Game Session Recaps

[frenzied67]

Highlights of Episode Ninety One
Quenid 2nd - 6th CE 1032

After Adas recommended the party seek out Therkin the Slumberer for their green dragon problem, he and Silfeah took to the road. Giving Leiya a description of a druid from southern Druid Isle, Jolrael had her cast a Sending about the destruction of the Seddar Circle. Though they too had thought to take to the trail, the group decided to peruse the respite’s library to seek out this elder dragon. Jolrael discovered an intelligent book that called itself Ebanin. A most helpful but massively bored curator of the library.

Ebanin told them that Therkin was a rare (unheard of) species of iron dragon. This dragon was supposedly a sage of sorts, a being that loved knowledge; someone who would also barter knowledge for knowledge. To relieve Ebanin’s ennui, he offered the book his book The Drowned Manifest, the magical book that recorded ships lost at sea. While discussing bringing in new books to the small library in the way station, Jolly mentioned Whispers of the Pale Lady. Ebanin did not seem to be a fan of that book, more because of the being who worked through that tome than because of its contents.

Since the book named Ebannin had been so helpful, Jolrael offered to do a favor for it, over and above requesting new books for it to absorb. The Sentient tome requested to be taken into the small library in one of the laboratories ao it could finish reading a book that had been moved there. Once ensconced in the small book rack, it apologized then teleported away. Irial Anem and his wife Renella claimed the book liked to run away. One sure way to return it to the “respite” was to burn Ebanin, but only if no other option of transportation was available.

The next day the party returned to the cold road to Anstarre. They reached the village of Bannockmire just before sundown. Their next goal was the town of Mirfeld which proved harder to do than the party had thought. They were still on the road when night fell, but knowing this stretch of road, the group could tell they were close. Riding on they were overtaken by a fog. Eyes and shapes were seen in this mist. The road turned to a gravel path under them, which no one remembered ever having had to travel over gravel in Seddaria. Disjointed whispers were heard, words that were too indistinct to fully make out. “Are…. Then…. Now…. Master…?”

When they passed through the fog they found themselves just outside of a village that was not Mirfeld. A dark shuttered town with few sounds and little light. Whimpers from a girl and her little brother drew their attention to the two who were in the road, the little boy clutching a cloth doll.

“Can you help us, there are monsters in our house?” The little girl asked, pointing to a three story building, rare outside of Seddara’s cities. Enkili asked them what sort of monsters. The girl said they never saw it, but it howled inside the house. The fighter lead the advance upon the house after they learned there was a baby up on the third story floor.

The ground floor showed decore belonging to a wealthy family who had a coat of arms. A windmill on a green field. After a short hallway, there was a foyer with five doors and a stair case going up. There was a hunter’s den on one side of the foyer, with one open and one locked cabinet, and three stuffed wolves. The locked cabinet held a heavy crossbow, a light crossbow, and a repeating crossbow complete with twenty rounds of ammunition each. A dining room, kitchen, and small pantry were across from the den. A dumbwaiter was found in the kitchen.

The second floor had a main room, a servants changing room with clean uniforms on hooks, a library, and a second secret library. Several occult books found were discovered to be fake, but three divine scrolls were gleaned and taken. Bless, Protection From Poison, and Spiritual Weapon. Three blank books, deeds to the house, and other legal documents for the Durst family were recovered. The skeletal remains of a man in leather armor was found half in a chest. The cadaver carried a disturbing scroll in its hands. After that floor had been searched the heroes gathered for the next flight of stairs up….

*We next meet on the tenth of November. Happy voting everyone!

[The Everfull Purse has granted everyone 20ep, 20sp, and 20gp to this point party funds gained 5ep, 5sp, and 5gp; 5 days of coins.]

Highlights of Episode Ninety Two
Quenid 6th CE 1032

The fighter led the file up the circling steps to a balcony on the third floor. The landing was fifteen foot wide twenty or thirty feet deep, with a hallway to the east. A few doors were in the north west corner of the landing, with a couple of doors visible down the eastern hallway. A suit of armor against the wall had a wolf motif, the helmet's visor was of a snarling wolfen visage. That plate and mail display suddenly whirled on Enkili, lunging at him with armored fists. Having expected an attack, Enkili was able to arm himself (No interaction to draw The Sainted Sword) and intercept the armored figure.

He hacked at the figures legs hoping to knock them down, but his foe proved to be well rooted; a second attack cut air. While trying to move around the iron clad attacker, Enkili had to dodge two fist attacks. His movement and those whistling blows prevented Enkili from counter attacking. Below, still on the stairway, the rest of the party were shocked at the sudden cries and sounds of crashing. Off their guard, they each froze or hesitated for several seconds. In that time the armored figure silently slugged Enkili in the gut, but missed a follow up shot when the Mandagan man refused to fold; his own armor was very stout.

Enkili was able to reposte from that last flailing miss against him. His Sainted Sword put a deep crease in the visor; there was no outcry from the foe, even though that mashed in faceplate would have been pushed into a person's face. Most of the party who shed their surprise early could not move passed their own friends to lend a hand, they were forced to wait for the steps above to be cleared. Grynn was able to move though, since Leiya was the only person between him and the fight. He moved up behind the steel clad figure and walloped them in the back of the head. The damage should have produced an outcry or reaction as the priest's weapon made an impressive dent, yet there was no reaction.

Shaken from her immobility when Grynn had passed by, Leiya glided up behind Melana's new priest and cast a Word of Radiance on the aggressor. The silent being shook the spell off, showing real toughness. Even as it shed that spell of living light, Enkili yelled in its twisted visor and struck with passion. The helmet and an entire leg flew off the plate suit as the attacker was dashed down. There was nothing and no one inside the suit. This shook the desert born warrior, his eyes were wide behind his khula khud's chain veil. Everyone checked out the empty armor when they reached the balcony, Jolrael even cast Detect Magic but only caught a fading dweomer; he then used the magical enhancement to help search the several rooms on that floor.

Splitting in two, the party moved to different sides of the floor. Leiya, Blaylocke, and Enkili entered a bedroom on the far west of the house. There was a full length mirror along the southern wall of the room, its frame carved with an ivy and berries pattern on it; Leiya discovered that some of the berries were actually meant to be eyeballs. Next was an empty wardrobe, with doors cracked open, on the east wall was a long cold fire place; now home to webbing and spiders. The west wall held a large bed with night stands at either side. A single door was along the north west wall, then a set of double doors along the same western facing.

In the eastern hallway, Riardon listened too and checked the locks of each door. He made Jolrael and Grynn wait as he determined if it were safe to proceed through each door or not. Before they received a go ahead to enter a room, Leiya from the other side of the house called for Riardon's help; she had discovered oddities with how the mirror sat against the wall of that western room. In seconds, the rogue popped a concealed door open. Another flight of spiraling stairs to the fourth floor greeted them. No one argued against taking those stairs immediately. Following Riardon, they all climbed the east turning steps which took them to a closed doorway.

A cobweb filled hall was revealed, there were several doors and windows, one door on the south east hall was padlocked shut. As on the lower floors, the windows only showed dark swirling fog, no discernible features or details even hinted at. Again the party split to search. Jolrael and Riardon found an eastern room with a writing desk and stool, another empty wardrobe, cold fireplace, and single bed. cobwebs made a creepy veil on a doll propped on the bed. Its eyes seemed to watch them, smiling secretively in her lacy yellow dress. Across the hall, Grynn and Enkili found a large room full of furnishings covered with dusty white sheets.

the fighter and cleric moved to the western most end of the room and began to pull those sheets down, discovering nothing but well made furniture. Moving east they uncovered an old trunk without a lock on it. Both men reared back when they discovered human remains tangled in rust stained cloth. The skeleton had been unceremoniously dumped long ago. Curiosity made Enkili prod the corpse, he found the blood stained cloth full of scores of narrow holes made by daggers and knives. Wisps of glowing fog began to coalesce next to the two adventurers revealing a distraught looking gaunt woman. The spirit began screaming, a sound that held both mortal fear and an indignation bordering on rage.

Even before the spirit struck out, Riardon was on the move. He hopped across the hall and hit the specter with a Firebolt. While the fiery magic hurt it, the damage seemed to have been muted. Its hands lashed through Enkili's armor, the grave cold touch seeming to pull at his vitality. Only by tearing away from the touch was the fighter able to prevent his vital essence from being extracted. Leiya flowed through the doorway Riardon had abandoned after casting his spell, she examined the spirit (noting that it was a specter) even as she held up her symbol of peace. Her booming words of castigation made the specter seem to detonate, wisps of glowing mist blasted out of the living world; Its fading wail still touching the primal parts of the heroes minds.

The next door faced east, heading south back to the stairs. It was another dust and web filled spare room, bed, night stands, and other accouterments. The final door was the one chained shut. Pulling out the key he had found on the ground floor (Please pardon me readers, this key is a detail I had forgotten to note last session), Grynn unlocked the padlock and pulled the chains away. On the eastern side of the room it was obvious the window had been bricked up. Framing that sealed aperture were two child sized beds, at their foot were two small toy chests. A dollhouse that turned out to be an exact replica of the manor sat between the skeletons of two children, the smallest heap of bones clutched a familiar cloth doll.

Riardon ignored the bodies and began to examine the dollhouse, he discovered another secret closet that seemed to lead below the house. That closet was in the specter's room. While hinging the dollhouse open further, the spirits of the two children who had warned them that monsters lived in their house, also seemed to come together from gossamer mists that leaked out of the shadows. "Don't touch our toys," Rose said. "So cold and hungry, Mommy and Daddy locked us in here to protect us from the monster in the basement... can we go now...? so tired." Though talkative, they just issued their complaints rather than answered questions.

Without debate, the heroes decided to find those stairs down to the basement. They wanted to face the monster while they still had spells and tricks at their disposal. Enkili and Grynn, who had been out in the hall, moved back to the storage room and began the search. Jolrael, Riardon, and Blaylocke found Rose and Thorn blocking their way, demanding that they remain with them. "Don't leave us," they screamed as Jolrael forced his way out. He had to fight something that clawed for possession of his mind as he escaped, he issued a warning about the kids ploy to those remaining.

Blaylocke tapped out a short song hinting at the rogues prowess, his drum and voice inspiring Riardon. The security specialist easily fought off the power that tried to take his mind. From her vantage in the hall, Leiya saw Rose fade away as Blaylocke stumbled out of the room. A second later Thorn formed at the bards side, reached up and grasped his hand. Suspiciously the lady cleric first asked for Rose, then questioned Blaylocke, even shaking the Dwarf until he said "Why are you hurting me?". Instead of an answer from the normally garullous bard, she received a defiant little pout, and a petulant look from under her eyebrows.

The spell casters, arcane and divine, pondered a way to free Blaylocke. Their first idea was to scare the child's soul out of the bard, so they asked Enkili to be threatening. Instead, the desert man was the one unnerved by the Rose possessed bard, like a predator pretending weakness, Blaylocke/Rose's stare from a ducked head locked on the fighter. His effort at intimidation came off pathetic, and he abandoned the attempt early. Yet as Enkili retreated, Riardon Touched Blaylocke's shoulder casting Protection From Good and Evil. Living fiery force buffeted the spirit and triggered Blaylocke's drowsing spirit. Like a song rising from low notes to high, the bard took control of his body, shunting Rose out. Both Rose and Thorn seemed disapproving before they faded.

Enkili found the secret door remembering where the rogue had pointed on the replica dollhouse. The narrow stairs did indeed descend all the way to an eclectic basement full of narrow hallways, there were open crypts with one that had Walters name (the baby supposedly left on the third floor) on it. All the while they could hear a faint chanting that filled every path they took, sourceless and sinister. Their path had been south, east, then south again. Hugging the east of these underground halls and tunnels they headed north around a few ninety degree corners before coming to a chamber. Wood shoring posts were spaced in a grid like pattern within a rectangle that went west.

Passed a wooden stair with four steps, several five to ten feet deep nooks held pallets of moldering straw to the chamber's north. West was a centrally located table with four chairs set between four posts. Further west Rose and Thorn solidified as Enkili's quartz stone light fell over them. Still resentful, the kids just stood staring at the party. Though the party inquired after the best way to help the children, niether Thorn or Rose responded until people started to take the steps down into the chamber. Becoming translucent, the kids faded from sight without moving, speaking, or changing their antagonistic expressions.
And here we pause, the chanting still jangling everyone's nerves, wondering if their noble intentions might be proving their undoing.

* Our next game is scheduled to fall on Sunday, November 24th.

**Must not forget to find out where we find Thurken the Slumberer, the ancient Iron Dragon who knows the weaknesses of Green Dragons.

[The Everfull Purse has granted everyone 20ep, 20sp, and 20gp to this point party funds gained 5ep, 5sp, and 5gp; 5 days of coins.]

Highlights of Episode Ninety Three
Quenid 6th CE 1032

Whether from hunch or mere curiosity, Enkili did not wait for the party to fully explore the western end of the chamber. He followed a short side hall that turned west onto a set of stairs down. Just like all the basement hallways and chambers there were old shoe prints, layers of dust bespoke of multiple decades if not centuries of disuse. Riardon kept his eye on those tracks looking for any indication of fresher sign. After a short hall at the end of the stairs, now three stories down in this basement, they found a twenty foot by twenty foot chamber. Shoring posts were evenly spaced every five feet in a neat grid, just like the room they had last seen Rose and Thorne (child ghosts).

Five ten foot by ten foot bed chambers were ranged about the larger chamber, while a new hall waited in the south western corner of the room. Each side chamber had a wood frame bed with moldering straw filled mattresses, trunks with old rusty locks were before or beside each bed. Riardon and Enkili went from room to room, the fighter slashing and searching pillows, beds, and mattresses for anything interesting and the rogue popping locks and rifling through trunks. From the east side Riardon recovered a bag with 11 gp, 60 sp., north east chest held 3 moss agates, north a black eyepatch adorned with a carnelian, north west a fancy silvered short sword, and the west bed room held an ivory hair brush with silver bristles (all this loot was recovered from the trunks).

The passage turned south to a set of stairs up to a ten foot long landing followed by another set of stairs up. On the landing between steps a western hallway was found. Riardon notice absolutely no tracks at the corner, he called forth Blaylocke to pick his brain about stonework and delving lore. Together they found out that thin wooden slats had been laid onto the floor with a nice coating of dirt and dust. A ten foot deep spiked pit trap had been concealed, but disarmed by Riardon and the bard. Ignoring the west bound hall beyond the trap the heroes continued up the southern stairs.

They came out on the top most level of the basement slightly west of the spiraling stairs going back up to the manor. This room had been a dining area, around the old table were the scattered bones of five or six individuals. Spreading out, the party started to check out the corpses to see what had befallen them. Enkili moved to the south western part of the room to allow his more astute friends in to do the investigations. His step triggered a beast to rise out of the floor.
The thing had aspects of a snake and worm in its long legless body, while its beak of a mouth had four tentacles radiating out from around the curved biting part. Black orbs may have served as eyes or some specialized sensory organ. Rearing up, it flailed at the fighter with the tentacles around its mouth parts. With quick twists of his torso, Enkili made the unknown creature miss. Angered it pressed its attack, only grazing the Mandagan's reforged plate. Feeling like the beast or aberration was too fast, Jolrael cast a Ray of Frost successfully on the thing, hurting it and granting it a coat of hoarfrost.

Blaylocke felt he was too close to the Snakepus (a title bestowed on the creature after the fight), so he retreated. With all the lore and secrets at the bard's disposal, Blaylocke still could not figure out what this monstrosity was. He settled for tagging Enkili with a Healing Word from distance (injuries the fighter had taken from the specter in the manor). Grynn called upon the goddess of love, granting himself, Riardon, and Enkili with Bless. He then climbed over the table and flanked the snakepus with his stout mace ready to strike. Using noise and fury, Enkili tried to intimidate the snakepus with a Menacing Attack, though he struck true the beast might have been too hungry to know fear. The fighter hit it again and remained in the things face to occupy it's attention.

Both Riardon and Leiya launched minor spells, nearly at the same time. The Rogues Firebolt started fires over the elongated flank if the snakepus, but as its cry of agony began to sound, Leiya's Sacred Flame extinguished the unknown thing's life; thus silencing it. (In this next section yours truly began to have technical issues, so I missed a few details. I beg your forgiveness and hope the rest of the narrative still has enough description to appeal.) Figuring that the snakepus was the culprit behind the remains, Riardon opened a west facing door. Immediately he could tell that the continuous chanting was down further in that direction.

However as the party lined up to move through the narrow hall, death ravaged bodies began to claw their way out of the clay and dirt ground. Their eyes glowed with malevolence and their overlong tongues lashed the air like sensory organs. Ghouls! Due to the bard's proximity to danger, Riardon cast Protection From Evil and Good on him. Feeling her face twist with distaste, Leiya stepped forward holding forth the symbol of Mylosta (Melwen). Her prayer was in Onostian, her native northern tongue, but the power of her goddess exploded from the priestess and her symbol. Before they could lash a single person with their talon like nails, the ghouls burst from within; crumbling to dust before Leiya's feet.

Several stairs led them down and to the west, going ever downward until they found a fourth level to the basement complex. A turn south revealed a room with thirteen niches. Investigations revealed each niche held a macabre item. While the collection failed to contain religious or magical application, they would have served as a nice backdrops for a cult leader. A mummified goblin hand was suspended by thread, a knife whose hilt was crafted from a human femur bone, a dagger with a rat skull pommel, a small coffer contained a withered dog's tongue, a wizened Halfling head, an iron pendant with a devil's face inscribed, an eyeball that was 8inches long, an aspergillum of bone, a cloak made from ghoul skin, a mummy figurine 6 inches tall, a dried frog lashed to a stick, a large severed finger, and a bag of old bat guano. The chanters words turned out to be a repetitive recitation of "He is the ancient".

Enkili removed the Halfling's head from its nook, thinking that it's displacement could possibly effect whatever foul magic was being practiced in this place. Two exits left the niche room, a hall in the north west, and one in the south west. The chanting seemed loudest coming form the south west. Following Riardon's lead they followed the shallow slope of the south western passage down to where water pooled before a portcullis separating them from a water filled chamber beyond. The rogue noticed a windlass a few yards south of the barrier, in the room and beyond their reach. Enkili volunteered to try lifting the barrier of iron bars, while Leiya posited that the north western hall could lead them back to this same room....

*Well that's it for this week. Our next game will be on December 8th. Just two more games to go in 2024.


**Must not forget to find out where we find Thurken the Slumberer, the ancient Iron Dragon who knows the weaknesses of Green Dragons.

[The Everfull Purse has granted everyone 20ep, 20sp, and 20gp to this point, party funds gained 5ep, 5sp, and 5gp; 5 days of coins.]