Session 43: Veilmar, Part III
General Summary
Respite
After narrowly escaping a deadly encounter with the abyssal minotaur stalking them through Veilmar Castle, the Departed find themselves amid the charred remains of a destroyed library. Sifting through the rubble of books, shelving, and debris, the group stumbles upon a locked darksteel cage resting on a pedestal beneath a massive marble statue of a faceless Holy Praetorian. Inside the cage lies a large, black leather-bound book, seemingly ancient, titled vi Compendiana Praetorian in Abyssal, which translates to The Praetorian Compendium in Common. Loghain immediately recognizes the tome and makes it a priority to retrieve it from the cage.Lost Archives
As the group searches for a key, Cul attempts to glean information about their mysterious pursuer from the tome Oliver Lee imparted to him, Is That Thing Gonna Eat Me? To his horror, the creature stalking them is absent from its pages. Meanwhile, Aurin detects a faint draft near the back of the library and discovers a hidden room behind a bookcase. She triggers a hidden mechanism by pulling the right book and opening a secret doorway. Beyond the hidden door lies a secret study, clearly the workspace of a devout individual engaged in ominous scientific pursuits. A journal overflowing with unbound notes and illustrations sits on the desk. Loghain retrieves the journal but fails to notice a glyph of warding on its front page. The glyph detonates, incinerating the journal and all its contents. The blast engulfs Loghain, Cul, Paz, and Aurin in flames.Grimoire
Amid the fiery chaos, Loghain desperately searches the scorched desk for anything salvageable. As he rummages through the remains, he hears a sharp metallic twang—a key. Grabbing it, he escapes the burning room. The group seals the doorway behind him, containing the fire, and uses the key to unlock the darksteel cage, finally retrieving the ancient tome. Loghain observes the book more closely, noting the phrase "In Her Name" etched in silver-gold lettering on the back cover. Cul dispels any lingering magical traps, and he and Loghain begin skimming the pages. Loghain searches for records of his father, Geoffrey Tavinter, but finds that all references to his father have been expunged.Now or Never
As the two ex-Praetorians study the tome, Aurin, Tempest, Paz, and Gloinn notice the room growing unnervingly darker and quieter. Suddenly, the shadowy entity they have been fleeing emerges, manifesting from the darkness itself. In a moment of fight or flight, the Departed stand their ground, ultimately destroying the creature. As the shadows recede, Aurin notices a broken horn tip on the entity, though its significance is lost to the unknowing blood hunter.An Uneasy Calm
Tempest discovers a pressure plate on the library's western side, activating it to reveal a hidden passageway. The Departed press forward, finding themselves in an immaculate office, pristine and starkly contrasting the horrors they have faced. Cul discovers an attached bedroom in similar condition, while Gloinn begins experiencing unsettling side effects of the lingering curse, this time hearing irregular drumbeats from the back of the room. Aurin uncovers a key beneath a loose floorboard, which she gives to Cul. He uses it to unlock another door, revealing a dilapidated corridor.The Burden of Knowledge
At the end of the crumbling hallway, the group encounters two massive darksteel doors that appear to have been forcefully blown open. Beyond the doors lies a lift descending deeper into the depths of Veilmar Castle. Before deciding their next course of action, Cul scries on their missing allies, 13 and Zero. To his shock, he sees them sitting handcuffed on a ship in tattered clothing. Realizing their friends may no longer be on the island, Cul relays the troubling discovery to the Departed as they regroup to plan their next move.
Report Date
19 Jan 2025
Primary Location
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