Session 51: Wells and Mores Report
General Summary
26th of Haelynir 1524 Continued
A large, white ape like creature with four arms and tusks comes charging out of the room. The creature runs out of the room, spotting Fargrim and attacks him. With the barrage of attacks it only manages to claw him once. Meanwhile Erin, who is still coughing, tells Karl to stay back as she runs back to help Fargrim after she summons her Heated Spear with a snap of her fingers.
Another four armed ape with tusks comes running out of the room and hunts Lily down before clawing at her twice and biting her. Lily responds with a Hellish Rebuke. Another ape comes running out of the room and runs up behind the first one, but with how large the creature is they can’t get past one another in the hallway. Steve summons a flame sphere between the two apes in front of Fargrim and Erin. Then he rams it into one of the apes to damage it. Karl steps into the hallway and spreads his arms down toward the ground and opens his hands. Sparks begin to coalesce along his fingertips as electricity arcs from the ground up to his hands, gathering along his arms until Karl thrusts his hands forward, channeling a bolt of lightning 100 feet down the hallway, hurting two of the apes and killing the one right in front of Fargrim and Erin. The lightning wraps around Erin’s body without touching her and Karl steps around the corner for some cover.
Lily stomps her foot on the ground and releases a burst of thunderous energy that knocks over the ape in front of her. As she looks over the creature she can see it is dead. Fargrim climbs over the dead ape in front of him to attack the remaining ape, but gets burned by Steve’s flame sphere due to standing too close. Erin keeps her distance and throws back her hand. As she does so water starts to appear in her hand, gathering in the shape of a whip before throwing her arm forward to strike the creature and she knocks it prone. The creature is quick to stand back up and attack Fargrim, but can’t get through his armour. The ape suffers the same damage as Fargrim, but Steve adds to it by ramming the sphere into the creature before dismissing it to prevent it hurting Fargrim more.
Karl steps back around the corner and finishes off the ape with a fire bolt. With all the creatures now down, the group is quick to check on one another. Everyone is fine enough, but Fargrim and Erin still have a lingering cough from the smoke. Lily goes to check out the room these creatures came from. Several iron cages are in the North West corner of the room with broken doors, and the south and west walls are covered with bloodstains.
Karl is immediately concerned about Erin and her coughing. Fargrim looks her over and discovers she has a slight wheeze to her chest and looks as tired as Fargrim feels. Her skin is also slightly warm to the touch. He casts Lessor Restoration, but it doesn’t seem to have the effect he wanted. Erin does her best to reassure Karl that she’s okay. When Fargrim’s cough persists as he tries to keep up with the group, Steve stops to examine him. He notes the inside of Fargrim’s lips and around the edges of his nose are black. There is a slight wheeze to his breathing and Fargrim is warm to touch like Erin had been. Steve casts Greater Restoration and Fargrim immediately feels better. Fargrim does the same for Erin and she as well feels better.
The group backtracks. Heading towards the rope and taking the right after the ape room which they had seen was empty before and had an iron door. Checking the iron door this time they can see it is not locked. Lily leads the way through the iron door and down a corridor with everyone following. The door at the end is a stone one. It’s locked and Lily is unable to unlock it with her tools. Fargrim uses the skeleton key to open the door. This leads to a larger room with a sloped pit lined with iron spikes lies in the East side of the room, and someone has scrawled "Khuda died here" on the north wall. In The South East corner of the room is a large statue of an elemental salamander. In the North West corner is a simple wooden door.
Karl recognises the name Khuda from his school and realises he hasn’t seen him since Karl first left to find Master Shyr. Steve believes he started his journeyman status not long after Karl, but it has been a while since he checked in.
The group examines the statue but aside from it being realistic, they can’t seem to see anything special about it. Lily goes over to look at the wooden door heard West. It’s stuck. Lily can’t get it open but Fargrim can. Inside this next room, it seems to be a large empty space. There are two doors in the South West corner. The South one is Iron and the West one looks like a simple door. There is also a door to the North that looks to be of good quality. Lily investigates the North door while everyone looks around the room. Fargrim notices that there is a rune carved into the South Iron door. It’s covered by an illusion and only Erin can see it as well. Erin copies it into a book to show Karl. Meanwhile Lily snaps her tools in the lock of the door.
Karl explains this is a Dread rune designed to make people feel fear when triggered. Fargrim shakes his head and walks over to have a listen at the West door since the South one is clearly bad news. However he can’t hear anything and it isn’t locked so the group goes to check it out. At the end it does a U bend to a dead end but Fargrim can see there is a door behind an illusion. Upon telling the group about the door Lily, Erin and Steve are about to see through it.
Lily approaches the door and tests it to see if it is locked. It isn’t but as she turns the handle she is quick to throw herself to the side as a spray of fire comes out of the handle, only just catching her. As Lily curses herself for not checking the door itself, she and everyone else can hear heavy footfalls approaching from the other side of the door. In the attempt to throw herself to the side the door was cracked open enough that Lily can see a stone golem approaching. She quickly slams the door shut and warns the others as she summons her sword.
Karl debates trapping or destroying it as Erin prepares to surprise the creature and stop it from advancing after the group. The stone creature comes through the door and Erin is successful in stopping it in its tracks as Karl fires a spell at the creature as well. Steve heals Lily a little as he tries to think of the best thing to do to help in this situation. Fargrim rushes in to attack the beast as he throws a quip at it and his hammer. He also summons a Spiritual Weapon to aid him.
Lily casts Guardian of Nature on herself and attacks the creature. Karl makes a fist around his focus and punches the air in front of him, causing a giant red fist to form and fly at the golem. Erin continues her assaults and while her spear attacks land her fists don’t. While the others believe there to be more golems, Erin hopes there isn’t as the hallway is getting very crowded. The golem stops and looks down at those around it. The sound of something ticking can be heard coming from it. As the ticking grew slower Lily and Erin suddenly become sluggish as they are under the effects of Slow from the creature.
Steve makes a dad joke and turns into an air elemental so he can get to the creature without pushing anyone else out the way. Fargrim attacks with his mighty hammer and spiritual weapon. Lily struggles through the sluggishness to get in a good hit at the creature and Karl finishes it off the golem by slapping him down with his magical fist.
Lily moves into the room slowly and looks around to see 3 headless statues laying in the room and a pile of apples in the corner. Karl uses the hand to drag the stone golem back into the room as he checks on everyone. Fargrim heals himself. Erin struggles through the sluggish effect on her to make her way over to Karl and Steve hovers nearby, staying as an air elemental. Lily seems to recover as she searches the room and looks over the statues.
Karl tries to reassure Erin that the effects will pass soon and stays with her while the others look into the area. Erin is very grateful for this. Lily looks over the apples to discover they are rotten. It confuses her as to why someone would even bother to guard something like this. Karl bring over the giant hand to him and Erin as he suggests Lily uses the wand of Detect Magic. Fargrim however believes they should just shut the door to this room and move on as the danger was removed. Lily tries the wand and discovers that only the door was magical. Karl has a brief look around the room and sees signs the apprentices might have used this room and these statues for practice. After Lily reminds him, Karl uses the bookmark to search Ash’s journal for hidden and golem.
The first hidden Ash is debating whether he should really be keeping what he is doing hidden from his family and questioning why what they're doing has to be secret if it's an official thing from the school. ‘Why do their private sessions with master Wellmore have to be conducted in a run down shitty farm?’ First mention of golem is about Wellmore ordering them on the black market for training purposes.
Karl shares this with the group and it confuses Fargrim. He says the apprentices must be gullible to think this was school related. Erin finally seems to overcome the effects of slow. The group debates going back to the guild now and getting that mirror identified due to having locked doors in their way. Fargrim doesn’t mind identifying the mirror but doesn’t want to talk to him again. Erin just suggests breaking down the wooden door barring their entry and Lily accepts the help on this. The group heads back to the last big room with the trapped South door and the North door with Lily’s broken lockpick in it.
Lily tries to shoulder check the door open but is not successful. Karl uses the last few moments that his magical fist is around to try and punch it open, but it fades as it connects. Fargrim uses his Dwarven might to shoulder check the door open successfully. On the other side of the door was a T intersection. The left only goes for 20ft but the right continues out of fargrim's dark vision. Lily leads the way down the hallway. Upon hearing several large creatures moving around up ahead on a left hand turn she stops. She signals for everyone to be quiet but Karl doesn’t see this and nearly gets them heard.
Fargrim tells Karl that they need to be quiet. Erin moves ahead to go with Lily as she hears there is danger ahead. Lily casts Pass without Trace to help the group be more sneaky. There is a bit of clanking coming from Fargrim, but Steve is doing what he can to muffle it in his air form as the group quietly moves forward. As the group moves along there is an opening on the left. Peeking into the room Lily can see the tail of something flick out of view as she hears the movement inside continue. Karl turns himself and Lily invisible. Fargrim and Erin can still see them, which makes moving together easier.
Looking into the room Lily can see 9 creatures that look like large wolves but their front paws look a little like hands and their faces remind her of a goblin. In the room the East wall in the corner seems to be a mosaic of vile acts and the floor seems to have black and white tiles that looks like a maze. The North wall is black stone, unlike the rest of the walls in this place. There is also an exit to the West. Looking into the room Karl can tell the creatures are fiendish but he can’t tell if they are devils or demons.
The group quietly moves past this room and down the hallway to see what is at the end. At the end of the hallway on the left Fargrim can see the path goes to the left and ends with the strangest looking door Fargrim has ever seen. It looks... like a person engraved on it. Like a sarcophagus but viewed from the inside. He can tell by the shimmer an illusion is hiding the view of this path.
The group, now knowing about the illusion, is able to move through it. Lily slowly starts pushing the sarcophagus open. On the other side Lily hears a faint noise of surprise, but can't tell gender or anything like that. Peaking in Lily can see two beautiful women sitting on the floor in flowing dresses. They're both looking around like they heard a sound but not sure where it came from. They look scared. As Karl looks into the room he sees them and decides to risk going and talking to them.
As Karl moves into the room and speaks with them to discover there are four girls who seem very scared. Fargrim rushes in as he can’t let Karl get himself into trouble without backup. He sees them for what they really are and warns Karl to get back. Fargrim yells at them and gets the girls to back up as he explains to Karl what he sees. Through talking with the girls the group learns Wellmore had taken things from them like body parts, who summoned them, the fact the girls can’t leave the room without help and putting doubt in the minds of the group that the faceless man is actually dead. Some negotiations are attempted but nothing is solidly agreed on by either party.
The girls tell the group the creatures they passed were goblins and were the reason many of the doors were locked. After a bit more of a chat the group decides now is the time to leave this place and the girls must promise to behave, which they do. They are helped out of the room and the group moves back down the corridor. However, they discover the wolf creatures are no longer where the group last saw them. After seeing this Fargrim picks up speed and runs for the exit. Lily can hear the creatures up ahead and warns Fargrim about them. Fargrim takes this knowledge and rushes into the room. As the dwarf clanks into the room they all turn and growl, rushing in to attack.
Erin escorts Karl to the room and sees the creatures attacking Fargrim, ordering Karl to ditch his attempts to hide his light as she runs in to help Fargrim. Steve rushes in still in elemental form to help as well, placing himself on top of an enemy. The succubi asks Lily about what to do and she asks them to either keep themselves safe or help if they feel capable as she runs towards the door. Fargrim grabs his holy symbol and calls down holy flame from above, burning these devil dogs. Karl pulls his cloak off of the staff and lets it fall to the ground. He whips the wand out of the holster on his thigh and flicks it at the nearest wolf, letting three glowing red darts lose at it.
The creatures respond in kind by biting Erin and Fargrim. Erin growls as she hits it twice with her spear and one with a powerful kick. Steve takes advantage of his air elemental form as he acts as a whirlwind, battering the creature below. Lily moves in between Erin and Fargrim and jabs in between them at the creature being whelmed by Steve. She then points behind the creatures and summons a hellhound spirit.Fargrim sees the attacks going on to the one on his right, he'll swing his hammer at him. His attack is fueled by the might of Haelyn and the fire of Lily’s hellhound.
Karl tries to hit the creatures with spells but can’t seem to hit. The dogs try to hit those in combat but only manage to get a bite in on Erin. Erin responds by stabbing it so hard that it lets go of her and slumps to the floor. Steve tries to slam the creatures while Lily casts Flame Shield. It surrounds her in blue flames before stepping over the body on the ground to stand next to Fargrim. Meanwhile, Fargrim in the midst of the fight has a feeling of camaraderie with his fellow party members. An air elemental, a sea elf, an infernal druid, a pyromaniac mage and 4 succubi. He grins through the ridiculousness of it, and bolstered by his friends he swings his hammer. He connects as Lily’s hellhound continues to support him with dealing damage.
Karl steps up to try and uses his wand again to send more darts into another creature. As he does this the one Erin killed suddenly explodes, hurting Lily, Steve, Erin and Fargrim, as well as its fellow creatures. This seems to throw off the creatures as they try to bite the group, but can’t seem to get a hold of anyone. Erin moves back to act as guard for Karl. Steve continues to act as a whirlwind and batter one creature around. The fiends all move forward, dropping their innocent forms. Their heads are covered in dried blood with missing horns, stubs are on their backs where wings were sawn off and there is no visible tail coming from them. Their hands do turn into claws though. They look ready to attack if anything comes their way.
Lily empowers herself with Guardian of Nature and her Hellhound supports her as she lands a few hits on the creatures. Fargrim swings twice but misses both times. Karl only having limited sight with his light asks the group how many more remain as he uses his wand against one of the creatures. Steve is attacked by the creatures and Erin continues to act as Karl’s guard. Steve slams one of the creatures in retaliation and the succubi hiss at the creatures, ready to attack if they get an opening to get into the fight. Lily gets a few hits in on one of the creatures. Fargrim continues his assaults, swinging twice and hitting his creature.
Karl swears and recklessly runs into the middle of the fight, slipping between Erin and Lily to push right up next to the horrid wolves and looks around. He grips his arcane focus and his eyes begin to glow as he casts Mass Suggestion to cause four of them to leave this place and run as far as they can without hurting anyone they encounter. Karl warns the group not to hurt those enchanted. The remaining creatures attack but can’t seem to get a hold of the group with some of their companions leaving them.
Erin is panicked as Karl runs into the fight and rushes to his side. She attacks the creature that tried to attack Karl. Steve slams one of the creatures while Lily critically injuries one. Fargrim heals himself and attack one of the remaining creatures. He is very concerned about the creatures escaping the well. Karl tries to reassure him while hurling a fireball at the group and sculpting it around his friends. It kills one and injuries the others. It immediately explodes and hurts everyone but Fargrim and the succubi. Lily is bitten but the creature is hurt by her flame shield and Karl is attacked but he throws up a shield preventing the attack. Erin continues her assault one the creature trying to attack Karl.
Steve continues to hit the creature he has been slowly chipping away at. The girls continue to watch and some even check the hallway to see if anything is coming from behind. They are not confident that the creatures can’t escape this area as they have a goblin form they can change into. Lily chuckles as the creature in front of her manages to bite her, only to be rewarded with some freezing flames in the face. She follows it up by slicing the creature and healing herself a little. Fargrim tries and fails to hit while also healing Lily a little. Karl flicks his wand at the wolf Erin is attacking, killing it. Realising how hurt Lily had gotten he mentions maybe needing to message to make sure Xeldarix doesn’t come teleporting in to save her.
Another creature explodes, hurting Steve, Erin and Karl. Erin suffers another bite from the creatures as she continues to try and keep them away from Karl. Steve continues to slam the same creature and it’s looking bloodied at this stage. Lilly leaves three impressive cuts on one creature while Fargrim swings and misses. Karl continues to use his wand to slowly damage the creatures. The creatures bite and snarl at the group but don’t manage to bite anyone. Erin and Steve are finding it equally difficult unlike Lily who continues her assault of the fiend in front of her and kills it. As it falls to one of her powerful blows, she steps over it to attack the one inside the Steve Elemental.
Fargrim finds it as hard as some of his other companions but spares a few words to heal Erin a little. Just in time as one explodes and hurts Lily, Steve and Karl. The turn of the fight has rattled the creatures as they can’t seem to bite the group. Erin and Steve finally seem to find their groove again and hit the creature. With this opening now made the fiends run into the room to assist. Lily brings down another fiend, then carefully steps forward through Steve to attack the next one. She warns the fiends to watch out if they are not immune to fire. Fargrim continues to try and hit the creature in front of him and looks visibly worried, this fight has gone on pretty long and he is running out of resources.
Karl twists in the air and vanishes in a cloud of mist. He reappears ten feet back in front of the broken doorway and hurls a bolt of fire at the dog in front of Erin, killing it in the process. Two of the creatures explode and hurt Lily, Two of her wards, Steve, and Erin. One of the creatures takes the moment to get in a surprise attack and bite Erin. She attacks it in kind with Steve’s support. With the threat almost gone two of the succubi turn their attention on Lily to praise her for being so strong and brave. They want to thank her properly later for taking good care of them. Lily, who is unsure how to deal with them scoots over to kill the last one and get back before it explodes. That explosion hurts Erin, Steve, Fargrim and two of Lily’s wards.
The group checks in with one another after the fight. The Succubi put on some charm and try to cosy up to the heroes but they just aren’t having it. The Succubi lead the group to a hidden entrance that goes up from the stone golem room and into the donkey’s area upstairs in the farm house. Steve turns back into his human form to take the donkey back with him to the guild and have a quick word with the group. He encourages them to come by the guild to meet the apprentices that would be available to take on tasks to help the community and guild. There is a possibility they can help with researching things.
The group leaves Steve to take the donkey and head back to the manor with Succubi in tow. On the way back Lily prays to Xeldarix. When they arrive Xeldarix greets them but there is a noticeable change in her demeanor when she sees the Succubi. She goes from bouncy and happy to quiet and distant. Fargrim explains to a disapproving Uqaviel that this is temporary since these fiends will be able to provide information possibly about Wellmore.
They head inside and out to the garden since the group really doesn’t want the Succubi roaming the house. They’re quick to swarm around Lily and Xeldarix. Karl notices something isn’t right and warns the fiends to stay away from her. The group briefly discusses plans and how Karl has to wait until the late 27th or early 28th for his statue to be ready. Lily takes Xeldarix upstairs and the rest of the group go out to the garden.
Out in the garden the Succubi are introduced to Alfonso who is disappointingly not a humanoid for them. The Succubi reveal that three of them are from hell and the other has spent most of their time in hell but does float from plane to plane as needed by her masters. Their main task for being summoned was completed but they are to participate in experiments by the apprentices. Their task was to be harvested. They have been helped with regrowing their missing parts once in a cage similar to what Karl and Xeldarix were held in before they were removed again. The names of the Succubi are Wylinsea, Nessyera, Zellysh, and Brizsha. Karl asked them about the faceless man. He’s apparently a demon from the abyss. A prince from the faceless lord. They are an ooze that can wear a body like clothing if prepared properly. As Karl goes to leave he threatens the Succubi with banishing them if they touch Xeldarix again, which sufficiently scares them. Fargrim and Uqaviel watch them while Karl goes to check on Xeldarix and Lily after saying goodbye to Erin.
Lily and Xeldarix talk. Xeldarix explains the best she can about what she is feeling and seeing. She’s having flashbacks to times when she was hurt like the Succubi but it lacks context in her memory. It’s giving her a headache. Lily assures her she is safe with them. Lily explains the dangers of Xeldarix’s true name and how the earrings can help but she doesn’t know how they can help. Karl comes in and the situation is explained to him. Some of her memories seem to be of the time they were kidnapped by Wellmore and there are memories from another time where she was alone. Karl teaches her to use the earrings. While Lily has a moment with Karl away from the Succubi she mentions an idea she has for them. Using a 1000g gem she can bind one of them to her for 10 days. This brings up the problem of what is the groups end goal with them. Lily wants them to have a second chance like Xeldarix got even though she didn’t realise she wanted one when she first met the group. Karl is concerned about scrying and Lily suggests they be taken to the Mountain for their safety and the city’s safety. In the end they decide to talk to the Succubi about it. Karl takes the necklace they found from Lily to identify it. Lily says she’ll count the coins with Xeldarix. Karl returns downstairs to identify the necklace and the axe Fargrim has. While Karl is gone Lily and Xeldarix count coins. Lily looks over the painting Xeldarix did. They talk about the prayer Lily tried on the way home. The conversation turns when they mention memories again. Xeldarix does not want more memories if they are bad. Lily reminds her of good memories and explains how they originally met. This upsets Xeldarix but Lily is quick to comfort her. Xeldarix wants to help the Succubi downstairs. Lily takes her down.
Karl comes back downstairs and chats with Fargrim, updating him on Xeldarix’s state. Shortly after that Lily and Xeldarix come downstairs. Xeldarix wants to heal the Succubi and it’s a tense few moments while she tries. However, in the end she just hurts and exhausts herself. Lily takes her upstairs and tucks her in before coming back downstairs. Uqaviel and Fargrim talk, the angel has strong opinions about this, but doesn’t seem to care enough to intervene. Karl goes inside to quickly touch base with Caramella and organise the purchase of cots for them. Also to warn her about the nature of their guests. While he’s away Lily and Fargrim consider if they should invest in Erin’s ship to help direct it’s actions. After a quick chat with Alfonso and reassuring him that he won’t be replaced with any ‘humpy’ horses, they head off to the mage guild together. Lily gives Karl and Fargrim 2 gems each totalling 200 g each.
At the guild the group goes up to see Master Burke. He recognises the axe that was recovered. He tells them about how the axe changes depending on the race of the user. For an elf it turns to rubber and for a human it hurts them to use. Fargrim mentions the idea of trying it tomorrow to see what it might do to a Dwarf but is not interested in trying it today. The necklace wasn’t taken from the guild. He takes them down to see the apprentices that are willing to work for the public in almost a club like fashion. There the group is introduced to a young Brecht man with black hair that’s a bit messy, some of it looks like it’s trying to stand up on its end. He has a spellbook out, and is holding a quill that continues writing even as his attention is drawn away to the group. His name is Jackson. There is a fire genasi with coal black skin and glowing white eyes sitting at a table, his hands clasped on the sides of his head as a few wisps of smoke slowly rise from the short blonde hair on his head. He’s focusing on a small block of wood in front of him that appears to be in the process of transforming into metal. His name is Pyre. June wears simple academic robes and is carrying a few books and papers. She has pale skin and green almond-shaped eyes. Her straight red hair is tied up in a bun. She is quick and nimble, but excessively thin. She is a half elf and seems to be part Rjuven for her human part. A sword hangs on her hip. A fine rapier. A young hill dwarf is there buried in a book, tracing the page lines... Slowly... As she studies a book labelled 'Druid Magicka and Arcana'. She has deep set brown eyes and stringy hair. Her gaze shows both weariness and desperation, as though the book she carries is not a school text, but a tomb of necessary lore. She goes by Hathana. The Forged explains the situation with the abandoned house and the faceless man. They are given 50 gold to help them look into the matter. The group will be ready at noon the next day to report back. The idea of setting up an alchemy lab here is floated, but not moved forward with yet. Karl gives the group some scrolls to assist them as well. Afterward the group separates to get some different things done as the young apprentices get to work.
At 1:30pm Fargrim and Lily head to the library to do research. Fargrim finds a poorly written book on demons and devils, and Lily ends up finding a scroll. She runs upstairs to give to Karl before playing a prank on Fargrim. Taking out one of the snakes from the satchel of serpents, she puts it on Fargrim’s shoulder. Naturally there is a bit of a panic, but Fargrim keeps his cool and thanks Lily for saving him before he realises it was her that put it there. The pair leave and go to see the paladins at the temple of Neira. The ones that are looking into the desecrations aren’t back yet, but they do speak with High Paladin Salma. After they explain their day to her she reveals the illness Fargrim and Erin had contracted was Infernal Fever. Something that can overpower someone’s natural or trained immunity and can lead to madness in the individual. Salma points them in the direction of a market to buy some clothes for the desert while heading off to ensure the fiends don’t escape since her paladins are still busy. Lily and Fargrim go to the market. There Lily sees a very small tent behind an old gnome. The gnome is selling natural crafts. The tent behind him has a sign that says bookstore on it written in crayon, but before Fargrim can stop Lily she disappears inside. Fargrim recognises the tent and knows this is not ideal. However, a short time later the tent vanishes and Lily is nowhere to be seen.
Karl went upstairs to go see Master Barnes. He shows her the dragon egg with the runes and asks to copy a spell, which she allows. She spends some time studying the item. He gets 2 hours worth of copying done before he is interrupted.
Fargrim panics and asks the Gnome about the tent. The Gnome has no idea what he’s talking about and sells Fargrim a handcrafted stick tent decoration for a copper piece. He then tries to cast a message to Lily but receives no answer. He doesn’t want to leave the area in case the tent comes back. So he finds a sea messenger service and sends a coded message to Reed Eelwind, Lord of the Tower. He’s mindful of people so close to the port still looking for Karl. Once he’s written his message, he finds a park bench near the Gnome to wait and watch.
At 3pm Reed comes in to see Karl while he’s studying. He’s received a strange message from Karl. Something about Lily and a book seller. Karl wants to see the message as Reed is being vague. Reed wants 5 gold. Karl offers 1 gold. Reed agrees if Karl wants one fifth of the note. Karl tries to sneakily take the note with mage hand but Reed notices and ups the price to 10 gold. With a frustrated sigh Karl just declares he will magically message Fargrim. Reed shrugs and burns the note before leaving. Karl messages Fargrim and finds out he’s still in the park. Resolving to finishing copying the spell another time he leaves the dragon egg with Master Barnes before heading for the stairs. The stairs are trapped with sticky stairs which Karl patiently burns away to prevent some poor apprentice from getting stuck. Once on the way out he message Fargrim again to say he’s on his way.
At 4pm Karl arrives at the park and meets with Fargrim who explains what happened. They reason that Lily is an adult and can look after herself. They will wait for her to return. Fargrim will stay in the park until sunset while Karl will go straight to his parent’s place for dinner. They will meet back at the manor after sunset and hope she is back.
Karl has time with his family and goes to collect Erin from the inn, who is very tired. She has coin for the group as she sold a lot of times and bought a ship. She just wants to go back to the manor with him, especially upon hearing Lily is missing. She promises to help with that in the morning but wants to rest. She gives Karl 577g 1s 5c. She has a pouch with the same amount for Fargrim, Lily and Xeldarix.
Lily goes into the tent to meet a Faun. She remembers the story Karl and Fargrim told her about this place and asks if she can have a book. The Faun wants something in trade. Lily mentions the prophecy on the walking stick and the fey creature is very interested in the walking stick. She is not satisfied with just knowing what it said. Lily informs her that she does not have the item, but after some pushing from the fey says where it is. The fey leads her outside to find she is at Jarvis’ tower and it’s much later in the day then when she last knew it to be. Late afternoon instead of early afternoon. Lily goes to see Jarvis, gets everyones stuff and checks to see how the visitor in town was doing. Jarvis had dropped a wall on him for being rude. Aside from that not much has happened. Lily thanks him and tells him they might be by in a few days and they will try to avoid unannounced basement visits. She returns to the tent where the Faun accepts the walking stick and goes to find her some books. She finds one on Anahita and what happened between them. She also found a book about Azari becoming a god, which Lily wanted as a second preference if the first was unavailable. Lily wants both books and mentions the sphere with the lich to see if the Faun wants strange trapped creatures. The Faun tells her about the weapons she has with trapped souls. She has trapped a few herself, thieves, and accepted them in trade for books. Lily wants to see if any of the weapons could be helpful with her trying to get to her goals. The Faun is willing to help Lily talk to them to find out. The first is a brimstone steel katana that sports a bloodstained hilt and a jagged blade that appears wet with blood when put under light. The weapon demands Lily be a leader and others submit to her. The second is named Blackrazor. It has a obsidian cut blade and a white stone hilt with little pieces of obsidian in it. This blade is a lot more relaxed. He’s just wants a soul every 3 days and will happily help Lily with whatever. He makes some other promises about not eating the soul of her friends but Lily can sense the blade is just trying to tell her whatever she wants, but is being honest about the soul thing.
Out in the garden the Succubi are introduced to Alfonso who is disappointingly not a humanoid for them. The Succubi reveal that three of them are from hell and the other has spent most of their time in hell but does float from plane to plane as needed by her masters. Their main task for being summoned was completed but they are to participate in experiments by the apprentices. Their task was to be harvested. They have been helped with regrowing their missing parts once in a cage similar to what Karl and Xeldarix were held in before they were removed again. The names of the Succubi are Wylinsea, Nessyera, Zellysh, and Brizsha. Karl asked them about the faceless man. He’s apparently a demon from the abyss. A prince from the faceless lord. They are an ooze that can wear a body like clothing if prepared properly. As Karl goes to leave he threatens the Succubi with banishing them if they touch Xeldarix again, which sufficiently scares them. Fargrim and Uqaviel watch them while Karl goes to check on Xeldarix and Lily after saying goodbye to Erin.
Lily and Xeldarix talk. Xeldarix explains the best she can about what she is feeling and seeing. She’s having flashbacks to times when she was hurt like the Succubi but it lacks context in her memory. It’s giving her a headache. Lily assures her she is safe with them. Lily explains the dangers of Xeldarix’s true name and how the earrings can help but she doesn’t know how they can help. Karl comes in and the situation is explained to him. Some of her memories seem to be of the time they were kidnapped by Wellmore and there are memories from another time where she was alone. Karl teaches her to use the earrings. While Lily has a moment with Karl away from the Succubi she mentions an idea she has for them. Using a 1000g gem she can bind one of them to her for 10 days. This brings up the problem of what is the groups end goal with them. Lily wants them to have a second chance like Xeldarix got even though she didn’t realise she wanted one when she first met the group. Karl is concerned about scrying and Lily suggests they be taken to the Mountain for their safety and the city’s safety. In the end they decide to talk to the Succubi about it. Karl takes the necklace they found from Lily to identify it. Lily says she’ll count the coins with Xeldarix. Karl returns downstairs to identify the necklace and the axe Fargrim has. While Karl is gone Lily and Xeldarix count coins. Lily looks over the painting Xeldarix did. They talk about the prayer Lily tried on the way home. The conversation turns when they mention memories again. Xeldarix does not want more memories if they are bad. Lily reminds her of good memories and explains how they originally met. This upsets Xeldarix but Lily is quick to comfort her. Xeldarix wants to help the Succubi downstairs. Lily takes her down.
Karl comes back downstairs and chats with Fargrim, updating him on Xeldarix’s state. Shortly after that Lily and Xeldarix come downstairs. Xeldarix wants to heal the Succubi and it’s a tense few moments while she tries. However, in the end she just hurts and exhausts herself. Lily takes her upstairs and tucks her in before coming back downstairs. Uqaviel and Fargrim talk, the angel has strong opinions about this, but doesn’t seem to care enough to intervene. Karl goes inside to quickly touch base with Caramella and organise the purchase of cots for them. Also to warn her about the nature of their guests. While he’s away Lily and Fargrim consider if they should invest in Erin’s ship to help direct it’s actions. After a quick chat with Alfonso and reassuring him that he won’t be replaced with any ‘humpy’ horses, they head off to the mage guild together. Lily gives Karl and Fargrim 2 gems each totalling 200 g each.
At the guild the group goes up to see Master Burke. He recognises the axe that was recovered. He tells them about how the axe changes depending on the race of the user. For an elf it turns to rubber and for a human it hurts them to use. Fargrim mentions the idea of trying it tomorrow to see what it might do to a Dwarf but is not interested in trying it today. The necklace wasn’t taken from the guild. He takes them down to see the apprentices that are willing to work for the public in almost a club like fashion. There the group is introduced to a young Brecht man with black hair that’s a bit messy, some of it looks like it’s trying to stand up on its end. He has a spellbook out, and is holding a quill that continues writing even as his attention is drawn away to the group. His name is Jackson. There is a fire genasi with coal black skin and glowing white eyes sitting at a table, his hands clasped on the sides of his head as a few wisps of smoke slowly rise from the short blonde hair on his head. He’s focusing on a small block of wood in front of him that appears to be in the process of transforming into metal. His name is Pyre. June wears simple academic robes and is carrying a few books and papers. She has pale skin and green almond-shaped eyes. Her straight red hair is tied up in a bun. She is quick and nimble, but excessively thin. She is a half elf and seems to be part Rjuven for her human part. A sword hangs on her hip. A fine rapier. A young hill dwarf is there buried in a book, tracing the page lines... Slowly... As she studies a book labelled 'Druid Magicka and Arcana'. She has deep set brown eyes and stringy hair. Her gaze shows both weariness and desperation, as though the book she carries is not a school text, but a tomb of necessary lore. She goes by Hathana. The Forged explains the situation with the abandoned house and the faceless man. They are given 50 gold to help them look into the matter. The group will be ready at noon the next day to report back. The idea of setting up an alchemy lab here is floated, but not moved forward with yet. Karl gives the group some scrolls to assist them as well. Afterward the group separates to get some different things done as the young apprentices get to work.
At 1:30pm Fargrim and Lily head to the library to do research. Fargrim finds a poorly written book on demons and devils, and Lily ends up finding a scroll. She runs upstairs to give to Karl before playing a prank on Fargrim. Taking out one of the snakes from the satchel of serpents, she puts it on Fargrim’s shoulder. Naturally there is a bit of a panic, but Fargrim keeps his cool and thanks Lily for saving him before he realises it was her that put it there. The pair leave and go to see the paladins at the temple of Neira. The ones that are looking into the desecrations aren’t back yet, but they do speak with High Paladin Salma. After they explain their day to her she reveals the illness Fargrim and Erin had contracted was Infernal Fever. Something that can overpower someone’s natural or trained immunity and can lead to madness in the individual. Salma points them in the direction of a market to buy some clothes for the desert while heading off to ensure the fiends don’t escape since her paladins are still busy. Lily and Fargrim go to the market. There Lily sees a very small tent behind an old gnome. The gnome is selling natural crafts. The tent behind him has a sign that says bookstore on it written in crayon, but before Fargrim can stop Lily she disappears inside. Fargrim recognises the tent and knows this is not ideal. However, a short time later the tent vanishes and Lily is nowhere to be seen.
Karl went upstairs to go see Master Barnes. He shows her the dragon egg with the runes and asks to copy a spell, which she allows. She spends some time studying the item. He gets 2 hours worth of copying done before he is interrupted.
Fargrim panics and asks the Gnome about the tent. The Gnome has no idea what he’s talking about and sells Fargrim a handcrafted stick tent decoration for a copper piece. He then tries to cast a message to Lily but receives no answer. He doesn’t want to leave the area in case the tent comes back. So he finds a sea messenger service and sends a coded message to Reed Eelwind, Lord of the Tower. He’s mindful of people so close to the port still looking for Karl. Once he’s written his message, he finds a park bench near the Gnome to wait and watch.
At 3pm Reed comes in to see Karl while he’s studying. He’s received a strange message from Karl. Something about Lily and a book seller. Karl wants to see the message as Reed is being vague. Reed wants 5 gold. Karl offers 1 gold. Reed agrees if Karl wants one fifth of the note. Karl tries to sneakily take the note with mage hand but Reed notices and ups the price to 10 gold. With a frustrated sigh Karl just declares he will magically message Fargrim. Reed shrugs and burns the note before leaving. Karl messages Fargrim and finds out he’s still in the park. Resolving to finishing copying the spell another time he leaves the dragon egg with Master Barnes before heading for the stairs. The stairs are trapped with sticky stairs which Karl patiently burns away to prevent some poor apprentice from getting stuck. Once on the way out he message Fargrim again to say he’s on his way.
At 4pm Karl arrives at the park and meets with Fargrim who explains what happened. They reason that Lily is an adult and can look after herself. They will wait for her to return. Fargrim will stay in the park until sunset while Karl will go straight to his parent’s place for dinner. They will meet back at the manor after sunset and hope she is back.
Karl has time with his family and goes to collect Erin from the inn, who is very tired. She has coin for the group as she sold a lot of times and bought a ship. She just wants to go back to the manor with him, especially upon hearing Lily is missing. She promises to help with that in the morning but wants to rest. She gives Karl 577g 1s 5c. She has a pouch with the same amount for Fargrim, Lily and Xeldarix.
Lily goes into the tent to meet a Faun. She remembers the story Karl and Fargrim told her about this place and asks if she can have a book. The Faun wants something in trade. Lily mentions the prophecy on the walking stick and the fey creature is very interested in the walking stick. She is not satisfied with just knowing what it said. Lily informs her that she does not have the item, but after some pushing from the fey says where it is. The fey leads her outside to find she is at Jarvis’ tower and it’s much later in the day then when she last knew it to be. Late afternoon instead of early afternoon. Lily goes to see Jarvis, gets everyones stuff and checks to see how the visitor in town was doing. Jarvis had dropped a wall on him for being rude. Aside from that not much has happened. Lily thanks him and tells him they might be by in a few days and they will try to avoid unannounced basement visits. She returns to the tent where the Faun accepts the walking stick and goes to find her some books. She finds one on Anahita and what happened between them. She also found a book about Azari becoming a god, which Lily wanted as a second preference if the first was unavailable. Lily wants both books and mentions the sphere with the lich to see if the Faun wants strange trapped creatures. The Faun tells her about the weapons she has with trapped souls. She has trapped a few herself, thieves, and accepted them in trade for books. Lily wants to see if any of the weapons could be helpful with her trying to get to her goals. The Faun is willing to help Lily talk to them to find out. The first is a brimstone steel katana that sports a bloodstained hilt and a jagged blade that appears wet with blood when put under light. The weapon demands Lily be a leader and others submit to her. The second is named Blackrazor. It has a obsidian cut blade and a white stone hilt with little pieces of obsidian in it. This blade is a lot more relaxed. He’s just wants a soul every 3 days and will happily help Lily with whatever. He makes some other promises about not eating the soul of her friends but Lily can sense the blade is just trying to tell her whatever she wants, but is being honest about the soul thing.
Notes
Main Characters
Minions
| Name | XP | Total XP | Level at end of Session |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fargrim | 2,850 | 95,760 | 11 |
| Karl | 2,850 | 95,760 | 11 |
| Lily | 2,850 | 95,760 | 11 |
| Name | XP | Total XP | Level at end of Session |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corey | 400 | 4,085 | 4 |
| Rocky | 400 | 4,085 | 4 |
| Sandy | 400 | 4,085 | 4 |
Karl Moller
Level 7
Human (Brecht)
Neutral Good Wizard
(Sage)
(Sage)
46 / 46 HP
Lyra Ulvendatter
Level 8
Elf
Chaotic Neutral Ranger
(Outlander)
(Outlander)
/ 53 HP
Lily Wulfsdotter
Level 7
Rjuven Half Elf
CN Druid
(Urchin)
(Urchin)
72 / 72 HP
Fargrim Hammerland
Level 8
Dwarf
Lawful Good Cleric
(Soldier)
(Soldier)
59 / 64 HP
Report Date
08 Dec 2021
Primary Location
Secondary Location
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