Vats of Mazarin - Session #4

 Medium: Google+ Hangouts
System: B/X D&D
Characters:

• Brother Hoyle, cleric 3 (Matt)
• Abbador, magic-user 2 (Will/Coffee)
• Squolia, thief 1 (Anthony)
• Murd, fighter 1 (retainer)
• Belgon, magic-user 1 (retainer)
• Mike, normal man (hireling)

Another great session, although Jake was unable to join us this week. The party first explored the area they located last week that the former barbarian chieftain has refused to entry due to a fear of the gold snakes within. Turns out that it was only the shrine to the Snake Men, and the gold snakes were merely statues. Inside the alter, however, the party located a passage down into a lower section of the dungeon, which they deemed to dangerous to yet explore.

The group also met up with two magic-users, who introduced themselves using the names "Fred" and "George" (a wander encounter with a good reaction roll - and no, they're not identical) who were exploring the Mazarin's complex in search of a map that beloned to Fred's great grandfather - a former student of Mazarin's. They made a deal agreed to team up with the party - who is more interested in treasure than maps.

The map was found in a sort of dorm block for Mazarin's students along with a pyramid of 10 deep-blue gems. The map showed an ancient pyramid located deep below the Vats of Mazarin, the two magic-user's new destination. According to the magic-users, the gems must be ground into a powder in order to enter the pyramid. In addition to Fred's great grandfather's room there would six other quirky apprentices. One of which trapped his room after being expelled (letter of expulsion left on his desk and poisoned needles in the bed).

Before heading out of the dungeon, the party made their way to a gold statue that depicted the solar system. Using a lever on the wall, the planets were made to arrange themselves in four specific configurations. Using an inaccurate star chart found in the room of one of the apprentices and the number of books collected during their excursions, the party was able to calculate the approximate time of the four arrangements - relatively close future, present day, about 50 thousand years in the past and about 100 thousand years in the past.

After copying down the configurations, the party rolled the planets outside the complex and began to scrap the gold plating off of them, during which a group of wanderers in white robes (another wandering encounter) walked into the dungeon, paying no attention to the party, but blasting away a single mole man with a lightning bolt before allowing him a chance to act.

This session also saw the demise of Murd, the fighter retainer and veteran of two delves into the dungeon, the poison of a giant spider did him in. His body was given to the Mole Men - the party claiming that they had "killed off the traitor," a reference to the Murd and Squalia's previous expedition, in which 7 Mole Men were murdered for their bars of gold.