Sessions 35 & 36 - "Ghostly Legacy, Ruins of Gauntlight - Part 21"

General Summary

Oathday, 6th of Desnus, 4721 AR

Gauntlight Keep

Level 4 - Belcorra's Retreat

Belcorra's Sitting Room

1.18p

Peering further into the sitting room, Tristan spies a door to the southeast. As the ghostly scene repeats itself, Kaliff attempts to puzzle out the silent conversation. He thinks he's "hearing" something about construction or construction project. Throughout the process, Belcorra reaches out to an ancient tea set still sitting on the table between her and Volluck, moving a ghostly cup to her lips. Her countenance is in line with her painting in the Hall of Portraits, but not as diabolical as portrayed in various works in Otari. Volluk's appearance is quite striking and handsome, stark contrast to his previous worm-laden visage.
Tristan opens the door to reveal another sitting room containing two luxurious divans. Another ghostly image of Belcorra reclines on one. She is wearing a different dress and appears to be looking over a tome, "The Whispering Reeds", Nhimbaloth's holy book. A bookcase sits against one wall, however it is bare and dusty. Tristan approaches the apparition from behind and examines the book. He is able to make out a single passage: "Long dream the dead, yet even death can die."

Belcorra's Dining Room

1.28p

Continuing on, the party enters a dining room set with finery. Belcorra sits at one end, sipping contently from a wine glass. Before her is a beautiful chinaware plate that she has been serving herself from, a humanoid arm resting before her. After examining the appendage, Kaliff finds that it appears to have belonged to an adult human male and has been smoked and roasted.
Tristan hears nothing beyond the door, but he can make out a bright white light emanating from beneath it, similar to an Everlight Crystal. Tristan opens the door into a bedroom, but his eye is immediately drawn to a bright light hovering above the bed. A seething sphere of glowing eyes and a spectral manifestation of Belcorra Haruvex standing in front of a stone archway that is shimmering with a glowing portal. She steps through with a cruel smile on her lips and bloodstained hands.

To Kalitos, the creature reminds him of the flickerwisps encountered earlier, but little else. He fires a telekinetic projectile at the thing, but misses. Darkness suddenly descends, extinguishing all light sources. The creature also become invisible, even to the dark ranger's eyes. Kaliff immediately dispels the magic, dropping the darkness just as suddenly as it appeared. Ehrn, not having a clear attack, waits. Tristan closes the door and drops into his dread marshal stance. Zor'ahn waits for a target as well.
Kalitos opens the door and Olli pings the room, determining that the wisp is still within, floating above the bed. The magus then closes the door and alerts the party to this. Suddenly, there is a massive smash against the door followed by a screeching sound as it buckles within its frame. It shudders again. Kaliff readies as do the Ricards and Zor'ahn.
Kaliff waits as Olli continues pinging. The door splinters and then bursts, exposing the maelstrom-like creature. Tristan lashes out and rips into it with his Smoking Sword. A sound much like breaking glass shatters the air. Broken shards splitter away from the voidgutter's form and begin to slow float down to the floor before dissipating into an oily mist. The remainder of the party lashes out as well, but all wildly miss. Staring at the creature, Tristan begins to feel as though he's gazing into a bottomless abyss, but he shakes it off. Kaliff fires needles of cold iron, but the wisp dodges away. Ehrn begins to rage and skewers the wisp with her mighty glaive, dragging it down towards the ground. Tristan attempts to follow up and then raises his shield. Zor'ahn reaches out with his hand of Nhimbaloth, sending the monster into a terrified frenzy. The ranger than attempts to move up, but he is way is blocked.
Kalitos lashes out with his Aldori dueling while flinging a piece of debris at the wisp before beginning an arcane cascade. Terrified, the voidglutten turns to flee, but is completely cut down by the party.

Belcorra's Bedchamber

The Exterminators move into the room and Zor'ahn begins to detect magic. The loop of Belcorra entering the portal continues, which Kaliff closely observes. The visible mechanics of the magic appear different as there are no arcane sigils on the wall, hinting at the possible use of a dimension door. Ehrn attends to Tristan's shield. Kalitos moves the bedclothes aside and finds a large dark stain soaked into the mattress. This piques the sorcerer's interest, and he investigates further, however it appears that the victim's killing was quick and not part of a ritual.
During this time, Olli has been carefully observing the two second ghostly loop. During the 666th rendition, she suddenly squeaks as the image of Belcorra breaks the pattern by looking to the rightmost pillar and then up. Kaliff examines it and finds a secret compartment higher up within. Working a dagger into its seam, Kaliff slides it open revealing a tiny alcove containing two glass stoppered vials of a dark liquid. Removing them, they appear to be filled with blood. Deeper still, there is a small, fine glass funnel maybe two inches long.
Examining the door in the east wall, Tristan hears nothing but detects a faint, musty odor. He thinks he hears the faint whispering of his name, but looking about, he doesn't see an obvious source. The fighter consciously tries to get a hold of himself. The musty odor begins to shift to that of an open underground cave, the sound of water dripping in the background. Zor'ahn moves up and detects the odor as well, but he hears nothing.

Elsewhere

1.48p

Tristan opens the door and suddenly finds himself in a cave on a rocky, fungus and moss covered isle surrounded by water. At his feet is a humanoid skeleton in aged leather armor clutching a rapier. The party, however, still sees him standing at the door betraying no alarm. The whispering grows louder and a ghostly figure wreathed in a slickly glow, detaches itself from the bones. Even before he speaks, the visage of the man is recognizable, having been immortalized in paintings and even a play.

"Finally, you have come. I am Otari. I must speak, I have little time and am weak."

The specter asks if his friends, the remaining Roseguard, survived. The fighter answers in the affirmative. The ghost of a smile graces the fallen thief's face, before he looks upon Tristan seriously.

"Unfortunately so did Belcorra's grudge. She has always held it against Absalom. It knew no bounds, so she build Gauntlight to use as a weapon of destruction. Can you imagine a grudge so vast that something like this is created?"

Tristan asks what is this place, indicating the area above and around them, what's its purpose?

"We never fully discovered its actual use, at least, not back then. It was something that had power to transport creatures across great distances and animate and control the dead. It wasn't until my last moments of life that I learned of the vaults beneath. There are great vaults beneath us that seem to focus the spectral energy that dead find power in it. It allows them to push and bubble up. It took time. I don't know if this why she built the tower, but it allows her to use the power of the vaults. It is always bubbling and pushing upwards."

Otari suddenly stops as if he hears something. The moment draws out as the ghost seems to loose the thread of the conversation. Tristan asks what caused the lighthouse to become active again. Otari refocuses again immediately and moves in closer.

"Yes, that is the right question. You must know Belcorra has returned. She has gathered the spectral energies for her to reform. As a ghost? I believe she is anchored to this place. I can sense her deep underground, moving, the movements growing. I suspect she is working to reactive or finish her weapon, the Gauntlight. She will see Absalom and everything around destroyed. Everything happen here is all connected."

"Then it must be stopped," the fighter exclaims, to which the ghost nods.

"I have not been able to travel far, and there is a barrier that even stops me. You may have seen it. It is made of the souls of the heroes past and enemies of Belcorra. I have been trying to find a way below to stop her yet again, but I am unable to go far and the barrier blocks me anyway. But in all this time, I think I have found a way to destroy the barrier. My friends and I, the Roseguard, brought her life to an end and I believe that their essence together again might be sent below to her. I know it has been a long time, but I feel that we had a such great connection to items and heirlooms that we carried that might still hold a piece of us."

"We already possess the Rose Argentis," Tristan says eagerly, "is that one?"

"Yes, that's good. She was unbelievable the Rose Knight. When she held that sword she was magnificent. You must also find the cloak of the huntress, Aesephna. And Zarmavdian's spellbook, something called 'the Truth', 'Thresholds of Truth'! Seek that. And of course, ah yes, I was never without the Key. Cailean's Key. I made use of it many a time. You must take it and find the others. She must not be allowed to use what is below. I fear there will be nothing left if she does."

Tristan asks, "When the barrier is down, will you be able to join the fight again?"

"I hope so."

Otari points down to his earthly remains. There is a glint on his bones, and Tristan sees a beautiful, large key with the intricately carved head. There is a ring as well, a beautiful gold band that can just be made out to be some sort of predatory bird.

"Please take what I have offered. Find the other Roseguard relics. And I will render what aid that I can. However, as you can see, I am less than what I was. But now is the time."

Tristan finds himself opening the door as before, but already holding the treasures: +1 Striking Serpent Rapier, +1 studded leather armor, Otari's Thieves' Tools, the Cailean Key, one Ring of Transposition, and a Sneaky Key.

Room of Webs

1.48p

Revealed is a small, octagon shaped room with three bodies coated in gooey, semi-transparent, etheral webbing. One is a dark, lavender skinned elven man, another is legless body of a spider-like humanoid, and the last is a hideous humanoid with transparent flesh. Tristan motions for everyone to back up and tells them of his encounter with Otari. Upon inspection, Ehrn realizes that the hideous creature is an Orvian vampires, a rare humanoid from Orv, deep within the Darklands. Electrical burn marks are found all over the bodies.
Zor'ahn moves in and carefully begins to extricate the bodies from the webbing. Behind the vampire is a composite longbow, the wood of which appears unusual. Near the drider is a vial of a darkish liquid. Twisted around the drow's left wrist are what appears to a set of prayer beads made with flecks of obsidian. The ranger likewise harvests much of the strange webbing for later study and use.

Altar of Nhibaloth

1.58p

The party begins making their way out of Belcorra's quarters and find the doors all closed of their own accord again. Once back near the altar, the feeling of hunger returns to everyone, and Zor'ahn feels compelled to climb unto the altar of Nhimbaloth. He points stiffly off to the side and says something about seeing the shadowy images of a sword and a horry cloak. But there are two other items he can't make out. Kaliff asks if they could be the other two artifacts of the Roseguard. "Yes, yes," Zor'ahn replies, "a tome and a key."

The elf continues talking to an unseen presence. "Yes, an even exchange, give it to me." The details of the visible artifacts begin to fade and become more shadowy.
"The key is the hand, and the hand is the key," Zor'ahn intones. He begins looking upwards towards the ceiling and suddenly releases a shriek of absolute horror. Eyes bulging, the cords in his next standing out, the dark ranger screams,

"Get back, it's mine! It's always been mine!"

A giant eye covers the entire ceiling above the Exterminators, a horrifying, surreal work of art.

Tristan implores Zor'ahn to get down from the altar. The ranger clutches at his Hand and staggers back saying, "The Eye. The Eye is upon us." Tristan turns to others and responds, "Even more reason to get rid of this Wall of Souls. It must be linked to his condition." As Tristan leads his afflicted companion away, Zor'ahn clutches at him and asks:

"Do you not feel the hunger, brother?

2.08p

The party moves further down the hall of sarcophagi, towards the collapsed wall. Voices of the damned emanate from the accursed curtain further to the south. Following the sound dripping of water and a sharp descent, the adventures walk into a tunnel that leads to the bank of mushrooms where the adventurers first encountered Jaul Mezmin. Coming across a large pipe, Kaliff mentions that it must be part of the trash chute that Tristan was nearly pushed into earlier. A mass of fungus resides in the area, its form resembling an otyugh, or trash eater. Kalitos fires an electric arc into the mass, but it elicits no reaction.

Otari's Cave

Zor'ahn leads the way into a watery area that Tristan instantly recognizes. As the party looks about, a horrifying visage suddenly appears...

Report Date

06 Apr 2025

Primary Location

Gauntlight Keep

Related Characters

• Ehrn Ricard
• Kaliff Raiboren
• Kalitos Raiboren
• Tristan Ricard
• Zor'ahn the Dark Ranger

Constellations