Session Report 6 - The Shrine of the Darkin

General Summary

Our party awoke to a chilly morning at the Oasis deep in the Alik’r Desert. After an eventful day of combat and Manly almost being swallowed whole, the party treated themselves to a hearty breakfast of Scorpion Bacon and Bat Cheese. Taking some time to forage in the morning for flowers, Aethrondil and Havem successfully harvest a bushel of desert roses for future concoctions.
  Making their way through the desert, the party would be ambushed in the craggy, sand swept canyons enroute to the shrine. Nomadic Bandits had laid a number of different pit traps within the winding pathways, and the newest companion, Peeeeen-Ja would fall victim to a spike-riddled pit. A melee would ensue, with Steve almost being knocked out after a forceful punch knocked him prone, only to have a bandit take advantage of his vulnerability and stab him in the calf, maiming him brutally.
It was the heroics of Toe-Neigh, Manly, Havem, and Aethrondil that would save the day, vanquishing the ambushers, and allowing them to tend to Steve’s wounds. Havem’s bond with Toe-Neigh grows by the day, and they were an effective team throughout the encounter. The day was still early, so the party decided to keep moving, and venture towards the Shrine.
Hours would go by and the day would stretch to evening before Toe-Neigh spotted the shrine, far in the distance. A massive Obelisk, wind-scarred and weathered with time, marked an imposing image upon the desert vista. Surrounded by a large basin, the Obelisk appeared free of any other foes or bandits.
The party would come upon the remains of a former Darkin Spectre named Ufa Aamen. Ufa, now a Ra-Netu (a spirit that was denied the Last Rites and is unable to pass on to the Far Shores), requested that the party help lay his bones to rest so that he might pass on to the afterlife. He explained that he was cruelly murdered by his kin for questioning the direction of the Darkin Spectres. He described how the Darkin Spectres had been corrupted by an unknown Imperial, and forced to become pawns in the geopolitical squabbles of kings and kingdoms in Hammerfell. He agreed to share everything he knows with the Spectres once the Last Rites are performed. After Cleetus agreed to help Ufa, a large underground door was revealed, leading to a passageway deep underground.
Deciding to take a rest in the evening after a long day of travel, the party would awake in the early morning to begin their descent into the Shrine of the Darkin. Upon descending the stone steps, the party came upon a simple door with a jewel adorned goblet attached to the front. Ufa explained to the party that a sacrifice must be made to enter the Darkin’s realm and as such, each party member donated a septim and Cleetus donated some bat cheese, allowing them to pass through. The subsequent chamber was a large open area dedicated to the beasts most attuned to the Darkin. A simple puzzle was identified, in which the party members had to arrange various statues in the correct order to open the way forward. After solving the puzzle, Ufa explained to the party that in order for them to perform the rites, they must identify a storage room that contains the necessary oil and incenses. Once the oils and incenses are applied and prepared, his remains would need to be placed in the Font of Eternity, in the far reaches of the Shrine, with the Last Rites said over his body. Finally, his bones would need to be laid to rest in one of the empty coffins.
Further into the Shrine, the party would come upon a simple, personal Shrine to the Darkin. Feeling immediately uncomfortable, Steve would petition the party to destroy this small shrine as blasphemous and evil. His petition would go by unsuccessful, with Cleetus taking issue in his bigotry towards Redguard customs and religion. Peeeen-Ja would sense a divine power coming from the shrine, and after paying his respects to the deity whose realm he was in, he found a newfound vigor in his lust for combat and battle after a brutal experience the day before. To the south chambers, the party was faced with a number of traps set by the previous occupants. In one room, was a great mural that showcased the Great Exodus from Yokuda by the Ra Gada people during the first age. It showed how the when the Redguards arrived, they declared total war on the Elvish inhabitants of the desert and undertook a grand campaign to free up lands for their people within Hammerfell.
One of the murals showed the Darkin aiding the Ra Gada with their battles and even anointing three of his favoured warriors to a noble order that would become known as the Red Dervishes of Rihad, an elite group of Swords-Dancers who serve at the behest of the Nobles within the province. One of these warriors, Nohoto, would become ostracized by the Dervishes and the Darkin for committing a violent slaughter in the town of Moraine, murdering men, women, and children that he viewed as sympathetic to the elves that lived in the area. Nohoto was exiled, and he would go on to form the order that would later become known as the Darkin Spectres.
One of the chambers was inhabited by a small group of Skav Bats. Not one to let good milk go to waste, Cleetus spared no time in pacifying the beasts and gaining their trust so as to milk their precious liquid. Peeeen-Ja, still in a state due to the effects of his prayers, almost spoiled Cleetus’s work by attacking one of the bats brutally. It was only the quick work of Cleetus that saw them able to navigate the Bats without bloodshed. Further into the Shrine, the party would come upon a great chamber being guarded by what is known as the Grave Guardians, powerful constructs that were animated by the power of the Darkin to protect the shrine.

Report Date

15 Mar 2022