Welcome to the single longest weekly installment yet! Happy New Year! We’re starting off 2026 with a bang!
As I tried to think of how the party was going to disrupt the activities of the skinless terrors, I remembered Maelen’s madness of explosive rage. It’s something I had been peppering into her POV prose, so by the time I got to the reveal of the Tomb of Saelith the Vanished, I thought, “Well, bummer. There’s really no choice for what Maelen’s going to do.” Yep, she’s going full Leeroy Jenkins. Will her charging into the fray have similar results as poor Leeroy’s party? Let’s hope not, but I have a sinking feeling.
There are three groups of skinless terrors: a) 2 dripping blood into tomb itself, b) 4 scraping at the circles of sigils surrounding the tomb, and c) 3 damaging the outer walls’ symbols. The party is currently Far from the first group, (rolling high-low) 3 of the second group are Close and 1 Far, and the third group has 2 Close and 1 Far. That makes a total of 4 Far and 5 Close in terms of range.
Here’s how I’m going to run this encounter: For each skinless terror, I’ll roll high-low. On a low roll, they will continue their activity, ticking a slice off our 14-slice ritual counter (see last week). On a high roll, they’ll sense the intruders and join the combat. For all the Far opponents, I’ll automatically use Round 1 to continue breaking the runes.
One way or the other, I think the party is screwed, and I have a sinking feeling that I’ve put them either in a TPK situation or set them up to release Saelith the Vanished. I suppose we play to find out, though, right?
Maelen gets a surprise round and attacks Skinless Terror 1 with advantage. She moves and smacks it with Bonebreaker, rolling a 14 to hit and doing 5 damage, taking it to 7 hit points. Now she’ll roll Initiative on Round 1 and gets a 4 so will swing again. This time she rolls a 21 total for 8 damage, killing it. Whew.
Alric’s choice is fascinating, and could determine the outcome of the encounter. He has recovered 1 spell usage. Does he save it for Mend Flesh, try and dispel something via Sever Arcanum, or even use Cradle of Formlessness to turn himself or Maelen to mist and escape? I think, instead, he’s going to use his scroll of Wings of the Raven King on Vessa, thinking to save her first. I had hoped he could inscribe the spell into his spellbook next downtime, but alas. The advantage of a magic user using a scroll is that it doesn’t require a spell check or risk DDM, so he can just do it. I’ll also rule that a magic user using a scroll automatically triggers its Great Success effect, which in this case means Vessa will be able to fly for 1d6 x 10 minutes. I roll 2, so she’ll have wings for 20 minutes.
As a result, Vessa will launch herself into the air and fire down upon Skinless Terror 2. She rolls 22 total and hits for 5 damage against its 14 hp, so it now has 7 left. It makes sense while the PCs have the advantage to try a Minor Exploit, so she’ll also try and knock it down with her shot (or perhaps pierce its leg), which means it will have to stand up and move this turn, not attack. I roll opposed Dex checks and the skinless terror rolls a nat-20, which is a Terrible Failure. I’ll say it loses its entire turn and will need to stand next turn.
Now it’s the nasties’ turn (deep breath):
- Skinless Terror 1 is dead.
- Skinless Terror 2 (Close, walls) is at 7 hp, prone, and unable to act this round. It regenerates 1 hit point, though, ending the turn at 8 hp.
- Skinless Terror 3 (Far, walls) will continue raking runes. Clock = 13.
- Skinless Terror 4 (Close, runes) rolls high and will attack Maelen. It moves and bites at Maelen twice: First roll is a nat-1! That gives Maelen a free swing: She rolls 20 total and hits for 8 damage, knocking it to 10 hp (beefy boy!). Its second bite is a 9 total and misses.
- Skinless Terror 5 (Close, runes) rolls high and will also attack Maelen. It moves to her other side and bites twice: Hitting once for 2 damage. Maelen drops to 10 hp.
- Skinless Terror 6 (Close, runes) rolls low and rakes runes. Clock = 12.
- Skinless Terror 7 (Far, runes) rakes runes. Clock = 11.
- Skinless Terrors 8 & 9 (Far, tomb) drip blood onto Saelith. Clock = 9.
All in all, not bad! Maelen already at half her maximum hit points, though, gives me a sick feeling.
XXIII.
Duskmarch 24, Goldday, Year 731.
Alric sat paralyzed for a moment, stunned by Maelen’s sudden charge. He knew that she considered violence as a way of solving most problems, but he’d seen her use restraint before. Not this time. Alric hadn’t even been able to count all the skinless, blind aberrations crawling over the tomb and scraping at the protective runes before she’d left their sheltered corridor with an angry shout. If there had been any hope of subtlety, it was gone. Now they would fight. What he didn’t know is how they’d survive.
The closest monstrosity was a mere ten strides away, and Maelen closed the distance before the creature even registered her presence. With a mighty swing, the warrior clubbed the thing to the smooth, basalt floor, and a second strike caved its head in. The horror unraveled, as if its bones had suddenly disappeared, spilling muscles and viscera at Maelen’s feet. She immediately thrust her torch into the mass, scorching it with a wild-eyed yell of triumph.
Two more creatures abandoned their tasks, heads rising like rabbits to focus on the brief scuffle. With unnerving, jerky speed, they were loping towards her with snuffling, wet breaths, overwide mouths clacking their sharp teeth. Alric saw more of them stirring at the edges of torchlight. In moments, she would be mobbed by more of the things than even the mighty Maelen Marrosen could handle.
Alric pulled a scroll from his belt, one he’d found within Thornmere Hold.
“Help me!” he hissed at Vessa, who was just as wide-eyed and shocked, her head darting left and right, tracking the creatures. Alric pushed the torch into her hand. “Hold this.”
He’d hoped to have time someday to translate the spell upon the scroll fully to memory, but that day would never come. The mage didn’t know how to help Maelen, who seemed in some sort of berserk rage, but he could at least help Vessa survive this situation. Without sparing another thought, his eyes roamed over the parchment, his lips mumbling the words and pulling the power forth. As he spoke, the scroll’s edges blackened as if thrown in a fire, rapidly spreading and consuming the document.
Alric had often wondered at the power of inscribing a spell, allowing anyone to use its magic. It was something he had hoped to try one day, to take the power of Orthuun and translate it into readable text upon a scroll. Regardless, the intricacies of scroll work evaded him. Somehow, he innately knew the scroll-spell’s effect, how to pronounce the alien words, only when staring directly at the parchment and widening his awareness. The how and why of it was surreal. So much of the knowledge surrounding magic eluded his comprehension.
The effect, however, was immediate. Vessa gasped as enormous raven’s wings, black as night, burst from her back. Alric plucked the torch from her startled fingers, his head spinning as the spell transmitted through him and vanished, the scroll now nothing more than ash fragments falling to the stone floor. Abstractly, he noted that the magic from the scroll felt somehow cleaner, less tied to demonic power… less corrupting. An observation for another day.
“Go!” he cried out. “Fly above their reach! Help Maelen!”
“But—how?” she faltered.
“No time! Don’t think! Go now!” he urged.
With a flap of those ebon wings, she launched herself up and towards the domed ceiling, stirring his cloak with the wind of her departure. He had only a vague idea of how long those wings would remain, but he hoped desperately it was long enough to escape this place, once Maelen and he had been overwhelmed by clacking teeth and bloodstained fingers.
As quickly as she’d left, he could no longer see Vessa in the gloom. Yet an arrow shaft appeared suddenly upon one of the skinless monsters, and it shrieked a teakettle wheeze of pain, arching its ropy back and searching skyward with its eyeless head.
Round 2! Let’s give Vessa the Initiative roll this time, which she succeeds with an 8. Rather than fire at disadvantage at the two attacking Maelen, she’ll drop a Smoke Bomb in the tomb itself, enveloping Skinless Terrors 7-9 for (rolling 1d4) 4 rounds. Since there’s nothing mechanically that allows them to avoid the effect, those three will be Blind despite not having eyes, inhibiting their actions. Somehow the smoke messes up their chittering echolocation, I guess.
Maelen, meanwhile, will keep swinging away. Can she finish off Skinless Terror 4? She hits with a 13 and does 5 damage, bringing it to 5 hp. She’ll try a Minor Exploit to throw it away from her. The opposed Strength roll absolutely goes in her favor, and it’s swatted to the floor.
What the heck can Alric do? He has a torch as a weapon (his staff is sitting on the other side of the pool beyond the twisting corridor), but only 8 hit points. He will edge into the room but Dodge, giving any attackers disadvantage to hit him.
Not a great turn damage-wise, but they’re setting up. Let’s see what happens on the skinless terror’s turn…
- Skinless Terror 1 is dead.
- Skinless Terror 2 (Close, Maelen) is at 8 hp and prone. It will stand up and move towards (rolling 1-4 Maelen, 5-6 Alric): Maelen. It also regenerates to its full 14 hp.
- Skinless Terror 3 (Far, walls) rolls high and will use both moves to get within Melee of Alric.
- Skinless Terror 4 (Melee, Maelen) is at 5 hp and prone. It will stand and Charge Maelen. I’ll say it can only use one bite with this maneuver, but it rolls a 17 and hits, thankfully doing only 1 damage. Maelen is at 9 hp. It regenerates to 11 hp.
- Skinless Terror 5 (Melee, Maelen) bites twice, hitting with the first bite but rolling a nat-1 on the second! It does a whopping 7 damage to her, though, taking her to 2 hp. Her return attack hits (21 total) and does 9 damage against its 14 hit points. It is down to 5 hp but then regenerates to 6 hp.
- Skinless Terror 6 (Close, runes) rolls low again and rakes runes. Clock = 8.
- Skinless Terror 7 (Far, runes) is Blind. Can it continue to rake runes? I’ll say it can if I roll low. I do. Clock = 7.
- Skinless Terrors 8 & 9 (Far, tomb) are also Blind. They both roll low and continue to drip blood onto Saelith, ignoring the smoke. Clock = 5.
With the skinless terror’s regeneration, this feels like an unwinnable fight, especially for Maelen. Can Alric win initiative in Round 3? He rolls an 11, exactly making it. Wow, that was close.
Mend Flesh is unfortunately a Touch spell, and he will surely die if he wades into the three skinless terrors mauling his companion. He’ll have to save it for a later time, if such a time exists. Instead, he has Skinless Terror 3 right in front of him. He’ll swing his torch, rolling a 12 and hitting! Way back in Chapter 8 I ruled how torches work as weapons: -2 to hit as an improvised weapon, 1d3 damage as a club, plus 1d3 damage fire. The creature has 12 hit points and he will do only 1 damage with the club but 3 fire damage, bringing it to 8 hp and unable to regenerate. Moreover, I think he’ll try out game’s first Major Exploit and try and set it on fire. To do so, he needs a Luck roll and unfortunately rolls a 15. I’ll use a Reroll, allowing him to try again. This time he rolls a 6! The creature is now Burning, and will take 1d6 fire damage at the start if its next turn. Alric’s Luck score drops to 8 and he has only a single Reroll available. Quite literally, the party’s luck is running out.
Maelen, let’s see what you can do. She attacks the wounded Skinless Terror 5 and hits with a 20 total. Her max 10 damage kills it, and allows her Opportunist ability, attacking Skinless Terror 4. That roll is a nat-18 so also hits, doing 8 total damage and bringing it to 3 hp. She’ll try the same Minor Exploit to get it away from her (and allow Vessa to finish it). She crushes the opposed Strength roll and succeeds.
Vessa fires, barely hitting its 10 AC with a total of 11. Her max 9 damage obliterates it. Death from above!
Now things get bad:
- Skinless Terrors 1, 4, and 5 are dead.
- Skinless Terror 2 (Melee, Maelen) is at 14 hp. It bites twice at the critically wounded Maelen. An 11+2=13 misses her 14 AC and a 6 total misses! It’s at full hit points so doesn’t regenerate.
- Skinless Terror 3 (Melee, Alric) is Burning and takes a max 6 damage to 2 hp. It must make a Will check to do anything but put itself out and rolls a 19, failing. It rolls around the stone floor and does not regenerate.
- Skinless Terror 6 (Close, runes) finally rolls high and will enter the fray. Who will it attack? I roll Alric. It moves within Melee and bites twice: A 9 total misses, and then it rolls a nat-1! Can Alric make it pay with his torch? He rolls a 9+1-2=8, missing its 10 AC. Still, nice.
- Skinless Terror 7 (Far, runes) is Blind. It mindlessly rakes at runes, sensing the task is close to completion. Clock = 4.
- Skinless Terror 8 (Far, tomb) is Blind and follows suit. Clock = 3. Eeeee!
- Skinless Terror 9 (Far, tomb), meanwhile is Blind but senses the combat. Can it find its way out of the smoke? I roll Perc and get an 8, succeeding. It will move towards (rolling) Alric.
I can’t believe Maelen survived Round 3! But they are still in major peril. Two skinless terrors are still working on their tasks and could push the Saelith clock to zero within two turns, and Maelen and Alric are still facing 4 opponents—or 8 bite attacks—and only have 2 and 8 hp themselves. For now, let me take a narration pause for breath.
Moments later, something clattered within the inner circle of runes and smoke began filling the tomb. Another arrow took a creature through its neck and it slumped to the floor, unraveling as it did so into a pile of gore. The sound of enormous wings flapping echoed in the chamber. Vessa was raining death and havoc from above, and he grinned fiercely.
Out of the shadows, an abomination scampered at Alric, its hands held out from its skinless body, clawed fingers flexing. The thing was considerably smaller than the one that had mauled him earlier, but still his legs momentarily went weak, his bladder threatening to betray him. He had only a breath to ready himself and then it was upon him, snuffling wetly, grasping, and clacking sharp teeth. The stench of rotten meat filled his nose. Alric clenched his jaw and swung the torch as hard as he could manage, directly into the shining muscles and tendons of its chest. It shrieked, rearing back, and he followed it, the torch still pressed into the terror’s torso.
Then, the body erupted in flames, like a campfire’s tinder suddenly catching. In a brilliant sheath of orange flame that lit the entire room around them, the thing continued its teakettle whistling and rolled frantically on the stone floor. Alric stepped back, eyes wide, as he saw two more of the abominations stalking at him, mere strides away, stark shadows dancing across their hideous forms. They circled their burning companion, teeth clacking, crouched to leap.
Round 4 is a big one, and Maelen is back to rolling Initiative. She rolls a 7! Whew.
As far as I can tell (wow, this is a tough combat to do theater of the mind), Maelen “only” faces Skinless Terror 2, which has a full 14 hp. Though it’s not hugely original, she’ll swing Bonebreaker. Nat-19! She did it! Amazing. For Maelen, that means 11 damage, taking the creature to 3 hp, and then rolling on two tables. First, I’ll roll 1d6 on the Bonebreaker table, because it might invalidate the next result: 6! That result shatters the creature’s skull and it instantly dies. First time for the major magic item successfully performing an insta-kill! Skinless Terror 2 is dead, and she has a moment of respite.
Vessa will fire at the smoking, almost-dead Skinless Terror 3. I’ll say that, because of the flames and it rolling on the floor, she won’t get the disadvantage of it being in melee with Alric. She hits it with an 11 total, and her damage bonus means the arrow will automatically kill it.
Alric is still facing two unharmed skinless terrors and has only a 50/50 chance of hitting them, with an even lower chance of succeeding on another Major Exploit. I’ll say he backs up a step and simply tries to Dodge the four bite attacks coming his way.
Which leaves us with:
- Skinless Terrors 1-5 are dead.
- Skinless Terror 6 (Melee, Alric) will roll with disadvantage against the mage. The first bite rolls 18 & 2, so misses. The next rolls 10 & 11, which hits his 10 AC. 3 damage brings him to 5 hp.
- Skinless Terror 7 (Far, runes) is Blind. It rolls low again and continues to rake at runes. Clock = 2.
- Skinless Terror 8 (Far, tomb) is Blind and rolls low. It drips blood into the tomb, sensing the figure within stirring. Clock = 1. Yes… ONE!
- Skinless Terror 9 (Melee, Alric) is facing Alric with disadvantage. The first bite rolls 12 & 15, hitting for 4 damage and bringing him to 1 measly hit point. ONE! Thankfully the second bite rolls nat-20 (!) and 3 (!!).
My poor little heart can’t take this combat, folks.
An arrow struck the flaming creature, silencing it as it smoldered upon the stone. Alric edged back, torch held up defensively.
Whether they coordinated their attack or simply shared similar instincts, both horrible creatures hurled themselves upon him simultaneously, one from the left of the blackened mass and one from the right. Alric hit the first with his torch but then he went down under their wet, stinking bodies. He felt teeth tear into his shoulder while another clacked frantically near one ear. He panicked and screamed.
Round 5, and a lot must go right for all three PCs to survive this combat. Vessa is up with the Initiative roll and rolls an 8! (expect a lot of exclamation points in this block of text) She’ll let Maelen start off the action, in hopes to employ Finisher.
Maelen will charge (not mechanically Charge, since the skinless terror’s AC is low and hers is important to survival) Skinless Terror 6. Nat-1! Oh noooo! The skinless terror gets a free bite against her and rolls a nat-19! What is happening!?!
It’s time to employ a rule from Tales of Argosa that I haven’t yet used. From the rulebook: “Once per adventure, a PC may attempt a Rescue, which may only be used to protect another person or thing. Rescues are available when it is not the PC’s turn, in response to something happening within Close range. A Rescue allows one player to negate or reverse an adverse event for another player or NPC. Only one party member may attempt a Rescue per situation, and Rescues are exclusive to PCs.”
Seeing the scene as if in slow motion, Vessa will attempt to Rescue Maelen. She will swoop down from the air and intercept the skinless terror, knocking it aside. To do so, Vessa will make an Initiative check: 11, which succeeds, meaning she can indeed react fast enough to avert disaster. Now is the tough part: a Luck(Dex) roll to perform the feat. Vessa’s Luck is currently 7, with a Dex modifier of +2. She’ll need a 9 or under on 1d20, with one Reroll available. She rolls… a 2! Success! In fact, that’s a Great Success, so I’ll say that she doesn’t even have to end her action in Melee with the creature… she simply knocks it aside and swoops back into the air. Her Luck score reduces to a paltry 6, and she’s used her one Rescue until Level 3. Meanwhile, Malen is alive. For now.
Actually, I’m going to combine Vessa’s Rescue with her attack, and say she tries a Backstab on Skinless Terror 6 from above, using her dagger (recall she left her shortsword on the opposite shore). She hits with a nat-16, and her damage is 1d4+1 with the dagger plus 1d8 for the Backstab. That’s 7 total damage against its 14 hit points, bringing it to 7 hp. She possibly could have done more damage with an arrow, but I like the cinema of that move.
Alric will not Dodge. Instead, he’ll attempt to Mend Flesh on Maelen now that she’s next to him. What a hero! He will pass his Int(Arcane Lore) check easily, which will restore 1d6+2 hit points. He rolls 5 total, bringing her to 7 hp. Not great, but gives her a better chance of surviving this turn. Now, how does the DDM roll go? His DDM number is 2, so he needs higher than that on a 1d8 and rolls a 5. His DDM number goes up to 3 and, importantly, he is completely out of spells.
Hoo boy… it’s the skinless terrors’ turn:
- Skinless Terrors 1-5 are dead.
- Skinless Terror 6 (Close, Alric/Maelen) is at 7 hp and prone. It will stand and move into Melee (a little cheap? Maybe but makes sense given the Rescue success). It also regenerates to 9 hp.
- Skinless Terror 7 (Far, runes) is Blind and finally rolls high. Can it find its way out of the smoke? I roll a 5 on its Perc chance so yes. It rushes towards Alric and Maelen. The smoke dissipates after this turn.
- Skinless Terror 8 (Far, tomb) is Blind and… rolls low. The Clock moves to zero. Damn! I’ll have this take effect next turn.
- Skinless Terror 9 (Melee, Alric/Maelen) will roll on opponent: Maelen. It bites twice and hits once, doing 2 damage and bringing Maelen to 5 hp. Hey, that would have killed her without the Mend Flesh!
So, the good news is that everyone is still alive. I sort of can’t believe it, and have prepared myself multiple times for either Alric, Maelen, or both to meet their demise. But they did it! A horde of terrible baddies and they’re still here!
The bad news is, now I have to decide what happens when Saelith the Vanish is freed, which will officially end this encounter and be B-A-D for our intrepid party. Oh… I have an idea. This will be fun.
Alric didn’t know how long he pushed and batted with his torch, screaming himself hoarse as the things tore and ripped at him. Perhaps it was a mere eyeblink of time or perhaps much longer. Whatever the case, he almost didn’t notice that one of the creatures suddenly disappeared.
Maelen hooked the shaft of her black mace around the neck of a skinless terror and pulled it off him. The thing bucked and flailed its limbs, teeth gnashing in empty air. Alric kicked his own tormenter, gaining some distance for a breath, and sobbed.
The warrior looked awful, covered in gore and with several gaping bite marks marring her skin. One eye had swollen shut, and that side of her face looked disfigured and mottled. Yet she wrestled with the abomination, arms corded in muscle, as it struggled to free itself from the headlock and assault her. It did so, bursting free with a teakettle shriek, and then Maelen stumbled. Teeth scissoring madly, the eyeless creature reared, ready to pounce upon the warrior. Maelen glared up but her mace clattered to the stone floor. She was spent.
Then, in a burst of air, Vessa rocketed from nowhere to tackle the terror with a shout of “Nooo!” Alric saw a flash of her pale skin, black-feathered wings, and then Vessa and the skinless thing were rolling away from them in a bundle of red muscle, ebon feathers, and furious struggle.
The creature he’d kicked away was on him again, its weight pressing down upon him. The stink of offal filled his nose, teeth clacked inches from his face. Alric flapped his free hand towards Maelen and found her boot. He murmured magic words he didn’t understand, drawing on Orthuun’s power, feeling his entire body go numb. Alric felt with certainty his own impending death in this underground tomb, mauled and eaten by these creatures from some other world. He would channel as much magic as he could muster to heal Maelen before he expired.
The thing atop him shuddered, then went slack, its muscles drooping beneath his hands. Slimy muscles and organs slid over him, melting across his body like sap over a trapped insect. Alric sputtered and thrashed, trying to get himself clear of the mess and understand what was happening.
Then the torches went out.
Alric knew, in that moment, that Saelith the Vanished, general of Orthuun the Blind Sovereign, had broken free of its tomb. More of the creatures must have stayed at their tasks, defacing the protective runes. Or perhaps the damage that had already been done was enough. Whatever the case, Saelith’s tomb was breached. Death would take them. Despair filled him.
“Mistsong…” a sibilant voice, harsh and light, whispered in his ear. Alric flinched away from the sound, throwing his hands up protectively.
“Mistsong…” it repeated. “I would speak with thee…”
“Wh-what?” Alric gasped. “Who?”
“Kelthorn the Unlit is no longer of use to me. But thee…” it whispered in delight, and then inhaled deeply, as if smelling a rose. “I sense the Night Crown’s touch upon thee. He Who Knows No Dawn has taken thine heart. Darkened thine blood. Thou art part of the Endless Black now.”
“No… no, I don’t want it…” Alric shook his head.
The voice tsked. “Thine wants matter not. Take my hand, little darkling. Let us blanket this land and prepare for the End.”
Though he was utterly blind in the oppressive darkness, Alric could feel a hand being offered, a hand as large as his chest. He wouldn’t have been able to explain how, or why he knew the figure before him was immensely tall and thin, with rag-like robes floating around him as if underwater. It crouched over him, arm outstretched.
The seer Wink’s words flashed in his mind: When you get to the cliff’s edge, little mouse: Don’t jump. Run or fight, but don’t jump into the darkness!
Alric swallowed and then slumped to his back. “No,” he whispered, barely audible. “I won’t… come with you. Kill me. Take the book… I won’t…” his own words trailed off, unsure how to finish the sentence, depleted of willpower.
The voice tsked again, the hissing voice directly in his ear. “Thou art weak. Watch thine cities blacken, darkling, and then will I offer again. Until then… gather thy power.”
Then the voice laughed, a light and chilling sound, echoing within the vast chamber.
Alric’s eyes fluttered in the darkness. He felt he couldn’t catch a breath, that his hollow and heartless chest was grasping for something it couldn’t quite reach. His limbs were numb and lifeless.
The laughter in the chamber vanished.
Endless void enveloped him, and all was black.
Next: What Was Left [with game notes]
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