Session 04
General Summary
The party rested the night in the lovely underground shrine and awoke feeling refreshed and
rejuvinated. They set out for the spiders lair before the sun was fully up. in late afternoon they
reached the location the dwarf spirit had guided them to. Elijah and Sabretooth scouted the glade
and saw many spiders webs in the trees and high up in the branches an elf who appeared to be
sleeping.
Putting two and two together and noting some very rare an unusual signs Dorian realised this was
a legendary aranea - a cross between an elf and a spider - created by one of Callindrill's
experiments hundreds of years ago. The group hailed the aranea and it woke and climbed
dextrously down to see them. Another elf also appeared out of the trees. A conversation ensued
and the party explained the situation. Dorian told them he knew of the aranea which greatly
impressed them. After some efforts on the elves parts to refute the party's claims they found out
the aranea had stolen the skull as a practical joke. Dorian and Drax were able to convinced them to
hand it over.
The group bid the aranea farewell and took the skull back to the ancient crypt. There they put the
skull back together with the rest of the body and were able to put Warlord Azram Dutenhammer to
rest. The dwarven spirit approached the party and Drax was gifted Demonbane the axe. Warlord
Azram told of how he had fought the drow wizard Larin Karr in his lifetime a thousand years ago.
He told them about the Vault of Larin Karr which supposedly lies under Quail Valley to the north
of here. Dorian asked many questions about the time of this dwarven warlord and was able to
expand on his knowledge of the past. Then the spirit of the dwarf faded away, put to rest at last.
The next day the party headed on to the House of Bricks which was only a few miles away on the
edge of the forest. The unicorn bid Jaina farewell for it refused to leave the forest and its home.
The House of Bricks was made of red brick and visible from a long way away. It looks in
reasonable condition although the front door was missing. As the party explored the interior, they
were ambushed by a barghest demon who charmed Drax. They fought it off and it fled into the
forest. Inside the house they found a book refering to Korbus the Summoner - Dorian remembered
his master Belzur ranting about Korbus when they captured him. In the House was one magically
locked door which Drax used Demonbane to batter through. beyond they found a staircase leading
down into the earth.
The staircase ledt to a tunnel which lead off north westerly - in the direction of the Duskmoon
Hills and Fools Pass. The tunnel lead on for miles and miles, punctuated by the occasional cave. It
was all man made and supported by wooden beams. In one such cave they found a secret
compartment with a strange key. This opened a secret door which they unlocked. Beyond was a
room with a staircase leading up. This was rune covered and Dorian's magical detections revealed
runes of warding and summoning. Dorian suggested these things usually have a password. Drax
said "Belzur" as he stepped through the runes. Nothing happened. The rest followed.
They found themselves in the bottom floor of a Wizards Tower. They realized this must be the
famous wizard's tower which overlooks Fools Pass and which was supposedly inpenetrable - and
which was supposedly owned by Belzur. here dorian hoped to find the Bestia Animus tome. The
bottom floor was a library. There were loads of books on many subjects but no Bestia Animus. A
spiral stair case lead up. At the top of the flight of stairs was an iron bound oak door. Dorian let
his sense open up and detected a spell of warding and summoning on the door. Searching it
carefully they also noted a little "R" over handle. Dorian recalled Belzur had a daughter called
Rose. Drax said "Rose" as he opened the door. Nothing happened. As he stepped over the
threshold Elijah realized the demonstone was able to banish demons but as yet had no way to
know how to use it to do such.
The first flooor contained another library. It had loads of books on all the subjects of magic apart
from Conjuration. Again there was no Bestia Animus. In one of the books they found a letter
addressed to Rose, Jillian, and Alder - his three daughters. At the top of the stairs up was another
oak door. Searching again they found an "A" over the handle. Again Drax said "Alder" whilst
opening it. Nothing happpened. As he stepped over threshold Elijah knew the command word to
use the demonstone.
The second floor contained yet another library. This one was full of conjuration books. here
Dorian found Bestia Animus - a ritual which when learnt would enable Sabertooth to talk. There
were more stairs and another oak door. A "J" was over the handle of this one. Drax said "Jilian" as
he opened it and again nothing happened. They had successfully bypassed all the magical traps
and wards the place had to offer. Or so they thought. As he stepped over the threshold Elijah knew
the demonstone could be used to sense the direction to the nearest most powerful demon or
demonologist.
The third floor was the last. here was a roof open to the elements - and obviously an illusion made
this appear stone from the outside. It was night time by now. The roof was very empty containing
only a small bookshelf, table and chairs. Here they found a fake book. Inside was a magical ring
which Dorian recognised was a Ring of Wizardry. Excitedly he put it on. As he did so he was now
geased to search for the Book of Korbus which he also knew was located in the library below the
temple of the Raven Queen in Endhome. This was obviously a present for any thief coming here,
set up by Belzur, to get the thief to help Belzur in his questo to locate the recover the Book of
Korbus.
At this time Jaina received a Sending from Gilda Waynethrope: She was having real troubles
getting her church up and running and needed help. Apparently thugs were repeatedly threatening
her and trying to get her to leave the city. It was time to return to Endhome and help.
Report Date
10 Apr 2024
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