Soromir's Journal Entry 14

So I'm calling bullshit on this quest for enlightenment or whatever. I can't deny that I've seen some amazing  supernatural stuff but I don't know the value of putting it into any greater context.

I'll admit I was a little flippant in casting those tiles to see if I could get any discernment as to the location of the tip of the Dark Blade. Right now that seems like a bust. But also, that priest in Evershade could also be full of beans. I'll check again in Lemmia.

I'm also going to start doing some research on my own about this damn sword. It looks bad-ass. We'll see how it does in combat.

Apparently Osbert gets visions in his sleep. But they aren't visions from his new deity but from his previous deity. This is not really surprising. Killing babies will leave a mark on a man. He's a good fighter but he's human and did some effed up stuff. I did some effed up stuff too. I had to free myself to get on the ship to Lemmia. I killed some people. But they were colossal dicks. So there.

I like trolling Osbert. Its mostly in good fun. Mostly.

Soromir's Journal Entry

But for the fact that the events unfolding around us and involving us seem so purposeful, it would be assume to assume that we have long since entered the mouth of Madness and are now somewhere in the mid point of it's digestive track...

However, there is something far deeper going on here. I can't even begin to fathom it other than to say its a feeling or an instinct. I keep trying to make sense of this but nothing seems to work. I am faced with two options: ignore it and continue on or attempt to figure something out (no matter how trivial it may seem in the "long run" (or short run)) and continue on.

I'm not an academic by any means nor am I especially religious, as has been documented numerous times in this journal. However, the thirst for knowledge and purpose are only getting stronger.

I'm not Khalo - I don't assume that if I can't make sense of it I should kill it. Nor am I Orrenthal whereby I think I can make sense of all things through applied science and maths.

The things I saw today seemed to defy all assumptions, sciences, and maths. Floating eyeballs with teeth, the size of a small horse, will do that to a man.

Session 18

Date: 5/13/2018

Attending: Jake, Wes, Joey, Aaron, Justin

Absent: Dave – Mother’s Day

Start Time: 7:15 p.m.

Just as the party is about to go down the stairs, Osbert halts the group, and says “I won’t be going. I am a new man and my former life is behind me – but I do not want to face the temptation that may be found in these ruins. As there have been redcaps in the area and some of the mercenaries from Evershade fled rather than be slain or captured, someone should stand guard.”

After some minor heckling and accusations of cowardice the party agrees to let Osbert sit the temple ruins out. Jace expresses concerns that this may foil the party’s attempt to bluff through the meeting or ritual they expect to find. Norris then points out that that is an assumption on their part. “It does not look like anyone has been down these stairs in quite some time. What if the purpose was for Benzu to find or release something? Or even just open this door? We don’t even know if we can close it again.” A quick examination reveals that Norris is correct, and the secret door cannot be closed.

The party, being stalwart adventurers, presses on anyway and descends into the depths of the underground ruins. Khalo and Jace lead the way using darkvision, the rest following behind some 40 feet with Soromir’s hooded lantern. At the bottom of the stairs is a corridor. The walls floor and ceiling are made of cut rectangular stones and are covered in dust, mold, and slime. Cobwebs drape down and bridge angles where walls and ceiling meet, and the air has a pungent moist mustiness odor and taste.

The party goes down the hall for about 60 feet where it ends in a “T” intersection. Opting for the right-hand path they move on, when Khalo hears a low moaning and shuffling getting closer. Soromir comes forward with the lantern and the party braces themselves for whatever arrives. Two dwarven mummies stumble into the 15’ cone of illumination from Soromir’s lantern. The party slays the undead horrors, but Jace contracts a powerful disease Norris identifies as mummy rot.

The party retreats up the stairs and makes camp near the ruins. They rest for the remainder of the day, through the night, and into the morning. Every 8 hours Norris tries to cure the mummy rot, and fails while Jace rots away, until the last attempt is successful. The party returns to the ruins.

Once again in the musty halls the party pushes on past where the dwarven mummies were found. Coming to another “T” intersection they once again choose the right-hand path. While wlaking down this new corridor it is noticed that a 5 feet long section of wall doesn’t look to be the same construction as the rest of it. Cleverly concealed it was probably unnoticeable when the hall was kept up, but now the growth pattern of the mold highlights differences and seams that would otherwise be invisible. Jace uses his wand of Detect Secret Doors and is able to find the opening mechanism. Opening the hidden door, a short 4 foot depression is revealed, with another door.

This door is circular and made from a single piece of metal. A hand wheel is mounted in the center. The party compares notes and realizes that this door is almost the exact same as the one Blackbriar opened on the Isle of Demos so many weeks ago. The only difference is that one was etched and inscribed with runes and sigils and the door in front of them is plain and unadorned.

The party opens the door.

Beyond is a hall radically different from the one they are standing in. Each wall, the floor, and the ceiling seem to be made from a single slab of polished black basalt. Dust lies on the ground but no mold or cobwebs are on the walls. The air is drier and has a faint antiseptic smell to it.

Walking in the hall goes a short feet and dead ends in a large circular room. The ceiling is domed, and a large glass half hemisphere is mounted upside-down in the center of the ceiling. A dark opaque red liquid fills 1/3 of the hemisphere; the remaining 2/3s are streaked with a dried brownish red residue. Glass and copper tubing of various sizes comes out of the base of the hemisphere and drapes before disappearing into the walls and ceiling at various points.

The circumference of the room is a collection of alchemical worktables littered with beakers and jars, collapsed and rotting bookcases, and six intermittently spaced glass cylinders running floor to ceiling at a slight angle and capped at the foot and hear by metal apertures. The cylinders are large, three feet in diameter, and are filled with a pale yellow liquid. Floating in the liquid are six bodies, 1 per tube, each desiccated and in various states of damage – one missing an arm, another’s whole body cavity is open and empty, etc… What is consistent is that they are all male, and the face of each has been sliced off in a perfect rectangle from chin to scalp, exposing the skull.

In the center of the room resting on 4 metal posts is a metal tube stretched horizontally across the supports. It is about 7 feet long and 3 feet in diameter, and the top section seems to be a hatch of some kind with a latch on the side. Large tubing rise out of the floor and are mounted into the thing, and a faint pumping noise, along with the gurgling of fluid is heard.

The party first inspects the cylinders. There is one dwarf, one human, one elf, one gnome, one Halfling, and one orc each. Other than that they cannot determine any information. Orenthal examines the one intact bookcase and finds that most of the books crumble to dust when touched. One does not. Flipping through it he sees a language that he can’t identify much less read, but looks similar to elvish and sylvan. Casting read magic he comes to a page he can read through the spell. It is titled “Analysis and Procedures of attaching the Warlord’s Additional Limbs.” It then goes into a detailed description of a bio chemical and magical process which Orenthal barely understands (at his first read in his defense). It seems to be attaching a construct arm to a dwarf, and fusing it to the spine in some fashion.

As Orenthal reads he realizes the bottom half of the page is a magical trap. He is able to resist (made his save versus permanent Feeblemind spell) but once the trap is sprung the ink slides off of the pages of the book. Orenthal pulls out his journal and furiously tries to write down everything he remembers.

Next the party congregates around the central metal tube. Khalo hacks one of the pipes open spilling what seems to be the liquid from the hemisphere above. Some of it touches Khalo’s skin and he is overcome with memories that clearly belong to someone else. A different droplet provides different memories, a distinctly different source (person) from the first. Otherwise the liquid seems to be blood.

Suddenly Orenthal chooses to open the hatch on the metal tube. A hissing noise causes him to jump back as a thick gas is released from within. A figure sits up in the tube.

It is tall, perhaps seven feet if standing, and rail thin. It’s skin is a pasty grey color, and it is completely hairless. The one remaining ear is elvish in appearance, but far longer than a typical elf – extending an inch or two higher than its head. A black metal apparatus is mounted into its right face, covering or replacing its mouth, right eye, and right side of its head. Where its mouth would be is a black metal mesh in a frame. Its right eye is gone as is half its nose, and the socket is deep with a pale purple pinpoint of light deep within.  The black metal continues down into its torso and its right arm has been replaced with a mechanical one – a thin insectine limb that ends in a three pronged pincher instead of a hand. Its clothes are alien in design and cut. The one good eye spins 360 degrees in its socket before coming to rest on Orenthal.

It says something than no one understands. Orenthal tries to respond in common. The being then casts a spell, and then speaks in clear common to Orenthal. The conversation is disjointed and stilted, but it indicates that this is not its world, that it was not at rest but entombed, and that centuries had passed. Khalo asks several questions that seem to be ignored. It gets out of the tube and stands. It casts another spell which Orenthal identifies as some sort of messaging spell, similar to sending but that can cross planes. Khalo, frustrated at being ignored, attacks the being, stabbing it with his spear. The party, now in initiative, lays into it, and slays it quickly.

Orenthal was upset and Khalo and he begin arguing – Khalo defending his choice to attack and Orenthal lamenting that more information had not been retrieved, assuming that they could have leveraged the fact that they released it into being allies.

Suddenly a portal – specifically from a gate spell – opens in the room. Only Khalo is in a vantage point to see within – and he looks and the runs from the room full stop. The rest of the party bolts with him – asking no questions. Orenthal is the only one who doesn’t immediately run – instead he peeks around the edge of the gate.

He sees a vast hall made of polished red stone, with support columns in a line. Walking towards the gate is a figure like the one they just slew, except this one’s metal parts are different – having a metal band that comes over the top of its skull and surrounding (and replacing) both eyes. One either side of it is a large circular creature floating about three feet off of the ground. The creatures seem to be all head, enormous toothy mouths under a massive central eye, nine other eyes arrayed on individual stalks branching out of their heads. The tall grey elf like thing was conversing with one of the eye things as they walked. Orenthal flees.

Exiting the room they shut the circular metal door.  After waiting for 30 anxious minutes, they open the door and cautiously enter. The room is completely empty. Furniture, tubes, hemisphere, liquid, all gone leaving bare black rock. Even the dust is missing.

They re-enter the regular temple halls and turn right. It goes for a short way and then dead-ends in a square room. It is empty except for a pedestal in the center with a small wooden box on top.

The party approached and Khalo picks up the box. No trap goes off. He hands it to Orenthal who opens it. Within is a deck of cards. The characters are confused, the players hyperventilate, and the DM chuckles. Orenthal pulls the deck out, flips it over, and thumbs through the cards. It is a non-magical oracular deck used in divination, similar to a real world tarot deck, with art that is Nerull themed. The characters shrug, the players angrily accuse the DM of “just messing with us!”, the DM laughs (if anyone just stumbled on this via the internet and doesn’t understand the references here, look up “Deck of Many Things.” It’s a game wrecking artifact that players can’t resist).

They retrace their steps, passing by the secret door and the side hall that leads outside, continuing on until they reach another “T” intersection. Once again they go right, and it dead-ends in another room. This one seems to be an old barracks, with moldy bedframes and rotting mattresses. A quick, rogue-less search reveals nothing of interest and they go the opposite way. Hearing movement down this hall, Orenthal sends Icarus to get Osbert, temptations be damned, and the hall continues but they find an ornate door in the walls. Khalo throws it open just as Osbert joins the group (along with Icarus), and they see a worship hall with pews and an altar. A ghoulish priest is leading 25 other ghouls in a silent worship service to Nerull. The party prepares to charge.

End of Session

500 XP

Session 17

Date: 5/6/2018

Attending: Jake, Dave, Wes, Joey, Aaron, Justin

Absent: None

Start Time: 7:35 p.m.

The water elemental that had been bound was the spirit of the river. The river introduced itself to the party as the Pinemelt River, and cured Orenthal of his blindness. It tells the party that the ogre shaman’s ritual was killing the river spirit, and hand almost been completed. In gratitude the Pinemelt gave the party a collection of things that had found their way to the river bottom over the years, which proved to be an impressive haul of magical loot mixed in with debris and trash – as well as a decent amount of coin. The party rests for a day in the River’s cavern. During that time Khalo sends another messenger to Captain Swanson, explaining the further delay. They also heal and identify the items.

Packing up Mola’s remains they head out, after Khalo repairs and firetraps the trap door leading to the River Cavern. It is a three day journey back to Evershade. The weather turns on the final day, and they arrive at the Last Wood Inn just as the storm hits. Knarls lets them in, badger and all, and even though it is night they sit for a spell to drink and have a hot meal.

While they are eating another traveler bangs on the door and is let in. He seems keen on knowing everyone’s name – he offers his as Sven – and on hearing everyone’s name seems disappointed. He is an unsavory character, and the party asks who he is looking for. Sven says he is looking for “Benzu the Vicar” and that he was told that Benzu would be in this inn on this night during a storm. Osbert stands and cuts the man down where he stands.

Sven is searched and a talisman of Set is found. After some evasion, Osbert admits that in his former pre-indoctrinated life he was named Benzu and was a vicar in the Cult of Set. The party is shocked to find that their paladin is a former leader in a vile cult of darkness.

Reluctantly Norris is persuaded to cast Speak with Dead on Sven. They find that a demon gavbe the command in a dream, and that Sven was supposed to meet Benzu the Vicar and escort him to the Temple of Nerull nearby. The party resolves to go to the Temple of Nerull and deal with whatever is found.

In the morning Soromir and Jace pick up their newly enchanted weapons from Old Herm, and Osbert leaves his behind to be enchanted. Then the party sets off to the Temple.

They travel for a full day and arrive late in the night, past midnight. The temple is a gutted shell – obviously having been fired to the ground some decades before. Searching amoung the rubble a secret trap door is found in the floor tiles. Jace uses his wand to determine how to open it – a small tile is moved revealing a turn knob with a tree symbol on it. Recognizing the tree symbol (al-la-random bardic knowledge) Jace tells the group that this is actually the Temple of Thorns – a legendary evil place of worship that is the final resting place of the Darkblade, a famous weapon of old. Opening the door, the party gazes down and prepares to enter.

End of Session

900 XP

Khalo's Journal: The Past is the Past

For the record, if you ever meet a talking river, they don't like being thought of as "the spirit" of the river. This one preferred to be referred to as "The Pinemont River," but that can't be it's original name - just the name given to it by the community. Kind of like me. In that sense, I like this river very much. Additionally, the river gave us gifts! I got a new necklace that makes my spells more powerful. In all of the stories and legends I have ever heard - mind you, I have not heard all of them, though Blinet told me many - I have never heard of a river giving a gift to any being, man or dwarf. Leastwise, no gift that is not clean, drinkable water, or an enchantment of it's essence... what I am attempting to express is, receiving a necklace from a river is interpreted by me as a reasonably high honor, and for the first time in a long time, I wish to encounter Elmo the Loon once more, so that I can tell him of this gift just to see the look upon his face. Not his goshawk face, either, but his human face. 

I thought of Elmo again a few days later, when we stayed at the inn in Evershade. That evening, Osbert encountered a man, and this man knew a name used by Osbert in his past. Osbert slew this man, and soon after confessed that in his past, he was something of a supply man for sacrifices to evil gods. It was a shameful secret, but the deeds he described do not fit with my perception of the good paladin man he is today. Whatever heinous acts he committed in his youth, fate proscribed that he would go on to lead a better life, perhaps in atonement for his old one. I can respect this.

Before I knew him, Elmo had spent some time suffering under the curse of lycanthropy. He was cured of this ailment, but the experience haunted him ever after. And for all his faults - and there were many - the Elmo I knew did not exhibit behavior one would expect from an individual accustomed to the life of a werewolf. In fact, his past trauma made him more careful and cognizant of exhibiting these behaviors. In that way, one could argue the experience made him a better person - all the more fortunate for him.

Such it seems to be with Osbert. I have only known him a short time, and I allow for the possibility that I could be wrong, but my estimation of him now is that he is a good man, and my friend, and I will continue to approach my interactions with him accordingly.

Entry concluded.

Soromir's Journal - Entry 12

I had to take a minute to catch my breath. The last encounter was absolutely brutal. My swings were connecting but didn't seem to do much until the very end. That swing connected with the Shaman and took him down. The damage they inflicted was great though.

It's not often you see someone ripped in half. I don't wish anyone else to have to see that. Unfortunately, this probably won't be the last time we see it on this journey. Mola was a good man and had re-established himself after his slavery for sport. Godspeed, Mola.

Throughout this journey, we've been getting hints at the evil we are dealing with. After this encounter, we are intimately with the evil we are dealing with. The skull-sconses lighting the cave were fired with human remains. Osbert was able to identify some of the remains as human and some children. This is not your run of the mill bum-fuck hillbilly evil. This is EVIL.

Interestingly, Osbert's real name isn't Osbert. It's actually Benzo. Add on the honorific "the Vicar." And the adverb "of Sett." That's right. Holy Osbert was once a Vicar of Sett. The snake-god that loves all things Evil. As a Vicar of Sett, he supervised the procurement of humans for sacrifice. But we are to believe that he has been cured of his evil ways via Inquisition. We'll see. It doesn't help that Benzo the Vicar was requested at the Inn. So, is he still serving Sett?

Between the deaths Ostar and Mola, Osbert's revelation, and almost dying myself - this has been a hard row to hough.

Now we are preparing to enter yet another underground chamber, this time under the former Temple of Ne'rul. For all we know, we are actually entering the Temple. Either way, this promises to be fun and enlightening.

Khalo's Journal: A Brutal Battle

As I pause to write these words, we find ourselves in a fortunate position. Had it not been for the bravery and valor of Mola, the rest of us would not be standing here right now.

Our group found the source of the river and the source of the taint. An ogre shaman (not a druid, I might add, at least not as I know them), and his retinue of trolls and goblins had bound a liquid spirit - to what end, we do not yet know, but before we could gather additional information, the goblins spotted Osbert, and the fight was on. Our inability to get the drop on them meant we could not form an effective fighting formation. Osbert in particular fought valiantly, and by the grace of Norris he is still with us. Orenthal was blinded by the shaman, and we must now find a cure for his affliction. Soromir stood in and suffered attacks, although his swing did not consistently find it's mark. Jace did his best work to keep our morale high.

Mola delivered a few punishing blows, but his greatest contribution was to capture the attention of the trolls, which he did up until the moment he was rent in twain. What led him to come with us remains a mystery to me, but I am grateful to whatever force pointed him in that direction. Evershade, Jethu, and the world itself will be a lesser place without him.

As for me, I found myself mostly ineffective in hand-to-hand combat. I utilized an Entangle spell, but in some ways it was as hindering to us as it was to our enemies, and the shaman was mostly unaffected. What did work, however, were the Hippogriffs, who did not deal significant damage, but were able to not only occupy the shaman's attention, but ferry Mome Rath to the other side of the field, allowing him to take on the goblins. He did well, but the fight took a lot out of him. He will need rest and recuperation, as will I, as will the majority of our crew.

With any luck, we can release the water spirit from her bonds, and restore the river.

Entry concluded.

Session 16

Date: 4/29/2018

Attending: Jake, Dave, Wes, Joey, Aaron, Justin

Absent: None

Start Time: 7:45 p.m.

The party decends the ladder to find the river flowing underground and a narrow ledge running next to it. Quickly shuffling into a marching order they head down the ledge with Osbert in the lead. At one point, Soromir’s dungeoneering training kicked in, and he stopped Osbert from stepping on a portion of the ledge that had been rigged to fall.

A few hundred yards down, they came to a large cavern. In the center was a pool that seemed to be the source of the river, and a feminine figure made out of water was writhing in agony, bound by chains. Around the pool were 4 braziers – skulls on top of tripods with the fire in the brain cavity. The ogre shaman was seated by the pool, drumming on a drum, while two trolls stood by. Fourteen goblins were in different groups relaxing around the scene, but two of them saw Osbert when he entered to look.

A brutal and long combat ensues. At one point the troll killed Mola by ripping him in half, Orenthal was blinded by the shaman’s magic, and Norris was hard pressed to keep Osbert on his feet and fighting. None-the-less the party prevailed, albeit with the loss of Mola.

End of Session

600 XP; 100 to Wes, 100 to Joey for blogging

Session 15

Date: 4/22/2018

Attending: Jake, Dave, Wes, Joey, Aaron, Justin

Absent: None

Start Time: 7:30 p.m.

The party discusses what the possible implication of the heel tattoo on Ostar’s body. They determine that it is magical, only being revealed upon death or at the will of the wearer.

They loot the various bodies and then free the citizens of Evershade who have been held captive in the Last Wood Inn. It seems the mercenaries surprised the town during a festival and were able to capture the children. The leader had the troll eat one child – a woman named Alise’s boy – to demonstrate their willingness to harm the kids. They have been captured for about 3 weeks.

The party meets Mola the dairy farmer, Knarls the proprietor of the Last Wood Inn, Herm a local alchemist and enchanter, and Father Ellis, a Chovailian Priest. Mola in particular draws the party’s attention because he is quite muscular – if run to fat a bit – and carries himself with confidence. They end up staying the night with Mola at his farmstead.

Soromir and Jace talk to Herm and commission him to improve their weapons, which agrees to do at the vastly discounted price of 1,500 gp each. Soromir hands over his longsword and Jace his shortsword – Herm says the shortsword will take 2 days, the longsword 3-5.

Meanwhile Orenthal investigates the Inn. The sign out front is in dwarven runes – but no one in the village speaks dwarven. Asking the proprietor – who bought the inn from a previous owner, who also purchased it – Knarls takes Orenthal in and shows him where runes are located in the building. He also takes him down to the basement and shows him a section of the wall, about 2 foot square, where if you throw a handful of iron tacks against the stone it sticks in a pattern than forms dwarven runes as well. Orenthal detects magic but it is not magical.

Further conversing he asks Knarls about the Temple to Nerull nearby and finds out that it was dwarves who were running it, and there were things with large metal boots according to rumor. He confirms the tales from Riverwood that the temple had been cleaned out about 20 or more years ago.

He also mentioned that a little over a month ago he saw figures moving through the woods, avoiding the town and pushing a large cart.

In the morning Khalo summons a new animal companion, the dire badger Mome Rath, while Orenthal summons a familiar – the Raven Icarus. They then set out to find the source of the river contamination, and convince Mola to accompany them.

The party travels for three days through the woods. Over the campfire one night they find out that Mola was a slave and a pit fighter, owned by Baron Vaselus of Lemia.

On the fourth day the river ends, flowing out of a hole in the ground. Khalo asks Mome Rath to follow the scent of the tainted river water and he leads the party about 50 yards from the river exit and begins to dig. Under the snow is a wooden trap door (destroyed by Mome Rath’s digging) and a ladder leading down.

End of Session

600 XP; 100 to Wes, 100 to Joey for blogging