Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 82 - It's All Fun and Games

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Goro (Half Orc Cleric 7 / Fighter 6) 
Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 7) 
Chanee (Human Paladin 6)
[Baqua Irontoes (Halfling Fighter 4 / Thief 6)]

Date/Time

Goodmonth 10 (mid-afternoon) - Goodmonth 10 (night) 

As the party leaves the crystal pillar room, Skeef suddenly disappears and his place is taken by the returning Chanee. Their mage mutters something about metamagical margins, and once more they collectively shug and move on. Briefly exploring  silent, dark and then silent/dark rooms, they arrive in a large chamber with multiple 8' high tunnels leading into it. Observing a large metal chest in one corner, the party advances. And then an earthquake like rumbling strikes, and a massive beetle headed humanoid bursts forth from one of the tunnels.  Baqua is hurt grievously, and spends the rest of the combat alternating between a berserk rage and dumb stupor. Luckily the combat is short, and the party returns to treasure hunting. And indeed they find it; a mass of gold and silver coins, plus another of the silver-blue metal 'keys'. 

Leaving the dead umber hulk behind, the party pushes on until they once more encounter a metal wall with another recessed carving of a square with a circle on each corner. Now they know there appears be be multiple ways to proceed once they have all four keys. They retreat, scooping up the coins onto the carpet of flying, burying them in the courtyard for now as it's much too heavy a load to carry. 

The party moves next to the NE tower. The message on the entry corridor walls reads "IT'S ALL FUN AND GAMES". At least that sounds reassuring ... Beyond is a room with colored circles painted on the floor; lines of blue, green, yellow and red. Sensing a trap, the party all cross the room taking care to touch each colour only once with a different hand/foot each time. Cartwheels all the way. They pass successfully. But on the other side they encounter something that stymies them; an impenetrable curtain of beads!! The party spends hours looking for a secret door, and tries all forms of circle dancing in the previous room, to find a way to pass by. In the end, Solcha in frustration just runs at the beads; and passes through! On the other side a band of gnolls awaits her, but she is able to talk to them long enough for others to get through the curtain (but not without injury and embarrassing face-plants in some cases) and assist her. 

Gnolls dead, the party continues on to the end of the passage where 5 alcoves await. Each has a roughly human shaped indentation. Chanee immediately walks over and gets into one. Metal bands spring out from the sides binding the paladin at wrist and ankle, And the alcove them turns 180 degrees and whisks away down a tunnel into darkness. The others shrug and do the same, finding themselves in a room with a black and white checkered floor. At the far side is kingly statue, 7' tall with a crown and sword, holding one hand palm out towards the party. Thinking back to the message, the party recognizes the floor as a chess board. And so they move across mimicking moves of the chess pieces on whose tiles they have landed. They successfully cross and after a perfunctory look at the statue, move on. A long winding corridor leads them once more to a blank metal wall with carving. 

Figuring they must have missed a 'key' somewhere, they head back to the statue. Goro takes it by the hand, and a door pops open in its chest. And there is the third 'key'. Now battered, they decide to retreat once more to the surface. But along the way have to batter past the bead curtain once more, and fight some guardian bugbears, before emerging into the dark of night in the surface ruins and set up camp. 

GAINS

5000sp

7000gp

KILLS/VICTORIES

Umber Hulk

6 Gnolls

4 Bugbears

LOSSES

none