BEYOND THE STYX [OD&D + CHAINMAIL, AGE OF CONAN] Play Report 8: Alone in the Obelisk

 [DM Commentary: Unfortunately, this may or may not be the last report of this particular campaign, as nearly everybody that had played has indefinitely had to leave for various personal reasons. I may, should the stars align, be able to eke out another one or two sessions of this campaign in order to pierce through the sub ten session firmament that has seemingly enveloped my entire DMing Career.]

Gimli sets out on an expedition without Blackmouse to the new location found by the Crypt Seeker Gang-- An obelisk in the jungle to the south of Stygia, at one point a base of operation for a long dead sorcerer.

On the journey to the site, the party is halted by a band of Darfari raiders numbering 150. Gimli and his crew could not evade them as they began to encircle his men in the desert. Fortunately, the raiders leader was not outright hostile, but willing to let them go on one condition; accompany a splinter group to the obelisk to retrieve the Staff of Petruk a magical staff said to date back to the Thurian Age, topped with a crystal skull. The rest of the journey was uneventful.

After a day and some change, the party (now ten Darfari men

stronger), arrive to the scene. 

 An ominous black monolith four stories tall, covered from top to bottom in hieroglyphs. Two entrances are seen, the double doors on the front, and a ravine on the western side that leads into tunnel just below the structure. Gimli opts for the latter and proceeds to do some recon. He discovers a stone door seemingly sealed shut even with the strength of 23 men attempting to prize it open. He then comes across an oubliette that appears to go down about a couple hundred feet into the ground-- and a horrible screaming emanates from within. Gimli decides to drop flasks of oil and a torch down into the pit. The light reveals the silhouette of a large humanoid figure made of stone that seems entirely unbothered by the flames. he then proceeds south, gets jumped by some giant toads, losing a few men in the process, and then coming across a room with a spell circle surrounded by five wrought silver candlesticks with candles lit atop them. An amorphous mass writhes within and seems to follow Gimli as he paces the room.

Too many candles, but you get the idea

For whatever reason, Gimli deduces this to be merely illusion and disturbs the circle, causing the monster to seep forth from the circle which contained it (and perhaps more foolishly didn't even take a single candlestick to make it worth the trouble).

Thus proceeds a ridiculous Scooby-Doo chase sequence even as this monster is struggling to even keep pace with the slowest member. Along the way, finding a trap door, a spiral staircase, and a statue of Apep the chaos serpent (fortunately he found a taxiderm lion  Eventually, Gimli and his men decide to find a door to bust down and they get stopped midway by some giant rats. We had to stop the session then because  it was like 1:30 AM and I was about to pass out. Possibly the most anti-climatic cliffhanger ever.