Session 07 Summary

General Summary

The session began with the party waking up after spending their first night in Trollskull Manor. Following a quick breakfast, they set out on their mission to seek the counsel of the monk Hlam. As they were locking up their door, Lunchmoney got the feeling he was being watched, and turned to see a figure across the courtyard staring at them from the shadows. This tall, lanky human with long greasy hair and a dirty apron was giving them the old stink eye, but when Lunchmoney made it clear he’d been spotted, the man rubbed his hands together before turning to leave.
Ignoring this encounter, the party set out across the city towards Mount Waterdeep. The trip across the city was uneventful and they soon passed the gates onto a road heading to the northeast. Before long, the road veered away from the mountain, so they left it behind to move through a bug-filled forest to the foot of the mountain. As they began their ascent, they were accosted by Lieutenant Staven; a member of Waterdeep’s esteemed griffon cavalry who descended from the sky to ask who they were and to warn them of the dangers ahead. Once the party showed him the Blackstaff’s brooch, he sent them on their way but not before sharing some details about their options for reaching the summit. The long path would take the better part of the day and would leave them exhausted, or they could climb a steep cliff face to reach the summit faster, but this alternative proved to have its own dangers.
After choosing to risk the climb, the party began an extended challenge fraught with multiple levels, blustering winds, blinding rockslides and repeated attacks by vicious blood hawks. Despite taking significant injuries, all party members eventually reached the top level and made their way to the monk’s cave.
Once inside, they found the cave walls intricately decorated with complicated and colourful chalk drawings of people, animals, magical beasts and other figures, along with runic symbols and paragraphs of text in multiple languages. The unnaturally sphere-shaped inner chamber contained a central bonfire and a massive 10-foot boulder at the back, upon which the monk seemed to slightly hover in the lotus position with his eyes closed.
While Horus’s music and mentions of the Blackstaff did seem to provoke slight movements from him, the party’s single attempt to persuade him to speak so far has proved to be insufficient, and left them wondering what more they can do.

Report Date

28 Mar 2024