Session 4: The Broken Ring Report

General Summary

Having reached the forgotten stone circle in the Goatswood, the investigators witnessed (and battled) various otherworldly manifestations of a supernatural entity. Stig saw a ghostly man with a shield and fine armor struggling to defend against something inside the circle. Smok saw a ghostly dragon rise up from the center of the henge, urge him to dig up the stones, then attacking (and being dispelled) when Smok would not. Rowan and Elric fought a huge black wolf that seem to have physically manifested, and with Stig's help "slew" the beast.

Then Rowan remembered hearing of an ancient binding magic called the Ritual of Incatenare, and felt it might be found in the massive (if not generally public) library in the Abbey of Our Lady of Mysteries, about 2 days' travel down the Via Lorinne from Heathersly.

As they made the decision to head to the Abbey, they spied a procession on the road headed up to Kalai: an oxcart bearing the body and grieving family of Berwyn the Bailiff. Along with eight or so men as witnesses, they are likely headed to the Constable Black Rolf to seek justice...

Nevertheless, the PCs continued south toward the abbey, leaving the wise woman Candyce in Heathersly to ring bells occasionally and hopefully encourage the people to avoid the Goatswood. After a long day of travel in the rain, they stopped for the night at the Stairs of Paradise, an old ruin that is little more than a curving stone staircase that at least has several arches where travelers can escape most of the damp. The night was uneventful (and even tasty due to Rowan's luck at trapping a rabbit), but in the morning you discovered a pair of long-forgotten gilded spurs...the kind that could have belonged to one of the nobility.

Pressing on, the investigators arrived at the abbey the following evening, and found it to be a large timber church attached to a large stone keep. They were welcomed into the Abbey, given rooms and a meal, and met Prioress Muriel (Abbot Caedmon was unfortunately not feeling well and so remained in his chambers). The PCs tried to gain access to the library that night, but were bluntly put off till morning by Godfrey, the crotchety nonagenarian librarian.

The next morning's prayer service was found to be missing the Abbot, and the Prioress ordered his room opened. A Conversi (volgare worker) opened the locked door to find a grisly sight. A novice, Immin, lay dead on the floor with a ghastly chunk, like a huge bite wound, missing from his neck and left shoulder. The Abbot lay naked and dead upon his bed, though with no apparent wounds.

Understandably, this threw the Abbey into an uproar. However, Rowan and Elric were able to be given access to the library, while Smok was tasked with helping to prepare the bodies for the Sacrament of Sacrifinale. Stigala found herself beckoned into the basement living quarters of the Conversi.

Rowan and Elric found the underground library not just spooky and labyrinthine, but also maddeningly disorganized. Finally, after eight hours of searching, Rowan found a slip of paper indicating that the Journal of Dame Giselle and the effects of Galeren had been moved to the Sacristy in the care of Brother Humbert.

Meanwhile, Stig was drawn to the Conversi, where they asked her to perform a reading about the abbot's death, WHICH SHE DID AMAZINGLY, even from literally random cards. She also heard rumors that the Abbot's frequent "devotions" with the young novices were somewhat less than pious...

Returning from the library, Rowan and Elric came down into the Conversi room, for apparently the only way to communicate with Brother Humbert was via written message slipped through a wall slot.

After being inviting into the Sacristy (relic vault) and Humbert's chambers, the PCs learned that not only did the aging knight have Dame Giselle's journal, but that he had served with her in l'Ordre Fantôme nearly 375 years before! Apparently the strange Star Tablets (the Relic of Saint Presagia) create a highly localized time differential of nearly 6:1, greatly extending his life but dooming him to stay near the Tablets or instantly die.

The journal of Dame Giselle is supposed to be read only by members of l'Ordre Fantôme, and it is in Lalange anyway, so humbert will have to sort out the parts of the ritual and translate them into Imperial, a process that will take him eight hours (2 days of regular time).

And that's where we leave our heroes...

Rewards Granted

1 Advance

Character(s) interacted with

• Prioress Muriel
• Sir Humbert of Champicourt
• Adagio and Madam Magdalena of the Conversi (volgare workers of the abbey)