Session 24: Abort Mission
General Summary
Upon reconvening the party discussed whether it was worth hearing the von Nachtigalls out or not. In the end, as night came, they left Mikum, along with Gregor and Fritz, back at the Mourningstar and the rest headed up to meet with the two siblings. Well there, they were led down into a room in the basement, which they presumed to be Everts. Evelyn then clarified their hopes that they would stay out of this, but that they perhaps could work together to take down Lazarus. Ushrir questioned once again what her intentions were with the shard from Waldenheim. She explained that once they had taken Lazarus down, they would bring it back, and be hailed as heroes. The party deliberated on their options and in the end decided that they didn’t trust the siblings to be close to the shard alone. They would follow them on their heist to steal the shard.
The plan would be executed that very night. Not much time to plan for contingencies, but the party felt it prudent to just wing it. But first they went to shop for some magic items from a strange sorceress that strangely seemed to know them, despite never having met them before. At midnight they snuck back up to the Temple of Eternal Beauty, leaving Himmler behind to guard the Mourningstar once again. They were let in through a back door, and together with the von Nachtigalls they descended into the depths of the massive temple. In the end they came to a massive iron gate that Evert opened with a key. Inside they found a huge door with an unusually large keyhole. Evelyn took Evert and with a spell passed through the door. From the other side she explained that she didn’t trust them to help and that they could meet up at their rendezvous with Lazarus.
Instead the party decided to quickly find the key to the door and follow them. Exploring the labyrinthine complex they swiftly found a handle that looked to be part of a giant key, although it was missing the actual key part. Running further in they fought two gargoyles that were guarding a chest with a headband of intellect, which they gave to Thomas. In the next room they found chest, but as they entered a huge pile of identical chest fell on top of it. Luckliy Heiwa, managed to keep track of its approximate location and found the only one with some content. A fragment of large key. Realising the puzzle ahead, the party moved on.
In the next part of the temple, they were met by perfect darkness. However, thanks to some daylight provided by their druid, tha party dispelled it. That’s when they noticed a strange creature floating around the shadows. Following it they came to a room with a religious symbol on the floor. In its centre lay another key fragment. None in the party recognised it but the symbol belonged to Zon-Kuthon, Shelyns dark brother. The creature, which instantly attacked a taunting Nacklenook, was a Kython. A dark spirit serving Zon-Kuthon. The Daylight however, turned it from a living shadow into a being of flesh and blood, draining it of power. In the end it crawled back into the darkness of its master from whence it came, and the fragment was claimed.
The next room they came upon was a strange hall where gravity no longer was a factor. Heiwa and Nacklenook took the lead and noticed that it was true for all but the key fragment on the floor. However, with no air or leverage, they could only float around helplessly. Until Ushrir used his magical rope to fetch them. By using the same rope and his cunning of stone, they managed to create a line for Nacklenook to cross and grab the key. Once they began to assemble it, they noticed that only one piece remained.
Moving on they approached a room heralded by the bust of a smiling Satyr. Inside they found themselves unable to breathe. By holding their breath they moved on carefully to find a moose in the next room. It seemed like the moose had the fragment in its mouth. The moose, however, seemed thoroughly uninterested in helping them. And when a statue of the same satyr laughed at Heiwas attempt, she blasted it with her wand. Enraged the satyr, which they recognized as the archfey Hyrsam, blessed Heiwa with growing goat-horns. Although the horns did grow slowly back towards her own skull. After frantically trying to stop the curse for about three minutes and failing, they suddenly disappeared. A cruel prank by the archfey. The moose then began to laugh and the fragment fell out of its mouth.
With the full key in hand, they entered the locked door and found a sleeping treant. On the far right wall laid the siblings, unconscious. Nacklnook snuck in and robbed them of most of their belongings. Among them was a letter with the information regarding their rendezvous with Lazarus. They decided to tie the Nachtigalls up, tip the temple off to their activities, and then go to finally confront the vampire. They did just that, but not before removing the sibling’s pants.
When they returned to the Mourningstar, they found Himmler sitting on a pair of drunkards who had bothered him. They took their pants as well, wrote a letter to the temple and pushed it in under the door before going to bed. The next morning they awoke to chaos in the city as guards flocked to secure the shard and the temple. Talking to some folks by the market as he purchased carrots for the journey, Nacklenook was realising that they most likely needed to leave immediately, and they did just that. After bribing some young guards they managed to leave Waldenheim behind and made their way through the Sheilwald once again, with a few days to spare before the meeting with Lazarus.
