Devona's Estate Report

General Summary

A great celebration has been held in Falas! The wizard Devona  has been slain, and now the Freshmen and the people of Falas may drink from the spoils. 
As they drink the night away, Zela begins to go through the items she lifted off of Devona's corpse before the body was burned: 7 gp, an artist's sketch book, with bodies drawn in it along with some notes, a bronze ring band with vine motifs, and a pair of candles that keep the time. The candles she gives to Alynn and the gold to Rahvin, but the ring she hides away for herself.
Meanwhile, Kash excuses himself to speak with Jorwith, which causes Zela to grow suspicious. Still, she gathers up the notebook and steps away to look at it more closely. Jorwith Falas thanks Kash for saving his life, and offers to help the party gather what treasure may still be in Devona's estate in return for saving his life, which Kash gladly accepts. Jorwith and Kash toast together, and then Jorwith's attention is drawn by one of the other townsfolk while Kash notices Rahvin sitting by himself. He skips over and sits down next to Rahvin. After a moment of silence, Kash mentions his growing worries about his psychic abilities, and what they could mean. Rahvin reassures Kash that whatever happens that the Freshmen and their allies will fight alongside him, which seems to settle Kash's fears somewhat.
The next morning, the Freshmen have breakfast at the Wandering Star Tavern. As they speak, Kash discovers for the first time the relationship between Rahvin and his deity, and is a bit shocked by it. Before he can ask many more questions, Zela lets out a horrified shriek. Her readings of the journal have lead her to the discovery of organs, but unlike what she previously thought, they are not simply a human phenomenon. In disgust and horror at the thought of having such disgusting things within her own body, Zela takes out her knife and prepares to cut open her own body to get the organs out. Kash leaps to stop her, wrestling the knife away just in time. 
As Kash tries to talk down Zela, Rahvin looks down at the journal with a furrowed brow. It is anatomical sketches, that is for certain, but the notes on tolerance to pain and how, say, an elf's skin reacts to acid versus an orc's concern him greatly.
A knock at the door causes everyone to look up and see Jorwith standing there, waiting for them all. He's in high spirits, but immediately falls into the role of leader and guide, taking the threats of Adura seriously as they travel the few miles out of town to Devona's mansion. As they approach and see a large stone wall with an iron gate, the party slows.
To draw out any traps or ambushes that could be waiting for them, Zela conjures up a battering ram (silent image) - and it's a good thing she does, too, as two large lions bound down from the other side of the wall, landing protectively in front of the gates. They are clearly undead: rotting flesh and an eye dangling from one socket are enough of a clue. But the largest one are the huge eagle's wings that have been fused with their backs, giving these dangerous animals the ability to fight in the air as well as on land. 
Zela is the first one to act, letting out an earth shattering screech that disorients the lions somewhat and running forward at the same time. Ommi flies from around her coat collar to harrass one of the lions as Zela uses her eldritch blast, hitting it in it's side and blasting bits of ruined flesh every which way.
The lion roars in pain and responds in kind, using it's claws to rip open Zela's back and shoulder as she turns to protect her face. It's a powerful blow, almost enough to knock her down, but thankfully Zela manages to keep her feet. The other one bounds at Alynn, jaws open and ready to strike. But the artificer is ready and brings their arm up in a shielding motion; the lion's head bounces off the arcane barrier, leaving Alynn unscathed.
Alynn doesn't let the opportunity when the undead creature is stunned pass them by. They strike out with their dagger, slicing through the softened flesh of its face and peeling back the rotting fur around its muzzle. Patent follows his master's lead and punches the lion in the side, shattering a few ribs.
Rahvin undoes his holy symbol from around his neck and holds it out with a prayer to his wife. The lion seems to sense the answer to that prayer and leaps back before the air ignites with holy fire. Cursing, Rahvin presses a kiss to his symbol, asking for one more favor from Anwyn. It is answered yet again, and a shield of faith coalesces next to Zela: a St. Bernard dog, big and burly and ready to defend her. 
Kash runs forward, swinging wildly at the lion closest to him - but unfortunately he only seems to be able to hit with the flat of his blade, and the lion seems unbothered by his aggression. Jorwith runs up alongside Kash, and in contrast, bites deeply into its side with every strike of his longsword.
Zela casts mirror image on herself, and instantly the St. Bernard is guarding three white kobolds, not one. It is lucky she did so, because the next strike from the lion looking to maul her to death kills one of the illusions. She takes the opportunity to run, pausing in her dash to let out another ear splitting cry that causes both lions to stumble before she runs towards the rest of the Freshmen and hides amongst them. Ommi, meanwhile, goes back out and begins attacking the lion that is distracted by Zela's duplicates. Ommi's bite strikes true and he begins sputtering, spitting out rotted meat as he circles back around, eventually settling on Alynn's head with a disgruntled chirp.
The lions, meanwhile, have collected themselves. The lion that Ommi just bit turns towards Rahvin and pounces on him, knocking the cleric to the ground. Rahvin manages to get his arm up in time, so thankfully it is his arm and not his throat that is slashed open. The pain and shock is enough, however, to cause him to lose concentration on his protective magic and his St. Bernard fades away. The other lion swipes at Jorwith, but the swarthy villager leaps back and is left unharmed.
Rahvin tries to get his hand up with the holy symbol and call down sacred flames upon the undead once again, but the lion's grip is too strong and the spell goes wipe. Kash yells out, and his sword sinks deeply into the shoulder of his lion. Brackish blood pours from the lion's ears - something mental happened as well. As if when Kash's sword struck the creature it also struck it's mind.
No time to dwell on that, however. Kash's bullseye is followed with three solid hits from Jorwith, who then turns to Rahvin.
"On your feet! There's no time to waste!" His words of encouragement flow over Rahvin, giving him reserves of strength and stamina he didn't know he had.
Meanwhile, Zela causes two sword bursts to erupt around her and Ommi, Ommi flits off, over the head of the winged lion that Jorwith and Kash are fighting. Unfortunately, Zela's magic cannot tell between friend nor foe, and so Jorwith, Alynn, and Patent are all close enough to be battered by her magic even more so than the lion - who seems to be somewhat resilient against the onslaught. No matter. Ommi's claws dig in for a little extra damage.
The lion closest to Ommi, Zela, Jorwith, Alynn, Patent, and Kash  makes a mad swipe at Jorwith, but misses so badly as to unbalance itself and fall in a heap (critical fail). The heroes do not waste the opportunity: each one manages to wound the lion even more, and Kash is the one to drive his blade through the skull of the creature and kill it for the second time. The second lion, still pinning Rahvin to the ground, attempts to bite him again and thankfully misses the cleric.
Alynn turns and throws their second dagger at the lion on top of Rahvin, striking a bullseye right into the eye socket of the undead creature! Patent runs behind - slower than the dagger, and the lion growls at he gets closer. Patent reels up for a punch, but before he can attack the lion strikes out, biting Patent right in the leg as a warning to stay away from it and its prey (Patent: critical failure).
Rahvin desperately throws out another sacred flame which again misses its mark. Thankfully, the distraction gives Kash the moment he needs to drive his sword into the lion's back leg. Jorwith is right behind, and lands two hits on the creature. When he takes a step back to land a third devastating blow, his heel hits a patch of slick mud, hidden in the grass. The sudden near-splits throws him off balance and the lion strikes out, biting Jorwith in the calf (Jorwith: critical failure). Jorwith cries out in pain, and his sudden vulnerability spurs the others close to him forward as Jorwith tries to get back onto his feet.
Zela throws out another eldritch blast, which hits the lion right in its stupid, ugly face (critical hit). While it's disoriented from the sudden savage attack, Ommi claws some more skin from its rotting face before flying back up and out of reach.
The lion has had enough, and steps away from Rahvin to go after the one who has caused it the most immediate, painful damage: Zela. It leaps forward, and claws right through her... illusion. The mirror image fades away, but the damage is down. Alynn and Patent both attack in the lion's brief moment of confusion and both hit. Then Rahvin, rolled painfully onto his stomach, tries one last time to burn the impure creature. This time, the lion is hit truly by the blast of sacred flame and howls in agony as it is burned away entirely.
A difficult battle well fought, everyone is tended to and takes a short rest before they continue on. During this, Rahvin reveals that he believes the lions were not lions at all: but people, sewn together to give the appearance of a lion with wings. As horrifying as that prospect is, the only thing more horrifying is Alynn revealing that they have not, ever, worn armor. The party all gapes at them in dismay, but Alynn explains weakly that it ruins the aesthetic.
After a good tongue lashing, the break is over, and the Freshmen must continue their assault of this wicked place. Kash and Alynn boost each other up over the wall, landing in the dead garden on the other side. They approach the front gate, where Alynn tries unsuccessfully to pick the lock. Kash rolls his eyes and strikes down with his shield, shattering the lock with one blow. The site of such masculine strength leaves Zela, the little kobold, quite flustered.
As they approach the dead mansion, Alynn senses that the magic within the house is immense, and warns that caution should be taken. Zela picks up a rock and smashes the front window, assuming that it is simply a trapped door that is causing Alynn to become fearful. She steps into a foggy room (success). Upon seeing that she is fine, the others follow her lead, stepping in through the large broken window (all succeed but Alynn). The fog seems to be harmless, but for the shape of their pupils changing to an hourglass shape. Kash, unfortunately, recognizes this phenomenon too late: this fog is known as Charon’s Breath, and is common in his home country of Vespmar. While initially harmless, those who are affected find themselves inexorably drawn closer and closer to death should they be standing near the precipise. Because Alynn is already under the effects of the phenomena, the party nervously agrees to keep a close eye on the artificer and continue on regardless - and so they step into the yawning maw of the home of the necromancer.

Rewards Granted

• 7 gp
• An artist's sketch book, with people drawn in it, along with some note
• Bronze ring band with vine motifs
• Pair of candles that keep the time

Character(s) interacted with

• Jorwith Falas 

Related Reports

• Jorwith's Last Request Report 

Notes

Quote of the Session

Zela: "I wanna read [the sketchbook] more. I want to learn more about human biology."

Campaign

The Conspiracy of the Burning One

Protagonists

Alynn Agethe

Lawful Good High Elf (Far Traveler)
Artificer 6

35 / 35 HP

STR
10

DEX
12

CON
10

INT
18

WIS
16

CHA
16

Mola Aubert

Variant Tiefling (Variant Tiefling)
Sorcerer 1

16 / 9 HP

STR
9

DEX
11

CON
16

INT
10

WIS
10

CHA
17

Kashmeel Mazigh

Neutral Good Kalashtar (Cloistered Scholar)
Fighter 6

53 / 53 HP

STR
20

DEX
14

CON
16

INT
19

WIS
12

CHA
13

Rahvin Ashdust

LG Half Elf (Guild Artisan)
Cleric 4

31 / 31 HP

STR
8

DEX
14

CON
14

INT
11

WIS
18

CHA
14

Zela the Liar

N/A Kobold (Quandrix student (Draconic Learner))
Warlock 5

45 / 45 HP

STR
10

DEX
11

CON
14

INT
9

WIS
14

CHA
18

Report Date

08 Dec 2022

Primary Location

Falas

Related Plots

• Devona's Estate

Related Characters

• Alynn Agethe
• Jorwith Falas
• Kashmeel Mazigh
• Rahvin Ashdust
• Zela the Liar