Session 74 Report

General Summary

Haymin’s Heroes brought the body of the second intellect devourer inside and closed the door. Ladigo Farthon used Lesser Restoration on Auren Sylynn to wake him from his catatonic state. He then alternated spells between Auren and Titta Morco to help repair some of the damage to their minds. Mogi Delvin searched the bodies and found two white spiral pendants. They were made of bone and appeared to be hollow. They were worn by the host bodies of the intellect devourers. After he’d spent his healing, Ladigo went outside in the shape of an eagle and acted as a lookout while the rest of the party searched the warehouse floor for a trap door. Their search was interrupted, however, when a group of city guards arrived on the scene to investigate. Instead of speaking to the guards and having to explain their actions there that night, Haymin’s Heroes slipped away thanks to a Teleport spell by Selia Roselyn Maxwell. They then went to the Fearless Huntress near by and rented a private room. They discussed what they had found and waited until it was time to return to Madame Prim’s to walk Weneth home as they had promised. They walked Weneth home and told her they did not think she was in any further danger. They did not believe she was being specifically targeted, and was just another potentially random victim. But they assured her they would continue to search for the culprits and put their crimes to an end. Haymin’s Heroes then walked home, passing near the warehouse. They could see an increased guard presence in the area, but there did not seem to be any activity at the warehouse anymore. The next morning, February 25, 499 AV, Haymin’s Heroes decided to research psionic creatures. Mogi and Kyrie Eleison Thatcher-Stone went to Trinity Hall while the rest of the party went to the Guild of Mystic Arts. They learned about some psionic creatures and the threats they possessed. The creature mostly documented was the mind flayer, or illithid. After their research Kyrie cast Locate Object, looking for a white spiral pendant. The party then walked throught the city until the spell picked up something. It led them to the Manar Trading Company. They did not go in to investigate. Instead, they walked farther through the city while Kyrie cast the spell again. This time it led them to a house with a small stable attached in the northeast part of the city. Auren approached the stable and saw a black carriage inside. The party then decided to wait for the Manar Trading Company to close up for the day and follow any employees that night go to the nearby tavern for a drink. Ladigo took the shape of a stray dog and waited outside the warehouse grounds while the rest of the party waited at the Alehouse, which was close by. Ladigo did not have to wait for too long before the workers were done for the day. A few of them went to the Alehouse. Ladigo then reverted to his natural form and went inside and pointed them out to the party. Titta eventually approached the workers and asked them about recent events. They had heard about the strange brains with legs that were found at a company warehouse. They also shared with Titta how Mr. Manar had seemed to loosen up considerably since a business trip to Luthia a couple of months ago. And lately he had been coming to work late, sometimes after lunch, though he was the boss and didn’t really do any of the work anyway. At about 10:00 pm, Haymin’s Heroes revisted the warehouse from last night. When they approached it, Kyrie cast Locate Object again. She sensed a white spiral pendant inside. They believed that this meant there was an intellect devourer inside. They prepped with spells and were ready for a fight. Auren unlocked the side door and the party rushed in. The warehouse was empty so they hurried towards the front office. There they found a well dressed man sitting alone by the desk. He looked up at the party and questioned their presence, citing this was private property. Titta then showed him a white spiral pendant and asked him if he recognized it. The man did recognize it and they conversed a bit. He seemed rather reserved and confused, at times, by some of Titta’s questions and statements. He spoke of the Masters. When she asked him who the Masters were, he reiterated, “The Masters.” They learned that the Masters were from Thax. After a round-a-bout discussion, they gathered that Thax was not a person, but a place, the City of the Masters. Thax was somewhere below, and this man believed the party must have come up from there, since Titta showed him the white spiral pendant. When she was done speaking with him, she told him they would return to Thax. The man remained in the office while the party went into the warehouse. He was waiting for someone named Broze. They searched the warehouse until Auren found a trap door in a corner of the room. It opened to a spiral staircase descending down. The party descended what seemed like several stories before the stairs ended in a subterranean passage. Then they began following the passage as they speculated as to what lived in Thax. They did not discount the possibility that it could be vampires and possibly Xanthus Vasile. They walked for almost two hours, following a winding path downward until it reached a large cavern with five tunnels exiting. Titta noticed the majority of the tracks followed one path and they took this tunnel. Eventually, they came to another cavern. When they entered, Mogi sensed two beings above them. He warned the party and they looked up to see two canine-like creatures clinging to the cavern wall above. These creatures had several tentacles protruding from their necks and a pair of those tentacles were a bit longer than the rest and ended in clawed hands. Titta and Mogi held forth their white spiral pendants. The creatures did not attack. They dropped to the ground and simply nodded before going about their business. Haymin’s Heroes continued through the cavern and took the only other passage out. Again they speculated as to who the Masters were who had such strange pets as intellect devourers and large tentacle canines. After a short time, they came to another cavern. This one was inhabited by several creatures. The party walked in and Titta held forth the pendant. However, the majority of the creatures did not have eyes. They were gray skinned humanoids with flat skin where their eyes should be. There were also two feline creatures with clawed limbs and a distorted face which saw their large bulbous eyes set lower down on their cheeks next to their fanged mouths. The gray skinned creatures stood quietly for a moment, seemingly waiting. Then Titta mentioned the Masters. The creature nearest to Titta cried out something in a language the party did not understand. Then he attacked her with his crude battleaxe. The rest of the creatures rushed forward to bottle-neck Haymin’s Heroes at the cavern entrance. The party fought through them, with Pyzar Zim cutting down several of them with his greatsword. The feline creatures were not as easy to fell as the gray skinned humanoids, but eventually, they were defeated as well, but not before one of them scratched Auren with its hind claws which appeared to be poisonous. Thankfully, he did not seem to be affected, at least not immediately. When all the creatures were killed, Kyrie used her healing ability while Titta neared one of the three other exits from this cavern, looking for tracks. When she neared it though, three more of the strange feline creatures came running from that corridor. And the party could hear the sounds of several excited humanoids coming from another corridor on the other side of the cavern. They readied for battle once more.

Campaign

The Heart of Embril

Protagonists