Session 4: A Face in Darkness
General Summary
The party walked down the now disabled passage of the Screaming Face, and stepped through its gaping mouth into a long, narrow room spanned only by a skinny wooden board. The patterns on the walls boggled their minds, and the party proceeded cautiously forward, mindful of Artophanx's warning that the tomb held one last defense against burglars.
Sigvurd fired his spear into the mass of dark spheres that formed an uncertain floor, and found them either metal or stone, and otherwise unresponsive. The wizard had no luck trying to discern the meaning or danger of the walls decorations, and so Sigvurd decided to forge ahead, balancing along the beam.
He got around fifteen feet forward before a volley of metal pellets flew out of the walls, knocking him off balance as ghostly giggles echoed through the chamber. He lost his grip and fell among the hard orbs. The crash both elicited a fresh burst of laughter from the high, spectral voice, and disturbed an ancient and monstrous creature hidden in the pit.
As the party threw Sigvurd a line to pull him out, a Grick reared its terrifying tentacled head from the darkness. Nemara, horrified at the sight of the unnatural creature, reflexively unleashed the strongest Eldritch Blast that had ever been Blasted, knocking the creature backward and charring a good bit of its hide. Thus weakened, Sigvurd was able to finish it off with his axe, despite the difficulty of moving through three feet of stone orbs.
Each of these blows was accompanied by amazed commentary from the room’s ghost, and when the threat was dealt with, it appeared. The spectral form of Alastor Lands, a young boy who revealed that he had run away and explored the tomb hoping to find an exit on the other side of the Cairn Hills.
The child had been bound to the room after the Grick picked him apart ages and ages ago, and tearfully he told the party that all he wanted anymore was to be laid to rest so he could see his parents and siblings again, a family that had died of the Red Death that passed through Diamond Lake around forty years ago. Alastor promised to compensate them for their trouble: the riches of the tomb-builders were no concern of his, and he would gladly use his ethereal nature to unlock the last door from the other side if they would lay his bones to rest in the family plot.
The party accepted, and left Sigvurd behind in case any sneaky pursuers tried to steal the treasure from under their noses. Nemara split off the party as well to go have some of her own treasure assessed, leaving Lins and Nim to discover six recently excavated graves, a severed arm with a gang member’s tattoo on it, and a wounded owlbear lurking in the dilapidated farmhouse.
The pair debated the existence of owlbears as they hurried back to reunite with Nemara and Sigvurd, and returned in force to slay the beast and search for more clues. The owlbear dealt a mighty blow against Sigvurd, but Lins was accustomed to hunting creatures many times her own size, and killed the beast with a clean shot through the eye. Forced to relinquish her anti-owlbear beliefs, Vin paid up a sum of 5 gp to each party member. In the aftermath, they discovered a baby owlbear cub cowering in the corner. Nemara lured it to a leash with jerky from her rations, and vowed to tame the creature.
They followed the tracks around the grave into town, and when their attempts to get help from the governor failed, they tried the sherrifs office. Deputy Jamis was manipulated by Vins alter-ego, the Count, and promised to open an investigation into the gangs boss: Balabar Smenk. Meantime, the gang checked out the tavern where Smenks cronies were known to hang out. There, Lins won some members respect in a game of darts, Sigvurd smashed an arm wrestling competition, and Nemara flirted her way into the confidence of their leader, an albino half-orc named Kullen.
Together, they sussed out that the gang had been ordered by their boss, Balabar Smenk, to help a friend of his named Filge move into town, but Filge had been exceedingly rude and condescending to them, treating them like slaves and demanding skeletons. Unable to raid the local graveyard as it was protected by a cult to Wee Jass the goddess of the dead, Kullen led his gang around some abandoned farmsteads in search of private plots. They eventually found some, but one of their own died in a tangle with an owlbear, and the whole gang felt abused for having been made to do such dirty work in the process.
Thus informed, the party discreetly left the tavern to discuss their next move.
Sigvurd fired his spear into the mass of dark spheres that formed an uncertain floor, and found them either metal or stone, and otherwise unresponsive. The wizard had no luck trying to discern the meaning or danger of the walls decorations, and so Sigvurd decided to forge ahead, balancing along the beam.
He got around fifteen feet forward before a volley of metal pellets flew out of the walls, knocking him off balance as ghostly giggles echoed through the chamber. He lost his grip and fell among the hard orbs. The crash both elicited a fresh burst of laughter from the high, spectral voice, and disturbed an ancient and monstrous creature hidden in the pit.
As the party threw Sigvurd a line to pull him out, a Grick reared its terrifying tentacled head from the darkness. Nemara, horrified at the sight of the unnatural creature, reflexively unleashed the strongest Eldritch Blast that had ever been Blasted, knocking the creature backward and charring a good bit of its hide. Thus weakened, Sigvurd was able to finish it off with his axe, despite the difficulty of moving through three feet of stone orbs.
Each of these blows was accompanied by amazed commentary from the room’s ghost, and when the threat was dealt with, it appeared. The spectral form of Alastor Lands, a young boy who revealed that he had run away and explored the tomb hoping to find an exit on the other side of the Cairn Hills.
The child had been bound to the room after the Grick picked him apart ages and ages ago, and tearfully he told the party that all he wanted anymore was to be laid to rest so he could see his parents and siblings again, a family that had died of the Red Death that passed through Diamond Lake around forty years ago. Alastor promised to compensate them for their trouble: the riches of the tomb-builders were no concern of his, and he would gladly use his ethereal nature to unlock the last door from the other side if they would lay his bones to rest in the family plot.
The party accepted, and left Sigvurd behind in case any sneaky pursuers tried to steal the treasure from under their noses. Nemara split off the party as well to go have some of her own treasure assessed, leaving Lins and Nim to discover six recently excavated graves, a severed arm with a gang member’s tattoo on it, and a wounded owlbear lurking in the dilapidated farmhouse.
The pair debated the existence of owlbears as they hurried back to reunite with Nemara and Sigvurd, and returned in force to slay the beast and search for more clues. The owlbear dealt a mighty blow against Sigvurd, but Lins was accustomed to hunting creatures many times her own size, and killed the beast with a clean shot through the eye. Forced to relinquish her anti-owlbear beliefs, Vin paid up a sum of 5 gp to each party member. In the aftermath, they discovered a baby owlbear cub cowering in the corner. Nemara lured it to a leash with jerky from her rations, and vowed to tame the creature.
They followed the tracks around the grave into town, and when their attempts to get help from the governor failed, they tried the sherrifs office. Deputy Jamis was manipulated by Vins alter-ego, the Count, and promised to open an investigation into the gangs boss: Balabar Smenk. Meantime, the gang checked out the tavern where Smenks cronies were known to hang out. There, Lins won some members respect in a game of darts, Sigvurd smashed an arm wrestling competition, and Nemara flirted her way into the confidence of their leader, an albino half-orc named Kullen.
Together, they sussed out that the gang had been ordered by their boss, Balabar Smenk, to help a friend of his named Filge move into town, but Filge had been exceedingly rude and condescending to them, treating them like slaves and demanding skeletons. Unable to raid the local graveyard as it was protected by a cult to Wee Jass the goddess of the dead, Kullen led his gang around some abandoned farmsteads in search of private plots. They eventually found some, but one of their own died in a tangle with an owlbear, and the whole gang felt abused for having been made to do such dirty work in the process.
Thus informed, the party discreetly left the tavern to discuss their next move.