The Penitent: Shrine of the Snakedoctor

General Summary

What follows is an After-Action report on the activities of The Penitent, offering a summary of a particular Intervention

The Missive

Engage in Extracurricular Excavation

Intervention Overview

Penitents Doric, Sennic, and Kharesen were sent to Mankorla in the Charhyan Federation. There, they met a scholar of the Unknown Eras named Sylhorn Summerlight. He enlisted them to help him conduct research on an Unknown Era entity named, Aelyseb. or the Snakedoctor, as his previous research time abandoned him due to a authorial credit disagreement. He needs their aid to fully explore Shakedoctor's maquib, or shrine. Sensing this is what Brelvonis wanted them to do, they agreed.
Exploring the shrine revealed dangers, which included poison gas, basilisks, and stone snakes. The Penitents also met unlikely allies in the form of Dame Alfanae--an ancient warrior slain by the Snakedoctor, and Krixha, a dragonfly-like being who communicates through telepathic image. Eventually, they encountered Snakedoctor in his chamber, who then promptly possessed Summerlight's form and attacked the Penitent, viewing them as interlopers. Fortunately, the Penitent prevailed in this combat, shattering the Snakedoctor's phylactery.
Sensing questions about this Intervention, Brelvonis decided to have a word with her Penitent before sending them back to Eldheim. She explained that her design, in this instance, was to ensure that whomever found Snakedoctor was well-equipped to contain the spirit of the warlord by any means required. Summerlight's misguided scholarship was a means to an end. Unfortunate, but useful. The Penitents then returned to the Campfire to rest and recuperate.

Salient Details

• Two relics of the Snakedoctor were instrumental in exploring the shrine. Doric held on to one of these, a deadly kukri called Skin Shucker while the other one, a strange lantern called Smokelamp, was saved for Immeron.
• Speaking of Doric, he didn't like being back in the Charhyan Federation, spending the entire Intervention on edge and jumpy.
• Brelvonis seemed to indicate that she wasn't quite done with Sylhorn Summerlight, indicating that she would offer him the same choice offered to many a Penitient--atonement.

Character(s) interacted with

• Sylhorn Summerlight--scholar of the Unknown Era, eager to make a name for himself
• Dame Alfanae--warrior conquered by Snakedoctor
• Krixha--a dragonfly-like being
  

Report Date

28 Jul 2024

Primary Location

Mankorla