Murdicog's Manse Session 11: This Old Manse
Players: Buster Diamantis, Conjurer (Mistuh), Osric III of Shophalbelath, Hero (EvilTables), Peanut, Warrior, (Shy Owl), Bekhtar Ravasa, Veteran (Nick Jagged)
Summary
With only one last key for which to locate a lock, a cadre of daring delvers deigned to descend the depths of Murdicog's Manse once again.
A tasty hemiauch (to placate the Dinicthys) & an accurate map made getting to level 5 a breeze. 8 Brigands were caught trying to repair the spinning intersection trap, but Buster's Sleep spell rapidly ended the ensuing fight (though not before Peanut took a serious blow from a Brigand's axe). One of the Brigands (Guls of Portage Town) was recruited, the rest were dispatched.
Next, the went eest into a large concert hall where a Wight was playing baroque fugues on an organ, oblivious to the world. Osric sent his apprentice thief, Bekhtar Amphibia, to try a door at the far end. Unfortunately, when Ravasa tried to toss her a crowbar, it went wide, alerting the Wight. Angered, it told them in no uncertain terms to leave and not come back.
They fled knorth, and at the end of a long passage found a room containing the red keyhole. This time, inserting the key caused a teleportation circle to appear in the floor behind them. Osric fearlessly strode into it and vanished, causing the rest of the party to follow.
On the other end, they found themselves in a room with wood paneled walls, shag carpet, and muffled jazz coming from either above or below. This room had a knorthward opening that they explored. After passing several intersections, they found themselves in a wide room with two 10'x10' cell-like rooms in the middle. One of these was labeled "Treasure", the other "Doom". Peanut opened both doors and discovered that each contained 33 centipedes.
In a room to the knorthwest, the adventurers encountered a THING that had no discernible properties aside from being a distinct object. By shooting it with his laser pistol, Peanut imposed the quality "singed" upon it.
Following the other door out of the room, they found a large atrium with black & white checkered flooring. From this side, the room they had just left had a sign that read:
CAUTION: THIS ROOM CONTAINS A THING IN ITSELF
An identical sign hung on a room opposite it. Supposing that this level might be symmetrical, they decided to try their luck at this other door. Inside, they found a complex object that, with concentration, could be painfully appertained in its entire being, sans mediation. Rightly recognizing this as a waste of time and energy, they averted their gazes and focused on the room itself.
Noting that the eestern wall of the room was 10' shorter than the room with the THING, Ravasa took his axe to the wood paneling. Behind it, he unearthed worn wallpaper printed with peaches & lemons. Perplexed, further hewing revealed a layer of light grey grouted bathroom tile. When that was chipped away, they found a layer of green & white striped linoleum. Peeling away the linoleum exposed an inch of mauve plaster. Behind the plaster, the wall was comprised of red bricks. By prying a brick away with the crowbar, they found pink fiberglass insulation. After extracting a few wads, they were able to tap the but of Peanut's spear against a layer of corrugated aluminum sheet metal.
Attempting a similar process to the knorth revealed that the wall only went as deep as the bathroom tile, beyond which they found blue seagull wallpaper facing the other direction.
Perplexed, the adventurers retraced their steps (narrowly avoiding an altercation with the organist) and went home, contenting themselves with the knowledge that they had finally fulfilled their self-imposed goal of finding a lock for each of Hannibal Brompp's four color-coded keys.
Aftermath
Treasure Found:
Foes Encountered: 8 Brigands (7 slain, 1 recruited), 66 Giant Centipedes (evaded), Organist Wight (Evaded)
Rumors: What's behind the wall? Where do the other teleporters go??
Deaths: None
XP Awarded: 7 HD slain (700), 56 gp recovered from brigands (56) for a base award of 756, modified by level.
400 from completing the "find locks for the keys" lead.