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Aiden, with only a few minor missteps, skillfully leads the team back to Trollskull. They wouldn't have made it that easily on their own. He is thanked for his guide service, and given an extra piece of the Witchlight confections for his efforts. While the rest of the group checks on Maran and gets settled in, Barrett casts Detect Magic again, as it will probably be useful for their investigation of the chest.
Ten minutes later, with everyone gathered around and with Maran safely out of sight, Barrett repeats the process of opening the ornate box then raises the lid. "I don't know what the best order is to go through all of this, but let's start by laying it all out on this table so I can tell you exactly which items are giving off what."
He pulls out the removable shelf with the papers, ink, quills and feathers. "I can see that parchment and that bottle of ink are glowing with illusion magic." With a glance at Dhann, he pushes that pile in his direction. "You mentioned wanting to organize the papers...have at it." Then he adds, "And I assume those are Ghost's feathers on top, based on what Renaer said."
Pulling the wicked dagger and the smaller chest out, he set them aside, saying, "These still have the strange dark gray magic glow. Z, you can probably start by Identifying that dagger and whatever is in the small chest. And I've got dibs on that dagger, for the moment." He glances at Ely, then adds, "But we can debate it, of course." He pulls the rest of the items from the chest, laying them out individually and reverently. He is aware of the somberness of what they are doing. Although none of them believe it - or at least want to believe it - they are handling the remaining physical objects of a dead man. After mentioning if any other items are glowing, Barrett asks, "Ely, do you want to start by helping me check out this map, or should we try to get these two drawers at the bottom of the chest open first?"
Eyes resting on the dagger for a second longer, Ely turns and picks up the map Barrett indicates. "I'll help with this since you asked so nicely." She flattens out the map on the table in front of her and begins scrutinizing the notes written across it.
Dhann delicately pulls the tray of papers towards him, lips pressed in a hard line as he considers the parchments stacked, but his expression softens as he moves a hand to keep the feathers from sliding off onto the table. And before the exploration of anything gets any further, the Cleric pulls out the Sanctum and plants it in the middle of the table, flooding the first floor with everything but the fog and sound blocking.
As she scans the map of Waterdeep, Ely is reminded of the magic map that Renaer showed them earlier in the day. She glances back at the dagger, now out of the chest waiting for Z to identify. "If we decide to go towards the City of the Dead, we might be only able to rely on our weapons. I don't know about you all, but ever since I only have my shortbow. When I lost Esvele's dagger, I had to borrow one from Aiden, so now he only has a dagger and his longbow." She looks up from the map at this point. "I'm pretty sure, none of our weapons are magical so I want to see if we can find some higher quality items to use."
Without looking up from the map, Barrett replies, "When I returned, Elminster gave me two very magical clubs and a powerful staff to use until Yelqen's Bow Staff arrived from the Order. I returned his staff to him, but I kept the clubs as backup weapons. I wish I had his staff again, since Yelquen's is flickering. Anyway, I plan on using this club for now," he says, patting the short, black, deadly object hanging off his belt at his right hip, "and I gave the other club to Dhann. If he's not planning on using it, I'm sure you could swing it. And hopefully, when we get into Blackstaff's Tower, there will be a cache of weapons and items and spell components and books and maps that we can draw from."
Hearing his name, Dhann glances up to catch the last bit of what’s being said. “Oh, yes, I thought I’d returned it. It must have slipped my mind.” The Cleric shifts around items in his pack before withdrawing the first club’s twin from the depths of his equipment and placing it by Barrett. “Apologies for not giving it back it sooner.”
Thinking on it, Elyana goes quiet. She'd tried out many weapons before. She could barely carry Jäger's Double-sided Greataxe, but she had given his handaxes an honest swing. And what she learned was that lighter weapons that require more finesse than strength worked better for her. But Aiden was stronger than she was and so a club in his hands would be a much more effective weapon. "If you aren't going to use it Dhann, can I get that for Aiden?"
Dhann passes the club over to Elyana. “We may be able to find something more suitable, before we head into the City of the Dead.”
"Hopefully to both those notions. I've neglected my shortbow for some time, so I'll have to remedy that. And sharpen our daggers as well. Best to be prepared for anything in case we don't find more." She sighs before returning back to the map.
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Current Situation
- This session takes place 13 Mirtul, 1494
- The Trollmates make it back to Trollskull again through the darkness led bravely by Aiden and, along the way, discover the dread Chicken Nugget Liver Flukes. Back at Trollskull, they continue to look through Ander's effects for any clues as to what has happened or, perhaps, what will happen.
Session Summary
- Aiden “Rascal” Windbreaker gets everyone safely back to Trollskull through the sewers, needing to go above ground for two intersections due to those places in the sewers being difficult or dangerous. The first one is passable, but is heavily crowded with debris from a cave in. Aiden has passed through it before, but it makes more sense with the group to simply bypass the debris above ground to get to the Tavern before proper dark. Above ground, to the next grate back down is two streets over.
- While the group is in the street proper, they run across a hideous creature pack, called Unknown although they're monstrosities with no resemblance to proper dogs whatsoever. Originating from Shadowfell, they are a force to be reckoned with, and are stronger in packs. The pack the Trollmates come across are attacking, or eating something vaguely humanoid, but Aiden ushers the group past with intense haste and no one protests - it's all surreal enough that their usual want to investigate is dulled.
- From Renaer Neverember: "The creatures look for carrion, but prefer live prey. They eat the carcasses, but get their true sustenance from siphoning life energy from their living targets. One or two alone aren't too much to contend with, but any more than that, it's better to avoid a confrontation. They're small, and have been seen in packs of up to a dozen.
- Safely back at Trollskull, the group settles down to sort through and identify the belongings of Ander Blackwood:
- The map of Faerûn with some scribbling, and notes on it. There are notes made by more than one person:
- It is specifically a map of the The Sword Coast, hand drawn and for personal reference. Not at all a map bought from a cartographer.
- Ander's hand is in green, while the Unknown Author is in orange, for the sake of reference (not colors used in game)
- To the north, in the High Forest, is a little sketch that looks remotely like a tree, alongside the note "Grandfather Tree." This is written in a hand that is not Ander's.
- To the south of Waterdeep, in the Trollbark Forest, is a circled location: Warlock's Crypt. Next to that circle, is another handwritten note. "Warlock's Crypt" is written in the same hand as "Grandfather Tree."
- Next to "Warlock's Crypt," in a much bigger hand, is written "The Beginning." This is definitely written by Ander.
- Mirt's Hunting Lodge is marked by Ander, as well as Waterdeep as a city. The impression from Ander's notes is that he was trying to figure out things on his own, in the absence of Elminster Aumar.
- Z has a vague memory of seeing some small notes about the Warlock's Crypt while the group was exploring the library of Drezlin Nandar. There didn't seem to be any massive importance assigned the place by Drezlin so much as some overall research, but nothing that stands out to Z as remarkable or noteworthy when looking at this map.
- Much further south is a peninsula sticking out from the Forest of Tethir, a northern point on it simply marked with an "X," but Barrett recognizes that place as a settlement known as The Dragon's Horn. It's a rough and tumble place, a sailors' respite. Lawless, but under a strict code of rules. No laws apply, no government, but if you break the code, you're thrown out and your reputation destroyed among the denizens of the sea. Avoided by locals, the Dragon's Horn is a place for people who make their livings on the seas and dangers there - sailors, pirates, any and all from ships.
- The last location marked is the island of Bete Noir, the Island of the Black Beast. It is just north of the island, The Nelanther. Legend has it that some sort of "black beast of old" lived on Bete Noir. No known threat that Barrett can recall has come from Bete Noir, but he's familiar with the legend. Some sort of land beast was forced off of the main continent and found refuge on the island that soon came to refer to the beast itself.
- The group holds onto the map.
- Barrett opens the last two drawers of the chest that seem to be empty, but upon a close inspection with help from Z, finds something. On the right side of the left drawer, what looked like a knot in the wood is actually a tiny, carved leaf. He presses it, and a small flap opens from the bottom of the drawer:
- One small piece of canvas, on the back, written in Common, is "Black Wood." The front of the canvas has a portrait of a very, very, very old man. Dhann vaguely remembers seeing this portrait on the Unknown family tree, very far back in the line. He is also able to gauge a remarkable family resemblance, and so puts the portrait of this man next to the framed, painted portrait of Westra (née Rommel) Blackwood and her three sons. Under the portrait is written, in Ander's hand, "Grandfather"
- Dhann recalls that the founding member of the Blackwood line, Molkar of the Black Woods, had the surname as two words, rather than the joined and present day "Blackwood." He mentions this to the rest of the group, that whoever this is, it is a portrait of someone from early on in the family line.
- The second item, a piece of paper, seems to be blank, but it glows with the same Illusory magic as the other paper and ink.
- Dhann puts these papers with the stack.
- The Two Potions:
- One of them resembles acid of some sort. It's a potion, crafted to act as an acid bomb, but the fact that it is lighting up with magical glow tells the group that it probably has some extra qualities not common with bombs such as this.
- The second potion is a silvery grey with black. It is a Resistance to Necrotic Damage potion, lasting 10 minutes.
- The two potions go into Elminster’s Bag of Holding.
- The Dagger:
- The dagger is absolutely a Shadow magic weapon. Compared to the weapons Renaer has, this looks explicitly evil, and a nasty weapon. This might even be the first weapon Ander crafted with Shadow.
- Z's Identify on the dagger reveals it to be, as the group suspected just on looks, an evil, wicked weapon. Wounds made with it are laced with Necrotic damage. It also has a chance of sucking life from its target to heal its wielder.
- The dagger does not appear to be sentient.
- Dhann is thoroughly grossed out by the thing, as it is clearly infused with deep, deep evil. Even Barrett is discomfited by the weapon, with his Clerical training. All of the above information, grimly, has nothing to do with the Shadow within the blade. Even before the addition of that dark magic, this weapon was already evil.
- Even with his Identify, Z isn't sure what additions to the weapon that the Shadow magic have bestowed. He does learn, though, that for all of these abilities (already existing, and Shadow alike) that attunement is needed.
- This seems like a very out of character thing for Ander to have this item. It doesn't match his character at all.
- Ely remarks that she doesn't know how this might change the groups' opinion of Ander, but he made this to help the cause fight back against the Shadow and evil plaguing the land. Dhann says that it doesn't change Ander in their minds, or shouldn't, but it should be considered that for Ander - as they know him - to have made this, or enhanced it - the young man must have been desperate or trying anything to work to gain an upper hand in the battle. "It feels intentionally evil, as opposed to mundanely utilizing something bad, for a better reason."
- Z is able to gauge Ander's hand in crafting this, sort of like a "magical signature." What Z can't quite sort out, though, are what parts exactly Ander has had a hand on. It's not known if he added the evil parts, just the Shadow parts, or some combination.
- This is an old, old dagger, extremely well cared for. There's not even a scratch on it.
- Watching the dagger handled by Barrett, Z notices there's another ability within the dagger. It's possible that the bearer of the dagger could flip its alignment, making it a blade of good. This enhancement was absolutely added by Ander, Z lets the group know.
- Consulting the Per Historia Arcandor Materia:
- The dagger has multiple names. Soul Shard, Death Shade, and Dusk (The Dusk Blade).
- Underneath the addition of the name Dusk, is a quick note "May also be white." However, the drawing next to this note, of the dagger, is of a black blade.
- There are no notes of the dagger being cursed, or cursing its bearer.
- No presence of Shadow is mentioned in the book. This hints that Ander added the Shadow. What the Shadow in this was assigned to do, is unknown at this time.
- Consulting the Per Historia Arcandor Materia:
- Barrett says he'll carry the dagger for now, but not attune to it. Ely thinks he should, while Z and Dhann are adamant he shouldn't - but if he does, to let them know.
- Barrett reveals he's had Esvele Rosznar's dagger and plans to kill her with it, in an act of revenge for Barrett's theory of Esvele murdering Iris Braeton. He now thinks of killing Esvele with the Dusk Blade, and so hands Esvele's original dagger over to Ely, if the Warlock wants to take it.
- Ely expresses frustration at Barrett having a dagger at all this whole time, but not using it for anything, or letting someone else use it instead. In the middle of this, Barrett thunks the dagger down into the table. Ely attempts to pull it out, but can't wrestle it from the wood, and snarks at Barrett, "Can you take this out of the table for me??" Not knowing his own strength, Barrett tries to retrieve it - but he must have thrown it while thinking of his plans for Esvele because the blade is deeply stabbed into the wood. Dhann shares a look with Z across the table, before leaning forward and yanking the dagger free, and dropping it between the Monk and Warlock.
- Ely takes it, and stores it on her person. "I don't understand, but whatever."
- Barrett wraps the dagger in an oilcloth and stores it in the bottom of his gear.
- The Wooden Shadow Chest:
- The chest is locked, but with no traps detectable. It's locked, and there's not even a keyhole. It's a seamlessly closed lid. The chest is wooden. Dhann wonders if it's not Laeral Silverhand's box that Vajra Safhar told them about, but there's no way to verify this unless Silverhand tells them directly.
- Z checks out the chest based on what he knows of Maran Blackwood's crafting. Maran would know how to unlock this as it seems like it's one of his items he's made. Z wonders how the doll, if possible, might be a part of the key.
- Putting the doll close to the box, Z hears a clicking, as if the box unlocked and locked in the span of a half-second. Upon further investigation, Z finds that in the back of the doll is a small compartment that, upon opening it, has a marble inside. Holding the marble to the box, the lid pops open. The group makes sure to store the marble in the doll to not confuse it with the other marbles in the chest from Ander.
- As soon as the wooden chest opens, Dhann is hit with nervousness at the amount of Shadow he can sense from it. He senses the Shadow is in its Mundane form, but there is a significant amount of it - more than he's sensed before, in this form. The amount he feels with the Eye is much, much more than the size of the box would otherwise seem to hold. The group, for now, opts to not open the box, and so they lock it again. The box is not made of ashwood. It looks more like a dark oak, or mahogany.
- For now, the group stores it back in Ander's chest until they decide what to do with it.
- The Day/Night Pendant:
- It's pretty sizable, roughly fitting in one's palm like a large medallion. One side is white stone, and the other, black. The symbology of it is strongest to Ely, with a very Fey feeling. One side represents night, with the other representing day. Stylistically, the sides match.
- When Ely holds it, Barrett sees that the item lights up with Illusion magic. "I wonder if it's Fey in origin, and your latent Fey magic is getting it to work again."
- To test this, Dhann pulls out the Breadcrumbs from Skabatha Nightshade and when Ely picks them up, they do glow with magic. Not sure if this will stand when she's not holding the items, but Ely holding them very much seems to revive the items somewhat.
- Ely puts the pendant down and focuses on it, with the Pearl, but there is no sense of the item being recharged in any way. Perhaps if she attunes to it, that'll do something.
- Z uses Identify and learns more, while Ely is holding it.
- Within a 100' radius, the pendant can create either Light or Dark. Full on nighttime, or daytime. It's like a sun, or nighttime, above you. This will bend around corners. Truly daylight or night - not necessarily magical day time or magical darkness. Once per long rest, one or the other can be summoned.
- Ely stores the item in her pouch.
- The Bracers & the Vest:
- The bracers are simple, mundane bracers. They are high quality, recently worn, and have bloodstains on the straps. They would fit Ander, but no one remembers ever having seen them worn on his person.
- The leather vest is from when Ander was little, and the group remembers seeing him wear this.
- These are left in the chest.
- The Scales, the Rose, and the Ring:
- The dragon scales and rose (magically alive) are clearly gifts from a certain someone, Dindrin.
- The ring has a substantial sapphire inset into it and Erky informs the group that he helped Ander pick it out. It seems most likely that Ander was going to gift it to Din, but never got the chance.
- All of these are left in the chest.
- The Rook, the Doll, and the Marbles:
- This seems to simply be a rook from a set of chess pieces. Nothing special about it.
- The marbles are just that, a small pouch of marbles.
- The doll is wooden, well loved, with worn but well tended clothing. It is held by Ander in the family portrait.
- The rook is left in the chest.
- Z takes the doll, and the marbles.
- The Chunk of Wood:
- It's about the size of a matchbox, and while not magical, sparks interest. The dark ebony of it matches the frame of the family portrait.
- Ely, holding it, knows it's not from your average tree. This is unique. It's not Livewood.
- It is not wood from The Gulthias Tree.
- Everyone can sense that there is something peculiar or unusual about this particular piece of wood.
- Ely gets a sense of comfort from it, not a spell or anything like that, but something about it is comforting. She holds onto it for now.
- The piece of wood is not the same wood as the chest of items.
- Erky mentions that this piece of wood was precious to Ander, always with him, and he looked over it with Maran, in Maran's workspace. However, any time Erky was near, Ander would put the wood away.
- The Tear-shaped Amulet:
- It is made of ashwood, and is supposed to function similarly to the Ashen Reach. It hangs from a black leather cord. Due to it's being broken, the group will either have to do without it, or find a way to repair it.
- It is returned to the chest.
- The Blackwood Family Portrait:
- The portrait is extremely well done. It shows Lady Blackwood in the center looking quite beautiful. Behind her is Bran. To her left is Maran, and Ander is in her lap. He is clutching a doll that resembles the one in the box. There is nothing too unique or interesting about the portrait other than the representation of the family. Even Bran looks...happy.
- Dhann spends a bit of time examining the portrait and notices a bit more. In the back of the portrait, over Lady Blackwood's right shoulder, is a painting on the wall. The painting is of a massive tree in a small glade. It is black and could very easily be the source of the family name. Dhann also recognizes the room in which the family sat for this small painting. No such painting of a tree hung in that room in reality. There was a painting in that location but Dhann vaguely remembers it being of a person, not a tree. Dhann does not know who the person was. The frame of the small portrait is wooden and ornate. The wood is very dark.
- Dhann keeps the portrait with the rest of Ander's papers.
- The Ink, the Papers, the Coins, & the Feathers:
- The ink is a gift from Erky to Ander, and is Invisible Ink. If you know the code word, the writing will be revealed.
- Barrett, on a whim, uses "Din" as a code word, and lo and behold, that's the word and the writing is revealed.
- The first small note from the hidden compartment in the chest is a little list:
- "Grandfather, Warlock, Beginning."
- The larger paper also shows its writing. It is more notes, appearing to be research of some sort. There' a good amount on the Blackwood family origins, written in such a way that it needs some time to suss out the details but it's obvious from just a cursory glance that the word "Grandfather" appears multiple times. All in all, it's about a half page's worth of notes on the family.
- There are notes on Shadow Dhann recognizes immediately, although nothing seems to be new information to Dhann, based on his own research. That being said, there is a bit of new information that Ander was clearly deep into researching. There is a drawing of a round sphere or item, that is colored in with "Shadow" written next to it. The description is a method, theoretically, of being able to trap large amounts of Shadow in some sort of spherical object or spell. He does not describe it in detail, but there are notes such as, "Some success today." He does not describe exactly what he does, or how he does it.
- In the Shadow experimentation, he mentions Maran quite a bit. "Maran suggested this, Maran thought we could do that," etc. Ander seems to have had some way of communicating with Maran, but how he did, is unclear. This goes against what Erky has told the group, that Ander had no proper way of communicating with Maran, so these notes are a bit of a surprise.
- As the notes continue, Ander's tone and manner of speaking grow darker, angrier, and more desperate.
- There is a small section in Erky's notes where Ander wrote "Blackstaff" so Ander seems to have been on the same track. It is implied in the writings that Ander was keeping information from Erky, for some reason.
- There are some records of travel. There is no mention of how Ander traveled such distances but teleportation was probably a common course of movement for him.
- "Went to Anauroch today - no results." There is a list of places he's been. He also mentions the Moonstone (also known as the Sunstone) and attempting to acquire it. The mention of Anauroch and the Moonstone so close together in his notes seem to infer he went to the desert for the specific reason of trying to obtain the Moonstone.
- There are also notes on Z and his abilities. How he fights, uses magic, how he weaves and creates items of his own, on his own, with his own talents and magical sources. Even snippets of his past that he has shared with Ander or the group. Dhann passes these over to Z, and everyone wonders at why Ander would be profiling Z. There are also notes on how Maran and Z would craft together. Upon viewing these notes, even Z is somewhat taken aback at how accomplished and talented he is.
- Z keeps the papers.
- There is a pouch of gems and platinum equalling 3,500gp in value. Dhann takes this to sort out the stones, and spread the wealth.
- The three feathers are Ghost's. Two were already in the chest, and the third was added after being recovered at the site of Ander's Fall.
- Dhann keeps the feathers and ink with the rest of the papers, and family portrait.
- The map of Faerûn with some scribbling, and notes on it. There are notes made by more than one person:
- The blade is broken off at the hilt, with the tang still within the grip. Barrett is able to tell the hilt is lit with multiple schools of magic, or would be, if it wasn't broken. It is a powerful, or was, a powerful sword, if not for it's being broken. Ely is also able to sense more magic was about it, most likely Fey, when she holds it.
- The scrap of sleeve, about four or five inches across, is torn on one side, and charred on another. Upsettingly, there's blood staining it. Dhann mentions he might be able to bolster a scry with this, as dark as it is to use blood from someone, like this.
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The trap door to the basement swings open and Elyana clambers up the ladder behind the bar. Sleeves rolled up, hair secured in a bun and covered in dust, it's clear she's spent the time after checking the chest, cleaning. But as the time approaches midnight, she realizes her attempt, to inform the others that Renaer's carpet is now ready for use, may need to wait till morning.
Ely sniffles and rubs her nose, taking a moment to collect herself. She shakes the dust off her shoulders and lets down her hair before making her way to the main area of the Tavern. Fatigue has a definite hold on her, so Ely decides to end her night quietly settled in next to the fireplace, the front doors of TrollSkull in her sights as she attunes to the Fey sun pendant they found in the chest.
It's not long before she's deep in thought. Thoughts about the group and their individual struggles. But also thoughts about Ander, who struggled alone in those final days. No longer a boy because circumstances forced him to grow up faster than was fair. Scenes of his short life play through her mind and she bites back a chuckle remembering when she confronted Ander about getting them into a fight with an unknown dragon girl, who they now believe was someone he obviously cared deeply for. Makes the whole scenario seem all the more ridiculous, but if that's what they we're into... who was she to judge.
Thinking of the ring, and the rose, the chuckle morphs into a sob and Ely bites her lip trying to keep her emotions at bay. Poor Dindrin, who proved herself more than trustworthy and capable, was most likely gone along with so many of the Fey. How'd everything go so wrong? Even now. They were suppose to come back with mythal seed in hand and ready to join forces with Ander and Elminster, not return to death and destruction and despair.
Ely turns the pendant over in her hand and she squeezes it tightly.
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Next Time On...
The Maybesitters settle in after a somber sort-through of Ander's belongings, and prepare to meet with their allies in the morning. Hopefully, Maran will be safely delivered to Blackstaff Tower, and a plan can start to form on what their journey's next steps are.