Mystery of the Runestones
General Summary
After foiling the plot of the Gnomish Necromancer, Eregor, the party reclaimed the objects that he was drawing his power from and returned to the small town of Honlett to recuperate. They took the prisoner they had captured to the Hell Knights, turning them over for interrogation and informing the Mistress of Blades of their failure to capture the gnome and his escape with the assistance of a dragon. Then decided to turn in for a nights rest at the Silver Shrew, opting to return the stones in the morning when the towns head priest was most likely awake. After returning the stones, he quickly ushered them to their rightful resting place, a crypt with a secret door that led to a long winding staircase carrying them several dozen feet below the ground, before spreading into a large walled catacomb. At the end of the catacomb was another door, more ornate, embellished with dragons carved out of the otherwise stone door, flanked by two small red glowing spheres of light supported by sconces. They passed through the threshold, into the expanse of a large dark cavern, with a stone bridge leading over a vast ravine. Flanking the bridge on either side were three stone dragons with glittering precious gemstones for eyes. Upon inspecting one of the statues, one of the party members fell to the trap, being grabbed by its stony tail as it slipped over the edge of the bridge, forcing the others members to act swiftly in an attempt to break the tail free. Through sheer might they shattered the stone, as the dragon plummeted below into the darkness, but a crash was never heard.. instead a flapping of wings.. large and heavy, carrying something off into the distance. Passing on swiftly and maintaining a safe distance from the rest of the dragon statues, the party stumbled upon yet another door at the far end of the bridge. The most ornate of all, this one appeared to be of solid brass, with silver and gold dragons etched into and spiraling about its massive size. The door itself was slightly ajar, prompting a quick peek inside to utter darkness. They braced themselves, opening the door, largest members at the front just bracing for an ambush from the darkness, but nothing ill befell them, greeted by utter silence as they entered the room. They slowly crept inside as magical sconces lit themselves around the room.. red, orange, yellow, blue, one for each hue of the rainbow, all colors of light colliding into a single bright light in the center of the room. The room itself was large, with ornate murals along the walls and a pedestal in the middle with nine holes fitted around one larger one in the center. The holes around the outside seemed perfectly fitted for the stones they recovered from the Eregorn. The murals themselves, after some study, seemed to be of a great disaster, followed by the rule of several great dragons over the other races, then a great uprising of the lesser races led by several warriors wearing similar armor with draconic wings of light, and then the founding of a great city.
They took a moment to take everything in, discussing it amongst themselves before deciding to place the stones back in their proper places. Upon opening the pouch that they were kept in, they all seemed to be emitting a bright light, almost blinding when they were all together. One by one they were placed on the stone as the spots they were placed in began to glow, until all but one was filled, then it stopped.The stones sat silent and still, inert and dark once again, stationary in their space, and then, it happened. It was nothing at first. Then, one twitched in its resting spot. It rose into the air slowly, followed by another, and another, before they all began to rise, moving slowly at first, before rapidly gaining pace, swirling around the room, twisting and turning above the parties heads and leaving small tendrils of light behind them. Not just their own light, but they seemed to gather the light of the orbs around the room as they flew, carrying it like the tail of a colorful comet sailing through the night sky. They slowed and came to a stop, floating in the air above the head as if waiting. Another streak of light, and one was gone. It was a moment to register but it punctured it’s way through the right shoulder of Urdann, leaving a visible hole where muscle and sinew had been. Another quickly streaked at them, straight into the right hip bending it backwards and nearly forcing Ryska’s stable werewolf joints out of their sockets in an attempt to stop the attack. One flew straight into the clavicle of the goliath Marduk, snapping it in half with a meaty crunch before ejecting itself up through the back of the shoulder. Everything quickly began to go black like no searing pain they felt before. They fell to the ground one after another as the other four party members stared in confusion. Four more crystals quickly shot at them, one pierced it's way clean through the forearm of the Tiefling Aetmos leaving him just enough time to see through as another shattered it's way through the forehead of the parties Obito, Wysp, and made its way out the backside, clinking across the floor before coming to a rest nearby. A third hit Tristan in the left hip, immediately shattering it inward, crushing the left side of his pelvis. One more flew at them, the last to fall, hitting Olis square in the chest, punching clean through his chainmail and out the backside with little effort, sending him to his knees as he fell to the ground. Eyes going dark as he watched the others fall to the floor to join them in darkness.
Ryska opened her eyes slowly shortly before the others, lifting her head and glancing around the room. It was the same as before the crystals came to life and seemingly attacked them. Everything was still.. The colorful lights on the wall were still there, illuminating the room and the several crystals now scattered and and full of vibrant colors across the floor. She checked her hip where she was hit as the others came to, but there was no pain or wound to be found. The others quickly did the same, coming to the same realizations a moment later. There was no signs of the wounds they had suffered anywhere, save a small scar where the stone had hit them. The stones themselves lay scattered across the floor close to whom they had hit, now brimming with various colors. Though two more things caught their eye as they quickly took in the rest of the room. Aetmos, the parties sorcerer ally, seemed to remain unconscious and unresponsive to any methods of attempting to rouse them. Another was the presence of yet another gem, floating it’s way down from the ceiling where it gently rested itself on the floor, still glowing white.
Quickly the party gathered Aetmos and the stones, opting to take them with them, now with more questions than answers about them and decided to part the room, closing it behind them. The darted quickly across the bridge back to Father Unn who informed them that he had been waiting for several hours and they briefly filled him in on what happened. Acknowledging the parties desire to return the surface, he quickly led them back out and took Aetmos to the temple. After laying out Aetmos in the temple for the father to examine, he attempted to examine the runestone that Urdann had put on Aetmos person. Upon attempting to carry it away it burned him, clattering across the floor where the now white hot to the touch stone was distorting the air around it. Batting the stone across the floor closer to Aetmos, it became cool to the touch again and they opted to leave it with his person. Interrupted in their musing by a loud bang, a Hellknight called to them from the entry to the temple, claiming they had been summoned to the Citadel by the Mistress of Blades. Upon returning the citadel, they learned that they prisoner they had brought back had been very forthcoming about what he knew about the gnome Eregorns plans, and due to their active involvement and under the direction of the Paralord Derrick Briarstone, the party was to be rewarded and provided pay to ensure their active cooperation in the next phase of the plans to bring Eregorn to justice.
They took a moment to take everything in, discussing it amongst themselves before deciding to place the stones back in their proper places. Upon opening the pouch that they were kept in, they all seemed to be emitting a bright light, almost blinding when they were all together. One by one they were placed on the stone as the spots they were placed in began to glow, until all but one was filled, then it stopped.The stones sat silent and still, inert and dark once again, stationary in their space, and then, it happened. It was nothing at first. Then, one twitched in its resting spot. It rose into the air slowly, followed by another, and another, before they all began to rise, moving slowly at first, before rapidly gaining pace, swirling around the room, twisting and turning above the parties heads and leaving small tendrils of light behind them. Not just their own light, but they seemed to gather the light of the orbs around the room as they flew, carrying it like the tail of a colorful comet sailing through the night sky. They slowed and came to a stop, floating in the air above the head as if waiting. Another streak of light, and one was gone. It was a moment to register but it punctured it’s way through the right shoulder of Urdann, leaving a visible hole where muscle and sinew had been. Another quickly streaked at them, straight into the right hip bending it backwards and nearly forcing Ryska’s stable werewolf joints out of their sockets in an attempt to stop the attack. One flew straight into the clavicle of the goliath Marduk, snapping it in half with a meaty crunch before ejecting itself up through the back of the shoulder. Everything quickly began to go black like no searing pain they felt before. They fell to the ground one after another as the other four party members stared in confusion. Four more crystals quickly shot at them, one pierced it's way clean through the forearm of the Tiefling Aetmos leaving him just enough time to see through as another shattered it's way through the forehead of the parties Obito, Wysp, and made its way out the backside, clinking across the floor before coming to a rest nearby. A third hit Tristan in the left hip, immediately shattering it inward, crushing the left side of his pelvis. One more flew at them, the last to fall, hitting Olis square in the chest, punching clean through his chainmail and out the backside with little effort, sending him to his knees as he fell to the ground. Eyes going dark as he watched the others fall to the floor to join them in darkness.
In the Darkness
Their eyes shot open, staring around at a pitch black void where the only things present were the vague shapes of their allies. The pain seemed to be gone as they stood from the cold floor. It was vaguely wet, and each touch of their hand sent a soft ripple across the otherwise smooth black surface. Pushing themselves to their feet, they tried to call out to each other but there was no sound in the void. They stared into the blackness in silence for what felt like minutes, before one of them spotted a small glimmer of light off in the distance. The others quickly spotted it too as it began to grow, spreading and illuminating the darkness, until it was pushed back like the night sky before dawn.They appeared to be standing in a small field surrounded by trees on all sides, though the kind of tree was familiar to none of them. The grass was nearly knee high and the ground was damp. The leaves of the plants were broad and swaying in an unfelt wind, as if they were shadows that didn’t exist in this place. A small animal made its way out of the trees into the field to feed, eating some of the tall grass before it craned its head, looking in the parties general direction. It froze, terrified and did not move, a red glow beginning to overtake the field. The party looked around, following the animals' terrified gaze to the peak of a mountain at their back, where it looked as if the sun had been plucked from the sky and was being hurled toward them. A ball of fire of titanic proportions, crushing the peaks of mountains as it crashed through the sky, bathing the strange place in a fiery, flickering glow. The animal tried to run
Ryska opened her eyes slowly shortly before the others, lifting her head and glancing around the room. It was the same as before the crystals came to life and seemingly attacked them. Everything was still.. The colorful lights on the wall were still there, illuminating the room and the several crystals now scattered and and full of vibrant colors across the floor. She checked her hip where she was hit as the others came to, but there was no pain or wound to be found. The others quickly did the same, coming to the same realizations a moment later. There was no signs of the wounds they had suffered anywhere, save a small scar where the stone had hit them. The stones themselves lay scattered across the floor close to whom they had hit, now brimming with various colors. Though two more things caught their eye as they quickly took in the rest of the room. Aetmos, the parties sorcerer ally, seemed to remain unconscious and unresponsive to any methods of attempting to rouse them. Another was the presence of yet another gem, floating it’s way down from the ceiling where it gently rested itself on the floor, still glowing white.
Quickly the party gathered Aetmos and the stones, opting to take them with them, now with more questions than answers about them and decided to part the room, closing it behind them. The darted quickly across the bridge back to Father Unn who informed them that he had been waiting for several hours and they briefly filled him in on what happened. Acknowledging the parties desire to return the surface, he quickly led them back out and took Aetmos to the temple. After laying out Aetmos in the temple for the father to examine, he attempted to examine the runestone that Urdann had put on Aetmos person. Upon attempting to carry it away it burned him, clattering across the floor where the now white hot to the touch stone was distorting the air around it. Batting the stone across the floor closer to Aetmos, it became cool to the touch again and they opted to leave it with his person. Interrupted in their musing by a loud bang, a Hellknight called to them from the entry to the temple, claiming they had been summoned to the Citadel by the Mistress of Blades. Upon returning the citadel, they learned that they prisoner they had brought back had been very forthcoming about what he knew about the gnome Eregorns plans, and due to their active involvement and under the direction of the Paralord Derrick Briarstone, the party was to be rewarded and provided pay to ensure their active cooperation in the next phase of the plans to bring Eregorn to justice.
Report Date
18 Nov 2024
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