immediately confronted by some Toruk-Rul orcs and their Sorn-Ulth leader. They’re up to their old tricks again — invisible attackers under the command of the orc-hag sorceress. Gregoran casts invisibility prohibition, though, and suddenly they appear before us. Although we vanquish them, we take grievous damage in the process. We decide to leave for emergency healing at the Temple of Asche and return again quickly. We mollify ourselves with the knowledge that we got some good loot out of these guys.
On our return we pass through the room where the caterwauls used to be. Now it holds a few dozen orc bedrolls. We make our way back to the area with the shelf where we fought the mobat so long ago. The bodies of the orcs we killed yesterday still lay where they fell. Through the former organ room and into the round hallway, we hear some disturbing sounds from the south, around the Chaos Well, but we press on.
We make our way back into the hall that was the site of yesterday’s climactic fight, only to find three Toruk-Rul orcs awaiting us. The smarmy Forsaken champion of Orcus we met yesterday returns as well — but today he attacks! He summons a terrible undead spirit, which sorely drains me before Gregoran calls upon the holy power of Asche to repel it. Jenna skewers the Forsaken after a spectacular tumble, and Calista takes out his corporeal undead minions with a sorcerous blast.
And we know those Spiremen orcs are out there somewhere, waiting for us.
But before we see any, a Sorn-Ulth shows up and starts spellcasting. Joining him are an iron cobra and another Sorn-Ulth. Archinemus runs up to attack, and we all leap in to defend him. “You’ll never get to it in time,” one of the orcs growls to us in between strikes. “We’re almost there!” They were his final words….
