Completed Let's Play Forgotten Realms: Unlimited Adventures- Module B4 The Lost City

[octavius]

Stinking Cloud is even better than all the lvl 8 spells.

 

[Monstrous Bat]

Shall we continue to where we left off at the Lost City or do another speed run on a quick module to reach level 3?

If we're already close to level 3 then go back to the lost city. But if we just barely have enough experience to get to level 2, then do another short module.

As for Qastur's level 2 spell choice: Stinking Cloud, of course. Strength is good too, but Stinking Cloud comes before all else.

 

[Jaesun]

Just a suggestion, I would say we follow this suggested progression: http://therealm.flopsyville.com/west.html

B11-12, King's Festival/Queen's Harvest (this is pretty damn sweet to go through) and B3, Palace of the Silver Princess (ESPECIALLY the beginning of this module, because very very very bad shit can happen in the beginning and you can't do shit) before doing B4.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Ok, I wrote this update before reading Jaesun's post. I'm up for doing another side quest to B11-B12 and/or B3 if that is the consensus. Without further ado...

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I’m taking one more quick detour in this game before we get back on track. Not because I’m afraid of the difficulty at this point, since our fighters are now wearing heavy armor and we have two magic-users able to cast a total of four sleep spells. I decided to go for one more quick module because I am concerned about lost experience points and the battles towards the end. If this module is meant for levels 3-5 then the adventurers should see larger experience point gains. Now our heroes are level 2 and should be reaching level 3 at about 2000 more experience points each. The experience points needed to go from level 3 to 4 about doubles, and then doubles again from 4 to 5. We don’t know if there is a trainer in this module yet, so our heroes could be accumulating tons of experience and items in this adventure, but stay stuck at level 2 for the final encounters. This would be quite bad and frustrating. So I decided to speed through another fast module, in this case module B6: The Veiled Society.

I own this module, but have a love/hate relationship with it. The premise is not your typical dungeon crawl, but a murder mystery of a young woman that the characters have to solve. The background is right out of the more interesting parts of Romeo and Juliet. There are rival noble houses in an Italian Renaissance influenced fantasy city where the government is powerless to prevent strife and violence. The population is divided into support for the various families, most likely because they are part of merchant guilds that the families control, and therefore financially dependent upon them. It really is a great set-up and gives the players a chance to gather clues and work their brains, as this was before the modern era of just making a dice roll and being handed information. Unfortunately, the module falls apart as a whole as it throws in some oddities like monstrous humanoids that are unrealistically ferried into the game and a captured elf because… fuck if I know. I guess TSR was uncomfortable creating a dungeons and dragons game with only human NPCs. Also, the game becomes a bit of a railroad as certain scenes depend on characters taking particular actions after finding certain clues from the previous scene. It would have been better if the module gave more clues for the players to find and was more open about choices the characters might take. This can be a great adventure if the Dungeon Master realizes he is picking up an incomplete product that he’ll need to beef up. Well, let’s see what Ray Dyer did with this thing...

Just like in the original module, Ray Dyer opens his adventure with the party visiting Specularum during a large festival. Also like the original module, my weapons larger than a dagger supposedly are bound by the guards of the city gate, who are concerned about the rising violence. We’ll see what happens in our first combat FRUA.

While watching a procession for a religious ceremony take place, Jaesun asks a nearby lad who the lead woman is in the line of figures. The boy tells him that it is a lady from the noble houses, and that he thinks she is quite lovely. Jaesun gives a half-hearted affirmation. Suddenly some Radu spoil-sports interrupt the procession and start a fight with the Torenscu religious participants. The adventurers step in and bully the Radu away, mostly because they were dicks. We move on to enjoy the street party.

Walking the streets get boring, and most inns are too crowded, but I found a place called the Water Dragon where I listen to quite a few rumors on local politics, and a similar hole called the Grog House. The module does a great job of showing a packed city in celebration. When night falls and we find a place to rest, the adventure really begins. But after a forced night’s rest...

From here it goes from kind of interesting to standard D&D fair. We fight some kobolds under a house, where Qastur uses one of our four prepared sleep spells and knocks six out of ten of them straight out and the rest fall without injuring a single one of our well-armored warriors. Magnus dealt 12 hit points of damage to one of the unfortunate 2hp monsters. So much for my weapons being bound. This is the most oddly placed encounter of the module, but it leads us to finding two men trying to dispose of a body, who attack us when confronted. Yeah, that doesn’t go well for them either. We find the body of the young woman they were trying to be rid of along with some evidence. We find some red hair on a bloody knife and signs of wine stains. All we have to do now is find out who has red hair like this and enjoys wine that stains the color of brown in a city full of revelers. This is a job for Midge Holmes and her handy sidekick, Magnus.

We encounter some hobgoblins, free some slaves, and eventually get to the constabulary who helps us track down our list of suspects, place of death, and possible murder weapon. Though this could take awhile:

The clues point to one of the three main families of Specularum, but the evidence seems to have been planted. Rabble rousers try to stir up the crowds towards violence, also. A riot starts, but as heroes we don’t dig riots unless we start them.

Check this shit out. We’re allied with rioting peasants now. Against armored horsemen. In the actual module I think you can try to prevent a clash or side with one or the other. I guess in this case the armored city guard figures anyone not wearing their crest is fair game. Anfall meine leute!

This battle is a fucking mess, though I quickly become glad I am on the side of the peasants. The horsemen are really, really good at killing the lightly armed, rag-clothed peasants. But it doesn’t seem to matter when there are dozens of them swarming the horsemen. For every three peasants killed, a horseman goes down. Add six seasoned and well-equipped adventurers headed by the killing machines that are Jaesun and Magnus, and the horsemen are pretty much doomed. Abigail sleeps two of the horsemen, but mostly she and Qastur pluck away from the back while I keep Midge and Myass milling inside the crowd and striking from the flanks.

The rest of the battle reaches its predictable conclusion. Abigail’s sleep spell neutralized the two center horseman, which enabled the entirety of the peasants to create small circles around the remaining. The peasants lost horrific amounts of people, but eventually the horsemen and their screaming mounts were taken down and torn apart. A man from the crowd pointed at the heroes and declared them heroes of the Revolution!

Just then, the inevitable happened as reinforcements arrived to take vengeance for their fallen comrades. The peasants looked to us for assistance.

Yeah, good luck with that… our heroes make an escape and verbally agree not to put the incident into their future annals. And they never talked about it again. We followed the rabble rouser who started the mess and found him to be part of a larger conspiracy which involved the murdered girl and politics. Always politics.

We eventually track the orator down and he actually tries to put up a fight. That lasts about two seconds as Midge immediately stabs him in an important organ. The man gives up all the information about who is involved in the plot and where to find the killer. Jaesun takes the lead, threatening the bartender of the spot the man frequents, then giving chase after the man tries to run from the crowd. More chasing, threatening, and killing occurs before we shake up the fleeing conspirators to the point that they tell us the secret location of the Veiled Society. Kill them, and the plot is finished. However, the Veiled Society is protected by a dangerous, stationary giant plant.

Which Magnus takes out with his arquebus. That gun does 14 points of damage!

Too bad clerics and magic-users can’t use them. Midge kills a second plant with her composite longbow, doing as much damage as Magnus with two arrows in a round.

After that, we fight another large battle, this time against the veiled society itself. I don’t hold back the magic-users this time. Both knock out most of the crowd with two sleep spells, to include the enemy mage before he gets a spell off.

The sleep spell only leaves about half a dozen of the Veiled Society in fighting shape. They get a few licks on Magnus that I need to heal, but once they are finished off, we spend a messy three rounds slitting the throats of the baker’s dozen masked men. This was both morbid to witness and copacetic.

We then wrap up the quest, killing a few higher level individuals who stupidly come at us individually, rescue and elf, and bring the guilty to justice. Rescuing the elf, Estaish, was particularly satisfying. When I played through this module as a kid of eight years old, I had my fighter rescue Estaish and take him on as a sidekick. They both reached the Master levels of BECMI. In the final battle against the end boss, he is back at level 1 and fighting next to the party, so it’s a bit nostalgic for me.

So after all that we are back on track. Jaesun now has Field Plate, and I replaced Midge’s broadsword with a quality rapier which I believe gives her a bonus to hit. All characters are now level 3 except Jaesun who is just barely at level 2 and Midge who is levels 2/2 in both her classes. The magic-users are armed with four sleep spells and two stinking clouds. I go back the Monty Hall choice of doors, this time choosing the center one to avoid falling damage and encounter the three beetles again, but this time fully equipped.

How do you like me now, beetles?!
We finish up the monsters without taking a scratch. The room is 40 feet north to south and 30 feet east to west. There are doors to the southwest, northwest, and a single one to the east.

------

So back to the question above. Do we try another module or continue the Lost City?

 

[Jaesun]

I say continue on. It is for Levels 3 - 5. It will be pretty tough but I think we might survive.

 

[Monstrous Bat]

Let's continue on. We should be able to deal with the dangers in the lost city now, although you might need to savescum a bit at times.

Also:

When morning comes, you find yourself in a small bed, sharing the cramped space with Jaesun the Gay.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

We are pushing on then. Here's some information for those reading that love to make maps:

When we entered the pyramid we found ourselves facing east in a small 10-foot wide by 30-foot long corridor, which turned 90 degrees to the north for 10 more feet before stopping at a door. We entered and propped open the door, finding ourselves facing north in a large chamber. The chamber was 50 feet square, with three doors facing us standing in the center. Inside each door was a 10-foot wide, 20-foot long chamber with stairs leading down. The right and left doors were trapped, while the center door was safe, but had signs of a previously spent and triggered trap. The center door also had stairs leading up which led to a 10-foot wide by 20-foot long room that served as the insides of the various statues we had seen at the top of the pyramids. Each ladder down led to the same large chamber, 30 feet east to west and 40 feet north to south. There were two doors along the western wall in the southwest and northwest corners of the room. There was also a single door in the center of the eastern wall.

Ok, that was simple, right? Clear as mud?

Since no one seemed to have a preference on which door to take, I chose the eastern one. Because.

I came to a west to east running passage that went 30 feet to a T-Intersection. On my right and left were doors. I take the door on the right and find myself in a small, 20 foot square room.

This room might have once been the quarters of a cleric, but it looks like it has been abandoned a long time ago. It contains musty, dust-covered furniture: a sleeping mat, a writing desk with a wooden stool, a chest, and a wooden holy symbol that looks like a balance.

I search it, of course, but come up empty. I then check out the other door of the passage and find a similar room.

This room contains an old bed, a writing table, chair, and a chest. From the looks of the furniture, the quarters have been long abandoned. From behind the bed comes scuffling sounds. Suddenly, you see the head of a large, pale blue lizard with orange spots burst into view. You brace yourself, but then a second lizard drops from above.

WTF?

The big problem here is that combat starts in melee, with the soft, squishy magic-users in the back already engaged.

I win, but Abigail and Qastur get bit before I can finish him off with a sling-wielding Myass and Magnus the Irascible. Jaesun and Midge take out the second one, which never was able to strike either of the two well armored warriors. Searching the room after, I find this gruesome sight:

Behind the bed lies the partially chewed corpse of a man. He wears a gold-inlaid mask in the shape of a bird-like creature.

Hey treasure! Unfortunately, the game does not allow us to take the mask as either loot or disguise.

I leave the room and go to the end of the hall to the T-intersection, which leads north 20 feet to a dead end. Turning south, I travel 40 feet when I see the end of the south part of the passage 20 feet further on. Two doors lie to the west of me. I get this message:

At the end of the corridor you see a glittering statue. The statue is a smaller version of the bearded man wielding a lightning bolt you saw on top of the pyramid.

I investigate further by traveling down to the end, but only get a similar message.

A search of the statue and doors reveals nothing and Midge thinks it is clear of traps. Turning towards the doors again we have two choices. The right-most door closer to the T-intersection, or the left-most door closer to the statue. Abigail and Qastur are also hurt, but normally are protected by meat shields. Should we expend precious healing potions or one of our three cure light wounds spells on one or both the magic-users?

 

[Monstrous Bat]

Gimme some CLW spells. After that, go for the left-most door.

 

[Azira]

Never use potions when you still have renewables. CLW.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Myass casts a Cure Light Wounds on Qastur, bringing him from 3 hit points to 7 hit points. That being done, we take the left-most door.

The room has three double bunk bed along the walls. Six men stand around the room, talking. All wear chainmail over blue tunics. Each man also wears a steel helmet and a golden mask. The masks look like long-haired, bearded man with a stern gaze. One of the men cocks his head inquisitively. 'I see by your dress that you are foreigners, and not yet infected with the plague of the Lost City, or that of Madarua and Usamigaras. You shall join with us. We are the Brotherhood of Gorm. We seek to raise the Lost City to its former glory, and bring peace to the lands of the Sandy Sea.'

I have the option to talk further to the men or back away quickly or fight them. I think it would be stupid to run off or fight. Obviously these gentlemen know where food and water is, as they refer to different kinds of people living nearby. Unless they end up being some kind of undead, they should lead us to refreshment and shelter, which is our top priority, and if they want us to play along and pretend to be part of their little club for now then I'm all for it.

The largest man takes you to the corner. More men join you from another room as he speaks. 'We are the Brotherhood of Gorm,' The leader of these men tells you. His voice booms through the mouthpiece of his mask. 'We are the last remaining sane vestige of a once-great society. Sit, friends, and learn of the glorious Lost City.'

Some soft midi music is played over the next few scenes, which is a sweet effect.

'Centuries ago, Cynidicea was the capital of a rich and fertile kingdom. Its people reclaimed much land from the desert, especially during the reign of King Alexander- the last and greatest King of Cynidicea.'

'Upon King Alexander's death, a huge pyramid was raised in his honor. This pyramid was the largest and most important building in the city. The fall of Cynidicea began on the day that workers, digging under the Great Pyramid, chanced upon the lair of a strange monster called Zargon. Zargon was roughly human in shape, though larger than most humans. In place of arms and legs it had twelve tentacles. Its head was that of a giant lizard, with a large black horn in the middle of its forehead.'

But otherwise mostly human?

'Zargon killed most of the workers, then began hunting prey at night through the streets of Cynidicea. The city guard was not able to kill the monster. At last, the city rulers began sending criminals from the jails into the pyramid for Zargon to feed upon.'

'In time, a strange cult arose that worshipped the monster as a god. The cult viewed the monster's victims as religious sacrifices. The worship of the ancient gods--Gorm, Usamigaras and Madarua--was forsaken.'

'Finally, most of the people in Cynidicea worshipped it. The worshippers of Zargon began to look for strange pleasures. They sought oblivion in rare wines and bizarre drugs. Workers no longer repaired the irrigation ditches. Rich land turned into desert. The army lost its discipline. People outside the city rebelled, or moved away as chaos spread outward from Cynidicea.'
'Later, barbarian warriors stormed over the walls and destroyed the city.

The only people of Cynidicea who survived its destruction were those who had fled underground to the vast catacombs under the city. There, led by priests of Zargon, the Cynidiceans tried to rebuild the city.'

'The surviving people based their new life around a huge underground lake fed by channels cut through solid rock. Built in the reign of King Alexander, the lake had been the original city's water supply. On its shores, the people grew mushrooms and other edible fungi, which we now share with you. They built houses using stones from the ruins above. The new underground city was much smaller than the ancient capital, but it was safer because it was hidden beneath the desert sands. Above, drifting sands covered the original city, and Cynidicea was lost in the vastness of the desert.'

'Generation after generation of Cynidiceans lived out their lives underground. Though still human, their skin has become very pale and their hair is bone-white. They have developed vision like the goblins. Sunlight hurts their eyes. Every Cynidicean, even those of us who have not succumbed to the Mind Plague, wears a stylized mask, usually of an animal or human face. Some are made of wood, some of paper mache, and some of metal. They are decorated with beads, bones, feathers and jewels. Most Cynidiceans wear fancy clothes, fancy jewelry, and carry shortswords. Some paint their bodies bright colors.'

The leader of the Order grunts in displeasure at this. 'The Cynidiceans are a dying race. Each new generation is smaller than the last. Most Cynidiceans have forgotten their lives in weird dreams. The times when they seem normal, tending their fields and animals, are becoming fewer and fewer as the dreams replace reality. Their unusual costumes and animals masks only strengthen their dream worlds. But some few of us still cling to our sanity. Three orders have deloped among our ranks. Though we all claim to hope to stop the slow death of our society and regain our past glories, the others are deluded. Only our order knows the true way. The Brotherhood of Gorm worships the god of war, storms and justice. The followers of Gorm are male warriors who adhere to their strict code of discipline. All wear golden masks of the face of Gorm. Each brother also wears chainmail over a blue tunic. Under the armor, each of us has a small blue lightning bolt tattoo on his shoulder. The brothers believe in justice tempered by mercy. They worship Gorm on the fourth day of each week and consider lightning storms to be holy.'

'The Magi of Usamigaras worship the god of healing, messengers, and thieves. They wear silver masks of the fact of Usamigaras, the smiling child. Each wears rainbow-colored robes. The right palm of each is marked with small silver lines in the shape of a five-pointed star. Usamigaras is worshipped on days when the stars and planets are in alignment. The Magi record and anticipate these days.'

'The warrior maidens of Madarua worship the goddess of birth, death and the changing seasons. They each wear bronze masks of Madarua, a beautiful woman. They also wear bronze chainmail over green tunics. Each maiden has a small, sickle-shaped scar on the inside of her left wrist. Madarua has a special holy day at the beginning of each of the four seasons.'

'And naturally, the priests of Zargon constitute a fourth faction. The fools perpetuate the lie that Zargon is some sort of deity, when he is truly just an abomination who laughs and feeds while... while Cynidicea dies.'

The leader of the Brotherhood sighs heavily and turns back to you. We seek to bring back the glory of the past, and bring peace that shall last a thousand, thousand years. We have food and water, supplied by our brothers in the Lost City. Will you join us for your time among us?'

The Decline, man. It even spread into the D&D world of Mystara. Lacking a profit like Cleve, Cynidiceans failed to see the Decline coming. Lacking a strong backbone of turn-based strategists who spit bile and piss vinegar, the people instead fell into societal decadence where being a mushroom-eating hippy was the rule de jure. These new violent, deranged men seek to change all of that.

Ok, it's decision time. The leader of this team is a bit of a hypocritical loon, saying that the rest of the Cynidiceans are crazy and out of touch partly because they dress oddly, despite the fact that he himself dresses oddly. Also, he complains that the population is dwindling, which in part is probably because his more sane faction and another somewhat sane faction is divided by gender lines while many of the rest of the populace is high as a kite from continued drug use and some sort of mental disease. Still, he has been a bro by sharing his food and water with us and his group seems to be decent enough. Do we join the all-male warriors or backtrack to the first chamber below the ladders and see if we can find one of the other factions? We'll probably get a mask and lightning bolt tattoo for our troubles.

Like this, but on the shoulder:

 

[Monstrous Bat]

A bunch of violent, insane cavern dwellers who feed on mushrooms grown underground?

Sounds like Dwarf Fortress to me

If the Gormians are willing to let us leave in peace, we should hear what the other two factions have to say before making up our minds.

 

[Jaesun]

The Brotherhood of Gorm seem most honorable to me.

 

[Dr. Doom]

Boobs detected!

 

[Deuce Traveler]

I don't know who any of you are anymore, because of the username erase thing going on. I guess it makes sense. Everyone here has played Planescape: Torment, so it stands to reason that we are all now the Nameless One.

Here's a new avatar. I'll just imagine each of you has it.

Anyway... At the time of me starting this update, we had a split vote where one person thought we should move on and talk to the other groups, one thought we should stick by the Brotherhood, and a third rambled on about boobies. Being the tie breaker I voted for two things. First, that boobies are indeed awesome, especially when detected. And second, that we should stick by the Brotherhood because they seemed to be alright chaps.


Smiling, the brothers lead you to a trap door in the southeast corner. There, a ladder leads into the darkness. You climb down the ladder with the eleven brothers of Gorm. At the bottom, you find yourself in a narrow passageway.

If you notice in the picture below, Qastur is still at 3hp. It’s because I had to reload my game to the decision point and forgot to spend a Cure Light Wounds spell on him as I had done before. I’ll fix that in a moment.

The ceiling, walls and floor of this room have been painted sky blue. A golden marble altar, surrounded by golden candle-holders and braziers, rests along the middle of the east wall. On top of the altar is a small stone statue of a bearded man throwing a lightning bolt. Next to the statue rests a golden bowl. The brothers of Gorm lead you to the altar.




This near the altar you can easily see that the gold accoutrements are dinged and cracked, and merely painted gold.




The leader of the Brotherhood draws his sword and motions for each of you to do the same. Brandishing weapons, the brothers turn and kneel before the altar. ‘Swear with me, brothers. I shall uphold the ideals of the Brotherhood of Gorm and promote the Worship of Gorm.’

At this point I am sure Myass is protesting, but the rest of the party tells the cleric to pipe down. He can make up with his deity after they eat.

The brief, simple initiation over, the leader of the Brotherhood turns and places a necklace about the neck of each of the companions of the party. The brothers clap you on the shoulder and laugh heartily as they lead you to the exit from the shrine. As you walk, they warn you of glyphs over this door. When entering you must intone the phrase: By the Great God Gorm. Only then will you be able to enter without being struck by Gorm’s lightning. Smiling, boasting, and welcoming you to the Brotherhood, the men lead you to the door. The Brotherhood swear that they will always welcome you to their home, should you need weapons, a place to rest, or even training in the arts of war. They then push you out into the hall.




This is excellent. I read through this module years ago and remembered that there were some factions you could join. When I take advantage of their offer and return to the blue room, they allow me to train Midge, who was ready to bump up to a 3rd level thief. Midge is now a Fighter 2/Thief 3. The Brotherhood informs me that I will not be able to train magic-users or clerics here, however. My magic-users won’t need a level up for some time so this might not be an issue. Jaesun should be leveling up next, so at least we have him covered. I wonder if this means we may join numerous factions. As you might expect, they do not have much for sale. Chain mail happens to be their best armor, and they are limited to a few edged melee weapons. Finally, we can rest in the blue room to regain hit points and spells. We get food and water, though they smartly don’t offer us enough to escape out into the desert for an attempt to reach civilization. Just enough to keep us fighting and fit. Still, I rest in order to max out the party’s health. We can restore spells here at any time. I’m much more confident about the party’s chances of survival.

We leave the blue room down a new corridor. The first door has a button that needs to be pushed in order to exit. The next door has four buttons, and I press a symbol that was similar to the one in a previous door. Once I press the button the floor shakes and rumbles. I open the door, and exit into a corridor. A room is at the end.



This room is a ruined chapel of some kind. Tattered tapestries hang from the walls. A dusty altar along the north wall is covered with a rotted altar cloth. The candlesticks, offering bowl and holy symbol on the altar are carved out of wood. The holy symbol looks like an eye. Next to the altar you see a six-foot long lizard with wide flaps of skin between its legs. It leaps into the air as the door opens, gliding towards you with a feral hiss.

Fuck, another giant lizard. At least there is only one this time.

It’s a short battle. The lizard bites Magnus for five hit points of damage, but the party steadily beats the monster down until Magnus ends both the first round of combat and the entire battle with a blade to the lizard’s head.


We search the room and find a corpse. Behind the altar, you find the body of a dead man, dressed as would be considered normal in the rest of the realm. A quick search of his body turns up a full canteen and a sack of four hundred pieces of gold and two small pearls. You pocket these. Of course I do. If we ever get out alive we will live it up.

I can’t find any other way to go. No secret doors or anything. Having a revelation I go back to the previous door with the rumbling floor, press the second button, and open the door again. I find myself in a new corridor and realize that the small hallway with the door and buttons is actually an elevator. The new south-north running corridor is about 60 feet long and ends at a T-intersection.


Forty feet in either direction is a corridor that ends at a door along a south wall. I decide to turn right, going east to one door, and entering.
This room looks like a ruined chapel. It has been looted and deliberately wrecked. The stone altar has been smashed and no ceremonial equipment can be seen. Man these folks were big on religion. There might be traps, so we send the thief in first. We find nothing at first except some graffiti on a wall that reads ‘Zargon’. Looks like the cultists trashed the place in the name of their faith.

Luckily our trap springer, Midge, is attentive as she activates a secret door along the south-central part of the room. As you stand here, a clicking sound announces the detachment and slow descent of the eastern twenty feet of floor behind the table. Below, you see a small room, and a door that seems to lead deeper into the tomb. I’m sure she totally meant to find that and didn’t just stumble upon it at all by accident.

I’m not ready to go deeper into the pyramid yet, because I still want to check out the other room. When I get there, we find a non-clerical room for a change. This room is filled with shelves. Most of them are empty, but some contain old crates. The shelves are covered with dust and a vile-looking fungus that grows in large, thick clusters to the northeast. Ok, normally fungus in D&D is bad. Like skin-rotting, disease kind of bad. I am going to have Midge explore everything except the northeast, then get out. Along the center of the room, Midge finds a secret door to the south. Way to go, Midge!

We find an empty room, except for a container. This room looks empty except for a large wicker basket. Midge removes the lid after searching for traps. No traps, just snakes. Raise your hand if you didn’t see that coming. Damn it, Midge… this is an old school adventure. You have to be ready for all sorts of fuckery. If only this game allowed us to have and use a 10 foot pole so that we might have struck it from a distance.

The vipers get a surprise round and attack Magnus the Irascible a total of four times. All four attacks miss, which is good, since the vipers’ poison would likely kill him. We have to end this fight fast or we run the chance of losing Magnus. Since the vipers already went, and they have only an AC 6 with 9 hit points each, I decide we can attack with five party members, keeping a magic-user with a sleep spell in reserve at the end of the round. If we kill the snakes before then, we won’t need a sleep spell. If not, I’ll use one so we don’t take chances.

Qastur goes first and tosses darts, doing four hit points to one, while Jaesun the Gay does eight hit points to the other. Myass goes next and switches from sling to flail, but only does two points of damage to the first viper, failing to kill it. Midge and Magnus both whiff. There goes my chances of not using a sleep spell. Abigail, who I had delay, casts sleep, knocking out the vipers along with Jaesun and Magnus. After that, mopping up is quick. We find a lot of silver and some garnets. We get a few hundred experience points each for finding the treasure, which is something I love the older versions of D&D for in contrast to the newer. I think Jaesun is ready for a level up.

I go back to the elevator, pick a button I think brings me back to the top, and go through the door to what I think is the blue room. Instead Jaesun realizes that I picked the wrong floor and the Magi of Usamigaras are in that direction. He also believes that now that we are part of the Brotherhood, the Magi will attack us on sight. Well crap, so much for allying with all the three ‘sane’ factions. I go back, pick another button as I am sure I’ve nailed it this time, and find out that I chose poorly again.

You see two ten-foot tall statues of women fighters. The fighters wear masks with the face of the female statue on the top of the pyramid. The two statues stand with spears outstretched to form an arch. The only way down the corridor appears to be in single file under the crossed spears.


Crap … the Warrior Maidens. This is likely a trap that strikes non-members that try to pass, just as the Brotherhood warned they also have their territory trapped. I finally make it back to the Brotherhood, but now I know that the elevator can take me to the other factions. Jaesun becomes a level 3 paladin and we restore hit points and our used sleep spell. I decide to take the party back to the opening that allowed us to go to a lower tier. We could explore some of the other locations, but there is no sense in running into one of the other factions and starting a fight if there is a chance to work with them later.

The party sees some painted walls on this lower tier, before a small coffin. Painted on the walls in this room are court scenes showing King Alexander and Queen Zenobia being entertained by a dwarven jester. A small coffin rests in a niche in the east wall. In each corner if the room is a large brass jar. The jars appear to be empty. Of course, we send Midge to investigate. Good luck, Midge!


‘You stand beside the small coffin. Do you open it?’ You know, I really shouldn’t… but what the hell. It’s either that or go back upstairs and start trying random doors. And we get a WTF moment…

It seems as if the jester was the one buried here and he had a grisly enough sense of humor when leaving instructions for how he would like to be buried. ‘The slightest touch releases the painted, wooden, giant head of a dwarf attached to a tightly coiled spring!’

We are ok, except for the mild heart-attack Midge likely suffered. There is no treasure in the room, but I do notice a second door. We leave through this nearby door and find ourselves in a large hall with intersecting corridors. I try the first hallway to my right and stumble right into a patrol of goblins. ‘You stumble across a band of pale-skinned goblins and their hobgoblin commanders. Immediately the larger creatures shout the command to attack, leaving no room for talk!’


Finally, we get to fight some humanoids instead of monsters. The goblins have pale bluish skin, and they seem to be an offshoot of normal goblins just as the humans here are a bit different from others in the Realm.

I don’t know how they fit into the ancient tale of the Lost City, but like in odd encounters in The Veiled Society, they seemed to have been thrown in just because the game was in danger of being to centralized around human antagonists. Anyway, enough theorizing. Jaesun is able to take out one goblin before Abigail’s turn. She casts a sleep spell right into the center of the goblinoid horde.

Six goblins and one hobgoblin are taken out, leaving two goblins and a hobgoblin left. They miss Magnus and Jaesun, but Magnus, Jaesun and Midge kill the three of them by the beginning of round 2. After that, we simply slit the throats of the remaining goblins and loot their corpses. Our side wasn’t hurt, we didn’t expend any munitions, and we spent only one sleep spell to take out a dozen opponents.


It would seem that this level is pretty dangerous, while the upper levels are places I can rest. For now I’m going to save here. No decision to be made by the group at this point. We have a lot of doors to open and a floor to clear. The next update will be about the party going from room to room and engaging in wanton slaughter and looting.

 

[Jaesun]

2 images are not loading (for me)? above "Fuck, another giant lizard. At least there is only one this time."

I love this LP Deuce Traveler

And fuck yeah! Level 3!

 

[Monstrous Bat]

LOL @ the jester's tomb.

The encounter with the snakes could've went much worse than it did. Is there even any way to cure poisoning at this point or are poisoned characters pretty much done for?

 

[Jaesun]

Is there even any way to cure poisoning at this point or are poisoned characters pretty much done for?

Nope. In Ray's The Realm setting (which this module uses), poisonous creatures have a toxin which if they succeed in hitting you they have a chance to paralyze you. 1 more hit and you will fall.

There is no spell or other item that can counteract this. Just luck and tactics.

 

[Monstrous Bat]

MOAR?

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Jaesun , sorry about the images. The locations in which I copied their links have been unreliable. I'm glad you're enjoying the LP, as I was concerned I would
mess up on the pacing, descriptions, selection of images, and touches of commentary and humor.

Monstrous Bat , poison is quite deadly in earlier versions of DnD. A lot of beginning monsters are easy to hit and have few hit points, but use poison which
requires the bitten character to roll a Save vs Poison or die. As Jaesun mentioned, some monsters also require a Save vs Paralyzation instead which is a different
category. Different character classes save vs Poison differently, so a fighter might need a 12 or better on a d20 to survive and a magic-user a 15 or better, before
Constitution adjustments. Ray Dyer might have toned this down so that Poison just paralyzes or does additional damage, but I'd rather not take chances to experiment
on this. And sorry for the delay. I just travelled nearly 1000 miles on my motorcyle in the last five days visiting family and working through the weekend. I
stayed with family in two different households while I worked and travelled back and forth, and I saved my DOSBox and FRUA files on a USB stick. But my family
members that I logged in with had Windows 8, and I spent more time learning the system and picture editors than playing the game.

To everyone, I am very happy about the reaction to the LP thus far. Thanks for commenting. When I tried this on an PnP RPG forum last year I didn't get nearly this
kind of positive reaction, suggestions, and party interaction.

Oh, and this is the picture showing the entrance to the Maidens section of the upper levels, from the actual module. I love that dwarf's cheesy smile.

Anyway, without further ado we are back on track...

********

When we left off our heroes had joined the Brotherhood, who will let us level up our warriors and rogues. We also went down to a hostile lower tier that seems to be
filled with hostile humanoids and a number of large chambers with solid doors. I think I can see the future. It is murder.



After taking a quick tour of the dungeon hallways, I decide to work back towards the exit to the upper levels and start at the closest door. This way if we start
running out of spells or into trouble I can flee back up to the Brotherhood and rest up. The first room does little to put me into a sense of security.

A mummified human in plate armor and holding a halberd stands at attention against the west side of the south wall. Grouped around the mummy are nine skeletons
holding swords, also at attention. As soon as you enter, the boney minions turn and march on you! The skeleton holding the sword is a pretty sweet animated
picture. You know what's not sweet? Our party going against nine skeletons, especially with skeletons on my right flank, but my cleric who I use to protect the
magic-users on the rear left flank with a wall and his companions blocking him.

Abigail goes first, so I move her back to the southeast and have her fire a sling stone at the creatures. Blunt weapons perform better against skeletons than
piercing and slashing weapons, so the darts are out. Qastur also goes next and mimics her actions. Between the two of them they are able to open a walkway for
Myass and get one skeleton down to a single hit point. Jaesun and Midge both injure separate skeletons, but only for a few hit points each as their weapons are
blades. Finally Myass uses his Turn Undead skill and wipes out all but one of the skeletons, making what might have been a difficult battle into a one-sided affair.
Magnus takes 8 hit points of damage as the last skeleton, who was waiting and guarding, strikes at him. However, he injures the undead creature enough for Myass,
with his blunt flail, to appropriately finish the fight.

I sort through the tomb, but find nothing. Not even against the west side of the south wall. Odd...
I leave, head south and west down a corridor, and come up to another door. The door to this room is scorched, as is the end of the corridor. The outline of a
man-sized humanoid form is etched into the scorched wall. The door to the room is slightly open, but not enough to see into the room. Looks like someone set
off a trap and it didn't go well for them.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. We're going in...

Along the walls are paintings of a priest performing ceremonies. On a raised dais in the middle of the room lies an open bronze sarcophagus. Here, three
hideous, beast-like humanoids are tearing a mummified body apart with their sharp claws. When they see you in the doorway, they lick their jowls and turn to lope
towards you, howling with glee!

We're up against three ghouls. I'm not liking so many undead against our party who is designed around fighting large groups of humanoids. Ghouls can also paralyze
a character with one hit, and a character who is paralyzed is instantly brought down to unconscious and dying status with another strike regardless of the victim's
hit points. Elves are immune to the paralysis of ghouls, as much as that helps this party. Midge goes first, and she strikes at the nearest ghoul, but misses. I
have the magic-users switch to darts. Sleep would be useless here. Qastur, Magnus and Jaesun all connect, but we haven't even brought one of these creatures down
yet, and each of the three get multiple attacks.

Just as I begin to sweat, Myass goes once again and gets lucky with his Turn Undead ability and his amount of affected monsters dice roll. He wipes out all the
ghouls single-handedly. I say this is pretty lucky and I do mean that. Clerics have to make two rolls against undead, one to see if their holy power works and
another to see the number of creatures affected.

In short, your cleric becomes your best character when encountering undead. Let's hear it for Myass!

We receive no experience points for defeating the ghouls, which is bogus but whatever. Approaching the sarcophagus
we receive the following message. The sarcophagus lies on its side here, its partially chewed former occupant in a heap nearby. Between the corpse and the coffin
lie several pieces of jewelry that the ghouls cast aside.

Excellent....

With nothing else to do in this chamber, I leave and continue down this southern corridor, seeking another door with treasure behind.

As you walk down the corridor, the shimmering, ghostlike figures of a man and a woman appear before you. They are dressed in costly clothing, and both wear gold
crowns. The man raises his hand and gestures for you to stop. "Go no further lest the curse of King Alexander overtakes you," he warns. The woman says, "I am
Queen Zenobia. Turn back; only death awaits you! The pair of wraiths glower at you, their eyes burning embers in the shadows of the tomb. Do you heed their
warning and turn back?

I'm not sure if these wraiths would attack us or not, and we only have one magical weapon and a lucky cleric that might be effective in a fight. Also... level
drain... I decide to head back for now and come back later. I head up to the northern corridor near the first room I entered and head west until I find a new room.

This room has scenes of warfare painted on the walls. It also has a large wooden sarcophagus standing upright along the south wall. Painted on the outside of
the sarcophagus is the picture of a warrior in armor. Squatting on each side of the sarcophagus is a large ape with white fur. When you open the door, the apes
beat their chest and roar at you. When you do not respond quickly enough, they leap forward viciously!'

Damn it Jaesun! All you had to do was this:

Luckily the white apes are crap at hitting our heroes, because it takes two rounds before Magnus the Irascible finally takes the first one down, and three hit points
of damage to Jaesun and two more rounds before Jaesun the Gay drops the second.

I walk up to the sarcophagus in the room and have my characters open it. Inside the sarcophagus is a mummified body wearing full plate armor and holding a
longsword. The workmanship of the armor is impressive, even by modern standards, though the sword is weathered. I give the full plate to Magnus, dropping him to AC
1. He gives his armor to Midge, dropping her to an AC of -2, the best on the team. The armor and sword seem unmagical, so no help against the wraiths. Reaching
the north-western end of this level, I go back east along the corridor, past the skeleton room again, and ignoring a northern branch until I find a door to the
south. We enter.

This room appears to be empty except for an odd-shaped mound in the southwest corner of the room. Rustling and faint squeaking noises can be heard from the
mound.

You know I can't leave well enough alone. I move forward and to the mound.

Ten three-foot long rats have made a nest in this mound of offal and bones! As you approach, they attack to defend their homes! I laughed. Rats aren't too
hard, but then as Magnus the Irascible got bit the game let me know that I forgot something. Magnus is now diseased... I hope Jaesun can fix that at his level.

In reply, Magnus does a sweep attack, instantly slicing up two of the three rats in front of him. Jaesun kills another one. Worried about the disease-inflicting
rats, I have Qastur sleep four, and Magnus kills yet another, leaving only one awake and the rest slept. As you can imagine, the rest of the fight goes fast.

Afterwards... The nest has been here for quite some time, you see by its size and solid girth. Digging through the rat's nest turns up a sack of several hundred
pieces of gold, and some four gemstones. More importantly, Magnus the Irascible was cured of his disease by the hands of Jaesun the Gay.

Paladins are awesome.

Well, I decide to continue down the corridor and go south when it branches that way. Just a few more areas, and we'll go to level up who we can and see if we have
any weapons to go after the wraiths, or we can...

You feel your blood freeze in your veins and your heart leap to your throat as your foot depresses a pressure plate in the middle of the hall. You turn at the
sharp sound of splintering masonry and deep rumbling. You stare in horror as a huge boulder, nearly large enough to fill the hall, rumbles into view. The great
rock careens wildly down the corridor, chipping stonework and hurling stone shards like shrapnel.

Fuck!

Panic threatens to paralyze you in your tracks, but your friends are already taking action. What do you do?

I have a choice to duck flat against the wall, or duck through the door. Because the first seems stupid, I go for the second. The boulder rockets past you, pelting you with sharp debris! Catching your breath, you take in your current surroundings. A sarcophagus rests on a dais in the center of the room. The dais is ten-feet square. From each corner of the dais rises a slender, six-foot tall column. The tops of the columns meet the corners of the arched dome. On the dais at each end of the sarcophagus is a brass jar from which flames dance. Finally, the walls of this room are painted with scenes from the life of a noble lady.

I decide to check it out. You step up to the sarcophagus. You remove the lid of the sarcophagus and reveal the mummified remains of the noble lady within. The jewelry she once wore has been stolen. Looking about, you find that the brass jars are bolted to the floor, and their flames cannot be put out. However, behind one of the jars, you find a bronze tube. Within the tube is a piece of parchment, drawn with a map. A large, black 'X' marks a spot in the northwest corner of the map. "A map of this tier of the pyramid", Magnus whispers.

Is this what the wraiths are guarding? Looks like it might be time for us to pay some undead a visit...

 

[Azira]

An update!

And I got diseased, and Jaesun used gay on hands?

 

[Monty]

Enjoying this LP. It would have been a real nightmare taking on all these undead if you had carried on your level one first attempt!

 

[tuluse]

Yeah, you have a nice LP going Deuce.

 

[Dorateen]

It's Teflon Billy!

(Any fans of Knights of the Dinner Table Illustrated ?)

As for the undead, they were being turned and fled, not destroyed, right? I think that is why there was no XP awarded. It should be a different matter once the cleric starts destroying skeletons and ghouls outright. Still, I always enjoyed how turning worked in the Gold Box games, rather than the undead just standing immobile.

 

[Monstrous Bat]

Yeah, it's an update!

Of course I know how poison works in Goldbox games, I've LPed Pool of Radiance after all. Stop treating me as a 2012 newfag. Did Ray really make poison less deadly in his modules? Well, I guess it's reasonable, seeing that there's apparently no way to cure poisoning at our level at all.

Can we still go back to the brotherhood, or is the big rock blocking our way back? Also, holy shit you lucked out with that ghoul encounter...

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Some of your previous questions are answered right here:

We still need to kill those wraiths. This battle will likely be rough. We have to depend upon the only magic item we know we possess, which is Jaesun's sword. Or hope that our cleric might get lucky three times in a row and turn the wraiths. And all this without being hit by one of the undead and losing a character level. Since our front line fighters are both level 3, if Jaesun or Magnus take three consecutive hits from a level draining undead creature they automatically die. Even if they only lose one level, we currently lack a means of restoring the lost experience. Sleep spells have no effect against undead, either. I'm heading back to the Brotherhood to rest and switch my magic-user sleep spells for magic missiles, which automatically strike. When/if we win, we can go back and change this again.

I decide to check out a few rooms I think we missed first. Good thing we don't have to worry about wandering encounters with all this going back and forth...

Rock baboons lope down the corridor to attack you, swinging their clubs in one hand and balling a tight fist with the other! The echoes of their cries resonate from the thick walls of the tomb.

Well... guess I can use up some of those stored sleep spells...

Luckily Jaesun the Gay, Midge and Myass all go first, killing the lead baboon. Abigail also goes before the baboons, and her sleep spell takes out every single one of them. Several slit throats later and we move on... and find myself back at the part of the hallway with the rolling ball trap we activated. I decide to explore further down this particular corridor and do find a room we haven't entered yet. An elaborate, jeweled coffin lies in this room. Next to the coffin is a worm-like creature, nine-feet long and three-feet high. It has many legs and its mouth is surrounded by eight tentacles. Each tentacle is two-feet long. It comes forward hungrily...

Carrion crawlers are a threat if mixed with other monsters as they do paralyze with their strikes. But since this creature is attacking us by itself, I have Midge, Jaesun and Magnus create a shield wall and guard while Abigail, Qastur and Myass launch sling stones from the rear ranks. My plans do not go so well, as the carrion crawler moves north to south, circumvents the harder to hit Jaesun and Midge, and goes for the easier to hit dwarven fighter, Magnus the Irascible. Magnus is paralyzed and taken out the following round, then is bandaged by Myass Midge is hit a number of times herself before she deals the finishing blow. Myass uses all his remaining cure light wounds spells to get Magnus back up and around at 16 hit points. I move Midge over to the coffin to see what kind of reward we are looking at.

Within lies the rotted corpse of a man. A quick search of his valuables turns up little more than a set of lock picks.

That seems to be it. When I reach the end of the corridor I find the boulder has blocked my passage down the rest of the way, and that a side passage ends at a dead end. I think about turning around for spells and health restoration at the Brotherhood hangout, but on a whim I search the dead end and find a secret room.

What happened here? This room is full of skeletons. The bones lie in piles on the floor. They cover the floor so thickly that it is impossible to walk across the room without walking on bones. Oh what the hell... let's explore! There are two unhidden doors to the southeast and southwest, so I take the easternmost door out of the skull-filled room. This leads out to a larger series of corridors. Looks like we barely touched tier 4. I enter one room out of curiosity. The walls of this room show painted senes of a man signing documents and organizing tax collection. A wooden coffin has been smashed open and is lying on the floor. Six pale-skinned humans stand around the coffin. They all have wounds bad enough to kill a normal person. When the door opens, they begin to lumber forward.

Ah crap! We are fighting six zombies. Once again Myass gets lucky and turns four of the six creatures. After that the battle is a walk, as the remaining two zombies continue to miss attaks on Jaesun the Gay and Midge. Magnus the Irascible quickly takes down one of the two, while a combination of the rest of the party takes out the last. The two magic-users use up their remaining darts in the battle and have to rely on slings from here on out.

Ok, that's it. There are still too many rooms on tier 4 to explore, so I am going to get the party back to the Brotherhood to rest. We are down spells and Jaesun's lay on hands is the only healing we have remaining. On the way back, though, this happens...

A band of diminutive wizards in rainbow-colored robes confronts you. Shouting that you are blasphemers and looters, the men begin to cast spells!

From the looks of things, these spellcasters are only first level, but seven magic-missiles or sleep spells will ruin our day. Midge goes first but she somehow manages to miss, as does Myass. Luckily the two magi who go next decide to stab with their ineffective daggers rather than cast spells. Qastur casts our last sleep spell and puts six of them out of commission. Magnus the Irascible kills the seventh, only non-sleeper, and the rest of the battle is a slaughter. I decide to retreat and go back to the Brotherhood. There I am able to level up Magnus the Irascible to a level 4 fighter and Midge to a level 3 fighter/level 3 thief. The big problem is Myass. He should be a level 4 cleric now, but the Brotherhood will not train him. We heal up and restore our spells. I decide to stay with sleep spells for now as I am still not ready to take on wraiths. Instead, I decide I'm going to go find the Magi. Maybe I can convince them to level up Myass, at the point of a sword if
need be. One more level will matter greatly with his chances of turning them.

I still have sleep spells readied as I decide to check out some of the rooms we never fully explored on the upper levels near the three ladders in the hopes of finding a representative of the Magi. Instead I find something a little more surprising.

This room is filled with various crates. Seated on the crates are nearly a dozen one-foot tall winged people. They are talking a strange musical language and laughing merrily.

Well this is a bit out of place. We have the choice of talking with them, attacking or just leaving. We talk. Oh, hello, adventurers! The pixies giggle as if at a private joke. Are you here to slay Zargon and lift the Curse of the Lost City? You open your moth to ask what they are talking about, but the lead pixie just as quickly changes the subject. The desert is very dry, and it always has been. Is that sword magical? I hear there was a magic sword like that in the tomb once, probably King Alexander's. You know, the days are getting shorter... All the pixies chime in at once, Cold Season! Cold Season! And then they break into fits of giggling. You speak, but they don't seem to hear you as they roll about holding their bellies. Finally, the leader perks up again. Maybe you're looking for magic!

All the pixies turn to you and burst out in renewed fits of laughter, pointing short, thin fingers at you as if pointing at people in a sideshow. Myass mutters unhappily and heads for the door. I take it back. We should have killed them, though the bit about the magic sword was interesting.

I enter another unexplored room.

The entire floor and ceiling of this room are covered with green, oozing slime. Otherwise the room appears to be empty.

Oh shit! The game gives me the option to enter or leave the room. I quickly leave. It seems as if the room is filled with a large green slime, a creature that only special attacks such as fire will harm. My party wouldn't put a scratch in the creature. Meanwhile it would attach itself to each in turn and slowly eat them.

Run away! Run away! Not having any luck on the upmost tier, I go to the elevator room and start pressing buttons. After some trial and error, I finally find the right room.

All they have to do is level up Myass and we're cool. They don't see it that way. You have interrupted a religious service. Thirteen figures in rainbow-colored robes and silver masks stand in front of a stone, star-shaped altar. Their masks match the face of the middle statue of the pyramid, the winged child. The center-most figure of the group wears a silver crown. At your entry they turn and face you. The wizards spot the accoutrements of another order upon your person, and a great cry erupts. Some reach for blades and shout that blasphemers must perish, while others begin to incant spells. That went well...

Midge goes first, but misses with her attack. Qastur is up next and knocks out six of the Magi in the rear flanks. Abigail doesn't go yet, but when she does we can knock out the rest. In the meantime, Magnus the Irascible and Jaesun the Gay each take out a magic-user, but then things start going south. I'm sorry... I got arrogant when we took out seven of these guys earlier. In my arrogance, I screwed up. I screwed up bad.

Jaesun, Qastur, Abigail, Mayass and Magnus are all taken out by enemy sleep spells. Jaesun and Magnus have their throats slit next. Luckily, Midge is not effected by a Charm Person and acts next, killing one, but still leaving four. I have her ignore the enemy as she stands right in the middle of the opposition and bandages Jaesun and Magnus before they die. She is fighting alone, and downs two more Magi. But now time is against her. Any minute now the six other Magi we slept are going to wake up, and most likely overpower her. But then I get lucky again... Qastur wakes up before they do...

He casts sleep on the two remaining Magi, knocking them out of the fight. Myass and Abigail also wake up, killing two of the six original sleepers. Somehow my party woke up before theirs, and we survive... I can't believe how absolutely horrible our luck started out being, and how quickly it reversed.

The Magi lie dead all around you. None tried to talk to you other than call you a blasphemer. One of the men cocks his head, and the leader slowly steps forward. A soft murmur ripples through the gathering. We have been holding vigil until Usamigaras sends heroes. Are you those heroes? Asks the leader. He gestures towards the altar. Won't you come in? I agree, but have Myass take a moment to heal Jaesun and Magnus with two cure light wounds spells apiece. They aren't looking good, but they can survive a dagger wound. When I look around after this, I see no signs of the Magi. Looks like the most recent conversation was just improper code or a software bug. No level up for Myass. The Magi are dead and we killed them for no reason.

We are going up against undead again on the lower levels. I have Abigail and Qastur memorize two magic missiles each.

Before taking on the wraiths, I go back to the secret room that led to the parts of the tier we had not explored and check out the remaining rooms. A white ivory coffin lies in a niche in the east wall. Painted on the walls are scenes from court life, focusing on the life of ladies-in-waiting to Queen Zenobia. This room is empty, and opening the coffin reveals that it was already looted.

Outside of a second room I get this message. The door to this room has a two-foot wide hole gnawed in it near the floor. Probably rats, giant insects, or some other vermin. If I had a spare sleep spell I'd go for it. Seeing as I don't, I move on to the only part of the halls I have not explored on this tier (besides whatever is behind the wraiths). I get this surprise. By studying the map you found of this tier, you are able to discern that the 'X' on the northwest corner of the parchment marks the spot of a trapped door. Beneath lies a ladder leading to the next tier. Descend?

Oops, I blew that one. I had thought that the wraiths were guarding a corridor that would have turned west and north and to some area that would eventually lead to the next level. Instead they must be guarding something else. Perhaps the magical sword the pixies mentioned. I'm not sure what to do at this point, but I'm pretty sure that level 5 will have Zargon cultists. I'll have the players decide, as well as the audience, although the PC votes will count as two votes apiece since it is their adventure. Should I:

A.) Clear the room with the gnawed hole despite having only magic missile spells, go back to the Brotherhood and memorize Sleep spells, then continue on to Tier 5.
B.) Ignore the room with the gnawed hole, memorize Sleep spells, then continue to Tier 5.
C.) Take on the wraiths and hope to get lucky with a combination of Jaesun's magic sword, Myass' Turn Ability, and magic missiles from Abigail and Qastur. Then have the survivors loot the area behind the creatures, return to the Brotherhood to memorize sleep and proceed to Tier 5.
D.) kingcomrade
E.) Other. Please Explain.