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

[Amnestic]

Vargath Hubrecht Half-Orc Rune Knight Fighter AC: 19 HP: 31/49 PP: 13 PIv: 12 PIs: 10 Conditions: Infected (Lycanthropy), Giant's Might Concentrating: -- The blows land upon Vargath, and even as he feels his limbs tighten and lock in place, he stands. Even as the claws rake at his face, he stands. Even as his blood spatters and mixes with the sewage beneath their feet, he stands. And when all is said and done, he remains. Their blitz of rending talons had hurt, there was no doubt, and even now it was only partially alleviated by Maus' much-appreciated application of healing magic, but already he could feel his limbs loosen up and the paralysis wears off. His blood was singing, but it was his warrior's heart, tamping down on the beast inside, overcoming the rage and fury at being bloodied with the lethal intent of a fighter. He would be ready for the next set of strikes, and he would make them pay for every drop he shed.

Spoiler: OOC

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HP calculation factored in HAM, so total damage he took was reduced from 46 to 34, minus a further 16 from Maus' heal, to a total of 18 damage from his 49 total=31/49 final result.

Madness saves were 18 and 21, then a consave of 13 to overcome paralyzed.

Pre-emptive reaction: Invoke Cloud rune to redirect an iron ghoul's attack that hits Vargath to the most injured enemy. Didn't really want to burn it so early but also wasn't expecting to take 34 damage in one turn.

[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 - 0/3 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. Mad/Frightened/Quirk: Fastidious about his appearance to a distracting, unhealthy degree. 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 witnessed the might and vileness of the ghouls. Their barbarity was positively demonic. Doresain's-get rankled his senses as an embodiment of filth and folly. At least Vargath stood resolute...and then the storm broke upon the half orc, threatening all with his sudden seizure in the wicked claws of the ghouls. Mal's will waivered, stricken by the sudden horror. A vision unfolded in his mind: The runed-warrior succumbed and turned, loosed of any desire to restrain the gnawing hunger within. The ghouls swarm unopposed to devour each and every one. The scholar loosed a wild blast of frost as he grimaced and roared, "Slay them swiftly! We must end this now!!" The tiefling hurled a litany of diabolical curses. A sudden ringing flooded the space between the Iron Ghoul and the remaining mob. He then fussed with his uniform as the epaulets itched his cheek and a crease in the front drove him positively mad. Esai kept his shield up, unphased by the horror. The spirit had witnessed brutal warfare with warped foes for aeon. He loosed another crushing blow, this time against the ghast upon Vargath. He sought to end this before another fell to the crippling stench. The stone adviser counter-counseled, "Hold steady! Temper fear with duty, men!"

Spoiler: OOC

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Crit failed Sanity save: -2 to Cha. Quirk Obtained.
Reaction: disadv Ray of Frost on ghast. 10 to hit, so a likely miss.
Action: Cast Shatter to get Iron Ghoul and ghast. DC 13 Con save (Rolled an 4 and 15 on discord for the iron ghoul and ghast respectively). 14 thunder damage on a fail. Unattended structures and objects in shatter take the damage as well.
BA: Command Esai to strike

Esai hits the ghast (25 discord). 11 force damage (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.

[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: Hex (Darakhul, wisdom) Death in the Dark As enemies and allies press all around in the dark, Set tries to push forward, but the ghouls quickly swallow any opening from their fallen brother. He resorts to holding the line, but the Iron Ghoul isn't satisfied picking them apart at range. He takes over the field, pushing Set's opponent aside to get to Vargath, heedless of the hazard to his ally. Set's spear flashes forward, biting into the ghast, but the small victory is dwarfed by the darakhul's furious assault. Set can only watch as both claw and glaive rain down on Vargath, determined to send the Mighty to his knees. Set's mind staggers just watching the display, but Vargath does not fall. He stands tall. Mighty. An image of Sirus weathering the storm of battle blinks in his place, but the mirage disappears as Maus channels his faith to bind the Mighty's wounds. Even so, Set's mind is fragile, and the Iron Ghoul is close. How much longer could Vargath stand against that? "Strike the leader and the others will revert to their stomachs." The thought is punctuated by an explosion of sound as the very air seems to shatter in the darkness. Like the turn of a key in a stubborn lock, the sound finally releases something in Set. The flow of battle takes back over, and purpose drives him to Vargath's side as Mal's words still ring in his ears. Reaching back out for the Iron Ghoul's shadow, Set silently leads a counter-assault, determined to see the ghoulish leader fall where Vargath would only stand. Spoiler: OOC Show Discord Madness Save: 18 total w/ inspiration Object interaction: Pocket the Coin Move: Into melee with darakhul (pretty sure this is N/A since the darakhul took the ghast's spot next to Set) Action: 2H spear attack (1d20+7)[26] for (1d8+4)[7] plus 4 piercing and (1d6)[6] plus 6 necrotic Bonus Action: Polearm Master attack for (1d20+7)[23] for (1d4+4)[6] bludgeoning and (1d6)[5] necrotic

[purepolarpanzer]

Death in the Dark

Mal's spell work does not relent, though his mind wanders from the task at hand. Concussive force blips into existence around the remaining undead, with the exception of one lowly ghoul which remains untouched by violence. The sonic boom brings both the darakhul and the ghast to their knees for a moment before they rise up again with menace in their eyes. But while the ghoul and ghast are unthinking predators the darakhul moves with both strength and grace.

Esai's hammer vaporizes the ghast in a crushing blow that punctuates the end of the calamitous thunderclap. Set's spear strikes in the same steady rhythm that had been drilled into him since childhood, piercing and smacking the darakhul. This creature did not break when a normal foe would. It did not suffer from these lethal blows. It only grew angrier, and with supernatural resilience renewed it's stance to accept more punishment.

Spoiler: OOC

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Selissa is up. The iron ghoul remains unbloodied. One ghoul had a heroic moment where it paralyzed Vargath and hasn't been in any aoe's. And Esai wracks up it's own personal body count with the ghast. Two enemies remaining.

[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 popped out her little alcove long enough to sink a silvery arrow into the iron ghoul and cast a quick glance around to ensure nothing was sneaking in from behind. One couldn't be too careful in this situation: foes from the rear could be murderous, especially to the more relatively isolated archer. Spoiler: ooc Show No stealth roll from pop's previous comments. Instead taking cover and looking around, using my BA to Dodge instead. Pp17 for spotting anything Attack roll 24, damage 17

[purepolarpanzer]

Death in the Dark

Selissa's arrow sinks into the darakhul's shoulder, going through desiccated, rotten flesh and supernaturally reinforced bones. But the armor clad undead does not waver. Maus stays behind Vargath and lifts his voice, shouting at the undead in a foreign tongue for several seconds before blinking in surprise. He had attempted to turn the undead, but none of them so much as noticed. Looking slightly disheartened, the Chief maintains a touch on Vargath in preparation for more spells.

The ghoul tries to savage Vargath again, and it almost seems surprised when it successfully draws blood on the fervent orc. However, as the towering warrior remained mobile, the ghoul suddenly looked mournful of it's participation in this fight, looking for an escape route. The darakhul slashes with it's halberd left to right and catches both Vargath and Set with it's iron kiss.

Spoiler: OOC

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Maus fails to turn the undead. Not his fault, there's profanity in the works. Vargath takes 10 damage from a crit using claws by the ghoul, proving to be more menacing than I intended for this fight. He makes his save vs. paralysis this round, however. The Iron ghoul rains blows in on Vargath and Set. Vargath takes 7 damage (before HAM). Set takes 19 (12 and 7, if it matters) from a pair of glaive attacks. Party is up.

[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 No let up. Nock, pull back, loose. Place shots where they'd hurt the most against that without need for most of its organs. Let the damn thing return to the filth. Spoiler: ooc Show BA carefully aim Pp17 for spotting anything Attack roll 17, damage 23

[Amnestic]

Vargath Hubrecht Half-Orc Rune Knight Fighter AC: 19 HP: 35/49 PP: 13 PIv: 12 PIs: 10 Conditions: Infected (Lycanthropy), Giant's Might Concentrating: -- More hits rain upon him as he stands a bulwark for the others, though his anger flares up when he sees Set take some hits - hits that he could have taken instead. With a howl he slams his bracers together, setting them alight with magic. His hammer glows in the dim sewer, the thick head of metal shifting with undulating blue-white tendrils of force. This he brings against the iron-clad ghoul with a resounding yell of "Out of our way!". The blow delivered once he raises it once more, knowing the magic that aided him will twist his fate just as much, before he slams it down once more. They were a roadblock, and they should not stand in his way any more than they did already.

Spoiler: Actions

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Move: None, don't think he needs to go anywhere.
Bonus Action: Second Wind. Heal (1d10+5)[11]
"Free" Action: Activate Bracers: Strength.
Action: Attack with advantage (1d20+7)[10](1d20+7)[23](1d8+6)[11]+(1d6)[6] Giant's Might + (1d6)[5] Bracers Force
Extra attack with disadvantage (1d20+7)[24](1d20+7)[23](1d8+6)[7]+(1d6)[2] Giant's Might + (1d6)[1] Bracers Force

[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 - 0/3 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. Mad/Frightened/Quirk: Fastidious about his appearance to a distracting, unhealthy degree. 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 bit the inside of his cheek as he continued to fuss out the crease on his overcoat. He muttered as he did, turning his disdain into a weapon, "Vapid brute, you live in a a cesspool and weren't clever enough to keep your own face from getting eaten by your masters. No wonder you slink about in filth!" Esai continued his assault, but this time his hammer blow struck the ground in a ripple of destructive magic.

Spoiler: OOC

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Rolled a save for "Frightened" (if applicable) 20 (discord)
Action: Cast Vicious Mockery. DC 14 Wis save on the Iron Ghoul (Rolled a 6 on discord). 5 psychic damage on a fail and disadvantage on its next attack.
BA: Command Esai to strike

Esai attacks ghoul (restrained?). 10 to hit (or 12 if advantage), but I think both missed (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

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

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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.

[Riggdgames]

Set Al-Sayyid Changeling Fighter/Hexblade AC: 17 HP: 29/41 (29/43) THP: 0/5 PP: 12 PIv: 13 PIs: 9 Conditions: Mal's Aid, Nome's Hero's Feast (immune to poison/frightened, Wis ST adv) Concentration: Hexblade's Curse (0/1): Active (Round 1/10) Death in the Dark Back on the defensive, Set raises the shaft of his spear to block the oncoming blow, but the darakhul is too strong, its weapon too heavy. The first strike knocks his spear aside as Set feels the blade bite into his arm. Eyes widening, Set's focus falters as he scrambles to block the next blow. The metal scales of his armor shriek as they slow the glaive, but the Iron Ghoul's blade wouldn't be denied entirely. Set takes a step back, clutching his stomach and growling with barely restrained anger and fear. Before the fear can fester, however, first one arrow, then a second find a home in the Iron Ghoul as Evergreen makes her presence known, if not seen. Vargath responds by slamming his bracers together, a dance of blue and white taking shape in the darkness. The Mighty had been stabbed, cut, clawed, and beaten, but even butchered and bleeding he would not bow. "Out of our way!" The crash of his hammer is punctuated by Mal's words carrying over the din. Only a creature with ice in its veins could look on the Iron Ghoul's raw brutality and mock it, but those same words bolster Set. Buoyed by his companions, he searches for an opening and renews his assault with spear and shadow. Spoiler: OOC Show Move: None Bonus Action: Hexblade's Curse the Iron Ghoul Action: 2H spear attack 18 for 11 piercing damage (Discord)

[purepolarpanzer]

Death in the Dark!

Though the abyssal wretch was mighty, it could not suffer the focused destruction wrought by the party's assault. Selissa's carefully aimed arrow punched out it's eye, Vargath's powerful, magically aided blows break the breast plate, and Mal's wit and Set's spear both pierce the darakhul, both psychically and physically. The creature falls to it's knees as it's flesh rapidly wastes away, leaving behind a deformed skeleton in broken armor, seemingly with no animations.

Though Esai's attack misses, when the ghoul turns to flee his forceful blows he catches it in the torso and obliterates three quarters of the creature's body. It falls to the stones, crawls half a foot, and then stops moving.

There is silence in the darkness once again.

Spoiler: OOC

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You hit exactly 100% of the Iron Ghoul's hit points. Not 99, not 101, but exactly killed it.

[Amnestic]

Vargath Hubrecht Half-Orc Rune Knight Fighter AC: 19 HP: 35/49 PP: 13 PIv: 12 PIs: 10 Conditions: Infected (Lycanthropy) Concentrating: -- Vargath breathes heavily and, just for good measure, brings his hammer down once more upon each of the enemy's skulls, crushing whatever is left of them into a fine paste. Undead could reanimate, he's aware of this, but he also knows that it's harder to do so without a head. Not impossible, but certainly more awkward. With more time he'd see to a full disposal of the bodies - purge them with flame, scatter the ashes to the wind - but they had only so much time, and a pyre may attract attention. Even if the sounds had not, the smell of smoke and flicker of flame on flesh would surely beckon others. He flexes as his body shrinks back down to normal size, checking over himself for lingering injuries and equipment damage, though a full inspection would be done when they were back in the tavern, in the light. He wanted to rest, but he also wanted to kill more. "Selissa, if you would." He points his hammer towards the sideroom, gesturing for her to continue the scouting ahead. "If there's nothing of note, I suggest a breather. The undead were...taxing."

[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 - 0/3 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. Mad/Frightened/Quirk: Fastidious about his appearance to a distracting, unhealthy degree. 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 adjusted his collar and tugged his gloves more snugly. He pressed every ounce of his eldritch feline agility to painstakingly cross the fetid, corpse-strewn tunnel. He wanted out of the sewers, and they had only begun. The scholar fluffed his cloak as he did, feeling a fold irritating forming at the small of his back. Esai moved to follow the tiefling, but Mal motioned for him to halt. The shadow of an elf would do for a second. Between her art and his, Maledictus figured he could pass through the space without conjuring more undead. Mal said softly, conceding at the end, "Our arts should hold for a while longer. We should not waste them...though I imagine you do need some physicks after that mauling."

Spoiler: OOC

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Edit: 32 stealth (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

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

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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

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

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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

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.

[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 gave a small nod and began ghosting past them before she paused. She spoke again, in that whispery half-voice, like the distant shaking of leaves. "Quiet won't last for long. Less than hour, now. Can't renew for long time." She paused, then added, indicating the destroyed undead with a taut little twitch of the head: "Enemy territory. Bad place to rest. They might be missed. Group choice." For now, though, the quiet held its tender grasp around the wood elf, so she continued silently drifting through these accursed tunnels to check out their newly-won path.

[Riggdgames]

Set Al-Sayyid Changeling Fighter/Hexblade AC: 17 HP: 36/41 (36/43) THP: 0/5 PP: 12 PIv: 13 PIs: 9 Conditions: Mal's Aid, Nome's Hero's Feast (immune to poison/frightened, Wis ST adv) Concentration: As the Iron Ghoul collapses, its companion quickly falling beside it, Set feels the slain's shadow slither to him in the darkness. A broken thing, it reforms in Set's shade, infusing him with strength from the Shadowkeeper's art. A moment later, the darakhul's head caves in to one final hammer blow before the Mighty wipes his hands of it. As Mal and Selissa offer a counterpoint to Vargath's suggestion, Set looks on in silence. A breather would do nicely, but Mal and Selissa would have to sacrifice their own arts if they chose to dally here. Biting the inside of his cheek and closing his eyes for a deep breath, Set cracks his neck and tries to clear his head. Opening his eyes in the darkness, he searches out Vargath, looking up to him with a question he leaves unasked. The Mighty would stop them if he needed rest. Even after all that punishment, he'd only posed a suggestion, likely meant only to tease out whether the rest of them needed a breather. "I can continue a while longer," he offers, glancing to Vargath for confirmation. "But we've still barely scratched the surface of this place. Unless this one was the last of its kind," Set nods, toeing the limp darakhul, "I don't think we can push through without resting somewhere, enemy territory or no." Set absentmindedly fishes the coin from his pocket, flipping it in the air. He catches it, frowning down at the scarab almost in time with recognizing he'd indulged in the habit. "I think it's too much to hope that this is the only one of its kind. Even so," Set says, trailing off as he gestures for Evergreen to lead on while Iceblood takes up position right behind her. Spoiler: OOC Show +7 HP from Hexblade's curse

[purepolarpanzer]

The First Adjoining Room

The group spoken, the scouts advance to the right while the anchors hang back, exploring the area the small hoard of undead came from. Inside they find a scene of horror.

There are a half dozen pallid people tied down to tables, three on each side of the room. Each of them is an ashen pale, and each of them has a bag tied over their heads. They do not cry out, they do not make any noise at all. They simply writhe against their bonds. Their bodies appear to be desiccated, and next to them on tables are large graters. Some of the bodies are missing arms or legs that have been worn down to an almost salt like consistency, producing the same fine powder that Darby had shown you at your hotel. Corpse dust. Literally. This lab area has an exit to the left and to the right heading into deeper chambers. To the right there appear to be cells, while the left looks to contain some amalgamation of pipe that was clearly added after the construction of this sewer.

Spoiler: OOC

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Left, right, or back to the main tunnel. Or you can interact with the harvesting room.

[Amnestic]

Vargath Hubrecht Half-Orc Rune Knight Fighter AC: 19 HP: 35/49 PP: 13 PIv: 12 PIs: 10 Conditions: Infected (Lycanthropy) Concentrating: -- Breath catches in Vargath's throat, and he holds it back as he takes in the room and the sickening sight it holds. He shouldn't be surprised by an undead's depravity. However, it's one thing to think of it, and another to see it first hand. "Whatever they are, we should put them out of their misery." Vargath mutters, careful not to breathe too deeply in case any of the powder was floating in the air. No normal living creature could be grated down so and survive to strain as they do. Whatever these dessicated bodies were now, they weren't alive, and he doubts they can be saved by anything save for blaze or blade. "But leave their hoods on - they might make noise if they see what's coming." If they were still moving under cover of stealth, then the fewer methods to alert the rest of the undead the better, and they didn't know what lurked in the other rooms ahead. His hand tightens around his axe. He'd do the deed, of course. He wasn't concerned with who did it, but as much as he wanted to get the matter over with it wouldn't be right to go ahead without them, to make the decision for them. If his journey thus far had taught him anything, it's that others often had plenty of ideas worth considering.

[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 took in the morbid scene for a long moment before she shut her eyes in a long, slow blink. She breathed out, centring herself, before her eyes reopened. The green of them was flinty with grave purpose. Without a word, she stepped close to the nearest sufferer. Without sound or warning, she put a silvery bolt through the forehead of it. Cloth and skull alike offered little obstacle to the magically formed arrow. She walked with careful, controlled steps to the next, and repeated the process, bringing death to each before they could know it. A grim sort of mercy, but the only one she could offer. Corpse dust. And humans took it like... like boars would decaying fruit, hungry for the fermented rot within. Perhaps this was unwise for now, that the undead monsters would only prey more on the world above to replenish their losses. All the same, she couldn't leave them to be slowly ground amd grated apart. All she could do was act and keep moving. The construction of pipes was outside her expertise. With sharp, effecient gestures, she indicated the prison and raised one finger, then tapped two together. Then with two she gave a circular gesture. One of you come with me. The other two check the room. Unless otherwise interrupted, she continued her silent path to check out the cells.

[Riggdgames]

Set Al-Sayyid Changeling Fighter/Hexblade AC: 17 HP: 36/41 (36/43) THP: 0/5 PP: 12 PIv: 13 PIs: 9 Conditions: Mal's Aid, Nome's Hero's Feast (immune to poison/frightened, Wis ST adv) Concentration: The First Adjoining Room Set follows the others through the threshold, pausing in the doorway as the sight and stench greet him. For a moment, all is still as everyone individually comes to terms with their surroundings. Corpse dust. It was all in the name. Stomach churning, Set has to turn away for a moment to steel himself. "Whatever they are, we should put them out of their misery." Set masters his nausea, thankful for what little protection his shemagh offers from breathing these poor souls in. They were people, once. Before the ghouls grated their bodies, grinding them to dust. Now they appear like empty vessels to Set, souls writhing for release from bodies already given to death without being granted the mercy of it. Silent as the grave, Selissa gives each body the gift of sleep and each soul release. Set watches with barely a twitch, frozen in place as she moves carefully down the line. A moment's panic grips him, but no. None of the corpses, "living" or already dead, was bronze of skin. Each was pale, each seemingly drained of life already. The thought triggers something, making Set flinch as Moira's warnings around vampires comes back into focus. With obvious trepidation he steps forward, examining one of the bodies that had already been granted mercy. Set pulls a hatchet free to cut the ropes holding the corpse's bag. Then he flips the hatchet over, slowly reaching forward with the wooden handle to inch the bag higher. He's so engrossed in the moment, he doesn't realize Selissa is gesturing for one of them to follow, and the other two to split off towards the pipes.

[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 - 0/3 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. Mad/Frightened/Quirk: Fastidious about his appearance to a distracting, unhealthy degree. 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 ground his molars in disdain and disgust. The sheer volume of waste in this room, its floating detritus of ground flesh, struck his senses. He wished to set the room in balefire, consigning its contents to the Pit. Instead, the wood elf dispatched the dead in her swift, silent manner. As she did, the tiefling remembered with horror the pouch of mealed flesh in his satchel. He withdrew this and hurled it upon a table of the lab. "Wretch meal of the moribund. May your inventor roast until neither ash nor cinder remains." He drew his hankerchief over his nose and mouth, clutching against the prospect of contamination. He then swiftly moved through, gesturing with his rapier for Esai to follow. The statue briefly placed a hand upon Set's shoulder to dissuade the inspection of the dead. The stone figure then nodded toward Selissa, as if to suggest where the spearman's talents might better serve. Meanwhile, Mal acknowledged the elf's recommendation and took toward the opposite passage, where the pipes worked away from the morbid chamber. He signaled to Vargath to follow him.

Spoiler: OOC

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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]

The Production Lab

Selissa's arrows put an end to the writhing, struggling wretches with a finality that is soothing in it's own brutal fashion. When the grated beings stop their movement and are put to their silent sleep, Selissa motions to move on, but Set lingers long enough to yank a bag up over the head of one of the living corpses. Inside he finds a horrified gaping maw, the powerful jaw still trembling, even in death. The tongue has been removed, and though the undead is inanimate it appears to still be in incredible pain, with milky white eyes bulging and nose removed. This was a creature carefully crafted to suffer, and it's design threatens to overwhelm the battlements of Set's mind.

Spoiler: Sanity Roll for Set, DC 13

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Spoiler: If you Succeed

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You blink and turn away from the tortured undead, avoiding dwelling on your own mortality.

Spoiler: If You Fail

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The scars on the wretches' face seem ritualistic. Perhaps there is a greater purpose to this purely evil act. If you gain a quirk from this, you become paranoid and suspicious of the world, sensing conspiracy everywhere.

In the Room of Pipes

Half the party moves into the room filled with finely crafted metal pipes. It is an amalgamation that barely fits up through a crack in the floor. There are also a slew of valves, chambers, and out pipes that are capped. It's obvious of sophisticated design. On one of the caps on an out pipe suddenly flutters open, releasing a belch of flame that burns your darkvision and an abominable smell that fills the room. A large pipe connects from the amalgamation to a cabinet of some sort in the center of the room. On either side of this device there are trays covered in fine silver cookware, with a single human finger laying one one of them.

The Cells

There are only four cells in this small room, but each of them is blocked by a thick stone door sealed with a bar.

The first two on the left both have more pale, gaping undead, just like the ones in the lab. They are quickly dispatched as they weakly reach out for their executioner, pleadingly, desperate for release from their pain. The first on the right bears an inanimate corpse of an elf missing both it's legs. The dismembered corpse bears a royal blue cloak that, despite the squalor, remains spotless and without stain. The last cell to be opened and inspected reveals a half-naked bronze skinned man wearing rags, covered in dirt and bruises. When the cell opens he scrambles deeper into the cell and turns away to face the corner, screaming incoherently.

Spoiler: Abydossian

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Monsters! You won't have me! My soul is destined for the Field of Reeds, not for your damnable unlife! Back! Back I say!

Spoiler: OOC

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Anyone who does not turn away or make to leave the first room needs to roll the same Sanity Save as Set.

[Amnestic]

Vargath Hubrecht Half-Orc Rune Knight Fighter AC: 19 HP: 35/49 PP: 13 PIv: 12 PIs: 10 Conditions: Infected (Lycanthropy) Concentrating: -- Following Mal's lead, Vargath trails behind into the heated room, taking the sight in in full. "How very civilised," he quietly thinks to himself as he looks upon the severed human finger. A marvel of 'technology' in service of undead playing out a farce of etiquette, fine dining of corpses. More to destroy. He moves forward, every hair on his body standing on end as he approaches the silverware. Even their presence seemed hot, nevermind their naked touch, and it wasn't from the flames of the room - it was the curse. The ache in his stomach told him to consume, but it was held back far stronger by the presence of the searing silver, keeping it in check, for now. Close enough to ward off the beast of the mind, but not shackling him so closely as to require a mental flail of escape. He moves past Mal, taking up position by the central cabinet, before motioning to his fell-blooded companion to stand out of the way, in case opening it resulted in another jet of flame, steam, heat, or worse. Once he's assured of Mal's safety then Vargath, also taking up position to one side, grasps the handle to the front of the cabinet and pulls it open.

[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 didn't want to see the face of the abraded creatures on the tables. Either it was a monster or it wasn't: either way she didn't want to see the faces of the ghoul's victims. When it came to the cells, she put down the caged ones with the same solemn mercy. The corpse of the elf - well, she paused for a long moment. Then, in a swift motion, she called forth the silvery spectral sabre of the Student's Blade and neatly cut the head from the shoulders. She bundled it into the cloak, noticing how it was unmarred by the filth and decay of its environs, and took it with her. She would find a good place for the skull, later, where it could release its soul to the soft blue of the sky and the circle of rebirth. "<Your soul to the sky, cousin,>" she whispered, and hoped it was not trapped in this dark and terrible place. The final cell held a man. She fought the urge to glance at Set. She didn't recognise the language the man spoke - some ugly human tongue, it seemed. Cautiously, ready to dodge, she raised her hands mollifyingly, even as he scrambled to face the corner. The actions of a child. Not seeing your hunter merely made it easier to fasten its teeth on the back of your neck. "Not undead. Now shut up," she said in Common, trying to make him understand through her terse but calm tones. "Calm. Stop shouting." She risked a quick glance at Set. She had no idea what to say or really do in this sort of circumstance and nowhere near the social skills to blag it. "Cursed one. Needs to shut up. You try," she hissed.

[purepolarpanzer]

In the Room of Pipes

Vargath swings open the cabinet doors and finds it's true purpose- it is an oven of some sort. There are small jets of flame on the walls of the cabinet and the floor. However, it is what is in the center, sitting on a nest of old rags, that is of interest. A pearlescent white egg, unmarred and unmarked, easily the size of a large cat. When the doors open there is a soft clunk and the flames inside the oven begin to rise higher and higher. Within a few seconds, the oven will be overwhelmed with flames and the egg, presumably, will go from pleasantly warm and incubating to cooked and dead.

Spoiler: OOC

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Take (1d6)[3] fire damage if you fish out the egg. Otherwise, have a nice mid dungeon snack.

[Amnestic]

Vargath Hubrecht Half-Orc Rune Knight Fighter AC: 19 HP: 32/49 PP: 13 PIv: 12 PIs: 10 Conditions: Infected (Lycanthropy) Concentrating: -- Vargath peers inside, and for a moment he's confused. Compared to the corpse dust and the human finger, an egg (large in size, admittedly) seems positively...normal. Seeing the rapidly rising flames he makes a snap decision before waiting on Mal's thoughts or insight and reaches inside with a gauntletted hand. As quickly as possible, he takes hold of the heated food and retrieves it, before slamming the cabinet shut once more. Though the flames didn't lick at his flesh, even the swift movements heated his hand's armour enough that he felt the metal sear against him. The burn's would heal, in time, and it shouldn't interfere with his fighting at all. Gently palming the egg back and forth between his two hands as the shell cools, he looks at his companion and then glances down at the egg. "Any idea what laid this?" With the object now in his hands he realises that it was quite foolish to risk a burn solely for...an egg that was presumably someone's dinner. Yet he'd felt compelled to grab it nonetheless. Perhaps this delving beneath the depths of the city was awakening some treasure hunter instinct inside of him, but regardless of why he did it, he did it.

Spoiler: Nature?

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EGG: (1d20+4)[19]

[Riggdgames]

Set Al-Sayyid Changeling Fighter/Hexblade AC: 17 HP: 36/41 (36/43) THP: 0/5 PP: 12 PIv: 13 PIs: 9 Conditions: Mal's Aid, Nome's Hero's Feast (immune to poison/frightened, Wis ST adv) Concentration: The Cells With no small amount of trepidation, Set lifts one of the bags, unable to move forward without dwelling on the past. A stone hand comes down on his shoulder to dissuade him from lingering, but it's too late. He needs to see this. As the bag lifts free, pain and terror greet Set in equal measure, eager to claw their way into his mind. Thankfully the pain is not his and the terror belongs to one given the gift of sleep. Set blinks in the face of inhuman torture, squeezing his eyes shut to ward off a vision of what they must've suffered through. A stone hand squeezes his shoulder and gives him a light shove to the right where Evergreen is already stepping silently forward. Gulping, Set nods wordlessly, blowing out a hard breath and thanking Esai in his mind as he puts one foot in front of the other. Set walks behind Selissa in a daze, waking up for a brief moment as she prays for her cousin. Set bows his head respectfully, holding his tongue as she cuts the head off and offering a quiet "<to the sky,>" in elven. Set can't claim to understand the customs of Selissa's tribe, but he'd seen her move a head to its final resting place before. Far be it from him to stand in the way as she does what she can for her kin. No doubt if he had kin down here, some of their customs might appear strange to her. As the final cell comes into focus and Selissa engages the man inside, Set stands frozen in place. The man inside shouts in the language of their fathers, his skin the deep bronze of their people. Though covered in bruises, his body is seemingly intact. His mind, however... "Cursed one. Needs to shut up. You try." "<Son of Abydos,>" Set calls in his own tongue, loud enough to be heard over the man's incoherent screaming. Set pushes the cell door open, approaching slowly like one might a cornered animal. "<Rise. Your enemies are slain or have fled. We are friends.> Friends," Set repeats in common, switching back and forth between languages as his eyes roam over the ragged individual. Why are you here? What in the world is happening in our homeland that you would travel to the North? Are the rumors true? Are my sisters near? "<Son of Abydos, rise. Your watch goes on. The Field of Reeds can wait.>" With one hand settling gently on the man's shoulder, Set offers his other hand to help him up. "How did you get here?" Set asks gently in common, sparing Selissa a quick glance before turning his attention back to the man. Spoiler: OOC Show Set holds onto his sanity (15 in discord) so no relapse back into paranoia today. Not sure if there's a roll needed to calm our friend down, but if so please roll away.

[purepolarpanzer]

The Pipe Room

The egg is hot to the touch, but when Vargath pulls it out of the oven it cools rapidly, shedding off heat with supernatural ease. There is a slight movement from inside the egg, causing it to shift in Vargath's grip. There is something alive inside it, clearly.

Spoiler: OOC

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This appears to be some sort of reptilian egg. You would guess, because of it's size, that it belongs to a giant lizard, a drake, or... maybe even a dragon?

The Cells

The dark skinned man stops suddenly upon hearing Set's voice. He turns to face the spurned prince and begins speaking quietly in common. "The marked son? Of the First Family? How is it that you are here? Is it true? Have you stolen the royal daughters? No, no I won't believe it!" He settles on to all fours for a moment before straightening up, assuming the stance any Abydossian who has spent their formative years in military training. Which is to say, any of them. "My Watch Goes On, Brother of Sirius, Marked One. I came to find the royal daughters, to restore the First Family and dispel the Shadows that have covered our homeland. I am a member of the Penitent Legion, and I serve the uncrowned Queen." The military discipline of the man begins to crumble, and it isn't long before he is grasping to cover his face, huddling again defensively. He reverts to Abydossian as he begins to mumble.

Spoiler: Abydossian

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"By my spear the sun will rise! By my hand the streets will be cleansed of Shadows and Grey Elves! As the Shadow Keeper promised, our land will be restored when the trueborn daughters of the First Family are returned home and the Bastard of Shu does his service for the Great Queen! All Oaths must be balanced if the Overlay is to be avoided!"

Set's words seem to have a calming effect on the man, but they ultimately cannot banish whatever affliction has turned a once proud man into a sniveling mad man. He begins to giggle and sob simultaneously, teeth bared and grit like a savage animal.

[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 - 0/3 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. Mad/Frightened/Quirk: Fastidious about his appearance to a distracting, unhealthy degree. 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 took in the piped room and the plate with his ever-increasing repugnance for the undead. The juxtaposition of fine dining and cannibalism plucked a visceral chord, and the scholar wished to find the secret to nullifying such putrid profanation of fine taste. He marveled at the exotic egg a moment too long. Vargath retrieved it with predatory swiftness, cradling it in a heat-swollen hand. Maledictus remarked, "Unless your tribe has a dose of troll heritage, I would yield risking flames to me." The bard produced a vellum and cradled it so as not to touch anything in the space. He smoothed its edges painstakingly, worrying a corner that resisted correction. Then he glanced to Esai and pondered openly, "What genus would you associate with this fetus?" Mal mentally measured it in comparison to the half orc's strong hands. Esai remarked, "I once hunted a pack of hobgoblins who rode war lizards. They liked them for scaling crags and tunnels ceilings. Might be one of those." "Perhaps. Perhaps another draconic variant--drake or, dare I jest in this unlikely cess pit, dragon?"

Spoiler: OOC

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Assisted by Esai Nature or Arcana on the egg: 23 or 26, respectively (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: 32/49 PP: 13 PIv: 12 PIs: 10 Conditions: Infected (Lycanthropy) Concentrating: -- "Trolls are vulnerable to fire." Vargath comments absentmindedly in reply to Mal's quip as he cradles the object. A large reptile, potentially a dragon, almost mature enough for hatching? It explained a bit more why it was here if it was a dragon egg - consuming a nascent dragon would no doubt be exactly the sort of 'delicacy' he'd expect the undead to want. "Well regardless of what it is exactly, it's an innocent in this. The first one rescued." One they'd have to take care of. "Perhaps a coincidence but there was a bounty asking for black dragon parts - I doubt they'd want a newborn, and I wouldn't hand one over even if they did, but if they're connected this may be a black dragon egg. We'll have to wait and see though." He doesn't know much about dragon eggs - or egg hatching in general - but he can take guesses from the room and the situation. It presumably needs a warm place to rest and incubate. He could use his bedroll, if there wasn't ample spare cloth to make a makeshift nest in his pack for it, taking the time to use the pipes to heat it up. He'd just need to remember to leave it safely behind before fights broke out. Whatever it was, it deserved a chance.

[purepolarpanzer]

The Pipe Room

Mal doubts that it is a dragon egg immediately. Those eggs are normally textured, and white dragon eggs resemble a chunk of milky ice, while this egg is completely smooth. It is Esai who relays that drake eggs are smooth like this one. He also knows the obscure lore that moon drake eggs glow when bathed in direct moon light. However, Esai has never seen a moon drake egg, and can't give a first hand account if this looked like one.

The egg feels warm and alive as Vargath makes a portable nest. Much like his efforts to repair Moira's castle, the results are by no means professional, but still manages to be entirely practical and serviceable. The egg will be warm and fairly insulated against all but the most targeted of jostles or attacks. When a belch of hot gas is farted out by a pipe, Vargath gets a faceful of sour gas, but plenty of heat to warm the nest for it's new occupant.

The Lab

Maus spends some time reading the last rites of the Green Faith to the terminated undead, sending them off to their final destination with some minor ceremony.