The Dungeon of Graves: Session 5
General Summary
Lost to Song
Report Date
08 Nov 2020
From the area where three of their companions had left but two hours earlier, they could hear the howling of large wolves, no they were bigger than that, it was the calling of worgs. Keartas emerges from the foliage first, but is quickly followed by Tumeti and Lothar. They looked unhurt, possibly a little dirty but not worse for wear. Fox Tail and the others ask what they found. They explain they found a mausoleum and within the stone building they found a vampire. Keartas spills that he was foolish and lied to the creature many times. Tumeti explains that they did find that the forest looked to be supernaturally poisoned. They all agree that the area should not be investigated until they are stronger.
Namuel was concerned, after the others put their heads together and learned about vampires, and wanted to ritually cast a protection on the three. This couldn’t happen until the cleric rested but the others thought if it made him ‘at ease’ then he should use his resources. The three assure that he would not need to waste his ability to cast, but the cleric’s mind was set.
The 6th of Zhira greets the adventuring group with more cold. Namuel performs his rituals on the three who visited Lord Baron Simrath and the three feel the gentle warming sensation of magic on them but nothing else. As the group starts their travel for the day, they cross The Wild Edge river. The river is deceptively fast, the river flowing just 5 feet under the bridge looks like it moves faster than it does. Sinestra leads the group through the hills. The terrain in the area is rough. They have to circumnavigate sharp cliffs. But with Sinestra’s expert survival skills, they travel the area easily.
Over the last few days of travel, they had traveled across hills that had high valleys that were dry. Now, they travel across hills where the valleys are low and wet, almost sunken with rivulets of water. The water had nowhere to go, so it just sat in the pool, barely frosted over. As they travel into another low valley, a strange song can be heard. It sounds like it is coming from a tree a few hundred feet away. The song is beautiful, no words, just melodic sounds. Soon another voice joins the song. Two of the companions are taken under the beautiful music and are drawn to the tree. The druid tries to entangle the group with magical vines, she manages to stop Namuel in his tracks but Fox Tail is too strong and dashes to the music.
Off to the east, lions make their presence known with mighty roaring and they quickly join the fray, splitting the party from their barbarian companion. As Fox Tail makes it up into the tree, he is able to break the spell and is face to face with two harpies. Keartas had been able to identify them just moments ago. A few of his companions had tried to break the spell earlier but he seemed to be rather evasive. The harpies tear into the werefox, causing him to fall unconscious from the tree. As he landed, the others were able to see him fall and watched, helplessly, as a harpie descended upon him and tore out his throat.
After many questionable actions, Tumeti falls unconscious with a lion above her. Xantrix, the artificer, moves from his safe location and stabilizes the druid. Fredd, the might donkey, slays one of the lions. She is very upset with Fox Tail’s death and attacks with abandon. Namuel falls to a lion but rises instantly saying “Thanks to my god, to give me the strength to give me the will to live”. The battle is long and dangerous as the group seemed unable to make contact with their hits. Eventually, they were able to slay all but one fleeing lion. The bodies are looted, Fox Tail’s body was collected, they skin the lions, they remove the vocal cords and guts of the harpies and they burn all but their barbarian. They take an hour to collect themselves and rest before continuing their northeast trek through the area. It’s rough travel because of the landscape but the group finally crests the final hill.
As they crested the hill, the adventurers felt the unnatural cold emanating from a cross shaped valley below them. Three mausoleums are located within the top edges of the cross shape. The large central structure is made of unnatural green stone. Around the edge, there are crenulations of stone gargoyles in various poses. Two smaller stone mausoleums flank the main. Everywhere they look, there are gravesites, hundreds if not nearly a thousand of them. Some have ornate headstones while others simply holes in the ground. They all feel a supernatural pull, the place is horrible, desecrated and perfectly silent. Terrance, the owl familiar of Keartas, and Tumeti scout the area while the sun is still illuminating the area. Tumeti travels in her panther form and scouts the graves nearest the group. She spots many and reads them but the one that lingers is the fresh grave marked, Fox Tail. Terrance is able to scout the area and find some large rat holes, a ghastly well adorned with demon motifs and a door on the main mausoleum.
As night falls, the group decides to make camp. Sinestra was able to remember a perfect camping site about a mile back as they traveled. They burn the body of Fox Tail. Lothar: “Fox Tail, you were full of words of advice. I appreciated them even when I could not follow them” while Sinestra “We have been culled, and the strong survived. Survival doesn’t come just through raw strength, but mental fortitude as well. His body now feeds the words and fuels the cycle of rebirth.” Others just remain quiet and watch another companion fall before they even made it to the dungeon.
