Session 61: Back to the Crypt, Again Report

General Summary


 
NEED TO FINISH & CLEAN UP!!
09/16/2023

09/16/2023

The Mighty Menagerie (3)

Redfall 13, 2023 KC, early morning

Menagerie Manor of Outding Refuge, Outding Refuge Recap

So last week, last session, you guys spent a day, woke up. You guys were kind of told IRSA it was aware that you guys were in town and you guys were invited to come up, and you guys wanted to go check out either talk to the Ghost or check out the cemetery and dig up a body, but decided maybe that day time is not the best time to do that. So went off and checked out the the towers, learned a little bit about what's been going on with the next. That's how the White tower's almost a city upon itself with a couple thousand people Living inside of there. A lot of people Work in the lower floors. Then there's like some areas, the cafeteria type things going on and then dormitories. You guys went up to the top of these and these are like round buildings, but on the top they have a point. So they kind of have this obelisk appearance with the top having a five sided pyramid and you guys are up there and that's kind of where you guys had a little discussion with Ursa and Lars. The didn't get too out of hand at that discussion. And then you guys showed you guys how to touch a fountain that's out in the courtyard and it took you to a park that was over in the crown, as they call it. The main city that's being rebuilt. As you guys have gone over there, the discussion kind of played out a little bit longer, and at some point you guys confronted her about the situation with the Dragon, where at that point, technically, she confronted us in the discussion. You guys confronted her about it? Yes. Sam, you said what was with the Dragon. And so I don't. No, I asked I asked her if she knew what the Dragon was talking about because she said she had she had information. And so she's the one who freely gave up that it was her. Right. So I'm confused, but that's okay. but at that point, she kind of released last to get back to Work so I can take care of what he was doing. And so you guys can just talk to her about the situation. She admitted it was her that had she was the one that the Dragon was speaking of and that it seems that what you guys learned out of this discussion was that Ursa has been very busy manipulating things as and as she was saying, it was her island nation. Her their island nation was growing. And so she's been finding things to do to protect them, especially since with the forge, they've kind of become a major player on the world scene as well as the fact that she's been very heavily invested for the last three years in what's the iconic prophecies, how at some point the Dragon and the Earth is supposed to wake up and destroy everything. so even though you guys definitely were to learn how much she's actually been kind of behind the scenes and in some ways even using you guys as a and the words that was used by shadow and tool, you guys were not very happy with that. You guys also decided to become marriage counselors and try to tell her how she should run her marriage. And in the end, it seemed the very amicable, but untrusting kind of truce was made in the sense that, she she didn't seem to be harmful or malicious towards you guys in any way. You guys have some levels of distrust towards her, SIL And but you did learn that she also seems to not trust any others, and that's probably why she hasn't been totally honest with you guys. But she was willing to be very open and honest with you guys about this stuff so far. she also kind of Frightened shadow, though, because she seemed to know a lot about the the mission for best, and that's something that you guys felt you have not talked to many people about. So there was curiosity on, on why that was the case. but she definitely seemed like she was in support of that as well as she let you guys know of a few other things that have been going on in the world, such as when you guys helped the Hag. You guys had actually planted the seed to what seems to be a Blight that somehow affects the real world since you technically planted that seed in the fair, wild and that area. but it seems that it's caused a Blight situation, as she put it, though, that as this Blight is growing, she's actually hoping that it might be used as a way to stop the Civil War. Kind of like a enemy of my enemy is my friend kind of situation out there. That's what it sound like. what else was brought up? you guys asked her about Biggie asking her about Biggie. You guys learned how he supposedly was a follower of Jungle and might have been getting what he believed was messages from jungle. And that might be what prompted him to come after Ursa and Lars, where Ursa admitted that he probably wanted to kill her more than Lars. You guys also did notify Gits about this. also was very, Well, I don't know what the word look for is, but she did make it very apparent that she's concerned about the cracking orb and she sees it as a threat that needs to be figured out before it blows up on you guys. you guys, what was it about your role again? guard or something? He was the guy, too. So he's the God of death or he was the God of death, I should say, for he's one of the world's oldest gods. It turns out. But at some point he gave up. He relinquished his post and actually split his portfolio amongst three very evil adventurers who had sought out godhood. at this point he became like kind of the what they call central Soul Sending Soul. I don't know how to say that word right now, but kind of he is the assistant to one of the actually, I think now he's actually the assistant to Callum's manager. long bar. Okay. And Kellan, four as the more notable god of death these days with goal being his, like, kind of assistant. And you guys have actually seen that one time. You guys saw the a priest of Callum for he was at one of the taverns with a bunch of pilgrims. And, Calliope was not very happy with him because he ate his Deer is venison with great enthuse orgasm and looking at her as he did so yeah that got pissed off. so yeah, that was the thing with gurgle. Also Bastion was looking to find out more about maybe a way of getting some money using the ship. and so what you guys were told is that the any ships that's at the docks, if they have room for cargo that usually the somebody at the docks will know if there's any cargo that could fill up that space. I was going to run the numbers though. It's I don't think it's going to be a lot of money if you guys do end up doing that. But, you know, you can you can try to make some money. which also helps any the best list skills. But also if you guys ever find anything interesting is always willing to look to see if you want to buy it. Sold off some stuff then went to dinner last. You guys talked to Lars and Ursa about the orbs. Lars doesn't seem to know a lot about them, but they did bring up the safety concerns about the the one you guys found in the Beholder cave. They also notified you guys also to be careful about using magic in town. It's a little regulated, which is kind of true with most larger Cities. As Cities get larger, they tend to regulate magic out of Fear that the magic will be used against the, you know, government, the governments of those areas. you guys also tried to sell magic on Lars and that didn't seem to do anything. Calliope used her glove on Lars. You learned a little bit. You got to see a little bit of his life. You got to see how they made the weapons of your teammate and how Urso started taking over the reins of the, the, the Crafting so he could get back to being a government leader of the area. And of course, Ursa warned you not to try that on her. And you guys also that learned about how prod them in the tavern really wasn't prod problem that somehow Ursa had appeared as him and convinced you guys that it was him. I think that's pretty much it after dinner, you guys, now we're at the harbor of that evening. My notes of multiple scoops. you said. Look. So Lars is the main official of both of the city. She's a floating one. And so pretty much what you've learned is that he's the the mayor of the whole area. And then but what they do is they actually have three other government bodies. So there's Ursa has a has a board, I guess, if you will, that handles the affairs of the nexus. There's a committee for the Crown and then there's the old committee that was for these the city council for the the thought. So pretty much they all Work together to figure out what's the best interest for everything. It's kind of how the politics works here. So I should say technically, Ursa does have some political power, but it's mostly about how the, the nexus and for their concerns, the nexus is that floating city. Right? Right. It's called the. No, no, no. The city is the crown. there's Lord Arians, I think, is the full name of his ordinance crown. So I'm like that. I can't think of the term right now. But then the three towers, that's called the nether real nexus. And that's kind of the the real nexus. Another real nexus is the term for okay, that's three towers. Yeah. Think of it like as a company, that's kind of the company name. Okay. And that of course. And these three towers, what do they do again? They're they're so pretty much what you learned was that the White Tower is kind of more of like the dormitory and some of the the lower level research and other like, administration is handled there, the Black Tower and the Red Tower off limits to most people where it seems like they kind of use those for more special projects. And so there's no like differentiation between the red or the black. In what way? Like you said, that they're off limits for most people. Is there like one that's more than the other or they do the same? Like do they do the same thing or do they do different things? You guys didn't really that didn't really come up in any of the top discussions. But it seems like the black is probably used more than the red a lot more. and all the rights for black issues or more secure, magical, technically black, it seems to be the black site kind of stuff. The red is actually the more probably it seems like the Reds, the more yeah, that's why there's little more trust. You got to see a little bit more people working at the black or a little bit more happening with the black. But the red is like the little bit more like you have to be really special to get over there kind of thing. So I say that something that you could have picked up also just over overhearing chatter and stuff as you guys were.

They come out of the portal room at the harbor. A little tabletalk about how the harbor tends to help find cargo based on date and time of departure for those who are looking to pick up some coin for space they have on board. This is based on reputation and since the harbormaster is aware of the party's affiliation with Lars & Ursa, this should not be a problem. There is more that Barlo would know, which I don't think the player is aware of... There was discussions on talk with the Dead, scrolls, and what scrolls Helga has... as well as how scrolls are used in Crafting, hence why they are hard to come by here... They find a shovel in the basement. They split the party, and as they come up to the Church we have Shadow doing a perception check and sees that it is empty, no ceremonies at this time. They find the grave off the SW side where such plots are. on the tombstone for him is the Symbol of Jergal. Around the time they got there they saw a guard leaving the guard tower. Shadow, Barlo, and Arktos dig up the grave. Barlo stealth w/advantage -- the rest, Calliope, Bastion, and Sas go to find Kyleanna Heyton. They go to the crypts. They take in the sights, with a perception check, Sas and Calliope are the first to see a mirage effect similar to what Shadow described. It has a slight red tinge to it. After a few minutes of this, finally a form of Kyleanna appears. Now with a blue shimmer and a look of pain and grimmacing. She begins to speak, but no words seem to come out. She closes her eyes and winces for a bit then tries again: "Can you hear me now?" Bastion: "Yeah, what's going on?" Kyleanna: "Not good. It's worse than last time you helped me. Sas: "Worse how? Kyleanna: "It's been hard for me to come back from the Ethereal Plane on this side. Bastion: "Wasn't there something blocking you last time? Kyleanna: "Last time there was something that was kind of affecting how my form could affect things. Now it's even more so where it's hard for me to kind of stay on this plane. I think what's helping me a little bit right now is the fact that I've been on this island long enough to ... she blinks out for a second... Kyleanna: "Yeah, like that. It's hard for me to kind of stay on the plane. And even when I first came, saw you guys. I couldn't talk for a little bit. Sas: "Yeah, you seem pretty unstable. Kyleanna: "Yeah, I once again, I still can't go down into the lower regions. The where you guys have gone last time. but, yeah, I don't know why this has been the way it is. It seems every time you guys come to the island, there's a problem with how this place handles Ghost. Sas: "You think it has something to do with us? Kyleanna: "I wasn't trying to say that. That's rude. No. Looking at the correlations of things. Sas: "Yeah, I'm not offended. Just what do you think has something to do with this? it is. I would like to know. Kyleanna: "Well, I mean, to be fair, the last time they have. Well, both times. I mean, this this has been going on actually for quite some time. sometime after you guys have left, I want to say it got kind of bad again, So, I can't remember exactly when it started happening like this, but it has been some time, actually, to be fair, it's not like I really have a lot of people I talk to. Every once in a while I'll talk to Helga. Most people on the island have been more involved with how it's been growing, so yeah,.. Bastion: "Have you been the Ghost on our property? Kyleanna: "well, I'm not sure exactly which property is yours, but, and I will say that most of my time.. she blinks out for another moment, comes back a little more irritated. Kyleanna continues: "sorry. Most of the time I spend here in the crypts, I know that there was there was another Ghost that it seemed that kind of had appeared at some point a couple of years ago. she was still getting used to how to understand how, how to be a Ghost, if you will. And so her and I were not really able to communicate much. And then whatever had started messing with my ability... Bastion: "How long ago was this?
Kyleanna: "a couple of years ago. It was around 3 years ago... Bastion asks about how long Ursa had been here. For her whole life... Calliope tries to use the glove to no avail. They question her about the Ghost and learn that each Ghost learns how to use the new form a lot. It seems the new Ghost had a lot of Fear and regret, which can sometimes make it hard for them to figure things out with the overabundance of emotion. Kyleanna brings up how she thinks her purpose is to watch over the island. Sas asks about how some are able to "move on", Kyleanna says sometimes there is a "purpose" and so the Ghost might find that purpose. Some are murdered victims seeking to help bring justice and so when that murder is solved they can move on. Sometimes it's they were protective of somebody they left behind. A bit of discussion on how her bond seems to be to protect the island. She continues to feel as if she needs to protect the island. RETCON: BEFORE THEY WENT DOWN, IT SEEMS SHADOW REMINDED THEM TO ASK HER ABOUT VIGGIE... They also ask about Viggie, she doesn't know a lot about him. She knew he was buried above ground, the mayor when the party was last here, she doesn't keep up on a lot of such things. She heard he tried to Kill Lars and Ursa. Calliope asked where she goes when she "disappears" and she answers how she returns to the Ethereal Plane, the plane inbetween here and other places... She can see other ghosts. Sas asked about the timing of her problems and Viggies death and they seem like they were close together. Then she suggests to see if she can find the Ghost in the Ethereal Plane around here. She realizes the new Ghost might have some difficulties, she says she will return if she finds anything, and Bastion asks if she haunted the home and gives the direction... She says she doesn't go into the town much, but she knows a bit -- even though the last few years has been Weird. She suggests she can focus on the features and folds in that area... **back to the digging party** Shadow continues to tell bad jokes. I won't do that to you here... ;) As they continue to dig they find the Wood of the casket, just as the rest of the party returns. They use the crowbar and open the wooden casket. He's a few years Dead, with a bit of smell, not overwhelming. He is in normal clothes. Bastion casts Prestidigitation. A Familiar orb flies up from it, a Professor Orb and as it flies up it speaks in Captain Meklan's voice as it turns out to be the Professor Meklan of Toril orb they rescued. he says: "You finally came and got me." Barlo: "Shhhh... keep your voice down Bastion: "Did they turn you into a ... thing? into an orb? Meklan Orb: "Actually, I haven't met you before, I've met the rest of these guys. My name is Captain Meklan. Shadow: "How did you end up here? Meklan: "Well your Captain Meklan, after you got me out of that box, he found me and planted me in this box, saying group would come and dig me up one day. He was very certain that you would do this and I tried to get out of it, but hh was certain I would not. Shadow: "So Meklan put you in here? Meklan: "yes. He was pretty certain that some of the stuff that I happen to know would be helpful to whomever would dig me up Sas: "What stuff is that? Meklan: "That I don't know, specifically. He was very enigmatic in how he spoke to me and it seemed that he kept going on about how he had tried different things and different ways. And he's been very careful in what he'd said to me at that point. The only thing he really wanted me to know was that things that I know could be helpful to the people that would dig me out. They realize it was the orb they found when separated from Bastion Shadow: "Do you know anything abou tthe body you are buried with? Meklan: "Not really. I guess my understanding was that he was the. The mayor that lived here on this island. He, Sorry. I guess he tried to kill some other mayor of this island. Sas: "Yeah, he did. Bastion casts Identify on the Professor Orb, and learns it is a Professor Orb who has extensive knowledge on a god named Vecna, an unknown species known as Spellweaver, Plane of Time, an entity known as Dendar the Night Serpent, and the Dragon Prophecies. They are sentient echos of a person who is an expert on various fields. They are used in universities and such to pass on knowledge. Bastion asks about the prophecies, and if he had talked to Ursa. No. Shadow asked if he knew or met Tharros the Wanderer. no. Bastion asked about the prophecies, and so the orb asked what specifically he wanted to know, he answered "When they will happen." Prophecies don't Work like that. Meklan: "The draconian prophecies do not actually give any timeline on when they're supposed to unfold. And the truth is, they're very complicated. Bastion: "it's cool if you don't know, man. Meklan: "I know a lot about the prophecies, obviously no one is going to know everything about them. The story goes they were originally drafted by dragons who studied everything and wrote down what they believed had happened, could happen and would happen. And people are always looking for patterns and as they relate to reality. In the end, though, a lot of it comes down to the end of the world as it always does. And so in this case, it's supposed to be that for you in this new realm, that there will be an end based on a Dragon awakening. they put the box back together and put it back, then bury it again. they use Prestidigitation a bit on the dirt and grass to hide the Work, it doesn't do much. Shadow asks about her spores to help. They talk about casting Plant Growth in the morning. Barlo grabs some debris and leaves to assist. They go back home... and then a retcon as we overlooked Calliope Galanodel's Elder's Glove of Lore on the corpse:

She sees him as a mayor who had care, but was not a hard-worker. She sees right before she got to the island where he lost the mayorship at the celebration. He was sad, and began to hear voices at some time. Seeing visions of Jergal. Jergal is a strange cross between a praying mantis and a Human, or other times like a Lich or mummy type, he tends to have a long face/skull. Sometimes with 2, 4, or 6 arms. Long arms with strange claw-like hands. It talks about strange things at play as the god Vecna is Dead. Jergal seems intent on finding something on this island that he believes will help his goal that he long ago thought was never going to occur so he abandoned it. Viggie is constantly following Ursa and taking copious amounts of notes on what she is doing. Jergal felt she was a threat. Then one night he is awoken out of bed and arrested. Then the trial and the execution... the glove also notifies her that he was not in the room that night, although he had worked on plans to kill her. So there was enough evidence to convict him. The lore of the body continues to tell her more... She sees the crypt open, and a younger Meklan is opening the box. He is talking to the orb and puts the orb in the box, then closes it again.

tabletalk on Jergal

According to what they may know -- he seems to have been a pretty evil god long ago, and is one of the oldest gods. He later gave up his portfolio to three adventurers and yet some think he had a grand master plan that never came to fruition. They noticed the scroll on the Symbol. Barlo thought it was interesting. The new god of death is Kelemvor. They wonder which form of Jergal was possibly speaking to Viggie. They also discuss the evidence, the stalking and plans -- even though he was not in their room that night. He is currently Lawful Neutral, the God of Fatalism and proper burial.

As they leave, Shadow passes a perception check. They return home and discuss some plans and what they learned. They are thinking of how they can handle the Ursa situation. They also discuss the new orb and his knowledge base. Barlo asks if the Spellweaver have anything to do with The Weave... it didn't seem as if it was roleplaying. The spellweavers are not a known species. Barlo was thinking of Dweomerflow and how it powers the ship or Soul Gem, a lost spell. Bastion thought about how Ursa claims she got her information from the journals, especially about the Draconic prophesies.. even though that wasn't what was said. She just said around 3 years ago she across something about them and that sparked her actions. He was thinking she never met the orb or Meklan and yet she is talking about it... They debate if she is just being secretive or nefarious. Shadow wonders if any of their actions had anything to do with that... at this time there is no reason to think so. The orb does ask at some point if they have any questions. Bastion asks if it knows how to stop the Dragon, it replies that it doesn't know as much about the dragons as much as it knows about the prophecy. He asks if the orb can tell them the prophecy, and he says it isn't as clear as that. It is built on piecemeal and seems to be ever-changing. Shadow asks what the cataclysmic event is, he replies there is not just one -- but it is whatever teh reader seems to think it might be. It is based historically on writings by dragons who observed the universe. and since then it has been altered by many. There are many volumes written on it and is very complex. Barlo asks if there is a link to it happening on other worlds. It replies that other worlds do have their versions, one of the most notable that he knows of is the one from a world called Eberron who has their own and it is just as irritatingly vague. Barlo asks if that realm still exists, the reply is that the orb believes most all other realms no longer exist. The way for most to visit other realms from this realm seems to be using time travel. Barlo asks about his past. He was a past version of Meklan from Torill -- like an alternate version of him, but close enough it's like a multidimensional version. Barlo asks if he will stay and he says their Meklan wanted him to. because he believes that there's information that if you guys ask the right questions, you might learn to help in some way to something cool. Put him in a saddlebag or something... Back to discussions on Ursa and Viggie. Calliope's vision is not evidence for a court as most don't accept magic for most cases, due to the double nature of magic. Bastion asks if they took all the Books from under the Keep. There was a lot of Confusion here... They also discussed having Bastion pulling an Edgar Gayce and learning by osmosis, whether the DM is trying to hint, and how there is a lot of things they can do research into at this point... They then think about the Plane of Time... as well as Barlo talking about trying to pull a Meklan and use time travel to fix the past. Around Midnight, the wavy Etherealness of Kyleanne appearing. The timing makes it easer for her. She says there is something trapped here, says it was feminine and it is trapped. There is some power coming from under the church, again -- stronger than last time. It seems that area is conductive to such mass magics. The New "essence" is trapped in some part of the ethereal here... More discussions about the previous owners. They were merchants who retired here. When the Crystal stopped protecting the villagers from Sahuagin, the brother went to assist in a raiding party. Barlo wondered if the sister was still around, or if something is hidden here and the Ghost is protecting it. They discuss staying only one more day... Then a long rest. Bastion does a bit of guard duty. Otherwise uneventfull evening.

Redfall 14, 2023 KC, early morning

Menagerie Manor of Outding Refuge, Outding Refuge Morning comes, and early in the morning Bastion goes to Helga's Herbs & Oddities to retrieve the purchased scroll (and materials for scribing). He goes home and scribes Detect Magic, succeeds the arcana check. It is around 10 when they head to the church, and they see a few leaving the church. Calliope casts confetti. As they enter the basement Bastion does a ritual cast of Detect Magic. The large sarcophogus seems to have some magic auro, very Light. It seems to have Abjuration. as well as the items of his teamates. The space has had a few bits of small changes, but nothing major. They call out for Kyleanna, but she only gives a few shimmers -- unable to come through. They go down the hall towards the secret door. They mess with the left torch and the secret door opens up... but this time it is blocked by a large solid Metal kind of "door" in the center is a mold where it looks one could put their hand in, but the fingers are long and strangely extended. It's like twice the size of a normal Human hand. Before Bastion's spell fades he picks up a magic essence for a locking magic on it. THey don't see hinges or a door knob. It would seem that whatever hand would fit in that might be what unlocks it. They look at the Chime of Opening, which doesn't seem to inherently Work on magic locks. Shadow is wondering what kind of creature has such a hand. Nature check... she has never seen such a handprint. Bastion uses Intelligence since he has read a lot on monsters, 26, and thinks the Doppelganger might best fit such a hand, in their natural form. They are shapechangers who can look like any humanoid and duplicate others. They also can read minds. Shadow wonders if Ursa is a Doppelganger. She also wonders if it was really Viggie in the grave... based on Calliope's reading, most likely not. When a Doppelganger dies, they revert so it wasn't a Doppelganger. There does not seem to be a way to know if you were replaced by a Doppelganger. A bit on how they might want to keep victim around to get new info from. They examine the door. Bastion uses the Basalt's Magic Ball

Q. "If I get rid of the magic lock on this door, can we force the door open?" A."Outlook Good".
— Session 61: Back to the Crypt, Again Report

Barlo pulls out the crowbar. Bastion casts Dispel Magic at 5th spell, and Skill Empowerment on Barlo as he pushes on the door and it opens. but I let him not cast it as Barlo was openning it. Shadow casts Pass Without Trace. She has See Invisibility still active. They debate if Bastion should cast Detect Magic again. Sas and Barlo go ahead and check for traps. checks the door, it is fine. Checks teh stairwell and it is fine too, it seems it was long ago deactivated. The door seemed to be enough for the new occupant. It seems the bottom has drastically changed. All the walls and rooms are removed. It is one large room, a walkway around, and the center landmass. The water is still there, but looks like the universe.

But as you look at the water, it looks almost like the universe inside of it. There is a round platform right in front of you, the platform. You can see some type of markings that are in the on it. And in the center of it is an obelisk, a Black Obelisk. In the center there. You notice it also has some red lines. Actually, I had notes. You're used to this. You're seeing the red lines that are kind of coming off of it. But before you really get much of a chance to really look at it, you see something up here in front of you. Looked you see from behind it a cluster of these tiny lights and from behind it a ten foot wide skulll comes up. Well, yeah, close to ten feet wide with the one very large eye in the center and very sharp teeth. And you see these ten little glowing things around it. it's coming over to attack. A large floating skull with one large single eye and a mouthful of razor sharp teeth. The central eye whole glows red and spectral points of red Light flowed around the creature.

And more descriptions of the what's going on with the room will happen, I guess, after you guys are done fighting. We'll start it off with the rule initiative.




t Milestone Experience | 2875 ea Total: 82,125 (Next Goal: 85,000 ) t

Rewards Granted

Experience

t Milestone Experience | 2875 ea Total: 82,125 (Next Goal: 85,000 ) t

Character(s) interacted with

Characters

Creatures

Human
Ghost
Hag
Deer
Beholder
Lich
Familiar
Sahuagin
Spellweaver
Doppelganger
Dragon

Created Content

2023

10 (Redfall)

Redfall 13, 2023 KC

The Wild Cards dig up the grave of the ex-mayor and learn more about a ghost on their property

Redfall 14, 2023 KC

The Wild Cards return to below the crypt and see how a lot has changed in the past few years.

— Timeline of The Mighty Menagerie