2023/05/24: Searching for the Zenogovia Gem Part 6 Report
General Summary
Senal, Albadan, Marc, Giordino, Thalin, Simon, Parari, Zonoma
When last we saw our heroes, they were investigating a room full of shiny knightly weapons. Probably a trap.
Albadan went in. Apparently he was possessed by a knight lord ghost a few sessions back. Albericht Silverflame. This armory contained the knight lord's hammer. Upon retrieving the hammer, the ghost was strengthened while Albadan was even less mentally present.
The rest of the weapons were whispering, apparently haunted. Old knight ghosts. The party left them there, hoping they'd have a chance to safely recover them later.
The group headed upstairs to deal with the evil ritualists and their devices. Lots of torture devices that seem partially melted, the result of a burst of intense heat.
Next floor up is a place where a lot of rituals have happened. Full of ashes, likely from people. Some of the ritual circles have cages over them, built to have bonfires under them.
Next floor up is an ascetic bunkroom.
Next floor up is mostly cleared out. Divided into two rooms. One is great hall (which is the first entered from below). In front of another double door leading into the other half are eight guards, all in twisted spiky armor and wielding flamberges. The door is wooden with fine gold traceries and the like. It clearly doesn't share the cult's aesthetic and almost certainly predates them.
The party engaged the guards carefully, drawing them towards the entrance to the stairwell while extinguishing the torches lighting that area. The rogues were able to use the resulting darkness to launch a surprise attack, while the light silhouetting the guards meant the more martial party members suffered no penalties from the darkness.
There was a complicated glass box holding an amulet in the next room, after the fight with guards. The box was a masterpiece of both glassworking and puzzlecrafting, almost completely filled with sliding glass shapes that were invisible from the outside. And, naturally, the glass was indestructible. To retrieve the amulet (and the gems mounted on it, including the one Senal was there for), the party had to find the few points on the box that could be interacted with and figure out what pieces had to be moved where and how to accomplish that.
And all this had to be done under time pressure, as the cultist forces had arrived outside and were trying to beat their way in through the magically warded door.
The party got some glimpses of the cultist leader. He bore runed armor, magic swords, and what looked like a magic bowling ball on his chest armor that may have been providing magic power to him and his equipment.
With a great resourcefulness and cooperation, the party did get the amulet out before the door collapsed. Senal got a bunch of the gems off the amulet before it spontaneously exploded. The explosion weakened the room, but the wall was still up enough to hold off the cult. A stained glass window section on the outer wall had been blown out, however. After some discussion, the party jumped out through the broken window with Parari turning into water drake and carrying the rest for thirty seconds, getting them down far enough that they were able to safely drop into the water.
Behind them, the roof of the tower exploded, something flying up into the sky. As it circled back, more detail became clear: It was some sort of phoenix dragon with three long tails. Lightning struck even more rapidly in the creature's rage, blowing the tower's top into pieces. The party sprinted into the nearby woods and hid as the dragon circled wider. With the area clear of visible targets for its hate, the dragon turned and disappeared into the magical vortex offshore. The party beat a careful and quiet retreat in the other direction.
No further obstacles of note appeared as the party returned to the Floatswell. Simon declined the offer to join in the journey back to Meridan; his place was here, in Zenogovia. Before they parted ways, Marc promised future aid from his intelligence service and Senal gifted Simon with one of the gems she'd recovered. While the party had not yet had time to split the treasure from the adventure, this gem appeared to be intelligent, and it (or rather, she) had chosen Simon as her wielder.
And with that, the party's quest in Zenogovia was complete, and they turned their ship towards an uneventful ride home.
Rewards Granted
Simon gets hexagonal blue-green gem. Intelligent. Likes Simon for his puzzle-solving. Turns out to be essentially the Splinter Cell/Metal Gear Solid "voice in the ear/Ops" assistant. Simon named her Ops (or Opse).
Missions/Quests Completed
Senal: Retrieve the gem from Zenogovia.
Character(s) interacted with
Created Content
Notes
The knight lord's order worships fire, sun, freedom, sky. The "Order of Azarel".
Report Date
24 May 2023
Primary Location
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