Part 50: A Not-So-Cunning Trap

Update 9: A Not-So-Cunning Trap

Okay, picking up again in the Tombs...



"Finally, something that doesn't glow and give itself away."

"A trapdoor isn't exactly what you'd expect to find in a tomb."



"Sam, if this is another woman who's been cursed and turned into a hag it's your turn."

"If you say so. They can't all be married."



"I am finding it a bit suspicious that all of the lost items these spirits are so conveniently located within tens of feet of their dwelling place."

"Maybe they felt like they needed to give them a fighting chance? Here you go."



"Ooh, free stuff!"

"Looks like it's pretty much all junk… although…"





"That's not reassuring at all."

"Especially not seeking help from black robes.. or the small. That could be dwarves, kender, or gnomes. Please let it be dwarves."



"Wow, without that helpful prophecy earlier, we'd never have thought to use the gold key to open the gold door!"



"Perhaps not, but I don't think the rusted key* would have fared nearly as well in that bizarrely inefficient magical lock."

*doing so results in losing the rusted key, which will screw you out of some treasure later in the dungeon.



"This seems very familiar somehow…"

"Soth's tower and those vampires. Well, might as well get it over with."



"Hey, give a mon a little more o' de warnin' nex time!"



Here in the deeper levels of the dungeon, the battles get a bit tougher. This one isn't so bad, though, since a couple of good spells will clear out most of the back row. The skeletal warriors are also a lot less terrifying than they used to be.



"It's good to see a few places where the dead haven't been disturbed."

"Unless that's just what they want us to think."



"If it's like the rest, there'll be another entrance somewhere nearby… I'm starting to think this tomb is actually bigger than the city above it."

"Maze a columns? By dat be a legend? Day say big treater in der, but doze dat go in don kum out."

"A reasonable person might then ask how anybody knows about the treasure."




"I guess the king wasn't as holy as the people in those coffins we saw… either that or people just didn't care, as famous as he was."



"It's probably seen better days… hey, one of those shards doesn't match the rest of the sarcophagus!"





"Sharkmen? Really? I take back everything bad I've said about this continent."

"Sounds like the draconians got here a long time before we did."



"Well, that's tempting fate if I ever heard it. C'mon out already."



"Welcome. Is this what you came for? I hope it wasn't too hard gathering the pieces we scattered around for you to find. I don't think you'll be needing this piece."

"Wait… so your entire dinner plan was to scatter parts of a priceless relic around the tomb in the hopes of some tomb raiders or adventurers stumbling upon it and following the trail of breadcrumbs to this very room?"

"You've got it! Very good!"

"Counting on those people somehow fighting their way past dozens of monsters and traps… while still being weak enough for you to beat them?"

"Are you saying that our plan wasn't a very good one?"

"We're saying that the only reason the oracle didn't bother to say "vampire ambush ahead" was because you weren't even worth a line next to the small ones."

"I'm actually a little dumber now from listening to that plan."



"Why don't you ask Soth about how well this is likely to turn out? If you can find enough bits of him to ask?




This fight isn't too dissimilar from the fight we faced at the end of Dave's Challenge. Lots of enemies scattered around in different directions, with a chance to pepper you with magic and then move in for the kill. One of the weirder thing is that the vampire spell casters don't seem to like fireball spells that much. Instead, you see a lot of lightning bolts. Our reward is the final piece of the creepy oracle statue.





"I think this explicitly describes the worst case scenario we could imagine. But how could she re-enter the world in her full power?"

"No idea, but I think I see a teleporter we can use while we think about it."



"That's.. not reassuring…"

"Nah, don't worry about it. It's not like somebody wrote it in their own blood. For vampires this is about the same as glueing pasta to a piece of paper."



The so-called maze of columns consists of a large square area with a few hollow columns scattered about it, each one just large enough for a treasure chest. This one has a Girdle of Giant Strength, which is pretty much the best thing out of this dungeon. The rest of the treasure rooms have small bits of steel, gems, and jewelry instead.



"Nasty thing. Would have armed the first time we crossed it, then impaled us the next time. We don't even have to do anything, just not step on it."

"And I think that about does it. Let's get out of this place."



"How interesting… that's a good idea, Amanda."

"Huh? Did I say something?"



"Aye, ha, ha, ye got mi, friends. I done a little bit o' fishin. But see we got something to settle. I be fit in fee ye but get nutted in return. I be fare, now ye be fare. A veri fin price I get fer im."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."



"Well, we did tell you that wouldn't be a good idea. That's some pretty heavy duty magic to mess around with."



"Is everybody in this town an idiot, or does it just look like it from the outside?"

"Well, we found what we wanted… so let's not stick around to find out."

Character Update





Acquiring his new girdle and getting up to level 15 puts Boo nearly in the same ass-kicking class as Sam, who is definitely climbing the levels faster than our other fighters. Rip joins the 20 club with Ishmael and Gable. Ishmael is gradually pulling ahead of everybody but Gable, which is a good thing for us since it means he's just loading up on spell slots.