Loose threads The Great Library is apparently run by a lich – is this true?; Who is The Scholar?; Who is Balthazar?; What is the extent of the immortality research conducted by Dazrit's people?; Who is Pi?; What did the masked halfling statue with the plaque of broken shackles represent?
Participants Ezekiel Laggrond, Maldor Bronzestrike, Parsnap, Brorn Stoutward
Locations Desert of Rydess
Short summary:
We headed towards the Grave of the Sky in order to evaluate threats in the area since the City of Dazrit's fall. On the way, we met a man that abandoned his group at The Great Library to be slain by sinspawn. Despite his offers and protests, we didn't escort him back to First Landing. We took shelter at the Tomb of the Oracles and met Khafre, who gave us a warning (in riddle form). Later, we took shelter from sandstorms in some ruins and met someone who called themselves Pi, speaking through what they called one of their "assistants". We made an agreement with Pi that we would expel some divs from another set of ruins in the desert. These fiends had located a relic and were using that as a locus for a summoning ritual for a far more powerful div. The ritual was successfully stopped.
Full Report
Preparation and Travel
We gathered in The Blinking Pug, where we discussed our plans for travel. Brorn would borrow the marvelous mount spell from me so that between us, we could conjure mounts for the entire party. Water was a more pressing concern heading into the desert, to which I lamented not having acquired a staff of water yet. After some underwhelming research, we set off.
We arrived at the Desert's Belt River at noon on our third day of travel, and we located an oasis another half-day from there. This was fortuitous as we had underestimated the desert's heat, so it gave us the opportunity to rest in relative comfort before shifting our waking hours so we could travel at night.
Encounter in the Night
During Brorn's overnight watch, he spotted someone being chased by two far more bestial-looking "people". After waking us, he shouted to get the person's attention whilst we began to engage the threat. The creatures were greedspawn, a type of sinspawn.
After dealing with the creatures, the man introduced himself as Fendrel Copperpot, a haughty human alchemist that went with a group to the The Great Library to further his alchemical research – something I don't doubt. Four hours prior, his camp was beset by sinspawn and he fled with two books he had taken from the Library.
In the Great Library itself, Fendrel encountered undead – though he wasn't particularly surprised by their presence given his statement that the Library is, and always has been, ran by a lich. His assumption is that the lich was one of the elves that were obsessed with preventing their deaths. Whilst he didn't know too much about the undead themselves, he mentioned that "some" of them were giving them quite a bit more trouble.
Upon pressing him for details over the course of the next day – whilst we shifted our sleeping hours to the daytime – he described skeletal wolves, humanoid skeletal guards, and a "skeletal knight", which Maldor identified as a skeletal champion– albeit one that had the ability to command the other undead. Then he described a ghost of some kind that said they "had to go on", that their "destiny was to break the curse". His group became incredibly clumsy and fraught with ill luck since its appearance, at which point they managed to fall and accidentally open an entrance to a cavern as they fled, which released the sinspawn.
We left Fendrel at the oasis despite his protests – we couldn't afford to waste the minor miracle that was finding this oasis and risk a more dangerous attempt at this journey – though we did advise him to head out of the desert as soon as he could.
The Echo
Venturing forth into the desert, we encountered a memory echo of a well-dressed elven Scholar in a finely-decorated study, from which a beautifully vibrant glade could be seen from the windows. The Scholar was talking to someone not present in the memory echo itself, someone he called Balthazar– an alchemist pursuing immortality through alchemy, but had evidently come up against a problem that prevented him from completing his research.
The Scholar, on the other hand, was researching other methods of attaining immortality – methods fraught with perils, as he himself noted. He had looked into The Unbound and those that had accepted its gifts had returned either changed or not at all.
The Scholar was clearly conflicted about his research, acknowledging that the pursuit of immortality is a double-edged sword, citing stories of those that had "fallen into darkness". But he also believed that it was the best for – presumably – his people that they pursue it regardless; I can only suspect that there was some crisis that threatened their extinction. He made reference to a place on the eastern landmass named Xaxamacota and how its ruler, Xaxamaque, had ambitions that led to a "bloodbath". He believed they could do better, and had some journal he was urging Balthazar to read, if he hadn't already.
Shelter from the Storm
Arriving at the Tomb of the Oracles, the structure appeared dilapidated. There was a small maintained garden with water and carefully-manicured plants, complete with a bench. It was as we climbed the stairs that the sphinx Khafre emerged. He was polite and hospitable as we explained our reasons for visiting, and allowed us to stay for a time, though he did briefly lose his temper when he believed us to be attempting to circumvent his riddle.
"Creatures of agony, ill omens incarnate. Drawn by the passion that they and I share. Seeking a relic, and find it they will. And once they have done so, you'll wish you are not near."
"Your thirst for knowledge. It marks you as prey. Secrets you carry, they'll smell far away. But there's yet another. Ancient, in need. An echo they seek, and a key they could give."
"I see you and judged you to stand not a chance. But armed with knowledge, you still might just win."- Khafre
We figured out that this riddle referred to a type of fiend called divs – in particular, it referred to dorus, the weaker div that seeks secrets, and aghashes, embodiments of curses, misfortune and the evil eye. Aghashes also have obsessive, hateful compulsions towards beautiful objects and people – they cannot walk away from such a thing without harming it in some way.
The following day, we departed from the Tomb. Khafre bid us farewell, even apologising for losing his temper – though we were understanding. Some hours later, four dorus attacked us. We didn't have too much issue with them, though it appeared that they were attempting to delay us, and moments later we realised why – a storm was coming.
Either by fortune or design, there was shelter nearby. Whilst we could have risked the journey to the Grave itself, the safer option was to find shelter, even if that shelter is inevitably trapped – the trap you are expecting is better than the trap you aren't.
Within, I attempted to ward the entrance with an alarm spell whilst Maldor and Parsnap investigated the immediate surroundings. Shortly before the completion of the spell, however, an invisible creature brushed past myself and Brorn – another doru, as the others would quickly find out. Brorn went to assist them while I tried to finish my spell. Unfortunately, this would not come to pass, as a pair of large skeletons and a gelatinous cube attacked us – though the three managed to hold off almost until the spell was completed, with Maldor almost single-handedly staving off the skeletons – though I don't want to diminish Brorn and Parsnap's contributions. Without the entire party's efforts, things could have taken a much worse turn than they did when the dwarves found themselves engulfed and being digested by the cube.
Knowledge Uncovered
Once our wounded were tended to, I voiced my nagging suspicion that we weren't alone within the ruins. It was the immediacy of the response that took me by surprise when a blue, translucent orb appeared. Introductions revealed the orb as belonging to a creature that called itself Pi. He did not appreciate further questions about his identity or his connection to these ruins. To abbreviate the remainder of that discussion, Pi was unwilling to allow us to simply wait out the sandstorm's danger within the ruins. At least until we offered to do something for him in exchange for the safe harbour.
Once we had, the nature of the discussion changed. He presented his offer: we would have three days to rid him of the divs that plagued this area, to thwart the plans they were enacting. He would equip us with knowledge on the divs' operation and what he believes their goal to be. In addition to the time limit, one of us would have to earn his trust by imbibing a deadly poison that would take effect three days from now, though its effect would surely be lethal. Once we complete the task within the time limit, he will give us the antidote.
First thing's first, we could not find a reason to suspect Pi was being anything less than forthright, if perhaps harsh, with us. We accepted his offer, not least because I believed that the knowledge we would gain from this bargain to be of great value. As this expedition was my idea, I was ready to accept the burden, but both Maldor and Parsnap put themselves forward as candidates, but for different reasons that I won't elaborate on here.
Pi told us of a great danger brewing because of Dazrit's fall, and that is best we know as little about it as possible. Before something happens – he abruptly stopped before he finished that thought – he must complete some crucial work. Unfortunately, his work requires his diaries, and one is missing. While he has been searching for it, and such a search would ordinarily be no problem, the sandstorms in the region have made it all but impossible to find. Nevertheless, he did stumble across a ruined building of similar size to the one we were presently within, where aghashes had found a relic.
This relic, it seems, was the result of Dazrit's people "dabbling with powers even [they] couldn't understand", to quote Pi. The implication here is that while "the fodder fiends found in this area are nothing but minor pests", the relic found by a group of aghashes changes that. The relic is being used as part of a ritual to summon something dangerous, though the ritual itself is keeping the majority of the aghashes busy.
To stop their plans, Pi theorised that the only option was to infiltrate the ruins and disrupt the ritual before its completion, with the relic's destruction being the easiest method of doing this. Though he did theorise that there was a second option – allowing the creature to be summoned, which will have weakened the aghashes, invoke the true name of the creature, and, presumably, slay them all.
Pi's assistant then produced a map of the local area, including local landmarks such as the Great Library and the Tomb of the Oracles, with a marked location back the way we came for the other set of ruins. Our destination. The scroll contained the being's true name. While he could not teach us how to use it, should we be able to learn it on our own and make use of it, it would surely weaken the summoned creature. Though it should be said that he described this as a backup plan.
As expected, the sandstorm blocked our original entrance, but another was open to us – through the ceiling. Before we made our way out, the ledge we found ourselves upon to escape the sandstorm's wrath held a statue of a masked halfling wearing an ornate robe. Broken shackles adorned a plaque at its feet.
Into the Eye of the Storm
It took us an extra day to reach the location, having been turned around due to the weather, and what I suspect is likely the dorus' subtle influence. While it would have been more advantageous to rest before we dove into the ruins, I certainly wasn't expecting the opportunity.
We found only one way into the complex, a tunnel more suitable for one of Parsnap's size than ours. As we were debating the level of subtlety we'd take for our entry, we saw a flashing red light coming from within, signalling to us that time was running out. Without further ado, we entered.
The ritual site was inside, a rune-etched circle enclosed around a pentagram, with a doru at each of the pentagram's tips. Light flowed from each of the dorus' eyes into a wooden stick that stood at the centre of the circle. The relic. From what I could gather, by using it as a locus, they were able to accelerate what should have been a much longer ritual.
A pair of aghashes were guarding the locus. We had what I thought was significant levels of preparation to face them... It was almost not enough. The divs immediately teleported to Parsnap and tore into him. Even after getting him back up, the fiends were relentless in their attacks against the kobold. We had to activate his recaller to evacuate him back to First Landing before he perished.
At that point, only one of the aghashes was injured in any significant way. The healthier one turned its gaze towards Maldor, whereupon we realised just how dangerous these creatures are. The cursed gaze alone was nearly enough to take }Maldor out of the fight. I could almost feel the pain myself. It didn't take much longer for the aghashes to bring him down also, despite Brorn's spell drawing the creature's ire towards him.
The fight was going from bad to worse. The injured div turned its attentions towards me once Maldor was unconscious; it was a small miracle that Brorn and I managed to fell the it before it could do any serious damage to me. It was quite possibly the best phase bolt I'd ever cast – it tore through the fiend's vitals, weakening it enough for Brorn's mace to put it down for good.
As the aghash fell, it clearly had a direct effect on the ritual – the red light permeating the room intensified, and the remaining fiends all cried out in pain, with red lightning arcing from the ritual circle. Slaying the fiend had destabilised the ritual, but not quite enough, as the dorus managed to maintain their concentration on it.
The next few moments were a blur, and somehow even more arduous. We rushed over to the aghash standing over Maldor. Brorn kept its attention focused on him – at least whilst the champion wasn't }conscious – thanks to his previous spell, whilst I desperately administered healing potions to Maldor. But then both of them fell, leaving... me.
Perhaps I didn't wish to fail Pi, and lose what little goodwill had been built up so far. Perhaps it was simply spite, not wishing these creatures to emerge victorious after so brutally maiming Parsnap. Perhaps it was just luck. Every fibre of my being was screaming at me to leave and save myself, but I couldn't find it within me to cede the day to these fiends. I used one of Maldor's own potions to bring him back to consciousness, even though I knew that doing so was sentencing him to death should the creature survive his blade once more.
But it didn't. With a roar of grim acceptance, knowing that it would be his last, he raised his blade and... It struck cleanly into the div's neck, glowing with holy defiance. His sword tore through the creature, putting a definitive, and satisfying end to it.
As Maldor struck the decisive blow to the second aghash, the red light intensified once more in a blinding flash. Once more, the remaining fiends cried out in pain. However, this time, none remained. The red light seemed to have been swallowed by the wooden }relic.
Brorn, thankfully, did not succumb to his wounds before we could administer a healing potion to him. We all survived. Assuming First Landing's medics managed to get to Parsnap in time, which I have been assured has always been the case.
Conclusion
In the wake of the fight, I began our investigation into the relic and the ritual site whilst Maldor tended to the dwarves' wounds using his holy magic. This would prove difficult whilst in proximity to the relic, which stood in the centre of the ritual circle as it had before. In the absence of the ritual's red light, one could be forgiven for thinking it was anything but a plain wooden stick if they didn't know any better.
This stifling of holy power appeared to stem from the powerful curse the relic was a conduit for, infecting the site with the selfsame curse. This would cause a sense of unease in Maldor that grew into nausea and sickness; the unsanctified among us were unaffected.
The relic itself is, as expected, unholy in nature, tethered to Abaddon, and able to act as a conduit to that plane. It was possible to attune to it for the purposes of empowering it, which is likely what the aghashes had done in order to impart some manner of agency to the relic for the ritual.
On the topic of the ritual, a number of anomalies were present. Whilst we can be almost certain the ritual was a summoning for a far more powerful div, the anomalies complicate the issue. The carvings just outside of the innermost circle within the ritual circle were written in Abyssal, not Daemonic; recognition of the language was the extent of our own knowledge.
The ritual appeared to lack a primary caster – the dorus being far too weak, and the aghashes being entirely preoccupied with us – leaving only the relic itself to enforce its will upon the circle, having been awakened to some semblance of sentience by the aghashes' attunement. The relic, then, must somehow contain the essence of a significantly powerful div, in by awakening its consciousness, the summoning of stronger fiends would have been made possible. In order to carve this facsimile, or awakening of, sentience in the relic, a sacrifice of life-force was required; killing the aghashes removed that vital component, rendering the casting unstable, and fatally so once both had perished. Perhaps the relic absorbed what remaining life-force the fiends had. Additionally, the true name we were given was not uttered at all during the ritual, so I can only assume it either refers to the relic itself or the essence of the div within the relic.
By the end of our analysis, any facsimile of sentience the relic possessed during the ritual had vanished, rendering the relic an inert, if unholy, wooden stick.