Session 002 - 11.21.25

Session

Combat.

The lizard companion we have, is pretty beefy.

Aerilon manages to convince the scorpions to stand down, but not quick enough to save Seth from a scorpion stinger death.

We get Jin up to speed. His fox appears and he is questioning who he is, because Jin doesn't recognize him. He's like a finnec fox, with hardened scales. "You kindov look like a dragon". The fox sniffs his hand, Jin speaks in a language the others do not understand to the fox. But we do catch, "Tonik". IT hops into Jin's lap and get cozy.

Scruffy: The large lizard that has joined us.

Tonik is a chimeran fox.

Jin tells us there is supposed to be an epic duel. A band of adventurers is going to face Vecna. We are unsure if they will be successful, but we shall see.

Gods be deading. Jin explains gods are just people who "stepped into a position". Some of them start as mortal beings like us. The Raven Queen, she was just a normal woman.

After an hour or so, the thunder begins to lighten up, the storm is passing but the animals still seem frightened.

Frank peeks outside, the storm is moving on, but it's odd, because it's held over one specific location, stationary in the sky.

We decide to setoff as a group, North. To Du Hurst and the storm cloud. Taylor, the other npc, decides to go with us.

The desert looks more prismatic and crunchy. Glasses shattered everything. About 10 minutes of travel and we see the storm cloud move to the left and then a sharp turn to the right.

Another hour or so, we begin to crest the edge of the desert, up a rocky hilled terrain. As we break, we see over a large valley, that leads to another mountain crest, we see large white walls of a human city (Du Hurst), built years ago, abandoned. We can see a large crystal jutting out from the city; it has it's own little aura around it, very hazy... Full of energy.

Jin thinks it's part of the moon and doesn't think we should get too close "You won't like what will happen to you".

We also see smoke rising from the west. A lot of smoke. Another couple miles out, a destroyed, darkened fortress. We can tell by the scorched walls it was heavily effected by the storm. We can infer that the storm hovered over it.

We look down on the city: It's not obvious at first, but around the city about 80' apart, are human bodies, not moving. They are standing. We don't see any shine of armor.

Ship: Banner with small skull that has one eye, to the west, way, way, way off in the sea.

We head off towards the fortress. We make it to the destination and it appears to be a religious temple. It was burnt and almost blood soaked. IT was built as a monument, but in a battle fortress style.

We come around the east wall, windows about 6' up, they are spaced about 15' apart. There is wooden scraps in the windows. We come around and there is a field, still on fire. Tents, bags, beds and corpses littered everywhere. There is a wooden structure that has been destroyed by the storm. In the fortress we see, in the center, an almost dilapidated building with a half burnt banner of fingers and an eye. More corpses with armor and weapons, a destroyed wasp nest.

The group decides to investigate a little bit.

Jin looks at a battelment, Tonik jumps into a crack in the wall. He looks in the crack and sees a loxodon corpse pushed up against the wall, and there is an intact room and a tunnel built into the mountain behind it. That part of the structure is stable.

Jin calls Frank over to assist pulling out the rubble to gain interest. We all watch. The dust settles and Jin steps into the room.

It stinks, like decay and mold. There is a fresh corpse: loxodon. Jin touches the dead body. It shifts moves and rolls over. A staff rolls out. Looks like a tree branch, with some holes in the leaves. Staff of Bird Calls. The body was already picked clean before he died. NO markings, amulets, signets, etc.

He sees faint blood trails leading to a door with no handle.

In the courtyard, we search for weapons and armor.

We grab some weapons from the dead bodies and enter the room with Jin. Frank tosses a pebble at the door. It ricochets off, doing nothing.

Frank can tell there is a pressure plate right before the door. He can see there is a piece of stone, in the center of the door, that shifts. (The hole is about the size of a baseball.)

Jin puts Tonik on the pressure plate, it jumps up and down. Nothing happens. Franks puts his maul on it and the whole opens. Tonik goes through and there is a silver flash and it jumps around the room.

The door opens and Tonik is sitting on a rough cloth. There are holes in the wall that leads to a lever. We see another door with no handle 20' into the room. But Frank does not detect a pressure plate on this one.

Frank does the same trick and the doors opens to a descending staircase.

As Taren steps through, we can hear the thunder pick up and it has a rhythm to it. We can hear them yelling out, but can't make out what they are saying.

Aerilon goes back and tells Scruffy to push the rubble back and leave, to stay safe. It was a touching moment. Aerilon makes his way back to the group, shutting doors behind them.

Jin lights his lamp and we hear rattling cages as lights come one. We can hear trickles of water in the distance, but it's not water, it's blood. Almost impossible to walk around it. We come across another, simple wooden door, in this room of prisoners, left for dead.

Jin looks through the little window in the door. There is a stone tablet in the middle with an assortment of things across it. One being a book: It looks like an elongated huma skull, with a bar holding it shut. There are two horns that go around and crest around the book. In a jar is a fragment that looks like the head of a spear (crystal).

Jin opens the door and a cage rattles and the creature lunges at him. But we make it into the room.

The book is a large book: A tome. It is closed. JIn and Aerilon attempt to get a feel on the book. It's creepy. Aerilon can tell the leather is not beast bound. There are wrappings that hang out of it. It's abhorrent.

There are sketches on a parchment. There is a bunch of paper, some a bit see through. Like flesh going onto and off of a body.

Jin reaches for the jar with the spear head. His eyes roll in his head. He is looking over a field, a warband running at him. They are his banners. He throws the spears into the earth. He sees his people rushing past it, warcrying, charging at him. WAR. His people overthrow him and the spear shatters as he attempts to fight his more loyal lieutenant. He has an eyepatch with a skull on it (left eye). The spears shatters into 5 pieces and the vision ends. He sets it down and steps back.

The spears was craft by his people, to have the power to fell another God. Gromash was standoffish with other gods. He stayed with his people, spiritually. During the end, he demanded more sacrifices for power. He was track down his foe. But he never went to that war. He still hid among his people, wanting more and more. They basically overthrew him. They tore him down. Jin believes this is related to Vecna.

Jin picks himself up off the ground. He reaches out for the spear head again and is able to take it. Aerilon touches and gets the vision. Then Frank and Taren at the same time.

Jin reaches his hand into the jar, but he can't get in. He throws the jar down, it doesn't break.

We can't break this jar to save our lives. Jin is starting to realize we need to dispel magic to get into it.

Taren touches the book and the torch goes out. Nothing happens. Jin relights his candle. Taren tries to open the book. There is a latch in the mouth on the book. He opens it and it is full of blank pages.

Jin pricks his finger and puts a drop of blood on a page. IT absorbs and dissipates.

We can really start to feel the vibrations of the war band above getting heavier and we begin to figure out how to leave.

Aerilon takes the book from Taren and puts it in his backpack.

Jin has an idea: TO send Tonik underground to where we came from. Jin enters Tonik's mind. We sees the warband coming, he has made further up the mountain. He can see many persons, they are setting up around the temple. There is a small scouting party. They have banners, marching forward with a little more haste than the rest of the army. Six of them.

"Looks like forces are setting up between here and Du Hurst."

He explains the situation to us. They were goblins or orcs or something, not human.

Jin begins to gather up the papers and crams them into his bags. We need to leave. We are concerned with the creatures being allied with the other forces.

Jin also copies the the teleportation runes.

"Do you have any food?" We see one cage, with a small hunched over person inside. An emaciated, almost childlike person, swaying back and forth.

She tells us her name is Sera. She's been here a long time and there are terrible things happening. She is from Raqirc. She is 11. Her parents were with her when she was taken, but they are no longer here. They were taken away, into the altar room.

We need to get out of this "basement". We decide to fight our way out. Taylor and Sera and hang back.

We engage with the scouting party in the entrance of the tunnel. The scouting party breaks open the doorway.

Goblins, hobgoblins, etc.

Verok. -> One of the orcs says "I didn't give up for Gromash, I won't give up for Verok!"