Session 112: Stories of Dreschm Report
General Summary
The session began with the party waking up inside the Library of Ignorance, a rectangular chamber inside a black tower. The tower itself was built into the side of one of the fingers belonging to the titan Cronus, who is imprisoned in the frozen realm of Agathys. Returning to the library, the walls of the chamber are covered by shelves from floor to ceiling, though they are all empty. In the middle of the room is a large, short table with a small chair and a pot-bellied stove next to it. On top of the table is a large book with the title Book of Knowledge, written on the spine. Almost constantly sitting in the chair was an old derro called Dreschm. On a balcony level of the library was a large, golden door locked with a padlock. The padlock lacked a keyhole and instead had nine fields of paper where the party had figured out they could write words, sentences, phrases, or similar. Above each field was a short phrase. They had also figured out that beyond was a portal to another layer of Carceri.
The nine phrases were:Admired the beauty of nature.
Visiting an old friend.
Touched the remnants of something ancient and forgotten.
Listened to the stories of bygone times.
Saw the first light of a new day in a distant place.
Basked in the remnants of bloodshed.
Witnessed something that is now lost.
Pondered the mysteries of the multiverse
Avoided the local guard force.
Dreschm would write stories into the book of knowledge and the party had theorized that the stories that Dreschm would write had something to do with the padlock on the golden door. While trying to figure out the solution that would let them open the padlock, they were also trying to figure out a way to acquire a shard of the shackles of Cronus.
They started the day by further examining the shackles for weak points. They concluded that the shackles had no major damage and seemed resistant to the effects of the environment. In this effort, they also examined the area surrounding Cronus as well as his sword and armor. Mainly of note, there were many, many ice statues of people reaching towards the sky, frozen into the ice that covered the ground and when Brew approached one of them, he could hear a faint wailing from it. After he broke the frozen statue, he realized that this was in fact a Petitioner that was once alive and now no more.
Some time later, the party returned to the library, where they experimented with writing different phrases in the nine papers on the padlock, first trying to write the order in which the phrase above the field appeared in the story that Dreschm was writing, but that didn't work so they tried writing true or false to indicate whether they appeared in the story or not. Eventually, they figured out that the input that was required was the title of the story and thus they predicted that Dreschm would tell nine stories and they must wait to hear all of them before they can continue.
As the party waited several days, Ugis began to call down Meteor Swarms, trying to concentrate fire at a single spot to try and damage the shackle. This managed to eventually heat and bend a small part of the shackle enough so that Hero could, with a precise strike, chip a piece the size of a chickpea from the shackle. Once they had heard all the The Stories of Dreschm, the party discussed among themselves what the underlying message or content of each story was and tried to link them with one of the nine phrases. With some help from the Augury spell and many tries of different combinations, they finally reached the solution:
Admired the beauty of nature (Destiny Point).
Visiting an old friend (Pillar of Skulls).
Touched the remnants of something ancient and forgotten (Dendradis).
Listened to the stories of bygone times (Echolost).
Saw the first light of a new day in a distant place (Temple of Radiance).
Basked in the remnants of bloodshed (Arthenmyr's Wrath).
Witnessed something that is now lost (Elshava).
Pondered the mysteries of the multiverse (Lip of Purity).
Avoided the local guard force (Neumannus).
As the solution was reached, the padlock unlocked and the golden doors swung open, revealing a blue-green portal leading into a cave of blue-white ice. After a brief exchange about now beginning their return, the party stepped through the portal into the cave, following it around a bend before finding themselves back in the acidic ocean of Porphatys. Here, Hero called out the name Khamallan as they had been told that they could aid them in their ascent.
Calling the name several times and a waiting a moment, a massive black arrow fell from the sky, piercing the clouds, before landing in the cold water before the party. As the party observed the arrow, it began to melt and bubble as it transformed into a tall, muscular humanoid, clad in heavy furs with a massive black bow strapped to his back. His hands were large and clawed, while his face was malformed and monstrous. Khamallan had arrived. He asked why he had been summoned but seemed intrigued when the party asked him to take them to the next layer. Khamallan commented that it was rare for mortals to make it here and that if he would aid them, they must first prove themselves before Wóden. He then began to walk and told them to follow, for they must find a "spawning grounds".
The nine phrases were:
Baradin Godchosen
Neutral Good Hill Dwarf (Far traveler)
Cleric 14
Cleric 14
150 / 150 HP
STR
8
8
DEX
14
14
CON
20
20
INT
10
10
WIS
20
20
CHA
8
8
Report Date
25 Sep 2024
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