Paladirzt 18th, 951
- Waking up in the middle of the night, Journey rifled through Wander’s things, waking him up
- Journey wanted to seat her crystal on a staff, choosing the Staff of Silence to do so.
Paladirzt 19th, 951
- Wander got to work identifying a number of items (see last journal for others)
- After some repeated attempts, he finally figured out the puzzle to Mardyth’s dagger, identifying it as the Godsent Dagger. He decided to keep it for himself.
- Additionally, he could not break through to Valefinger, as it seemed to have an additional protective barrier, very similar in nature to the Godsent Dagger
- Unable to pierce through Dragastir, he returned it to Phaelnah
- He tried identifying the broken sword, and knew its name as the Rake of Elthurn, but could not identify what it could do
- The sword reached through to his mind with a violent energy, freezing him in place. Tyerjon and Phaelnah attempted to free him, culminating in Phaelnah slashing him with her talons to break him out of his trance. He attempted to break through the hold twice, but failed both times, choosing to shelve the identification for now
- Wander learned that the medallions they had been given in Hymathel were also filled with a divination magic, giving away their locations to someone
- Journey and Leadbelly learned that because of the enchantments of the Tomb of Zelvass, they could not enter Madrioc while the Roomy Chest was within the crypt (Sorry about the mess-up!)
- Seamus began reading through his book on the Zelvass Lineage, learning a number of things, specifically that his ancestor was most likely Aluva’ia of the Winds, or Malenthys of the Mist.
- Phaelnah spoke for a while with Dragastir, learning a bit about the staff’s nature and power, as well as its rather abrasive personality
- As Inglis began to stir, speaking to Phaelnah about his regrets and the fate of the Divine Branch
- With godlike insight, Phaelnah immediately recognized that it was not Inglis speaking, but Etarus
- The party took him to the Aeltran shrine Phaelnah had previously consecrated, citing the Invocation of the Forest, which Etarus appeared to know in Elvish
- Phaelnah then casted Divine Intervention, calling Aeltra herself to remove Etarus from Inglis’ body
- The goddess plucked the devil from Inglis, but required another host to complete the task
- Phaelnah pointed out Wander, and the devil was seated inside him yet again, albiet with less power this time
- Wander was a bit miffed, but eventually accepted his fate
- The battered and tied up Inglis eventually roused as himself and began to speak with Phaelnah
- The party “gave the two some privacy” as they eavesdropped from around the corner
- Phaelnah (and the party) learned that Inglis had been adventuring across Atavar, engaging in heroics with Yoxxel, who he named Paela to cover her true name, just in case word got out of her heritage
- He retrieved the legendary sword Valefinger from the beasts of Raav, saved the Venwood, cured a rot of the Alltree and was blessed with Dragastir, and was sent on a quest to purge the devils from Sanaris, where they were growing disturbingly close to opening a portal to hell.
- Inglis’ understanding of the devils’ plans was that they sought the Tomb of Zelvass to bind its portal to an object of power in order to use a corrupted Lake Faelance to bring the entirety of Etarus’s prison into the Material Plane.
- Inglis mentioned that the actions of the party had inadvertently given the devils the implements that they needed to secure Peralas and corrupt the Heart of the Lake. Additionally, the city was being held hostage by the devils.
- Inglis had been overwhelmed by the political struggles of Sanaris and the unruly nature of the Divine Branch recruits, who had taken to conducting raids and at one point had turned half of someone into a tree, leading to terrifying rumors being spread
- Inglis preferred more cut-and-dry heroics, but felt that he needed to live up to the responsibilities placed on him
- He mentioned how his relationship with Yoxxel went sour with Deowyn Centhos, aka Burvakos, slowly poisoning her against him when he had to spend most of his time devil hunting
- Inglis briefly introduced himself to the group, and attempted to make amends for his previous actions
- He expressed an interest in exploring the tomb, eager to uncover its history, mentioning a great treasure buried within
- The Tomb of Arylnaes the Faithful
- Inside the room was a giant, dark pit, and a bloody mat opposite to a coffin on the far side of the long room
- Lit Inscription
Arylnaes the Heretic
Arylnaes devoted herself to the worship of a blasphemous god
Her commitment wavered often, and was a darkness to those around her
She couldn’t help but stare at her feet in shame as she fell by the hands of the righteous - Dark Inscription
Arylnaes the Faithful
Committed deeply to honoring tradition, Arylnaes devoted herself completely to Aeltra
She followed her teachings without fail, and would plunge herself into darkness to extend Aeltra’s light
She never once wavered in her conviction, never looking down as they felled her - Wander sent Matilda diving into the pit, and she instantly appeared above the bloody mat, dying in a puff of feathers
- Journey jumped down into the pit, staring straight up as she lept with Phaelnah casting a Light spell upon her
- The light was quickly extinguished, and Journey began to fall into the darkness for minutes
- Worried, Leadbelly jumped down after her, with a rope tied around his waist and held by Tyerjon. The rope snapped as he crossed into the darkness, and after a while, he looked down, landing on the mat and taking some heavy falling damage
- Inglis jumped at the chance to heal Leadbelly, giving him some thumbs-up
- Journey, after falling for more than five minutes, suddenly appeared on top of Tyerjon, who was attempting to form something to cushion her fall. In her hands she held a small, living branch, looped around into itself.
- Journey gave the loop to Phaelnah after Inglis identified it as a symbol of Aeltra.
- The group continued through the tomb, attempting to uncover unexplored rooms
- The Tomb of Ulemara the Beautiful
- The group stumbled upon a room wreathed in an unnatural darkness, obscured by thick walls.
- Seamus and Wander decided to stealthily scout ahead into the room, but Seamus stumbled and made a bit of noise, attracting the attention of a humanoid form standing by the coffin in the middle of the room
- Screaming that the two had seen her, the masked figure initiated combat
- Ulemara compelled those who were in sight to approach her, and she then attacked them with claws of shadow
- Taking some damage here and there, the group dispatched her with relative ease as she turned into wisps of smoke and disappeared, leaving only a mask behind
- Wander took the mask and mocked the woman throughout the rest of the tomb
- Lit Inscription
Ulemara the Hideous
A beauty like none other, she loved showing her face to the world
To gaze upon her is to understand perfection - Dark Inscription
Ulemara the Beautiful
Born as a monstrosity, Ulemara hid away from the world
She punished those who witnessed her true face
- Afterwards, the group headed east, discovering a chest containing an unfinished inscription as well as some rounded gems that looked to have a magical use.
- Phaelnah discovered that due to a landslide, one of the doors out of the room had been cracked open, so Tyerjon busted it open with a rock
- He was instantly blinded by a powerful light radiating from the other room, and dodged out of the way before his scales were burned by radiant energy
- Wander attempted to cover his eyes with a sheer cloth, but was still blinded by the light
- After the group pondered for a bit, Tyerjon put the Roomy Chest on his head and rushed to the other side of the room, taking some damage but making it across without bumping into anything thanks to his lizard brain
- The group followed with varying degrees of damage mitigation after Wander said that the last one across would have to buy the others a round
- Inglis was left in the dust as Phaelnah took Journey’s Dimension Door to the other side
- The paladin rushed into the room, instantly losing his bearings as he stumbled over and accidentally touched the coffins in the center of the room
- The lights briefly went out and the other doors of the room opened, but Inglis, still blinded, could not find his way out of the room
- Phaelnah rushed in and guided him out, taking some radiant damage in the process
- The Memorial of By’varre the Young
- There was no coffin in the room, only a plaque that read in the darkness:
- Born frail and weak, By’varre barely lived longer than a human would
He had barely aged from childhood when he passed
He had a unique love of life that touched all those around him
Buried elsewhere long ago, his memory lives on in this tomb of tragedy
- Born frail and weak, By’varre barely lived longer than a human would
- Phaelnah’s dumb eyes found a loose brick on the back wall, and Seamus stuck his arm in the wall after the group faffed around for a bit throwing lit peas into the hole
- Seamus found a lever in the magical darkness, raising a hidden drawer from the ground
- In the drawer was the book Auel Venar’re, which translates roughly to “Half of a Bargain of Stolen Fate”.
- Remembering threats he was warned about as an agent of the Kalhastian Empire, Wander recalled that the book had a sister, and when they were used together, one book would take something from someone, and in return the other would give them knowledge of anything they desired.
- The books had disappeared from a temple in Weysol millennia ago, and despite their relative irrelevance, were considered dangerous enough by the empire to warrant the issuing of warnings about it to its agents
- The book in the party’s possession was the one that takes
- Taking the book, the party left the memorial room
- There was no coffin in the room, only a plaque that read in the darkness:
- The Memorial of the Lost
- The room contained no coffins, but instead had a number of memorials for those that could not be buried within the tomb
- Among these were the illegitimate children of the crown that were murdered as insurance by the rebellion, and a retainer to Aniala the Secretive, Zeledan, who mysteriously disappeared while working on the tomb.
- There was a memorial for Malenthys of the Mist, who Seamus learned had exiled herself to become the warden of Elspur Krin, otherwise known as the Wildmind
- The child of a disgraceful union, Malenthys left to save face for her family and save herself the grief of their constant derision
- Seamus knew the forest to be a place parents would promise to send their children if they misbehaved
- The final memorial was for Aluva’ia of the Winds, who had left freely as she disliked the lifestyle of royalty
- Aluva’ia was known for her promiscuity, and apparently mothered many children across the continent much to the dismay of the crown, which would find these children and attempt to keep them from extending the lineage.
- Tomb of Las’vylien the Radiant and Nel’trien the Scholar
- Wander Misty Stepped over to the central coffins, touching them and putting the lights out as well as opening the doors
- The group followed through, choosing to head to the east
- Wander read the inscription in the darkness, which was:
Las’vylien the Radiant and Nel’trien the Scholar
The future Queen and King of Sanaris - Eventually Wander rushed to join the group, making his way through the doors before they closed behind him
-
- Library of the Valiant
- The party arrived in a room full of documents and books
- Seamus looked through the various records kept in the shelves, learning that they were mostly historical accounts of various lineages for the many souls interred in the tomb
- He also noticed that there were many out of place books that appeared to hold tenants of Fectovarano, and other written on the merits of humanized governmental structures
- The group found all the books and pulled them, opening the doors of the room
- Library of the Valiant
- Heading north, the party discovered a close pair of rooms
- The Tombs of Une and Valuar
- The rooms were very barren and nondescript
- The group found they could not say certain things in the rooms, as the words would refuse to leave their mouths
- After touching the coffin of Une, a voice rang through the heads of the party, echoing:
- Do you believe that kindness should be given before it is earned?
- The group attempted to answer yes, but found themselves unable to answer
- In Valuar’s room, a voice echoed:
- Do you find pleasure in the pain of others?
- Tyerjon and Phaelnah, both truthfully, answered “sometimes”, and the sound of a door opening could be heard
- Phaelnah gave the same answer to Une, and the second door opened, with the group somewhat unsure of what they had accomplished
- The group found some cloth bags in a chest behind the doors, the Friendly Bags of Sharing.
- The Tomb of Pelyryn the Leader
- Seamus lead the excursion into the room, and began walking through as a giant axe swung down at him
- Seamus attempted to dodge but was too slow-footed, but even still, the axe phased right through him
- Continuing with caution, Seamus also failed to dodge a blast of fire that didn’t burn him, but managed to get around a volley of tiny needles
- However, after dodging the needles, he was transported to the beginning of the room
- Wander then walked straight through all the traps, emerging unscathed on the other side, and the others followed
- At the coffin on the far side of the room, a ghostly elven woman in resplendent armor appeared, leaning against the casket
- She introduced herself as Pelyryn
- Seamus recognized the name from various folk tales he had heard about the hero Pelyryn, especially from when she fought a demon of fire and earth in the northeastern flatlands of Sanaris, with their battle turning the land to hills which are still called Pelyryn Pae to this day
- She inquired of the outside world, musing that she would like to be removed from this awful tomb
- Pelyryn requested that the party shut her husband but, who had been laughing incessantly for centuries and driving her mad
- The Tomb of Taevaloth the Unscrupulous
- The party entered the room, where a ghostly man sat laughing to himself in front of his coffin
- After introducing himself, he challenged the party to a game of logic, choosing Leadbelly to go up against
- With two metal cloches sat out in front of him, Taevaloth told Leadbelly that one of the cloches in the room contained a Golden Fruit of Pae, a special apple that would bring whoever ate it back from death one time, but the others contained a dust that would turn him to stone. He allowed Leadbelly to asked him one yes or no question before he chose
- Leadbelly asked if the left cloche contained the apple and Taevaloth said no, so he chose the right one and was turned to stone
- Phaelnah quickly healed Leadbelly with Greater Restoration, to Taevaloth’s discontent
- After the party asked want he wanted, he replied that he wished to be free
- Phaelnah offered to attempt to free him by using her Soulcaster
- The party spent a short rest talking with Taevaloth as Phaelnah attuned to Soulcaster
- Taevaloth told the party about the Rake of Elthurn, using his ghostly power to reveal that the rest of the sword was still there, albeit spectral and invisible to the naked eye
- Phaelnah then absorbed Taevaloth into the artifact, doing the same of Pelyryn shortly after
- The group continued onwards to the room of the Emerald Queen
- Tomb of Aludia Zelvass, the Emerald Queen
- The party entered into a large room with various statues around the perimeter
- After investigating the statues for a time and identifying them as the children of Aludia, the party approached the large casket in the center
- A voice rang through the heads of the group, speaking to Seamus, and recognizing him as an heir of Zelvass
- The Emerald Queen expressed that she wished to test the mettle of the next king, and began combat as a bolt of energy surged down from a crystal on the ceiling, bringing a giant iron statue to life
- The party went to whacking at the statue, but it seemed to resist most types of damage
- Critiquing the strength and intelligence of the party, the statue struck back with mighty blows and sent shockwaves of electricity throughout the room, dealing heavy damage to those who didn’t obscure themselves behind cover
- Tyerjon and Journey discovered that their sonic and thunder damage was extra effective against the statue
- After Wander lit a Grease fire underneath the statue, Leadbelly threw in some of his silver powder, bringing the flames into a powerful flare that began to melt the statues’ metal
- As the statue neared structural failure, it requested to fight Seamus one on one, blow for blow. Seamus used Voidspeaker to cut a mighty gash straight through the form of the statue with a mighty blow, cleaving it in half
- The statue commended the Seamus’ strength, but also advised that he use his head from time to time as she pointed at the crystal on the ceiling that had been powering her the whole time
- Before fading away, she gave Seamus her blessing
- The group continued onwards with Phaelnah discovering a secret door leading to a room with a massive treasure chest
- Inside the chest was 928 platinum and 4322 gold alongside a note addressed to Zeledan to keep his hands off.
- Satisfied with their exploration of the tomb, the group headed back to Mavenla’s room to rest for the night
- Anticipating the Nightblight, Inglis casted Enhance Ability on Phaelnah, as she did the same to herself. For the third ever time, she was able to overcome the Nightblight without advancing.
Paladirzt 20th, 951
- The group, after a bit of thought, decided to head to Madrioc together to handle some outstanding affairs, with Inglis volunteering to stay behind to watch over the chest
- The party decided to leave their medallions of heroics behind in the tomb
- Coming out of the tomb, the party discovered that all the corpses from their battle the other day had been buried in the ground head-first with their legs sticking out, ordered by tallest to shortest
- Surrounded by fresh, new corpses, Arghan and the Twins (to an extent) greeted the party.
- As the party had killed his employer, Arghan was out of a job. He offered to kill people for 5 gold a head.
- The party payed him 55 gold for killing some assassins that had arrived at the tomb, giving the goliath a massive smile, with the promise of more corpses coming their way
- Arghan told the party he’d keep an eye on the chest with Inglis as he started to throw rocks at birds for breakfast
- Inglis ensured the group he’d be fine
- The party made their way up through Razodon’s cellar, meeting with a maid preparing breakfast who informed them that Razodon wished to speak with them
- Meeting with Razodon in his study, he spoke of Journey’s brothers Karcius and Valx having passed through town, having met with Renbedar to discuss the killing of dragons
- Razodon informed the group that the country was on high alert following attacks by Zahast the Vilespawn, and that Renbedar was leading research into dragon slaying magic
- He eventually invited the party to join him for breakfast, which was very nice and actually had some meat in it, for once
- The party headed down to the Works, meeting up with Vinn Vinnfeck at Vinn’s Wares
- Vinn had fallen on hard times; his sales increased for a while after the group left, but began to die down. Soon he was unable to pay his suppliers and had to resort to mercenary work again, losing some of his fingers in the process.
- The party decided to take the money he had saved for them and reinvest it in his business, telling him to hire some advertisers as well
- Vinn thanked the party, and asked them to check in more often if they could
- The group also bought some items from Vinn, getting some Strappings and rope.
- The party then visited Rhine and Shine, where Wander sold his pearls and the group bought some diamonds for Phaelnah’s spells
- Afterwards, the group stopped by Rest Assured, where they caught up with Quiet
- Coincidentally, Whisper was visiting at the time, for the first time in many years
- The party discovered that Whisper and Quiet are like total opposites
- After some drinks on the house and conversation, the party left for the Spiral Ward
- Meeting up with Gudric Boyle at Roil and Boiler’s, the party bought some health potions, and got some botched inky black mystery potions on the house
- Afterwards the group stopped by The Lucent Dove where they found Valera waiting for Avelos to fetch a ring she had commissioned
- Awkwardly, Valera apologized for the other day, saying it was only a job
- She informed the party that she had come here with Karcius and Valx, teleporting them in for a cash injection
- She had also taken Whisper along
- As she left, Valera warned the party that she had been able to find them so easily because they walked around with a massive magical signature. She suggested that they either stop carrying around so much magic, or find a way to mask their presence from scrying eyes
- Meeting with Avelos, the party engaged in trade with the old turtle
- The party purchased a Mass Proof Against Detection and Divination, and Tyerjon got a personal one for himself
- Leadbelly purchased the Stoneskin Shield and Journey bought the Hag’s Finger
- Tyerjon, Seamus, and Phaelnah presented their items to Avelos to have him remove their curses, and upgrade them a little bit
- He said he could get them all done in about 5 days
- Avelos bought the Othersight Headband from Seamus, and the Quaking Crystal from Journey
- Avelos didn’t really seem to have an interest in the Filthy Hat of Lies or the Senebeder Bead.
- Journey nearly FOOLISHLY sold Eugene’s very special Bag of Sand, before she was bade not to by a conscience she APPARENTLY wishes to ignore
- As the group left Avelos and continued on into the city, Journey received a Sending from Kisya, asking if she was free to talk.