Session 7 - The Bloodbeast & the Mirror
General Summary
After resting up we view the room with trepidation. Tripp checks the left door for traps and finds none, so opens it with the bone key. As we enter the room the statues on each side become more visible. There is a windlass in the middle of the room with a chain running up into the ceiling. The mirrors are concave with metal supports extending to a point in front of them, which holds a large crystal. They are dusty from many years of disuse. Tripp has his long sword out and holds his lantern, Baka has her torch out. Moving forward we can see that the alcove behind the skeletal figure is smooth and inscribed with various letters. The weapons that they hold are also of bone. Initially we don’t recognize anything, but looking closer we see that perhaps words could be formed and that maybe the language is similar to that on the sarcophagi. Sai Kyo and Baka approach closer and they can make out the word “shusi” towards the top. Brovar and Lilrie approach the other statue, while Tripp and Digby hold the middle. Brovar and Lilrie can also pick out a word “lawku”. Maybe these words are, perhaps, names?
Tripp and Dibgy wipe the dust off the mirrors which are over 3ft in diameter. Four rods stand out from the mirror forming a point about 18 inches from the surface, where a crystal at what seems to be the focal point of the mirror. The mirrors and are wheeled stands and can be tipped if required.
Tripp moves forward towards the center of the room, and sees a very large candelabra with a chain running to the ceiling. We suspect that the chain is connected to the windlass, which could be used to raise and lower it.
We move forward to the next set of statues, which are almost identical to the first set. On the left we can make out the word “wënzhayisawch” behind the statue and on the right “melmo”. Moving to the last set we see two more words that we have seen before. Moving further up the room we can see more of the sarcophagus, and that the last of the words that we found are written on each side of it.
Around the sarcophagus there are eight flasks, two large and six small, matching the ones that we have picked up already, standing in metal stands. These stands appear to have a small metal pipe running from the base of the stand and under the sarcophagus.
We search the room for secret doors for about an hour since we are worried about how we will get out. We find none, and our fear of never being able to get out gets stronger.
What do we do now? Somehow light the candelabra and aim the light of the mirrors at the six skeletons and the other two at the sarchophagus? We cant think of anything else to do.
Baka starts to light the candelabra which has candles a foot long, each of which stands in its own crystal. As soon as the first one is lit, the fire spreads quickly to all the rest, and the whole candelabra bursts into light. Brovar and Lilrie wipe off the rest of the mirrors while Digby starts winding the windlass and raising the candelabra. As it rises the whole room lights up and we can see a setting in the ceiling within which the candelabra probably fits. Digby winds it all the way up until it settles into a domed, mirrored recess in the ceiling, and when it reaches the recess it settles into it with a dull clunk. As it does so eight beams of light come down from the roof, close to each of the mirrors.
Digby moves one of the mirrors into the path of the beam which is then focused by the mirror into a tight beam by the crystal. He focuses it on one of the skeletons with no effect. After a moment, he focuses it on the name, “shusi”, behind the first skeleton and immediately the beam turns red.
What we need to do seems to be clear. With the beam still on the name, Tripp takes an empty flask out of the stand and replaces it with one of the small ones that we picked up. Clamps grasp the flask tightly, there is a dull sound from underneath and the liquid starts pouring out and into the tube that goes under the sarcophagus. We wait for 10 minutes but nothing happens so using the mirrors we angle the rest of the beams at the various names and each of them turns red.
Sai Kyo replaces the small flasks on the right and Tripp does the remaining two on the left. The same process as happens with the first flask, repeats as we replace each of the others. They then take a large flask each and first Tripp and then Sai Kyo replaces it. As the last of the blood drains from the flask, there is initially no sound, but then we hear a thumping sound and feel it vibrating around the room. We can see dust and stone chips falling from the sarcophagus lid and the skeletons at the feet of the skeletal figures, start moving towards us.
Sai Kyo strikes first at a skeleton doing 10A strike critical, and another 5 damage. Tripp sneaks up on a skeleton from behind and attacks it with his long sword doing 16D slash critical, and another 3 hits. Brovar attacks next with his long sword doing 10 damage, and follows up with his mace doing 19E crush, doing another 30 damage and exploding it into pieces. Digby attacks his skeleton for 13B crush and 10 more hits. Lilrie tries to move the mirror, but cannot, so she swings at it with her morning star. It just bounces off. There is no getting out of this now! Digby is hit for a 7A, is given a bruised calf and 6 more damage. Baka hits her skeleton for 17 damage, the first she has ever done with a short sword! Woohoo! She seems to be getting more skilful and is now only on minus 15! Sai Kyo is hit for a 12B puncture, and an additional 4 hits, reducing him to 34 hit points.
The hammering sound from the sarcophagus is definitely getting louder, but we have no time to worry about it as our fight with the skeletons continues.
Next round Sai Kyo again goes first doing 15B and another 4 hits to the skeleton in front of him. Digby wallops skeleton for 46E crush, chopping it in half and doing 15 more damage, taking it down like a pro. Brovar misses with his long sword, but hits with his mace doing 17D crush, shattering some bones. Lilrie then misses her skeleton, after which Sai Kyo is hit again for 12B crush, but no extra damage. He is getting his butt handed to him and now down to 22 hit points. Tripp does another 14 damage to his skeleton, but it is still fighting. Unfortunately, he is still being attacked from behind and is hit for a 9B crush and another 3 hits. Baka hits her skeleton again for another 10 damage.
There is now a big crack in the base of the sarcophagus but at least no more skeletons are forming.
Sai Kyo misses badly, but Brovar hits with his long sword doing 22E slash, cutting both of its hands off and it crumples into a pile. Tripp then hits his skeleton doing 9 damage and taking it out. Digby flails badly, fumbling and losing his grip, juggling his weapon for 2 rounds, and is unable to parry. Lilrie misses, as does Baka. Digby is hit again for a 7A puncture and another 3 damage. Sai Kyo is also hit again, taking 16 damage, down to 6. He is looking rough, as is Tripp who is also hit, taking 13 damage.
Sai Kyo misses again, but Brovar has raced across to help him and hits with his long sword for a 13C slash and another 13 damage, finishing the skeleton off. Lilrie hits her skeleton for a 17C crush, shattering its knee for an extra 10 hits and it is fighting at minus 90. Digby is unable to react and is hit again, taking 8 damage.
Tripp connects perfectly doing 48 E and B slash criticals, doing an extra 8 hits in total, putting his skeleton down. Digby is hit for 2 as Lilrie whacks her skeleton for 20D crush, destroying it at last. Baka and Sai Kyo both miss, as does Brovar.
Blood is now running down the sides of the sarcophagus as the 9 ton lid is looking more and more like it will come off.
Next round Sai Kyo gains initiative does 17C strike smashing its weapon arm. Digby also connects doing 22 damage to the skeleton in front of him. Brovar misses with his long sword, and his mace does 13 damage, finally taking it out the skeleton that was attacking Sai Kyo. Digby hits for 16C crush, and an additional 10 hits on the last skeleton and Lilrie helps him, doing 13 damage at last it goes down.
After the combat we collect ourselves and Lilrie heals us, Digby for 3 and Sai Kyo for 9 and 7 putting him on 22. We move down to try to get out the bone doors, but they are locked and have no key hole on this side. As we try to find a way out, “something” emerges from the sarcophagus, 7 foot tall, carrying a sword with no armour. Its body is just a mass of blood, leaving large bloody footprints which seem to race back to its body to be absorbed.
Digby misses with his bow and Tripp, using his new bow, fires two arrows, one going wide, the other hitting for a 13C puncture, and 3 more damages. Sai Kyo misses with two shuriken.
Next round Sai Kyo connects solidly to the beast, but only does 9 damage. His strike splashes blood everywhere, but incredibly the splashes then start to stream back to the bloody beast. Can we even kill it? In return it casts a spell at Lilrie, which she was able to resist, and that seems to enrage it. Brovar throws a flask of oil at it but misses and the flask does not break as it hits the floor. Next Tripp fires again with his new bow hitting for a 13C puncture, and an additional 9 hits. Lilrie races forward to engage it with her morning star. Brovar also races in, as Sai Kyo attempts a strike and misses. Almost simultaneously Digby swings his battle axe, connecting for a 31E slash, and 4 more hits. Lilrie also hits it with her morning star, doing 9 damage. Brovar then misses with both his long sword and mace – that doesn’t happen often. Unfortunately, Lilrie is the blood beasts target again taking 20D puncture for another 2 hits. But she still remains in the fight. Tough girl.
Unbelievably Brovar misses with his long sword and his mace again as does Sai Kyo! Luckily Digby is in rare form as he hits it for 33E slash, a strike to his foes head “making life difficult”. I’ll say! The blood beast at last dissolves into a pool of blood on the floor. Its finally over.
After gathering ourselves, cleaning our weapons and catching our breath, we notice two things. In the wreckage of the sarcophagus, we can see something glinting and on the far wall there seems to be a shimmering portal. We first look in the sarcophagus and can see, lying in a cloth among the fragments of stone, some old gold coins (150 in total) and a small, ordinary-looking mirror, with no writing, circular, 5 inches in diameter. Baka takes the mirror.
We test beyond the portal with a pole and can feel the ground beyond. Taking a deep breath, Sai Kyo steps thru and eventually the rest follow him, emerging into the apse of the ruins. Our horses are still there, munching the grass, and the normality of the scene is comforting after everything we have been through.
We set off in the direction of Marinsholme , at an easy pace so that we can heal up. After another week’s ride we arrive and find lodging. It is slightly bigger than Calatan , but has no library. We are back to full health.
Leaving our horses in the stables, we go down to the dock looking for a boat to take us to Effa , the island two miles offshore where Ecaeris lives. Talking to one of the boatmen he says he took a woman, 40 or so and perhaps elven, out there a couple of days ago. Just in case we have travelled back in time, we ask him what year it is, and the year has not changed since we set out on this journey.
We hire a boat to take us out there for 5 silver pieces, and he asks us why we are going to see her but we give him non-committal answers. He also asks if we have any books for her as he has heard she is always interested in receiving them. We land on Effa and he confirms that he will be back the next day, at the same time to take us back.
We head up the beach into the trees and see a very domestic scene, with plants being grown and cows and sheep grazing. We see two women, one in her 40s, armed, and one looking older. We talk with the older one, telling her that we have a letter for her, and we hand it over. She says that it is maybe 20 years old and as we mention the name Sirenna there is a flicker of recognition. “I remember Ender Thenan”, she says after reading the letter. It took her only moments to read and decode it.
We go inside into a simple room, with a roaring fire. The younger one introduces herself as Vanya. Ecaeris says that we have a lot to talk about. We explain our background and get the coin out to show her. They both freeze at the sight of the coin and asks us where we got it. They had heard that they existed, but never seen one. She said that Sirenna also was searching for the The Oharith .
We eat and she says that she can probably help us with the effects of the undead. She tells us about the The Oharith , that it is a legend, known only by scholars, and the origin and true nature is a matter of debate. It is associated with a time in Ellios 7000 years ago, and linked to texts in the library of Sunam. But many documents were lost in the cleansing and an earthquake 2000 years ago and the city itself is being consumed by the waste. The Oharith may have been a people, maybe seers or priests, it could have been an ancient language. There is a generally held belief that it is a series of prophecies, referred to as the Oharith. There was a book which referred to a series of encrypted tablets which may hold these prophecies, but the content is not known. Perhaps it predicted the end of Ellios or the Great Cleansing of Ellios ? It is thought that the prophecies were so revealing, that they were encrypted. Supposedly the dwarves helped with the encryption, using their ancient language, and maybe magic, or a mechanical device. Scholars and others have been searching for this for centuries. The coin could be part of that encryption mechanism. Sirenna sought her out since she knew that Ecaeris had studied the Oharith.
Ecaeris looks at Vanya who says “you cannot”, but that doesn’t stop Ecaeris from reachings under the table and pulling out a tablet made of forged metal, 30 cm by 20 cm and 2 cm thick. The surface is inscribed with a series of runes, of the same type as in the letter by Aenwyn Thenan. And on the back, there are three words, each with a number of slashes beside it. Ecaeris says that she found it in the library of Sunam and after 40 years, she has been able to decrypt it, but doesn’t know what “Amnos” is. The letter was a very simple form of the same language, but Dom did it in a week! Turning back to the coin Ecaeris says that it may tell us more when the moon rises, Galen’s moon.
Sirenna Caryn didn’t tell Ecaeris about us, and she probably came from the waste with Aenwyn Thenan and Ender Thenan. After leaving Effa Sirenna headed off to Sunom .
Next Ecaeris brings out a torn piece of vellum, which she found in a book, which talked about the tablets. She thinks that the three codes may help with the decryption and we can see that the letters match the words on the back of the tablet. As the material is incredibly hard, and the words were engraved after the tablet was forged, she has no idea how it was done.
We ask Ecaeris why she is so interested in the prophecies and she says that she believes that the Oharith are important for the well-being of Ellios. They need to be found before other, less scrupulous people find them. What our role is in all this, she cannot say, but in one day we have probably advanced her research by about 10 years.
She is able to confirm that the items we found are magical. The spiked gloves are +5, the long sword and battle axe +10, Baka’s sword is a mage blade, +30, the ring aids non-magical healing, +25, the short bow of dual foes, +15 and with practice two separate enemies can be targeted.
Deciding to share everything with her, we show her the mirror from the ruins and she almost falls off her chair in disbelief. She says that the mirror is legendary and that, when asked, it will show any location, person or item and that it will continue showing this until asked to show something different. The one condition is that you must know the person or thing that you ask for. The mirror has a limited use, it may lose its power, but it can recover that power. Since it was left for years, it can probably be used a lot now. And she has heard that if the object that you show can be grasped in one hand you can reach into the mirror and take it. We tell her that recovering it, we had some constitution drained and she says that she has a herb which she can give us to regain it.
We finish our meal and wait for dark and Galen’s moon. Holding the coin up to the moonlight, we can see that the three strokes are similar to the marks on the vellum, one arrow has a double arrow head and the word “ëziz” representing the north. “Son” is on the south and “meko” east. A fourth word “shoj” is in the west. Presumably these can be used to orient the coin.
Kitty
- Session start – 10 gold, 192 silver
- Income – 150 gold
- Expenses – 5 silver
- Session end – 160 gold, 187 silver
Report Date
09 Jan 2021
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