DM: Calmseeker
Party: Dimble, Alessio (scout), Orgeron (trailblazer), Don, Jyn (leader).
I accompanied a group of adventurers on a mission to protect the road builders as they finish building Honor’s Trail. Our adventure was interrupted quite a lot by Loviatar followers and Lord Gauntemort servants, and I am worried it won’t be the last time we hear from them.
Our first encounter was with a group of hooded figures that had a symbol of a scourge whip on their robes – they were followers of Loviatar. They claimed they work with Belfador – the devil we encountered and killed a few times before. They wanted to sacrifice the workers. We fought them – some of them were undead and fiends. After killing them we found a locket that one of them carried. The locket had a skull symbol on it. We realized it was a Corecrux, so we destroyed it (everything I know about the Corecruxes is listed at the end of this log). When we destroyed the Corecrux, we heard a loud scream and once it exploded the symbol, made of green mist, appeared in the sky.
During the night watch we found a saddled horse with no rider on it. After investigating everything it carried on it, we assumed it belongs to a monk, follower of Lathander, god of renewal. The monk’s name was Greyford.
During the next day, we found an old orc campsite. We found a note there saying: “The Way is shut”. Shortly after that we encountered a group of 5 orcs and a large worg. They asked if we are enemies of The Way, to which we replied we aren’t. They claimed the Honor’s Trail goes southwest to their territory, and that they will not allow that. We gave them some gifts: handaxes, rations, 2 stone sculptures and a shield I crafted especially for them. They allowed us to finish building the road in exchange for these gifts. They informed us that Greyford helped them in the past but fell to the dark wizard. The orc we talked to was named Thromkar.
Right after that we found an injured man laying on the road. But it just was a bait, as some enemies were hiding around, planning to ambush us. Luckily enough we noticed them before they managed to cause any harm. They were led by someone named Yoshiro Kageyoshi. He said he works with followers of Loviatar. He summoned many creatures, including a walking plant, a fire elemental and an undead for us to fight against.
Once we defeated them, we found a necktie that Yoshiro carried. It was another corecrux with the same skull symbol on it. We destroyed it as well, but this time we heard a shriek: “HADOSURUSOOOOOOOOO!” and once again smoke came out of it. This time the symbol didn’t appear in the sky. I should also mention that Yoshiro was a disgusting man who collected hands.
During the next day we found some old archways. There were no writings on them. After examining them for a while, we learned they were made by dwarves centuries ago as part of a castle construction that was never completed. It had transmutation magic that was used to change the shape of the boulders that the arches were made of.
Right after that we finally encountered Lord Gauntemort himself next to a burning tower. He was surrounded by bodies and undead and had many servants that helped him during the fight. Before we had the chance to attack him, he used his wand to create the same shape of the skull in the sky. It was a hard fight, but we won. We found another Corecrux – Lord Gauntemot’s notebook. It had the same symbol on it. When we destroyed the notebook, we heard a high-pitched hiss, and some sort of a spirit left the book and vanished. Seems like Lord Gauntemort won’t get fully killed before we destroy all 7 Corecruxes.
Reading through his notebook, it seems like Lord Gauntemort marked the followers of Loviatar (of Cuda Downs?) as potential followers or servants. His goal is to control the Forest of Thorns and the Sori elves that live within it. He also mentioned some sort of a replacement vessel, maybe for his soul.
He also claims the symbol he uses isn’t the symbol of Myrkul, as many believe, but his own mark.
On our way back the orcs we met earlier on our adventure found Greyford, who was badly injured and barely alive. We took care of him and brought him to Ruined Oak. The orcs said their warchief is pleased with our gifts and might want to meet us in the future.
Some extra information about the Corecruxes:
- All Corecruxes we checked so far had Abjuration and Necromancy magic emitting from them.
- When someone who is not the owner of the Corecrux touches it, it attacks the person who touches it. It hurts both the mind and the soul. The Corecrux curses the holder – causing him to grow a few years older.
- They are used to transfer damage taken by the owner to another creature. I examined the necktie specifically and learned that it requires attunement and had 3 charges per day. I don’t know if that is always the case, though.
- The Corecrux is tied to the soul of its creature and prolong its life. It is created by sacrificing the soul of a celestial.
- 7 Corcruxes were made, all created by Lord Gauntemort. All of them must be destroyed in order to kill him. We already destroyed 5: An amulet, a chalice, a locket, a necktie, and a notebook.
- In Lord Gauntemort’s notebook he mentioned that he gave 5 of the Corecruxes to his helpers: To a sorceress, to a sellsword, to a follower of Loviatar, to a man that collects hands and to a bandit that can predict the future. As mentioned before, we destroyed 5: the ones that were given to the man that collects hands, to the follower of Loviatar, to the sorceress, and I think the last one we destroyed is the one Lord Gauntemort said he gave to the sellsword. I’m afraid to say I think I know who the bandit that can predict the future is, and I don’t think we destroyed anything he owned.
- You can destroy a Corecrux by casting both Dispel Magic and Remove Curse on it at the same time.