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Summaries of the following sessions of Ander's Hope, Arc IV, to archive key locations, NPCs, and rp.
Session 106, Untitled
Current Situation
- This session takes place 16 Mirtul, 1494
- The Trollmates investigate Ander's Bunker; a place of his own creation that holds an incredible amount of information. Some accessible, and much very out of reach.
Session Summary
- In the portrait hallway, Z finds a loose set of bricks near his likeness. There is a small, empty cubby with a little placard that simply says, "Z." There is a matching brick by each person's portrait and the back of the cubbies is pitch black. Dhann does not look in his. Barrett looks into his, as does Ely. The cubbies are about 10" deep until a magical barrier stops anything from going forward.
- Barrett casts Detect Magic. The enchantment on Dhann has faded. Oddly, the Blackwood signet ring is showing as "blocked." No discernible school of magic is coming from it but it is clearly magically treated in some way. Dhann looks into a black portal/doorway that becomes clear when he approaches and sees a very messy study. Conjuration magic is in the back of each cubby, Barrett reports. The doorway also sparkles with conjuration magic. Barrett steps through the black doorway and finds himself in a black void and he can't breathe. There are five doors with the ornate Blackwood and Barrett is able to pick out the fact that two of them are false. Z follows him in and the two pick Door 2 and find themselves back in the hallway with the group. After some experimentation it's found that if one is wearing the Blackwood Signet Ring, they can see into the doorways to the room beyond, and pass safely. Physical contact with the person holding the ring also works and so the group join hands or hold shoulders as they pass from the hallway into the study.
- There are two desks with notes and journals in Ander's handwriting. On the northern wall is rubble from a cave-in but no hole through which rocks would have fallen. A small puddle of Shadow is on the ground with half a skeleton of a Dwarf. The rocks do not match the room.
- From Dhann's Shadow notes:
- Some years later, a dwarven ranger from the north and his apprentice stumbled into a large crevasse. Realizing they were trapped, they explored deeper in the hopes of finding a tunnel out. Eventually they entered a cave, at the bottom of which lay a pool of what they described later as black water made of strings. It is widely believed that this pool was a source of shadow magic flowing naturally from another plane. However, the location itself was lost to history. The ranger lost his life trying to escape and his apprentice refused to share the location or even talk about the experience having lost both his legs in the escape.
- In the margin of the journal, there is a note next to this information. It is swiftly scrawled and reads simply, “The Lab.”
- Added by Dhann: Not sure if this pool is the rift we have heard of, or another one altogether (I think it’s different). It sounds that this “pool” is much older than the rift causing concern now, and is potentially sourced from a plane other than the Shadow plane. This might relate to the maps and notes recovered in the Library…the northern map as well as the observatory sketch.
- There is a library to the west with books and refuse all over. Ely and Aiden dig through some travel trunks with clothes and find that they are complete sets of clothing. Not random items. Clothes enough for almost twenty people, all different sizes and worn. There are a couple of cultist robes included, and nothing from any noble classes. All simple clothing or lower class. Elyana finds enough tunics to outfit the group if needed and puts them in Elminster’s Bag of Holding. Barrett and Z look at the two desks. They find a magical quill (illusion magic), a mundane ink bottle, and the ink in the journals has lingering magic. The journals seem nonsensically written. They also find a small pair of mirrors (divination). In another trunk is on a wall and the style of it matches the dragonfly chest/key the group encountered in Nihiloor's lair all those months and months ago. There is a silver ladle and a half inch of Shadow magic in the chest. Dhann hears a sound from the pile of rocks and the sound repeats again, and soon, a Unknown begins to form. Battle begins. The group is able to overcome the enemy and moves into the western library room.
- It is full of sand and is much warmer than the previous room. More Dwarven pillars and the room is large. There is a gaunt and alive cat that looks irritated to see the group, a simple orange tabby. It is crawling with Shadow magic, and Dhann sees many rats scurrying around with Shadow as well. There is a large reptilian skeleton as well as the skeletal remains of a cultist. Z finds, in the story images of a mine on the pillar, a hole in the structure and an incredibly wicked looking dagger is pulled out. It is covered in filigree of snakes and gives the impression of being an assassin's weapon. It is not elven made. Aiden “Rascal” Windbreaker explains Ander didn't reveal where he got the dagger in the Fey but he was keeping it as a "just in case" weapon in his boot. Aiden knows the dagger can change in size and Ander has also said something about poison regarding the blade. More of Ander's journals are discovered with more weird and confusing stories that make no sense. There is also a large number of history books, including books that might have been taken from Renaer or that he was looking for for his own collection.
- There are broken weapons racks and Barrett salvages a handcrossbow (not a shadow weapon) that loads itself, as well as a pair of leather gloves.
- The group takes all of Ander's journals (50 in total) and picks and chooses a few of the bigger books Renaer has mentioned, and all go into the Bag of Holding.
- The reptilian skeleton starts to twitch, and the group then heads up the northern staircase before another battle can commence. The next room is absolutely reduced to rubble, and looks as if a magical battle was fought. Weapons and magic alike were used. There are a couple of rats hiding in the refuse.
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Session 107, Untitled
Current Situation
- This session takes place 16 Mirtul, 1494
- The Trollmates continue their investigation of Ander's Bunker
Session Summary
- There are a couple of piles of humanoid bodies, with scorch marks and battle signs. They are wearing torn clothing and several bear some sort of facial covering with sloppy or degraded imagery of some religious sort, maybe druidic or more earth-based. Dhann is able to gauge that all of these bodies, when living, were infected with Shadow magic.
- There is a loud pounding noise from further north, in the next room.
- There are small holes in the floor, like sunken in animal cages. There are dead foxes and cats in a couple of them. They look to have died of starvation.
- The doorway to the next room is open. It's large, and very brightly lit. Even brighter than the poi, but doesn't cast light outside of the room. Turns out the door is actually invisible, and Barrett picks the lock.
- There are five large and gleaming bright suits of armor. There are also smash marks in the floor of the room. There is a large, incredibly bright "light" in the center of the room, hanging from the ceiling in a gilded cage. Next to some suits of armor are small plates holding what looks to be a liquid silver, conformed to the shape of the platter the silver is in.
- There is absolutely no Shadow in the room, and the group enters.
- The door is shut and at the same moment, one of the suits comes to life and hefts its weapon as if preparing for an attack. It is discovered the armor specifically attacks anything with Shadow and Dhann is able to end the conflict by ducking into a hallway. They will only go on the offensive if there is Shadow present in their territory. The armor, Ely notices, all bear the crest of the Blackwoods.
- Aiden looks into another room and sees what appears to be a giant bowl in the floor of raw magic. It appears wind or air magic.
- Ely looks at a fresco of a forest with a very large glade, and there's a massive tree, dark in color. Beneath it are a number of people who seem to be sleeping or reclining, taking shelter under the tree. The tree takes up a massive amount of the mural. It is most likely The Grandfather Tree. It is clear there is a part of the wall that is a door. It opens with the Blackwood ring being close enough to the hanging, radiant crystal to unlock the door, which slides open.
- There is a sarcophagus with five suits of worn armor all standing at attention. They each have a weapon shrouded in some sort of magic.
- First, fire (sword)
- Second, water
- Third, wind/air
- Fourth, Fey (double bladed axe)
- Fifth, Shadow (scythe)
- The sarcophagus is ancient and broken into. There are four keys, reminiscent of the keys needed to free Cyric from his prison. The coffin belongs to Molkar of the Black Woods. The coffin is inlaid with the same wood as the chunk from Ander's chest (although most of the wood has been removed) and reads: "Molkar: Aligner of Planes, Keeper of Barriers, Devoted Husband."
- Ely finds a spot where the small wood chunk actually fits perfectly.
- There is a small greyish, silver urn inside the coffin and it has been dipped into. Someone has been taking ashes from it and there isn't much left in the urn. The group replaces the lid of the urn out of respect. There is a copper inlay with an onyx depiction of a black tree, reminiscent of the current Blackwood icon but not the same. This was most likely the original icon until being simplified into the pronged icon the group knows.
- The group wonders if the room they're in, is under the Grandfather Tree itself?
- Ely finds remnants of the ashes, on the handle of the Fey-infused axe. Dhann finds a minuscule amount of ashes on the flaming sword.
- Barrett is low on magical energy and so in an experiment, Dhann uses the Ashen Reach to try and "cast" energy to Barrett. Incredibly, this works, proving once again that Ander's creations are never quite what they first appear to be. While the intended result is gotten, Dhann isn't quite sure how it may have worked. Barrett feels the transfer and even Ely feels it, through her connection to Barrett.
- With Detect Magic, Barrett senses that the magic within the ashes is a raw, untamed magic, much like Weave magic, if not that. It's raw, and unrefined into a school. The wooden inlay also has this quality. The group wonders if Ander was using the ashes as a component of some kind. The four keys on the rung also match with this raw magic. The statues' weapons, additionally, glow with enchantment magic. The radiant crystal in the main room is alight with conjuration.
- Because the ashes are magic (or the magic is ashes, the two are inseperable) Dhann wonders if the Blackwood line might not be descended, directly, from Weave magic somehow. Or, if the Grandfather Tree grew out of a mythallar or sprouted in one, or from one.
- Barrett and Aiden go to look again at the bowl/pit of magic to find that it's changed from wind, to now a purply Fey pool.
Session 108, Untitled
Current Situation
- This session takes place 16 Mirtul, 1494
- The Trollmates continue their investigation of Ander's Bunker
Session Summary
- In one corner of the room with the magical pool is a small table with a clock. It is mundane. The four keys on the rung are placed into Barrett's quiver.
- To the south of the "pool forge" room is a small chamber that leads further south. There is rubble inside and the ceiling is incredibly high. It's difficult to see the top. There are more bones and corpses, refuse. Z and Dhann go up on Magic "Pet" Carpet to see the ceiling more closely. A small glowing disc or ring comes into view, almost 300' from the floor. The ring is a soft yellow/amber color. It looks like an odd, "stacked" rings teleportation circle. The circle is reminiscent of the one at Trollskull Tavern. It feels like it might have some sort of planar travel abilities, not just teleporting within a plane.
- There is no Shadow in this room, or the forge room.
- Closer to the ceiling and ring almost feels like a little bit of a pull and it is found that the gravity of the room is reversed. The ceiling effectively becomes the floor.
- The clock in the forge room is mechanical. Ticking and seems to advance in time as expected.
- The group discovers a small chapel to the north. There is a worn chair, used candles, and offerings. There are a number of deities represented:
- They are roughly carved renditions, merged into a sort of homemade altar. The used chair seems to be one pilfered from the dining room of Trollskull. Z sits on the chair, but nothing happens. The room, though, has a heavy air, like a lot of reflection and thought was done by whoever was in here. The deities (besides Mystra and Shar) are all ones of a specific branch of the pantheon and Z asks Dhann if he finds this odd, and Dhann responds that it looks to him like Ander - given his druidic streak - was attempting to cover all of his bases. Ander seems favored, to an extent, by Mystra and was obsessed with Shadow magic so that may explain Shar's presence as well. Everyone agrees that this turning to the gods feels very out of character, and that alone is something that may be in character, given the descriptions of Ander they have been hearing of late. Lost, desperate, alone, and running out of time. Maybe turning to the gods was a last ditch effort.
- The magic in the pool (Fey) is almost like a raw liquid, reminiscent of raw Shadow in its behavior, like this is unassigned Fey magic. Barrett dips an arrowhead into it and the magic drips off of the ammunition much like a liquid would. Some vials are collected.
- The clock seems to be telling proper time and Z tries to move the hands on it and it seems impossible to move the hands. It looks like something Maran would have made. It's an insanely accurate clock.
- In the southern room, the bodies have the same face covering treatment as the bodies in the other room. The icons on the coverings seem to align with the deities found in the altar room as if Ander was trying to pay respects to the dead under the names of certain gods.
- Moving to another room to the south, there are no creatures. On the west wall, it is a wall made of 20-30 different mirrors. Average mirrors, most framed. Like a giant picture wall, arranged to fit. Inside each of them, the group can see their reflections but behind the group in each mirror is a different scene, a different place. The very middle mirror shows the room they're in, however. Some may show different planes but others show totally mundane places, like a tavern or a field. Dhann sees one mirror that could possible lead to Laeral Silverhand's library. One, Dhann is fairly confident of, leads to a place on the road to Mirt's Hunting Lodge. One mirror looks like it might be to a bedroom in Blackwood Manor.
- Several of the mirrors have dark red smudges on the frames, but one has a significantly higher number of smudges. In this mirror is a model of a galactic sphere. There is magical light and the room is lit with multiple colors. It looks like a very large lab of some sort. The smudges appear to be dark, dried blood. Z pokes the mirror of this room and the glass almost seems to ripple at his touch, but nothing else happens. With Z looking at the mirror and pointing out the blood as what he thinks is the main component for use, and Dhann studying the blood, Dhann gets the feeling that this is definitely Ander's blood, and perhaps a second person's. Definitely a Blackwood. Most likely Maran.
- With Detect Magic, Barrett identifies conjuration on the mirrors. The opposite wall also glows with conjuration but everything else in the room is mundane. Barrett also notices that the Fey glow from the forge room has disappeared. Ely finds a small hallway that leads to a small room, and appears to loop back around to the "battle" room.
- Barrett and Ely experiment with the conjuration wall. Z watches them walk into it, while Dhann watches the mirror that shows this room. Dhann can see them in the mirror now, even if they're not in this room anymore. From Ely and Barrett's perspective, they are in the original room, while Dhann and Z are now stuck inside a mirror. For Barrett and Ely, none of their mirrors on their side have bloodstains. The rope they were using as a tether is now cut in half. Ely tries to leave the room, but seems to run in a loop and enter the room with Barrett again. They try to walk out through the wall again, but it is solid now.
- Ely tries Dimension Door and is able to get Barrett and herself back to the original room with the rest of the group.
- They discuss seeing if the mirrors will work for Dhann as an "honorary" Blackwood but first it's a good idea to try leaving a Waymarker as another way back to this place. Dhann constructs one in the teleplanarportation circle room, not wanting to add another deity to the odd chapel; this feels wrong.
- While he creates it, Barrett goes to check out the forge room. The pool is now full of raw Shadow magic. The clock seems to keep time and every two hours, the type of magic in the pool changes.
Session 109, Untitled
Current Situation
- This session takes place 16 Mirtul, 1494
- The Trollmates continue their investigation of Ander's Bunker
Session Summary
- Z finds a small hook near the ceiling's circle and finds (later) a key hanging from it. It looks like a wand, but the end has a slight curve to it, hanging from the hook by a loop. Barrett takes the key, and it is invisible in it's constant state.
- Ely wonders over how the "prison room" mirror works to trap people, not knowing how it works and puzzling over it while Dhann studies and works to memorize the wall as a whole, so that if they run across any of the scenes, he'll be able to recognize it.
- In the pool room, the group decides to experiment but once the magic in the center isn't Shadow.
- Dhann goes to the chapel and spends some time in the room trying to learn more. The first thing he notices after reflection is that the room doesn't bring the peace one would expect in a place of faith. He sits in the chair, and tries to get a sense of whether or not any of these deities ever made an appearance in the room. It takes a minute, but what Dhann realizes is that there is simply an overwhelming emptiness to the room as a whole. If Ander was able to make any contact with a god, there is no sense of that left. The haphazard organization of the altar, the scattered offerings; nothing feels blessed. Hollow overall.
- Z flies to the sarcophagus chamber and touches the fire weapon to see if that switches the magic in the pool; there is no change. Z is not able to sus out any real connection between the statues and the forge pool.
- The group decides to take Molkar of the Black Woods's remaining ashes; Z stores these in his pack in a "small bundle of Blackwood ashes" and leaves behind the original urn.
- The Lantern of Revealing shows the carving of Shar to be oddly put together. Parts can be seen without the lantern, but disappear with the lantern's light on it. Parts have been "edited" to make it look more like Shar. It is also the most accurate likeness of any of the deities present. Parts of the statue were made invisible not to make it better, but to permanently be made invisible. In the mirror room, the mirrors reflect an amount of brightness that seems to resemble how "far" the scene in the mirror is. The mirror showing the room with the mirrors, as an example, reflects brightly. There is a small reflection from the upper corner of the conjuration wall.
- Z spreads some ash on the edge of the Fey axe and the ashes spark with magical contact, brightening the Fey magic for a second, but nothing else changes. Ely touches the axe, concentrating on the magic, and she feels a confirmation that the Fey magic is imbued in the axe and the ash is being absorbed by the axe itself. The ash seems to be the way magic is fused into these weapons, and all the magic weapons the group has seen so far, like the Shadow weapons Ander made.
- The Shadow in the pool fades and is replaced by a void. After some experimentation, the group realizes that this void sucks magic out of items (potentially people) and leaves the objects to float back to the surface as mundane. Z bottles a bit of void magic, and so does Barrett.
- In the small chamber that loops around, and behind the conjuration wall is a shimmery "blocking" wall that effectively seals off this part of the bunker. The group is not able to bypass the walls with either the signet ring, or with a smear of Blackwood ash. Beyond the conjuration wall is another room of some sort. However, looking into the mirror that reflects the mirror room's conjuration wall, the group is able to see beyond the wall and into the room that Z is physically peeking into.
- Z paints an extravagant door with his magical paints. When the door manifests, Z opens it, and Z opens the door to reveal more of the shimmery wall. The laboratory is in great shape. There are many objects and "stations" inside, different colored lights, and two massive minotaur statues (12-15' tall) in substantial armor. There is a table with an odd device on top and some hammers, a galactic sphere model, a structure resembling the positions of the sun and moon, and a model of concentric, colorful spheres.
- It's probably best to wait and see if Maran is able to get into this room. It is a spacious area and the ceiling is very high. The group wonders if time in this place is different than back on normal planes, enabling Ander to have more time to work in his lab. Elyana tries to use Teleportation Circle to get the group back to Trollskull, but the spell doesn't work - it looks like this confirms Ander's bunker is in between planes or on another plane altogether.
- The group considers taking the radiant crystal but it appears affixed in place, and it's decided it's better to leave it alone and keep this part of the bunker clean from Shadow.
- The group decides to stay the night in the mirror room, in a Tiny Hut and will regroup in the morning.