Session 358 - A Curse and a Tavern
General Summary
The Story So Far
Ash - An expert in the occult and a skilled monster hunter. Ash uses his talents and budding alchemical expertise to battle the things people fear most for a price.
Ryobi - A monk of the embattled Order of the Warriors of Mameka. Ryobi is given an important mission; retrieve the holy blades containing the souls of his brother knights, which were lost in the recent Rethemi civil war.
They are joined by Vinzent, a bard with a morbid demeanor and a haunted past.
This is the continuation of Session 355 - The Bringer of Fever.
Location - Belkar Keep in the Kingdom of Rethem.
10th Agrazhar (Summer) 727TR
Part 1 – A Drinking Spot with a Dark History
Ealf of Krol meets with the heroes. He wants to reclaim his uncle's tavern, which is located in the cellar of a former tanner workshop in Belkar. The local Baron, Sir Branal Orgatt, will allow him to take over the building, but he wants the connecting underground caverns cleaned out of undead and monsters. Baron Branal is apparently afraid of the undead, and a cult of Morgath worshipers once used the caverns.
Part 2 – A Curse
The trio make their way down a dark stairwell into the disused tavern, noting a scuttling sound in an adjacent chamber. Swarms of spiders envelop the explorers, but they are quickly dispersed using flaming torches.
Vinzent appears particularly shaken; he has had many bad experiences in taverns, "I'm cursed," he mumbles. This is not the first time the party has heard of his unfortunate experiences in taverns, so Ash and Ryobi question him. He confesses that as an avid worshiper of the goddess Halea, he, as a performer, made regular donations to his favorite of Halea's handmaids, Dulcia the Princess of Harmony. But during one service, he made a mistake, as he was planning to gamble that night, so for the first time, he made a gift to the handmaiden Thalia, the Princess of Fortune. Unfortunately, at that time, the demigod Dulcia was watching and cursed him in a jealous rage. However, he claims Thalia was impressed and showed him her favor.
The back room of the tavern has a collapsed wall, and climbing over the rubble, the party enters the web-filled underground caverns.
Part 3 - Bigger Spiders and Violet Fungi
Huge spider eggs are scattered about in web-filled nests. The enthusiastic Vinzent starts burning them with his torch. However, this attracts much larger enemies than the easily dispersed swarms; enormous spiders attack the invaders. These seem enraged by the stench of burning spider eggs and move along the roof, dropping down on the heroes. They are destroyed in a frantic battle, with the heroes narrowly avoiding being injected with deadly venom.
The next cave has a deep pit, and as the party looks down, trying to judge its depth, two giant violet-colored fungi scramble forward, attacking with long tendrils of dealy flesh-dissolving poison. The deadly fungi's sturdy bodies are hacked apart.
Part 4 – The Shrine of the Necromancer
The underground chamber appears to end with a 4ft deep pool, the home of two angry albino giant lizards, which are easily dealt with. On investigation, another smaller cavern was discovered, concealed out of view. This chamber has a stone statue of Klyss the Necromancer, the evil demonic demigod servant of the god of chaos and evil Morgath.
The grim statue holds a sacrificial bowl containing a blob of dust-covered brown-grey ooze. The demonically infused slime moves, invigorated by the warmth of the adventurer's bodies. Noxious spores discharge from the ooze, and Vinzent gets caught in the cloud as it explodes after Ryobi and Ash destroy it. Fortunately, the spores do not take hold and are washed off.
The shrine to Kylss is sinister and creepy, so the heroes decide to destroy it. "Great Idea," Vinzent snidely comments. "Let's get cursed by another demigod." The statue is sturdy; however, Ash brews some very strong mineral acid, which weakens it, allowing it to be broken into manageable pieces that are dumped down the hole discovered earlier.
Satisfied, the party exited the cave; hopefully, the demigod Kylss the Necromancer wasn't paying attention to their defilement of his unholy shrine.
To be continued.NPC Interactions
Ealf of Krol - Tavern Owner.
Related Articles
Player Characters
Ryobi - Human - L2 Monk
Background - Temple Guard.
Archetypes - Barbarian.
Ash - Human - L2 Thaumaturge
Background - Weaponcrafter.
Archetypes - Alchemist.
NPC Companions
Vinzent - Human - L2 Bard
Background - Cursed.
Archetypes - Blessed.
Next Session
NPC Companion
Vinzent
He is a skilled minstrel who is infamous for his depressing performances.
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