The Madness of Men in a World of Monsters (D&D 5e IC)

[purepolarpanzer]

Heading into the Lower Sewer

The descent is slippery and difficult, but silent. Selissa slips on her way down, but twists in mid air with the agility of a cat, landing with a roll that absorbs most of the impact. Mal simply appears a in the air and gently lands, while Set, Vargath, Maus, and Esai make their way down through more conventional means. You all find yourselves in a bone yard covered in several inches of water.

Mounds and mounds of bones fill this section of tunnel. It is pitch dark, with only darkvision allowing some of you to see. The only noise is the sound of water flowing deeper into the tunnels and the sound of your own breaths, the beating of your own hearts. Then the bones begin to scream.

"Dear GODS! HELP ME! THEY'RE EATING ME ALIVE!" "Please, save my child! They've taken my child!" "I didn't do anything to deserve this! Not one thing! I'm innocent I tell you!" While Maus' ritual, conducted just before you descended, prevents any undead from seeing you, there must be a more mundane alarm spell in place at the base of the ladder, and it takes a horrifying form. The skulls of the bone yard chatter and clack as they moan, warn, shriek, and blubber in a confusing cacophony. Skeletal arms reach towards you, not aggressively but pleadingly. Maus speaks loud enough to be heard over the din- "This isn't necromancy, but a ghoulish abjuration! Ignore them, but prepare, for anything ahead of us will hear this racket!" Maus, now only four feet tall, begins whispering a chant under his breath and exhales, and suddenly the bones stop making noise. The world is quiet, save for the sound of the water again.

From further down the tunnel, there is a creak of a metal gate. A few splashing foot steps. An inquisitive growl. Then the sounds of more footsteps coming your way. "If they are undead, they cannot sense us!" Whispers Maus, but even so he lifts his staff in readiness. At the edge of the party's senses, two emaciated humanoids come into view, ragged cloths barely clinging to their sharp angles and protruding bones. One of them has a moldering humanoid foot in their hands, held like one would hold a turkey leg. The other stops, sniffing the air and looking confused. Though their eyes have a night shine like a cat, and they are only twenty feet away now, they do not appear to have noticed you. Yet.

[Theophilus]

Mal Levistus Tiefling Bard 5 AC: 14 HP: 41/41 (48/48) THP: 10/10 PP: 11 PIv: 13 PIs: 11 Spell Slots: 1st - 4/4 2nd - 1/3 3rd - 2/2 Fey Touched: 1st - 0/1 2nd - 1/1 Masquerade Tattoo: 1st - 1/1 Levistus Legacy: Armor of Agathys - 0/1 Darkness - 1/1 Bardic Inspiration: 4/4 Healer's Kit: 20/20 Mal Conditions: Praised into Health (43). Immune to poison frightened. Wisdom saving throws with advantage. Loki's Bane. Aid. Mal Concentrating: --- Esai Ancient Companion: Warrior Companion HP: 30/30 (32/32) Companion AC: 16 Companion PP: 18 PIv: 12 PIs: 12 Sage's Counsel: While within 15 feet of the companion, you and your allies gain a +2 bonus to Intelligence and Wisdom checks. Warrior’s Protection (Warrior Only). When a creature within 5 feet of the companion makes a Strength or Dexterity saving throw, the companion imposes itself between the creature and the danger. The creature can roll a d4 and add the number rolled to the saving throw. Praised into Health. Immune to frightened. Wisdom saving throws with advantage Mal glared at the bones with icy fury. He looked to Set briefly, wondering if the eldritch javelineer had conjured arcane sight. Then the ghouls arrived, and the others tensed while Maus advised the truth: They stood warded and unseen. The bard danced his blade in the air and the sounds of boots scaling the upper rungs of the ladder echoed high above, followed by a whispered hiss, "Weeping emerods, the feasters are coming!"

Spoiler: OOC

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Minor Illusion (sound) of boots clamoring on the rungs, followed by "whispers" loud enough to get the ghouls attention.

Spoiler: Mal's Notes

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Spoiler: Cast and Crew

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Set: outcast exiled princeling of Abydos. Two princess sisters (Sisi and Sythpen Al-Sayyid). Romantic connection for Moira?
Selissa: Blighted or reconstructed wood elf? Purported Scout.
Vargath: Afflicted Lycanthrope seeking to suspend his curse. A Bloodwolf?
Mandaras: Rival to Dr. Fixer.
Dr. Fixer: Moira's lieutenant and cultivates relations with the locals of Vale.
Elder Maus: Seeks to kill Moira. Hired mercenaries who betrayed him.
--Healed to his full 9ft height.
--Disbelieves Moira's insights; seeks to end her directly or indirectly.
--Seeks us to verify the truths of Moira's claims--or stop her by any means necessary.
Maulei: Successor to Elder Maus as elder of Dam'ess.
Uluthando Mikoso "Ulu:" Paladin? of Order. From beyond the Vale. Reacts by gripping her dagger and declaring Tieflings are treated differently...Lawful (N/E?) Order? Calls Mal 'Mdala Ohlonishwayo.' Professes to serve no god, but spirits whose reach may be weaker in the Vale than elsewhere.
Nomcebo: Ulu's handler. Ink skinned tiefling with prehensile tail and an obvious allure.
Kagiso: Ulu's slave and carriage driver.

Spoiler: Dream of Leng

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Spoiler: In Full

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Mal has had this dream before. He finds himself in the legendary Library of Leng, an ancient home of virtually all worldly and mystical knowledge that burned when the city it was located in was razed nearly nine hundred years ago, half the world away. Still, in his dreams it still existed, and these dreams always played out the same. Hours of dutiful research, referencing and cross referencing sources from multiple tomes, carefully reconstructing ancient languages, until EUREKA! Some devastating and profound arcane truth became evident to him, and the sense of accomplisment and relief normally carried with him for several hours after waking up, even if he could never actually remember anything he learned. But this time is different. Mal is well versed enough in the arcane and divine arts to know that sometimes dreams carry real meaning. And as he stares down at what he has been working on, he instinctively knows this bears some significance. Where normally he would have arcane formulas and theorems, he sees only "The One Who Stalks Behind" scrawled over and over again in his own hand, though the words are manic and look like they were written in distress. He searches the paper for any further omen, and down at the bottom of the page, in the smallest script he could possibly manage, it says Behind you!. Just as he is about to turn, a claw as strong as iron grips the side of his head, snaps his neck to the side, and ends all feeling in the bard's body. But he can still hear the deep throated growls, along with the wet noises of whatever killed him beginning to eat him alive. But he never gets to see it before the dream ends.

The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. RIGHT BEHIND YOU! The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind.

Spoiler: Bence's Secrets

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Spoiler: Bence's Journal

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...is a backwards plane, so far removed from the Prime Material that it has not seen an angel or the work of a god in a millennia. I hear that far to the west they do not even worship the gods. Proper savages, but I must remain vigilant, as their knowledge of the ways of this world is far more educated than most. But it is ripe for my conquest. While my Master was tasked with corrupting Avendor, my home plane, a bastion of good and law, my chore is simply to tip the rat into the bucket of the Abyss as it prowls the rim looking for cheese. This plane is already so flooded with the energies of the Abyss that demons spontaneously emerge, monsters manifest in the dark, and their weak leaders bargain with forces they would be wiser to repulse. It will be child's play to nudge it the last few inches into anarchy and destruction, mostly due to the efforts of Pale Night herself. For thousands of years she has been grasping and clawing at this realm, dragging it further from the light and closer to her realm day by day, inch by inch, soul by soul. While my home plane was beyond my ability to destroy, this place will be my masterpiece. With my death at the hands of the forces of good, a symphony of destruction will play the anthem to my ascension to demonhood. The Pale Mother has promised me that each death will bring me closer to my true form, and each rebirth will increase my power, just as our pact promised. I can't wait to die. When will the heroes arrive? I've been planting and tending the seed of the idea in the old giant's mind for weeks now. When will it bear fruit? When can my dark rise to power begin? (The rest is a combination of burned and Abyssal that becomes impossible to read)

Dam'ess- Mass Quasit Summoning. Magic Mouth to Levy Commands re: Retrieve Mirror of Leng, Scepter of Rulership, And Aniot's Cube. Disperse to Appropriate Parties Per The Plan. Burn The Cabin.

Harumburg- Sending to Lord of Bone re: Portal to the 113th. (Indecipherable Due to Burns) In Accordance with Their Great Alliance.

Falluneer- Sending to Lord of Flesh re: (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Ebon Spear.

(Indecipherable Due to Burns)light: Sending to Lord of Blood re: Assassination of (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Yukkot, Recovery of Blood (More Burns).

(Indecipherable Due to Burns)odge- Sending to Cult of Pale (More Burns) re: Initiate Divining Ritual Sacrifices. FIND THE DAMN ZIGGURAT.

Garrunrow- (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Kill the Last Bloodwolf. Recover (More Burns) Key.

Mountain of Smoke- (Indecipherable Due to Burns) crypt. Seize the Ebon (More Burns).

Sussoon- Ensure the Prophecy (Indecipherable Due to Burns)... Pay the Bounty Hunters to Find the Abydossian and the Princesses. re: Sacrifices of The Old Blood

(There is more, but seemingly out of paranoia Bence switched to Abyssal. It is impossible to tell how many lines there are, as the last half of the paper is fully burned away)

Spoiler: Arcane Lore concerning Bence's Notes

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The magic of Contingency is a nearly mythical bit of spell work that was said to be lost when the Library of Leng burned down. It allows a caster to prepare spells in advance for a predetermined event, in this case John Bence's own death, and the spells will automatically cast when the event happens. If Bence is capable of such sorcery, he is likely far more powerful than his flashy death at the party's hands would indicate.

The Mirror of Leng is a artifact of the Library of Leng, said to contain a frozen moment of time where the library was at it's height that a person can temporarily step in to, giving access to the greatest magical library this world has ever seen. Supposedly several mirrors were made, though some are confirmed destroyed after their use led to come calamity of forbidden magics long lost to time. The Scepter of Rulership is said to be an even more powerful version of a Rod of Rulership, a magic item that allows for mass mind manipulation of people to believe that the holder of the Scepter is their rightful ruler. The last time the Scepter was confirmed in play it toppled an entire nation.

Though numbering and organizing the layers of the Abyss is a fool's errand, there are some realms that are constant enough to designate. The one hundred and thirteenth layer is Thanatos, layer of Orcus, the Lord of Death. It is a lifeless frozen landscape where life is snuffed out almost as soon as it arrives, either by the untold legions of undead denizens, the magical aura of the layer itself, or, in the worst cases, by Orcus himself, using his fearsome Wand.

Spoiler: John Bence's Wall Art

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There are no invisible objects in the room, but the entire back wall of the cabin is plastered with profane runes and abyssal scribblings. Where there was nothing to the naked eye, there is an extensive patchwork of spell work, seemingly scribed in the rusted red of blood. More disturbing is the fragments of souls that have been bound to the wall. Faces of people rise and seethe from the wood like a strange and rippling tide, mouths open in anguish. There are not many of them left, presumably due to whatever spell was used here absorbing so much energy, but there is a fine layer of ectoplasm that would indicate that once there were dozens of soul fragments powering this spell. The sight turns Mal's stomach, as the chaotic, destructive magic of the Abyss is written as plainly as news script, but as subtly as any devil could manage.

Spoiler: Monsters

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Barlgura: Demon loosed by summoning ritual on the road to Dam'ess. Slain with its summoned partner by team. (Bless helped with accuracy issues due to invisibility. In the future, layer mind sliver to aid with saves.)
Brazen Hart: Spirit of the wild wood around Dam'ess. Seeks to test the party's mettle by forcing an open fight with the Barlgura.
Horror of Yurl: Shapeshifting kind of monster. Severs limbs, creates euphoria, and slays by consuming the liver. The newest variant flies...
Tree-house horror: elven make. Demon infested. Extremely rare creation.

The presence of the so-called "evolved" ghouls is troublesome. Said to be the chosen of Doresain the Ghoul King, Darakhuls are more motivated, more intelligent, and leagues more dangerous than their lesser kin. They have a subterranean empire on the other side of the continent, and their attempts to bring their Imperium to the surface have only narrowly been thwarted by the actions of great heroes and dedicated rulers. If Darakhuls have come to Harumvale, then the eyes of the Ghoul King have turned in this direction, and things truly are worse than imagined. Darakhul have a mystical connection to lesser ghouls and ghasts that enhances their intelligence and discipline when the evolved ghouls are present, turning them from hungry predators to a military unit.

Spoiler: Instrument of the Bards

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Mal needs a translator, the spells, and woodcrafter to create a new relic.

Spoiler: Full Description

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Still, tucked among the primers and amateur books he finds a book that deals with the blending of magic and music. Specifically, it holds the instructions and rituals for a new version of the famed artifacts known as the instruments of the bards. Unfortunately, about a third of the book is in a language Mal does not understand or recognize, including most of the rites and rituals to imbue it with magic. Still, with a translator, appropriate magics, some study, and someone skilled in wood craft, he may be able to produce one of these relics for himself.

Spoiler: Half Troden Bardic Instrument Key

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Arcana- High Docent Half Toden directs Mal to a specific scroll on a specific shelf in a specific wing when pressed on this subject. He seems... oddly insistent... actually. It turns out to be a book of songs, actually, and one of them is penned by none other than High Docent Half Toden.

Lo, behold the works of the Maker of Things,
Wands, staves, instruments, wonders, and rings,
His traveling cart rolls from town to town
And trades mystical wonders for enough coins to drown
Sometimes human, sometimes dwarf, sometimes gnome,
He claims fate calls him, binds him, and keeps him from home
He forged Harum's hammer that split the Eternal Rock
Tinkered Trelmari's picks which defeat any Lock
He defies time and age, but one note rings true
Find one of Harum's adamant coins and he will find you.

Spoiler: Harumburg Library Lore

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Religion- There has been a near constant history of undead in and around the capital of Harumsvale. It seems like every three to five decades or so some priest or paladin of Harum organizes a purge that "purifies" a coven of vampire spawn, a hidden necromancer, or a ghoul nest. But it seems to Mal (and to High Docent Toden) that this always treats the outward symptoms without handling the cause. Vampire spawn are rooted out, but rarely is a true vampire found. Students at the university are found to be dabbling in the forbidden arts, but no one ever catches the teacher who revealed such secrets to them. And each time a nest of ghouls is rooted out there is often a new infection there within a century. Half gives Mal an anecdote about one building in the industrial district being raided three times within his lifetime.

History- Docent Toden cannot corroborate much in this area of research, but Mal does find several portraits that bear an astounding resemblance to Grand Arbiter Myrus Malkaav, each of them depicting some variety of civil servant or noble position with roughly eighty years between them. When Post Master Geller Rell passes away from a wasting disease, eight decades or so later Chief Accountant Daedren Gastaf, who has the same severe eyes, hooked nose, and pale skin but a different haircut, takes his position a serves with merited distinction. There is a general trend in these dopplegangers to rise in the ranks of the government over the centuries, and Mal finds records dating back nearly a thousand years.

Report daily updates to Mistress Moira at last light.

[purepolarpanzer]

At the Gateway to the Lower Sewers

Hearing Mal's illusion, the undead holding the foot tosses it aside and begins to eagerly climb the ladder towards the top. The other seems more wary, and turns back towards the sewer tunnel and begins making it's way back, possibly to call for reinforcements.

[Riggdgames]

Set Al-Sayyid Changeling Fighter/Hexblade AC: 17 HP: 41/41 (43/43) THP: 5/5 PP: 12 PIv: 13 PIs: 9 Conditions: Mal's Aid, Nome's Hero's Feast (immune to poison/frightened, Wis ST adv) Concentration: At the Gateway to the Lower Sewers Set's heart jumps into his throat several times in succession as the group make their descent. First Selissa slips, but given how easily she recovers it could have almost been on purpose. Certainly she reached the bottom faster without issue. Then Mal blinks into place just overhead, seemingly reborn from frost in mid-air. With a flourish the frost coalesces all over him, his skin taking on an icy blue. It all pales in comparison to the scream of bones, an alarm intent on adding more souls to the pile. "Dear GODS! HELP ME! THEY'RE EATING ME ALIVE!" Set freezes in place, listening carefully to Maus' warning as two undead appear. Out of the corner of his eye, Set watches Mal's blade dance before a distraction sounds off from above. Holding his breath, he watches as one moves past them to scale the ladder while the other retreats back the way it came. "What are we doing?" Set hisses, looking wildly between his companions and the ghoul who's shambling away. Set pulls out the coin, itching to flip it, but unwilling to take his eyes from the retreating ghoul. Instead he tenses on the balls of his feet, poised to race after it.

[Awful]

Selissa Betula Wood Elf Scout Rogue AC: 16 HP: 38/38->45/45 PP: 16 Conditions: heroic encouragement, Aid Concentrating: -- Selissa landed in bones. The bodies of the countless victims of the undead monsters that lurked here. She was gritting her teeth hard enough her jaw hurt. She did her best to ignore the shouting and unclench her jaw before she cracked a tooth. Just an illusion. Nectomantic trickery. She hated it, but perhaps she'd be able to put an arrow through those responsible in time. As the ghouls came in, instinct had nocked an arrow before she could think to move, had raised the bow before she could interrupt the reflex. But in time, she stopped herself shooting. Even if magic supposedly hid her words she remained silent, sliding though the bones to a place where she had good angles on both of the monsters. As the undead began to split up, she pointed her finger at Vargath and Set, then twitched her head towards the one heading back in a gesture: You attack this one first.

[Amnestic]

Vargath Hubrecht Half-Orc Rune Knight Fighter AC: 19 HP: 49/49 PP: 13 PIv: 12 PIs: 10 Conditions: Infected (Lycanthropy) Concentrating: -- Quietly Vargath plods forward, and then breaks into a sprint to cross the distance between himself and the retreating undead. Cut the head, smash the body, destroy the mouth, anything that stopped it from calling for aid. With his silvered warhammer in hand he brings the heavy metal across first in a wide low swipe to take it out at the legs, to hobble it. His momentum carries him all the way past the monster but he uses it to spin round, feet sliding across the gross floor as he puts all his bodyweight behind another arcing strike at its face. Undead tended to be resilient, thanks to their reanimating magics, but if he could crush its skull all the better.

Spoiler: Surprise Actions

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Move: Close Distance, maneuver past it to cut off its path of retreat.
Action: Attack (1d20+7)[10] Advantage: (1d20+7)[9] Damage: (1d8+6)[7]
Extra Attack (1d20+7)[25] Advantage: (1d20+7)[19] Damage: (1d8+6)[14]
Bonus Action: None.

[Riggdgames]

Set Al-Sayyid Changeling Fighter/Hexblade AC: 17 HP: 41/41 (43/43) THP: 5/5 PP: 12 PIv: 13 PIs: 9 Conditions: Mal's Aid, Nome's Hero's Feast (immune to poison/frightened, Wis ST adv) Concentration: At the Gateway to the Lower Sewers Without giving voice to their thoughts, Selissa and Vargath nevertheless make their response clear. Finally, blissfully, the anxiety of not knowing what to do fades as Set's hand is forced and the objective is clear. This he understands. Set is only a step behind the Mighty, sprinting silently as they splash through the tunnel while the ghoul continues its retreat, oblivious. Pocketing the coin and gripping his spear in both hands, Set weaves his attacks between Vargath's, seeking to spear the creature in the back. As the Mighty's second attack strikes at the monster's face, Set withdraws and then brings the butt of his spear arcing around, aiming to crush its ribs. Spoiler: OOC Show Move: Close distance, attack from opposite Vargath Action: 2H spear attack (1d20+7)[12] w/ advantage (1d20+7)[8] for (1d8+4)[8] piercing damage Bonus Action: Polearm master bonus attack (1d20+7)[21] w/ advantage (1d20+7)[20] for (1d4+4)[6] bludgeoning damage Spoiler: Polearm Master Show When you take the Attack action and attack with only a glaive, halberd, quarterstaff, or spear, you can use a bonus action to make a melee attack with the opposite end of the weapon. This attack uses the same ability modifier as the primary attack. The weapon's damage die for this attack is a d4, and it deals bludgeoning damage. While you are wielding a glaive, halberd, pike, quarterstaff, or spear, other creatures provoke an opportunity attack from you when they enter the reach you have with that weapon.

[Theophilus]

Mal Levistus Tiefling Bard 5 AC: 14 HP: 41/41 (48/48) THP: 10/10 PP: 11 PIv: 13 PIs: 11 Spell Slots: 1st - 4/4 2nd - 1/3 3rd - 2/2 Fey Touched: 1st - 0/1 2nd - 1/1 Masquerade Tattoo: 1st - 1/1 Levistus Legacy: Armor of Agathys - 0/1 Darkness - 1/1 Bardic Inspiration: 4/4 Healer's Kit: 20/20 Mal Conditions: Praised into Health (43). Immune to poison frightened. Wisdom saving throws with advantage. Loki's Bane. Aid. Mal Concentrating: --- Esai Ancient Companion: Warrior Companion HP: 30/30 (32/32) Companion AC: 16 Companion PP: 18 PIv: 12 PIs: 12 Sage's Counsel: While within 15 feet of the companion, you and your allies gain a +2 bonus to Intelligence and Wisdom checks. Warrior’s Protection (Warrior Only). When a creature within 5 feet of the companion makes a Strength or Dexterity saving throw, the companion imposes itself between the creature and the danger. The creature can roll a d4 and add the number rolled to the saving throw. Praised into Health. Immune to frightened. Wisdom saving throws with advantage Mal signaled to Esai to assist with the lower ghoul as it retreated. The hulking statue went to hammer low as the spearman struck middle and Vargath slashed high. Instead of creating a concerted killing, the effect proved more cacophonous. The bard prepared to strike the clambering scout on the rail when he noted the series of stunning misses, and the tiefling instead loosed a blast of icy sluice at the retreating enemy.

Spoiler: OOC

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BA: Spirit Strike for Esai. 12 to hit, 6 force on a slim chance of striking.
Action: Ray of Frost. 20 to hit, 11 cold damage to the ghoul the three muscle bois whiffed.

Spoiler: Mal's Notes

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Spoiler: Cast and Crew

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Set: outcast exiled princeling of Abydos. Two princess sisters (Sisi and Sythpen Al-Sayyid). Romantic connection for Moira?
Selissa: Blighted or reconstructed wood elf? Purported Scout.
Vargath: Afflicted Lycanthrope seeking to suspend his curse. A Bloodwolf?
Mandaras: Rival to Dr. Fixer.
Dr. Fixer: Moira's lieutenant and cultivates relations with the locals of Vale.
Elder Maus: Seeks to kill Moira. Hired mercenaries who betrayed him.
--Healed to his full 9ft height.
--Disbelieves Moira's insights; seeks to end her directly or indirectly.
--Seeks us to verify the truths of Moira's claims--or stop her by any means necessary.
Maulei: Successor to Elder Maus as elder of Dam'ess.
Uluthando Mikoso "Ulu:" Paladin? of Order. From beyond the Vale. Reacts by gripping her dagger and declaring Tieflings are treated differently...Lawful (N/E?) Order? Calls Mal 'Mdala Ohlonishwayo.' Professes to serve no god, but spirits whose reach may be weaker in the Vale than elsewhere.
Nomcebo: Ulu's handler. Ink skinned tiefling with prehensile tail and an obvious allure.
Kagiso: Ulu's slave and carriage driver.

Spoiler: Dream of Leng

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Spoiler: In Full

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Mal has had this dream before. He finds himself in the legendary Library of Leng, an ancient home of virtually all worldly and mystical knowledge that burned when the city it was located in was razed nearly nine hundred years ago, half the world away. Still, in his dreams it still existed, and these dreams always played out the same. Hours of dutiful research, referencing and cross referencing sources from multiple tomes, carefully reconstructing ancient languages, until EUREKA! Some devastating and profound arcane truth became evident to him, and the sense of accomplisment and relief normally carried with him for several hours after waking up, even if he could never actually remember anything he learned. But this time is different. Mal is well versed enough in the arcane and divine arts to know that sometimes dreams carry real meaning. And as he stares down at what he has been working on, he instinctively knows this bears some significance. Where normally he would have arcane formulas and theorems, he sees only "The One Who Stalks Behind" scrawled over and over again in his own hand, though the words are manic and look like they were written in distress. He searches the paper for any further omen, and down at the bottom of the page, in the smallest script he could possibly manage, it says Behind you!. Just as he is about to turn, a claw as strong as iron grips the side of his head, snaps his neck to the side, and ends all feeling in the bard's body. But he can still hear the deep throated growls, along with the wet noises of whatever killed him beginning to eat him alive. But he never gets to see it before the dream ends.

The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. RIGHT BEHIND YOU! The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind.

Spoiler: Bence's Secrets

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Spoiler: Bence's Journal

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...is a backwards plane, so far removed from the Prime Material that it has not seen an angel or the work of a god in a millennia. I hear that far to the west they do not even worship the gods. Proper savages, but I must remain vigilant, as their knowledge of the ways of this world is far more educated than most. But it is ripe for my conquest. While my Master was tasked with corrupting Avendor, my home plane, a bastion of good and law, my chore is simply to tip the rat into the bucket of the Abyss as it prowls the rim looking for cheese. This plane is already so flooded with the energies of the Abyss that demons spontaneously emerge, monsters manifest in the dark, and their weak leaders bargain with forces they would be wiser to repulse. It will be child's play to nudge it the last few inches into anarchy and destruction, mostly due to the efforts of Pale Night herself. For thousands of years she has been grasping and clawing at this realm, dragging it further from the light and closer to her realm day by day, inch by inch, soul by soul. While my home plane was beyond my ability to destroy, this place will be my masterpiece. With my death at the hands of the forces of good, a symphony of destruction will play the anthem to my ascension to demonhood. The Pale Mother has promised me that each death will bring me closer to my true form, and each rebirth will increase my power, just as our pact promised. I can't wait to die. When will the heroes arrive? I've been planting and tending the seed of the idea in the old giant's mind for weeks now. When will it bear fruit? When can my dark rise to power begin? (The rest is a combination of burned and Abyssal that becomes impossible to read)

Dam'ess- Mass Quasit Summoning. Magic Mouth to Levy Commands re: Retrieve Mirror of Leng, Scepter of Rulership, And Aniot's Cube. Disperse to Appropriate Parties Per The Plan. Burn The Cabin.

Harumburg- Sending to Lord of Bone re: Portal to the 113th. (Indecipherable Due to Burns) In Accordance with Their Great Alliance.

Falluneer- Sending to Lord of Flesh re: (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Ebon Spear.

(Indecipherable Due to Burns)light: Sending to Lord of Blood re: Assassination of (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Yukkot, Recovery of Blood (More Burns).

(Indecipherable Due to Burns)odge- Sending to Cult of Pale (More Burns) re: Initiate Divining Ritual Sacrifices. FIND THE DAMN ZIGGURAT.

Garrunrow- (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Kill the Last Bloodwolf. Recover (More Burns) Key.

Mountain of Smoke- (Indecipherable Due to Burns) crypt. Seize the Ebon (More Burns).

Sussoon- Ensure the Prophecy (Indecipherable Due to Burns)... Pay the Bounty Hunters to Find the Abydossian and the Princesses. re: Sacrifices of The Old Blood

(There is more, but seemingly out of paranoia Bence switched to Abyssal. It is impossible to tell how many lines there are, as the last half of the paper is fully burned away)

Spoiler: Arcane Lore concerning Bence's Notes

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The magic of Contingency is a nearly mythical bit of spell work that was said to be lost when the Library of Leng burned down. It allows a caster to prepare spells in advance for a predetermined event, in this case John Bence's own death, and the spells will automatically cast when the event happens. If Bence is capable of such sorcery, he is likely far more powerful than his flashy death at the party's hands would indicate.

The Mirror of Leng is a artifact of the Library of Leng, said to contain a frozen moment of time where the library was at it's height that a person can temporarily step in to, giving access to the greatest magical library this world has ever seen. Supposedly several mirrors were made, though some are confirmed destroyed after their use led to come calamity of forbidden magics long lost to time. The Scepter of Rulership is said to be an even more powerful version of a Rod of Rulership, a magic item that allows for mass mind manipulation of people to believe that the holder of the Scepter is their rightful ruler. The last time the Scepter was confirmed in play it toppled an entire nation.

Though numbering and organizing the layers of the Abyss is a fool's errand, there are some realms that are constant enough to designate. The one hundred and thirteenth layer is Thanatos, layer of Orcus, the Lord of Death. It is a lifeless frozen landscape where life is snuffed out almost as soon as it arrives, either by the untold legions of undead denizens, the magical aura of the layer itself, or, in the worst cases, by Orcus himself, using his fearsome Wand.

Spoiler: John Bence's Wall Art

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There are no invisible objects in the room, but the entire back wall of the cabin is plastered with profane runes and abyssal scribblings. Where there was nothing to the naked eye, there is an extensive patchwork of spell work, seemingly scribed in the rusted red of blood. More disturbing is the fragments of souls that have been bound to the wall. Faces of people rise and seethe from the wood like a strange and rippling tide, mouths open in anguish. There are not many of them left, presumably due to whatever spell was used here absorbing so much energy, but there is a fine layer of ectoplasm that would indicate that once there were dozens of soul fragments powering this spell. The sight turns Mal's stomach, as the chaotic, destructive magic of the Abyss is written as plainly as news script, but as subtly as any devil could manage.

Spoiler: Monsters

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Barlgura: Demon loosed by summoning ritual on the road to Dam'ess. Slain with its summoned partner by team. (Bless helped with accuracy issues due to invisibility. In the future, layer mind sliver to aid with saves.)
Brazen Hart: Spirit of the wild wood around Dam'ess. Seeks to test the party's mettle by forcing an open fight with the Barlgura.
Horror of Yurl: Shapeshifting kind of monster. Severs limbs, creates euphoria, and slays by consuming the liver. The newest variant flies...
Tree-house horror: elven make. Demon infested. Extremely rare creation.

The presence of the so-called "evolved" ghouls is troublesome. Said to be the chosen of Doresain the Ghoul King, Darakhuls are more motivated, more intelligent, and leagues more dangerous than their lesser kin. They have a subterranean empire on the other side of the continent, and their attempts to bring their Imperium to the surface have only narrowly been thwarted by the actions of great heroes and dedicated rulers. If Darakhuls have come to Harumvale, then the eyes of the Ghoul King have turned in this direction, and things truly are worse than imagined. Darakhul have a mystical connection to lesser ghouls and ghasts that enhances their intelligence and discipline when the evolved ghouls are present, turning them from hungry predators to a military unit.

Spoiler: Instrument of the Bards

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Mal needs a translator, the spells, and woodcrafter to create a new relic.

Spoiler: Full Description

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Still, tucked among the primers and amateur books he finds a book that deals with the blending of magic and music. Specifically, it holds the instructions and rituals for a new version of the famed artifacts known as the instruments of the bards. Unfortunately, about a third of the book is in a language Mal does not understand or recognize, including most of the rites and rituals to imbue it with magic. Still, with a translator, appropriate magics, some study, and someone skilled in wood craft, he may be able to produce one of these relics for himself.

Spoiler: Half Troden Bardic Instrument Key

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Arcana- High Docent Half Toden directs Mal to a specific scroll on a specific shelf in a specific wing when pressed on this subject. He seems... oddly insistent... actually. It turns out to be a book of songs, actually, and one of them is penned by none other than High Docent Half Toden.

Lo, behold the works of the Maker of Things,
Wands, staves, instruments, wonders, and rings,
His traveling cart rolls from town to town
And trades mystical wonders for enough coins to drown
Sometimes human, sometimes dwarf, sometimes gnome,
He claims fate calls him, binds him, and keeps him from home
He forged Harum's hammer that split the Eternal Rock
Tinkered Trelmari's picks which defeat any Lock
He defies time and age, but one note rings true
Find one of Harum's adamant coins and he will find you.

Spoiler: Harumburg Library Lore

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Religion- There has been a near constant history of undead in and around the capital of Harumsvale. It seems like every three to five decades or so some priest or paladin of Harum organizes a purge that "purifies" a coven of vampire spawn, a hidden necromancer, or a ghoul nest. But it seems to Mal (and to High Docent Toden) that this always treats the outward symptoms without handling the cause. Vampire spawn are rooted out, but rarely is a true vampire found. Students at the university are found to be dabbling in the forbidden arts, but no one ever catches the teacher who revealed such secrets to them. And each time a nest of ghouls is rooted out there is often a new infection there within a century. Half gives Mal an anecdote about one building in the industrial district being raided three times within his lifetime.

History- Docent Toden cannot corroborate much in this area of research, but Mal does find several portraits that bear an astounding resemblance to Grand Arbiter Myrus Malkaav, each of them depicting some variety of civil servant or noble position with roughly eighty years between them. When Post Master Geller Rell passes away from a wasting disease, eight decades or so later Chief Accountant Daedren Gastaf, who has the same severe eyes, hooked nose, and pale skin but a different haircut, takes his position a serves with merited distinction. There is a general trend in these dopplegangers to rise in the ranks of the government over the centuries, and Mal finds records dating back nearly a thousand years.

Report daily updates to Mistress Moira at last light.

[purepolarpanzer]

In the Bone Pit

The sound of flesh being pulverized, pierced, and frozen is quiet, but it is not silent. In a cascade of blows topped off with a blast of icy magic, the cautious ghoul is destroyed utterly, it's body crushed and rent to pieces. However, against all odds, the sound of it's companion being demolished do not alert the ghoul climbing the ladder, nor do reinforcements come from futher down the tunnel. It makes it's way higher and higher, still slavering at the prospect of prey. A dot of spittle lands on Selissa's forehead as she looks up at the undead. Maus catches her eye and motions with his staff, making sure she is ready to capitalize on his next move. With a emerald flash a vine launches out of his great club and wraps around the ghoul's leg, dragging it off the ladder and causing it to fall prone directly at Selissa's feet. The thorned vines nearly tore the monstrosity's leg off, and in it's surprise it gave only a quiet yelp as it fell. Now it lies on the ground before the elf, broken bones tearing through it's skin in places, clearly at death's door.

[Awful]

Selissa Betula Wood Elf Scout Rogue AC: 16 HP: 38/38->45/45 PP: 16 Conditions: heroic encouragement, Aid Concentrating: -- The wood elf didn't hesitate. As the ghoul fell, she flicked her hand to withdraw the Student's Sabre from the place betwixt. In a single smooth motion, her magical blade slid under the chin and into the monster's brain, then out the hair-bare scalp. It died the true death silently. Rather than withdraw the sword, she simply dismissed it, to avoid splashing more gore upon the bones. In death the ghoul was infinitely more pathetic, a shrivelled collection of leathery skin tight over bones and knobbly joints. No time to burn them. She gestured to the others and their dead ghoul, then grabbed the redead at her feet by its broken arms and dragged it to a corner, out of immediate sight.

[Amnestic]

Vargath Hubrecht Half-Orc Rune Knight Fighter AC: 19 HP: 49/49 PP: 13 PIv: 12 PIs: 10 Conditions: Infected (Lycanthropy) Concentrating: -- The monster fell quickly enough - good, if somewhat unsatisfying. Barely enough to get his blood pumping, just a quick few slashes and they were down. No further complications. He follows suit from Selissa's wordless suggestion to remove the body from the open, dragging it one handed to the side, concealing it as best he can with minimal time and effort. Lowering his voice, he quietly says "We shouldn't dawdle, if the magic will take time to hide us once more we should push on at least to scout what we can." 'We' in this case meaning Selissa, primarily. His armour was too clanking to serve at the front, when not disguised by Maus' powers.

[Riggdgames]

Set Al-Sayyid Changeling Fighter/Hexblade AC: 17 HP: 41/41 (43/43) THP: 5/5 PP: 12 PIv: 13 PIs: 9 Conditions: Mal's Aid, Nome's Hero's Feast (immune to poison/frightened, Wis ST adv) Concentration: At the Gateway to the Lower Sewers As the ghoul drops, Set's eyes shift to the tunnel ahead. He twists his spear in the corpse and then pulls it free, stepping clear and listening for footsteps. A quiet yelp sounds off behind him, followed by a dull thud. Set winces, but thankfully silence prevails shortly thereafter. Glancing back, he nods at Selissa's signal, but Vargath is already dragging the body away leaving Set free to remain vigilant. "We shouldn't dawdle, if the magic will take time to hide us once more we should push on at least to scout what we can." Biting the inside of his cheek, Set nods wordlessly. Maus had made it clear in the Writ and the Raven that the veil would take time to refresh. Time that might be better spent on the move. Evergreen could scout ahead in silence, but Set would have to remain well back to avoid giving her away. Despite his best intentions, he'd yet to learn how she moved without making a sound. "The supply room Darby suspected of being filled with corpse dust didn't look far on the map," Set offers quietly. "If their supply is unguarded, we could destroy it without delay."

[Awful]

Selissa Betula Wood Elf Scout Rogue AC: 16 HP: 38/38->45/45 PP: 17 Conditions: heroic encouragement, Aid, PWT (+10 stealth, can't be detected through magical means, no tracks) Concentrating: yes Selissa nodded, then, knee deep in those bones, stopped. She'd never done it before, but- -but the wood had grown along her flesh, and guided by something that wasn't quite instinct, she reached over with her fleshen arm and snapped off one of the little twigs that had sprouted near her elbow, mouth quirking at the phantom sensations of almost-pain that sent along the prothestic. Shorn from her, the tiny twig became brittle instantly, and she snapped it into a series of tiny pieces. She paused, then passed one each to the others. She opened her mouth. She shut her mouth, pondered for a second then, metaphorically, bit the branch. Finally she said: "Swallow this." Making things just a little more awkward, she added: "Don't chew." Once everyone had swallowed their section of twig like a little wooden pill, she breathed in, and breathed out silence and shade, like her memories of stalking deer unseen underneath the verdant sea of the deepwoods. And even here in this pestilent, wretched tunnels, she could be a ghost, and now when they walked their feet left no marks in the filth and the carrion around their feet. "Hour at most," She whispered, her voice hollowed by the magic to a dusky trace. "Follow. Not too close." She slipped through the shadows of the tunnels like a ghost, eyes wide for traps, for foes, for the brick mentioned by the smoking representative of the Red Brothers - ahead enough of the group to give advanced warning, but close enough either could rush forward to help if need be. Evil was here. But Selissa Betula was on the hunt, and it wouldn't see her coming. Spoiler: ooc Show Stealth roll: 37,by god Everyone gets +10 to stealth and can't be detected by magic means, and leaves no tracks Pp17 for spotting anything

[Theophilus]

Mal Levistus Tiefling Bard 5 AC: 14 HP: 41/41 (48/48) THP: 10/10 PP: 11 PIv: 13 PIs: 11 Spell Slots: 1st - 4/4 2nd - 1/3 3rd - 2/2 Fey Touched: 1st - 0/1 2nd - 1/1 Masquerade Tattoo: 1st - 1/1 Levistus Legacy: Armor of Agathys - 0/1 Darkness - 1/1 Bardic Inspiration: 4/4 Healer's Kit: 20/20 Mal Conditions: Praised into Health (43). Immune to poison frightened. Wisdom saving throws with advantage. Loki's Bane. Aid. Mal Concentrating: --- Esai Ancient Companion: Warrior Companion HP: 30/30 (32/32) Companion AC: 16 Companion PP: 18 PIv: 12 PIs: 12 Sage's Counsel: While within 15 feet of the companion, you and your allies gain a +2 bonus to Intelligence and Wisdom checks. Warrior’s Protection (Warrior Only). When a creature within 5 feet of the companion makes a Strength or Dexterity saving throw, the companion imposes itself between the creature and the danger. The creature can roll a d4 and add the number rolled to the saving throw. Praised into Health. Immune to frightened. Wisdom saving throws with advantage Mal held the piece of the strange limb and then swallowed it, curious as to what the elf imparted from her person. Esai ground the slender bit of wood as one might a toothpick, unable to truly ingest the particulate. Then the guardian took a middle position to watch over his ward without tromping too near the scout. The construct knew its own girth would press the limits of the spell. The tiefling, however, slipped around the strewn bones as if he had waltzed in skeletal chambers prior to this moment. His feline prowl seemed suited to the shadowy stalking Selissa produced. The bard kept his rapier ready and listened for danger.

Spoiler: OOC

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Discord Stealth: 35 (nat 20)

Esai stealth: 12

Spoiler: Mal's Notes

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Spoiler: Cast and Crew

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Set: outcast exiled princeling of Abydos. Two princess sisters (Sisi and Sythpen Al-Sayyid). Romantic connection for Moira?
Selissa: Blighted or reconstructed wood elf? Purported Scout.
Vargath: Afflicted Lycanthrope seeking to suspend his curse. A Bloodwolf?
Mandaras: Rival to Dr. Fixer.
Dr. Fixer: Moira's lieutenant and cultivates relations with the locals of Vale.
Elder Maus: Seeks to kill Moira. Hired mercenaries who betrayed him.
--Healed to his full 9ft height.
--Disbelieves Moira's insights; seeks to end her directly or indirectly.
--Seeks us to verify the truths of Moira's claims--or stop her by any means necessary.
Maulei: Successor to Elder Maus as elder of Dam'ess.
Uluthando Mikoso "Ulu:" Paladin? of Order. From beyond the Vale. Reacts by gripping her dagger and declaring Tieflings are treated differently...Lawful (N/E?) Order? Calls Mal 'Mdala Ohlonishwayo.' Professes to serve no god, but spirits whose reach may be weaker in the Vale than elsewhere.
Nomcebo: Ulu's handler. Ink skinned tiefling with prehensile tail and an obvious allure.
Kagiso: Ulu's slave and carriage driver.

Spoiler: Dream of Leng

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Spoiler: In Full

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Mal has had this dream before. He finds himself in the legendary Library of Leng, an ancient home of virtually all worldly and mystical knowledge that burned when the city it was located in was razed nearly nine hundred years ago, half the world away. Still, in his dreams it still existed, and these dreams always played out the same. Hours of dutiful research, referencing and cross referencing sources from multiple tomes, carefully reconstructing ancient languages, until EUREKA! Some devastating and profound arcane truth became evident to him, and the sense of accomplisment and relief normally carried with him for several hours after waking up, even if he could never actually remember anything he learned. But this time is different. Mal is well versed enough in the arcane and divine arts to know that sometimes dreams carry real meaning. And as he stares down at what he has been working on, he instinctively knows this bears some significance. Where normally he would have arcane formulas and theorems, he sees only "The One Who Stalks Behind" scrawled over and over again in his own hand, though the words are manic and look like they were written in distress. He searches the paper for any further omen, and down at the bottom of the page, in the smallest script he could possibly manage, it says Behind you!. Just as he is about to turn, a claw as strong as iron grips the side of his head, snaps his neck to the side, and ends all feeling in the bard's body. But he can still hear the deep throated growls, along with the wet noises of whatever killed him beginning to eat him alive. But he never gets to see it before the dream ends.

The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. RIGHT BEHIND YOU! The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind.

Spoiler: Bence's Secrets

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Spoiler: Bence's Journal

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...is a backwards plane, so far removed from the Prime Material that it has not seen an angel or the work of a god in a millennia. I hear that far to the west they do not even worship the gods. Proper savages, but I must remain vigilant, as their knowledge of the ways of this world is far more educated than most. But it is ripe for my conquest. While my Master was tasked with corrupting Avendor, my home plane, a bastion of good and law, my chore is simply to tip the rat into the bucket of the Abyss as it prowls the rim looking for cheese. This plane is already so flooded with the energies of the Abyss that demons spontaneously emerge, monsters manifest in the dark, and their weak leaders bargain with forces they would be wiser to repulse. It will be child's play to nudge it the last few inches into anarchy and destruction, mostly due to the efforts of Pale Night herself. For thousands of years she has been grasping and clawing at this realm, dragging it further from the light and closer to her realm day by day, inch by inch, soul by soul. While my home plane was beyond my ability to destroy, this place will be my masterpiece. With my death at the hands of the forces of good, a symphony of destruction will play the anthem to my ascension to demonhood. The Pale Mother has promised me that each death will bring me closer to my true form, and each rebirth will increase my power, just as our pact promised. I can't wait to die. When will the heroes arrive? I've been planting and tending the seed of the idea in the old giant's mind for weeks now. When will it bear fruit? When can my dark rise to power begin? (The rest is a combination of burned and Abyssal that becomes impossible to read)

Dam'ess- Mass Quasit Summoning. Magic Mouth to Levy Commands re: Retrieve Mirror of Leng, Scepter of Rulership, And Aniot's Cube. Disperse to Appropriate Parties Per The Plan. Burn The Cabin.

Harumburg- Sending to Lord of Bone re: Portal to the 113th. (Indecipherable Due to Burns) In Accordance with Their Great Alliance.

Falluneer- Sending to Lord of Flesh re: (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Ebon Spear.

(Indecipherable Due to Burns)light: Sending to Lord of Blood re: Assassination of (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Yukkot, Recovery of Blood (More Burns).

(Indecipherable Due to Burns)odge- Sending to Cult of Pale (More Burns) re: Initiate Divining Ritual Sacrifices. FIND THE DAMN ZIGGURAT.

Garrunrow- (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Kill the Last Bloodwolf. Recover (More Burns) Key.

Mountain of Smoke- (Indecipherable Due to Burns) crypt. Seize the Ebon (More Burns).

Sussoon- Ensure the Prophecy (Indecipherable Due to Burns)... Pay the Bounty Hunters to Find the Abydossian and the Princesses. re: Sacrifices of The Old Blood

(There is more, but seemingly out of paranoia Bence switched to Abyssal. It is impossible to tell how many lines there are, as the last half of the paper is fully burned away)

Spoiler: Arcane Lore concerning Bence's Notes

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The magic of Contingency is a nearly mythical bit of spell work that was said to be lost when the Library of Leng burned down. It allows a caster to prepare spells in advance for a predetermined event, in this case John Bence's own death, and the spells will automatically cast when the event happens. If Bence is capable of such sorcery, he is likely far more powerful than his flashy death at the party's hands would indicate.

The Mirror of Leng is a artifact of the Library of Leng, said to contain a frozen moment of time where the library was at it's height that a person can temporarily step in to, giving access to the greatest magical library this world has ever seen. Supposedly several mirrors were made, though some are confirmed destroyed after their use led to come calamity of forbidden magics long lost to time. The Scepter of Rulership is said to be an even more powerful version of a Rod of Rulership, a magic item that allows for mass mind manipulation of people to believe that the holder of the Scepter is their rightful ruler. The last time the Scepter was confirmed in play it toppled an entire nation.

Though numbering and organizing the layers of the Abyss is a fool's errand, there are some realms that are constant enough to designate. The one hundred and thirteenth layer is Thanatos, layer of Orcus, the Lord of Death. It is a lifeless frozen landscape where life is snuffed out almost as soon as it arrives, either by the untold legions of undead denizens, the magical aura of the layer itself, or, in the worst cases, by Orcus himself, using his fearsome Wand.

Spoiler: John Bence's Wall Art

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There are no invisible objects in the room, but the entire back wall of the cabin is plastered with profane runes and abyssal scribblings. Where there was nothing to the naked eye, there is an extensive patchwork of spell work, seemingly scribed in the rusted red of blood. More disturbing is the fragments of souls that have been bound to the wall. Faces of people rise and seethe from the wood like a strange and rippling tide, mouths open in anguish. There are not many of them left, presumably due to whatever spell was used here absorbing so much energy, but there is a fine layer of ectoplasm that would indicate that once there were dozens of soul fragments powering this spell. The sight turns Mal's stomach, as the chaotic, destructive magic of the Abyss is written as plainly as news script, but as subtly as any devil could manage.

Spoiler: Monsters

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Barlgura: Demon loosed by summoning ritual on the road to Dam'ess. Slain with its summoned partner by team. (Bless helped with accuracy issues due to invisibility. In the future, layer mind sliver to aid with saves.)
Brazen Hart: Spirit of the wild wood around Dam'ess. Seeks to test the party's mettle by forcing an open fight with the Barlgura.
Horror of Yurl: Shapeshifting kind of monster. Severs limbs, creates euphoria, and slays by consuming the liver. The newest variant flies...
Tree-house horror: elven make. Demon infested. Extremely rare creation.

The presence of the so-called "evolved" ghouls is troublesome. Said to be the chosen of Doresain the Ghoul King, Darakhuls are more motivated, more intelligent, and leagues more dangerous than their lesser kin. They have a subterranean empire on the other side of the continent, and their attempts to bring their Imperium to the surface have only narrowly been thwarted by the actions of great heroes and dedicated rulers. If Darakhuls have come to Harumvale, then the eyes of the Ghoul King have turned in this direction, and things truly are worse than imagined. Darakhul have a mystical connection to lesser ghouls and ghasts that enhances their intelligence and discipline when the evolved ghouls are present, turning them from hungry predators to a military unit.

Spoiler: Instrument of the Bards

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Mal needs a translator, the spells, and woodcrafter to create a new relic.

Spoiler: Full Description

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Still, tucked among the primers and amateur books he finds a book that deals with the blending of magic and music. Specifically, it holds the instructions and rituals for a new version of the famed artifacts known as the instruments of the bards. Unfortunately, about a third of the book is in a language Mal does not understand or recognize, including most of the rites and rituals to imbue it with magic. Still, with a translator, appropriate magics, some study, and someone skilled in wood craft, he may be able to produce one of these relics for himself.

Spoiler: Half Troden Bardic Instrument Key

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Arcana- High Docent Half Toden directs Mal to a specific scroll on a specific shelf in a specific wing when pressed on this subject. He seems... oddly insistent... actually. It turns out to be a book of songs, actually, and one of them is penned by none other than High Docent Half Toden.

Lo, behold the works of the Maker of Things,
Wands, staves, instruments, wonders, and rings,
His traveling cart rolls from town to town
And trades mystical wonders for enough coins to drown
Sometimes human, sometimes dwarf, sometimes gnome,
He claims fate calls him, binds him, and keeps him from home
He forged Harum's hammer that split the Eternal Rock
Tinkered Trelmari's picks which defeat any Lock
He defies time and age, but one note rings true
Find one of Harum's adamant coins and he will find you.

Spoiler: Harumburg Library Lore

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Religion- There has been a near constant history of undead in and around the capital of Harumsvale. It seems like every three to five decades or so some priest or paladin of Harum organizes a purge that "purifies" a coven of vampire spawn, a hidden necromancer, or a ghoul nest. But it seems to Mal (and to High Docent Toden) that this always treats the outward symptoms without handling the cause. Vampire spawn are rooted out, but rarely is a true vampire found. Students at the university are found to be dabbling in the forbidden arts, but no one ever catches the teacher who revealed such secrets to them. And each time a nest of ghouls is rooted out there is often a new infection there within a century. Half gives Mal an anecdote about one building in the industrial district being raided three times within his lifetime.

History- Docent Toden cannot corroborate much in this area of research, but Mal does find several portraits that bear an astounding resemblance to Grand Arbiter Myrus Malkaav, each of them depicting some variety of civil servant or noble position with roughly eighty years between them. When Post Master Geller Rell passes away from a wasting disease, eight decades or so later Chief Accountant Daedren Gastaf, who has the same severe eyes, hooked nose, and pale skin but a different haircut, takes his position a serves with merited distinction. There is a general trend in these dopplegangers to rise in the ranks of the government over the centuries, and Mal finds records dating back nearly a thousand years.

Report daily updates to Mistress Moira at last light.

[Amnestic]

Vargath Hubrecht Half-Orc Rune Knight Fighter AC: 19 HP: 49/49 PP: 13 PIv: 12 PIs: 10 Conditions: Infected (Lycanthropy) Concentrating: -- It wasn't meat. But then he probably didn't want any meat that was down here to begin with. Quietly he grasps hold of Selissa's only partially figurative olive branch and takes a bite, before passing it on. The magic washes over him, and after a moment it brings him out into the wider world, stalking prey beneath a barely moonlit sky. Paws plodding through the forest, the scent of flesh on his nose, the pack at his back. But the mental journey lasts only a moment before he's back in the dank, smelly sewers surrounded by undead. As quietly as he can muster, he follows behind Selissa, taking as much care to quiet the (dulled) sound of his movement. Even though he'd prefer to be at the front he lags behind at the back for now. Better to let Selissa and Mal fire off a few shots and retreat past him, than give them away in the first place.

Spoiler: OOC

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16 stealth roll, after disadv.

[Riggdgames]

Set Al-Sayyid Changeling Fighter/Hexblade AC: 17 HP: 41/41 (43/43) THP: 5/5 PP: 12 PIv: 13 PIs: 9 Conditions: Mal's Aid, Nome's Hero's Feast (immune to poison/frightened, Wis ST adv) Concentration: At the Gateway to the Lower Sewers Set accepts Selissa's offering with open confusion, but barely hesitates before tossing it casually into his mouth and swallowing. He pulls out a waterskin, taking a quick swig to wash it down and ignoring the catch in his throat. A chill alerts him before he's able to see any change. The shift is subtle, but Set can't miss it. The shadows yawn, stretching closer as they wake. With utmost care they embrace Evergreen first, safeguarding her from sight. They greet Iceblood with equal attentiveness. The Tiefling's once-red, now-blue skin is smothered in shadow, fading to black as the two disappear into the tunnel ahead. Set itches to follow, but holds back with Vargath, Maus, and Esai. Despite his affinity for the shadows, he can ill-afford to give Evergreen and Iceblood away by stumbling when they are so sure of foot. All of their lives depend on the two ghosting among the undead. As he steps carefully after the others, Set pulls out his coin absentmindedly, subconsciously seeking comfort with the threat of undeath so near. With a muted ping, he flips it up into the air until it lands in his palm with a smack. Spoiler: ooc Show 14 stealth roll after Disadvantage, with PWT (nat 2).

[purepolarpanzer]

In the Lower Sewer

Maus, in his miniature form, hustles along behind the group, staying just in the rear of Selissa's magic as he swallows the bit of wood. "We can expect stiffer resistance from here. Be on alert." He goes silent after this statement, keenly aware that the group is no longer shrouded from undead senses. Aided by the shadows of Selissa's wake, Maus makes very little noise.

It can't be more than seventy feet or so before Selissa encounters their next obstacle. She hears them first, inquisitive words in a language she doesn't understand. At the head of the group, she catches sight of them before anyone else. Four humanoid figures are squatting in the dark approximately sixty feet ahead. Two of them are chewing on dismembered hands, while two with much larger, clawlike hands themselves are biting into the thighs of dismembered legs. The sound of flesh being torn, chewed, and swallowed is disturbing, reminding the group of their own edibility and mortality. She is about to take action when a particularly loud step from Esai perks her ears. None of the undead seem to notice, as wood elf magic deadens even the most obvious of grinding stone, but another form comes from the side tunnel adjacent to the feasting ghouls and ghasts, barking an order in a foreign tongue that has the weaker undead dropping their meals and standing at attention.

It is taller than the others, and it is easy to discern that it is much more threatening. Covered in a solid black breastplate with bronze etching along the armored plates, it has blood dripping from it's mouth, which shows off pointed, sharpened teeth, and hanging from one corner of it's mouth it a section of entrails. Pinned to it's uniform armor are medals and commendations as one would find on the chest of a veteran soldier. Over it's back it bares a wickedly sharp looking glaive, a large crossbow bound in white bone, and a hand-and-a-half sword. It's red eyes search the darkness for a moment before it barks another order and the entire group begins to retreat into the side tunnel, clearing your path onward but making the exploration of the corpse dust tunnel far more complicated.

Spoiler: OOC

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Selissa has a chance to take an offensive action if she wishes. If she targets the lesser ghouls or ghasts she has advantage, as they are completely oblivious to threats. If she targets the more formidable darakhul it is leaning out of a doorway giving it three-quarters cover, and it is taking the dodge action to negate advantage from being surprised.

[Theophilus]

Mal Levistus Tiefling Bard 5 AC: 14 HP: 41/41 (48/48) THP: 10/10 PP: 11 PIv: 13 PIs: 11 Spell Slots: 1st - 4/4 2nd - 1/3 3rd - 2/2 Fey Touched: 1st - 0/1 2nd - 1/1 Masquerade Tattoo: 1st - 1/1 Levistus Legacy: Armor of Agathys - 0/1 Darkness - 1/1 Bardic Inspiration: 4/4 Healer's Kit: 20/20 Mal Conditions: Praised into Health (43). Immune to poison frightened. Wisdom saving throws with advantage. Loki's Bane. Aid. Mal Concentrating: --- Esai Ancient Companion: Warrior Companion HP: 30/30 (32/32) Companion AC: 16 Companion PP: 18 PIv: 12 PIs: 12 Sage's Counsel: While within 15 feet of the companion, you and your allies gain a +2 bonus to Intelligence and Wisdom checks. Warrior’s Protection (Warrior Only). When a creature within 5 feet of the companion makes a Strength or Dexterity saving throw, the companion imposes itself between the creature and the danger. The creature can roll a d4 and add the number rolled to the saving throw. Praised into Health. Immune to frightened. Wisdom saving throws with advantage Mal crept just behind the phantom. Had she not stalked in view, Selissa's movements would have rendered her unnoticed. He did not wish to reverse the roles of hunter and prey with such an example of the legendary wood elves. When she paused, so did he. Selissa motioned and Mal saw them. The confirmation of a darakhul, with its canny and cruel strength, set his jaw. Yet, where cunning exists, so does curiosity. The tiefling surreptitiously gestured with his bejeweled rapier. A scroll hovered a pace outside the doorway, enclosed in bones and skull designs. Its lead edge hung like a limp tongue, tugging down the scroll to unfurl its message. The ink scrawled across the leather page in infernal script, while a seal of two serpents rampant astride a skull embossed the base of the page in lieu of a signature. The quality, character, and nature of the hovering scroll declared its importance and suggested its origin: an infernal memorial. Spoiler: The Scroll Show Undercommander of the Ebon Legion Écuyer a Faubourg d'Lac de Soufre Emissary Triumphant for the Immortal Host Declares, The labor of the People in Harumburg has not gone unnoticed. We see your efforts to expand the Imperium, and we applaud. We would render our esteem in more than words of ink, adding to your efforts with iron. The viscount of the Mourning Widow especially commends the reclamation of these mortals into a more appropriate form of life, as Subjects and Slaves. Should your outpost commander receive this Declaration of Esteem with expected Esprit, our Agent in the realms shall appear to him and display our opinion face to face within your Office. We pray by the Honorable Marquis d'Lac de Soufre we may impress the Respect this message conveys, as well as motivate you to embrace our venture. Ruse vaut mieux que force.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Minor Illusion of the scroll. It would lack the fancy glow and smoke. Oriented so the darakhul can see the page and tell it has important seals and infernal script. Yet, the scroll would be far enough away to draw his gaze away from where we are and force him to walk closer to it to read properly. Investigation is an action, so hopefully this shall tempt him to do that instead of dodge.

Edit. Discord Deception roll: 25.

Spoiler: Mal's Notes

Show

Spoiler: Cast and Crew

Show

Set: outcast exiled princeling of Abydos. Two princess sisters (Sisi and Sythpen Al-Sayyid). Romantic connection for Moira?
Selissa: Blighted or reconstructed wood elf? Purported Scout.
Vargath: Afflicted Lycanthrope seeking to suspend his curse. A Bloodwolf?
Mandaras: Rival to Dr. Fixer.
Dr. Fixer: Moira's lieutenant and cultivates relations with the locals of Vale.
Elder Maus: Seeks to kill Moira. Hired mercenaries who betrayed him.
--Healed to his full 9ft height.
--Disbelieves Moira's insights; seeks to end her directly or indirectly.
--Seeks us to verify the truths of Moira's claims--or stop her by any means necessary.
Maulei: Successor to Elder Maus as elder of Dam'ess.
Uluthando Mikoso "Ulu:" Paladin? of Order. From beyond the Vale. Reacts by gripping her dagger and declaring Tieflings are treated differently...Lawful (N/E?) Order? Calls Mal 'Mdala Ohlonishwayo.' Professes to serve no god, but spirits whose reach may be weaker in the Vale than elsewhere.
Nomcebo: Ulu's handler. Ink skinned tiefling with prehensile tail and an obvious allure.
Kagiso: Ulu's slave and carriage driver.

Spoiler: Dream of Leng

Show

Spoiler: In Full

Show

Mal has had this dream before. He finds himself in the legendary Library of Leng, an ancient home of virtually all worldly and mystical knowledge that burned when the city it was located in was razed nearly nine hundred years ago, half the world away. Still, in his dreams it still existed, and these dreams always played out the same. Hours of dutiful research, referencing and cross referencing sources from multiple tomes, carefully reconstructing ancient languages, until EUREKA! Some devastating and profound arcane truth became evident to him, and the sense of accomplisment and relief normally carried with him for several hours after waking up, even if he could never actually remember anything he learned. But this time is different. Mal is well versed enough in the arcane and divine arts to know that sometimes dreams carry real meaning. And as he stares down at what he has been working on, he instinctively knows this bears some significance. Where normally he would have arcane formulas and theorems, he sees only "The One Who Stalks Behind" scrawled over and over again in his own hand, though the words are manic and look like they were written in distress. He searches the paper for any further omen, and down at the bottom of the page, in the smallest script he could possibly manage, it says Behind you!. Just as he is about to turn, a claw as strong as iron grips the side of his head, snaps his neck to the side, and ends all feeling in the bard's body. But he can still hear the deep throated growls, along with the wet noises of whatever killed him beginning to eat him alive. But he never gets to see it before the dream ends.

The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. RIGHT BEHIND YOU! The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind.

Spoiler: Bence's Secrets

Show

Spoiler: Bence's Journal

Show

...is a backwards plane, so far removed from the Prime Material that it has not seen an angel or the work of a god in a millennia. I hear that far to the west they do not even worship the gods. Proper savages, but I must remain vigilant, as their knowledge of the ways of this world is far more educated than most. But it is ripe for my conquest. While my Master was tasked with corrupting Avendor, my home plane, a bastion of good and law, my chore is simply to tip the rat into the bucket of the Abyss as it prowls the rim looking for cheese. This plane is already so flooded with the energies of the Abyss that demons spontaneously emerge, monsters manifest in the dark, and their weak leaders bargain with forces they would be wiser to repulse. It will be child's play to nudge it the last few inches into anarchy and destruction, mostly due to the efforts of Pale Night herself. For thousands of years she has been grasping and clawing at this realm, dragging it further from the light and closer to her realm day by day, inch by inch, soul by soul. While my home plane was beyond my ability to destroy, this place will be my masterpiece. With my death at the hands of the forces of good, a symphony of destruction will play the anthem to my ascension to demonhood. The Pale Mother has promised me that each death will bring me closer to my true form, and each rebirth will increase my power, just as our pact promised. I can't wait to die. When will the heroes arrive? I've been planting and tending the seed of the idea in the old giant's mind for weeks now. When will it bear fruit? When can my dark rise to power begin? (The rest is a combination of burned and Abyssal that becomes impossible to read)

Dam'ess- Mass Quasit Summoning. Magic Mouth to Levy Commands re: Retrieve Mirror of Leng, Scepter of Rulership, And Aniot's Cube. Disperse to Appropriate Parties Per The Plan. Burn The Cabin.

Harumburg- Sending to Lord of Bone re: Portal to the 113th. (Indecipherable Due to Burns) In Accordance with Their Great Alliance.

Falluneer- Sending to Lord of Flesh re: (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Ebon Spear.

(Indecipherable Due to Burns)light: Sending to Lord of Blood re: Assassination of (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Yukkot, Recovery of Blood (More Burns).

(Indecipherable Due to Burns)odge- Sending to Cult of Pale (More Burns) re: Initiate Divining Ritual Sacrifices. FIND THE DAMN ZIGGURAT.

Garrunrow- (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Kill the Last Bloodwolf. Recover (More Burns) Key.

Mountain of Smoke- (Indecipherable Due to Burns) crypt. Seize the Ebon (More Burns).

Sussoon- Ensure the Prophecy (Indecipherable Due to Burns)... Pay the Bounty Hunters to Find the Abydossian and the Princesses. re: Sacrifices of The Old Blood

(There is more, but seemingly out of paranoia Bence switched to Abyssal. It is impossible to tell how many lines there are, as the last half of the paper is fully burned away)

Spoiler: Arcane Lore concerning Bence's Notes

Show

The magic of Contingency is a nearly mythical bit of spell work that was said to be lost when the Library of Leng burned down. It allows a caster to prepare spells in advance for a predetermined event, in this case John Bence's own death, and the spells will automatically cast when the event happens. If Bence is capable of such sorcery, he is likely far more powerful than his flashy death at the party's hands would indicate.

The Mirror of Leng is a artifact of the Library of Leng, said to contain a frozen moment of time where the library was at it's height that a person can temporarily step in to, giving access to the greatest magical library this world has ever seen. Supposedly several mirrors were made, though some are confirmed destroyed after their use led to come calamity of forbidden magics long lost to time. The Scepter of Rulership is said to be an even more powerful version of a Rod of Rulership, a magic item that allows for mass mind manipulation of people to believe that the holder of the Scepter is their rightful ruler. The last time the Scepter was confirmed in play it toppled an entire nation.

Though numbering and organizing the layers of the Abyss is a fool's errand, there are some realms that are constant enough to designate. The one hundred and thirteenth layer is Thanatos, layer of Orcus, the Lord of Death. It is a lifeless frozen landscape where life is snuffed out almost as soon as it arrives, either by the untold legions of undead denizens, the magical aura of the layer itself, or, in the worst cases, by Orcus himself, using his fearsome Wand.

Spoiler: John Bence's Wall Art

Show

There are no invisible objects in the room, but the entire back wall of the cabin is plastered with profane runes and abyssal scribblings. Where there was nothing to the naked eye, there is an extensive patchwork of spell work, seemingly scribed in the rusted red of blood. More disturbing is the fragments of souls that have been bound to the wall. Faces of people rise and seethe from the wood like a strange and rippling tide, mouths open in anguish. There are not many of them left, presumably due to whatever spell was used here absorbing so much energy, but there is a fine layer of ectoplasm that would indicate that once there were dozens of soul fragments powering this spell. The sight turns Mal's stomach, as the chaotic, destructive magic of the Abyss is written as plainly as news script, but as subtly as any devil could manage.

Spoiler: Monsters

Show

Barlgura: Demon loosed by summoning ritual on the road to Dam'ess. Slain with its summoned partner by team. (Bless helped with accuracy issues due to invisibility. In the future, layer mind sliver to aid with saves.)
Brazen Hart: Spirit of the wild wood around Dam'ess. Seeks to test the party's mettle by forcing an open fight with the Barlgura.
Horror of Yurl: Shapeshifting kind of monster. Severs limbs, creates euphoria, and slays by consuming the liver. The newest variant flies...
Tree-house horror: elven make. Demon infested. Extremely rare creation.

The presence of the so-called "evolved" ghouls is troublesome. Said to be the chosen of Doresain the Ghoul King, Darakhuls are more motivated, more intelligent, and leagues more dangerous than their lesser kin. They have a subterranean empire on the other side of the continent, and their attempts to bring their Imperium to the surface have only narrowly been thwarted by the actions of great heroes and dedicated rulers. If Darakhuls have come to Harumvale, then the eyes of the Ghoul King have turned in this direction, and things truly are worse than imagined. Darakhul have a mystical connection to lesser ghouls and ghasts that enhances their intelligence and discipline when the evolved ghouls are present, turning them from hungry predators to a military unit.

Spoiler: Instrument of the Bards

Show

Mal needs a translator, the spells, and woodcrafter to create a new relic.

Spoiler: Full Description

Show

Still, tucked among the primers and amateur books he finds a book that deals with the blending of magic and music. Specifically, it holds the instructions and rituals for a new version of the famed artifacts known as the instruments of the bards. Unfortunately, about a third of the book is in a language Mal does not understand or recognize, including most of the rites and rituals to imbue it with magic. Still, with a translator, appropriate magics, some study, and someone skilled in wood craft, he may be able to produce one of these relics for himself.

Spoiler: Half Troden Bardic Instrument Key

Show

Arcana- High Docent Half Toden directs Mal to a specific scroll on a specific shelf in a specific wing when pressed on this subject. He seems... oddly insistent... actually. It turns out to be a book of songs, actually, and one of them is penned by none other than High Docent Half Toden.

Lo, behold the works of the Maker of Things,
Wands, staves, instruments, wonders, and rings,
His traveling cart rolls from town to town
And trades mystical wonders for enough coins to drown
Sometimes human, sometimes dwarf, sometimes gnome,
He claims fate calls him, binds him, and keeps him from home
He forged Harum's hammer that split the Eternal Rock
Tinkered Trelmari's picks which defeat any Lock
He defies time and age, but one note rings true
Find one of Harum's adamant coins and he will find you.

Spoiler: Harumburg Library Lore

Show

Religion- There has been a near constant history of undead in and around the capital of Harumsvale. It seems like every three to five decades or so some priest or paladin of Harum organizes a purge that "purifies" a coven of vampire spawn, a hidden necromancer, or a ghoul nest. But it seems to Mal (and to High Docent Toden) that this always treats the outward symptoms without handling the cause. Vampire spawn are rooted out, but rarely is a true vampire found. Students at the university are found to be dabbling in the forbidden arts, but no one ever catches the teacher who revealed such secrets to them. And each time a nest of ghouls is rooted out there is often a new infection there within a century. Half gives Mal an anecdote about one building in the industrial district being raided three times within his lifetime.

History- Docent Toden cannot corroborate much in this area of research, but Mal does find several portraits that bear an astounding resemblance to Grand Arbiter Myrus Malkaav, each of them depicting some variety of civil servant or noble position with roughly eighty years between them. When Post Master Geller Rell passes away from a wasting disease, eight decades or so later Chief Accountant Daedren Gastaf, who has the same severe eyes, hooked nose, and pale skin but a different haircut, takes his position a serves with merited distinction. There is a general trend in these dopplegangers to rise in the ranks of the government over the centuries, and Mal finds records dating back nearly a thousand years.

Report daily updates to Mistress Moira at last light.

[purepolarpanzer]

In the Lower Sewer Tunnel

After a few moments pause the armored ghoul exits the sewer tunnel and approaches the scroll. He peers at it, squinting and getting closer, before attempting to grab it and bring it close to his face. When his fingers go through the scroll he gives a shout of alarm and reaches for his glaive, but he doesn't have time to draw it. The cry is taken up by the ghouls inside the side chamber, who surely will be coming soon.

[Awful]

Selissa Betula Wood Elf Scout Rogue AC: 16 HP: 38/38->45/45 PP: 17 Conditions: heroic encouragement, Aid, PWT (+10 stealth, can't be detected through magical means, no tracks) Concentrating: yes When Selissa came up on the lurking ghouls, ghasts, and grimmer thing beside, she paused. She made a gesture behind her - two and two, then one, indicating roughly the location of the foes. Could they even see it? Set, at least, was human, with all that species' weakness in the dark. As Ignatiois came up from behind, the devil blood made an illusion that lured the darakhul from its cover. Selissa bunched a wooden fist, made the single pump she hoped they'd recognise as 'attack', and without further ado shot the enhanced ghoul cleanly in the neck with a magic arrow. Even as she loosed the missile she was ghosting backwards, disappearing into the gloom of the dank tunnels. Spoiler: ooc Show Stealth roll: high Everyone gets +10 to stealth and can't be detected by magic means, and leaves no tracks Pp17 for spotting anything Attack roll 20, damage 19

[Amnestic]

Vargath Hubrecht Half-Orc Rune Knight Fighter AC: 19 HP: 49/49 PP: 13 PIv: 12 PIs: 10 Conditions: Infected (Lycanthropy) Concentrating: -- With Selissa's bowshot heralding the start of the fight Vargath breaks into a sprint, knowing he's likely too far away to make contact before another volley is exchanged. Stealth was no longer an option though, and while he could leave the enemy to come to them and be picked off in the meantime, they couldn't risk one running for more reinforcements and alerting the whole complex at once. They had to do it as fast as possible, rather than as safely as possible.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Move+Dash to within 35' of the closest enemy.

[Theophilus]

Mal Levistus Tiefling Bard 5 AC: 14 HP: 41/41 (48/48) THP: 10/10 PP: 11 PIv: 13 PIs: 11 Spell Slots: 1st - 4/4 2nd - 1/3 3rd - 2/2 Fey Touched: 1st - 0/1 2nd - 1/1 Masquerade Tattoo: 1st - 1/1 Levistus Legacy: Armor of Agathys - 0/1 Darkness - 1/1 Bardic Inspiration: 4/4 Healer's Kit: 20/20 Mal Conditions: Praised into Health (43). Immune to poison frightened. Wisdom saving throws with advantage. Loki's Bane. Aid. Mal Concentrating: --- Esai Ancient Companion: Warrior Companion HP: 30/30 (32/32) Companion AC: 16 Companion PP: 18 PIv: 12 PIs: 12 Sage's Counsel: While within 15 feet of the companion, you and your allies gain a +2 bonus to Intelligence and Wisdom checks. Warrior’s Protection (Warrior Only). When a creature within 5 feet of the companion makes a Strength or Dexterity saving throw, the companion imposes itself between the creature and the danger. The creature can roll a d4 and add the number rolled to the saving throw. Praised into Health. Immune to frightened. Wisdom saving throws with advantage Ice crept up the hilt and guard of Mal's rapier as he loosed a frigid blast at the darakhul. He did this midstride, dancing two paces forward and then four paces back. He would glean at the edges of sight, seeking to minimize his contact with the hungering dead. He whispered to Set, "Strike the leader and the others will revert to their stomachs." Esai moved forward, shield aloft and hammer ready.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Action: Ray of Frost. 16 to hit, 13 frost damage.
BA: Bardic Inspiration to Set.

Esai dodges (standard action when not tasked).

Spoiler: Mal's Notes

Show

Spoiler: Cast and Crew

Show

Set: outcast exiled princeling of Abydos. Two princess sisters (Sisi and Sythpen Al-Sayyid). Romantic connection for Moira?
Selissa: Blighted or reconstructed wood elf? Purported Scout.
Vargath: Afflicted Lycanthrope seeking to suspend his curse. A Bloodwolf?
Mandaras: Rival to Dr. Fixer.
Dr. Fixer: Moira's lieutenant and cultivates relations with the locals of Vale.
Elder Maus: Seeks to kill Moira. Hired mercenaries who betrayed him.
--Healed to his full 9ft height.
--Disbelieves Moira's insights; seeks to end her directly or indirectly.
--Seeks us to verify the truths of Moira's claims--or stop her by any means necessary.
Maulei: Successor to Elder Maus as elder of Dam'ess.
Uluthando Mikoso "Ulu:" Paladin? of Order. From beyond the Vale. Reacts by gripping her dagger and declaring Tieflings are treated differently...Lawful (N/E?) Order? Calls Mal 'Mdala Ohlonishwayo.' Professes to serve no god, but spirits whose reach may be weaker in the Vale than elsewhere.
Nomcebo: Ulu's handler. Ink skinned tiefling with prehensile tail and an obvious allure.
Kagiso: Ulu's slave and carriage driver.

Spoiler: Dream of Leng

Show

Spoiler: In Full

Show

Mal has had this dream before. He finds himself in the legendary Library of Leng, an ancient home of virtually all worldly and mystical knowledge that burned when the city it was located in was razed nearly nine hundred years ago, half the world away. Still, in his dreams it still existed, and these dreams always played out the same. Hours of dutiful research, referencing and cross referencing sources from multiple tomes, carefully reconstructing ancient languages, until EUREKA! Some devastating and profound arcane truth became evident to him, and the sense of accomplisment and relief normally carried with him for several hours after waking up, even if he could never actually remember anything he learned. But this time is different. Mal is well versed enough in the arcane and divine arts to know that sometimes dreams carry real meaning. And as he stares down at what he has been working on, he instinctively knows this bears some significance. Where normally he would have arcane formulas and theorems, he sees only "The One Who Stalks Behind" scrawled over and over again in his own hand, though the words are manic and look like they were written in distress. He searches the paper for any further omen, and down at the bottom of the page, in the smallest script he could possibly manage, it says Behind you!. Just as he is about to turn, a claw as strong as iron grips the side of his head, snaps his neck to the side, and ends all feeling in the bard's body. But he can still hear the deep throated growls, along with the wet noises of whatever killed him beginning to eat him alive. But he never gets to see it before the dream ends.

The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. RIGHT BEHIND YOU! The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind.

Spoiler: Bence's Secrets

Show

Spoiler: Bence's Journal

Show

...is a backwards plane, so far removed from the Prime Material that it has not seen an angel or the work of a god in a millennia. I hear that far to the west they do not even worship the gods. Proper savages, but I must remain vigilant, as their knowledge of the ways of this world is far more educated than most. But it is ripe for my conquest. While my Master was tasked with corrupting Avendor, my home plane, a bastion of good and law, my chore is simply to tip the rat into the bucket of the Abyss as it prowls the rim looking for cheese. This plane is already so flooded with the energies of the Abyss that demons spontaneously emerge, monsters manifest in the dark, and their weak leaders bargain with forces they would be wiser to repulse. It will be child's play to nudge it the last few inches into anarchy and destruction, mostly due to the efforts of Pale Night herself. For thousands of years she has been grasping and clawing at this realm, dragging it further from the light and closer to her realm day by day, inch by inch, soul by soul. While my home plane was beyond my ability to destroy, this place will be my masterpiece. With my death at the hands of the forces of good, a symphony of destruction will play the anthem to my ascension to demonhood. The Pale Mother has promised me that each death will bring me closer to my true form, and each rebirth will increase my power, just as our pact promised. I can't wait to die. When will the heroes arrive? I've been planting and tending the seed of the idea in the old giant's mind for weeks now. When will it bear fruit? When can my dark rise to power begin? (The rest is a combination of burned and Abyssal that becomes impossible to read)

Dam'ess- Mass Quasit Summoning. Magic Mouth to Levy Commands re: Retrieve Mirror of Leng, Scepter of Rulership, And Aniot's Cube. Disperse to Appropriate Parties Per The Plan. Burn The Cabin.

Harumburg- Sending to Lord of Bone re: Portal to the 113th. (Indecipherable Due to Burns) In Accordance with Their Great Alliance.

Falluneer- Sending to Lord of Flesh re: (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Ebon Spear.

(Indecipherable Due to Burns)light: Sending to Lord of Blood re: Assassination of (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Yukkot, Recovery of Blood (More Burns).

(Indecipherable Due to Burns)odge- Sending to Cult of Pale (More Burns) re: Initiate Divining Ritual Sacrifices. FIND THE DAMN ZIGGURAT.

Garrunrow- (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Kill the Last Bloodwolf. Recover (More Burns) Key.

Mountain of Smoke- (Indecipherable Due to Burns) crypt. Seize the Ebon (More Burns).

Sussoon- Ensure the Prophecy (Indecipherable Due to Burns)... Pay the Bounty Hunters to Find the Abydossian and the Princesses. re: Sacrifices of The Old Blood

(There is more, but seemingly out of paranoia Bence switched to Abyssal. It is impossible to tell how many lines there are, as the last half of the paper is fully burned away)

Spoiler: Arcane Lore concerning Bence's Notes

Show

The magic of Contingency is a nearly mythical bit of spell work that was said to be lost when the Library of Leng burned down. It allows a caster to prepare spells in advance for a predetermined event, in this case John Bence's own death, and the spells will automatically cast when the event happens. If Bence is capable of such sorcery, he is likely far more powerful than his flashy death at the party's hands would indicate.

The Mirror of Leng is a artifact of the Library of Leng, said to contain a frozen moment of time where the library was at it's height that a person can temporarily step in to, giving access to the greatest magical library this world has ever seen. Supposedly several mirrors were made, though some are confirmed destroyed after their use led to come calamity of forbidden magics long lost to time. The Scepter of Rulership is said to be an even more powerful version of a Rod of Rulership, a magic item that allows for mass mind manipulation of people to believe that the holder of the Scepter is their rightful ruler. The last time the Scepter was confirmed in play it toppled an entire nation.

Though numbering and organizing the layers of the Abyss is a fool's errand, there are some realms that are constant enough to designate. The one hundred and thirteenth layer is Thanatos, layer of Orcus, the Lord of Death. It is a lifeless frozen landscape where life is snuffed out almost as soon as it arrives, either by the untold legions of undead denizens, the magical aura of the layer itself, or, in the worst cases, by Orcus himself, using his fearsome Wand.

Spoiler: John Bence's Wall Art

Show

There are no invisible objects in the room, but the entire back wall of the cabin is plastered with profane runes and abyssal scribblings. Where there was nothing to the naked eye, there is an extensive patchwork of spell work, seemingly scribed in the rusted red of blood. More disturbing is the fragments of souls that have been bound to the wall. Faces of people rise and seethe from the wood like a strange and rippling tide, mouths open in anguish. There are not many of them left, presumably due to whatever spell was used here absorbing so much energy, but there is a fine layer of ectoplasm that would indicate that once there were dozens of soul fragments powering this spell. The sight turns Mal's stomach, as the chaotic, destructive magic of the Abyss is written as plainly as news script, but as subtly as any devil could manage.

Spoiler: Monsters

Show

Barlgura: Demon loosed by summoning ritual on the road to Dam'ess. Slain with its summoned partner by team. (Bless helped with accuracy issues due to invisibility. In the future, layer mind sliver to aid with saves.)
Brazen Hart: Spirit of the wild wood around Dam'ess. Seeks to test the party's mettle by forcing an open fight with the Barlgura.
Horror of Yurl: Shapeshifting kind of monster. Severs limbs, creates euphoria, and slays by consuming the liver. The newest variant flies...
Tree-house horror: elven make. Demon infested. Extremely rare creation.

The presence of the so-called "evolved" ghouls is troublesome. Said to be the chosen of Doresain the Ghoul King, Darakhuls are more motivated, more intelligent, and leagues more dangerous than their lesser kin. They have a subterranean empire on the other side of the continent, and their attempts to bring their Imperium to the surface have only narrowly been thwarted by the actions of great heroes and dedicated rulers. If Darakhuls have come to Harumvale, then the eyes of the Ghoul King have turned in this direction, and things truly are worse than imagined. Darakhul have a mystical connection to lesser ghouls and ghasts that enhances their intelligence and discipline when the evolved ghouls are present, turning them from hungry predators to a military unit.

Spoiler: Instrument of the Bards

Show

Mal needs a translator, the spells, and woodcrafter to create a new relic.

Spoiler: Full Description

Show

Still, tucked among the primers and amateur books he finds a book that deals with the blending of magic and music. Specifically, it holds the instructions and rituals for a new version of the famed artifacts known as the instruments of the bards. Unfortunately, about a third of the book is in a language Mal does not understand or recognize, including most of the rites and rituals to imbue it with magic. Still, with a translator, appropriate magics, some study, and someone skilled in wood craft, he may be able to produce one of these relics for himself.

Spoiler: Half Troden Bardic Instrument Key

Show

Arcana- High Docent Half Toden directs Mal to a specific scroll on a specific shelf in a specific wing when pressed on this subject. He seems... oddly insistent... actually. It turns out to be a book of songs, actually, and one of them is penned by none other than High Docent Half Toden.

Lo, behold the works of the Maker of Things,
Wands, staves, instruments, wonders, and rings,
His traveling cart rolls from town to town
And trades mystical wonders for enough coins to drown
Sometimes human, sometimes dwarf, sometimes gnome,
He claims fate calls him, binds him, and keeps him from home
He forged Harum's hammer that split the Eternal Rock
Tinkered Trelmari's picks which defeat any Lock
He defies time and age, but one note rings true
Find one of Harum's adamant coins and he will find you.

Spoiler: Harumburg Library Lore

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Religion- There has been a near constant history of undead in and around the capital of Harumsvale. It seems like every three to five decades or so some priest or paladin of Harum organizes a purge that "purifies" a coven of vampire spawn, a hidden necromancer, or a ghoul nest. But it seems to Mal (and to High Docent Toden) that this always treats the outward symptoms without handling the cause. Vampire spawn are rooted out, but rarely is a true vampire found. Students at the university are found to be dabbling in the forbidden arts, but no one ever catches the teacher who revealed such secrets to them. And each time a nest of ghouls is rooted out there is often a new infection there within a century. Half gives Mal an anecdote about one building in the industrial district being raided three times within his lifetime.

History- Docent Toden cannot corroborate much in this area of research, but Mal does find several portraits that bear an astounding resemblance to Grand Arbiter Myrus Malkaav, each of them depicting some variety of civil servant or noble position with roughly eighty years between them. When Post Master Geller Rell passes away from a wasting disease, eight decades or so later Chief Accountant Daedren Gastaf, who has the same severe eyes, hooked nose, and pale skin but a different haircut, takes his position a serves with merited distinction. There is a general trend in these dopplegangers to rise in the ranks of the government over the centuries, and Mal finds records dating back nearly a thousand years.

Report daily updates to Mistress Moira at last light.

[Riggdgames]

Set Al-Sayyid Changeling Fighter/Hexblade AC: 17 HP: 41/41 (43/43) THP: 5/5 PP: 12 PIv: 13 PIs: 9 Conditions: Mal's Aid, Nome's Hero's Feast (immune to poison/frightened, Wis ST adv) Concentration: Inspiration: 1d8 (Mal) In the Lower Sewer Tunnel Even in the deepest pit, the Shadowkeeper's boon embraces the darkness, whispering its secrets and revealing all to Set. Clear as day, he watches wooden fingers flash in rapid succession. Two, two, and one, followed by a fist as Mal's illusion draws the enemy into the open. Set's forced to process the situation quickly as Selissa draws an arrow, nocks, and looses. Vargath, not given to hesitation, launches forward immediately. Heavy footfalls splash ahead, urging Set after the Mighty before Mal's hushed voice holds him firm for just a moment. "Strike the leader and the others will revert to their stomachs." Throwing his spear over his shoulder, Set secures it to his back as Selissa and Mal ghost to the rear of their small column. In a familiar sequence, Set holds the coin aloft in one hand as the other reaches out. With Evergreen's magic at work, Set feels the shadows near and far quiver with anticipation, leaning closer as if to get a better view. "<Wrack.>" The darakhul's shadow bends, twisting under the strange command even as Set's own shadow crawls hand over hand up his body, coiling around his outstretched arm. "<Reach.>" A blurry beam of gloom launches past Vargath's head even as the Darakhul's shadow attempts to claw at its owner's eyes. Spoiler: ooc Show 'Sheathe' weapon Bonus Action: Hex the Darakhul (disadvantage on Wisdom checks) Action: Eldritch Blast the Darakhul Attack: (1d20+4)[15] Damage: (1d10)[8] force plus (1d6)[2] necrotic Move: 30 ft forward after Vargath

[purepolarpanzer]

Death. Death in the Dark.

Selissa's shot pierces the iron clad ghoul in the neck. It almost seems to be resisting and urge to cough for a moment before reaching up and drawing the arrow from his own neck. The undead soldier shrugged off the worst of Mal's spell, seemingly ignoring it's shadow as it's hands evaporated on his armor. The bronze highlights of his armor sheen in the icy blue light of Mal's spell, seeming to glimmer like gold. It looked down at the arrow and snapped it in two between it's fingers, just as the arrow dissolved into mist in his grasp. Where an undisciplined warrior would give a battle cry, the darakhul responds to the spell work and arrows with a bark of command in a foreign tongue. The ghouls and ghasts bolt from around the corner and rush forward with a supernaturally fast lunge, and it takes a moment to realize they are marching in lock step down the walk on this side of the sewer water. The ghouls hunch low, claws and teeth bared, closer to attack dogs than mindless drones, while the ghasts' claws rake across the naked stone to leave necrotic sparks in the dark. The four of them move to establish a front line.

Moving behind them, the leader ghoul unslung the crossbow from it's back in a smooth, practiced motion. Marching forward at a measured killer's pace, Vargath comes into it's vision first, but it waits until it has moved forward a bit more, showing trigger discipline as it moves at full speed in a remarkable amount of control. All brass and sharp, it's crossbow has fragments of skulls that it has pierced up and down it's length as the ghastly professional aimed it first at Vargath, but then waited to fire at Maus, who was running behind Vargath, moving swiftly for his reduced frame.

Or it would have, had not Maus raised his staff and smashed it down, sending a cascade of summoned water from the flow next to him ahead to wash over the feet of the ghouls and ghasts. Natural slimes, molds, and mushrooms blossomed up around the front line of undead, making the formation shake and shudder at the ghouls and ghasts struggle to keep their footing. Both ghouls and one of the ghasts falls to their knees, with barnacles crusting up their bodies that restrict their movement. One stands tall, but the others are rapidly restrained by the flora of the sewer.

With it's minions flailing in front of it, the Darakhul must fire through them. It doesn't hesitate for a moment. It fires a shot that tears the ear off of one of it's allies and sinks into the armored leather plate of Maus' armor. Maus winces, but it seems he can handle the injury easily enough.

Spoiler: Combat Log

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Maus moves forward and readies an action.
Selissa sneak attacks the Iron Ghoul for 19 Damage.
Mal used ice beam and hit it for 13.
Set misses with me rolling an advantage die for him. It was a 13.
Vargath dashes.
The ghouls and ghasts move and dash.
Maus casts entangle on the front line, restraining 2 ghouls and a ghast.
The Iron Ghoul moves 30 feet and shoots Maus for 11 damage.
The Group's turn is up! (note to self- Party Name needed.)

Spoiler: OOC

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Firing through the ghoul's and ghasts provides disadvantage. They are covering the iron ghoul.

[Theophilus]

Mal Levistus Tiefling Bard 5 AC: 14 HP: 41/41 (48/48) THP: 10/10 PP: 11 PIv: 13 PIs: 11 Spell Slots: 1st - 4/4 2nd - 1/3 3rd - 2/2 Fey Touched: 1st - 0/1 2nd - 1/1 Masquerade Tattoo: 1st - 1/1 Levistus Legacy: Armor of Agathys - 0/1 Darkness - 1/1 Bardic Inspiration: 4/4 Healer's Kit: 20/20 Mal Conditions: Praised into Health (43). Immune to poison frightened. Wisdom saving throws with advantage. Loki's Bane. Aid. Mal Concentrating: --- Esai Ancient Companion: Warrior Companion HP: 30/30 (32/32) Companion AC: 16 Companion PP: 18 PIv: 12 PIs: 12 Sage's Counsel: While within 15 feet of the companion, you and your allies gain a +2 bonus to Intelligence and Wisdom checks. Warrior’s Protection (Warrior Only). When a creature within 5 feet of the companion makes a Strength or Dexterity saving throw, the companion imposes itself between the creature and the danger. The creature can roll a d4 and add the number rolled to the saving throw. Praised into Health. Immune to frightened. Wisdom saving throws with advantage Maledictus drew up like an opposing officer, assessing the Maus' engineering and the artillery's effects. He called to Esai, "Clear a way through the the riff raff to their leader." Esai marched forward, with echoing peels from his stone boots upon the sewer. He kept his shield level, his hollow gaze communicating dispassion and displeasure in the same token. With deft, visible power, the warrior brought his hammer down upon the ensnared foe's scalp with a thundering blow. Arcane energy pulsed, blasting downward. Mal, too, struck, but at the rear commander. He chanted an angelic battle chant, which summoned a column of golden flames upon and around the iron ghoul.

Spoiler: OOC

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Action: Cast Sacred Flame. Iron Ghoul obtains no benefit from cover. DC 14 Dex save (Rolled an 11 on discord for the ghoul). 7 Radiant on a fail.
BA: Command Esai to strike

Esai crits on a restrained ghoul. 15 force damage total (Discord).

Spoiler: Mal's Notes

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Spoiler: Cast and Crew

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Set: outcast exiled princeling of Abydos. Two princess sisters (Sisi and Sythpen Al-Sayyid). Romantic connection for Moira?
Selissa: Blighted or reconstructed wood elf? Purported Scout.
Vargath: Afflicted Lycanthrope seeking to suspend his curse. A Bloodwolf?
Mandaras: Rival to Dr. Fixer.
Dr. Fixer: Moira's lieutenant and cultivates relations with the locals of Vale.
Elder Maus: Seeks to kill Moira. Hired mercenaries who betrayed him.
--Healed to his full 9ft height.
--Disbelieves Moira's insights; seeks to end her directly or indirectly.
--Seeks us to verify the truths of Moira's claims--or stop her by any means necessary.
Maulei: Successor to Elder Maus as elder of Dam'ess.
Uluthando Mikoso "Ulu:" Paladin? of Order. From beyond the Vale. Reacts by gripping her dagger and declaring Tieflings are treated differently...Lawful (N/E?) Order? Calls Mal 'Mdala Ohlonishwayo.' Professes to serve no god, but spirits whose reach may be weaker in the Vale than elsewhere.
Nomcebo: Ulu's handler. Ink skinned tiefling with prehensile tail and an obvious allure.
Kagiso: Ulu's slave and carriage driver.

Spoiler: Dream of Leng

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Spoiler: In Full

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Mal has had this dream before. He finds himself in the legendary Library of Leng, an ancient home of virtually all worldly and mystical knowledge that burned when the city it was located in was razed nearly nine hundred years ago, half the world away. Still, in his dreams it still existed, and these dreams always played out the same. Hours of dutiful research, referencing and cross referencing sources from multiple tomes, carefully reconstructing ancient languages, until EUREKA! Some devastating and profound arcane truth became evident to him, and the sense of accomplisment and relief normally carried with him for several hours after waking up, even if he could never actually remember anything he learned. But this time is different. Mal is well versed enough in the arcane and divine arts to know that sometimes dreams carry real meaning. And as he stares down at what he has been working on, he instinctively knows this bears some significance. Where normally he would have arcane formulas and theorems, he sees only "The One Who Stalks Behind" scrawled over and over again in his own hand, though the words are manic and look like they were written in distress. He searches the paper for any further omen, and down at the bottom of the page, in the smallest script he could possibly manage, it says Behind you!. Just as he is about to turn, a claw as strong as iron grips the side of his head, snaps his neck to the side, and ends all feeling in the bard's body. But he can still hear the deep throated growls, along with the wet noises of whatever killed him beginning to eat him alive. But he never gets to see it before the dream ends.

The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. RIGHT BEHIND YOU! The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind.

Spoiler: Bence's Secrets

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Spoiler: Bence's Journal

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...is a backwards plane, so far removed from the Prime Material that it has not seen an angel or the work of a god in a millennia. I hear that far to the west they do not even worship the gods. Proper savages, but I must remain vigilant, as their knowledge of the ways of this world is far more educated than most. But it is ripe for my conquest. While my Master was tasked with corrupting Avendor, my home plane, a bastion of good and law, my chore is simply to tip the rat into the bucket of the Abyss as it prowls the rim looking for cheese. This plane is already so flooded with the energies of the Abyss that demons spontaneously emerge, monsters manifest in the dark, and their weak leaders bargain with forces they would be wiser to repulse. It will be child's play to nudge it the last few inches into anarchy and destruction, mostly due to the efforts of Pale Night herself. For thousands of years she has been grasping and clawing at this realm, dragging it further from the light and closer to her realm day by day, inch by inch, soul by soul. While my home plane was beyond my ability to destroy, this place will be my masterpiece. With my death at the hands of the forces of good, a symphony of destruction will play the anthem to my ascension to demonhood. The Pale Mother has promised me that each death will bring me closer to my true form, and each rebirth will increase my power, just as our pact promised. I can't wait to die. When will the heroes arrive? I've been planting and tending the seed of the idea in the old giant's mind for weeks now. When will it bear fruit? When can my dark rise to power begin? (The rest is a combination of burned and Abyssal that becomes impossible to read)

Dam'ess- Mass Quasit Summoning. Magic Mouth to Levy Commands re: Retrieve Mirror of Leng, Scepter of Rulership, And Aniot's Cube. Disperse to Appropriate Parties Per The Plan. Burn The Cabin.

Harumburg- Sending to Lord of Bone re: Portal to the 113th. (Indecipherable Due to Burns) In Accordance with Their Great Alliance.

Falluneer- Sending to Lord of Flesh re: (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Ebon Spear.

(Indecipherable Due to Burns)light: Sending to Lord of Blood re: Assassination of (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Yukkot, Recovery of Blood (More Burns).

(Indecipherable Due to Burns)odge- Sending to Cult of Pale (More Burns) re: Initiate Divining Ritual Sacrifices. FIND THE DAMN ZIGGURAT.

Garrunrow- (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Kill the Last Bloodwolf. Recover (More Burns) Key.

Mountain of Smoke- (Indecipherable Due to Burns) crypt. Seize the Ebon (More Burns).

Sussoon- Ensure the Prophecy (Indecipherable Due to Burns)... Pay the Bounty Hunters to Find the Abydossian and the Princesses. re: Sacrifices of The Old Blood

(There is more, but seemingly out of paranoia Bence switched to Abyssal. It is impossible to tell how many lines there are, as the last half of the paper is fully burned away)

Spoiler: Arcane Lore concerning Bence's Notes

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The magic of Contingency is a nearly mythical bit of spell work that was said to be lost when the Library of Leng burned down. It allows a caster to prepare spells in advance for a predetermined event, in this case John Bence's own death, and the spells will automatically cast when the event happens. If Bence is capable of such sorcery, he is likely far more powerful than his flashy death at the party's hands would indicate.

The Mirror of Leng is a artifact of the Library of Leng, said to contain a frozen moment of time where the library was at it's height that a person can temporarily step in to, giving access to the greatest magical library this world has ever seen. Supposedly several mirrors were made, though some are confirmed destroyed after their use led to come calamity of forbidden magics long lost to time. The Scepter of Rulership is said to be an even more powerful version of a Rod of Rulership, a magic item that allows for mass mind manipulation of people to believe that the holder of the Scepter is their rightful ruler. The last time the Scepter was confirmed in play it toppled an entire nation.

Though numbering and organizing the layers of the Abyss is a fool's errand, there are some realms that are constant enough to designate. The one hundred and thirteenth layer is Thanatos, layer of Orcus, the Lord of Death. It is a lifeless frozen landscape where life is snuffed out almost as soon as it arrives, either by the untold legions of undead denizens, the magical aura of the layer itself, or, in the worst cases, by Orcus himself, using his fearsome Wand.

Spoiler: John Bence's Wall Art

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There are no invisible objects in the room, but the entire back wall of the cabin is plastered with profane runes and abyssal scribblings. Where there was nothing to the naked eye, there is an extensive patchwork of spell work, seemingly scribed in the rusted red of blood. More disturbing is the fragments of souls that have been bound to the wall. Faces of people rise and seethe from the wood like a strange and rippling tide, mouths open in anguish. There are not many of them left, presumably due to whatever spell was used here absorbing so much energy, but there is a fine layer of ectoplasm that would indicate that once there were dozens of soul fragments powering this spell. The sight turns Mal's stomach, as the chaotic, destructive magic of the Abyss is written as plainly as news script, but as subtly as any devil could manage.

Spoiler: Monsters

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Barlgura: Demon loosed by summoning ritual on the road to Dam'ess. Slain with its summoned partner by team. (Bless helped with accuracy issues due to invisibility. In the future, layer mind sliver to aid with saves.)
Brazen Hart: Spirit of the wild wood around Dam'ess. Seeks to test the party's mettle by forcing an open fight with the Barlgura.
Horror of Yurl: Shapeshifting kind of monster. Severs limbs, creates euphoria, and slays by consuming the liver. The newest variant flies...
Tree-house horror: elven make. Demon infested. Extremely rare creation.

The presence of the so-called "evolved" ghouls is troublesome. Said to be the chosen of Doresain the Ghoul King, Darakhuls are more motivated, more intelligent, and leagues more dangerous than their lesser kin. They have a subterranean empire on the other side of the continent, and their attempts to bring their Imperium to the surface have only narrowly been thwarted by the actions of great heroes and dedicated rulers. If Darakhuls have come to Harumvale, then the eyes of the Ghoul King have turned in this direction, and things truly are worse than imagined. Darakhul have a mystical connection to lesser ghouls and ghasts that enhances their intelligence and discipline when the evolved ghouls are present, turning them from hungry predators to a military unit.

Spoiler: Instrument of the Bards

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Mal needs a translator, the spells, and woodcrafter to create a new relic.

Spoiler: Full Description

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Still, tucked among the primers and amateur books he finds a book that deals with the blending of magic and music. Specifically, it holds the instructions and rituals for a new version of the famed artifacts known as the instruments of the bards. Unfortunately, about a third of the book is in a language Mal does not understand or recognize, including most of the rites and rituals to imbue it with magic. Still, with a translator, appropriate magics, some study, and someone skilled in wood craft, he may be able to produce one of these relics for himself.

Spoiler: Half Troden Bardic Instrument Key

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Arcana- High Docent Half Toden directs Mal to a specific scroll on a specific shelf in a specific wing when pressed on this subject. He seems... oddly insistent... actually. It turns out to be a book of songs, actually, and one of them is penned by none other than High Docent Half Toden.

Lo, behold the works of the Maker of Things,
Wands, staves, instruments, wonders, and rings,
His traveling cart rolls from town to town
And trades mystical wonders for enough coins to drown
Sometimes human, sometimes dwarf, sometimes gnome,
He claims fate calls him, binds him, and keeps him from home
He forged Harum's hammer that split the Eternal Rock
Tinkered Trelmari's picks which defeat any Lock
He defies time and age, but one note rings true
Find one of Harum's adamant coins and he will find you.

Spoiler: Harumburg Library Lore

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Religion- There has been a near constant history of undead in and around the capital of Harumsvale. It seems like every three to five decades or so some priest or paladin of Harum organizes a purge that "purifies" a coven of vampire spawn, a hidden necromancer, or a ghoul nest. But it seems to Mal (and to High Docent Toden) that this always treats the outward symptoms without handling the cause. Vampire spawn are rooted out, but rarely is a true vampire found. Students at the university are found to be dabbling in the forbidden arts, but no one ever catches the teacher who revealed such secrets to them. And each time a nest of ghouls is rooted out there is often a new infection there within a century. Half gives Mal an anecdote about one building in the industrial district being raided three times within his lifetime.

History- Docent Toden cannot corroborate much in this area of research, but Mal does find several portraits that bear an astounding resemblance to Grand Arbiter Myrus Malkaav, each of them depicting some variety of civil servant or noble position with roughly eighty years between them. When Post Master Geller Rell passes away from a wasting disease, eight decades or so later Chief Accountant Daedren Gastaf, who has the same severe eyes, hooked nose, and pale skin but a different haircut, takes his position a serves with merited distinction. There is a general trend in these dopplegangers to rise in the ranks of the government over the centuries, and Mal finds records dating back nearly a thousand years.

Report daily updates to Mistress Moira at last light.

[Amnestic]

Vargath Hubrecht Half-Orc Rune Knight Fighter AC: 19 HP: 49/49 PP: 13 PIv: 12 PIs: 10 Conditions: Infected (Lycanthropy), Giant's Might Concentrating: -- The undead had gotten close enough for him to enter into melee, and that would be their last mistake. With the wolf's blood howling in his veins he rushes to take the fight to them. Runic lettering covers his body as he channels the powers of the giants again, his form - and weapons - growing dwarf the now-puny foes he faces. Vargath's warhammer crashes down hard against those entrapped in the rapidly grown sewer plants. Once, and then again twice. In this sort of situation blunt force would serve him better than his axe, even if chopping bone and flesh was a far more satisfying sensation.

Spoiler: OOC

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Move: Close range with the restrained boys.
Bonus Action: Giant's Might
Action: Attack restrained ghast. (1d20+7)[10](1d20+7)[12] Damage: (1d8+7)[12]+(1d6)[1]
Extra Attack: (1d20+7)[26](1d20+7)[17] Damage: (1d8+7)[13]+(1d6)[6]

[Riggdgames]

Set Al-Sayyid Changeling Fighter/Hexblade AC: 17 HP: 41/41 (43/43) THP: 5/5 PP: 12 PIv: 13 PIs: 9 Conditions: Mal's Aid, Nome's Hero's Feast (immune to poison/frightened, Wis ST adv) Concentration: Inspiration: 1d8 (Mal) In the Lower Sewer Tunnel A ghostly arrow, a shard of ice, and a shadow all seek the Iron Ghoul, but only Selissa's arrow seems to have any effect. Frowning, Set watches the darakhul calmly pull the arrow from its neck and regard it for a moment. As the Iron Ghoul snaps it in two, Set flinches, nostrils flaring as he feels the monster's shadow hesitate, wary of its former master. With a practiced command, the darakhul draws battle lines between the two sides. A pack of ghouls and ghasts bound out of the chamber in unison as Esai and Vargath stride forward to meet them. Before they can clash, however, Maus sends a wave of vines and fungus swarming up out of the water to hold the pack in place, taking a crossbow bolt for his trouble. Sizing up the situation with Mal's words still fresh in his mind, Set hestitates another moment, eyes drawn to the skull fragments adorning the Iron Ghoul's crossbow. Gritting his teeth, Set darts forward silently, navigating around the Mighty and the Mal's man-of-stone. As Esai's hammer falls, nailing a vine-covered ghoul down into the sewage at his feet, Set charges, using his momentum to thrust and try to keep carrying the attack forward. Spoiler: ooc Show Goal: try to attack the weakest target (Esai's) and if he's able to put him down, keep moving as much as possible towards the Darakhul without provoking an attack of opportunity Object Interaction: Pull spear Move: Move to engage Esai's target, then past if possible Action: 1H attack (1d20+7)[16] for (1d6+4)[9] piercing damage Bonus Action: Polearm Master BA attack (1d20+7)[13] for (1d4+4)[5] Bardic Inspiration: Set will use if he rolls poorly on a saving throw

[purepolarpanzer]

Death in the Dark

Vargath's first hammer blow is deflected by razor sharp claws as long as a human arm, but his second tears through undead flesh and bone like glass. The ghast fights on despite the raw physical damage. However, the ghoul Esai and Set both strike has it's head dented by crushing force before Set's spear pierces it and pops it like an overripe melon, sending a splash of brain backwards into the dark. The ghast behind it gets some of this rotten matter in it's eyes, swiftly followed by the butt of Set's spear, which unhinges the unclean creature's jaw. Meanwhile, behind the battle line, the darakhul barely flinches as Mal's holy flames erupt at it.

Spoiler: OOC

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Vargath smushes a ghast, but not all the way. Set and Esai scratch off one ghoul and a bit of the second ghast. Still no clear shot at the iron ghoul.

[Awful]

Selissa Betula Wood Elf Scout Rogue AC: 16 HP: 38/38->45/45 PP: 17 Conditions: heroic encouragement, Aid, PWT (+10 stealth, can't be detected through magical means, no tracks) Concentrating: yes Selissa was in her effecient, deadly pattern: only visible for at most a fraction of a second as a dark blur before an arrow hissed from the shadows to strike a ghast, and then there was no sign she'd ever been there. Spoiler: ooc Show Stealth roll: 41, nat 20 Everyone gets +10 to stealth and can't be detected by magic means, and leaves no tracks Pp17 for spotting anything Attack roll 24, damage 18

[purepolarpanzer]

Death in the Dark

Selissa's arrow flies true, finishing off Vargath's dance partner with the finality of puncturing the head and sending rotting brains spraying backward. Some of it splashes across the face of the armor clad darakhul. It doesn't blink. It only advances.

The ghast dispatched, a ghoul moves up to take it's place. But this creature does not balk from Vargath's massive size. It leaps up and scrapes it's filty, broken fingernails across Vargath's exposed face. While the damage is minimal, the famous curse of the ghoul sinks into Vargath's flesh, causing his muscles to seize. He has enough time to raise his shield, but for the moment his muscles have gone rigid, completely paralyzing him.

The other undead are not merciful. Sensing weakness, the ghast facing Set adjusts it's stance and lashes out at Vargath with it's lengthier claws. However, the craftsmanship of a hunter who bequeathed it to him saves the rune knight, keeping the claws at bay even as the creature pries at the weak points of his armor. Then the armored ghoul extends it's weapon, shoving aside the ghast, who takes a penetrating blow from Set as it it flung back. The darakhul, not content to strike from the place of most safety when it can press it's lethal intent, takes the front line. With a predatory maneuver, it lashes out and deflects Vargath's shield with an errant swipe before it begins to carve.

For the first time in his battles with Set and Selissa, Vargath finds himself facing a foe of similar martial skill. Not a beast, not a demon, but a trained warrior. And he finds himself helpless. The first blow is to his weapon arm, right in the joint of his armor, causing blood to ooze. The next is only a scratch, but it is a deep scratch across his neck, which runs with blood immediately. Seemingly fully convinced that it's foe is helpless, the darakhul lines up it's glaive along it's arm and jams the blade directly forward towards Vargath's face, a blow that will leave him scarred for life.

Should he survive.

Running forward with the bolt still in his shoulder, Maus moves up behind Vargath and invokes a word the the Green Language, pressing a hand to Vargath's back and causing his wounds to instantly heal... to some degree.

Spoiler: OOC

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Selissa finishes off the ghast Vargath whacked.
Here's where it starts to get messy.
The untouched ghoul attacks Vargath, rolling a 19 to hit (meet) and 4 claw damage.
Vargath rolls a 3 on a DC 10 Con save (+6 mod) to fail and become paralyzed.
The ghast Set whacked with the butt of his spear senses weakness and tries to claw Vargath, but fails to harm him even with advantage. It retreats to make room for it's boss, taking 9 damage from Set.
The Iron Ghoul tees off on Vargath. 3 attacks with advantage, all hit, all crits due to paralyzed, dealing 13, then 7, then 22 damage to our half-orc rune knight. After I rolled the dice I did the math, and 4+13+7+22= 46 damage, which is 3 less than Vargath's hit point total.
I need Vargath to roll a Sanity Save DC 15 against his wolfish tendencies.
I need Vargath to roll me a Sanity Save DC 15 against helplessness for being hacked up, unable to move, crit 3 TIMES.
I need a sanity save from Mal, Selissa, Maus, and Set, DC 13, for seeing Vargath get butchered alive by a merciless killer.
I need Vargath to roll a DC 10 Constitution save at the END of his turn to regain the ability to move. Until then he is PARALYZED.
I need more coffee brandy after rolling 3 nat 20's on three rolls against a player that were automatically crits anyway.
The Maus upcasts a cure wounds and heals Vargath for 16 damage.