Session 8.1 - Henrietta's Lead Report

"we took care of the rest of the shadow people in that room pretty easily. smodi led us all through the room to the east and down a long corridor. there was a small hallway branching off to the left, which led into another decently large room... where we were promptly chased by a gigantic undead ogre. henrietta used her turn undead power to make the ogre run away, but a giant minotaur skeleton with a gigantic greataxe took his place! there was also some kind of possessed flying skull?   took us a second but we were able to take care of everything in this room! we took a quick short rest, but a bunch of zombies showed up at the very end of it. they were pretty easy to dispatch though, no problem we left this room and kept going down the corridor, where we got to some descending stairs leading to a fancy, ornate wooden door. when we opened it, we found ourselves in this huuuge room-- it was maybe about 200 x 20 ft? it was a long room, almost more like a grand hallway than an actual room. on the left side, we found the huge skeleton of a giant laying down in front of a massive wooden seat. it wasn't animated, so we didn't have to fight it. on the other side, though, we found an elven man chained up to the wall. the ground around him was smattered with exorbitant amounts of blood-- the elven man was clearly very injured and weak, but there's no way all of the blood on the ground came from him. there were also strange runes and markings made in blood around him, on the floor and around the walls. when we got closer, we saw that the word "EVIL" had been carved into the man's forehead.   when we first attempted to talk to him, he sort of refused to speak to us. he just kept babbling incoherently, saying "No no no, please, please, I repent, please," over and over. we reassured him that we were here to help, and he seemed surprised that we weren't there to hurt him. he started to mutter about 'his' power. how he couldn't leave this place, because 'he' would find him. 'he's' too powerful. 'he' seeks the power of the gods...? we're unable to get a clear answer from him. arodeyr unclasps his shackles and henrietta healed him a bit, giving him a semblance of his sanity back. he explains that he's been here for a while, occasionally visited by two strange people-- one tall, one short. it was always kept pitch black in this place, so he was never able to identify the people doing this to him... but he did know that he was to be made into some sort of... undead... thrall. that was what they were planning to do with him before we showed up. after we freed him, he was able to identify a crystal on a nearby table as the source of all the strange goings-on in the crypt. smodi summoned a polar bear and completely obliterated the crystal, grinding it to dust with his boot for good measure.   after this crystal is destroyed, something strange happens to henrietta-- a powerful light embodies her, filling up the entire room. when it's all over, she discovers her mind has been expanded, and she's been imbued with a new ability. we take our new elf friend out of the crypt with us, meeting up with mother helda and father kurig (not sure if i spelled this one right). they immediately take the elf man aside, taking care to heal his wounds and provide him with food and fresh clothes. they are extremely grateful, and are happy to answer our questions.   helda tells us that there are no other entrances to the crypt except the one she led us through. she doesn't take many trips down to the crypt, but she had visited a week ago, and claimed to have seen something... flitting around from the corner of her eye? she dismissed it as a figment of her imagination at the time and thought nothing of it. then, earlier this day, she and father kurig (???) went down to the crypts, finding it utterly overrun by whatever these strange abominations are. she also re-iterates that the wards placed around the church are made of an old, strong magic-- no one with evil intentions should be able to set foot on this land. she's confounded as to how something like this could happen on holy ground. we ask her if she's seen anyone frequenting the crypts lately, but since she goes down there so rarely, her ability to answer our questions is limited. she does tell us, however, that the deacon we met earlier would be a much better person to ask. unfortunately he has left for the day, but he will visit again tomorrow, and she encourages us to visit again.   before we leave, henrietta approaches the elf man again. after being healed and cleaned up, mother helda seems to suddenly realize something-- she recognizes this person. his name is tanvor, and he had apparently gone missing some time ago. she takes it upon herself to personally see to his recovery. tanvor asks henrietta to come by and check in on him from time to time, as it would make him feel safer. henrietta agrees, and tells him to look for her at sapphire shores if he was ever in need of a friend."