The Chamber of Decision

The Chamber of Decision

We teleported into a huge room with ten exits and a mysterious figure with a staff who told us that this was the chamber of decision and he was its guardian. He then named twelve ways to leave it, as he did so each of the ten exits illuminated in turn. The eleventh way resulted in no such illumination; this though, was ‘the way that is hidden.’ The twelfth way, was perhaps unsurprisingly and unhelpfully; ‘the last way.’

Eldras cast True Seeing to find the way that was hidden and this revealed a secret door to the south west. We chose our pathways and once we were all in position we simultaneously teleported to our fates.

Those of us who survived returned to the chamber with a piece of the power core of Ryzek’s sword. I have recorded each survivors account here. Those who were lost, I do not know what befell them…

In the order the Guardian outlined them then: The Way of Light.

Gareth took this exit. We never saw him again.

The Way of the Nimble: This was Holly’s exit; she chose to take human form for her journey. She arrived in a room containing a rope and grapnel, which she took and moved on.

Beyond there was a cavern with a sheer wall of glass- like rock which she scaled easily using the grapnel.* Entering a long corridor she triggered a trap which saw her pursued down the corridor by a gigantic boulder.** Using her monkish speed she easily outdistanced it, fortunate that the chooser of this way was not some lumbering armoured fighter.

*Dm Note. By using the grapnel she avoided attack by two cave fishers that would have engaged anyone attempting to climb or fly up the cliff
**Indiana Holly

She then came upon a corridor that began ascending like a platform lift when she entered. This brought her towards an exit high up at the far end. Again her skill and speed brought her safely through, avoiding a roof crushing experience that would have turned her to jelly.

Her final challenge was in a large chamber with an impassable door. The room contained a chest with a combination lock that worked using a safe style dial that operated the tumblers. The logical assumption was that opening the chest would unlock the exit. She began to twist the dial, listening carefully for the barely perceptible change in clicks as the correct combination was reached.

Unfortunately, every time she made a mistake, the floor of the room that she was already suspicious of, slid back ten feet to the east, once again cutting off her retreat and revealing a deep drop below. By the time she had got two correct numbers (14 and 9) she was on a ten foot wide ledge. Using her rope and grapnel again she dropped to the floor below to look for alternative exits, where she was attacked and wounded by a (previously) invisible black pudding.

Badly hurt, she shinned back up and with a spectacularly successful run, her hearing perhaps sharpened by the near death experience; she correctly finished the combination (13, 2, 12, 5).* This unlocked the exit and she was back in the Chamber of Decision.

*We later realised when she told the story that the alphabetical version of this sequence was NIMBLE.

The way of Justice and balance, we spurned, and Saladin chose the way of Immortality.

He found himself in his own tomb, a sarcophagus with a representation of his own armoured body, correct in every detail atop it. Undaunted, he entered a winding corridor that took him to a chamber where he was surprised by a medusa. Avoiding its gaze and surviving two of its poisonous bites he slew it and moved on.

He discovered a room containing a book on a table. He examined it and cautiously flipped it open with his sword. He felt a tremendous draw as if his soul was being sucked into its pages but he just barely managed to resist and flee via a secret exit.*

*Minus a fate point

In the corridor beyond he found a couple of spears which he wisely left alone.* In the final room as he headed to the exit he was jumped by four wraiths emerging from secret alcoves. He was badly hurt and drained of three energy levels before he escaped.

*DM Note, these spears entertainingly drain their user of an energy level when used against undead, adding a hit die to any undead they strike.

Barakor chose the way of the Stoic.

He found himself in a chamber that contained a plain but well made shield. He left it and moved to the next room where a duplicate of himself armed with the shield attacked him, injuring him with a duplicate rod of lordly might in battle axe mode. Barakor cast Hold person on himself which fortuitously worked despite his strongly anti magic dwarven nature.

The exit was a deep shaft which he descended using a knotted rope. At the bottom was a huge cavern containing vast mounds of gold, topped by a sleeping blue dragon. He wisely tiptoed round, resisting temptation. Leaving through a narrow cave he came to a final chamber where his find traps spell revealed a number of threats.

Heading for the exit the door behind him was sealed and water began to flood the room. The exit proved false and the water quickly reached his waist, his beard, his nose, his eyes, then suddenly the water drained out through floor vents that opened sweeping him out and back to the Chamber of Decision.

The Way of Fear and the Unknown, was chosen by Roscoe, who was in uncharacteristically cocky mood.*

*Yes tonight Matthew, Sam would be played by Roscoe

He proceeded along a very long corridor, increasingly concerned that something was following him, but he didn’t look back and reached a door where an Apparition appeared but failed to scare him to death. He was then captured after being magically slept and awoke in a guillotine. Fortunately the mere fact that he was a halfling meant that he only suffered 15 points of damage from the slow descent of the blade, rather than the 1023 points a human would have suffered.

Guards then dragged him infront of a firing squad of heavy crossbowmen, but their bolts turned into custard pies as they struck him and he was tipped into a pit filled with spiders and snakes before returning to the Chamber.

Eldras chose the way of Darkness.

He entered a room containing a giant pendulum, behind which was a hole in the wall through which he could exit. He set the pendulum swinging and with his superhuman dexterity had no difficulty diving through at the right moment. The guardian’s voice told him he had set his time running with the pendulum.

No light source would work in the room beyond. Sadly his true seeing had also long expired. He followed the wall around to his right, the only sounds his breathing and the pendulum swinging behind him, inexorably slowing down. Fortunately, before it stopped altogether he reached an exit and left avoiding the certain death which would have happened if he had delayed.

He emerged to be attacked by two floating gorbels which only managed to damage him as they exploded in death on the point of his sword. The final room had a black floor that proved to be a black pudding that didn’t take kindly to being trodden on. His psionic attack on it only revealed to him the problem of using mental attack against creatures with no minds, however a dash of fire and a run round the walls using his spider climb slippers sorted that issue.

My choice was the way of the elements.

The first proved to be fire; as I advanced down a corridor towards a cavern the temperature rose rapidly, burning me before I reached the cool cavern. There was no exit in the cavern but I discerned a possible escape via what looked like an underwater passage in the cavern’s pool.

I took the plunge literally and easily swam the length of it,* emerging in another cavern. I headed south from this one reaching a chamber that contained an angry air elemental, fortunately contained within a pentagram. Unfortunately the only exit from this room appeared to be a trapdoor set in the floor, which was partly under the pentagram.

*Hey with my constitution I obviously work out.

Clearly if I opened the trapdoor, the pentagram would be broken, the elemental would be released, and I would get at the very least a vigorous blow dry. Without my trusty curling tongs this would leave me with my hair looking a proper mess. This place was becoming more fiendish by the minute.

Fortunately I had the staff of Ryzek and was able to use its anti magic shell to eliminate the problem. The spell prevented the elemental from attacking me and it returned to its own plane once it discovered its freedom and inability to exact revenge on any prime material being other than inflicting a slight ruffle to my flowing locks.

I flounced down the corridor at the foot of the ladder below the trapdoor* and tried the next door. Which was when a mimic, posing as a door attacked me. We had a struggle and with my trusty staff, burning hands, and finally eight magic missiles I destroyed it, revealing the true door and exit to the Chamber of Decision behind it.

*Because I’m worth it

Zionestes, true to his Deity, chose the Way of Death

He found himself in a chapel where he prayed to his god and was rewarded with the appearance of a silver holy symbol on the altar. This he took and moved on through a wrecked tomb containing a couple of skeletons which he blessed and then into a mist filled room.*

*Which might have been fatal had he not prayed and taken the holy symbol

The final room for our cleric contained a gauntlet of 12 skeletons that animated when approached. Not a problem for a cleric of Zionestes’ ability armed with a mace of disruption, but sadly he was unable to use his arms which meant no spell casting, turning or weapon use. He legged it and avoided injury making the exit successfully.

No one chose the way of Life.

Ripven chose the way that was hidden.
When we returned, the Guardian had changed in appearance; Ripven was the new guardian.

Dms note
For completeness of the account, this is what transpired with the two Gareth and Ripven:

Gareth entered a chamber containing a number of magic lanterns, one of which he took. In the next chamber, its walls were covered with brightly shifting light patterns that glowed and faded, swirling in an ever changing kaleidoscope that fascinates him still, now and for the rest of eternity.

Ripven followed a corridor to a room with a large number of exits: Four stairwells, two up and two down, one spiral. A trapdoor, two passages and four doors. Mindful that this was the way that was hidden, he looked for a hidden exit, initially unsuccessfully* but eventually he found a pullring in the floor that opened a door allowing egress through a secret passage to a hidden chamber containing no exits.

*Fate point

Searching again he found a pair of slots in one wall that he correctly surmised were for swords. Sadly he had no swords being a cleric, but a further search revealed a magic broadsword hidden under a flagstone. Inserting it broke the sword and opened a secret exit to the final area.

This contained a stairwell leading to an impassable door, but there was a large capstan style cog-shaped wheel in the room, and after some struggling he was able to get it rotating gradually sliding the door open above revealing a mist filled room with an exit.

The mist cleared and he entered the room, and the voice of the guardian told him that he needed to find the key to escape, as the death mist would return. The door behind him locked, sealed shut.

He searched frantically as the mist began but failed to find the key, hidden in the keystone over the exit door archway. He collapsed and died about eight minutes into his search.*

*After burning his last two fate points.

We all had a piece of the power core for Barakor’s (Ryzek’s) sword. The new guardian was clearly not the Ripven we knew, and he teleported us back to the dungeon entrance from where we were able to return to Faffleen’s fortress with our booty.

Faffleen took the staff saying that this would secure Rirndale and prevent the return of Urush. He also paid us a further 30,000 GP each for completion of our task, though Saladin received no payment, instead Lord Vellyn restored the energy that the wraiths had drained from him. He also has provided training for all our further level ups* required free of charge.

*Everyone except Saladin

Faffleen also took Eldras aside, recognising what he called his awakened state. He had a serious conversation with him where I gather he set out a number of warnings for our very own Allerzoi.

Barakor plans to establish his own church with his money, at least that’s what he told me, Holly will retreat to a monastery to undertake contemplation on the meaning of existence.* She also plans to conduct training for those afflicted with lycanthropy who she feels should be better integrated in society at large.

*Apparently this will involve a great deal of wine as she feels there are lessons to be learned comparing the meaning of existence either with or without large amounts of alcohol.

Saladin tells me he feels that he has now sufficient experience to return home and take his rightful place as ruler of Kett. He appears completely confident that he will achieve this and has been trying to hire Faffleen to assist him in gaining his rightful inheritance.

Roscoe appears to be thinking of offering his services to the Mirath City Thieves guild, whilst Zionestes who inherited a title whilst in Chateau D’Amberville, is returning to Estagrad to take up his lands there.

Me? Saladin has asked me if I will help him on his quest too, but I feel I have unfinished business with the Mage of Krim so perhaps I will travel there to see what more I can learn from her. The familiar servant is called Amaless and has indicated that it will accompany me for the moment, ‘To see if I am worthy.’ It strikes me that with Urush still apparently alive, maybe this chapter is not as closed as it might seem.

Kravaine
Characterisation & Roleplay 20
Selection of optimal exit 250
Locating underwater passage 50
Use of anti magic shell 250
Mimic 1660
Campaign Completion 25000

Total 27,230

Eldras
Characterisation & Roleplay 30
Use of True Seeing room 38 100
Not delaying in 387b 50
Gorbels 68
By Passing Black Pudding 75
Suggesting seeking Hidden way 50
Campaign Completion 25000

Total 25,383

Barakor
Characterisation & Roleplay 30
Selection of optimal exit 250
Defeating himself 250
Not engaging dragon 250
Using Find Traps 50
Campaign Completion 25000

Total 25,830

Holly
Characterisation & Roleplay 20
Selection of optimal exit 250
Taking grapnel hook 100
Detecting moving floor 382d 50
Unlocking the exit 250
Campaign Completion 25000

Total 25,670

Saladin/ Grom
Characterisation & Roleplay 80
Medusa 950
Not taking the cursed spears 100
Campaign Completion 25000

Total 26,130

Ripven
Characterisation & Roleplay 20
Realising sword required to open exit 50

Total 70

Roscoe
Being resolute in 386a 50
Resisting Apparition 50
Surviving Guillotine 100
Surviving Firing Squad 100
Campaign Completion 25000

Total 25,300

Zionestes
Selection of optimal exit 250
Praying 250
Campaign Completion 25000

Total 25,500

Name Class 2nd Class B/F Cumulative Target Current Level
Kravaine MU*
29,953 87,057 117,010 135,001
(9) 8
Eldras T*
D*
25,383 70,001
10,969 70,001
36,352 110,001
45,001 (9/9) 8
8
Barakor F*
14,207 C*
14,207 53,351
53,351 67,558
67,558 70,001/
110,001
(7/ 6/7
Holly M
25,670 82,137 107,807 200,001
( 7

Grom/ Saladin F*
28,743 87,980 116,723 125,001
( 7
Roscoe T*
27,830 62,404 90,234 110,001
(9) 8

Zionestes C*
28,050 86,755 114,805 225,001
(9) 8

Ripven C*
77 80,998 81,075 DECEASED 110,001
( 7

*EP Bonus applied