04/21/2022 Virtuous Age Session 6: Full moon on September 25th, Talking to the Hand, and Further Dungeon Crawling

We begin this session September 1^st, in the lower level of the Pelor mausoleum. We rest in the room
where we found the fallen elf and dwarf.

Zaigan and Kron take the bodies to the fire fields to dispose of them. On the way back Kron finds a trap door and a cellar. He drops a torch that is noticed by the others below. We find out the passages connect.

In the hall of shadows we see the forms coming back, it would take until nightfall for them to fully return.

Aevum Saxo takes first watch

Kron second watch of three hours.

Zaigan third watch of another three hours.

Eabrossi the last watch with Tena sitting out a watch shift for the night. During his watch he heard movement and a door closing somewhere in the dungeon. 

Continuing our delve after a complete rest we, once again come to the door at the end of the hall has a lock. Eabrossi uses the skeleton key and the door opens into a multidirectional hall filled with skeletons and a crawling hand with a ring on its ring finger. Each skull has a gemstone. The battle is arduous, both Zaigan and Kron fall several times.

After a search, the area yields 60 platinum and a ring of jumping worn by one of the crawling hands. Six masterwork longswords, breastplates, and heavy steel shields- each with sun-god symbols. We gather it for later transportation.

We move to a nearby altar with a body upon it. Two daggers pin a young gnome body to the altar, his eyelids removed as he was tortured. One of the daggers was a poisoned blade, the other dagger is simply masterwork.

Around a corner we enter a room with a treasure-hunter gnome sorcerer strung up horrifically with his blood everywhere. He had six CMW potions, divine scroll (remove curse, resist energy, and sanctify corpse) on a belt plus: a scroll with 4 arcane spell levels, a divine scroll with 6 spell levels, another scroll with 2 arcane spell levels, +1 breast plate (Kron), and a bull strength potion. 

We investigate a series of doors and run into a group of ghouls who seem to be presently feeding off a paralyzed human. There were sounds of sobbing nearby.

We destroy the ghouls and discover the human individual has ghoul fever and has been here a number of days. His mind is broken. 

Behind the door, in a small room has a locked chest with four words in reverse inscribed on it. Xagyg dna nosenra evil. Inside the chest: green ink, a quill, book of blank parchment on the cover it says: Gnihtyna is elbissop, woll of rouy smaerd. Some pages are missing. It all radiates divination magic. 

We take the contents of the chest but leave the chest behind to use as a container out of the way.

We explore a nearby chamber door blocked by a riddle. After giving an answer we find the gnome Gwelldar who reaches towards us with a broken messenger tube, collapsing before us.

My betrayal is complete even if my plan isn't. Now I wait, face hidden, for my next opportunity. 

How those children survived is a question that may well haunt me to the end of my days. Instead of lost and forgotten in carnage, they are aware of the danger and searching down the same road as the Jinnborn's parents. 

Could I be so lucky as to have the group of them suffer the same fate? I shall hope so but prepare myself and fellow conspirators for the eventuality that they do not. 

There shall be a new king despite these setbacks and I will suffer the loss of my homeland no longer. An active bloodline of a fallen king is not a fate a wise new king should suffer. Our research on that subject must continue. We must isolate the king until we are prepared to strike and use this time to end the Saxo bloodline

GM Note: There is a mark on the message to indicate that it was sent with redundancy, meaning at least three copies of the message was sent, in case anything happened to messengers.  This is frequently done when delivering into dangerous areas and increases cost.  

We break the session here and pick up next session with our 3^rd character level.