Session 31

INTO THE DARK

14 Sunstrong, 4433
A few hours passed during the session

Characters:

Gorr, ranger 5
Daqqa-Jin, barbarian 3
Robert the Adequate, fighter 4
Eric Withakay, cleric 5

Clearing the Shrine

The group continued exploring the old shrine of the six-armed god Karttekeza. They fell upon the remaining mud-men, still distracted by Salzige's skeletal servant, and wiped them out with ease. They found another lever and attempted to get the water turned back on to clear out the muddy lower section. This they were not able to do, but they did reset the two trap-levers after Daqqa-Jin burned off the yellow mold covering them. 

Clearing away pieces of the macabre mosaic in the fountain, underneath there was an original painting of six-handed Karttekeza. Pressing all six hands at once revealed a secret stairway downwards into a hidden treasure room. Inside they found many oddities:

- an old robe of indistinct faded colours, hanging on a brass mannequin
- eight worn scrolls in a wood & glass display case
- a metal quiver of 13 arrows made of stone & crystal
- two bricks of crimson incense, redolent with a peppery smell

They explored the flower-garden and reached a domed structure where two gargoyles lurked. The group's fierce initial attack drove them off, flying for their lives! Daqqa-Jin climbed up the dome and examined the painting on its underside, including a massive shiny moon rendered in silver foil.

They found a ruined church with a grand mural on the back wall, labeled King Wakelinus & Queen Purah. It showed a young, regal-looking king in rich robes & a chest full of medals marrying a woman with a green dress, red hair & an elaborate seven-pointed crown. Oddly, the queenly bride wears an expressionless white mask. The wedding is officiated by two high priests: a man attired in robes of Solaris and a woman who bears a close resemblance to the Sage of Lune. The only other distinctive clue was charcoal graffiti around the building, saying "The Carrion King Lives!"

They explored an ancient long-hall decorated with heraldic shields & rusted weapons, some of which they recognize as symbols of the land's noble families. Daqqa-Jin sat on a strange throne that echoed with the sounds of ancient celebration. He was possessed by the spirits of the kings of old, who spoke from his mouth in ominous tones:

Spirits: "Two questions we will answer with the wisdom of old, and then we would walk in the world of flesh once more!"

Eric: "What caused Solaris' light to leave the land?"

Spirits: "Wakelinus entered into a traitorous compact with the Moon! In the days of old, a perfect symmetry was kept between sun & moon, each taking their allotted time in the heavens. The Mad King, in service to Uthummaos, convinced Lune to ally herself with him, betraying this age-old balance. Now darkness covers the land, and the moon's gaze lies heavy everywhere, with no sunlight to be seen."

Robert: "Where is the demon Varthatov?"

Spirits: "Below Wakelinus' Folly, the monument to the Mad King's hubris. The demon lairs in a darkened temple of Uthummaos underneath, where wafts the cold breath of dark chasms!"

Meanwhile, Daqqa-Jin experienced a vision of the hall as it was of old, a roaring fire in the hearth and many knights & lords at a grand feast. Three shadowy figures surrounded him, their eyes only glittering pinpoints of light. They reached forward hungrily for his life but he resisted with some effort, throwing himself off the throne and regaining his normal senses.

They found an old shrine of Solaris, now thoroughly trashed. The altar-stone was dragged away, all the metal fixtures & pieces were pried out and the statues were defaced. Daqqa-Jin followed the trails away from the shrine, and they led towards pathways in the forest where perhaps these pieces were taken. Many corpses of colourful forest-jellyfish were strewn about, and more graffiti about "The Carrion King" was scribbled around. 

The final structure of interest was a grand, unfinished building, perhaps intended at one point to be a temple of Uthummaos. A large mural of that dark god's sigil was painted on the back wall, and a smooth black glassy statue stood in the center. Unmindful of possible curses, Robert pried out the two purple gemstone eyes, the statue's only distinctive features.

The ruined city explored thoroughly, the group headed into the forest through the southward path, where some of Solaris' looted shrine must have been taken.

Entering the Moonlit Zone

The group met a pack of unicorns on the path, but they were skittish and fled quickly.

The party came to a clearing with a few ruined buildings and a mostly-intact old public house. A few dozen ragged shades, their volition totally gone, milled around the area helplessly. The group ignored them and was ignored in turn.

The party explored a locked wine-cellar and were set upon by three wights, each one missing its left hand. The creatures were dispatched with enchanted steel, but not before one drew Robert's life-force out, leaving him perilously close to death [only 2 CON left].

In the cellar were three intact wine kegs: one sour & vinegary, the second a magical healing draught and the third filled with the sparkling shadow-wine the group has seen before. Daqqa-Jin availed himself of the second keg's healing properties, and the group saved some for later.

Behind one of the empty casks was a hidden room. A tiny shrine littered with brittle bones & debris held a great golden idol of the feared demon lord Ahmon-Ibor! The group built a makeshift sled to help carry this heavy piece of loot and looked towards leaving the forest, returning to Viridistan to sell off all their treasure.

Monsters Defeated:

5 mud-men (235 xp)
3 one-handed wights (330 xp)
2 gargoyles, chased off (1000 xp)

Treasure Obtained:

potion (faint glowing blue)
faded robe (magical)
quiver of stone arrows (magical)
box of scrolls (magical)
2 purple gemstone eyes
golden demon idol
healing wine

After experiencing the horrors of the restless dead one too many times, Gorr's hold on his sanity has become tenuous!

Session 30

THE RUINED TOWN

14 Sunstrong, 4433
multiple subjective days passed in the Forest of Dreams

Characters:

Daqqa-Jin, barbarian 3
Gorr, ranger 5
Eric Withakay, cleric 5
Young Joe Spruce, druid 2
Salzige Brauen, necromancer 2

Exploring

The party returned to the Night Wolf Inn briefly to rest & resupply. A juggling act was going on in the tavern, and some bizarre characters were hanging around - including a few anthropomorphic crabs, who didn't talk much. The group asked after Rain, but she wasn't around. 

They headed back into the Forest of Dreams, following Rauffe's vague directions from the lake of mist. They evaded a group of odd monsters that resembled 3' red bouncing balls with eyes, mouths and feet. Circling around, the forest became difficult to navigate - they were getting close to a Moonlit Zone! Walking along the edge of the dense trees, they came to the ruins of an old stone city.

Mostly wreckage, it was bisected by a crumbling 30' stone wall. Daqqa-Jin used his barbaric climbing skills to get up to a higher vantage point. He spotted a walled garden of the same glowing flowers found elsewhere in the forest, here crammed so tightly together that seeing details was impossible. They surrounded a pillared dome, and a small building with brass doors. On the other side of the wall, crumbling buildings stretched in every direction, while a few landmarks stood out. Two taller buildings, and an amphitheatre of sorts with a ring of seats.

The group checked out the amphitheatre and spotted another dog-headed gargoyle lurking there. With a swift pincer maneuver, the group got around it and their magic weapons made short work. They found a dead adventurer (obviously from the NWI) with broken legs, carrying a sack of copper and a few papers in an unknown language.

The group decided to explore the building with brass doors in the walled garden. The doors had a carving of the six-armed god Karttekeza, and they were reminded that the deity requested they restore his ruined shrines if they could find them throughout the world.

The Shrine

Inside was a dim room, a great peacock statue at the back. As Gorr lit some torches and candles, the statue's eyes glittered blue & green with precious gems! Two yellow levers on the wall stood out, and a narrow balance beam above a pit of muck.

Daqqa-Jin was brave enough to cross the beam and stepped on a pressure plate, triggering a pendulum blade which dealt serious damage. He made an offering of coppers and blood to Karttekeza, hoping for vengeance against his foes.

Meanwhile, Salzige summoned a skeleton and sent it down into the muddy pit to retrieve some items. It was pursued by ambulatory mud-men, formed out of the slime itself! He then sent the skeleton to pull one of the yellow levers - and in a puff of corrosive dust it collapsed, destroyed.

Many ideas & theories were attempted to deal with the mud-men, and the obviously trapped room. Eventually, another skeleton was sent down to distract the mud-men, while Daqqa-Jin, Gorr and Eric attacked them from behind. One mud-man jumped on Daqqa-Jin, destroying itself while covering the barbarian with sticky slime. He slowly fled the pit (his movement seriously impeded), while the other two considered their next move...

Monsters Defeated:

1 gargoyle (500 xp)
3 mudmen (141 xp)

Treasure Obtained:

11 gold, 10 silver, 270 copper (already shared out)
note on dead adventurer

Sessions 28-29

RUINS OF TANNOCH

Sunstrong 13, 4433

Characters:

Gorr, ranger 5
Daqqa-Jin, barbarian 3
Robert the Impetuous, fighter 4
Salzige Brauen, necromancer 2
Eric Withakay, cleric of Solaris 5
Young Joe Spruce, druid 2
+ Lauriel, paladin of Solaris 2 (NPC)

The Crypts

Wraiths of long-interred sorcerors emerged from their funeral urns amongst an unearthly howling. Battle was joined and the group desperately attempted to hold their own against silver blades and magic. Lauriel the shade was brought low by a scimitar, dissolving into the shadowy substance of her world. Coughing from a stinking cloud spell, the group fled back up the stairs into the tower.

With Daqqa-Jin's sneaking and some tricky tactics, the party managed to not only retrieve the sword Dawnbearer but evade the rest of the wraiths and defeat two wandering, dog-faced gargoyles that had come to investigate the noise.

With these foes dispatched, a friend was revealed - Marta, the last member of the Order of Tannoch. The sharp-tongued nun insisted the group destroy the remaining monsters infesting the crypts beneath, else they would be deemed looters & bandits. Reluctantly the group agreed.

At the same time, another wanderer arrived: a robed Orichalan named Salzige Brauen, an explorer who got lost inside the Night Wolf Inn and found himself on the fog lake! He swiftly joined the crew and put his magical powers to use. 

Searching for the remaining enemies, the group explored the tombs beneath Tannoch island. An assortment of funeral goods were scooped up, including a nice red & white cross medal, which Gorr jauntily pinned on.

Parts of the dungeon were suffused with a distant, warbling song, though its origins were unclear. Many passageways were blocked with rusted iron bars, and sometimes Daqqa-Jin would use his barbaric strength to bend these out of the way with a metallic screech for the group to continue on.

DM: *in a falsetto* "The bars bend with a creeeeeak!"
Player: *laughs* "Please do that sound again!"

The group discovered the tomb of Raeldus I, the old king who had built many of the structures throughout the land. They didn't disturb it, perhaps thinking of the many other undead they've found in tombs in the past.

Various crypts were littered with the bodies of intruders and dead adventurers. Some were old skeletons, (each missing a hand) while others were newer and still carried some equipment. From these latter bodies the group took some scattered notes, a crude map of the forest, and a silver & jade key carved into a skull motif.

The tomb of Raeldus II was found, past a hallway filled with displayed armour. This tomb was already looted, and graffiti of every kind splashed about with paint or scrawled into the stonework.

Past a broken mist-filled room and an old knocked-down wall, the group found a strange statue or shrine: a faintly glowing red cross held up by winged snakes. It didn't seem to do anything, but more one-handed skeletons were found nearby. Through another set of bars, Salzige Brauen found an ugly stone idol, depicting a humanoid with wings and monkey's paws. It felt uncanny in his hands, but he liked it and took it with him.

They found a domed room decorated with a celestial motif of sun, moon & stars. The words "chant the song of the cosmos" were carved on the wall. Daqqa-Jin climbed up to touch one of the sparkling stars on the ceiling, and they came to life as sparkling motes of energy that zapped him with electricity, so the group fled!

Recovery & Success

The twinkling stars and a few more encounters with magic-wielding wraiths had put the group in rough shape. They rested up above in the ruined tower, asking Rauffe the lake-bandit to return for them with his boat in a few days' time.

They kept exploring the tombs, fighting a group of fiery bats in a cave, and exploring the mist-filled tunnels beneath the island. Salzige's help proved invaluable when his skeletal servitor fell into a crevasse to the bottom of the lake bed!

Returning to the dome of animated stars, Eric sang a hymn to Solaris while the rest of the group watched nervously. A distant grinding sound could be heard, and the mysterious music heard earlier was now louder. Wandering through the halls, the group found a secret door had now opened. Inside was a shield decorated with knights, resting inside a magic circle. It was definitely the source of the eerie melodies. When Robert brought it out of the circle, the song became more coherent - it was clearly many voices chanting in unison, and as he held it the music slowly faded away.

Player: "Yeah that was in the back of the hymn book, under one-hit wonders!"

Returning to Marta the nun, she confirmed that all the monsters in the dungeons had been eliminated. She offered one more challenge: if the group could bring new recruits to the Order of Tannoch so the order could perpetuate itself, she would offer them an oracle from the magical Oak of Cicollus. The yellow-leafed tree on the island was magical, and once every seven years it was able to answer one question with all the gods' knowledge.

Rauffe ferried the group back to shore and said they were always welcome as rebels against the Mad King. He pointed out another location to the east, past the lake: a ruined city beside a Moonlit Zone that might be interesting to the group.

Monsters Defeated:

2 gargoyles (1000 xp)
5 wraiths (875 xp)
10 firebats (380 xp)

Treasure Obtained:

25 gold (already distributed)
9 pieces of jewelry, some very nice
4 silver scimitars
grotesque idol
singing shield
various notes, a map & a key from dead adventurers