Session 43: Tomb of Mankalita

General Summary

The Great Tree

34th of Wintercrest 22nd year of the Second Era
The Regulators left the memorial to the champions of the Fyra and rode into the forest to continue to the great tree. During their journey, they heard the sound of the Spriggans and managed to avoid their notice entirely, not having to test out Mankalita’s staff as a deterrent to conflict. Two hours later, they emerged from the forest at the edge of a large lake where the great tree was growing. Two of the tree’s giant roots. Created a path into the tree that was protected from the depth of the lake but still had a shallow stream running from it.
They decided to follow the path and soon found themselves traversing a tunnel that led into the tree itself. Zuko kicked something solid and heavy under the water and discovered it was a piece of worked obsidian that was flat on two sides and jagged around the edges. A few moments later, they came upon an archway that had jagged pieces of obsidian around the edges. It appeared there was once a door or seal made of obsidian that was shattered outward.
Zuko turned invisible and investigated the dark chamber beyond. It was a large rectangular room made almost entirely of obsidian. A stone walkway led from the chamber entrance to a pyramid like structure with three tiers. There were places where the obsidian walls gave way to the roots of the tree, and water poured into the chamber which was then drained down the same path they had entered from. He tried to investigate the upper levels, but as he passed a stone sarcophagus, it flung open and an undead Hellige Riddere knight emerged to attack him.
The Regulators engaged it, and the other knights that then emerged. When the leader was killed, the remaining knights collapsed. They proceeded to the top level and found three obsidian sarcophagi that looked just like the ones from their vision with Alexandra Nordheim. All three were empty. They decided to use the staff of the dead they recovered in Twin Locks and use it to enter the Realm of the Dead. When they arrived, Malcolm used his "eyes of the grave" ability and found no signs of the vampires or Orcus’ cult members.
They left the chamber and found that instead of being in an underground cavern, they were at the top of a large hill. Zuko searched for tracks and found that the most recent group to leave the obsidian vault passed through one or two days before. Malcolm considered giving pursuit, but they realized that being undead, the vampires and their posse would be able to move constantly, while The Regulators would need to rest frequently in comparison. Instead, they decided to return to the Mortal Realm, find a more expedient way out of the cavern, and head to the Sinsol Vale with Serenity to head them off before they could escape the realm of the dead.
When they returned to the mortal realm, Zuko stood at the center of the top level of the pyramid for the first time. The amulet he was given as champion of light and order seemed to react with a hidden glyph on the floor, which caused a bridge to ascend into place from the water behind the pyramid. They followed the bridge and found themselves in a circular chamber at the center of the tree. In the center of the room was a small pit where the roots of the tree seemed to grow from a now wooden elven body. In the arms of the elf was a wooden staff with a green crystal not unlike Zuko’s.
Zuko picked up the staff, and the crystal, then the staff itself crumbled away, until all that was left was a silver dagger. His amulet seemed to be attracted to the dagger, so he took it off and placed it into the setting. The dagger was ignited with bright ethereal light and it transformed into a metal bow with an invisible string. As the transformation completed, there was an invisible pulse that originated in the dagger and flowed through them. They got the feeling that that the pulse continued out across the world, and that anyone who could understand, would know that the first of champions’ weapons, Gedia's Torch was now in play.
They used the flying carpet to find a place above the tree where they could slip out of the cavern without traveling back through the temple. Once on the surface, they alerted Serenity to come and pick them up. The trip took 33 hours, during which time Meara trained Wullffric to respond to a new command, Malcolm relaxed, and Zuko practiced his fletching.

The Solis Templars

35th of Wintercrest 22nd year of the Second Era
When they arrived at the mountains where the Sinsol Vale was found, Thradreg Duskchin informed them that he would have to land them about a half hour’s walk from the fort in the distance. When they left the ship, they found a wooden platform surrounded by mirrors. Kaylee examined it and determined it was a permanent campsite for people who spent extended amounts of time with no direct sunlight.
They proceeded up the path, and noticed a kind of arcane darkness pressed on the area, causing them to lose sunlight much sooner than they should have. A few minutes later they found themselves at the outer gates of a fort, though the gate was ajar and the wall was both unmanned, and seemingly not designed to protect from outside threats. They wandered into the courtyard of the fort and went unnoticed for several minutes as they observed the place and the people. The population of the fort was mostly humans, the majority suffering obvious ailments from lack of exposure to the sun. All wore lightweight dark colored armor and furs with the emblem of a sun on their chests. The courtyard was filled with torches and braziers that still did very little to combat the darkness here. The back wall was twice as tall as the average fort or city wall and three times as thick. 
When they were noticed, they were quickly surrounded by sword wielding solders. Malcolm tried to explain the reason for their presence, but it went over most of their heads. An older human was brought out to talk to them, identifying himself as Decker, Lord Commander of the Solis Templars.


He brought them to his chambers and had them go into more detail about why they were there. He gave them a basic explanation of the purpose of the fort and the Templars, and how effectively they have defended the world from the rift beyond. They told him about the elder vampires and where they were coming from, and he estimated they would likely arrive while the rift was open that night. He invited them to get a meal and drink from the canteen while he looked into preparations for the arrival of the vampires, promising that his rangers who would also be returning that night, would be able to give them a more accurate time table for the vampires’ arrival.
To be continued…

Report Date

28 Jan 2021