01/19/2023 Virtuous Age Session 33: The Dracolisk, LakeTower House and SilverSnitch

SilverSnitch the Shadowking

We pick up this week’s session headed to the LakeTower House leaving out of the front of the old tower. The doors to this entrance are relatively new, inside the door frame in draconic “the great corruptor”

From this door the path follows a ridge that overlooks the Rift. Eabrossi casts invisibility as the storm kicks up. Strange and senseless sounds emerge from the grey overcast sky.

When we get to the ‘water’, strange shapes can be barely perceived in what isn’t water but quasi-shadow material. We hear the creature before we see it. From the mist appears a low flying six legged dragon-like creature with dark scales and glistening eyes. On its chest is branded Tiamat’s symbol. The dracolisk. A brand that we suspect grants it certain abilities of all chromatic dragons. Shadows boil in its wake- a shadow demon and a greater shadow. 

Zaigan and Kron kill the dracolisk and our characters are able to ward off the shadow demon and greater shadow after multiple Daylight spells.

Our characters make use of the remaining mythic haste spell and when we get close to the water, we are reminded of what Arcanthorth says about taking things from the Ways. It appears to be water, but it is shadow stuff and not 100% real and also feels like we have entered into somethings domain. There looks to be multiple entrances into the LakeTower House head. Furthermore it is obviously built for giants.

Markings on the LakeTower House are words in the shadowtounge: “Silver Snitch the Shadow King.” The Leprechaun. “What have I done to incur your wrath?” a disembodied magical voice asks.

Eabrossi suggests a palaver. With that the door opens into a room with a table and chairs. There are stairs going up to a larger room containing a rug, couches, tables, and bookcases. Two more curving stairs lead upward.

We see the Leprechaun looking malevolently at us. Eabrossi guarantees our behavior. Our characters notice that all of the Leprechaun’s clothes are shadow material. 

LakeTower House

After a couple of passes with a peace pipe he offers to answer a few questions.

“Who administers the Ziggurat temple?”

Inquisitor Tâmtu.

“Why did they build the temple here?”

He doesn’t know.

“Have they discovered how to operate the artifact?"

He is not at liberty to talk. 

Then he takes off further up the stairs. Kron follows but creatures manifest from the darkness and attack us. There continues to be sense of being watched. Eabrossi attacks with the short sword Valgyre and awakens the legendary sword. 

We end the session here. 

01/12/2023 Virtuous Age Session 32: Bordering the Shadow Plane and Investigating the Tower.

We pick up this week’s session near the ziggurat. Two factors adjust our arrival: there is a time/magic delay and, our characters eventually surmise this region is extra planar. A remnant from a time before the Dawning. The plane overlap is connected to the shadowplane-a primal mythic landscape. 

There are robed individuals in and around the structure. While around the Ziggurat, large spiders, centipedes, and scorpions wander the landscape. 

A perpetual storm hangs over the area armed with rancid gusts of wind. We feel that we are in a domain of the Opal Dragon.

Easily seen hydra lurks nearby as well as possible golems or constructs move about with purpose. The dracolisk, our characters notice, wanders the nearby sands.

Our characters decide to rest in a magical rope trick. A tricky proposition this close to the shadowplane. In the end, sometime later, our characters awake fully rested. Aevum wakes confident this pocket will be here a while. He comes to reason out that time flows differently here.

Our characters decide to investigate the Tower in the distance before tangling with a hydra or dracolisk. When we exit the rope trick we see the storm has intensified.

It is September 19^th.

Our characters emerge from the rope trick and immediately notice differences: the dracolisk is now near the hydra  and there is a fresh row of stone statues with some kind of ceremony in progress. Six units of six medium sized creatures are actively patrolling the area, some of them Kron notices are wereboars. We feel an overwhelming presence from above.

Various paths lead to the Area of Broken Mountain and the Tower. We come to a stop when we find Scelarus’ arcane symbol on a stone. Both Tena and Eabrossi practice spellcasting in the planar environment. Kron defaces the sigil.

Our characters travel on to the rear of the tower and encounter 8 individuals. Some could be members of the rat tribe, some wereboars as well as a flying evil individual who releases a spell from 30’ in the air. (Theophrastus?) This individuals wears jewelry and bears symbols of Tiamat.

We defeat the wererats and wereboars and chase off the devotee of Tiamat. Our characters continue to the Tower. We come to a split in the road. Our characters take the high road. It leads around the tower to an arena decorated with Tiamat iconography. Here we see magic symbols that Tena spends time studying. They are all the same potency sigils that are draconic ‘tiamat’ in nature.

There is a double wide door in the mists of overgrowth of the tower. It is clearly meant for a giant occupant. We passed through and cross the arena. During the crossing each of us are subject to Tiamats sermons. We all avoid the greater curse and when we do Ziagan realizes what happened to his uncle Bishma: he had his religion changed.

Our characters get to a window opening into the tower and enter. Inside the tower we see a partially ruined tower that has been unkept for some time. Built for giants it is easily 6 to 8 stories tall.

On the northern side of each level are ancient maps of the Ways. Theoretical at the time of creation of these maps, whoever worked on it had great knowledge about how they work. It was a study the Ways when it was unbroken. The Rest of the tower is more recent- these notes and such seems to be trying to reverse engineer the function of the embassy on the far side of the ziggurat. 

Their conclusion assumes the embassy works like the ways. This is not exactly the case due to different creators and different magic. We guess Scelarus and possibly Theophrastus stayed here.

We begin a thorough search at the top floor where Scelarus resided. She has items spread about different work stations. The longer we look the more we see her decent into insanity. She assumed Bishma was sent from Tiamat herself. "Theo" was the end of her isolation and a key to her work. We surmise the priesthood of Tiamat are actively looking for the giants embassies to attack the giants using their own ways of travel.

These Tiamat devotees seem confident they have found an embassy and therefore founded a church here. The ziggurat is considered their new temple to Tiamat. There is no mention or consideration of the hydra, basilisk or the pearl dragon.

Aevum realizes his mother Sanguine and Bishma encountered this temple while looking for Embassies. He was turned to the faith of Tiamat she was not  

In Scelarus' belongings Eabrossi finds a wand of freedom of movement (9 charges). Tena recovers a Selective metamagic rod (6^th level). Aevum finds a wand of invisibility (25 charges). Several cold iron daggers. A Lesser Enlarge metamagic rod. Finally, a type 5 neckless of fireballs. Our characters take all her questionable notes.

We eventually make our way down to the second floor. This resident has not been here as long as Scelarus. There are not a lot personal items of this individual instead this level is filled with Tiamat iconography. One of this man's main duties is making Tiamat holy symbols. He seems to be the only sane one in a sea of madness. He does mention the hydra creature and basilisk and to be cautious around them.

We leave the tower and head to the LakeTower in the direction of the Ziggurat.

Lay of the Land

Ziggurat

Embassy

 

Tower

                                                    

Inner Embassy

LakeTower House

          

Artsy Fartsy Map

01/05/2023 Virtuous Age Session 31: Reunion, An Orb of Agamotto, and the Ziggurat

We begin moments after killing Scelarus and it seems Bishma as escaped for the time being. Our characters quickly discuss and decide to first find King Saxo. Aevum casts a divination and in moments is drawn to a lower level of the castle. We begin to hear an increase in noise all about and eventually our characters will hear bells. Kron picks up the body of Scelarus.

Tena spots an air elemental then a whisper asks “is she truly dead?” to Eabrossi and Tena. Eabrossi does not respond while Tena answers with “I did not investigate.”

Our characters move back the way we came. A disembodied voice says: “Don’t make the mistake on not destroying her body. The Race is on to find your Father.”

On the way down the servants passage we hear behind more noise from the chamber we left. Bells continue to sound.

Our characters run into servants to whom Aevum warns them of an imposter King, at this time Istar breaks from our group to spread this news. Eventually we arrive to the ground floor. There is a panic room somewhere. Eabrossi intuits that the entrance of such a saferoom must be in the Thrown, just beyond the council chambers.

A plan formulates while our characters watch minotaur guards escort council members out of the Great Dome. Protected by an invisibility sphere we eventually make our way up the ramp toward the Council Chambers. 

Zaigan runs into something unseen as the rest of us sees a raven fly from direction we are heading to.

When we arrive everything is as Aevum remembers save for the group of minotaur guards actively guarding the Throne Room.

Our characters enact the second part of the plan. Tena casts an obscuring mist spells to distract the guards. One of the minotaur guards stepped up and, using powerful magic, open a new space within the wall. He is obviously unlike the other minotaur guards. 

Eventually our characters sneak past the alerted guards and enter the room where we find the thrown. Magical lights illuminate the area. More noise originates in several areas in the castle. In the chamber are leavings (food/drink) from a council that was alerted of immediate evacuation. 

Back in the council chamber a lone left side guard retreats into the thrown room behind our characters and away from the obscuring mist. Other minotaurs guards move about as Aevum spots markings on the wall: Scelarus’ arcane mark indicating she has poisoned the food here.

Once our characters make it to the Thrown, Eabrossi quickly discovers the way to unlock the Thrown. The thrown lowers to reveal a spiral staircase down to what is a kind of Royal Archives.

Following the sensation of Aevums divination spell, our characters descend to an area of light.

Aevum calls out to his father who responds with a question only Aevum could answer. 

It is a warm reunion and he was quick to confirm he got the warning about Bishma. We tell him about Bishma and his plan. Saxo says he went into hiding.

There are three forces at play: Our side, the militant titans, and the Scions of hell- those dark giants who embrace Tiamat’s rule through the practice of sin.

Saxo has come to believe Sanguine is alive and that Aevum is proof of the royal bloodline in these times. He is unsure of Bishma’s endgame, but our giant enemies wish to capture the Saxo line and present them to the titans.

Because for either side to get what they want they need all three King, Queen, Aevum as sacrifice. We need to find the embassy Sanguine went and find whatever remains of her there: she is two halves, her physical form is gone but her soul is suspended in time and that saving her is also her release.

There is another (planar) way out of here. The King does not intend on fleeing, he assumes he will be captured and not immediately killed.

Aevum enjoys a few final moments with his father. He warns Aevum that the Scions of hell they will not hesitate to kill for the minotaur who want the militant quality of the giants require the saxos for a ceremony for transfer of the royal bloodline. He will give over notes on the militant giants. (+2 or better to a knowledge-based check)

We go to destroy Scelarus’s but her body is gone.

On the sarcophagus in the Royal Archives are the names Malmeros, Kaithor, Skazer, Garthus, Ekxus, Merut, Arvis. Great thinkers and lore keeper from times of old.

We leave with a future in-game question (for this encounter with the King) and mythic components for spell use and legendary item refreshes. And…

Tena: Boots of Escape; Kron: Glove of Storing; Zaigan: Ring of Transposition; Eabrossi: Veil of Fleeting Glances; Aevum: Robe of Blending. The King writes Kron a letter freeing him of all charges of the murder of Talbot.

Not only do we need to survive but warn others that the dragons of sin have infiltrated everything.

There is a large-scale clockwork artifact here. A large version of Aevum’s symbol and has several uses. It was nn orb of Aggamotto.

After an hour, our characters are keen to get to the ziggurat; Tena decides to use her jaunt ability in conjunction with the orb and the newly acquired mythic component. Magic takes us and we appear near an impressive ziggurat and a three headed dragon-like creature. There is sound of water rushing and flyers in the air. We are surrounded by statuary of the poor souls who traveled here before us. 

After the experience Tena believes she is fated to restore Agamotto and believe she will recover all the orbs. In regards to portals and travel magic Tena believes she can potentially manipulate or shut down embassy portals. 

We pick up here next week.