We began in a town named Ogden, in the Moonshae Isles. There was a goblin threat in the area. We traveled to a small town named Ravendale.
The local innkeeper said there were no goblins in the area, but he'd give us free room and board if we looked for a missing supply wagon. There were some murmurs of a troll under a nearby bridge. We thought it was worth investigating.
The next day, we found the overturned wagon near the bridge. The horses were not in their traces, and the supplies were not with the wagon. We identified a light trail of grain that led into the forest, and a black goblin arrow. We noticed the acrid smell of roasting horse meat. Looking beneath the bridge, there was smoke coming out of a cave, and a pack horse was tied up outside.
Tay used a Minor Illusion to make it sound like the horse was running away. An ogre with green skin came out of the cave, and we attacked it immediately. Rolen was injured, but the ogre (Burt) went down quickly. There was no sign of the supplies or the owners of the cart.
We returned to the wagon and followed the trail of grain. It led away from the Stonebottom Creek and up around to the top of a hill. Hoolna couldn't quite make out the numbers we were dealing with. There were two rock outcroppings at the top of the hill that bore an uncanny resemblance to two demon heads. Hoolna noticed a bat-winged squirrel fly overhead. There was also a frog with the head of a Blue Jay.
We were shortly attacked by two goblins, with a pair of wolves with the heads of rabbits. We were hurt badly, but were triumphant. We debated going back to town. Hoolna volunteered to scout forward.
The top of the hill overlooking the stream was a plateau, with enough space to have scrub brush and some old ruins. There was a path into the ruins guarded by two goblin sentries and a board with bear claws.
The town was only an hour away, so we decided to report back with the horse and wagon. We'd go back out the next day. The townspeople were excited, but became concerned when they realized we didn't have the supplies or the drivers.
We stayed in town overnight, and went back out early the next morning. As we approached the area again, we saw a fox with badger claws yip and dig down into the earth.
We reached the top of the hill. We killed the sentries and boar bears and took a short rest before descending into the ruins. The stairs ended in a large, natural cavern of black stone. There was a table in the middle of the room with a half butchered animal. There was a living cub in a cage.
We caught four goblins unawares, and killed them before they could respond.
The next room had more cages, including our missing townsperson, Jorgen, and an owlbear. He told us that the goblins were using dark magics to transform things in the chambers below; they'd taken Shyla (the other townsperson) below half an hour before.
We dispatched the owl bear, and noticed a note on its discarded clothes. This was an adventurer who had already been captured when Jorgen was brought in. There have been several other attempts; this owl bear was the best result so far.
We descended down. There was a room off of the tunnel with a padlock; we stopped to open it and see if there was anything in it. We found Jorgen's gear, the supplies, a potion of healing, some glass dice, 6 black gems, and a sum of gold and silver that we split amongst ourselves.
We continued down. The next room had a set of braziers and an altar. The altar was covered in symbols similar to woven grass amulets that we'd seen on the other goblins. There was a pit with a makeshift crane dangling over it; Shyla was there, along with a bound mountain lion. There were three goblins around the altar, and a larger one that was casting a spell of some sort.
We engaged, and quickly killed them.
It took some time to figure out the crane, but retrieved Shyla successfully. Hoolna soothed the mountain lion and released it. Then she dropped a torch down into the pit. We didn't see anything below, but the heavy presence left the room. The dark magic in the area had dissipated.
Rolen noticed a small latch on the altar, surrounded by three pinholes. Tay was able to disable the trap and open the altar, revealing a small cache of 100g, 200 silver, 4 opals, and a small bracelet.
The wand turned out to be a wand of Web. The glass dice and bracelet were not magical, but the dice were worth about 10g, and the bracelet was worth about 25g. The gems were obsidian, worth 10g each, and the opals were worth 50g. We put Tay on the case, and she sold the treasure. We divided the proceeds evenly and gave her the wand of Web.
2nd Level
We returned to town, and re-provisioned. While resting, we reviewed the note we'd found with the owlbear. It read:
Corian,
King Derid has another quest for you of utmost importance. A prophecy has come to light, and it seems that the events spoken of in the prophecy are starting to occur. The prophecy talks about the goblin attacks in the Dernall Forest, the disappearance of a great Druid, and the inversion of the face of Selûne, so that her tears precede her face rather than trail it. The astronomical event talked about in the prophecy is supposed to bring the five lost temples of the Earthmother back to the Moonshaes. It is vitally important, that these temples be found, rededicated to the Earthmother, and any artifacts of the Earthmother be brought out before the temples disappear again. I have instructed Eazelle, who is part of the royal garrison, to set up a base of operations in Lehigh so that you can explore the Dernall Forest. I will pass on any additional information we find. I know you don’t like half-elves but I trust Eazelle with this information, try not to let your temper get the better of you when you first meet.
Your Friend,
Marren
We set out for Lehigh, hoping to meet Eazelle and see what we could do about the temples.
The road was treacherous and goblin infested. In the process of clearing an ambush, we freed a man named Hillias. He reported Lehigh had been overrun by goblins a few days before. There were quite a few according to him.
We collected the equipment in case we needed to arm additional townsfolk. Hoolna gave her handaxe to Hillias.
We ran into a group of goblins trying to capture a silver stag. We rescued it, and it granted Hoolna a Mark of the Silver Stag. We also skirmished with a river goblin, with a group of constrictor snakes.
We reached the outskirts of the town, and heard chanting from a little further on. There was a group of goblins working on some kind of summoning. It seemed they were trying to do something to reanimate dead goblins.
We came up with a good plan to try and kill the shaman, though we'd have to leave if the goblins at the town's edge came at us. It was a success, and the townsfolk charged the goblins once we'd killed the worgs and shaman.
The shaman has a piece of onyx worth 200g, a Potion of Growth, and a silver knife.
The town was still inhabitable. Eazelle came out and we explained why we were here instead of Corin. The town was small, and lacked an inn, but the townsfolk were happy to have us stay with them. Eazelle gave us five vials of moonwell water, which we could use to reconsecrate the temples.
We ranged back into the forest, looking for signs of the temples. As the moons rose on the second night, we saw that the Tears rose first tonight - the temples would soon appear. Then the silver stag appeared again, and wanted Hoolna to follow it.
We ventured into the forest. During the march, we were attached by 3 hobgoblins and 4 giant badgers. We dispatched them, took some of their equipment - Hoolna took 2 longswords, Rolen took a longsword and shield. The badgers had silver collars; Rolen and Hoolna each took two. The collars were not obviously magical.
The stag took us to a doorway set in a hillside. There were runes in the doorway, symbolizing life and birth. The stag nodded to us and left.
Shortly after the stag left, we were attacked by a krenshar and four giant weasels. We won, but we were wounded and exhausted. We decided to look into the temple and see if we could rest there.
The passage led down about 15', before opening into a chamber. The walls were covered with four frescoes, showing each stage of life. In front of each was a small pedestal. There were four small statues scattered about the room, as well as a chain with a hook hanging from the center. As we entered, bright light emanated from the paintings, to the point of pain. We quickly arranged the statues on what appeared to be the right pedestals (a baby in front of a fresco about birth for example), and the light dimmed to a comfortable level.
To the left and right from the entrance were locked wooden doors. At the far end of the chamber was a hole that led into a darker cavern. Tay peeked into the cavern beyond, and unfortunately attracted the attention of giant ants. We were at the end of our rope, so we (carefully) removed a statue from one of the pedestals. We hoped the bright light would keep them back in the cavern. That was not the case, and further we found the exit to the woods was blocked by a force barrier. We fought carefully, and won.
We decided we might as well finish exploring the cave at this point, to see if we could open the force barrier by cleansing the temple. In the back of the ant cave, we found a silver monument to Selûne embedded in an earthen wall. It had a loop for hanging atop it, so we dug it out and cleaned it as best we could.
In the original chamber, the door to the right had a skull and scythe on it. We decided to try the door on the left instead. Tay picked the lock successfully, and we found a small, natural cavern with a pool in it. This was where we should use the moonwell vial. When Hoolna poured the vial in, three water elementals sprang up, quite disturbed by the holy water. The fight was brief, and we were none the worse for wear at its end. There was a golden amulet at the bottom of the pool. We picked it up as an artifact to return to the king.
We returned to the door with the skull and scythe. Tay couldn't pick this one, so Hoolna broke in with Tay's crowbar. We were immediately attacked by a group of spirits. Though it was more taxing, we successfully destroyed them. Hoolna and Rolen, who had been touched by the spirits, could see a larger room beyond the walls we initially saw. Hoolna and Rolen inspected the previously inaccessible area, and were completely filled with peace as they stepped into that area. There were some potentially valuable items strewn about, but this was a room of mourning and the items had been left by grieving families in ages gone past. We left them in place.
We walked back to the first chamber and finally rested.
3rd Level
Rolen, Teavana, Hoolna, Rogan.
We rested in town and considered our options for the next week. We were visited by a fairy, who told us of a nearby manifestation in the forest. Some sort of moonlit building. It was guarded by a pack of vicious wolves, who'd driven out all of the local creatures.
We journeyed out to investigate. We found the building as the moon was rising; it would solidify once the full moon was fully ascendant. The wolves found us at about the same time. Eight squared off against us.
We dispatched seven of them, and left the eighth asleep. The temple fully materialized as another eight stepped forward. None of the wolves attempted to enter the temple.
Hoolna's wolf went in as soon as it was solid. We followed as quickly as possible.
The temple was dusty, but lit by beams of moonlight coming in through slits in the roof. There was a pedestal in the center, surrounded by circular rows of benches. On the left wall, there was a broken down door that we could not pass. To the right were two doors. The broken down door had rubble including books. One of the books we could read seemed like a journal, with a little info on someone who had investigated the temple before.
We took a short rest before exploring further.
When we touched one of the doors on the right, a wraith came out. We dispatched it quickly.
The pedestal had a series of moon phases on it. We divined the correct sequence from the journal we'd found, and the pedestal slid to the side. There was a spiral stair leading down.
We checked the remaining rooms first. One was a bare chamber. The other was filled with debris and more books, though we also found 200 g.
We went down the stairs beneath the pedestal. The steps lit as we stepped on them, lighting the area as we descended. At the foot of the stairs was a cavern with a tiled floor. It was not natural. The tiles lit up with a soft radiance as we reached the floor. There were doors on each wall, except for the wall where the stairs ended. On that wall there was an alcove with a statue of the crescent moon, and a mosaic crescent moon on the floor. The room was fairly clean.
We checked the door to the left of the stairs. There was a platform that had two stairways down into a lower room. The walls were lined with lifelike stone statues. There was a magical box in the center; it seemed to be a puzzle box.
Rogan inspected the box; it seemed solvable. He started working the puzzle.
Four statues animated and attacked. We took turns backing up and working the box; we were completely out of resources by the time we got the box open. However, once we did, the statues stopped attacking.
Inside the box was an amulet. It conveyed a soft glow of moonlight to the wearer, equivalent to about a torch. Hoolna wore it. It also provided some assistance to a Wisdom saving throw once per long rest. We knew it would be needed to reconsecrate the temple.
We weren't sure how safe we were sleeping here, but we had to risk it. Our long rest passed without incident.
We entered the door from the center of the wall. There was a large room with statues, and what seemed to be a game board. There was a halberd hanging in moonlight on the far end of the room.
We mastered the challenge, and gained Failbhe, a sentient halberd. Rolen took it up.
We took a short rest, and then entered the third room. It was another puzzle, with walls at odd angles, and runes on many surfaces. There was a pixie inside that was friendly, and told us there was a weakened wolf we needed to kill.
Hoolna knew, though the amulet, that she should use the moonwell water on the door that the wolf was behind to reconsecrate the temple. Opening the door to fight the wolf would completely destroy the wards, and unleash a terrible evil on the world.
Hoolna handed the moonwell water and amulet to Rolen, who knew enough ritual to reconsecrate the temple. We poked around and found a few additional items; an axe (the berserker's companion) for Hoolna, a magical lute for Teavana, and a (undecided) for Rogan. We returned to town.
The king's guard had come to the town to reinforce the garrison by the time we returned. The commander also told us that we were to return to the capitol; the king wished to hear about our progress and conference on next steps.
4th Level
Rolen, Teavana, Hoolna.
The journey to Caer Callidyrr was uneventful. We were expected by the king, Derid of house Kendrick. He thanked us for our service, but had sent another team of adventurers to complete the consecration of the other temples. We were something of an unknown quantity to him.
He asked us instead to search for his druid's lost apprentice, Nerezza. She'd last been seen around the town Aithelar, in the Stagford Forest. He would provide transport, and if we were successful, we would gain his trust.
He replenished our supplies and provided two Potions of Healing to each of us. (2D4 + 2). Rolen purchased new armor, trading in his chainmail for splint mail.
With the king's aid, the journey to Aithelar was uneventful. We started asking around after getting settled in.
The innkeeper told us that Nerezza had rooms a year back, but she hadn't been seen in quite some time. We heard many stories, but none of goblin attacks in the area.
Hoolna checked the surrounding forest with her ability to speak with animals and goblin knowledge. There was surprisingly little wildlife. The few local creatures told her that some of the trees seemed to be corrupted.
The forest seemed to be haunted in some way - there were many stories of attacks by wildlife, trees falling on townsfolk, etc. This was all more than would normally be expected. The attacks started about four months ago, and some of the stories seemed connected to a disheveled human nearby.
We went into the forest, heading to the center of where the incidents had been reported. About a mile into the forest, as dusk was gathering, we saw some smoke off of the trail. It was likely were someone was preparing a camp for the evening.
When we arrived, the site was empty. The fire was still getting started and there were some remains of an abandoned meal. It looked like we'd interrupted someone's dinner.
We found some signs of a scuffle. We picked up the discarded supplies and gear, and followed drag marks into the forest.
Before long we reached a mound, about 20 feet tall. It was 120' long and 200' wide. At the top was a gnarled and diseased tree, with ravens pecking at the top.
Teavana fired a flaming arrow at the tree but missed. It started a small brush fire. She moved forward a bit, and noticed a door in the side of the hill. She fired another arrow, which hit, but it sounded as if it hit something soft and fizzled out. We started scaling the hill, intending to destroy the tree before seeing what was inside the hill.
About halfway up, Rolen stepped into a pit trap. He stopped himself about 20' in, by catching an Immovable Rod. With its help and a rope from Hoolna, he climbed back out. There was something shiny about another 25' farther down, but we would have to investigate that later.
Further up the hill, about 30' away from the tree, several bushes stood up, approximately humanoid, and attacked us. There were two medium sized ones, and three smaller. They attacked, but we dispatched them easily.
We approached the tree. On closer inspection, we confirmed our suspicion that this was a blighted, evil thing. There was red liquid visible through cracks in the bark; it was congealed blood. Ravens pecked at pieces of meat and skin from previous victims (we assumed) in the brances. The tree reeked of decomposition and death, and felt evil. Hoolna and Rolen set to work hacking down the tree.
Almost immediately, we were interrupted by a large group of creatures mounting the hill. There were many more animated bushes, a fiend of some sort, and a beautiful druid. The druid was Nerezza, and to Rolen's surprise, appeared to be his sister. He thought her long dead, killed in the goblin attack that set him on the path to becoming a Paladin.
The battle went quickly; Teavana kept Nerezza busy with arrows while Hoolna and Rolen worked through the rest of the foes.
In death, Nerezza clearly had been Rolen's living sister, but she showed signs of blight and corruption. We cut down the corrupted tree and created pyres to burn everything, including a seed we'd found on Nerezza that exuded corruption.
Before lighting the fires, we explored below. The door was magically sealed, and included a trap of roots that grew at us when we tried to open the door. We retreated quickly, then killed the roots as we approached more cautiously. Finally we broke down the door and descended into the mount. There were a few more animated bushes, but little else of interest. In the pit at the bottom of the shaft Rolen had fallen down earlier, we found a few gold and Goggles of the Night. The goggles granted the wearer darkvision, and doubled the distance the wearer could see if they already had darkvision.
The caves below were shot through with roots from the tree, of all sizes. In the deepest chamber, we found an altar with the remains of the traveler that had gone missing. The body had roots growing through it from the altar. The floor was a mass of roots over a few inches of water. We found an exit tunnel where a trickle of water was flowing in. That tunnel led up to the far side of the mound, which appeared to be how Nerezza and her minions had come out at us. The water was flowing from a misty pond that went back into the forest.
Back in Nerezza's lair, Teavana and Rolen searched for any notable treasure. Coins from previous victims, along with scattered bits of those victim, littered the floor along with the roots. We recouped about 200g, along with miscellaneous small gems adding up to an additional 100g. Hoolna passed on all of it.
We added the last victim's remains to the pyre, along with the evil seed. Once the fire was going, we tended it until the bodies, tree, and stump were nothing but ash. The tunnels below were too wet below to take fire, but with the stump largely burned out we believed we'd done enough. It took all night to finish.
We returned to Caer Callidyrr and updated the King. Rolen purchased chainmail barding, since he could now summon a celestial steed.
5th Level
Auste - Johnny
The King asked us to travel to Kyrthyss. We needed to retrieve the Beacon of Selune. It was a powerful magical item that could be used to manipulate water on a large scale. The Queen had taken the heir to Snowdown, and was preparing a revolt; the King thought it was best to secure the Beacon before it could be used against him.
The King sent a monk, Auste, with us. He was a wood elf and a knowledge seeker. The king lent us mounts for the journey. Rolen now had a magical destrier, Authlebyr, to aid him.
We encountered a goblin ambush on the road. There were 12 of them; we dispatched them handily.
We reached Kyrthyss without further trouble. Asking around, no one knew the exact location of the Beacon, but they knew that the queen was looking for it, too. There was a camp of three yuan-ti just outside town, that seemed to be mercenaries for the queen.
Teavana used her persuasive skills to find out that there were more yuan-ti in the temple with the Beacon, which was hidden to low tide. We got the location from them before Teavana's Friend spell wore off and they attacked us. We killed them, and waited for low tide.
We rode down to the beach when the tide was clearly receding. We found a door, which opened once the tide reached its lowest point.
The door was too small for Authlebyr, Rolen's destrier, to accompany us. Authlebyr instead took the other horses back to the yuan-ti camp, where it would keep watch.
We descended the stairs. There were a few doors in the hall below. There was a dead yuan-ti near one of the doors. Teavana attempted to open the door, and was shocked and blown back. However she survived, we healed her, and she was able to disable the trap.
Inside was a chest, another dead yuan-ti, and a Gambion in a cage. There was also a brazier with twisting rods, like some sort of sculpture. It did have symbols on it. Auste believed they were in Abyssal.
Teavana checked the chest. She was able to open it, but tripped a Magic Missile trap in the process. We healed her again.
The Gambion wanted us to free her, and tempted Auste with great knowledge. We talked him out of it, however.
The door to the next room wasn't locked or trapped. It looked like a disturbed alchemist's station; many of the vials were overturned. There was a map on the wall that was written in abyssal.
There was a strange patch of grass that attacked us. We dispatched it without taking much damage. We found two viable potions in the mess, and a small key with Auste took. Auste also found a secret door.
Beyond the secret door was a room with acid on one side, and a glowing gem set in the wall above skulls on the other. Auste tried to grab the gem, but fell in a flash of green light as soon as he touched it. We healed him up and decided to come back through in a bit.
Working our way back, the Gambion's cage was gone, and so was she. From the main hall, we checked the last door. There was a library inside, with the remaining yuan-ti.
We killed them and checked the room. We found a book explaining that the beacons were globes of tangled wire. When used together, they would reveal the hidden moon, significantly altering the tides. All low-lying land could be inundated.
On one side of this room, there was a wheel in an alcove and another door. We turned the wheel, and heard a whooshing noise. Checking the other rooms, the acid in the room with the gem had drained.
We opened the door next to the wheel. There was a room with a raised path splitting an acid bath. On a pedestal on one side was a statue of an orc with a sword. On the other was a glowing green orb. On the other side, there was a door with a keyhole.
We rested in a Leomund's Tiny Hut.
We explored the area and found a door on the other end of the raised path in the room with the orc statue. Opening that door led to a puzzle room, which seemed similar to the map we'd seen in the alchemy lab. Teavana used Mage Hand to place objects on the plates in accordance with the map. The tiles locked down, and we heard a lot of clicks. Nothing else happened.
We noticed another wheel mechanism to the left of the door. Teavana turned it with her Mage Hand and the acid drained out of the room with the orc statue. (We assumed to the room where we'd seen the first glowing gem.)
Exploring further, we found a small door behind the orc statue. It opened to show a small room with glittering treasure, a button that said "Push Me" and a lever. Upon closer inspection, the treasure was all fake.
Pulling the lever opened a trap door, which dropped all the fake treasure into the (now empty) acid bath. We pushed the button, and another door in the main area opened.
We peeked in, and saw the beacon on one side, and a book on the other. The book was magical. Auste grabbed the book, and was immediately knocked unconscious. We healed him up, Hoolna drank a potion to mitigate necrotic damage, and she checked everything.
The book was a tome from a corrupted cleric. It was thoroughly cursed, but we did find three scrolls Raise Dead, Speak with Dead, and Animate Dead. Teavana held onto those.
There was another door here, too. It opened into a room that stank of hate and dark magic. There was a heap of dark bones, a forge, a font of dark water, and various detritus around the room.
As we entered, the bones assembled into an undead naga. It asked if we'd come to free it.
We had, if perhaps not the way it expected, along with its water elemental friend. We took a short rest.
Inside the forge, we found 7 rough jades worth 20g each. On the racks we found several wondrous items. Rolen picked up a Circlet of Iron Will, Teavana got a Ring of Inspiration, Auste got the Wrappings of Jaya, and Hoolna got Soulbound Collars.
We went through the last door, which led back to the room that had the gem wall. It turns out that had been a ward, which expired when we killed the naga.
We checked the orc statue again. It did look like something that had once been flesh. Hoolna drank the last Potion of Resistance and smashed the green light. As the glass shattered, the orc statue returned to flesh, and its down stroke with its sword. It looked up, confused. We explained the situation, and he accompanied us back to the city.
6th Level
The orc found a family member in town, and was content to stay with him.
We rested and sold our treasure. In the market, there was a sage trying to warn everyone that the three daughters were being hunted. He recognized that we had a beacon right away, and told us we had to get the others.
He told us the second orb was in Luc Sul, on Snowdown. It was in a maze of the mind, surrounded by deadly ooze.
We'd need a ship. Checking in with the garrison, they had the personnel to take the beacon back to the king. They recommended we check in with some shady local fishermen that wouldn't raise any flags by dropping us off on the isle.
We visited them, and had Teavana do the negotiation. She found a ship that would take us for 50g each, as long as there were no inspections when we left port. The garrison agreed readily enough, though it wasn't going to pay for our passage.
We arrived at our destination without any trouble. The town near Luc Sul had one farm that was particularly fertile, and it seemed it was experiencing some ooze trouble. We decided to investigate.
The farm owner told us that there was a strange door in his fields that the oozes seemed to be coming out of. He was mostly concerned about its presence in his fields; they were cleaning up the oozes OK on their own. With a bit of cajoling, he agreed to a bounty of 1100 if we were able to take care of the issue.
We ventured through the door. Inside we found a maze, filled with gelatinous cubes and oozes.
We found one particular ooze that was tougher than the rest - it had a skull that it seemed to see from, and a glimmering gem in it. It became more and more resistant to our attacks as we continued. We barely killed it before running out of ways to damage it.
The glimmering gem was an Aberrant Shard. It had a variety of effects, but basically disrupted magic locally.
Teavana conjured a Leomund's Tiny Hut, and we rested.
We killed a few additional oozes and ran into a couple of bodies. The first was very old - centuries. It had a magical necklace and appeared to be the corpse of a wizard. We found another wizard, with a ring emanating conjuration and a scroll case with a scroll of Find Traps.
We killed one more batch, and found 150g. After a third group, we took another rest in a Leomund's Tiny Hut.
There were two oozes outside of the hut when we woke. We dispatched them quickly.
The necklace was a Necklace of Pseudopodal Avoidance. It would fear any oozes within 30', 3x per day. The ring was a Ring of Entanglement, with 2 charges per day.
We continued our exploration, killing more oozes and cubes, and taking a few more short rests. We eventually found an urn. Teavana was able to use Comprehend Languages to read the runes on the urn and deactivate a portal. This had been the source of the oozes.
We came to a larger cavern, with a large, green vortex. There was a wizard pacing around and across the vortex. He was friendly enough, and told us he was trying to activate the portal. He thought it would take him to Andover Heights.
The wizard was very interested in Teavana - he seemed to know she was carrying the Aberrant Shard. He said he needed it to activate the portal, and take him to the last known location of an ancient mage.
Rolen asked his name; he identified himself as Azarzrun, and the ancient mage was Hoon. He told us he'd been alerted by the presence of the ancient door. After talking for some time, we couldn't find any indication that this wizard was evil or meant us harm, and sold him the gem for 1500g.
He immediately invoked a spell and went through the portal. He came back through a few minutes later, muttering about it being useless. He was carrying a skull, which he almost immediately discarded. The skull told us to kill him, but could not give us a good reason. Eventually the wizard left, and the skull left us alone. The wizard thought we might be a threat; he left a fire elemental behind to guard the exit. It left us alone, so we took a short rest until it disappeared.
We continued to check the caves. We found some more gold, and killed more oozes.
7th Level
We found a Gauntlet of Etherealness on our way out. It was plate, and would allow the wearer to become ethereal for one round, once per day. It recharged at dawn.
Back outside, we saw signs of a struggle. At the manor, the sage was laid out on a table. The wizard, on his way out, had struck down the sage as the sage waited for us outside the entrance. Using our scroll of Speak with Dead, the sage told us one of the beacons was to the southwest of us, some distance. The other was in the Andover Heights, the major mountain range on the island.
We traveled to Caer Westphal to trade in some items and find some additional items. Rolen traded in his splint mail for plate. Hoolna purchased a Battleaxe +1. We sold the orb of Color Spray, our Necklace of Pseudopodal Avoidance and a bit of gold to get a scroll of Locate Object and a Rapier +1 for Teavana.
We learned that there was a monastery in the Andover Heights, that Auste knew about. The order was friendly and might be of help. The journey was arduous, but they received us peacefully. They told us there was a dragon's lair nearby; it had been a flying lair, but crashed to the earth some time ago. A local knightly order had set out to investigate.
Once the storm settled, we rode after them, towards the crashed lair. Before long, we encountered them on the road, tending their wounds. We rendered aid and found out the situation. These were the Brothers of the Black Spear. They were a regional order that fought evil in any form. They had planned to investigate the crash site in case there were any lingering traces of the dragon. They found the lair infested with kobolds however. They'd been forced to leave two men behind; one was dead, and one was feared injured. They offered us a reward for bringing back the wounded man alive, or half as much if we found his insignia.
This was right up our alley; we rode on to the site.
We were met by a party of six kobolds. They were no match for us. Deeper inside, we found one of the fallen knights buried in a rock fall. The kobolds were fond of their traps. It took us some time to dig him out. It was a dwarf, and beyond our ability to help. We took his insignia and continued exploring.
There were more traps, and many more kobolds, but finally we found the last knight. He was held in a room on a bier, surrounded by five dragon statues that were black, blue, white, red, and green. There was a strong aura of magic, and colored banners on the wall opposite of where we entered.
The statues turned to us whenever someone got within 30 feet, and used a breath weapon appropriate to each color. We were able to find a path to the back wall. Lowering each banner revealed a small hole, and pressing the switch within deactivated each statue in turn.
Looking at the knight on the bier, he was conscious, but barely. His chest had been opened, and a glinting ruby replaced his heart. This was powerful magic. Just as we realized he might also be beyond our help, he turned into a red half-dragon and attacked us. He had a breath weapon so the fight was difficult, but we triumphed. We took his insignia.
There were also several kobolds; three casters and three workers. The casters sacrificed the workers as we entered, then seemed to immediately die themselves as well. The claws and skull of the dragon freed themselves from the wall and attacked us as separate entities. The skull somehow retained its breath weapon. It was a close fight, and Rolen had to use both of his healing potions. It was barely enough. Behind the (newly quiescent) skull, there was a great cache of gold and rubies - about 2100g in total. There were several magical items, and one of the beacons.
8th Level
We rested within a Leomund's Tiny Hut. When we returned to the surface, we found our horses dead. As we investigated, an earth elemental and a fire elemental appeared, and we noticed a figure on the hillside above us.
The wizard was Azar again. We broke his concentration, which disappeared the fire elemental, and killed the earth elemental. We found 2000g on Azar's body, along with a Ring of Earth Elemental Command. He also still had the beacon; we had all three.
We found the brotherhood, or at least what Azar left of them. We didn't mind taking our reward; they still had the 1500g with them.
We returned to Landrain, acquiring horses along the way. We also booked travel back to Kythyss for 125g each.
Back in Kythyss and then marched the last beacons back to the king. We were celebrated with a feast, given an offer of employment with salary, and tasked with a new diplomatic mission. He asked us to escort a cache of treasure to Dwarvenhome. He hoped to open up their tunnels to allow trade across the whole of the isle. We negotiated a 1000g signing bonus and Manuals of Bodily Health.
We were using a pilgrimage as cover. Teavana and Hoolna disguised themselves as pilgrims, and Rolen went as the most visible guard.
A few days out of town, in the mountain passes, our caravan was attacked by wyverns. The pilgrims did the smart thing, and hid. We killed the wyverns before long, though Hoolna took some serious damage. While the pilgrims looked at us a little funny, especially since Hoolna did turn into a werewolf at one point, we were satisfied. The rest of the march, including another overnight, was uneventful.
The abbess was particularly happy to see us. She told us she had a task for us, after we saw to the harvest master. He was old, and in failing health.
The abbess administered the monastery in place of the high harvest master. The high harvest master was a religious title, and not every monastery had one.
The abbess took us to a disused corridor. There was a body, covered in canvas. She was clutching the symbol of a dark goddess - Shar. The woman had been dead for a few hours. There were no obvious signs of a struggle.
The abbess told us there was a shade haunting the monastery, and begged for our help locating it. The woman was Leara Truesilver, from a prominent local noble family. She was completing a pilgrimage in the service of Chauntea.
The abbess took us to the woman's cell. We found two small compartments, one with a platinum and silver masterwork dagger, and a hidden compartment with letters about her journey. Nothing was particularly out of place.
The abbess asked us to investigate in the village associated with the monastery, and asked us not to leak the noblewoman's death.
Rolen and Hoolna stayed back with our charge. Teavana and Auste went into the village, accompanied by Rolen's horse, Authlebyr, and Hoolna's wolf Gootna.
Teavana went into the village tavern and asked about the woman. Teavana zeroed in on one person that was very reluctant to answer any questions about her, but couldn't pry anything out of him. His name was Drasc, and he was locally known as a mercenary. We were fairly certain he'd been carrying on an illicit affair with Leara.
They went to the local trading post next. They tried some cheese, which didn't go down well. It turned out it was catoblepas cheese, and everyone got very sick. The catoblepas itself broke free while they were wondering about this. They were able to overcome their nausea, restrain the catoblepas, and return it to the orc proprietor of the trading post.
As the fight wrapped up, we noticed the mercenary leaving the tavern and heading towards the graveyard. Authelbyr returned to the monastery and picked up Rolen. Authlebyr then returned to the monastery to watch over the treasure.
The party went into the graveyard. Drasc had set up a small picnic, like he expected to be joined soon. It occurred to us that he might not know about Leara's death. We told him, but he did not believe us as he thought we were there to take her back to her family. He packed up and left, warily.
There was a shade in the area. Shades were a human sub-species. One named Rastic beckoned us to us from a nearby stand of trees. He told us he'd been foraging, and found several dead people. He led us to them to show his honesty and good intent. (Shades were hated by the local population.)
We excavated the bodies of two local women, in monk robes. They had paper flowers in their hair, similar to what we'd seen the bard handing out in the tavern. Rastic begged us for protection and offered to accept the justice of the monastery. He just wanted to make sure the townsfolk didn't kill him out of hand.
When we returned to town, the bard told us the women had liked him, he hadn't done anything to harm them. Tea, with Detect Thoughts could tell that he was not lying. We left the tavern, intending to take the bodies and the shade to the monastery. Five townsfolk confronted us, demanding the shade. They intended to kill him for the death of the two women. They did not back down when we told us we intended to take Rastic to the monastery, and we were forced to fight them. We didn't kill them, but we knocked them unconscious, tied them up, and confiscated their weapons.
We reached the monastery without any more problems. When we entered the monastery, we were confronted with a horrible sight. Four monks were clubbing the pilgrims that had come with us; most of them looked to be dead or incapacitated already, and the monks were finishing the others off. At the far end of the room, the high harvest master lay on a bier, surrounded by the abbess, the barmaid, and the orc proprietor of the trading post.
They all turned to us, and told us we were too late. To our horror, the monks opened their mouths unnaturally wide, showing great fangs. The three at the bier went through a more terrifying adaptation; wings and horns sprouted from their heads, and the heads separated from the bodies with a sickening sound of tearing flesh. The heads took flight, organs and entrails trailing behind them. They were penanggalan.
The fight was difficult, but we killed all the combatants. As the last penanggalan died, the high harvest master rose. His disease had been caused by the unholy presence of the penanggalan, and he was once again ready to lead. It would take some time to rebuild the monastery, but he was up to the challenge.
We retrieved a diamond choker, plus 500g. The high harvest master also gave us 200g as a reward for our service. The necrotic damage we'd sustained would wear off with a long rest.
9th Level
We continued our travels after resting. We returned the local militias weapons on our way out of town, after securing a properly contrite apology.
We reached the Dwarven city of Dun Lodar after another two days of travel. The chieftain of the dwarves, Tali Bazaast greeted us warmly. She told us the situation had changed since we'd set out. The nearby sacred city of the Thunderax clan had been recently rediscovered, and the clan was split over how to proceed. The city was in the mining path of the Dwarvenhome tunnels, and they couldn't proceed while their internal discussion was ongoing. No dwarves of Dun Lodar were permitted into the sacred city, which was where we came in. For 3000g (with 1/4 up front) we would be tasked with mapping the city and finding any notable artifacts. There might be additional treasure available to us.
We spent the rest of the day in the markets. We picked up some additioal equipment; an Amulet of Health and a Cloak of Protection for Rolen, a Belt of Dwarvenkind and Dwarven Thrower for Hoolna, Bracers of Archery, Ring of Spell Storing, and Adamantine Studded Leather for Teavana, and a Ring of Mighty Fists for Auste.
The next day, we descended into the tunnels. As we approached the city, light increased until we reached the tunnel leading to it. The entire city was illuminated bright as day. The city was a full-sized city, and the light was coming from the ceiling. The dwarves guarding the entrance told us that the light in the ceiling rotated every twelve hours, causing a day/night cycle. There was no wind or weather.
We entered the city. Each 10' x 10' tile on the road cracked into hundreds of pieces as we stepped on it. All the details were of dwarven quality, but on close examination the materials were weak and shoddy. The tiles looked to be quality stone, but were obviously cheap clay as soon as they cracked.
We picked a building to start. There were bats inside, and oozes. We killed them quickly.
We decided to back out and find out what the dwarves thought about the shoddy craftsmanship we'd run into.
When we returned, we were asked to wait for about an hour. When we entered, Tali was surprised that we had returned. We told her about the condition of the city, but she asked us to continue investigating and do our best not to break anything.
We returned and went deeper into the city. We could now tell that some buildings were made of cardboard, some of clay. Again, from anything but very close inspection, they appeared to be in perfect condition, but they were actually quite shoddy.
There was a central temple that had a better view of the city. We encountered a broken down clockwork dwarf along the way. We repaired it, but it immediately attacked us. We destroyed it.
At the temple, there were a couple of alabaster golems at the base of its stairs. They didn't move until Hoolna stepped on the stairs. The golems came into motion, and slowly attempted to attack while raising an alarm.
We destroyed the golems, which caused damage to us with shattering splinters every time they were hit. There were also two more clockwork creatures (a dwarf and a minotaur), defeated quickly. We found a gear train worth 500g, and two gauges worth 250g each.
Inside the "temple" we actually found we were at a library. We found an architects journal, noting that a poorly regarded contractor had been brought in on the project. The pages were hard to read, as they were singed and damaged. We found a construction ledger, which spent far too little on masonry vs. carpentry and plaster. There were also a wide variety of miscellaneous books. Tea found a Tome of Demonology, which could be used to gain knowledge about demons and summon a limited number of them as needed. It would consume some pages depending on the strength of the summoning. Some pages had already been burnt out.
Finally we found a map of the city, with some notes about specific shortcuts that were taken by the contractor, Rurna. This included a concerning note about demon rumors.
We explored the area of the city marked as the tombs. We found nothing underground, but we did find that some of the houses were illusions. We went to the chieftain's house. Inside, there was a clockwork butler, a clockwork minotaur and another alabaster golem. We defeated them and explored the house.
We found a gear train worth 500g, a copper bearing worth 200g. We also found Builder's Gloves, which gave some bonus to hit constructs and some additional damage against objects. Rolen pulled those on. There was also a bas relief that we marked to tell Tali about.
Continuing to explore, we found a candy shop. In one of the barrels, there was a Cloak of the Bear that Hoolna took. We also picked up miscellaneous toys worth about 1700g.
There was a furniture shop nearby as well. It was full of furniture, and looked like it was a good place to rest. It was - after we killed the four mimics inside.
Hoolna swapped her Cloak of the Bear for Rolen's Cloak of Protection.
Refreshed, we continued on. We passed a park, and found a large building that looked important. It was surrounded by trees that looked odd. We heard a soft gibbering as we approached. It was a gibbering mouth, and a couple of jellies. We found two Potions of Acid Resistance in the remains.
We explored several additional blocks without incident, until we entered the community center. It had many rooms with a great deal to search. We found some bolts of cloth worth about 3000g.
10th Level
Near the end of our rest, we noticed some debris falling and a bit of shaking in the building. We quickly went outside; the shaking had not been confined to our area. Some buildings looked untouched, and some seemed more affected.
Teavana summoned a gryphon, and took Rolen up for an aerial survey. We found an area where some clockwork creatures seemed to be working under an awning. There was the body of an ettercap among them. We entered in and killed the clockwork creatures. They were joined by several ettercaps, which we also disptached. The building attached to the awning was just clay; it had no internal structure.
We entered a nearby banquet hall. Inside we found two wraiths, and a group of quasits. We handled them, but took some damage in the process.
There was a basement we decided to check before resting. Inside were four flaming skulls. We killed them, but their fireballs were very hurtful.
We took a long rest in the basement before continuing on.
In the morning, it was clear that the city was deteriorating, likely due to our magic use. We decided to hit a few additional buildings before reporting back. The clock tower was next. We noticed while traveling that the day/night cycle had shortened to 6 hours of daylight to 6 hours of night.
We were beset by some sort of undead on our way to the clock tower, but defeated them despite their confusing fog.
The clock tower was closed up. Rolen entered it by stepping into the ethereal plane and stepping in from the outside. The inside of the tower was empty though, and he used Misty Step to get to the ground. There were two ettercaps and two phase spiders on the ground inside. The rest of the party came in as soon as they heard the sounds of battle. The ettercaps and spiders died quickly.
Searching the room, we found a Ring of Holy Orders. There was also a small pedestal that, in dwarvish, told us it was the way to the clock tower. Auste and Hoolna went up first. In the room, which was about 35' square, there was a sphere and a bunch of gears. Two vrocks and two dretches were in the room, banging on the gears.
We cleared the clock tower. The sphere turned out to be a great scrying orb; Hoolna used it to view some of the other buildings. We found a few interesting things; when Hoolna asked to see a bank, it showed us Shieldmaiden's Hall.
There was a journal on the ground as well. We noticed a particular passage:
Clock Tower Journal
First Entry
With construction wrapping up, they want someone to stay here and keep an eye on the city. They put the scrying stone up here, and the tower also gives a pretty good view. Makes sense that they'd want someone to look after it, considering who it's for. I don't know what the rotation looks like, though. I asked when I'd be relieved, and they said not to worry about it. That usually means they plan to leave you longer than you'd like, so I packed a couple lunches, just in case.
So far, I haven't seen a thing beside the patrol guards. I actually expect this to be a pretty easy gig.
Second Entry
Well, it's now well into the night. I've eaten both lunches, and haven't seen any of the construction workers since the sun went down. Maybe I misunderstood, and my shift was actually the full 24 hours. No harm, I suppose. I'll know for next
Third Entry
Last entry cut short because of lots of banging coming from the entrance. I used the stone to see what was going on, and they were sealing it up! I got down from the tower quick as I could and ran all the way there, but I was too late. The city was already sealed, and with me inside. I screamed my head off, but... they can't have heard me.
They must have forgotten I was in here. I guess I just wait for them to notice I'm missing.
Fourth Entry
A few days in now. If they were going to come back for me, I think they would have. I've searched the city, but there's not any food (save the candy shop). I found water enough, but... I mean, that's only going to last me so long.
Fifth Entry
It's been... I don't know... a week or so on nothing but candy. Candy and water. I thought maybe I could make that work, but.... it's kind of just making me sick more than anything. So. I guess that's it, then.
Sixth Entry
I'm getting the creeps. I know the builders cut corners. I've heard what they bound into the walls...
Seventh Entry
Haven't much seen the point of writing--never was one for talking to myself. It's been... I'm not sure. A few weeks. Just holding this damn pen is really hard right now. But the weirdest thing happened.
It might have just been hallucinations. It had to be. Nothing else really makes sense. But just in case it's not... I don't know.
Something happened to the air. I don't know how to describe it. It just got... wobbly. Then all this stuff started coming through it. All these... what, monsters? I mean, I guess they were. I don't know what else I'd really call them. They look like nothing I've ever seen. It's almost like
[the journal stops here]
We floated back down to the floor. There were two hidden doors in the temple. The door to the West held two healing potions; Rolen took one and so did Auste.
There was a stair well behind the door to the east. Auste went down first, stealthily. The room at the bottom was round, 50' across and 15' high. There were rotting body parts on the floor, and an unlit fireplace. The room stank and we couldn't tell the originating species of the remains.
The room led into the area marked on the map as the tombs. We cleared them, finding little more than 10g.
In one of the burial chambers, we found the ghost of a dwarf, Marar Ruknabek. It told us that the Thunderax clan were not coming back; the rift they'd left through had been a trap. We knew the rest of the story about the city. She didn't know anything else about the city's construction (the demons, that is), but she agreed that there were some serious shortcuts to get the city completed.
We found a magical warhammer, the Hammer of Bohr. Hoolna took it for now.
We took a short rest and decided there was nothing left for us to do in this city.
11th Level