Unknown
The Story
The Greater Sheathe Lighthouse was built during the Cabbalum, constructed by
builders and smiths devout to both Beskem and Migneus.
Construction completed near the beginning of the Rend. In one of their final
acts of service before leaving Al'tehrun, the Grace Marshal and the Flamebearer
created the White Flame - a divine, ever-burning symbol of their guidance and
protection to the people. This, combined with the understanding of the Greater
Sheathe Gulf itself and its creation by the Grace Marshal during the Rend,
leaves this region (Port Ghamd, Rookmore, the Boreal Channel) to be of great
significance to the devout of the Grace Marshal.
The Knights Duvonte have not visited the site in some time. The Knights have not been permitted to permanently reside in the Olessar Empire in years, and as such, the lighthouse has not been subject to regular upkeep. The last company instructed to check in on the lighthouse and ensure consecration was Herald Oraleur Sylwes, who was killed before he could complete his duties.
Approaching the Lighthouse
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As you walk along the coast, a towering structure comes in to view - a lighthouse, stretching high into the sky. At the top is a luminous beacon of light - a white flame that burns bright and pure. |
The lighthouse rests atop an elevated section of crags at the Northwestern entrance to the Greater Sheathe Gulf. It stands 40 feet above the water and 130 feet tall.
The entrance to the lighthouse is on the south side. The North and East sides of the lighthouse border the crags and are nearly sheer with the drop into the water below. The base of the lighthouse is a 40ft x 40ft square, rises 40 feet tall, and tapers inward the further up it goes. 4 floors, each 10 feet tall, make up the interior of this section of the lighthouse. The remaining 90 feet is comprised of stairs that rise to the open-air peak which houses the White Flame.
Areas of the Temple
L1, Exterior
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Climbing up the steep hillside to the lighthouse, you hear the gibbering and bubbling of speech in an odd language (Undercommon), as if it's being spoken while gurgling. |
Those who understand Undercommon recognize the broken, stuttering speech of the Kuo-toa talking amongst themselves. 7 Kuo-toa have formed an assembly line from the Channel below to the entrance of the lighthouse, and are passing buckets of water up into the lighthouse. The Kuo-toa flatly sing sea shanties to themselves as they work.
Encounter: 7 x Kuo-toa
Current Status: 5 killed, 2 escaped. One Kuo-toa got a dented head, party put a bucket on his head as a helmet
L2, First Floor: Keeper's Quarters
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The beds and shelves in this room are all is covered with salt-sprayed, dusty sheets. A trail of salt water leads from the from door to the stairs immediately on the right |
Within one of the footlockers at the foot of a covered bed is a bullseye lantern with an unlit candle inside of it. The lantern and the candle are all stone and made of one continuous piece of material. If lit with the White Flame, this lantern gains the properties of a White Flame Lantern
40 x 40 room
Encounters: None
L3, Second Floor: Storage Room
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Shelves, barrels, and crates fill this room and create smaller walkways between them to navigate amongst the supplies. Several barrels are emptied while crates and shelves of stone bricks and masonry tools remain untouched. |
35 x 35 room
Encounters: Kuo-toa Whip x 2, Kuo-toa x 2
L4, Third Floor: Library
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An acrid smell of smoke and ask hits you as the door pushes through a small layer of burned parchments and debris on the floor. Blackened scorch marks scar the walls and floor |
Given the time they've had with the lighthouse, the cultists of the Creeping Dread have had the time to burn and destroy all of the texts stored here. This room used to contain texts describing the worship of the Grace Marshal and the Flamebearer before and after the Rive, as well as a histories of Keepers and devout who frequented the lighthouse.
30 x 30 room
Encounters: Cultists x 2, Kuo-toa Monitor x 2
L5, Fourth Floor: Chapel
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This smaller room is a chapel with two distinct altars on opposite sides of room. One alter has a smaller scale stone relief to the Grace Marshal, a set of armor with an empty helm grasping a sword pointing towards the ground. The other altar is a stone relief of a candle with a stone wick - imagery commonly associated with the Flamebearer |
The chapel is largely untouched. The Grace Marshal's sword can be removed and used as a stone dagger. If inserted in the relief's gauntlets with the sword facing the sky, the sword clicks into place and triggers a flame to light on the stone candle at the Flamebearer's altar. The fire is magical and is sustained as long as the sword remains in this state.
25 x 25 room
Encounters: Kuo-toa Archpriest, Cult Fanatic
Item: Everbright Lantern w/ the white flame within it, broken
Current Status: Party flipped the sword in the Grace Marshal's altar, which lit the stone candle of the Flamebearer
L6, Fifth Floor, Tower Top
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Climbing the stairs to the peak of the lighthouse, an immense heat dries your skin before even reaching the top floor. A white flame roars above wide stone pedestal. |
In the day, the White Flame can be seen from miles away, a brighter spot against the open sky. At night, the light from this divine source extends the entirety of the entrance of the Greater Sheathe Gulf, clearly illuminating the coastline on the western side and the high crags and rocks which line the eastern edge. Hundreds of feet of cliffs on the Irdus Bluffs across the gulf are shown in the stark white light of the flame.
The White Flame is a divine creation of the Grace Marshal and the Flamebearer. It is a direct connection to those divinities, and as such, the most devout to those powers commune with the flame when seeking guidance from those beings. Additionally, the flame is known to cure and prevent many afflictions: any creature that touches the White Flame receives the benefits of a Lesser Restoration spell. Those devout to the Grace Marshal and the Flamebearer can also receive the benefits of a Greater Restoration (an offering of 100g diamond dust per the spell cost is also required).
The pedestal is 1.5' tall and 5' in diameter. Upon inspection, the sides of the pedestal are seen to house pictorial writing which travel the circumference of the pedestal. The images show the creation of the white flame:
- Beskem and Migneus on Al'tehrun
- They cultivate their own groups of worshippers, separately
- The devout of Beskem and Migneus came together and built the lighthouse together
- Beskem and Migneus observe this and come together and create the White Flame upon the top of the lighthouse
- The final picture is the lighthouse shining in the center, Migneus on the left guiding his followers west and Beskem on the right, one foot on a tall bluff outcropping, driving their sword into the earth just to the west (Rookmore and the Greater Sheathe Gulf
10 x 10 peak
Encounters: Cult Fanatic x 3