Session 4 - Total Party Kaos

General Summary

7 Desnus (May) 4725 The heroes continued their trek deeper into the Tomb of Blood Everflowing, searching for a magical key that could unlock any lock and locked book that no key could open. The tomb, once an ancient burial crypt for an unknown group of nobles, had been blessed by the presence of Pharasma. Now, a cult of Norgorber had made it their home. Their presence was everywhere - in traps that would detonate if one left a room without praying to the God of Assassins and in zombies who had the Skinsaw Man's mark carved into their faces. A band of ghouls the party faced did not have faces of their own. Instead, they cut off the faces of past victims and sewn them over their own decayed features. Once they reached the bottom of the crypt, the heroes confronted the man they had been searching for. Veltargo, a cleric of Norgorber, had disguised himself as a priest of Pharasma to infiltrate the church in Ravengro to steal the sealed ancient text that none could unlock. When the heroes breached his inner sanctum, he smiled. "Rise, Blessed One," he said. A zombified owl bear rose from the fountain of blood behind him, and together, the two launched themselves at the party. The power of Norgorber was strong in his cleric, and his ability to unleash negative energy laid waste to the heroes. The owlbear was slow, but his might was unquestioned. Most of the heroes danced the thin line between life and death, but in the end, they managed to slay the cleric and his Blessed One. After recovering from their battle, the heroes made some discoveries. They recovered the key, which bore the symbol of Nethys, the god of magic. The key, however, no longer held any magic of its own. Still, it was a cherished family heirloom for Theldrat, the locksmith in Ravengro. Therefore, it would return to Ravengro. The book from the church of Pharasma was also recovered. It was opened, and a number of pages had been carefully removed. The remainder of the book was written in Draconic and dealt entirely with the undead—specifically, the creation of unique and powerful undead creatures. The heroes returned the tome to the Church of Pharasma. Father Sullus and Father Voss were disappointed that the book had been terribly damaged, but it was now open and intrigued them greatly. They gave the heroes a substantial cash reward and a healing potion for each of them as a reward for returning it. As they left the tomb, the heroes discovered a message that had been written for the cleric of Norgorber.

“Veltargo, remain here and guard the temple. We shall return as soon as we gather the necessary components required by the book. Soon, all of the unholy secrets will be within our grasp.”

The message was unsigned, but it seemed that whoever had left the note probably had taken the missing pages with them. That was an issue for another day. For now, happy to have survived, the heroes celebrated.

Rewards Granted

Skeleton in the lake of blood:

Silver holy symbol of Pharasma - the church will reward 25gp for its return.

Cleric of Norgorber:

Masterwork short sword (155 gp), banded mail (125 gp), heavy steel shield (10 gp) - prices as per Thrain Stoneforge the Blacksmith, if you choose to sell them.
Potions of cure moderate wounds (2)
Wand of magic missile (1st level caster, 24 charges)
Scrolls of contagion(2) - most likely where the Green Dagger's illness came from.
Belt pouch containing 120 gp.

Church of Pharasma: