Session 3: The Drowner's Temple Report

General Summary

This session began as the party made its way into the village of Timberwall. Inside the village, the adventurers happened upon an abandoned inn marked by the flag of the Quilport Journeyman's Company which showed signs of a bloody struggle. Rinrin investigated the interior of the building and found an abandoned campsite and a journal from a Bramdar Sarsbane, whom Droknar knew as one of his captors. Investigation of the journal revealed that Reyora, a former adventuring companion of Droknar, had sent this group  on a mission to Timberwall in search of an old book hidden in a blacksmith's shop somewhere in the village. Moreover, their group had investigated the Drowner's Temple but were unable to find anything of value, with Bramdar musing the temple must have some sort of secret passage.   Skreech was intrigued by the presence of a nearby blacksmith shop and the party agreed to investigate. They found the ruined blacksmith's to the north of the village and found the front door blocked, so Rinrin chewed her way through the wall of the building and unlocked the window from inside. They cleared the rubble that was blocking the door, uncovering the skeletons of two long-dead Saurians that had been caught under the collapse. In the bedroom, they found a charred corpse of a ratling and an iron trap door beneath the bed. Brakmat kept watch, hearing voices coming from elsewhere in the village but unable to understand the speech or recognize the language. Skreech disarmed an arcane battery which had been connected to the door and the group made their way into the basement.   Within the workshop, the group encountered a metallic statue of an angelic entity which Rinrin recalled as the goddess Mekhane, whom Skreech knew as the goddess of invention, technology, and order. Rinrin searched for shiny things, unlocking the desk within the workshop's study to find an Outer Essence Shard. Brakmat spent some time looking at the rug depicting dragonborn raising a city into the sky, while Skreech pillaged the many artificer's tools and scrap metal he found in the workshop. Dacha found a map hanging on the wall behind the desk and noted that a location near his home village had been marked "extraction," along with several other locations along the Ruuldalai Coast. Droknar investigated the books that had been left behind in the workshop's library and found a ledger from several centuries ago with entries detailing trade between the owner of the workshop and several criminal organizations within Quilport, as well as someone called "the Collector."   Skreech attached the arcane battery to a silver golem's head he found in the workshop, which re-activated the construct who introduced itself as Orn. It asked if its master had returned and explained that it served as an assistant. When Skreech attempted to ask it more details about its master, some error within its programming caused the golem to short circuit and reset. Frustrated, Skreech detached it from the battery and stowed both in his pack.   Rinrin opted to place the Outer Essence Shard in the statue of Mekhane which activated a secret hatch behind which the group discovered the book Bramdar had been sent to retrieve: The Obscuris Cosmology. Rinrin attempted to undo the Arcane Lock on the book to no avail, and the group decided to get some rest for the night and continue onto the temple in the morning.   That night on first watch, Brakmat witnessed a group of ratlings walking through the village, going from door to door investigating the houses. As they approached his location, they seemed to stop before moving on. During Droknar's watch, he saw another group of ratlings on a similar mission, though this time he accidentally alerted them to his location. He was able to slip into the basement before they entered the building, and they were unable to pull open the door and opted instead to take the corpse of their compatriot away. During the night, Rinrin recalled a memory of her training with her mentor, Osrick Riverhands, a halfling man who was teaching her to fight. Dacha dreamt of his last meeting with his grandafther Hozin before he left on his mission, while Droknar found himself in another memory of someone else, this time walking through Quilport while talking to the tabaxi leader of his former adventuring party, Jade Eye of the Misty Cliffs. Skreech, deep in his trance crafting a bag of holding for the party, suddenly found himself in the divine realm of the goddess Mekhane, who revealed to him that he had been "blessed" by her.   The next morning, the group stealthily made their way to the temple, arriving just after another ratling patrol left to explore the village. Inside, the found a desecrated temple, the statue of Thar Ashaela destroyed and replaced by a crudely built statue of Mekhane. Discovering ratlings patrolling the hallways and making food in the kitchen, the group decided to send in Francis and Gerald to make first contact with the ratlings. Those in the kitchen became extremely excited upon seeing the two golems and exclaimed they needed to tell their leader, Shoku. Brakmat stopped them on their way to their leader, intimidating the ratlings into explaining they were in the village in search of a book. The noise woke a large, angry-looking ratling, who looked annoyed at the presence of strangers and especially annoyed by the golems, but the group was able to talk him down and he decided to go back to sleep and let Shoku deal with it.   Shoku eventually agreed to meet with the group and welcomed them in the main hall, the mechanically-augmented ratling showing great interest in Francis and Gerald. She explained they were looking for a book belonging to someone named Deleth; a name Droknar recognized as the leader of the Quilport Journeyman's Company. Rinrin was confused by these ratlings' worship of Mekhane, as it was her understanding that ratlings worshipped Yogwilesh, the god of alchemy and medicine. Shoku and Skreech ventured up to her workshop while she allowed the rest of the party to explore the temple, so long as they did not impede the ratlings' mission.   Shoku discusses with Skreech the construction of his golems and informs him that his affliction is due to him tampering with their design. She offers to help him with his condition but he politely declines, and as thanks for allowing her to inspect his creations, she gives him a communicator and implores him to visit Clan Ferrik in Rustpeak in the future. Meanwhile, the group discovered the corpses of Bramdar Sarsbane and two others of his adventuring party, as well as a letter that confirms the Company is actively hunting Droknar on Deleth's orders. They also uncover the means by which to reach a hidden passage, uncovering two switches that allow the party to swim to the subterranean temple complex.   The group makes their way across a rotting wooden bridge into a control room that begins to fill with water. They quickly determine how to fix the trap and reroute the water flow in the temple before making their way deeper inside, where they discover another haphazardly assembled statue of Mekhane, as well as a rowboat tethered to the shore in the underground river that flows through the temple. Brakmat steals the oars from the rowboat and Rinrin takes a magical trident from the statue, while Skreech leaves an offering at the foot of the statue. The party make their way up to a room with a giant stone see-saw, cascading water hiding a key, and a golem that walks around and refuses any sort of communication. The party then make their way into a grand hall where they discover a statue of Thar Ashaela and a poem that explains they must complete three trials in order to access the artifact they came for.

Rewards Granted

• Outer Essence Shard (Lawful)
• Orn's Head
• Arcane Battery
• Bag of Holding
• BOOK: The Obscuris Cosmology
• Strap of Arcane Lock
• Map of the Ruuldalai Coast (marked)
• Bramdar's Journal
• BOOK: The Zachyreon and Other Divine Esoterica
• Sending Stones (connected to Shoku)
• 21g 50s
• Potion of Greater Healing
• Potion of Water Breathing
• Spell Scroll of Silence
• 3 x Backpack
• 3 x Studded Leather Armor
• Longbow
• Quiver
• 20 arrows
• Shield
• Longsword
• Warhammer
• Magical Trident (not identified)

Missions/Quests Completed

Discovered the hidden Temple of Thar Ashaela

Character(s) interacted with

Shoku