Finmyre /
009 - Crashing Cordona's Party
The Catacombs
As the group comes to the shore, damp, they sense a stillness and reverence in the air. The cave is over, and they have made it to the catacombs which have been long cut off from the outside world. Lining the walls are countless skulls and bones, crumbled from time and age. It's dimly lit, with torches lining either side of the hallway.
They press forward cautiously, listening. All they hear is the water behind them and their own footsteps and breathing.
Sr. Bridie casts Detect Magic, but as they continue nothing gets her attention yet. They move slowly past the rows of occupied and empty wall cavities.
Soon they hear quiet conversation ahead, too faint to discern.
Rafael sneaks closer to the door and sees two dwarven looking sentries, duergar. He indicates to the group that there are two, and where. He can hear their conversation: "The full moon can't happen quick enough. Yes, this town doesn't know what's coming to it. Until Cordona completes the ritual, I won't rest."
Rafael quietly returns to the group and relates what he saw and heard: two pale looking dwarf sentries are leaning against the walls chatting.
At Sr. Bridie's urging, they decide to take a less-violent approach and draw the sentries out. After considering their options for a long moment, they decide to send Goosifer in hoping they will chase him, while Elysia, Sr. Bridie, and Rafael hide in open spots in the walls until the guards are past. After Goosifer rounds the corner Rafael will snatch him and hide him so the whole group is concealed as the guards run by.
The plan goes great! The guards, bored and hungry, see Goosifer as a tasty distraction and bolt after him. The guards lose track of Goosifer but continue to the water, and the group scrambles out of hiding and towards the next area.
The room they were guarding is decently-sized, lit by torches. The walls have inscriptions in them. There are more skeletons in the walls, which are laden with cobwebs. Each alcove has a lit torch, and the ceiling is supported by large pillars. The floor is tile, slightly uneven, but the room overall has been maintained and is in good shape.
They press forward cautiously, listening. All they hear is the water behind them and their own footsteps and breathing.
Sr. Bridie casts Detect Magic, but as they continue nothing gets her attention yet. They move slowly past the rows of occupied and empty wall cavities.
Soon they hear quiet conversation ahead, too faint to discern.
Rafael sneaks closer to the door and sees two dwarven looking sentries, duergar. He indicates to the group that there are two, and where. He can hear their conversation: "The full moon can't happen quick enough. Yes, this town doesn't know what's coming to it. Until Cordona completes the ritual, I won't rest."
Rafael quietly returns to the group and relates what he saw and heard: two pale looking dwarf sentries are leaning against the walls chatting.
At Sr. Bridie's urging, they decide to take a less-violent approach and draw the sentries out. After considering their options for a long moment, they decide to send Goosifer in hoping they will chase him, while Elysia, Sr. Bridie, and Rafael hide in open spots in the walls until the guards are past. After Goosifer rounds the corner Rafael will snatch him and hide him so the whole group is concealed as the guards run by.
The plan goes great! The guards, bored and hungry, see Goosifer as a tasty distraction and bolt after him. The guards lose track of Goosifer but continue to the water, and the group scrambles out of hiding and towards the next area.
The room they were guarding is decently-sized, lit by torches. The walls have inscriptions in them. There are more skeletons in the walls, which are laden with cobwebs. Each alcove has a lit torch, and the ceiling is supported by large pillars. The floor is tile, slightly uneven, but the room overall has been maintained and is in good shape.
The Ritual
At the far end of the room, there is a carved stone door. Through it the group hears a woman's terrified scream, and a deep man's voice laughing evilly.
Sr. Bridie notices that some of the floor tiles have evocation magic. She warns the group to follow her footsteps carefully. As they pick their way through, they see inscriptions naming the kings, queens, and princes of Pedarox that have been laid to rest. Goosifer flies over the tiles and waits for the others to catch up.
There is a large stone doorway with skulls carved into it. Centrally featured there is a depiction of the crystal castle, and inscriptions indicate that ahead is the most holy area of the catacomb. Sr. Bridie takes a moment to think about the door's perspective on things, and decides it is probably uneasy. And openable. She gives it an encouraging push and it swings open.
The group sees six or seven cloaked cultists, standing in a semicircle around a central figure, also cloaked. The central figure is standing on a rock in the middle of a rushing waterway, and at his feet there is a person slumped over on the rock. One of the cultists holds a ruby-encrusted golden chalice. He fills it with water and hands it to the central figure. In an unfamiliar, harsh, guttural language the figure chants as he forces the bound person to drink from the chalice.
Rafael shoots at the central figure, trying to knock the chalice free. The arrow flies true!
Initiative!
Sr. Bridie notices that some of the floor tiles have evocation magic. She warns the group to follow her footsteps carefully. As they pick their way through, they see inscriptions naming the kings, queens, and princes of Pedarox that have been laid to rest. Goosifer flies over the tiles and waits for the others to catch up.
There is a large stone doorway with skulls carved into it. Centrally featured there is a depiction of the crystal castle, and inscriptions indicate that ahead is the most holy area of the catacomb. Sr. Bridie takes a moment to think about the door's perspective on things, and decides it is probably uneasy. And openable. She gives it an encouraging push and it swings open.
The group sees six or seven cloaked cultists, standing in a semicircle around a central figure, also cloaked. The central figure is standing on a rock in the middle of a rushing waterway, and at his feet there is a person slumped over on the rock. One of the cultists holds a ruby-encrusted golden chalice. He fills it with water and hands it to the central figure. In an unfamiliar, harsh, guttural language the figure chants as he forces the bound person to drink from the chalice.
Rafael shoots at the central figure, trying to knock the chalice free. The arrow flies true!
Initiative!
- Goosifer moves closer to the cultists and tries to Scare one, but it stands firm.
- The central figure shrugs off his cloak, and the party sees a bald, wrinkled male, emaciated with pale skin, but who moves with uncharacteristic vigor. Two fangs are visible in his mouth as the apparent vampire roars, "GET THEM!" He bends down, retrieves the chalice and returns to his chanting.
- Sr. Bridie casts Bless on the other three people in the group. She tells the group that the chalice is magical while she moves a little further into the room, near the wall.
- Rafael shoots at the vampire again, this time lodging an arrow in his back. He seems to lose his concentration on the ritual.
- Elysia sprints up to the closest acolyte.
- One acolyte moves away from the group a little way and hits Elysia with Sacred Flame.
- Another one runs up to Elysia and slashes her with a scimitar.
- One runs over to Sr. Bridie, skirting around the goose. She dodges his scimitar slash.
- One acolyte slashes at Goosifer, striking accurately with his scimitar.
- Another acolyte runs to Elysia and slashes, but she easily avoids him.
- Goosifer bites the acolyte near him, who squeals in pain. Then he distracts the acolyte close to Sr. Bridie.
- The vampire scoops up more water in the chalice, and re-starts his chanting. The group can see that the person at his feet is a woman, seemingly entranced, not reacting to the world around her.
- Sr. Bridie casts Hold Person on the vampire, dropping Bless. The DM sighed a little bit.
- Rafael runs over near Sr. Bridie, pulling out his shortswords. He kills one acolyte with a swift blow, then moves to the acolyte near Goosifer and slashes again for a second kill.
- Elysia slashes at one of the acolytes near her, leaving him badly hurt.
- One acolyte which is out of Elysia's reach misses her with Sacred Flame.
- Two acolytes are flanking her, and they both slash her with their scimitars.
- Another acolyte piles on and just grazes her with a scimitar.
- Goosifer nips one of the acolytes.
- The vampire remains paralyzed (and the GM grumbles)
- Sr. Bridie keeps concentrating on Hold Person while she heals the party with Prayer of Healing.
- Rafael runs over near Elysia and kills two of the acolytes there with short swords.
- Elysia swings at the remaining nearby acolyte, but he avoids the strike.
- One of the two remaining acolytes looks at the situation, then tackles the paralyzed vampire, knocking him into the river and floating him down the rapidly moving water. The chalice is still tightly gripped in the vampire's paralyzed hand.
- The last acolyte tries to attack Elysia, but misses. He runs away, dodging Elysia's parting slash.
- Goosifer nails the escaping acolyte with a vicious stabbing bite, killing him.
- The vampire shakes himself free from the spell and they float further down the stream.
- Sr. Bridie tries to knock some cave rocks down onto the escaping vampire, but it is too sturdy.
They save the woman, named Alana. She is the daughter of the mayor of Pedarox. She was kidnapped walking home to the palace, which the mayor uses as a residence. She was kept caged and barely fed for days, until tonight when she was brought out for the ritual. With a healing potion and a goodberry she is feeling much better. Sr. Bridie and Rafael determine she was not turned, so she leads the group to the catacombs to the other prisoners.
Sr. Bridie asks her if Cordona will still be able to finish his ritual tonight, despite being washed downstream. She explains that his plan involved turning her into some kind of permanent statue there in the river, making the river fully polluted with the power of the chalice. Alana doesn't think anyone else got transformed, so they continue to the cages.
They find a room carved into the stone, purpose-built with cages and restraints. The group frees everyone, then escorts them and Alana to the entrance of the cave. They don't run into the dwarves, but they do find a large table with papers scattered over it. It looks like they were methodically trying to build an army of vampiric soldiers out of the townspeople.
They decide to long rest in the tavern and go back to the temple early the next morning.
Category: 📝 Adventure Logs
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