Session 324 - The Troll’s Flute
General Summary
Spring 727TR
The Story So Far
The King is dead.
King Minigath, after ruling the Kingdom of Kaldor well for thirty-three years, has died and the power struggle as to who will succeed him has started. Meanwhile, in the background, the mysterious Esoterical Order of Lothrim is up to no good.
The heroes are returning to the Kingdom of Kaldor after a recruiting mission in the Kingdom of Melderyn. They have secured the employment of mercenary companies, Borromon's Foxes and Heagen's Warwagons, both of which are expected to join the depleted armies of Sir Conwan Elendsa.
On the way, as the party travels through the Kingdom of Chybisa, Dryueh plans to locate the nefarious elf-killing wizard Incabulos.
This is the continuation of Session 322 - Lady Vara's Foretelling.
Location - Town of Burzyn in the Kingdom of Chybisa.
5th Nuzyael 727
Part 1 – The Missing Priest
The party and mercenaries arrive in Chybisa, watched warily by the tiny kingdom's peasants and defense forces. While the mercenaries resupply and relax in Burzyn, Dryueh attempts to locate the wizard Incabulos. He knows that Incabulos was in Chybisa six months ago, intending "to meet with a priest." With so little to go on, Valeria consults the spirit world. Her Automatic Writing (random scribbles on a sketch pad) reveals an unhelpful picture of a thigh bone. Asking the spirits again, she becomes more specific: What religion or god does this Priest follow? Her random sketches show a claw (a typical representation of the god Ilvir) and a stylized symbol of a hand (which is remarkedly close to the symbol used by the Order of the Yellow Hand.
From this, Dryueh consults with the locals. His Discreet Inquires reveals that the Church of the Yellow Hand had a temple about ten leagues east of Castle Burzyn, but it has long been abandoned. This is tended to by a wandering priestess, Nora, one of about a dozen Ilvirian priests who administers to the small communities of local Chybisian Ilvirian worshipers. None of those worshipers remember seeing Nora recently, and she did not attend the Araksin Festival last winter.
The party gets directions and visits the abandoned temple of Ilvir.
Part 2 – The Headless Guard
The ruins are relatively easy to find. The party does encounter a gang of a dozen Common Orcs on the way. These aggressive Foulspawn are quickly dispatched, being no threat to the seasoned adventurers.
The church ruins are guarded; Valeria's hawk companion flies above them and spots a large semi-humanoid form that throws rocks and masonry with uncanny accuracy. A Blemmyes, a humanoid Ivashu lacking a head, with facial features, including a massive, toothed maw on its chest. The giant is dangerous and has some psionic divination powers, allowing it to strike the hero's weak points with maximum bloody accuracy. Valeria turns Rycon Invisible, and it is of little help. The headless brute knocks him out, but Dryueh and Valeria eventually slay it.
The temple ruins have stone walls, which are a little more than rubble, and a few damaged statues of Ilvir's Ivashu creations. Dryueh does, however, find a trapdoor leading to underground caverns well concealed under a thin layer of dirt and dead foliage.
Part 3 – The Dank Caverns
Entering the caverns, Valeria immediately senses the presence of large serpentine creatures moving through the rocks on either side of the passageway. The temple guardians are vaguely snake-like conjurations, able to phase through rock and deliver deadly, stupefying venom from their oversized fanged mouths. Dryueh sneaks past the Zinba and attacks from the rear while Rycon and Valeria's Shadow Hound hold them at bay. After they are dispatched, they fade the world, likely to reform after suitable Ilvirian prayers are uttered.
Part 4 – The Hidden Temple
The passage opens into a large cave with a pool of water, and in its center is a small islet set with a large brass brazier for sacrifices. Ilvirian worshipers typically burn parts of animals, monsters, or artwork in their holy rituals. Nearby is a small library of sacred texts and, in an alcove, a statue of a troll with arms stretched forward. It looks like it should be holding something.
Before the statue lies a corpse, the missing priestess Nora. A quick examination reveals she has been dead for at least six months and has been sliced into pieces. The injuries have no impact or tear marks, suggesting some magic or force effects.
Suddenly, Nora's ghost materializes before the party and lets out a horrifying scream; she floats forward and strikes with her Withering Grasp. She is not alone; four Cavern Trolls expertly hiding among the rocks appear and join the fray, surrounding and nearly eviscerating Dryueh. He manages to Shadow Jump away and apply some healing. Nora's ghost is treacherous, telekinetically flinging rocks and debris around while necrotizing the hero's flesh. Only Rycon's katana seems to do any meaningful damage to the ghost, so while he focuses on it, the remaining characters deal with the rapidly regenerating trolls. They seem unphased by fire, but acid stops their uncanny healing, and eventually, they are massacred. Rycon and Valeria then vanquish the ghost, at least for the moment. Unless the heroes can work out what traumatic event raised it and put the wrong right, the ghost will reform in a few days.
Part 5 – The Nolah's Flute
Valeria studies the library and finds many holy texts, learning that this temple is dedicated to, unsurprisingly, the Nolah or Hârnic Trolls. It protected a sacred relic, the Nolah's Flute, a petrified thighbone of a troll carved into a flute and decorated with religious symbols. It can be used to make music. This artifact is usually held in the statue's outstretched arms but is missing. The heroes speculate that the wizard Incabulos has stolen it, and this outage is the most likely reason that the priestess Nora's ghost has spawned. Valeria finds various stories and parables that shed more light on the artifact's properties. When played, the flute can charm and put living creatures to sleep. There are also references to fey creatures and elves who are not ordinarily susceptible to sleep being affected. This would be the perfect magic item for an elf-killing wizard to use.
Concerned, the heroes burn the remains of Nora in the sacrificial brazier and say some prayers, attempting to replicate standard Ilvirian funeral practices as respectfully as they can. The party rejoins the mercenaries in Burzyn and completes their journey to the Kingdom of Kaldor. With the leads on the wizard Incabulos having gone cold, Dryueh plans to investigate another one of the elf murderers he is hunting, the Alchemist Hamauto, who is believed to have traveled to Castle Nenda.
To be continued.
NPC Interactions
Nobody significant.
Challenges
1 x Blemmyes.
2 x Zinba.
3 x Trolls and 1 x Ghost Monk.
Rewards
Nothing this week.
Created Content
Nothing this week.
Related Reports
Nothing this week.
Player Characters
Valeria - Human - L10 Shadow Sorcerer
Background - Magical Experiment.
Archetype - Beastmaster.
Rycon - Human - L10 Fighter
Background - Rebel Knight.
Archetypes - Liberator Champion/Dual Weapon Warrior.
Dryueh - 1/2 Elf - L10 Thief Rogue
Background - Scout.
Archetypes - Vigilante/Medic/Shadowdancer/Wizard.
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