Session XXV: The Grand Archives of Gildin Report

General Summary

To the Grand Archives

Scouting the Premise

The adventurers decide to travel to Gildin's beach, to check for their boat and spend the night there. Wary of Lightning Shrimps, they find their boat unscathed, but since the day is still young they decide to scout ahead for tomorrow. Oswald Fleetfeet & John Doe travel Invisible overland to the gates shielding the Grand Archives from the city, while Balin Thornbow & Nalan go by boat to sail around the cliff.
Oswald & John discover there are two gates leading to the Grand Archives, with clear scratch marks of chains being very apparent near the left (sea side) gate. Upon nearing the right gate (also known as gate #2 by the party), they are met by another skull commander with Berenike Knights. In addition, John manages to pick up a faint sound of dragging and clapping chains, way larger than those used for the gate.
Meanwhile, Balin & Nalan row toward the cliffside of the Grand Archives. On there way they check multiple times if they are being watched or followed, but to no apparent avail. Upon nearing the Grand Archives, Nalan notices a large part of the building is in rumble, with a faint redish light there. The other part of the building stands vast and beatiful, in a gothic building style. Nearing the cliff, they discover a sewer outlet large enough for two people to enter side by side. A sturdy grate shields the sewer system from the outside world but they recon if putting in some effort, they should manage to remove the grate and gain entry to the building this way. They also take a closer look at the water pouring from the sewers, checking for poop & such. Upon closer inspection, they only detect the smell of death remembering undead don't produce this organic waste.

The dragon island to the north-east

Reconvening at the beach, the adventurers share their findings with one another and decide it safest to spend the night off-shores, heading the comment of Lothrok that the undead do not near the water. Settling on the closest by island, they find a rocky beach with forest prevailing on the island. John being in his favoured terrain, discovers a path up the mountain off the island carved by humanoid hands. Ascending the path, they find a large crater with a 50 ft. of empty space. The walls are littered with writings in Draconic, but unfortunately non of the party members seem to understand the language, with Oswald being particular forgetful in this regard rather remembering the Halfling dialect. Balin transcribes the writings to his scrolls for later study, hoping a translation may be found within the Grand Archives.
Upon closer inspection of the crater, John & Oswald discover a dragon made an abrupt landing leaving large scratch marks behind. John later finds parts of the top of the crater shattered, as if a Huge dragon made an unintended landing here. During their watches, except for Oswald's watch, they hear the occasional flapping of wings, believing these to originate from birds. Sharing their odd findings of flapping wings in the night, they recon these to originate from a spy of the lich.

Gildin

Open full size

A map of the ruined city of Gildin, now inhabited by the dead.

Location of the "Dragon Island"

Entering the Archives

In the morning, the adventurers set sail to the Grand Archives, believing Balin & Nalan's entryroute the way to go. Removing the grate, Balin using his crowbar while Nalan simultaneously uses his battering ram, they remove the grate and create an entryway into the Archives. After walking for roughly 5 minutes through the wet narrow halls, they find a Y-shaped fork. The air from the left side appears to be more cold compared to the right side. The adventurers first turn to the right and after 5-10 minutes of walking, they find a dim-lit room guarded by two skeletons. A small canal roughly 1 meter deep divides the room in half, through which they would gain entry to the room. On the right, they spot a large bed frame, but another grate separates them from a clearer view. They do see some daylight scattered in the room in a block pattern. The adventurers decide to first explore the left-path of the Y-fork, before continuing their journey.
Walking around 15 minutes in the left fork, they arrive at what seems to be the city's sewers. They remove the rusty grate guarding the sewers and keep this route in their mind for possible escape. They return to the dim lit room, which now appears guarded by two skeletons. John & Balin make short work off them with an excellently performed strike. Afterwards, Nalan easily removes the grate and John sneaks into the room.
Taking a closer look at the bed, they discover it must belong to a giant. Here, the scrapings of chains on the floor go quite deep and the room can be entered through a large gate leading to the castle courtyard. Looking outside through a large gate, they are certain they are not at the top of the cliff, merely below at an entrance. To their left is a small elevator, preferably operated by two people. Oswald & Nalan decide to go up first and enter a dimly lit room upstairs. Looking around they see a corpse with a horned helmet. Nalan decides he wants the helm for himself and soon battle erupts. Near the end John & Balin manage to get up with the elevator. They open the now nearly broken fence door that leads to the central hall of the Archives, with Oswald sending Geest Uil ahead for scouting. When Nalan & Oswald enter the room, massive bones fall from the ceiling, hitting Nalan in the process. Soon after, magic starts pulsing through the bones and a massive entity starts to aparate.

Overview of the Giant's Quarters

Rewards Granted

Magic Ore Longsword (Longsword +1/+1) from the corpse of the skull commander

Campaign

The Island of Runaar

Protagonists

Nalan

Oswald Fleetfeet

TN halfling(gnome) (cloistered scholar)
wizard 5

26 / 26 HP

STR
8

DEX
15

CON
13

INT
19

WIS
16

CHA
10

John Doe

Lawful Neutral Wood Elf (Inheritor)
Ranger 6

63 / 63 HP

STR
9

DEX
18

CON
14

INT
18

WIS
16

CHA
13

Report Date

12 Jun 2021

Primary Location

Gildin