Mysteries of the Moonsea - campaign log

December 3

• We returned to Melvaunt. After a brief period of relaxation, during which Kara cured Ranjar's weakness, we visited Ublyn to report.
• Ublyn asked us to investigate Theoderus Stoneblood...

• We asked more questions - whether Theoderus employed an architect to make his home (no), whether he hires somebody to bring food (unknown) - but didn't find out anything of much use. Eventually we headed out to find his plot of land as described.
• Camping for the rest of the day and overnight, we found that nobody approached.
• We considered the possibility of sending Isek down the chute. Kara asked for an augury, but Ilmater's response was to warn us against that option.
• Giving up, we tried knocking on the door; no response, except a magically-created message telling us to go away and leave a message.
• Eventually we did just that; returned to town, then wrote a message including a picture of the brand and asking for a meeting. The meeting date was tomorrow at noon...

December 10

• Theoderus didn't show up... but an apparent acquaintance of his did. A flying creature, halfling-sized with humanlike features, popped out of the chute. He introduced himself as Nyz.
• Nyz appeared not to have complete knowledge of Theoderus's work but seemed to believe it unlikely that he would have been producing the branded weapons (although we didn't really narrow this down).
• After a while, he asked if we were hardy adventurers; we foolishly answered in the affirmative. He disappeared back down the chute for a short time then returned, leading us toward Jemel Ganza's warehouse.
• We reached the warehouse and Jemel filled us in.

• We followed Jemel into an area of the warehouse which had been emptied of goods. He pointed us to stairs that led down, then left and locked us in for safety. We headed downstairs into a square chamber with two passages out, one of which had caved in ages ago. The eastern passage was clear, so we took that.
• The passage turned north, with three smaller tunnels out east into storage chambers that had been set up as emergency shelters for the smiths. We searched them, finding a blue-sigiled dagger in one - and two shadows that lurked near it. After defeating the shadows (a battle which severely weakened Ranjar) we put the dagger carefully in a sack without touching it, and proceeded.
• The main hall opened into the southeastern corner of a large, partly-natural cavern. Again it had been emptied of goods.
• Nyz suddenly spoke up, saying that he knew a secret; Theoderus had helped design a secret room in the southern wall, a section of wall that can spin around to allow entrance. It is worked by a panel and can only be opened from the outside, so somebody had to wait for us.
• After some discussion, we decided Myriam would wait outside. Kara was first to go through. She found a small rectangular room, with a satchel abandoned on the floor, some old barrels... and two green, wormlike tentacled beasts of the type we'd encountered in Vorbyx's Watchpost.
• Meanwhile, those of us outside saw the room's previous occupant suddenly arrive with us! A cloaked, leather-armoured humanoid with red-glowing eyes and dessicated features.
  

December 17

• Kara handily defeated her opponents, while those of us outside took only a little more trouble finishing the wight. (Isek was weakened by its touch [1 neg level].)
• Inside the room we found two of the items we seek - the longsword and the studded leather - loose by the crates, leaving just the chain shirt to be discovered. The satchel held two labelled potions (spider climb, neutralise poison), a bag of gold, a small owl carving (magical), and a note.
• While Myriam's Detect Magic spell was running we sent her in to check the room. A flagstone in the centre emitted some kind of earth-related magic or unnatural essence of which Myriam was unsure.
• We dithered, unable to find out what was there, until finally we were leaving the room, with only Ranjar left inside. As Isek was spun out, he caught sight of a horrific creature that emerged from beneath the stone...
  
• Kara and then Isek hurried back in, but Ranjar quickly got caught up in the creature's maw, his body limp after a massive chomp. Our attacks were futile against the beast and all seemed lost... Kara tried to turn it but it only made a strange face...
• ...and then appeared to be having stomach problems. It spat out what was left of Ranjar and finally also vomited out the missing chain shirt, before sinking back into the stone. (Perhaps her turning had some effect on the cursed shirt.)
• With Kara's immediate assistance, Ranjar was saved; and we now had all four items. We left the area, gave Nyz the sack of cursed items to return to Theoderus (with a promise that he'd meet us later), and reported to the warehouse owner.
• He gave us enough gold to pay for Isek's restoration spell (and a little more), so we got that handled. Ranjar needed recuperation time; the rest of us headed over to Theoderus's place. The elusive smith still wasn't there, but Nyz appeared and volunteered to answer questions.

• He vanished down the chute and we returned to town.

January 7

• We visited Ublyn to discuss events. He hadn't heard of Jonah Strake, but told us it shouldn't be too hard to ask after him - the temple is open to the public. He did warn of rumours that the temple is working towards a major dark ritual.
• An easterner who was apparently familiar with the backlands of Thar had told Ublyn about a hill with two caves like the one in the mural of the fake tomb of Vorbyx.
  • It's east of the false tomb, northeast of Melvaunt just north of the Glister trail, and is occupied by ogres and orcs.
  • Oddly, although the creatures are involved in raiding, the ogre chief supposedly likes to welcome guests. This is partly for status and partly connected with some old ruins under the fort they occupy.
  • Ublyn thinks the easterner might have some ulterior motive in giving this information, seeming rather interested in the old ruins and claiming they were connected to Vorbyx.
  • Ublyn gave us a map sketched by this stranger that indicates the hill.
• We asked after the slaves we had freed. Apparently most have now returned home to Mulmaster. Examination of the brands hasn't revealed much except that they are difficult to remove, being some strong magic. (The slaves were originally branded back in Mulmaster before being put on a slave ship, which Corwyn's pirates had attacked to steal them.)
• We decided to visit the temple to see if we could find anything about Jonah Strake, the brands, the other branded slaves (the ones who were sold before we freed them, which Ublyn suspects the temple may have bought), or this upcoming ritual.
• Returning to the inn, we found Ranjar not sufficiently recovered to venture the temple. However, he'd encountered a friend of his, Theondrin, a big, tall man wearing armour and a greatsword, and recommended this person as a stand-in.
• After we rested for the night, Myriam identified the owl figurine and found it was a Figurine of Wondrous Power (Serpentine Owl). Once per day it can turn into an owl and head somewhere to scout out the place, in telepathic contact.
• This settled, we set out for the Resting Place of the Whip after hiding our Ilmatari insignia.
• A guard on the main gate let us into the complex without trouble and pointed us toward the wing that Jonah Strake commands, while mentioning that he wasn't accepting visitors. The guard seemed mildly disgruntled about this situation. Regardless, we proceeded to the indicated building, which fronted away from the main temple area.

• Isek tried to convince this guard to let us see Jonah, saying that we had a business proposition, and handing them the picture of the brands as a message. But the guard refused to take it and told us, again, that Strake wasn't accepting visitors.
• We continued around the temple grounds, finding nothing of interest. Theondrin ventured into the main hall when the others (Ilmater faithful) did not wish to. By asking a priest he managed to confirm that Jonah Strake commanded that wing of the temple and had been ensconced there for a while. The priest also seemed discomfitted about Jonah... perhaps a little jealous. 'He hasn't even been holding services for his followers this last while, nor have I seen them about.'
• We left the temple grounds, considering whether to leave the owl to watch those who entered or left Jonah's building, whether there was some way to get it inside the building through that shuttered window (which is just out of sight of both sets of guards, as long as we're careful), or whether we should take some even more drastic action.

January 21

• After some discussion, we decided to use the owl to keep watch overnight. Nobody of any interest entered or left, but there seemed to be two guards stationed inside the building as well as the two outside. There was no access from the roof.
• On the next day we asked again for Jonah, who still wasn't available. We then went around the corner and, with the aid of a couple of Silence spells, broke down the window and got inside. The room within was only a meeting room with one door.
• We opened the door and one of the guards walked in. Theondrin bashed him and a battle ensued. Shortly after, a second guard ran toward the fight. They were tougher than expected. We managed eventually to defeat the first one and were starting on the second when it seemed that more might be arriving from the outer doors...

January 28

• Isek's attacks did little more than distract the second guard, but Theondrin promptly ran him through. Kara gave some healing to the two most injured and we prepared immediately to ambush the next pair, with alchemist's fire, magical and weapon attacks.
• The ambush was highly successful, severely injuring one guard who Isek finished. Theondrin's brutal attack promptly dealt with the other; he pulled the corpses inside and shut the door to (slightly) reduce evidence, although the noise and explosions had likely alerted the main temple.
• Isek rushed to the inner door, intent on damaging whatever preparations had been made for the upcoming ritual. It led into a short corridor, painted with foul scenes, and an east-facing door; Isek yanked this open, then hurled himself backward to avoid a magical explosion.
• The door - or what was left of it - led into an expensively decorated bedroom. Ignoring its contents, we ripped open a closet door to find behind it a short hallway leading to a downward spiral stair.
• Passages from the bottom led west and south. The southern passage was lined with cells, two of which were occupied by blue-branded slaves. They told us Strake had the key - and had just dragged off one of their compatriots, further down the passage.
• We continued. The passage turned west. Halfway along, we opened a door to the north, finding beyond it a rectangular room. Dead bodies were stacked around the walls and a recently-mutilated corpse sprawled in the centre, a blue brand visible on its ankle. Strake wasn't there, so we kept on.
• The passage turned north, eventually joining the passage back to the stairs. From that corner, however, a much larger rectangular chamber opened up. The southeast portion was curtained off and we could hear chanting behind. Preparing briefly for another inadvisable assault, we hurried in and Isek sneaked up to yank the curtain aside.

• Theondrin charged in, knocking Strake from his altar, and the battle began. Strake was quickly dispatched in another mighty attack from Theondrin while the others battled wights. We eventually defeated them, Theondrin and Kara being drained once each by their attacks.

February 4

• We looted Strake's body - finding keys along with two potions (later identified as Cure Serious Wounds and Barksin), a wand (Hold Person/7), a scroll (not something we wanted), a magical cloak (Resistance +1), a magical ring (Protection +1), and some gold. His magical mace was obviously cursed to our touch, but we took it anyway, wrapped in the cloak. We also took his plate mail (+1).
• Freeing the slaves, we returned to ground level and got them some proper clothing from Jonah's wardrobe. Then, at Theondrin's suggestion, we simply walked out of the temple complex by the main gate - a blood-streaked appearance not being all that unusual in the Resting Place of the Whip.
• Nobody chased after us as we headed back to Ublyn's shop with the two survivors, although we knew the deed would be discovered before long...
• Ublyn took the rescued slaves in hand, planning to send them off in the same manner as the last lot. He gave us 1,500 gold for our troubles and agreed with Isek's opinion that we should leave town for a few days, suggesting we follow up on the hill that resembled that shown in Vorbyx's fake tomb.
• After getting Restoration spells cast, and picking up some pearls so Myriam could identify the loot, we headed out of the city fast, departing through cold weather on the Glister trail. When the items were identified (as above) we shared them out, smashed the unholy mace to pieces, and continued.
• On the third day out, fog came down so thick we had to sit it out in camp so as not to get lost. The fourth day brought us to an area scattered with ancient bones, some of which promptly reassembled themselves into a pair of skeletal trolls. We defeated these fairly promptly, finishing with a fireball from Myriam, but not before Isek had taken significant damage.

February 11

• After Kara did her healing thing, we continued, eventually reaching the promised hill-fort.

• We decided to camp for the day, just out of sight, then send the owl in to spy come nightfall. The owl spotted a couple of dozen orcs in the fort, with two ogres patrolling the wall. Inside the wall was a mound of old, broken items - crates, barrels, a couple of wagons, and even a catapult. We didn't send the owl into the caves, but expect there are more inhabitants there.
• Having rested until morning, we went up and Kara introduced us at the gates, without giving away our purpose. The ogre who watched seemed to be under the impression that we were 'here about the seal' and said that Dagryg wouldn't mind that. He opened the gate enough to let us in.
• We were led up a ramp toward the higher cave - the only path in - and learnt from conversation along the way that lots of other people had come to see the seal, which was a 'pretty green thing' but nobody had managed to open it yet. We suspected a connection with the broken jade obelisk that had let us into the previous cave...
• The cave turned out to be worked stone, rather than natural, and perhaps ancient. A wide hallway led to a T-junction beside a close door. We took the left passage, which turned north where a stairwell continued down and to the west into a smaller hallway with three doors. The ogre led us into the southernmost room, living quarters with crude beds and mismatched furniture, but fairly clean.
• He told us not to wander about beyond this hall, and that Gywahier was staying in the third guestroom, with the second being empty - and to expect a feast that night. We discussed the situation a bit then settled down to wait for evening.
• After feasting with Dagryg, we discussed the situation, saying we would try to open the seal. He mentioned a threat that we might need to deal with first - a cave, too small for ogres, that leads down to a little lake which has a 'snake-creature' and her 'smelly lizards'. He also said that we could try to open the seal, as long as we didn't disturb the ogres' treasure which was also kept down there.
• We agreed to head down to the lake and take care of this monster, and Dagryg led the way.

February 18

• We passed the ogres' treasure chamber and entered a narrow one-person-wide passage downward to the lake, emerging onto a wide stone beach. From somewhere in the lake, we heard a voice accusing us of being the ogres' tools.
• After a discussion with the naga, we received the offer that - instead of defeating the naga so the ogre would let us into the seal - we could defeat the ogres so the naga would... something. This not being particularly enticing, we ended up making a move and they - the naga, hurling deadly fireballs from an island distant in the lake, and a group of troglodytes under her command - attacked.
• Isek and Theondrin fought against the troglodytes while Myriam and Kara suffered under a rain of fireballs, Myriam returning fire (literally) with some of her own. As the naga entered the throes of death, however, and as Isek and Theondrin smashed through the last troglodyes, the naga's final fireball blasted into Kara. The cleric's existing wounds left her unable to withstand its force. Kara fell to the ground, in an instant reduced to no more than a badly-scorched corpse.

Rest in peace: Kara.

February 25

• Theondrin checked out the caves where the troglodytes had lived. He found a few coins and potions, and a half-eaten humanoid corpse wearing a bronze amulet that depicted a jellyfish and scabrous hand. (Isek recognised that description as the symbol for the vile faith of Talona, goddess of disease and poison; but, near struck dumb by Kara's death, he said nothing of this.)
• Theondrin then swam to the island to hack off the naga's head as proof for the ogres, and we built a cairn for Kara's body after retrieving her possessions so they couldn't be stolen.
• We left the cave, returning to deliver the ogre his proof. He offered us a chance to rest before proceeding, which we accepted, returning to the guest room.
• Later that evening, somebody knocked on the door, and Theondrin answered to reveal...
  • Nunyu: White hair flows down to frame a face that shares few of the harsh features Kara might have had, carrying slightly-weathered aristocratic features that would've seemed at home in a court more than in ogre-camps. Her clothes are more practical though, a fairly modest set of underclothes with the various straps and belts that suggest that it's merely the undersection of an armor. "Greetings.", she speaks, her voice carrying a faint melodic tinge.
• Nunyu had been sent by Ublyn to assist us in our task. We accepted her into the group with little fuss.
• After resting the night, we descended to the treasure chamber again in Dagryg's company, and slotted our broken jade obelisk into a hole in the matching jade seal. It snapped into place...

March 4

• We followed the tunnel as it dropped sharply downwards from the great seal, doubling back and winding around many times. It seemed at least a mile before we reached a circular, stone-hewn chamber with four exits; imagining that we entered from the north, those were west, east, south, and northeast.
• A stone cylinder ten feet in diameter marked the centre of the cavern. Lines carved into the top gave a wheel-like appearance with a two-inch depression, which looked like a socket for some kind of object, as the hub. Runes in a language we didn't know encircled that hole.
• Picking a direction at random, we chose the western corridor. This led to a massively tall cavern. A little way from the entrance, what looked like a ten-foot wall across the cavern blocked passage. Isek climbed this first, revealing that it was actually just a stepped rise in the cavern, and that a similar rise lay another forty feet ahead.
• A giant, flame-hued scorpion burst into view in a swirl of smoke and fire, menacing Isek; he quickly dropped back to the lower level and Myriam blasted the creature as it followed, leaving Isek to finish it. We then returned to the higher level and Isek began to climb the following rise as Myriam checked it with a spell; not entirely surprisingly, an aura of Conjuration covered that level also.
• The creature that appeared was a cursed beast indeed, its nightmarish form twisting and reshaping constantly. A tentacle brushed Isek and he felt some dark power tearing at him, though he was able to resist it and jump back down as before. Myriam blasted it with a fireball and then - bizarrely - Nunyu turned into a silver wolf, whose howl for some reason seemed to speed Myriam's actions, allowing a second fireball immediately after. The creature flopped down to our level directly into the path of Theondrin's waiting attack, which crushed it utterly.
• We climbed up to this second level. Ahead, the third rise awaited us...

March 18

• That third rise turned out to be the last, the cavern ending in rock walls. A six-foot tall statue stood in the centre, bearing a large hammer head as if offering it to any claimant.
• After debating briefly, we decided to take it. As Theondrin picked up the heavy, ogre-size item, the statue grew in size and shifted its material to become an eight-foot giant that looked to have been constructed from a jumble of material. (Thankfully, the smaller one from this picture!)
  
• We laid into the golem with all our combined strength and various magical effects, discovering that fire slowed its movements. It took a considerable time but we finally defeated the creature, having suffered little damage. The hammer-head, which matched the images of Vorbyx's hammer that we'd seen in the various murals and such, was ours.
• Myriam had used almost all her spells so we rested to regain them before returning to the circular chamber and this time taking the southern passage. It led to a very wide, but not long, cavern whose walls were covered in precious and semiprecious gems, apparently naturally-occurring. But our attention was more immediately drawn by the fluid, chaotic blob of a creature that slithered towards our light.
  
• Isek dashed in, swung futilely at the creature, then promptly got blinded by a squirt of its acid and began to sink in quicksand. Theondrin tried the same thing but replaced the 'swing futilely' tactic with 'thwack the bastard so hard it thinks it got hit by a bus', which - combined with Myriam's fireball - finished it.

March 25

• We clambered out of the quicksand as it began to harden, and - in calm after the battle - Myriam remembered stories about a Cave of Gems. She instructed Theondrin, first, to smear blood over his weapon before touching it to one of the gems in the wall. After resting on the sapphire for a moment, his sword glowed with a sheen of blue magical ice. Isek (diamond; lightning) and Nunyu (emerald; acid) repeated the procedure. Myriam suggested that would be the limit of the cave's powers today, and also that it only worked for people who were strong enough and not magic-users.
• There were no other exits so we returned to the central chamber and took the eastern exit, which led down a narrow passage. A side-corridor exited to the north, possibly joining the northeastern passage from the centre, since it remained at the same level. We continued east [despite best attempts of players :)] until the tunnel emerged into the northwestern corner of another large chamber.

• The figure turned out to be, so Myriam whispered, a genie. He said he had been set here to guard the hammer handle in the deep end of the lake and that he would attack if we set foot in, or disturbed, the water. He then offered us wine and nibbles, which appeared magically on the ledge where we sat. Some of us partook while chatting with the genie.
• We learnt that the other part of the hammer (bands) were elsewhere in the complex, but invisible. Also, when assembled, the hammer can apparently size itself appropriately for the wielder.
• We went back into the tunnel to plan our attack; the plan involved Myriam blasting the genie with a fireball and then everyone retreating so that it had to fight us on land. That part worked; it apparently turned into a whirlwind or waterspout which rushed up the tunnel and which, after a short battle, we defeated. We still weren't quite sure whether that was really all or whether the whirlwind had been summoned and the genie lurked somewhere, invisible...

April 1

• Nunyu bravely doggy-paddled out into the lake and, after a number of attempts, managed to dive down to retrieve the hammer-handle. She returned cold but otherwise unharmed.
• We returned to the stepped cavern to rest, trusting that the high ground would protect us from any enemies. Luckily none emerged and we resumed our expedition some hours later, taking the northeastern passage from the central cavern.
• The passage branched a few feet in to join the eastern one, as we'd seen previously. But it continued beyond that to a large, empty oval cavern with wide exits to south and west. The western, rough-hewn passage glowed with the light of a shimmering field of colour from a hundred feet down it. The southern passage opened into another cavern.
• We took the southern exit to another large cavern similar to the previous but with a deep nook in the east. It seemed empty... until we found ourselves attacked by something both strong and invisible.
• Its invisibility proved little defence against the full strength of our combined attacks. Defeated, it faded even from Myriam's invisible-seeing eyes; she looked around the cavern and quickly found the iron bands that formed the last part of the hammer.
• Theondrin fitted the hammer together; it magically shrunk to match his size, though still a large two-handed weapon. And we had the Hammer of Vorbyx, or at least something that seemed to match that depicted in the earlier murals.
• We took the hammer back to the entrance chamber, having noticed that it seemed likely to fit in the socket on the dais there. Indeed it did; nothing obvious happened beyond a flickering of multi-coloured energies, which matched the wall we'd seen before.
• Leaving Theondrin to guard the hammer, we returned to find the barriers (all three corresponding to the hammer parts) vanished. The path led through to a forty-foot square marble-tiled chamber, empty save for a shimmering energy along the western wall, which Myriam recognised as a portal... of unknown destination.
• After a bit of messing around to no effect, Isek decided to walk through, roped up. He had promised to return immediately if he were able. When he vanished, the rope returned loose, and he didn't come back... after some consideration of what to do, the group eventually decided to get Theondrin and all follow the monk's rash lead. Everyone stepped into the same portal, to unknown result.