Session 14. - Study Break
General Summary
32nd of Last Light, 1439 A.P.
After retreating up the stairs into the Temple of Rayah after their fight with Garrick and then the ghost he'd disturbed, the party were fairly worse for wear. The priests did what they could to heal their wounds, but the exhaustion and depletion of their abilities had then contemplating just going back to the inn and taking a nice long nap.
Ultimately, they decided to press on and, after informing the priests about their discovery of the acolyte's body and its whereabouts, headed back down into the library. It had only been an hour or so since they'd ran from the ghost, but it felt like a lifetime ago. They could see Garrick's corpse, still laying undisturbed at the far side of the scriptorium and even though they knew the ghost was gone, they still made their way cautiously through the teetering stacks of books. When Angrar's large frame brushed against a stack and it toppled over, they all held their collective breath and swore as they felt a chill pass through them and heard the echo of a distant scream but the sensation quickly passed. Garrick's corpse was non-descript and held nothing much of value. The rumpled acolyte's robes he'd worn were now stained with blood and there was nothing of any real value underneath. The party suspected that any loot he'd taken from the crypts below had likely been stashed somewhere in the library where he could access it later. While Oorr and Urith were eager to tear the library apart, searching for it, Arbor and Suljurn had to remind them about the task at hand: finding the Arch-Deacon and his acolytes. When Oorr protested, Arbor pointed out that Oorr's "broken" sword was the whole reason they were even down here in the first place. Oorr eventually relented, but he didn't seem happy about it and wanted it made clear that it was because he wanted to, not because they'd told him to. The others ignored his childishness and quickly discussed which way they wanted to go. After looking around this wing of the library and finding nothing but empty shelves and precariously stacked piles of books, they decided to head back to the main entrance and methodically work their way around from there. Back in the main room, they headed north along another book lined hallway. Suljurn glanced a few and saw these looked like histories and records of ancient battles. He resisted the urge to stop and read them, forcefully telling himself that that part of his life was over. He was living his dream now. Part way down the hall on the eastern side of the passage, was a small reading nook with a heavy oaken table, a plush upholstered chair and several bookcases that looked to be normally lined with even more books. However the books, along with the other loose contents of the room were scattered about as if a tornado had torn through the room. After a quick search through the mess, they didn't find anything enlightening and couldn't tell if the damage was intentional or accidental. They continued down the passageway, next taking a westward curving branch which looped south and ended in another circular nook. This one seemed to be abandoned or under renovations however as many of the bookshelves and desks were draped in thick white cloths. Immediately, the party were on edge. Something about the sheets ilicited a primal fear in each of them. When one of the sheets moved, Suljurn jumped and Oorr drew steel instinctively. Hesitantly, they moved the sheet aside, almost eagerly expecting to have to skewer whatever beast was hiding underneath. However, the movement turned out to be something far less ominous. One of the acolytes was hiding underneath. After their run in with Garrick however, they were far less trusting and gentle as they could have likely been. They spent several minutes accosting the young boy with Oorr and Arbor grilling him about his livelihood. Thankfully Angrar had to translate, and in doing so, he softened a lot of the harsher questions. Even with Angrar's filter, the others' harsh tone was easily apparent. Eventually they were able to piece together the boy's story. He and the other acolytes had been searching through the library with the Arch-Deacon to see what (if anything) had been taken. He and one of the others had been tasked with searching the reading nooks and the Northern wing while the Deacon said he was going to check the main vault. He'd been in one of the nooks off the northern passage when he'd heard two (maybe more) men talking in the hallway outside. He hid and was going to follow them when they passed but a loud shrieking noise echoed through out the library and sent an icicle of fear up his spine. He couldn't move. He heard the sound of footsteps running away and then silence. At this point in his story, the kid broke down and starting weeping, saying how he was a coward and not worthy of Rayah's light. Angrar tried to console him and get him to continue but was unsuccessful. Everything that came out of his mouth after that was somewhat jumbled up and made little sense. He said he remembered running and hiding from the sounds of fighting. Maybe an hour ago, maybe two? He also said he heard murmured whispers coming from the floor and a name repeating... but he doesn't know the name. He doesn't know which way the men went or where the Arch Deacon is. Finally taking pity on the youth, they led him back to the main room and up the stairs where they entrusted him to the ministrations of the Rayahn priests who thanked them for finding another of the missing flock. While the others led the boy back upstairs, Urith took the time to quickly search the room he'd been hiding in and managed to find a pair of soft cloth gloves that had apparently been used as a bookmark. He stuffed them in his belt before the others noticed. When the others got back, they followed the acolyte's disjointed directions and eventually ended up in the room they think he'd been hiding in. It was much like the last one they'd been in but it hadn't been destroyed by an errant tornado. Sitting on the edge of the table was a silver ring with a black onyx stone. They pocketed it communally and moved further down the hallway, which eventually turned south and then opened up into another library wing to the west. The light was dimmer in this wing and when they started searching through it, they were immediately attacked by a horde of spiders, each the size of a small dog. The fight was fairly quick, with Arbor burning a few and Suljurn and Urith each skewering a couple with spear and arrow respectively. Angrar fared the worse, getting bitten several times and injected with venom. Thankfully his hearty constitution allowed him to easily shake off the ill effects after a few moments. Once the fight had ended, they found another nook similar to the last two, just off the main library annex. Under the desk here, they found another acolyte hiding. Or at least that's what they thought at first. When they got closer, they discovered that the acolyte had been poisoned, likely by the spiders, and was not faring as well as Angrar. Suljurn used a small allotment of his divine grace to purge the poison from the acolyte's system while Oorr, ever the gallant hero, searched through the library. Hidden in behind a bestiary of creatures known to exist beyond the Outer Dark, he found a small sack of gold and small, pea sized red gems. Once the acolyte was stable enough to move, they escorted him back upstairs and were able to find another Rayahn priest to get him to safety. By their math, they'd reached the half way mark and only had three more acolytes and the Arch-Deacon left to save Back in the library, they backtracked through the stacks of books and headed south towards the unexplored passages near where they'd initially encountered Garrick. They came to a round crossroads with passages leading off in the cardinal directions. Urith was certain that the western passage led back to Garrick's nook and that just left the southern or eastern paths. While they were deciding, they heard a series of animalistic squeals and squeaks from the southern passage. The noise got louder as it got closer and soon resolved itself into several swarms of panicked rats with strange pulsing skulls, almost as if their brains were exposed. Oorr expressed his revulsion and stepped back carefully. He asked casually if anyone had ever been through the Gates in Bal-Dyr? When no one responded, he said that these things were common as... well, rats, there and to be careful. The rats swarmed through the party and soon they understood why Oorr was hesitant when the swarm lashed out mentally and stunned Suljurn even as they crawled over him, biting at every opportunity. Urith tried to shoot the rats as they swarmed over the saurial and Angrar, unfortunately he wasn't as good as he thought he was and ended up feathering Angrar instead. Thankfully Angrar's armour absorbed most of the blow but it did earn Urith a dark look from his companion as the fight continued. Eventually they managed to dispatch the rats with only Oorr sustaining any real damage from their bites. They investigated back down the passage to see what had disturbed them and found a spiral staircase leading downwards. They assumed that it led down into the crypts beneath and didn't want to head down there just yet as they were starting to feel the day's trials in their bones. They'd have to rest soon and wanted to be fresh to face whatever had disturbed the rats. Backtracking to the crossroads and heading east, they soon came to a a turn in the passage that opened up into a large vaulted gallery. The walls were lined with the same books and the floor sported a decorative mosaic in a spiral pattern. At the far end of the room was a 20 foot tall statue in a traditional Rayahn pose as the aspect of Justice. It was holding a sword upraised in one hand and a set of scales in balance in the other. There were also 4 robed figures shuffling around the room, looking like they were searching the bookshelves for something. Oorr immediately felt something was off with the statue as they got closer but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. When they entered the room, the robed figures turned and took an interest in them. The hoods fell back and revealed humanoid figures with mottled leather skin (or possibly hide). Their faces were dominated by a single baleful eye that seemed to stare straight through the party. They raised a long clawed hand at the party and pointed silently at them. Not waiting to see if they were lost and just looking for directions, Urith fired a shot, hoping to skewer one in the eye but missed. A fight broke out and the creatures caused a lot of havoc amongst the party. Their claws were vicious and cut through armour like butter, worse still were the eyes. Whenever they turned their gaze on the party, the flesh beneath began to wither and rot. With a concerted effort, they managed to defeat the creatures and started exploring the room while patching themselves up. Oorr was very interested in the statue, feeling something was very wrong with it. Once he got a closer look at it, he realized that the gender was wrong. He'd always known the goddess Rayah to represent as a female. Helos' firstborn daughter, yet this statue depicted Rayah as a man. Suljurn recalled something he'd read in his youth (several hundred years ago) about a sect of Rayah's followers that believed that they were a male god and not female. He didn't know much else as it was something he'd read in passing while in the seminary, half a world away. He did know they were declared a heretical anathema by the greater church but not what had happened to them after that. Oorr and the others immediately leapt to the conclusion that perhaps the Archdeacon was part of this sect and was likely in on the theft. They discussed the possibilities while they searched the room, trying to figure out what the creatures had been searching for. They found a couple of spell scrolls stuffed in between a few of the books and then decided that they needed rest before exploring further into the crypt. They thought about setting up camp in one of the nooks, but Arbor wanted to go back to the inn, stating that he'd paid for his room and he'd damn well like to use it. The others didn't relish the thought of sleeping rough, when softs beds were relatively close at hand. Besides, they justified it by realising they hadn't seen or heard from Deadeye in a while and should probably check on him.They snuck back upstairs and back to the inn without encountering any of the priests and spent a restful night in relative comfort before heading back to the church. When they awoke the next morning, they all headed back into the church, with Oorr managing to get them inside undetected (despite not being that type of rogue) and they headed down into the crypt...
Rewards Granted
- 571xp
Notes
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Oorr Rosetta del Hilltopple
Chaotic Good [Tar] Faun (City Watch / Investigator)
Rogue 4
Sorcerer 1
Rogue 4
Sorcerer 1
37 / 37 HP
STR
10
10
DEX
18
18
CON
12
12
INT
8
8
WIS
12
12
CHA
16
16
Urith Thane
Suljurn sah-Ghad
Arbor Nox
Angrar Ironbrow
Report Date
28 Oct 2023
Primary Location
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