Session 12: Mysteries & Regrets

General Summary

3rd - 5th Myrkule 234 4E   Avina was first back to the clearing where Fallili was waiting, agitated and pacing. The others followed shortly, with only Stievna accompanying. It was with sorrow that they had to inform the dwarf of the fate of her men. With frustrated anger, Fallili cursed into the air and threw her foot into the lifeless body of Hrefna. But they didn't have time to dawdle and so quickly set about getting as far from the castle as they could. Once there were a few miles between them, Willum found a sheltered copse, hidden from outside eyes, and they set up camp. They would rest and recover, then return to Kydus to finish the job.   During this time the party took stock of Hrefna's possessions. She had a pouch full of coin and gems, which the party gave to Fallili to help provide for the families of those fallen, as well as an intricate crystal amulet and plain silver ring. The amulet was carved into the shape of a snowflake and was warm to the touch, seemingly drawing the cold from the icy fingers of those holding it, and Meridas' studies revealed that it gave the wearer magical resistance to the bite of cold. The ring was different, however. From what Meridas could tell it carried the lingering presence of Hrefna's magic, imbued through years of casting through it, and gave its wearer multiple physical advancements. However, with Hrefna now dead and it not truly being enchanted, its magic was already beginning to fade. Who knows how long its powers would last.   The party also all looked inside the bundle, Avina unwrapping it from its cloth and cord jacket to reveal what she and Willum had already seen. Within lay a large rock, at least two feet wide and one across. It was formed of coarse black stone with veins of dark violet-blue material running through it - nightshadow stone. All but two of its sides were rough and jagged, marking that other rock had been broken off there (or that it had been broken off of a larger piece). Those other two sides were a smooth, singular curved face. Across its surface lay a web of vine-like markings that twisted amongst each other, all of the same stone material. Willum pointed out to the others that these markings were the same as the ones Hrefna had scribbled on the scraps of paper found in her tent. He had noticed this before because he knew of the markings - a similar but far larger stone monolith stood in the middle of his home, and had in fact been what had created them to start with.   On the second night, as Avina went to wake Tawny for his watch, a scatter of tiny rifts floated into the camp, followed by a larger flurry and 3 distinct pops. The pair awoke their companions but stayed quiet, still not sure of what lay out there. Shortly after three strange, small creatures with long limbs and dark, membraned wings started to enter the camp, drawn towards the fire. One of them even buried itself into the base of the fire, curled up in the embers and flames. The party decided to wait them out, with the creatures posing no immediate threat, but a slip from Avina drew their attention and the party found themselves under a barrage of smoke and ash. They fought the tiny monsters and quickly put them down, but they burst into huge clouds of soot when they died. When all was quiet the camp and tents were covered.   In the morning Meridas and Tawny went to commune with Hrefna's body, Meridas using their recently recharged magic to allow Tawny to talk with whatever memories lay in her corpse. Tawny took off his mask, making sure to hide from the others. He asked the party's questions and got these responses:  

• What's the rock purpose?
"Can't let them open the doors..."
• What are the markings, why were you writing them down?
"They promised... they promised they would stay... but they left, they left me Aster..."
• Who is 'they'?
"Beyond... close the doors... they can't be opened again..."
• Where did you find the rock?
"The man... the man before... came to Kydus... falling... falling... down..."
• What was your plan?
"I have to find the path... but it keeps changing..."

With those last words, Meridas' magic ended and Hrefna's body slumped. They buried her in a small grave outside the camp. The party headed back to Kydus, with plans to defeat any bandits that remained there. Fallili remained in the camp while Stievna joined them, set on recovering the bodies of his comrades. But when they got to the castle they were greeted by a scene they didn't expect. They charged up to the main keep, feet pounding beneath them, but quickly noticed that everything was quiet. No one was in the camp in the bailey and when they reached the upper castle they saw that there was no one there either. Instead, the ground and battlements were strewn with the pummelled, dismembered, and shredded corpses of the bandits. The bodies of those who died two days earlier still lay where they had fallen, untouched and whole, but those who had survived that encounter had been torn apart.   The party split up and investigated the castle courtyard. Odhran examined the bodies and found that they had been assaulted by multiple simple weapons and bare hands, killed not by magic or skill but by a frenzied, overwhelming onslaught. Avina found signs of magic damage on the stone walls but none on the bodies, but also a few spots where bodies had fallen and were now missing. Willum kept watch over the southern approach, his eyes scouring the bailey and forest's edge for movement and signs of danger. Tawny checked the northern approach, finding the tracks of multiple figures converging on the castle and then scattering away afterwards, their numbers now greater. Meridas paced through the castle's ruins, not finding any further details but hearing a crawling whisper that clawed into their core.   The party traced the sound to a deep well in the corner of the courtyard, carried upwards by a breeze that came from below. They decided that they would descend into the well, but before they would make contact with the stone to see if it revealed anything. Tawny volunteered and gently touched his palm to its surface. A surge of pain ran up his arm and he felt a presence spike into his mind. He managed to fend it off, but not before he briefly saw a vision of an empty stone corridor with a large timber door at its end which was then replaced by a cavernous void of darkness, a humming coming from beyond.  

Session Log - Avina

 

It’s over. For now, at least. Nothing went as we had planned, and I cannot help but feel a tremendous amount of guilt. Meridas was right. We should have concentrated all our energy on killing Hrefna as quickly as possible, leaving potential for her allies to surrender. Maybe we could have saved some lives. Fallili is rightfully furious. Almost all her men are dead. And Tawny… I should not have given him false hope. He knew what the mission was. He knew how this would end. I do not know how we could have helped her, even if we had managed to capture her alive. That look on her face right before… the desperation with which she clutched the rock. She seemed almost frail and vulnerable then. If only I had- but no. There’s no sense in dwelling on hypotheticals. What is done is done. Hrefna is dead, the mission a success. And yet we are faced with mysteries. What drove her to madness? A spell was cast to speak with the corpse. A fascinating process, yet it wielded more questions than answers. Talk of a door, likely connected to the story of Earl Haem. A man falling, a changing path. Riddles or metaphors? The rock is of importance. We must stay wary of it, lest we are all driven insane. It gave Tawny a vision of a stone corridor, and again a door.   Something strange happened at the castle after the fight. Signs of another conflict, possibly involving magic. And a whisper coming from the well. I feel more exhausted than ever, but there is no time to rest. If we want answers, it seems like we will have to live up to the name we gave our little party and descend…

— Avina Marwick