77. The Troll, the Oni, and the Lighthouse Report

General Summary

12th Barrakas, 999 YK

• Lozaal mentions a suggestion to the rest of the party, of potentially using Tete Shaat'aar as a distraction for the Oni.
• Warden unsummons Nova, rather than dooming them to wander forever in the liminal space that is the mists.
• They then enter the mists once again. They were relatively used to the mists, but it seems their time away has robbed them of that desensitivity.
• Tete Shaat'aar was waiting for them amongst the ruins of Seaside. The reality doesn't match Kalshana's visions, the layout is the same but the city is clearly in ruins. Only a few buildings remain standing, notably the Lighthouse and a temple to the Sovereign Host.
• Dax' Athla approaches some people sitting at a café, and confirms there is nothing in their cups. The people appear to be living a loop of the 20th Olarune, 994 YK. Tete Shaat'aar claims they repeat the same routine every day, going berserk at midnight and then "resetting" at 1am.
• The people do react to outside stimuli, and answer the party's questions, but Tete Shaat'aar indicates they get aggressive if told they are dead.
• The party begin making their way to the lighthouse, and pass the temple of the Sovereign Host on the way. They enter, curious.
• There is a sermon being given to an undead congregation. The party listens for a while, and the Half-Elf Priestess is giving a speech about a paradise beneath the earth, lit by an Inner Sun, a place free of death and suffering. This doesn't match any Sovereign myth or belief the party is aware of.
• Dax attempts to question the priestess, but is told there will be time for questions later. There won't be, though, because the sermon is looping every 30 minutes.
• Dax approaches again and is told to take a seat, and the undead seem agitated. She backs off, but notices that the priestess seems to be a vampire.
• Lozaal recalls stories of the Kech Nasaar, a dhakaani clan that had contact with early Qabalrin settlers and were turned into vampires. They were among the empires most terrifying weapons.
• Spooky.
• They leave the temple and find some mushrooms in the street, of which they are immediately sus. Warden identifies the brown ones as edible, and the blue ones as mildly poisonous; they are hallucinogenic and cause gastric distress.
• He takes some of both sets of mushrooms, making a note of which one is which.
• The party proceed to the lighthouse, guarded by an Oni.
• Kalshana and Warden approach the bridge, whilst the others hide nearby. The Oni only responds when Kalshana speaks to him in Riedran. Sus.
• They retreat and regroup. They discuss a variety of plans, but Tete Shaat'aar wants to enter the lighthouse so can't act as a distraction.
• Lozaal will act as a distraction, and approaches. Warden stands on a nearby rock to give support. Tete casts Death Ward on both of them.
• Tete begins to cross the rocks to get to the lighthouse, whilst Lozaal talks at the oni. Lozaal throws metal projectiles to catch them with his hammer, one of which gets shot out of the air by the oni throwing a sling bullet.
• Lozaal continues to cover for Tete's poor stealth rolls, rolling a keg of Frostmantle Fire towards the oni. The oni picks it up and throws it back at him, which smashes off his hammer.
• Tete messes up the last jump, falling into the water and making a splash. The oni notices, and Lozaal is forced to engage him.
• Kalshana and Dax are on the top of the lighthouse at this point, and Kalshana approaches the Khyber shard that is emitting the haunting light. She opens the casing, and hears a woman's voice in her head. Their conversation is transcribed at the end of this article.
• Oh man the oni really hurts actually. Wardens attempts to restrain him with Entangle, but it fails. Lozaal flees to under the bridge using Spider Climb, but Oni can fly and the oni pursues.
• Dax orders Zedd to help Lozaal.
• Lozaal's death ward triggers as the oni hits him really quite hard, wow.
• Lozaal beats on the Oni too, and does also a lot of damage! Oni regenerate though.
• Zedd flies under the bridge to try and get Lozaal out of dodge. He's hanging by magic.
• Dax tells Kal she doesn't know how to help, and decides the others need her help more. She leaps off the side of the lighthouse so as to approach from a different direction and hopefully not reveal that Kalshana is on top.
• Tete makes it up onto the bridge, and is currently debating whether to enter the lighthouse or help Lozaal.

 

Nashana

Kal's conversation with Nashana.   Nashana: "You came"
Kalshana: "You called to me, why wouldn't I come?"
Nashana: "I've been calling out for so long"
Kalshana: "I'm sorry I took so long, how can I help you?"
Nashana: "I don't know, I'm so confused"
Kalshana: "What's your name?"
Nashana: "Nashana"
Kalshana: "I am Kalshana, maybe that's why I could hear you"
Nashana: "I've been calling out to everyone"
Kalshana: "I think only Kalashtar can hear you, and only within the Mournland. There aren't a lot of Kalashtar in the Mournland"
Nashana: "No. The Riedrans came"