Tl;dr: Further exploration of an Arcane Depository proves lethat to one adventurer. Also weird goat-man and priest cat.
Future Adventure Notes:
•Some form of goat-man with a priest cat have gone to the Temple of Lathander on a pilgrimage of some kind.
•The Arcane Depository of the Rehope in the valley south of their city has much left to be explored.
•You must bring the coin to open the door to further areas. Flipping the coin causing a chiming sound that is directional.
•Within the archives of AFK is an amulet that has a mystical connection to aiding completion of specific but as yet unknown tasks.
Session Title: Session with Books
Session DM: Geokhan
Session Date: 15 Jun 2022 @ 23:00 UTC
Session Risk: Unspecified
Characters:
•Aodh (Barbarian 7) (played by RCB)
•Barley (Druid 6) (played by Tootired78)
•Olivia (Rogue 6/Wizard 1) (played by Seph)
•Sapphire (Monk 7) (Deceased)(played by Arden)
•Vivi (Sorcerer 7) (played by Konopa)
The death of one friend, lost forever to the Khenran cult of true death, and the events of my latest adventure heavily bring to mind another friend, also dead. He recorded the events of one of our adventures long ago, but I think they are relevant again now. They are located here in the archive. Wine, Song and Roots | Sleeper Island EU
The amulet that I received has been sitting untouched to my knowledge since, in the AFK archives. I recall being told by someone, perhaps Garden of Flowers or Gregory from whom I received it, that the amulet’s stones were destined to aid in the completion of specific tasks. Perhaps I, or anyone should start taking it out more, see if it indicates or reacts to anything.
The start of this journey was a beautiful warm spring day. Vivi had come into possession of a coin that might fit the recess found in a heavily enchanted wall on our previous adventure. Dungeon. Check. Dragon. Check. D&D Accomplished. | Sleeper Island EU . Of dwarven make the coin gave off a chiming sound when flipped and indicates a direction, and words indicating some form of joint venture in the past. Inscribed on the wall around the recess were the word in dwarvish, “Wayfarer Alliance Faith Fidelity,” which sounded very similar to me.
We started in Ruined Oak and had a peaceful day of travel to the outpost, and peaceful night. On the second day, we chanced to see a unusually shaped humanoid pulling a cart, and appeared to be trying to evade notice. Sapphire approached a bit aggressively, causing the goat-man of some nature to be extremely wary.
After hearing the cart had mewing within, my attempt at deception, by summoning a cat to say they had lost one was unsuccessful, but did reveal something rather extraordinary. One of the cats within spoke to the goat in some language I know not, and revealed that it was not on of theirs.
In further conversation the goat-man, named “Gore” we eventually learned, was travelling with this cat and others on a sacred journey. The cat that spoke was a priest of some kind and they were on their way to the Temple of Lathander, just southwest of the bridge. Getting that scant information through Gore’s wariness was difficult. He had extreme suspicion of us ,and fear of bandits. He said it would be more appropriate to talk to them after they had finished their pilgrimage to the Temple of Lathander.
We continued on that day, but as we neared the entrance to the Arcane Depository, we noticed a small tower in the valley, near a lake. On the lake was a decrepit rowboat. Near the tower was a small, overgrown graveyard. The tombstones were of dwarvish design but the names of the deceased written in elvish. Listed are the names we could read : Merith Yllaberos ; Maiele Fenrie ; Imizael Daetoris ; Felaern Wysakas ; Malonne Sarrieth ; Artin Fanorin ; Navarre Cracyne.
The tower itself looked abandoned for some time. Two storied, with uncovered windows on the second and an unusual intermingling of dwarven and elven design. Within we found a book on a desk, and a secret drawer in the desk that contained a wizard scroll and a smooth piece of obsidian. The book is the reason I was remembering Morros and that adventure. My party that day was as described in this old book.
Our problem that day was confusing to us. It was as if time kept shifting around us, and we were meeting people for the first time who knew our names and claimed to have encountered us earlier. We never investigated the how or why of this, as just finding the grapes was nearly lethal. The name of the writer is not the name the person who gave me the amulet used.
Back in the recent past, we spent the night safely at the tower, moving to the Arcane Depository in the morning. Olivia and Sapphire entered first, and again triggered a fireball trap. Again the same dwarvish voice shouted out, identical to before. They determined this time that the triggering event is two people in a line across from the statue with the sword.
We went to the wall with the recess. Sapphire placed the coin in, while saying “Wayfarer Alliance Faith Fidelity.” We heard rumbling as a section of the wall receded into the floor, unlit stairs descending beyond. We descended, scouting with an owl. Sets of stairs leading to landings with more stairs, eventually finding ourselves in front of some doors, closed.
Olivia declared them safe to open and Aodh opened them. From a human’s perspective it was a small corridor, ten foot wide and six foot high. On the ground were some bones and statues in disrepair. Side corridors split off, my owl was returned to the Feywild by a smashing ceiling trap. Shortly after moving in here we were attacked in a deadly fight.
Devils of some kind appeared, and a man who charged at me, knowing my name, claiming I was in great peril, seemingly friendly until he got close enough to slash at me. Magic eventually revealed him to be a shapeshifter of some kind. Behind these was a giant owl and two unusual spellcasting, pole-armed dwarves or perhaps something similar. One of those pole-armed fellows killed Sapphire in a flurry of powerful blows.
The rest of us took a moment to mourn the loss of Sapphire, then commenced a brief search of the area. Throughout we found various books, listed. There were also two separate staircases that descended further, and a set of massive doors that seemed to have much behind. Wounded and weary, we elected to leave, bring Sapphire’s body.
When we exited where the coin was recessed, somehow it noticed our leaving. The door ascended with the coin intact, which we retrieved. Vivi reminded everyone about the chime when the coin was flipped and how it would indicate a direction. We flipped the coin here on our way out and it indicated a different location than the door we had just used. A mystery for now.
We travelled over to the Rehope outpost, noticing a new farm nearby on our way. From one of the Rehope dwarves, Vivi asked for a ghost story for some reason, and he received a story I had read earlier, known as Invaders and Spies, inside which we had found a scrawled message previously.
“Back when the land was new, and many things yet still lacked form. The world was covered in mist and magic flowed uncontained like a wild river flowing over everything in its path. But in the mist there was one who watched, never speaking, never touching, nothing more than a Ghost in the mist.
As the mountains rose and the sea deepen the watcher watched. As creatures began swimming in the sea and crawling on the land, the watcher watched. As time proceeded and cultures came and cultures went the watcher watched. Then one day a mighty warrior tracked the watcher down and demanded to know why the watcher watched. The warrior weapons were worthless as nothing seem to pierce either the watchers skin or his demeanor.
The Warrior dishearten that he had failed in his task, finally gave up and began to start the lonely journey home. As the warrior had just turn his back on the watcher, he hear a voice low and soft, yet it sent shivers up his spine. The word he heard were, “There is no beginning without an end, yet what is there if it is not seen. Fleeting and fading is the life of a person, but a flower of the field.
What meaning does it have but not a part of a cycle. This is not the first time the world did turn, and its turning will cease once again. Yet this shall not be the end, it is only the end of the beginning.” The warrior then turned and found the watcher gone from his sight. The warrior then pondered on what the watcher had said and then spent his remaining years seeking understanding and enlightenment, but sadly died due to madness … The end”