Building Trust - Part 3 - Wagner Abbey Game 3

Immediately after completing the funerary rites for Olivia, I asked Ospher and Charity to head back into the Abbey again. I had noticed movement earlier by the classrooms and didn't get to check on it as there was some duress with a ghost in our vicinity. We head back inside and notice a some muddy tracks about a week old but nothing else out of the ordinary. After confirming the lights were still in administration, we head into the first classroom.
 
Within, the classroom appears to be dedicated to group work and was prepped for the students to have worked on magic candles. Ospher called them Candles of the Deep, they evidently will not extinguish by being dipped in water until the wick runs down. There's about 5 of them in a finished state about the room and the teacher's desk had a receipt from the 12 carrots tavern for a bottle of wine to be delivered, from 200 years ago. We opened the door to the next room and heard some faint whispers in the common tongue, so with a blessing of Nisaba The Lady Midnight, Ospher crept in and observed that there's writing on the chalkboard, looking recent and instruction for the spell burning hands. Standing by the teacher's desk, Ospher was then surprised by a wight materializing and stating "I told you to sit down!" and throwing him towards some chairs. Charity fired off a witchbolt at the wight as it tried to claw Ospher and he used the wand he recovered on it. It then reached for his throat and after successfully deflecting the first attack with a Shield spell, grabbed him and started to wither his life force. Charity's spell ultimately spared Ospher and the wight fled into the floors from us.

The desk in the classroom had a clay jug that had been broken sometime ago. The former teacher, name yet unknown, had a journal indicating he was working on repairing it since his wife who had died before him treasured it. I repaired it with the mending spell but it did not restore the magic to it, and Charity pointed out that there were a number of verses on the pot explaining that it was indicative of all the God's journey to Frial. Ospher was feeling very ill at this point so we grabbed the armor, put manacles on the front door and headed to the 12 Carrots Tavern. I asked Charity to check over the notes tonight.

Digby was sitting alone at a table eating a bowl of oatmeal and drinking some milk, so we went over to report in. Digby wanted to make sure that none of us were possessed yet and accepting the surviving magical items (Half plate, Wand of Magic Missile, Spell Scrolls) and told us that the last mercenaries he hired was about a week ago. We asked who he would recommend for some extra assistance in clearing the place out and he said the Grand Order of the Lion would be our best bet while admonishing us to not get the constables involved, as they could act with the Kreastos' authority and remove him from ownership of the Abbey if the threat was too great.

Greasom, one of the owning partners of the 12 Carrots Tavern, was able to help with obtaining the 200 year old wine. The next morning, we greeted Charity in the common room, a much less rowdy place in the morning. She was sipping some [tea], and informed us the pot was made by either priests of Vale or Sandor and that it needed some ritual work to restore it to working order. She gave it over and with Nisaba's blessing I set out to repair it with Ospher's assistance while Charity expressed her tea preferences. We told her of our plans to go to the lake tomorrow and extended the invite for her to join us. She told us expressly that people from Becklinberg are most likely cannibals. We spent a couple hours working on repairing it and learned that it is an Alchemy Jug. After agreeing that this is ours and not Digby's since he doesn't care about stuff like this, Ospher and I headed to the Sommelier and met with Sebastian Pay and came to an agreement to sell him the 6 bottles of Abbey wine and the old vintage we got from 12 Carrots. He explained that the most valuable thing we could find there still would be magical corks and bottle to make new wine vintages last, as well as the Abbey recipe.

We headed next to Capt. Farley's contact and negotiated a fair rate for the New Balmoran Swords and he explained that he doesn't manufact that style himself since there's not a large market for it. Circling back for Charity then heading to the Grand Order's headquarters in town. It was a very busy place with recruits training out front, but not seeing Ser Brightshine among them, we headed inside, and got in queue to speak with him. After dangling the chance for honor and duty in front of him, he said he couldn't personally leave to help us, but was able to secure some help for us of a young man named Nicholas Newgate. He's a recent recruit but handy with a spear and very very excitable to adventure with us.

We returned to the Abbey once more in the early afternoon, the rain was letting up about now and we immediately went by the Dining Hall to prepare to fight the plant in the walled garden. We prepped Nicholas to what we planned and assaulted the sawtooth from afar, in reply it closed the distance very rapidly to our overwhelming horror. We withdrew a bit further, and Ospher flipped over a dining table to use as cover while using one of his spells to throw a flaming log at it. It was able to immediately knock out Nicholas, so I dragged him to safety while Charity flung an Ice Knife at it, unfortunately, it being mobile now gave it the agility to dodge the main thrust of her attack.

After Ospher fired a flaming crossbow bolt at it, dealing it a significant blow, it attempted to flee into the garden to hopefully sneak up on us, but in closing, we very obviously spotted it against the wall and Charity finished it with her witchbolt. Nicholas was disappointed that he wasn't able to do more to help, but we told him that he was definitely the difference in our survival and destruction. We checked out the rest of the garden and discovered that the plant doesn't digest bones very well and had collected a very large pile of them out here behind where it's central mass was among the overgrown bushes. We additionally surmised that one of the other mercenaries of Digby's was killed here, in addition to a few vagrants.

Returning to the second classroom, we set the jar on the prof's table and then Charity and I set about making a scene to re-attract the attention of the wight. It appeared, recognized that the pot was complete, and melted away, finally at rest. We went onto the 3rd classroom and within, we determined that the class was dedicated to horticulture of magical plants. The ceiling looked to have suffered a partial collapse, as well as some flood damage in the room itself. The hole in the ceiling didn't go to the roof, but there was some thick vines and moss up there so we set about to take out a second sawtooth. We moved back and Ospher used his Frostbite spell which started the plant in motion.

The dark yellow plant and its collection of vines began to descend from the ceiling and as more of it came down, we each experienced gradually increasing mental pain. This creeper tried to attack us, and I flipped a table onto its vines as they approached, pinning them, but then it launched a mental controlling attack at me which I repelled with some extreme discomfort. Nicholas proved adept with the hand crossbow, and he, Charity and Ospher quickly ended the creature's existence. Ospher was able to identify it as a Yellow Musk Creeper that had overgrown its original enclosure since it was abandoned, though this was an adolescent. None of the zombies encountered thus far had any interference from the creeper, and it is very evident.

We then decided to use the hole in the ceiling as a back way into the barred administration room with a little bit of navigation since we didn't want to deal with those lights yet. Nicholas stood guard at the entrance and I helped Charity and Ospher get down to examine the room. They said that it looked as if the original office occupant had their stuff shoveled in a corner and the desk was covered in all kinds of necromantic implements. There was a pouch with a single platinum coin, a bear headed key and a masterfully crafted saddle. Charity grabbed up the implements as she said they were Baradradi in origin and directed Ospher's attention to a crystal (or maybe glass) bell.

In the 4th classroom, we see the lights hovering about and immediately close the door to go to the 5th classroom. We open the door and someone calls for us to be quiet. After some brief confusion, we see in the in-tact classroom, we see one of the mercenaries hiding behind the large globe. He's very pale and his eyes are sunken and he's insistent on us not using lights. We determine that the classroom was used for Social Studies and Geography and go to close with the raving half-elf. We subdue him and briefly render him unconscious in order to hopefully restore some health to him, but before we can do that, the lights from the next room over flit through the walls and advance directly at Ospher and Charity as they're holding lanterns. The swirling lights mesmerize and sort of unfold into some extra attractive lights, capturing Ospher's and Nicholas' minds and then goes to envelop Charity and draining her of moisture and vitality. As the last standing able bodied person, I call upon Nisaba's powers to strike the outsider with Guided Bolt until I can call no more of her power for the day. After knocking out Charity, it then scours Nicholas of his life force, and as it does that I noticed it looks like it is replacing their lack of color with some sort of rainbow-like color.

After the thing was destroyed, I stabilized Charity and Nicholas from dying and Ospher and the half-elf eventually snapped out of it. We briefly discussed that this thing must have come from the experiment that Rabinger's note indicate. Communing with Nisaba, she indicates that these things attempted to harrow their journey to here and if the experiment is still ongoing, to shut it down. While taking a breather, I talk with the Half-Elf at length while giving him actual nourishing food, restoring his senses somewhat. He explains that his name is Lielet Moonpelt, and he and his two companions were hired a week ago by Digby and they scaled the dormitory in order to enter and found a bat-headed key that opens the lab. They saw more of these lights in the lab wing by a gate. In the room itself, we found a floppy weird hat that we don't know what it does yet, as well as some thieves' tools and a complete map of the abbey.

Before leaving, we went back to the Chapel to determine if we had laid Olivia to rest properly. But it seemed that something was still preventing her from moving on, as well as interacting with our world now. We left after this, making sure to lock back up again afterwards. Escorting Nicholas part of the way back, he thanked us for the experience and faith in him, and explained that the Grand Order doesn't take care of people and Charity adds that there's no hospital in town. We go to the Temple of Sandor in the Kreastos of Frial and after some conversation they pledge to look after Lielet for a bit of time and will send word to the 12 Carrot Tavern if he leaves. I also tried to find the other god's sacred books of rites, but was unsuccessful, though I did recover (WINK WINK) an ancient stone of power of Vale's that I will incorporate into my shield.

We did some research on buying property in Bell Haven as well, in the vicinity of Wagner Abbey, since if we are successful there may be a revitalization to the district and have made an appointment with a Solicitor in about a week's time in order to discuss and determine if there's any funding from the Kreastos available for such. It also seems that we'll be limited to two deeds as we are non-citizens of Frial, since we have no desire to chain ourselves to the town's future. Digby is the ONLY owner of a deed in Bell Haven besides the Kreastos itself, interestingly enough.

On the return trip to the 12 Carrots Tavern, Charity and I discussed the nature of my magic at length. She was very surprised and swore that she would tell no one.




If Charity elects to not come with us tomorrow, she could always get some aqueduct controls manufactured while we're gone. Also preventing her great-grandfather from sending others to their death in the Abbey.


It is fitting that the Kreastos has anointed themselves in the grave-wrappings of the gods' whose temples they have desecrated.


We went to the Grand Order of the Lion for Ser Brightshine, but ended up with someone who was much easier to work with. Nisaba does bless us.