Session 12

Members

 * Alli
 * Eriden
 * Gylian

Timeline
Day 24-25

The Adventure
Upon waking and entering the ruins the party failed to notice that the were being stalked by a pride of starving mountain lions. The lions surprised the party and attacked. They were easily cut down, and the last one turned to flee, but an arrow from Gylian killed it. Dusting themselves off, Eriden decided the party needed to become more stealthy and cast Pass Without Trace.

Heading to the old guard tower, the party made it up the stairway to find a land bridge. The footing was treacherous and people kept stepping in a strange crusty residue. Midway across, Gylian stumbled. The falling rocks woke a a huge flock of bats, who swarmed the party. Making a break for it, Eriden got bitten and fell to the ground, and one almost clawed out Gylian's eye.

Running for the door, the party made it. Eriden was the first to notice strange movements in the shadows. Before they knew it, they were attacked again by ghosts. Eriden, low on health, was the first to go down. Soon enough he brushed it off and was back in the fight. Gylian sent the last ghost to the planes of the dead and the fight was over.

Sending his mount to the second floor to search the area, it stumbled into a stirge hive. The stirges followed it back to the first floor and were quickly killed. The party took some time to mend their wounds and then continued up the staircase. Eriden hurried ahead to the roof. He noticed a pair of small hands holding on to the ledge, and went back to get his comrades. By the time everyone arrived, the hands were gone, replaced by a grappling hook and a rope. Eriden noticed a small form on the far side of the land bridge, but it was gone before anyone could do anything about it.

Moving down the stairs, they searched the third floor. Gylian found a magic breastplate and sword. Not wanting to be left out, Eriden went for a leather cloak he saw hanging on the wall. It surprised him as it unfolded and wrapped itself around his head. Blind and suffocating, he mumbled for help. Gylian was able to rip it off and then, in a rain of arrows, Alli and Gylian put it to rest. Feeling the weight of their fights, the party decided to take a long rest and tend their wounds.

In the middle of the night, a pack of zombie ogres attacked. Gylian was able to fend off the onslaught for most of the fight, but they finally pushed him out of the doorway. It was no good though. The fallen zombies kept getting up, until Gylian started to cleave them with radiant damage, and Eriden did massive damage to them when they were down. After the fight, the zombies' decomposing corpses littered the stairway and small entrance hall. The party went back to sleep.

In the morning, Gylian found a secret compartment. Trying to force it open, he set off a trap, and both he and Eriden were infected with a poison. It rotted their faces. Eriden got the worst though. Gylian was able to cure them both, but the damage was already done. Only time would heal their blemished faces. After triggering the trap and stopping the poison from further damage, Gylian beat the door to splinters and found 5 potions.

Searching the second floor, the party found no more undead. Eriden put up Pass Without Trace, and the party made it safely across the land bridge. Heading north to the temple, they first searched the outside. Leading up to the temple they saw the bases of many statues. All of them fallen over and decayed with the passage of time. There was a leg here, an hand there. The shattered temple itself was weathered and rough.

To the east was a statue of Paladine. To the west a statue of Mishikal. Both lay in crumbling ruins though. It seemed that they did offer a small pocket of undefiled space though. Checking to the north of the temple, Gylian found a small crystal spring. Upon inspecting it, he noticed a water mephit. Becoming curious, he drank his potion of water-breathing and dove in. Seeking the depths, he found a subterranean cave. Throwing caution to the wind, he forged on alone. At the end, he came face to face with a 20 foot snake. She introduced herself as Opalescent, the water naga. The mephits were her helpers.

Gylian resisted two spells and finally let down his guard to allow the naga to read his mind. Sensing no evil motives, she followed him out to meet the rest of his party. Opalescent noticed an unseen spectator and coaxed a small kender out of the shadows. Thanator "Shroud" Grave-Eyes, climbed down the cliffside and introduced himself to the party. He was suspicious because the party had taken his grappling hook and rope. When assured that it would be returned, he lightened up. Then started babbling to Alli.

Shroud explained that the valley was still full of spirits. The naga explained that the kender was actually a kender nightstalker, a rare trait that gifted (or cursed) him with the ability to commune with the spirits of the dead. He explained that he was initially drawn to the valley by a strange unheard voice that had been haunting him. He explained that the spirits in the valley are under a curse. The curse bound the ogres to the valley, and unfortunately, over time, the presence of the undead cursed the entire valley. The barrier between the the living world and the spirit world is very thin in some of the places, he explained. It allowed the spirits of the dead to draw power from the otherworld and grow stronger.

Shroud mentioned someone or something called Scuttles, but nobody seemed to understand what he was talking about. The naga gave what information she could, healed Gylian and Eriden's faces and bid the party farewell.

XP
Current level: 6

Loot

 * 250 Ancient gold pieces (melted down about 100 gp worth, or possibly of value to a collector) ]
 * After Gylian gives some away. 240 pieces are left - 96gp. (On Gylian)


 * 2 Potions of greater healing (4d4+4 HP) (On Gylian)
 * 3 Unchecked potions (On Gylian)
 * 10 +1 Arrows 10 Silver arrows (5 +1 arrows On Gylian, 5 +1 arrows on Alli, 5 silver arrows on Alli, and 5 silver arrows on Eriden)
 * +1 Breastplate armor (On Gylian)
 * Kiss of the Desert Sky - +1 Shocking Burst Longsword (On Gylian)
 * Leatherbound journal (On Gylian)