Session 56: Sunlight is the greatest of disinfectants Report

General Summary

Before continuing further, Jeeves took a moment to heal the injured, including himself. There was some suggestion of what to do with the door in the current space. There had been many negative encounters with doors in the area, so SixOfEighteen asked if people wanted him to break down the door, and Boris suggested he just try it first. SixOfEighteen then asked if people wanted to move away, instead of staying close in case something bad happened. Jeeves went back in the room they had fought in, and promptly began to retch from the horrific cloud of fumes and spores and rushed back into the side room they were in, warning the others not to go back in there. Boris started to cast silence, but was talked out of it. Most of the group elected to move around a corner to have cover from anything that might happen. SixOfEighteen looked at Roy , then with a "Here we go" reached out and pulled the door handle. An explosion of dark energy engulfed Roy and SixOfEighteen. SixOfEighteen was severely injured, and weakened. Roy died on the spot. Jeeves and Boris rushed around the corner, and Jeeves quickly realized Roy was truly deceased. Boris attempted to revive Roy , and though it was difficult, managed to enable their friend to return to life. Roy found himself severely weakened, and felt he would need quite some time to recover, at least several days. Boris also suffered terrible damage to his spirit and soul, expending a portion of his own life force to restore Roy . Jeeves began to examine the door, as everyone else immediately moved around the corner for cover. Jeeves , realizing the door was not yet open, searched the door for traps or other threats, but found nothing. Roy conducted a ritual to detect magic, and found that only an aura of weak Abjuration magic remained on the door, as well as the remnant of expended magic of much greater power. Roy attempted to dispel the magic, but it did not work. Then there was some discussion of whether to use the chime of opening Roy posessed to open the door. Eventually, they came to the conclusion that it was best to ensure the room beyond the door was not a threat. The others moved around the corner again, and Roy struck the chime while pointing at the door and, after the extremely loud chime subsided, SixOfEighteen opened the door. SixOfEighteen reported nothing but a lot of bones and a throne in the room. The others came out from hiding and looked into the room, but avoided entering. Roy detected necromancy on the dark ritual symbol on the floor, and conjuration magic on the throne. Boris told the others to take cover again, and dispelled the magic of the dark ritual symbol, causing the bones to swirl around the room before settling back to the ground as the symbol glowed, then went dark and the powerful magic was broken. Boris also attempted to detect traps, but detected none. Jeeves suggested putting a bone on the throne, but that was declined as likely a very bad idea. Boris attempted to dispel the magic of the throne, but it was not a spell (but a magical artifact), and could not be dispelled in this way. Boris then walked in as Jeeves left cover to see. Boris trepidatiously stepped on a few parts of the room, but nothing seems to happen. Boris then asked Roy to identify the throne. Roy said he would, but people could not berate him for touching magic anymore. Jeeves spoke strangely in response which caused Roy to decide not to help. After even more confused back-and-forth as Jeeves spoke a bit sideways to Roy 's requests, and everyone argued a bit past each other for a bit. Boris was about to simply sit on the throne, and SixOfEighteen asked him to please not sit on this evil throne. In the end SixOfEighteen suggested a surprisingly reasonable accomodation, and everyone was able to agree to that, eventually. Roy finally moved up beside the throne and began to perform another ritual to identify the magic of the item.

What Roy discovered:

There is a malevolent intelligence in this artifact, and it tried to dominate your mind, but you are smarter than it; despite your weakness. You get a true reading.

This is a remnant from ancient times. It transports beings to a place dependent on their conduct in life to this point. Beings of unspeakable evil action and intent are transported to the Larval markets of Hades where they receive an audience with a powerful leader among the Annis, and can buy and sell larval power, secrets, etc... If the conduct is generally neutral, they are transported to a prison cell in Carceri, to there suffer for a year and a day. If the conduct is marked by self sacrifice, service to others, and great goodness, they are transported to the court of a greater lawful power in hell, and subjected to 101 years of torture and temptation to break their will and turn them to evil. Any true servant of The Source is transported directly to a deep pit of the Abyss where they will be subjected to the ultimate corrupting power of chaos and evil for 1001 years, or until they transform into a greater demon; whichever is first. To destroy this horror, it must be bathed in the blood of 1001 innocent newborns, then touched by the horn of a living unicorn, and blessed by a high priest of The Source. It will then transport itself to the Elysian fields where the goodness of the plane will disintegrate it forever. Otherwise, it cannot be moved by anything short of divine power.

The others saw Roy 's already wan and pale face become even more pale, and filled with a look of utter horror. Roy communicated the consequences of sitting upon this dark throne, and SixOfEighteen reached out to close the door, which restored the powerful Wizard Lock. SixOfEighteen said that whomever used this terrible thing must be incredibly evil, and that he assumed that they were just shoving good beings on the throne to harm them. Roy explained that evil beings could gain benefits sitting on the throne, and SixOfEighteen explained it was important to find a true high priest to mention this to in hopes that individual could muster the forces needed to perhaps destroy, or properly secure, this evil. Eventually, at Jeeves ' suggestion that they needed a name for this thing, SixOfEighteen named it "The Throne of Hell". Agreeing that this thing must be destroyed, here in the Freehold of Alchemists, Artificers, and Aquamancers.

Roy , soul-burned, still appeared quite weak, so Roisin Marshfield suggested they could use more rest, if possible, but it had not been long enough since they woke from rest. Moving on, SixOfEighteen walked ahead, and they found a room with a high dais and two stone pillars with intricate carvings. Boris scanned the ceiling for threats, and saw a large black blob, but after a moment of stark terror, realized it was just a shadow. SixOfEighteen began joking about being "Lord of the Keep", as he stood between the stone pillars. Jeeves cheered him on, and SixOfEighteen placed his hands on the pillars, "Look at me, I'll bring the house down, ha, ha, ha.". Suddenly electricity arced across SixOfEighteen's body between the two pillars, and he fell to the ground unconscious and dying. Boris rushed up, as did Jeeves , to heal the injury. Boris acted first, and SixOfEighteen woke with a start and "Ow! That hurt a lot. I'm going to stop practicing humor now. That...Ow, ow, ow...ow ow ow". SixOfEighteen moved aside and sat down leaning against one of the pillars. Jeeves used his healing skill to patch up SixOfEighteen's wounds a bit. SixOfEighteen asked for a rest, and everyone took an hour to catch their breath and Jeeves moved among them providing a bit of help here and there for some small additional recovery. Roisin Marshfield then gave a rousing inspirational speech, to bolster their resolve.

SixOfEighteen mentioned there was a cooridor to the East and a room to the West. Moving West per Roisin Marshfield's direction, he described a room with a "fancy" door to the West and an open archway to the North. Roy moved into the room and conducted another ritual to detect magic, discerning multiple auras on the door, much like the door that had killed him earlier. Jeeves began to approach, but SixOfEighteen asked him to wait until the rest were around the corner. Jeeves waited, and once the others were clear, stepped up. The others did not hear anything for about half a minute before deciding something was wrong. Boris rushed into the room, and found a corpse without a head laying on the ground. Boris moved up to pull the corpse back, also noticing a massive scorch mark on the opposite wall. Jeeves had encountered a combination of spells that burned him, froze him, drained his life, and disintegrated his head. Roy leaned in, and saw that only mild abjuration remained, so he could open it with the chime. SixOfEighteen walked up "Oh my, I'm terribly sorry about Jeeves ." Roisin Marshfield asked if there was anything in his chest compartment, and SixOfEighteen, looking down, said "It's not opening". Roy asked everyone to clear the room, but SixOfEighteen didn't move quickly enough. The door unlocked, and SixOfEighteen opened the door. Roy moved to detect any magic, and discerned many powerful auras on the chest; necromancy, evocation, abjuration, transmutation, and illusion. Roy attempted to dispel these powerful magics, but completely failed due to his weakness. Boris used the last of his powerful magic to attempt to dispel the magic, and successfully removed much of it, but not everything. Only a powerful abjuration remained. Deciding to rest before continuing, Roy conjured the protective ward to give them a place to spend the rest of the day in security; and conjured it again as a place to sleep that night. In the morning Boris gave a prayer of healing, and also conjured an aura of vitality to restore his own and Roy 's bodies. Boris then cured some of SixOfEighteen's wounds as well. Roy gave Boris fortune's favor, and Boris granted Roy the gift of luck. Boris attempted to dispel the magic still on the chest, and succeeded, thanks to fortune's favor. Boris performed his own ritual to detect magic, and did not detect any other magic. Boris went in the room, and asked if anyone could detect traps, but nobody there could. Boris searched for traps, but did not see anything to be concerned about, other than that the chest was still mechanically locked. Boris then began striking the lock with his hammer, bashing the tough and well made lock several times (and the strapping once). The final strike was exceptionally hard and precise, breaking not only the lock but also the poisoned needle trap behind and around it. Boris then opened the chest, and discovered, too late, that the lead lined interior concealed one last trap. To the others Boris just partly opened, and quickly closed the chest, then moved out and stood behind Roisin Marshfield. SixOfEighteen offered to open the chest, and lifted the lid, saying "Odd, it's lined with lead." Roy asked for confirmation, and SixOfEighteen confirmed a thin layer of lead lining. Roy asked Boris if he had seen magic in the chest, but Boris asserted he had not. Roy began the ritual to detect magic, while Boris stood near Roisin Marshfield. A moment later everyone was shocked to see Boris, laying an uncle's hand upon Roisin Marshfield's shoulder, inflict magical wounds, dealing terrible harm to Roisin Marshfield in a sudden and violent attack. Boris, bolstered by whatever was controlling him, acted first and used another powerful spell to further damage Roisin Marshfield, but Roy countered the spell, despite discovering that Boris had already canceled his gift of luck. Roy then used a special divine boon to remove powerful curses, and saw a flash as a dark form was drawn up out of Boris where a pair of massive divine hands simply tore the shade to bits. Boris promptly seemed to disappear, until SixOfEighteen walked around the corner with light that was not the divination their lanterns used and Boris returned to view. Roy performed the ritual for detect magic again. Turning to Boris, Roy could not detect any magic at all; becoming aware that Boris must be protected from divination. Roy peered into the chest and saw a good amount of things glowing. Pulling things out, Roy found books, some articles of clothing, as well as scrolls, alchemy, calligraphy, herbs, etc...

Through quite a bit of time and effort, Roy found the books to be as follows:

The first book Roy examined was The Book of Sacrifice, Bound in human skin tanned to a deep blue, the pages are clearly thin layers flayed from infants. This book describes all manner, methods, and uses for human(oid) sacrifice to The Corruption. They promptly burned this to ash.

A set of inscribed bones wrapped in linen cloth. It is locked by magic, and can be opened only by arcane light, and written in Infernal. When unlocked the bones slide into thin slices connected by tanned tendon leather; each slice contains a line of text. Any fiend that sees this "book" will seek to steal it and return with it to Hades where it is sought by many powerful fiend lords.

A tome bound in leather trimmed with sable fur. It is written in Primordial. Elementals and Genasi who see this book become enraged and are very likely to attack and seek the destruction of book and owner alike.

A modest book bound in hand-carved blackthorn plates covered in steel-inlay decorations depicting scenes of death by poison. It is locked by magic, and can be opened only by answering the riddle inscribed upon it.

The riddle is

I am life, I am death

I am good, I am evil

My Source is in the TRees

MY end is in the Cold grave

WHat am I.........

With Roisin Marshfield's help they figured out the answer was strychnine, and poured a tiny amount of this from Jeeves ' alchemy supplies into the hole where the ninth dot at the end of the riddle was; this opened the book.

A tome bound in copper plates, the pages are gilded with gold and seem to be a single solid block until the book is unlocked. It is locked by magic and will only open if the phrase "I forgive you, for you are merely a foolish child dealing in things beyond your comprehension", a former owner wrote this on a small scrap of parchment and tucked it in the spine; Boris noticed this parchment scrap. The note, and book, are written in a very archaic form of common.

A set of engraved brass plates contained in an engraved steel coffer, and written in Deep Speech.

Rewards Granted

• A spellbook containing the spells Flame Arrows, Fire Shield, Immolation, Fiendish brand, Investiture of Flame, Firewalk, Fire Storm.
• A spellbook containing the spells Elemental Weapon, Conjure Minor Elementals, Conjure Elemental, Transmute Rock, Investiture of Ice, Investiture of Fire, Investiture of Stone, Investiture of Wind
• A spellbook containing the spells Doom of blue crystal, Shroud of death, Cloudkill, Sanguine horror, Alchemical form
• A spellbook containing the following spells Anticipate arcana, Haste, Flickering fate, Reset, Time vortex, Wall of time, Consult the Past, Time loop, Reposition, Sequester, Ravages of time.
• A Minor Tome of Equanimity. An individual who reads this tome, which requires 8 hours, gains immunity to being Stunned for the next 24 hours. The tome only functions once for a given individual. When the tome is completed roll 1d20, on a roll of 1 the book disappears. On a roll of 20 that individual is immune to being Stunned for 1 year.
• A Pamphlet of Skill: Calligraphy
• Six Thunder Feathers.
• A set of fine gentleman's gloves made of kidskin leather and wrapped up in very fine silk. These turned out to be the "Healing Hands of Hrojaalvhujign".
• 5 alchemy (2 basic Boromun's Brush, 2 Gruenor's Growth, and 1 Mor'thi'nelin's Mending)
• 4 herbs (1 Angel's Chain, 1 Dark Draw Willow Bark, 1 Gnomish Tea Bean, and 1 Winter Grape[light])
• 9 poison (1 Acid Coat, 3 Heart Thief, 2 Heart's Assassin, 1 Blue Mist, 1 Orange Mist, and 1 White Mist)
• 8 calligraphy (1 Grandmaster Script, 1 Guardian Script, 1 Ink Mark, 2 Soul Focus, 1 Paper Shelter, 2 Paper Steed)
• 8 scrolls
  1. Burning Hands, Mage Armor, Shadow Armor, Shadow step
  2. Intellect Fortress
  3. Expeditious Retreat
  4. Insightful Maneuver, Compulsion
  5. Foretell Distraction, Darkness, Hedren's Birds of Clay
  6. Spin, Shadow Metamorphosis
  7. Trick Question, Black Swan Storm, Anticipate Arcana, Vampiric Touch, Starry Vision
  8. Gaseous Form, Protection from Energy, Arcane Gate, Unshackled Magic
• Citrine: Elemental Attunement Gem (absorbs 56 Force).