Stonehell: Going Down....

 Session 273 was played on 11/17/24

Morgana, wizard 10 (Rob)
Borumar, Triton Thief 11 (Josh)
Blotto, Goblin Fighter 8 (Lanse)
Nick, Fighter 9 (Me)
Koltic, Cleric 9 (NPC)
Aroon, Fighter 8 (NPC)
Jameth, Fighter 8 (NPC)
Lor’Koth, Dwarf 8 (NPC)

Through the busted doors the party hears movement, and can see… something approaching. They’re shocked, but not surprised when the heads of the undead alien hydra come bursting through what's left of the doors, and manage to get solid bites on Blotto and Borumar. Thankfully the beast had suffered prior injury and 3 of its heads were already destroyed, and the party had little trouble hacking the 4 remaining heads until it stopped moving.

Beyond the hydra was a room similar to the one that held the other undead hydra. The biggest difference was in the condition. The ziggurat was smashed open, and the columns destroyed. They managed to find a decent haul of coins.

Past the ziggurat room the hallway wrapped around and ended in a stair heading down.

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DM’s Note: WTF… the map is wrong! According to it, the stairs would drop the party into the Chapel of Luck in the Casino! Flipping through the book, I think it’s supposed to bring them to level 8, just outside the Sanctum of the Plated Mage, so that's what I went with, but...

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Down down down they go… coming to a 4 way intersection. A door directly across, a room with a large ornate door to the west, and a hallway to the east t-intersecting into a larger hallway that runs north/south. The party opts to check the door to the south. Borumar pokes at it, checks for traps and then tries to open it, and is given a nasty shock. Then Blotto tries, and gets zapped. Morgana casts dispel magic on it, and then… then they realize that it’s a false door.

All the zapping and yelling noise attracted the attention of a stone giant. It doesn’t understand common, dwarven, or orc, but does understand goblin. With Blotto translating, he tells them that the fancy door and what’s beyond is the home of the Plated Mage, an enemy of the Three Eyed King that he serves. He’s also pleased to hear that the lords of the surface lands don’t have any giants under them, as it’ll make the Three Eyed King’s conquest easier. A strong believer in might makes right. He suggests that if the party can take out the plated mage, they might be able to get an audience with the Three Eyed King (one that doesn’t involve them instantly being enslaved). With that, the party heads back up to the Sepulture and then teleports back to the manor to research The Plated Mage and the Three Eyed King.

Gains: some gold
Kills: Undead alien hydra
Losses: Many single use magic items drained of their power