The immediate issue was that Forge would not work. Or more precisely, that we could not access Forge on Brian’s computer. Something about granting enough access through Brian’s firewall. He tried a bunch of stuff and eventually had to give up. So, we temporarily switched back to Fantasy Grounds. That took some time but thankfully most of us were 4th level on it so there wasn’t too much to do. But it took a bunch of time. We finally started and tried to deal with the Fly Pox problem. However, it was pointed out that Treat Disease took at least 8 hours of care so we couldn’t do anything about that. Next was healing Ter Stegan. Dave was having trouble remembering how to use his Risky Surgery to Treat Wounds with Aid from Oakwood. In his defense, switching from D&D to Pathfinder to Owl Bear Rodeo to Forge to FGU was taking its toll. Eventually, he was healed. During that time, crafty Xeeli built some travois to drag the bodies back to town. Two bodies per and 6 bodies. We placed them by the entrance in case we had to make a hasty exit. And with that, we started exploring some more.
The first order of business was tracking down the Flies. We figured they’d return to the Fly room, as labeled on Boss Skrug’s map. We had some discussions on who was doing which Exploration Mode tasks. Those roles were assigned and then reassigned. It was a small but tall round chamber that used to be a tower. In the middle was a pile of rotting carcasses. Fly food, we figure. No Giant Flies and nowhere where they might perch or stay. We were expecting access from on high but the ceiling looked intact. Ter Stegan was eager to burn the bodies so once everyone got their chance to search and recall and detect, we used some torches and a pot of oil to burn them. Once that was done, Brian revealed that there was a trap door on the ceiling. A bit late as the room filled with smoke. But it would be a near impossible climb to get up there and it didn’t seem logical that flies could be using a trap door? We moved on.
Brian declared that it was now night time. One of the things we wanted to do was to check out the Gauntlight Tower in the night since that’s when the attack had occurred. We lined up and Ter Stegan bravely opened the door. He saw that the pool of blood had formed into a vague humanoid shape. He immediately closed the door but turn-based games don’t work that way. His Roseguard Lore told him it was shaped like Belacor (which we figured) but smaller than he’d expect. We postulated that the pool was short of blood. Or perhaps she was a gnome all along. He and Clarissa were in the line of sight. They took 8 points of damage as a glob of blood was extracted and flew into the pool. They also missed a stiff Fort save and were Dazzled (partial blindness) for a round. (Perhaps this pool has been growing over the decades on fools that happened by in the night? And is now big enough to light the tower?) Once Brian had his say, Ter Stegan could finally close the door. Expect that it wasn’t his turn. Initiative. Brisco went first as usual. He moved up, closed the door and pulled Ter Stegan back a square or two. (He ran out of actions.) He did notice a secret door in the corner he cowered in. Basically, we fled and it didn’t open the door. With a +15 initiative, that big Fort save, the fact that our weapons would likely be diminished against a “pool of blood” and any damage to us would possible “feed it”, it seemed like one of those things we should flee from.
We regrouped at the entrance. We decided to avoid the tower and proceed on to the ghost infested chapel. But first we checked out that secret door. It led to a 5x5 room with no other exits. An examination of the floor said that it was once a teleportation circle but that it had been disabled and any precious metals used in the seal had been removed. We went back through the secret door into the chapel where we had turned back due to lack of numbers almost two months ago. After arguing about traps, we piled in. The same scene as before. Oakwood grabbed some stuff from the dead adventurer including some potions. We eyed the skeletons on the altar and looked for ghosts in the eerily cold. However, when Clarissa came in, Brian revealed some back history. She realized she was a blood relative of Belacor. That her Blessed feat was from the god of death that Belacor evidently worshiped. Brian offered Dan the chance to change the Ghost Knowledge to God of Death Knowledge. And replaced the Guidance cantrip he got from that feat with the more “deathly” Vitality Lash. Basically, a ranged undead damage spell.
We stopped there before Shimota could declare that we must kill her now. Experience was minimal but so was the progress. No game in two weeks because Brian will be out of town. So, in four weeks we’ll fight ghosts and/or skeletons and whatever goes “buzz buzz” in the room south of this one.
