Session 13: "The Tomb"

General Summary

Upon leaving the Crypt of the Embrace, a doorway was visible nearby, leading to another crypt. This crypt contained a swarm of vargouilles in its darkness, who promptly attacked the Ka-Tet. Now alert to the tactics of the foul flying skulls, they overcame the fear inducing screams, and managed to avoid their curses, to destroy them.
This 'Crypt of Shattering', contained a sarcophagus, and within was a mummy of a heavily tattooed Halfling female. Esmae of the Flowers recognised the tattoos as being from her home world. The corpse was adorned with a golden torc, a mask formed from the cured skin of a humanoid ( Mask of the Shaper ), and some discoloured leather bracers ( Bracers of Blood ).
Identification of the mask revealed to The Nameless One that its true function would not be revealed until the tattoos had been read and deciphered.

A doorway in the North of the Weeping Stone Catacombs seemed likely to head to the Warrens of Thought, and the Ka-Tet assumed also to Many as One.
This doorway proved itself to be another one-way portal, and the party arrived in a small room full of rusted weapons, and a single locked door. Guards could be heard outside.
These guards were wererats, and upon opening the door they challenged the adventurers as to why they were there. Stating they were seeking a way to The Drowned Nations, the guards responded by insisting they be brought before Many as One.
Another portal transported the Ka-Tet to a darkened chamber, ringed by hundreds of eyes, apparently all eyes of Cranium Rats. Together, this huge swarm of rats was Many as One. The swarm emanated hatred towards the party, and had already decided they needed to be put to death for defending themselves against previous Cranium Rat attacks.
Esmae of the Flowers responded to the swarming rodents by hurling the Tears of Sorrow flask into their midst, causing immense damage to their numbers. Despite this they swamped much of the party with their furry forms, immediately inflicting enough damage to drop Eilana to the dirt. EthanOwl sprang to his duties and provided her a Goodberry, enabling her to return to the fight, only to be killed outright near the end of the conflict by another large attack.
However, the perserverence of the Ka-Tet proved too much for the rats, and eventually Many as One was defeated. TNO returned Eilana to life soon afterwards. The party was exhausted and their powers drained, requiring that they rested overnight in their newly captured domain.
Not to linger too long, the adventurers moved on after their rest to explore the Drowned Nations. Guarding ghouls at the entrance claimed that Hargrimm the Bleak had sent word of their coming, and had asked that they be allowed to pass. The ghouls talked of a foul and dangerous tomb deep in the Nations, that usually no one survives. The only one to ever return from entering it was a tall tattooed and scarred man, almost certainly TNO.
Combat was heard nearby, and EthanOwl scouted the area to reveal a fight between a group of ghouls and a creature they called a tropopotaca.

The ghouls were destroyed easily by the polysyllabic one. As the party neared this area, the angry reptile stood firm, indicating that attack would ensue if they approach it.
The adventurers bypassed the creature, and headed another direction. This lead to a darkened cave, with a resulting attack from an even larger group of vargouilles that tred to ambush the party.

Defeating the vargouilles allowed the party to search a corpse lying nearby. This corpse had a hammer and shield, a silver ring, a magical stoppered flask ( Decanter of Endless Water ), a magical smoking pipe, a golden torc , a Bronze Sphere, and many charms of different types.
As the party packed away the various items, with thoughts of returning to the surface, TNO experienced a feeling that gripped him then was a cold talon curling around his heart, piercing with terror and haunting like a memory lost to the ages.
To his left, was an old, forgotten gate. Like the sphere it was utterly unremarkable at a glance, but as he touched it the black metal seemed chill and unforgiving. It was the echo of a dirge, the face of a forgotten passer-by. It was a stranger you once knew, the name teasingly coy on the tip of your tongue.
The Nameless One realised he had been there before, yet he had the feeling that his companions musn't follow him in.
The chill air of this chamber pricked his skin. It wasn’t merely the way the massive crypt seemed to draw the heat from ones' flesh, sucking the warmth from the bones. Nor was it merely the blue tiles that cracked like ice under TNO's step. It was something - the soulless chill of things best left forgotten, ancient secrets buried away because they were too grim or mad to behold.
Across the way and through the arch was a central chamber with a blocky gray sarcophagus at its heart. This was a tomb, for who or what TNO felt like he should’ve known.
But most eerie of all was the giant rune gilded into the center of the floor in an unfamiliar, silvery metal. It was the same rune he bore on his shoulder... knife-edged and barbed inward and out as if it were pain betraying itself.
The Rune of Torment.

At the entrance were scratched words on the leather of a bat wing.
At last I have you. Never again will you torment me, for no mortal man can escape these walls. Seek the keys and embrace death with each that you find. Only then shall you be free.

A burned skeletal corpse against one wall made Eilana suspicious of traps, apparently very few make it very far. This suspicion was proven to be true as she moved towards the next chamber that contained a central very fine sarcophagus within. Entering the room resulted in her being instantly struck and killed by a lightning bolt, with her corpse being teleported next to the other lying against the wall.
After a further return from death by the hands of TNO, Eilana attempted to teleport into the other room via Misty Step, but was unsuccessful and bounced back.
The Nameless One then attempted to approach the central area, but as he trod on the floor's gilded torment rune, was also instantly killed by a lightning bolt shooting from the ceiling. His body, however, was teleported into a side chamber where he returned to life.
TNO's telling of the Tomb of the Nameless One describes his ordeal withing the tomb.
Pushing the panels of his rediscovered journal had unlocked the sarcophagus at the centre of the room, which contained a fourth key.
Having gotten four keys from the four sarcophagi he had encountered, TNO found himself in yet another chamber.
A portal opened in one corner. Entering it, he finally appeared outside the tomb.
The party decided it was definitely time to return to to the surface (Handout 32: TNO tells of his return to Pharod), but with a detour to see Glyve first (Handout 32: Returning to Glyve).
They return to the Ill-Wind Court to discuss their ordeal with Pharod ( Handout 33: Pharod's Story )
The party returned to The Hive to find Fell's Tattoo Parlour, where they discover information about the severed arm, TNOs Tattoos, and the Shaper's Mask (Return to Fell's Tattoo parlour - Handout 9).
Following the events arounbd the tattoo parlour, TNO learns more of Dak'kon's past, and the past they had together shared (Dak'kon's Story - Handout 9) revealing a dark unexpected secret.
They return to The Mortuary to speak with Dhall, and to seek information regarding TNOs previous companions (Dhall - Handout 34)
As a result they found Xachariah, who was in the Mortuary as Zombie 331. TNO talks with him, and finally lays him to rest (Xachariah - Handout 35)

Session end
FOURTH LEVEL IS ATTAINED
Session end

Cant Dictionary

Report Date

14 Oct 2023

Primary Location

The Drowned Nations

Secondary Location

Warrens of Thought

Related Plots

• Bring His Body to the Surface
• Find Former Drunk Companion of TNO
• Find Necklace
• Find The Nameless One's Journal
• Obtain the Decanter from Drowned Nations
• Retrieve Bronze Sphere
• Retrieve Knife

Related Characters

• Dhall
• Fell
• Glyve
• Many as One
• Pharod
• Zombie 331

• Quests - Sigil
  • Find The Nameless One's Journal
  • Help Reekwind
  • Ignis - Return him to life
  • Unlock the Unbroken Circle of Zerthimon
  • Obtain Decanter's Password
• Completed Quests - Sigil
  • Find Pharod
  • Find and Bring Pharod to Justice
  • Help Ingress
  • Kill Starved Dogs Barking
  • Find Craddock
  • Clear the Mausoleum
  • Purchase the Eye
  • Free Angyar from the Dustman Contract
  • Iron Nall's Secret
  • Free Esmae from Moridors box
  • Find Former Drunk Companion of TNO
  • Find Eliath
  • Who is Killing the Barmys
  • Return the Prayer Beads to Porphiron
  • Convince Nestor to Leave
  • Find Pharod's source of bodies
  • Find Amarysse
  • Learn Magic
  • Return his Name
  • Retrieve Knife
  • Find Necklace
  • Kill Rotten William
  • Kill or Drive off Blackrose
  • Bring His Body to the Surface
  • Retrieve Bronze Sphere
  • Obtain the Decanter from Drowned Nations
  • Discover where Annah found The Nameless One