Session 135 - "The Sudden Siege of Crove Asylum - Concluded"

General Summary

Toilday, 18 Gozran 4711 AR
3.00a
Crove Asylum – Dr. Crove’s Study

The Fellowship begins to search the study of Dr. Crove, warden to the Crove Asylum and cultist of the Keepers of the Oldest. Attention turns to the dread Keeper’s corpse and any clues it might provide. He bore extremely dark circles under his eyes, his face betraying extreme exhaustion, and among his possessions were:

• A strange, spiral-shaped necklace, similar to what was found at the site of the first attack (radiates strong transmutation)
• A split-bladed ceremonial dagger with one side being dull and the other sharp with blood groves and adorned with the same symbols (radiates faint transmutation, dagger +1)
• An oiled leather scroll case sealed with unmarked wax, containing a scroll (strong enchantment, Scroll of Binding) and a note “Use the wand in my office”.
• A thin 12 in. rosewood wand that has been rolled in diamond dust and tipped in amber, smelling faintly of honey, carved with a small moth (holy symbol of Desna) (radiates conjuration magic, Wand of Restoration)
• A small metal flask, engraved with a pair of wings, having a dark brown cork and filled with a warm liquid which resembles raw milk with odor of fresh nettles (Potion of Flying)
• A signet ring, “C” (non-magical)
• A small leather purse of coins (575 gp)
• A soft, shiny, rubbery material cape; smells faintly musty and feels oily; embroidered with symbol and a tag that says “Lindorm, Illmarsh” (faint abjuration, Cloak of Resistance +2)

The study’s single desk offered up more information. The Fellowship was able to piece together the likely scenario: Crove was laying in wait for the creature that the Keepers of the Oldest had summoned. Using a small, hideously deformed horned skull as a focus, Crove repeatedly cast clairaudience/clairvoyance every twenty-one minutes or so, most likely observing some part of the asylum. While laying in wait with Ugalith, his eidolon, he continually consulted books and scroll of magic, while taking notes on the dark tapestry. The scroll of binding suggested how he intended to subdue the creature. By the time the Fellowship had arrived, Crove had already been waiting for at least eight hours.
A small, adjacent bedroom with wood and metal footlockers held the remainder of the warden’s possessions: fragments and shards of pottery, sculpture, and mosaic tiles; an iron ring of twenty or so keys; twisted and burnt pieces of metal; a leather bag of coins (300 pp and a crudely drawn map that appears to depict a series of tunnels underneath Carrion Hill.
4.30a
The Mayor’s Manor
After returning to the Mayor’s Manor and briefing Mayor Heggry on what happened at the asylum, he tells the Fellowship that there has been two more attacks since they had been there. Also, he was able to learn that Keeper Baskerwhel is a local swamp druid just outside the city, local potion maker, and was know to visit Arlen Hyve when coming into town. Keeper Hyve is a local sage of old lore and lives in an abandoned church of Aroden on the southside of town.
Looking over the items retrieved from Crove’s study, Kyrrn was able to piece together that the notes are similar to the Pnakotic Manuscript that was once in his possession, all hastily written. They appeared to be a response to a section to a ritual to open a portal that is one of caution: whomever attempts to open the portal uses the spiritual essence of those performing the ritual and any entity contacted consumes that essence and grows more powerful such that only the destruction of the essence can challenge their access to the world. Opening a portal in this way links the souls of those who open it to that being summoned and becomes more powerful from it. While it is possible to deprive the essence from the summoned creature, the creature itself seeks this essence from those who summoned it.
Drago begins to see to his own affairs. Some time prior, Drago had conspired with Jominda to raise funds and make preparations to avoid permanent disaster in the case that the party was slain again. Drago was determined not to fail in his quest to find his father, and death was an unacceptable obstacle.
Curiosity turned to horror when Drago opened a doorway into his castle in the mountains, Chateau Ryre, to retrieve such a scroll to aid Neferu. There was another door inside his castle – one which should not be there. Drago decided to investigate and words failed to describe the dreamlike-lands beyond, save that they quickly turned to nightmare. This rogue doorway opened the door to many questions, but no answers, save that whatever denizens dwelled inside were certainly not allies. Filled with dread, Drago made a tactical retreat as statues of dragons and giants with gemstone eyes began to come to life. He has no knowledge of this ‘other-place’, save that it had never been adjacent to Château Ryre previous.
(Special thanks to Matt for his summation!)

Related or Referenced

Report Date

26 Jan 2020

Primary Location

Carrion Hill

Related Characters

• Kelath Breen
• Kyrrn
• Neferu Sehetep

Carrion Hill Sessions