Session date: 12 Feb 2022
DM: Geokhan
Characters:
Leader – Bardy
Scout – Bardy
Trailblazer – Zoren
Chronciler – Bardy
Cartographer – Gau
The others: Griters, Katla and Nog
Session summary: We went to find the Son of the Altist named Rolannmiton. Entered Hall of the Altist to look for him. Fought a lot of skeletal monsters, spiders and oozes. Lathander came down and saved us from the evil inside the Hall of the Altist! Saved Rolannmiton from coffin. A very abundant amount of lore was discussed. My faith in Lathander, god of birth and renewal, was renewed.
Read Bardy’s log for more details about lore discussed.
Soundtrack for log:
Day 1:
Left from Port Mirandia. Found 2 strange plants while Bardy and Nog hunted. Gau identified them as juniper and Saracens Confound.
During my watch, the pegasus Sisiphyus and I were slammed with a meteor shower. As I was waking people up, I saw a skeletal figure with a magical circle under him disappear after the meteors fell. It was hard to tell if the meteor shower and the figure were linked in any way or not though.
Griters later said the figure likely belonged to a group of time travellers that tended to test adventurers on the island. I managed to find a meteor small enough to make an idol of Lathander with using the spell Stone Shape.
Day 2:
We managed to cross the river by finding frozen parts thanks to myself.
Encountered a dead body that likely had necromancy magic cast on it. Possibly experiment for undead? Body parts were twisted around then sewn back on!
Arrived at a temple that looked abandoned. Had arcane runes on a circle that belonged to portal before. Could have belonged to Altists? The name “Muldermor” was written down. Divination and conjuration magic were radiating out from parts of the temple floor. Portal circle seemed like it was one way. Griters postulated that it was for sending people to flank enemy during battles. Magic circle looked around 10 days old. We decided not to touch the magic circles and moved on.
Encountered blizzard during the afternoon. I used my Pole of Collapsing as a walking stick.
During the evening, we arrived at the mountains that Nog called “The Spine of the World.” I get the feeling it is not the actual name, but I will go with it for now. Met a humanoid child. He had a pony next to her. Mentioned someone was here and wanted us to follow him excitedly. We followed him to camp with girl and older man.
Older man named Darrek said he had been waiting for Bardy. He knew someone that Bardy knew named Rolannmiton, Son of the Altist. Roland went to study Altist shrine due to getting impatient and curious to study shrine after there was a disturbance. Mentioned how there were tombs around the area and that evil sometimes sprouted up in the area.
I tried casting Augury to ask what might happen if we left to look for Rolannmiton. Got back nothing. At least it wasn’t woe. We decided to go look for Rolannmiton tomorrow.
Day 3:
We went where Darrek mentioned to find Rolandmithin, whom might be in trouble. Entered cave tunnel of the place known as the Hall of the Altist.
By the way, if I ever use Glyph of Warding, the password is “By the light of Lathander.”
Griters found writing on the ground of the tunnel. Seemed to refer to Altists and place called “Solan Monastery.” When, Nog and Katla entered rooms, magic circle caused light to illuminate the room. Suddenly, we were faced with a surge of skeletal bones that we fought with fervor. It looked like a horde of skeletons. Also fought other assortment of monsters such as spiders, oozes and other monsters! A scream of evil energy radiated out from the very building that affected us all too. The very walls seemed to hurt us with shadowy hands stretching out and grabbing us.
- The oozes could mimic spells cast by us. One mimicked the Wall of Fire I cast, apparently. Another ooze cast Fireball on me, and I was pushed back by their flames. They would reach out and try to constrict us. One of them seemed immune to fire, while another was not. It was perplexing. Nog said it was that magic was not working on them in general, but magic weapons seemed to work on those oozes, so I tried my mace. That worked. My spiritual weapon, which is a longsword, also seemed to work. It also did get frightened by my Mace of Terror as well, although it was hard to tell. It seems to vary by each disgusting ooze.
My scrolls helped me survive. Sisyphus the pegasus was defeated and disappeared. We defeated the monsters, but the effects of the cave seemed to be ongoing. Katla discerned that the glyphs on the ground seemed to be causing the strange effects of creating blood in the hallways and grasping shadowy hands. Nog also said he disappeared at one point. Katla realised that something had to be done to turn the magic circle off. Bardy found an ornate coffin.
I tried something possibly reckless. I called upon my lord Lathander, god of birth and renewal, to ask if the effects of this building could be removed. Suddenly, the stone idol of Lathander that I had made from the meteorite began to glow hot, and a portal opened up. From the portal, a figure that looked like and I knew in my soul was the very deity Lathander appeared. His very presence seemed to remove the evil from the Hall! I instinctively got down on one knee and bowed my head in reverence. The next moment, Lathander disappeared.
While I stood in place trying to process all that had happened, the others inspected the ornate coffin. It had abjuration magic cast on it with magical bindings. Griters dispelled it, and the bindings were removed. Out of the coffin, Rolannmiton came out coughing. He said he was overpowered by this structure. Bardy introduced himself since it turned out that he had not met Rolannmiton before.
“Why is everyone bowing?”
-Nog the very hairy bugbear that sounds a little like an orc
I cast a spell called Memento Mori on Rolannmiton to assess his status. I used my recently bought incense instead of my stone idol since it had now spiritual significance to me.
Bardy and Griters talked to Rolannmiton while I preached a sermon to the children about Lathander and how if they ever chose to became clerics, it was worth following Lathander. I learned about the following information below from Bardy afterwards. Katla and Nog seemed to zone out around this point. Gau watched me preach and listened to Rolannmiton as well.
Rolannmiton said he knew the Garden of Flowers. He recounted the following lore:
- “He knew that stone weaving was Dwarven Magic, that was passed down through the generation to those that had the ability to coax the very spirit of the stones of which the dwarves so covented. They were a loyal group to both their Kings and Kingdom. A shining light of joy and hope. Yet their radiance was too bright for those that lurked in the darkness. Greed has often been said to be the weakness of the dwarves. The burning elders, refers to a group and an ideal. Those dwarves which coveted the most, power, wealth, prestige, banded together in shadows, hidden behind closed doors and veiled in the darkest secrecy. They made pact with power beyond them that twisted not just their minds but their very souls. Dark machinations are being played out in the depths of those dwarven halls.
- Dwarves are long lived compared to some, yet the powers that corrupted them has waited eons. Slowly the path of decay began as the burning elders began their trek. Blinded by their gluttony and greed the elders walked blindly into the abyssal maw of the entity of whom I do not know the name.
- I believe any further answer are guarded deep in the darkness of intrigue of Grackistugh. There you would have to enter the madness and deceit known only as the Belbeast. This was the last piece of information that I was able to gleam. My understanding is that a place or location. Most of the dwarves would be unaware of its meaning, yet there are those that ply in the deepest parts of the city’s cesses that would know but beware as their prices may be born of desperation and betrayal.”
- Said that Grackistugh was once swarmed with troglodytes.
- For Gonderstone, he said for us to go to ReHope. He mentioned the name Mardellan. He said Bardy had been touched by something related to the secrets of the stone keepers, which allowed him to unlock links to past generations. He said those secrets could be found in Grackistugh as well but to proceed cautiously, for backbiting and betrayal were likely. He told us to seek out those who would lead the way.
- He did not know who Leonid was but did know that it was related to the entities that controlled the island.
- As for the ruins of Masser:
“The ruins of Masser you say, that is a place death.
The desert of flies is not the only desert that this island contains. Far to the south past the river of Mit’thek there is a land of pain and sorrow. The people there conspire against the people of the Great Khendra Empire, yet I believe that at one time they were more kindred. This is where the location lies. - What little I know about the ruins of Masser is that it is a prison much like the other that are found on the island. Imprisoned with is a creature of immense power for destruction. Many were tempted by the stories of the wealth and items amassed inside its chambers, as well as all that was lost in the attempts to claim them. The ruins are said to bear a glyph that you may use to identifiy the location.”
- He also said how the Lopongo and Lapendi were once one tribe but split into different tribes later.
- Griters asked about the Golden Door (which cursed those that were not tabaxi). He said he knew about something called the Golden Door but did not divulge anything more than what Garden of Flowers had told Griters.
- The name Gifontay was mentioned, but I didn’t hear much about that. Refer to Bardy’s log for that.
- (Admittedly, I didn’t listen to everything as I was distracted by the divine revelation I had received today!)
- He said his lineage could be traced back to the Altists, but he was not the chosen way, despite being called the Son of the Altist. It is said that one of the descendants of the Altists will rise with blue light and flame of Altist and lead the others to their glory. The flame is a metaphorical embodiment of freedom from the yuan ti empire with kindness in their hearts. He could not tell us who the chosen was or where he was.
- For the Order of the Magnitude, said that they were associated with Leonid? They were looking for a horseshoe of some sort and looking for an answer there, according to Griters.
- Katla asked about clockwork demiplane and who built it. Rolannmiton did not know who built that, nor had he been there. Did mention that strange little prisons appeared from time to time on the island.
- Finally, he said powerful necromancer lived to south part of mountains. Said that he had faced his creations before and that necromancer surrounds himself with abominations and aberrations from other planes. Name was Mauldermore.
After that incredibly extensive dialogue, we stayed the night with Rolannmiton near the shrine of the Altist. Bardy summoned Sisyphus the pegasus. I slept on what had transpired with Lathander appearing.
Day 4:
During the morning, I prayed about what happened with Lathander with Bardy’s help. I received a vision of a woman who seemed to have helped cause the miracle of Lathander appearing to occur. A part of me had wondered if that was actually Lathander now, but now, I am almost certain that it was Lathander himself. Praise be to his name.
I think Darreckt and Rolannmiton were brothers. Possibly. Again, I wasn’t paying as much attention as Bardy and Griters were.
Gau used the spell Tree Stride to move us ridiculously fast back to Port Mirandia! I almost got motion sickness. Almost.
After returning to town, I dipped the meteorite idol figure of Lathander in holy water that I made myself from powdered silver. I returned to the Potted Plant Inn, passing by Daffodil running around with skeletal monsters. That looked troubling, but I overlooked it due to my priorities being centered on the figure. I then placed it in my room next to my torches engraved with the names of deceased comrades in commemoration of the miracle I received from Lathander, with assistance from the Altist spirit…
