2023-04-15 Travel: Haunted Castle
Player Characters
- Tarhun
- Balasar
- Malivette
- Green
- Grey
Allies
Summary
The party traveled east from Tarvinkor toward The Haunted Realm.
Along the way, they found a post with a broken glass vial roped to the top. Grey activated the hindsight lens and saw a young elf boy use the broken vial for target practice.
Near the border of the Realm, they found an old dilapidated cabin. Entering inside, they found it full of broken glass and dust: it was an abandoned alchemy lab. The hindsight lens showed a group of vandals smashing everything.
Balasar found a hidden compartment in the stone chimney with some old journal entries written by a Dr. Wranton. They described a phenomenon where an experimental potion would occasionally flash with light.
The group swept away the glass to camp for the night. As the sun was setting, there was a flash of light from the floorboards below. They ripped up the boards with great effort, and climbed down into the secret basement. Below, they found several more posts with attached vial, all but one of which were empty. They found two more journal entries, dusty empty vials, more broken glass, and notes about potion recipes. The journals described a ley line leading straight east and west, which Dr. Wranton had spent a lot of time following.
The next day, the group entered the mists of the Haunted Realm. After passing through the wilted forest, they saw something glowing ahead: a retinue of ghostly soldiers with beaded eyes and cone-shaped heads. Their armor and shields depicted an insignia that looked like a round hill with a crown-shaped castle on top. The PCs approached, and the ghosts immediately attacked, their leader shouting in an unknown language. As he cut down ghosts with his undead-slaying sunblade, Green was aged 10 years by a ghost.
They found the stone shield mentioned in Dr. Wranton's notes, which had mechanical parts attached. Balasar, Grey, and Green recognized it as part of one of the stone defenders that had protected the Great Southern Tower during 2023-03-18 Delve: Great Southern Tower. The hindsight lens showed a scrawny man in a labcoat examining the shield and failing to lift it. They lifted the stone shield to find a smashed, rotted skeleton from long ago. It had a nice cloak, which they dug out and identified as a cape of the mountebank.
Grey cast speak with dead and tongues to speak to the mostly pulverized skeleton. They asked it what it knew and what it was here for. The corpse did not recognize the name Orvald, and was traveling to the castle to seek treasure before it was attacked by unexpected machines. It was aware of the dangerous ghosts in the realm.
Tarhun attemped to activate the purple primal crystal he had brought from the Celestial Study, but nothing happened.
The party continued toward the castle, and came across a decrepit ancient farming village full of conehead ghosts, zombies, and ghouls. They destroyed the unintelligent undead with ease.
They searched the village and uncovered two different journals, a few spell scrolls, and a cloak of protection.
Grey burned down the village. He activated the hindsight lens and saw a conehead woman, which he recognized as one of the ghosts they had destroyed, fleeing from a ghoul they had killed. She held an alien farming implement, which they discovered in the barn.
Grey's patron commanded him to collect a ghoul tooth and brew the "sweet tar" recipe from Dr. Wranton's notes, using other ingredients he had collected previously.
The group continued across the river over the old stone bridge.
They came across a lonely watchtower in the center of the Haunted Realm. The tower was dusty and abandoned, but was also unusually peaceful. The party was able to long rest here.
They continued the short distance to The Haunted Castle to see it before the end of the mission. They saw its spired towers piercing the eerie sky, and the foggy spiral staircase leading the way up to its entrance. There was no time left in the mission to explore it, so they teleported home to cure Green's forced aging from the ghost retinue, with the intent to return later.
Grey brewed two doses of the sweet tar. His patron commanded him to carry one with him on his future journeys.
Balasar attempted to dominate Grey into drinking some of the tar. After resisting, Grey returned the favor, and Balasar was forced to drink it. Something dark began to grow within him...
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The Forlorn Watchtower is a valid waypoint for fast travel for future missions in the Haunted Realm.
Documents found
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