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

[purepolarpanzer]

The Arena

The darakhuls lead you inside and downwards. The weight of tens, perhaps dozens of moving, shuffling, stomping bodies, alongside cheering, howling, and growling that could wake the grave. The party is led down to ground level, which is nearly thirty feet below where it started. It is obvious that the ghouls had excavated far more of the sewer than you previously thought. When you reach the bottom, you find another set of guards standing before a private booth. They admit you. A surreal sight meets you.

The doors to the private booth are blank stone, but the inside is sumptuous, if foreign. A bench that looks ergonomic and modern, if a bit off kilter, runs the length of the room. One one side there is a small wet bar with several unlabeled bottles, on the right is a painting of a ghoul wearing a breast plate and riding some sort of subterranean steed. Straight ahead is an arena of some sort, built from the original lay out of pipe, but cracked open through the top like a defiled turtle.

There are humanoid prisoners in the pipe. Not many of them. Filthy. dressed in rags, bleeding from multiple wounds. Most of them have the look of street people, but it's hard to tell when you've been penned up in an undersewer. They are standing in a knot along the bottom of the pipe while the sharks move around them.

Ghouls. Not the profane claws of ghasts, not the handsome and refined look of the darakhul, but regular ghouls are moving around the prisoners. They carry blades in one hand, but they are standing on boards with wheels along the bottom. They circle their prey by riding the boards up the pipe, building momentum, and then coming at the humanoids with great speed on the way back down, blades out. The smoothness with which they do this makes it obvious they have experience in this sick game. Meanwhile, perhaps thirty spectators sit in stadium seating above you. Now that you can see it it looks like a dead crowd, in every sense of the word. The arena is nowhere near filled to capacity.

Maybe it's a slow day?

The guards gesture for you to enter the box. The one who has been doing most of the talking bids you "Wait here. The Lord of Bones is very busy, but you will be allowed to see him at his nearest possible appointment. Until then you may stay here and watch the fights. Should you wish to make bets there is a counter for that. Should you wish to participate for food... I mean slaves or glory a board will be provided to you. I hear that there may be a special fight in your honor soon. Enjoy the hospitality of our humble arena." Then, conscientiously, he closes the door and leaves the four of you and Maus in private.

Spoiler: OOC

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This is your last chance for an easy exit from this scenario. There are around 4-6 guards between you and the exit you came from. You accomplished one goal, found out your enemy has a stronger foothold than you expected, and you could easily survive the tale intact.

Or....

You can go deeper. Into the necropolis in the sewers. Infiltrating with your guile and wits. You may discover more useful information, assassinate one of the Lord's Covenant, save people, and find treasure, renown, and glory in the dark of the underworld.

But I warn you, this way lies blood and madness. What you do... and do not do... may damn you, mind, body, or soul. You will always be teetering on a knife's edge, with certain death by hoards of undead lies on one side and the abyss of true evil on the other.

Choose your next steps wisely, my friends. Remember what they say- nothing ventured, nothing gained, but nothing lost either.

[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 - 3/4 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: 0/4 Healer's Kit: 20/20 Mal Conditions: Comprehend Languages. Disguise Self. 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: Enhanced Ability (Dexterity). 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 gazed about the box and the scene beyond it with refreshed disdain for the ghouls. Their quaint, novel vehicles--if such a word for a slat on wheels was truly fitting--made them appear like horrific harlequins. The tiefling fluffed his coattails and refrained from approaching the decanters on suspicion such a vessel in this context could never be clean. The scholar spoke to the others swiftly, softly, "I have requested an audience with a leader of theirs, the enigmatically titled Lord of Bones. This may provide us an opportunity to strike a severe blow to their cause, though one we might not return unscathed." He looked over the troop before him and continued, "The opportunity to return and potentially reinforce ourselves shall slip away shortly if we tarry. Choose which road you wish to tread, but I am invested in this course as slitting the throat is often more secure than battering every limb to get to it."

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.

Unknown Egg. Vargath has an egg that might be a moon drake, recovered from an oven in the Iron Ghoul territory of the sewers of Harumvale.

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: 36/41 (36/43) THP: 0/5 PP: 12 PIv: 13 PIs: 9 Conditions: Mal's Inspiration (1d8), Mal's Aid, Nome's Hero's Feast (immune to poison/frightened, Wis ST adv). Mad/Frightened/Quirk: Fascinated with binding and power over death. Concentration: Set strides below, following in Mal's footsteps as the tiefling gains them entry without a fight. The transition from sewer to somewhat luxurious accommodations is abrupt enough that Set pauses in the doorway, but the moment passes quickly enough. He files in after the others, frowning at the painting and the array of liquor. The ghouls and their games, however, quickly become the focus of Set's attention. Their strange wheeled-vehicles cause his head to slowly ping-pong back and forth as he tracks one rider up and down the half-pipe. Attention shifting, he examines the prisoners from afar, hoping not to spot any of his kin, or the kin of his allies. "The opportunity to return and potentially reinforce ourselves shall slip away shortly if we tarry. Choose which road you wish to tread, but I am invested in this course as slitting the throat is often more secure than battering every limb to get to it." Pulling out the coin, Set turns it over and over in his fingers without flipping it. Looking back and forth between Vargath and Selissa, Set considers what they might say. He looks to Maus next, albeit with considerably less respect for his thoughts despite the few glimmers of hope in that regard. Finally he turns to Mal. The tiefling had been recruited directly by Moira for just such a purpose, of course. He'd been entrusted to communicate their progress, and receive whatever Moira could communicate in return. There's no one in a better position to know how best to prosecute this war, aside from Moira herself. Set spares a brief glance for Mido. One of his own, an Abydossian sent to find Sisi and Sythpen. Right or wrong, Mido's travels took him here. What if he'd been near the mark, but unable to penetrate deep enough? Could Set really turn back without delving further and finding out? "I'm with you." Looking up to Mal, Set pockets the coin. "It may be that a few of us can do more good down here right now than we could returning with an army months from now. Besides," Set says steadily, nodding towards Mido, "he was above searching for my sisters. If they're near," he continues, but the words trail off as Set punctuates his thoughts with a shrug. His eyes drop to his feet for a moment before he looks up to the Mighty and Evergreen. It would be folly to continue without both of them.

[Amnestic]

Vargath Hubrecht Half-Orc Rune Knight Fighter AC: 19 HP: 32/49 PP: 13 PIv: 12 PIs: 10 Conditions: Infected (Lycanthropy), Bardic Inspiration (d8) Concentrating: -- "A headless snake may yet trash and writhe, but it will not bite," is Vargath's response, his voice kept low and quiet. "We came here knowing of the danger, if we can put a stop to it with one fell swoop and leave these..." He grimaces as the crowd cheers and the carnage continues unabated, "creatures leaderless, they will scatter, and be that much weaker for it." He wants to look away from the carnage, but forces himself to watch. A solemn and clear reminder of what they were fighting for - and against. They would put a stop to it, soon enough. This he quietly swears to himself. An organisation of this size meant that the connections to the city's ruling bodies was all but confirmed. It seemed impossible to Vargath that it could be concealed without the assistance of at least some of the government. Once they were done here, they would have to make enemies of the city itself, it seemed. A careful tread was necessary, but deeply frustrating when all he wanted was to chop heads with his axe.

[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's eyes narrowed every time one of the undead on boards made a pass, at the jeering of the crowd. It was a ugly, evil sport, fit only for monsters, and she longed to put a stop to it. Sense would say they should prepare; that going into the dire wolf's jaws with no knowledge of who (or rather what) they'd be facing was stupid and likely as not to end with them all killed. But Selissa, for all her sharp tongue and cold nature, could never abide wilful cruelty. "Fine," was all she said. "We fight. Be ready." She hesitated. Something of the ghoul guards words had been niggling at her. "Said they'd do something in our Honour. Why? Mistaken for someone?"

[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 - 3/4 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: 0/4 Healer's Kit: 20/20 Mal Conditions: Comprehend Languages. Disguise Self. 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: Enhanced Ability (Dexterity). 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 nodded solemnly to each speaker as he burnished the ruby pommel on his rapier. He refused to watch the sport underway while none of the ghouls resided inside the box. He would play his part when needed. The scholar answered the elf, "I have attached our presence to the Pale Night and beloved Bence." Beloved slipped like a hiss that most certainly meant anything but tenderness and affection toward the accursed demonologist.

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.

Lord of Bones. Darakhul commander in Haramburg (race and rank unknown).

Colonel. Military commander of Imperium Darakhul in Harumburg (race suspected to be darakhul).

Unknown Egg. Vargath has an egg that might be a moon drake, recovered from an oven in the Iron Ghoul territory of the sewers of Harumvale.

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 Arena

Maus watches the diabolic show put on before you with a snarl of disgust. When one of the ghouls leaps from it's board to tackle one of the prisoners blade first, he bitterly turns himself away. "I have no desire to go further." He takes a deep breath, exhaling slowly as though to purge the horror from his heart and soul. "Moira was right. Damnit, she was RIGHT." He slammed a hand down on the bench, and though his size is reduced the blow still carries the might of a massive man, causing the bench to shudder under the blow. Eyes clenched shut, a single tear flows down Maus' cheek, travelling down his wrinkles like a rain drop down a gutter. "But press on we must. If we can strike a blow against this... wretched hive of evil... then we are obligated to try. I will do my best to hold in my disgust, but I must insist we leave before whatever freakish display they have planned for our honor. Make an excuse of some sort, Maledictus, but get us out of this carnival of carnage."

Mido turns to Set, and with uncertain eyes still teetering on the edge of madness he speaks in Abydossian. "Son of the First, we enter a place of darkness and madness. Though I have trained with the spear, I fear your path is too dark and dangerous for me to tread. If you order me to.... I will go with you. Till the end. Till the Field of Reeds. But... this darkness is beyond me. I fear I will hinder your more than help. What say you?" The tan skinned man looks nervously at the prisoners as the ghouls move in for the kill, lips trembling for a moment before turning back to Set. It would take an act of either supreme selflessness to bring this man into deeper darkness than he has already witnessed and protect him, or an act of supreme selfishness to drag him further without regard to how much deeper the waters of madness would be for a man who was already drowning. Somewhere in the middle is a path of necessity, but that too is damned.

Meanwhile, the remains of the prisoners are dragged away by the victors, no doubt for a victory meal. A magically amplified voice begins speaking in the language of the ghoul empire, which Mal's magic translates precisely. "Ghouls, ghasts, darakhul, and mortal guests, we have the honor of hosting Pale Night's emissaries! Servants of the illustrious planar mage John Bence, they come to us with the Moonlit Lady's contribution to our great goal, and a full day ahead of schedule! That means the portal is one day closer to completion! Soon, very soon, the Death Prince's armies will come marching into this world from the 113th layer, and the world will become our larder! To honor them, we have a special bout lined up tonight! A feast that all may partake in! For it is rare that such a luscious, sweet treat becomes available to us! I present to you an embodiment of everything that is pure and good! I'm sure it will taste delicious when our champions are done with it!"

A number of ghouls lead a equine form with chains around it's legs and a hood over it's head into the arena. The creature bucks and kicks, but mighty though it is it cannot shrug off the chains, which looked spiked and painful. The form is pure white except for the grime of the sewer, but even besmirched there is a gravity about the creature that causes the crowd to go silent in awe. "No worries, folks, those chains stop the beast from escaping, either physically or mystically. As long as they hold our dinner is bound. But not quite helpless! Do we have any volunteer chefs who will prepare the meal for all of us hungry, hungry folk?" It is at this point that a ghoul roughly removes the bag from the creature's head, revealing a pearlescent horn that emanates an internal light. These creatures intend to maim, kill, and butcher a unicorn, then serve it up like a spitted pig.

Maus, who was dedicated to your path mere moments ago, looks beyond horror and revulsion. "We must stop this. This is... sacrilege!" He states with dead certainty.

[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 - 3/4 2nd - 0/3 3rd - 1/2 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: 0/4 Healer's Kit: 20/20 Mal Conditions: Comprehend Languages. Disguise Self. 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: Enhanced Ability (Dexterity). 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 The tiefling did not change his demeanor at the appearance of the unicorn. He, however, hissed softly when he heard the litany from the master of ceremonies. Maledictus whispered, "So Bence wasn't completely daft...the Pale sends a portal key to the Lord of Bone, which arrives tomorrow. We can get access to the Lord of Bones if we play our part." The scholar gestured and a fan appeared in his hand. He held the ornate screen fixed in place over his face, screening his expressions while continuing to watch the event. He muttered a phrase in infernal. A loud thunk sounded from the unicorn's position as though someone smacked a temple door while standing inside a bell. He added, "But we can let the unicorn play its part with gusto." Maledictus stood on, unmoving and seemingly unmoved. Only his tail swished to and fro, smoothing his coattails back into place whenever it disturbed them. The half-fiend seemed content to leave the celestial beast to its fate, another casualty in the war that embroiled them.

Spoiler: OOC

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Minor Illusion (Sight): A nobleman's fan. The bard keeps his hand under it to maintain the illusion that he "holds" the fan.
Cast Knock at 3rd level upon the Unicorn's restraints.

Rolled Stealth or Deception to conceal casting the spell (cannot conceal the Knock's 300ft noise): Nat 20 for either a 25 or 29, 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.

Unknown Egg. Vargath has an egg that might be a moon drake, recovered from an oven in the Iron Ghoul territory of the sewers of Harumvale.

Imperium has a unicorn sourced for arena consumption.

Spoiler: Bence's After Shadow

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Confirmation that the ritual and journal at Bence's Cabin had merit: "Meanwhile, the remains of the prisoners are dragged away by the victors, no doubt for a victory meal. A magically amplified voice begins speaking in the language of the ghoul empire, which Mal's magic translates precisely. "Ghouls, ghasts, darakhul, and mortal guests, we have the honor of hosting Pale Night's emissaries! Servants of the illustrious planar mage John Bence, they come to us with the Moonlit Lady's contribution to our great goal, and a full day ahead of schedule! That means the portal is one day closer to completion! Soon, very soon, the Death Prince's armies will come marching into this world from the 113th layer, and the world will become our larder! To honor them, we have a special bout lined up tonight! A feast that all may partake in! For it is rare that such a luscious, sweet treat becomes available to us! I present to you an embodiment of everything that is pure and good! I'm sure it will taste delicious when our champions are done with it!"

A number of ghouls lead a equine form with chains around it's legs and a hood over it's head into the arena. The creature bucks and kicks, but mighty though it is it cannot shrug off the chains, which looked spiked and painful. The form is pure white except for the grime of the sewer, but even besmirched there is a gravity about the creature that causes the crowd to go silent in awe. "No worries, folks, those chains stop the beast from escaping, either physically or mystically. As long as they hold our dinner is bound. But not quite helpless! Do we have any volunteer chefs who will prepare the meal for all of us hungry, hungry folk?" It is at this point that a ghoul roughly removes the bag from the creature's head, revealing a pearlescent horn that emanates an internal light. These creatures intend to maim, kill, and butcher a unicorn, then serve it up like a spitted pig."

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), Bardic Inspiration (d8) Concentrating: -- By the end of this expedition Vargath fully expects his face to be set into a permanent grimace. He had chosen to stand aside and do nothing as the undead monsters had butchered innocents, on the promise that doing so might get them closer to the head of the organisation to put a stop to it for good. But... His hand tightens inside its gauntlet, echoing Maus' own anger. Anger at the situation and at himself, for choosing the coward's way out before - sacrificing lives in the name of the 'greater good', even when something could have been done for them, if they had cared to. It would have been tough, it may have cost them, but to those in the arena it would have meant - literally - everything. Would he stand aside again in the face of the unicorn's pointless death? Settle for making up for it later? No. Not this time. If the unicorn couldn't flee on its own, escape under its own powers, then Vargath would intervene. And they would slaughter every rotten undead monstrosity in sight.

[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 Inspiration (1d8), Mal's Aid, Nome's Hero's Feast (immune to poison/frightened, Wis ST adv). Mad/Frightened/Quirk: Fascinated with binding and power over death. Concentration: "Enough, Mido," Set hisses, staring straight ahead rather than addressing the other man directly. Biting the inside of his cheek, Set closes his eyes for a breath before turning to look at his fellow Abydossian. Tone softening, Set reaches a hand out to grab Mido's shoulder, coaxing him to continue despite the danger. In truth, Set doesn't see a path out of here that doesn't lead to disaster, but one path at least might lead him to his sisters. It's not much, but it's enough. "Remember the story of Amun and His trials in the darkness. Once His journey had begun, there was no turning back," Set offers, meeting the other man's eyes. "There is no way but forward, Mido. Walk with me through the darkness and we'll reach the other side together." Set squeezes the other man's shoulder, stomach churning as he wonders if he's condemning Mido to death or worse. He should've left him to back-track along their path. He should've been content with freeing Mido from his cell. At least then the man's fate would be his own again. Now it's in Set's hands. A chill runs down Set's spine and he drops his hand from Mido's shoulder, pulling away as if he'd gotten too close to an open flame. The two of them share a purpose, Mido and Set. They both seek Set's sisters. Mido will understand when his mind is finally restored. This is necessary. It's worth it. Squaring his shoulders to the arena, Set refocuses his attention elsewhere as his hosts reveal a unicorn, their next meal. For a moment Set's eyes are fixed on the magnificent horn as it's brilliant white coat shines like a beacon through the drab arena. But his eyes grow dull, even staring at such brilliance. Another shiver creeps up on Set, but he's subdued, staring silently as Maus bemoans such sacrelige beside him. A part of him looks on as if from outside his own body, fists clenched and screaming, but what had that part of Set ever accomplished? What did he hope to do? It is a magnificent beast, truly. Perhaps if it's life wasn't weighed against even a shred of hope for Sisi. Perhaps if saving it might not also condemn Sythpen. "But we can let the unicorn play its part with gusto." Set watches the proceedings dispassionately as Mal intervenes to give the unicorn a chance. It's a risk, but thankfully a minimal one given the tiefling's expertise. Even so, Set can't help a quick glance around to see if anyone appears to have seen or heard what Mal did.

[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 closed her eyes for a long moment before she opened them again. She looked at the others slowly. "Can't let them," she said. There was a note of something apologetic in her tone. "Have to fight." She took another look at the unicorn below, measuring out the distance and the best targets. Perhaps if she hadn't just seen a bunch of innocents killed in an awful, ugly sport, she could have swallowed bitterly that the most logical option would have been to allow this sacrilege, the destruction of a creature of pure goodness, but- no. She couldn't. She pulled her bow out. A silvery arrow formed in her hand. "Can seperate, but still likely to disrupt your meeting."

[purepolarpanzer]

The Half Pipe Arena

There is a loud, metallic CLONK! sound as that chains fall down around the unicorn's feet. The crowd begins to murmur in confusion as the handlers begin frantically tugging on the guide ropes the lure the beast back underground to chain it again, but a moment's respite is all the unicorn needs. Without the magical chains, this creature of primal purity tosses it's head back, raises it's front legs into the air, and releases a primal bellow that rings like a clarion cry in this place of darkness. The ropes fray, the chains slip, and the unicorn's horn pierces up through the bag like a blade made of pure, snowy white light. The assembled crowd of undead, monsters, and foul hearted humanoids reels back away from a pulse of pure light as though it were a sudden sunrise. The handlers fall away behind it, and the equine is free. It moves several steps forward, turns to face your booth, and though it's head is covered by a black bag Mal can sense it's gaze falling on him. Then there is a flash of light, and the unicorn is gone.

The arena goes wild. The attendees are shouting, hooting, and hollering in rage. Accusations fly about who is responsible and what will be done to them when they are found. The announcer tries to regain composure and control, but a riot is rapidly forming. Armored darakhul move in to contain the crowd. Almost immediately there is a knocking at your door and an old, bearded man in a black robe let's himself in and begins gesturing for you to follow him. He has a staff in one hand, several potions on his belt, and a thick book in an armored carrying case at his side.

"Quickly, quickly now! Before any of these undead start thinking our guests from Pale Night are responsible for this! We need to get you deeper into the city with that portal key right NOW! If there are operators on the other side of the spectrum here we need to get you somewhere SAFE!"

Spoiler: Insight Checks

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Spoiler: DC 0

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Something of the darkness and horror of this place causes a bout of cramps that run through you, making your body quiver. Take 1 point of necrotic damage.

Spoiler: DC 5

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You need to get out of here and this guy is opening the door for you. MOVE!

Spoiler: DC 10

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This guy looks like a caster of some sort. And his robe is black... could be dangerous.

Spoiler: DC 16

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This man is not to be trifled with. Underneath it's armored plate that wizard's spellbook looks vintage and well loved. He is also carrying several knives. His words present him as a bad guy, but he seems genuinely interested in keeping us safe right now. It's very risky, but our options now are go with him, make a break for the surface, or find a place to hide, and none of the others can hide like Selissa. It's a roll of the dice, and you'll have to be very careful, but you'll get more reward for the risk you take if you're successful. And you all have seconds to choose.

Spoiler: DC 20

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This guy is reading you at the same time you're reading him. Sizing you all up. He's not hostile, but he could be real quick. Maybe that's common amongst evil people, but it's unnerving for the uninitiated.

[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 - 3/4 2nd - 0/3 3rd - 1/2 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: 0/4 Healer's Kit: 20/20 Mal Conditions: Comprehend Languages. Disguise Self. 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: Enhanced Ability (Dexterity). 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 The half-fiend gestured and the fan vanished as voices of confusion echoed in the box. Maledictus turned to the gentleman and said, "The emissaries thank you. Our mission requires no delay." The scholar drew his rapier nonetheless. Esai took position near at hand, ready to ram his statue form, shield, and hammer into anyone fool enough to encroach on his ward. The pair positioned themselves just behind the robed figure, while Mal urged the others, "No time to wonder where the celestial bandit romped off. Let's move before its friends pop up."

Spoiler: OOC

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Minor Illusion (Sound) as the unicorn pops off: cries of outrage and confusion manifest in the box for a moment. This makes the previous minor illusion disappear.

Insight (Discord): 9.

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.

Unknown Egg. Vargath has an egg that might be a moon drake, recovered from an oven in the Iron Ghoul territory of the sewers of Harumvale.

Imperium has a unicorn sourced for arena consumption.

Spoiler: Bence's After Shadow

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Confirmation that the ritual and journal at Bence's Cabin had merit: "Meanwhile, the remains of the prisoners are dragged away by the victors, no doubt for a victory meal. A magically amplified voice begins speaking in the language of the ghoul empire, which Mal's magic translates precisely. "Ghouls, ghasts, darakhul, and mortal guests, we have the honor of hosting Pale Night's emissaries! Servants of the illustrious planar mage John Bence, they come to us with the Moonlit Lady's contribution to our great goal, and a full day ahead of schedule! That means the portal is one day closer to completion! Soon, very soon, the Death Prince's armies will come marching into this world from the 113th layer, and the world will become our larder! To honor them, we have a special bout lined up tonight! A feast that all may partake in! For it is rare that such a luscious, sweet treat becomes available to us! I present to you an embodiment of everything that is pure and good! I'm sure it will taste delicious when our champions are done with it!"

A number of ghouls lead a equine form with chains around it's legs and a hood over it's head into the arena. The creature bucks and kicks, but mighty though it is it cannot shrug off the chains, which looked spiked and painful. The form is pure white except for the grime of the sewer, but even besmirched there is a gravity about the creature that causes the crowd to go silent in awe. "No worries, folks, those chains stop the beast from escaping, either physically or mystically. As long as they hold our dinner is bound. But not quite helpless! Do we have any volunteer chefs who will prepare the meal for all of us hungry, hungry folk?" It is at this point that a ghoul roughly removes the bag from the creature's head, revealing a pearlescent horn that emanates an internal light. These creatures intend to maim, kill, and butcher a unicorn, then serve it up like a spitted pig."

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), Bardic Inspiration (d8) Concentrating: -- "Agreed." Vargath grumbles, the heat in his blood barely settling. He'd been ready for a fight and had been cheated from it. It had worked out 'for the best', he understands that, but he's nevertheless restless. "Let us be about it quickly before the matter turns sour." He forces himself to take deep breaths to still his thumping heart, but not so many as to lose his high. He needed to be ready to strike at a moment's notice. At least now that they had given up on stealth, he could take a position at the forefront again.

[Riggdgames]

Set Al-Sayyid Changeling Fighter/Hexblade AC: 17 HP: 35/41 (35/43) THP: 0/5 PP: 12 PIv: 13 PIs: 9 Conditions: Mal's Inspiration (1d8), Mal's Aid, Nome's Hero's Feast (immune to poison/frightened, Wis ST adv). Mad/Frightened/Quirk: Fascinated with binding and power over death. Concentration: In the span of a few seconds, the well-ordered procession devolves into chaos. The arena, sparsely populated though it is, erupts with the sudden disappearance. A few disembodied shouts of dismay sound off in the box around Set, making him glance around wildly searching for the source. His adrenaline spikes, his heart-hammering as the door swings open to reveal an elderly man in dark robes, eager to aid their escape. One look and relief floods Set. The old man's true allegiance is neither to the Lord of Bones, nor Pale Night. His true purpose is plain as day. The glint in his eye. The pitch of his voice. The words he annunciates. Set knows his instincts have lead him astray before, but this man not only spotted Mal's ruse, he himself is working against the undead. Moira would've mentioned an agent of hers planted here, but perhaps a faction of the crown in Harumburg resists? The epiphany that there are patriots left in Harumvale still fighting for themselves races through Set's mind, but the needs of the moment don't allow further delay. The uproar in the arena reaches new heights, sending a painful spasm through him. The others, thankfully, appear to have come to the same conclusion, but faster. "Quickly," Set grunts, shrugging off the pain as he pushes Mido after Vargath towards their salvation. "He can help us." Spoiler: OOC Show Nat 1 minus 1 in Discord (0 Insight) Set takes 1 point of necrotic damage for harnessing the raw power of his wisdom

[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 To the poorly emoted surprised of the elf, the unicorn, once released from its shackles, showed its horn and disappeared. Selissa had begun to bring up her bow before she aborted the motion, the man who had burst in a heartbeat away from an arrow through the neck. It turned out unicorns could teleport. That was... not something she'd been aware of. A little off balance, and feeling a tad foolish, she sullenly regarded the wicked wizard. He was undoubtedly a foe, in league with dark powers, but the servant of evil was, at least for the moment, not suspecting them for interfering with the ghouls' blasphemous feast. When he spoke, she merely gave a tight nod, but didn't say anything. She kept an arrow mocked to the string of her bow.

[purepolarpanzer]

The Half-Pipe Arena

With the party in tow, the black robed wizard with mottled white and grey hair from just above his hips to the tip of his prodigious beard leads you back out of the booth. The two guards who were stationed outside have gone, seemingly to wrangle the rapidly forming mob. The unnamed wizard walks up to the wooden wall next to your booth and carefully traces a rune across the wall, which wavers and disappears, revealing the underside of the stadium seats. Above you you can hear the sounds of rioting- boards being torn up and turned against flesh, the sounds of ripping and chewing, and other tones of madness.

"Come quickly. We have to go deeper to escape this madness. Ever seen ghouls taken by the Fever before? Not pretty, and generally quite lethal, whether you're undead or not. It's going to take a lot of darakhul to calm this one down before it spreads into Haramsghul itself. If that happens, all hell will literally break lose." He weaves in and out of the braces and beams with practiced grace, navigating the underside of the arena as though it were a walk in a park.

Wood splinters and the ceiling ahead of you collapses under the weight of massacre going on above it. Six ghouls and ghasts fall in a heap into the wreckage. Bones break. Flesh tears. Wood splinters. But the madness is unabated. Crawling. Groaning. Reaching for flesh. They come at you, and more seem to be leaping down through the hole in the bleachers.

"Don't spare the rod. This rabble won't be missed. If you see a way to get through, keep moving. Don't worry about me- your key is more important than my life." The black robed wizard flicks a wand out of his sleeve and falls back behind Vargath as the fight begins.

Spoiler: OOC

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Endurance round. How many will come? Lots. Start with 6. You all get to go first by virtue of not falling through a collapsing ceiling.

[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 - 3/4 2nd - 0/3 3rd - 1/2 Fey Touched: 1st - 0/1 2nd - 0/1 Masquerade Tattoo: 1st - 1/1 Levistus Legacy: Armor of Agathys - 0/1 Darkness - 1/1 Bardic Inspiration: 0/4 Healer's Kit: 20/20 Mal Conditions: Comprehend Languages. Disguise Self. 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: Bless. 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 The half-fiend looked upon the disheveled heap with contempt. He said to the others, "Kill them." The scholar hefted his rapier, resisting the temptation to buff its guard of a smudge. His devilish hubris flowed into Set, Vargath, and Selissa. The energy of crisp focus, refined hatred, and focused power gently urging them to kill and to do so with efficiency. No blow ought be wasted on the way forward. The ruffage be condemned along the way. Esai strode forward, smashing a ghast with his hammer with eruptive force. He knew the creature's emitted horrific conditions for the fleshly cohort. His stone nostrils cared not for stench of death. If anything, he'd kill to savor the rot and ruin his weapons yielded. It had been a long time since he sensed the battles he embraced with disciplined zeal.

Spoiler: OOC

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Bless Sel, Vargath, Set.
BA Esai attack: 23 to hit, 7 force damage (discord).
Esai: Preemptive reaction to Warrior's Protection a nearby ally or OA if a foe seeks to bypass him for the back line.
Mal: OA if someone seeks to pass him (unlikely) or flee (unlikier)

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.

Unknown Egg. Vargath has an egg that might be a moon drake, recovered from an oven in the Iron Ghoul territory of the sewers of Harumvale.

Imperium has a unicorn sourced for arena consumption.

Spoiler: Bence's After Shadow

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Confirmation that the ritual and journal at Bence's Cabin had merit: "Meanwhile, the remains of the prisoners are dragged away by the victors, no doubt for a victory meal. A magically amplified voice begins speaking in the language of the ghoul empire, which Mal's magic translates precisely. "Ghouls, ghasts, darakhul, and mortal guests, we have the honor of hosting Pale Night's emissaries! Servants of the illustrious planar mage John Bence, they come to us with the Moonlit Lady's contribution to our great goal, and a full day ahead of schedule! That means the portal is one day closer to completion! Soon, very soon, the Death Prince's armies will come marching into this world from the 113th layer, and the world will become our larder! To honor them, we have a special bout lined up tonight! A feast that all may partake in! For it is rare that such a luscious, sweet treat becomes available to us! I present to you an embodiment of everything that is pure and good! I'm sure it will taste delicious when our champions are done with it!"

A number of ghouls lead a equine form with chains around it's legs and a hood over it's head into the arena. The creature bucks and kicks, but mighty though it is it cannot shrug off the chains, which looked spiked and painful. The form is pure white except for the grime of the sewer, but even besmirched there is a gravity about the creature that causes the crowd to go silent in awe. "No worries, folks, those chains stop the beast from escaping, either physically or mystically. As long as they hold our dinner is bound. But not quite helpless! Do we have any volunteer chefs who will prepare the meal for all of us hungry, hungry folk?" It is at this point that a ghoul roughly removes the bag from the creature's head, revealing a pearlescent horn that emanates an internal light. These creatures intend to maim, kill, and butcher a unicorn, then serve it up like a spitted pig."

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), Bardic Inspiration (d8), Bless Concentrating: -- Vargath's immediate thought is somehow baiting the ghouls to attack the dark magician who has accompanied them. If they could somehow sandwich their enemy between...their enemy then perhaps they could lay low two birds with a single arrow. It wouldn't do to tip the hand too fast, not put the rest of them at risk with his on the spot 'plan'. Axe in hand he moves forward and begins doing what he does best: Chopping. There were still perhaps many more fights to go, and he couldn't risk revealing his runic magic immediately if it indicated he was not what the dark magician thought they were. The bracers they'd recovered though... those should be fine. He slams his wrists together and calls upon first Strength, and then Humility as he swings his axe down against the undead, aiming for the weakest point they had: the neck.

Spoiler

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Move: Into melee with the ghouls, for now.
Action: Attack (Strength, Advantage): (1d20+7)[26](1d20+7)[11]+(1d4)[1] Damage: (1d8+6)[10]+(1d6)[3] force
Extra Attack (Humility, Disadvantage): (1d20+7)[27] 14 (from discord)+(1d4)[1] [/S] Damage: (1d8+6)[7]+(1d6)[6] force
Crit rolls from discord: 2+7
Total damage done:-
First attack: 10
Second attack: 16

Apologies, this is a mess of a post. I will do better next time.
Bonus Action: None.

[Riggdgames]

Set Al-Sayyid Changeling Fighter/Hexblade AC: 17 HP: 35/41 (35/43) THP: 0/5 PP: 12 PIv: 13 PIs: 9 Conditions: Mal's Bless, Mal's Inspiration (1d8), Mal's Aid, Nome's Hero's Feast (immune to poison/frightened, Wis ST adv). Mad/Frightened/Quirk: Fascinated with binding and power over death. Concentration: "Don't spare the rod. This rabble won't be missed. If you see a way to get through, keep moving. Don't worry about me- your key is more important than my life." The words float in one ear and out the other as Set's attention is fixed on the growling mass of ghouls crawling closer. A surge of adrenaline and nerves floods him as the creatures, already half-broken from the fall, nevertheless claw forward, pushing well past mortal limits. "Kill them." Mal's words penetrate the haze of indecision, infusing Set with cold confidence just as Vargath demands it, charging forward with axe held high. "Wait in reserve for my call," Set hisses towards Mido, leaving him between Maus and Mal as he darts after the Mighty. The glaive is heavy in his hands, comforting in its purpose as Mal's words echo through him. Kill them. The spear is light. Versatile. Perfect in a group, or for one man against many. Perfect to hold a line with your allies, or for parrying blow after blow and quickly countering when standing alone. Perfect in defense. The glaive... Set silently brings the weapon back as his momentum carries him forward, swinging the glaive overhead and bringing its weight down in a deadly arc. Spoiler: OOC Show Move: Close to within 5 ft (to get advantage RAW, unless we say reach weapons get advantage on prone enemies) Action: Attack: 25 in Discord w/ bless Damage: 9 slashing Bonus Action: Polearm Mastery Attack: 27 w/ bless Damage: 4 bludgeoning Pre-emptive Reaction: Polearm Mastery Attack ghouls that drop from above or generally approach within 10 feet of Set Attack: 10 w/ bless

[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 Looks like they'd be fighting these ghouls after all. She flicked her glance over to the wizard. If they could kill him during the fight, especially if they could blame it on the ghouls, it'd serve them well later. The prone ghouls weren't so easy to hit in a good spot as they crawled. She was more likely to hit them in a thrashing hand or have an arrow glance off the dome of the skull. Her long legs carried her forward, bow nicked, until she was in arm's reach of one of the ghouls. Even as it lunged for her ankles, she was springing back, letting loose her arrow, aiming to plant the silver shaft like a death-flag in the undead's spine. Spoiler: OOC Show Burning the inspo as discussed for advantage 13 to hit, 23 damage if I do, disengage as a BA with cunning action and moving back out of reach.

[purepolarpanzer]

Under the Bleachers

The party's counter charge is devastating. Almost as if by Maledictus' command, you all move against your foe with lethal intent. Esai, showing nimbleness that does not bely his stone form, reaches the fray first and sends the jawbone of one of the ghouls soaring out into the dark. Set steps up beside him and finishes the job with his spear tip, only to spin and bash the haft into the face of a standing ghast hard enough to shatter it's decayed nose. It does not go down. It does not slow down. The Hunger is upon them, and they do not back down.

Vargath wades in, hacking a ghoul's head from it's shoulders, then turning to bury the blade in the skull of another. Both fall, but only after struggling to grab at the half-orc's ankles for a few more seconds before the darkness that animates them dissipates. Selissa's advance is checked by a ghast to Vargath's right, and her taunting technique has it grabbing at her. The creature's bladed fingers nearly secure a grip on her ankle, but a last minute kick from the elf staggers the monstrosity, even as her arrow sinks into the base of it's neck, tearing through bone and flesh to sever the ghast's head in a melon pop of explosive gore, leaving one wounded ghast and a hobbled ghoul in the first furious seconds of combat.

Then it beings to rain unholy animate corpses.

Five ghouls and five ghasts leap down the hole, sensing living flesh and burning with an insatiable desire for it. The first two who leapt down pick themselves up, and all begin charging in, looking for an opening to drag you all down. These undead are unnaturally fast and strong when compared to the other rabble you encountered before. Not on par with the iron ghoul by any means, but more formidable than the other guards to the lower sewers. And they are unquestionably hostile and moving in to attack.

They do not reach you all.

As though responding to the beginnings of uncertainty from the hail of charging foes, a pulse of invisible energy radiates out from the bow. It washes over Selissa and her allies like an invisible wave of warm, gentle water. But where it strikes the charging undead, it hurls them backwards with the force of an inexorable tide, slapping them back with enough force to send the aerial ghouls back a dozen feet. For a moment the undead can only stare in awe as the Student's bow holds them back in a thirty foot radius.

Then the energy stops, giving the party a few more seconds of the advantage. The bow feels cold in Selissa's grip. The party is surrounded, and the flow of undead does not appear to be slackening. The black robed wizard gives a whistle of appreciation, then evaporates six undead with a fireball, focusing his fire ahead of you all in case you need to make an escape deeper into the demon's maw.

[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 - 3/4 2nd - 0/3 3rd - 1/2 Fey Touched: 1st - 0/1 2nd - 0/1 Masquerade Tattoo: 1st - 1/1 Levistus Legacy: Armor of Agathys - 0/1 Darkness - 1/1 Bardic Inspiration: 0/4 Healer's Kit: 20/20 Mal Conditions: Comprehend Languages. Disguise Self. 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: Bless. 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 noted the successes and impressive aura from the elf. He wondered why she had waited until now to unveil this ward. However, he focused on the increasing stench of undeath in the tunnel. The half-fiend commanded above the din, "Carve through and reform a wall on the other side to keep the wave of filth before us." The scholar loosed a bolt of frigid energy at one of the ghouls ahead of Esai, who continued to batter and press into the gap the dark mage softened. The ray arced over its bobbing skull, while the stone warrior maintained his furious hammering. The tiefling reluctantly closed behind the martialists, seeking to keep his coattails out of reeking hands and pools of rotten blood.

Spoiler: OOC

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Mal Ray of Frost: whiff. 8 to atk (Discord)
BA Esai attack: 15 to hit, 9 force damage (discord).
Esai: Preemptive reaction to Warrior's Protection a nearby ally or OA if a foe seeks to bypass him for the back line.
Mal: OA if someone seeks to pass him (unlikely) or flee (unlikier)

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.

Unknown Egg. Vargath has an egg that might be a moon drake, recovered from an oven in the Iron Ghoul territory of the sewers of Harumvale.

Imperium has a unicorn sourced for arena consumption.

Spoiler: Bence's After Shadow

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Confirmation that the ritual and journal at Bence's Cabin had merit: "Meanwhile, the remains of the prisoners are dragged away by the victors, no doubt for a victory meal. A magically amplified voice begins speaking in the language of the ghoul empire, which Mal's magic translates precisely. "Ghouls, ghasts, darakhul, and mortal guests, we have the honor of hosting Pale Night's emissaries! Servants of the illustrious planar mage John Bence, they come to us with the Moonlit Lady's contribution to our great goal, and a full day ahead of schedule! That means the portal is one day closer to completion! Soon, very soon, the Death Prince's armies will come marching into this world from the 113th layer, and the world will become our larder! To honor them, we have a special bout lined up tonight! A feast that all may partake in! For it is rare that such a luscious, sweet treat becomes available to us! I present to you an embodiment of everything that is pure and good! I'm sure it will taste delicious when our champions are done with it!"

A number of ghouls lead a equine form with chains around it's legs and a hood over it's head into the arena. The creature bucks and kicks, but mighty though it is it cannot shrug off the chains, which looked spiked and painful. The form is pure white except for the grime of the sewer, but even besmirched there is a gravity about the creature that causes the crowd to go silent in awe. "No worries, folks, those chains stop the beast from escaping, either physically or mystically. As long as they hold our dinner is bound. But not quite helpless! Do we have any volunteer chefs who will prepare the meal for all of us hungry, hungry folk?" It is at this point that a ghoul roughly removes the bag from the creature's head, revealing a pearlescent horn that emanates an internal light. These creatures intend to maim, kill, and butcher a unicorn, then serve it up like a spitted pig."

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), Bardic Inspiration (d8), Bless Concentrating: -- Mal was right - their position wasn't superior here and as they waited yet more of the tide would turn against them. With a roar that he hoped would be rallying he charges into the meatgrinder, hacking left and right to clear a path for the others. His armour was strong - and he was stronger. His axe sang, his blood howled, and he was at one with the fight, and dedicated to pulling everyone through this. Well, except the dark caster that had attached themselves to the group. Though their fireball was appreciated, Vargath wouldn't hesitate to throw them under the ghast if the opportunity arose.

Spoiler

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Move: Moving into the gap towards the other side of the ghouls, trying to avoid OAs as best he can.
Since I expect the enemies aren't prone anymore, we're using the bracers, attacking whomever seems most in his way to clearing a pass for people to push through.
Action: Attack (Strength, Advantage): (1d20+7)[27](1d20+7)[13] + [/roll]1d4[/roll] (Bless) Damage: (1d8+6)[8]+(1d6)[5] force Additional Crit Damage: 14 slashing, 5 force. Total: 22 slashing, 10 force.
Extra Attack (Humility, Disadvantage): (1d20+7)[21](1d20+7)[27] + [/roll]1d4[/roll] (Bless) Damage: (1d8+6)[12]+(1d6)[2] force

Bonus Action: None.

[Riggdgames]

Set Al-Sayyid Changeling Fighter/Hexblade AC: 17 HP: 35/41 (35/43) THP: 0/5 PP: 12 PIv: 13 PIs: 9 Conditions: Mal's Bless, Mal's Aid, Nome's Hero's Feast (immune to poison/frightened, Wis ST adv). Mad/Frightened/Quirk: Fascinated with binding and power over death. Concentration: Black blood gushes forth in the darkness, smearing Set's robes as the ghouls are cut apart one after another all around him. Sewage clings to his boots. Sweat stains his gloves. And as the corpses fall, finally free to die, more and more undead tumble down from the arena. More ghasts and ghouls stretch out their arms, hoping to drag Set into the muck. A wave crashes over him, unlike anything Set has ever felt before. Gentle, but insistent, it pushes him back from Selissa half a pace even as it sends ghouls hurtling away. Thoroughly confused, Set looks at Evergreen and the others, but is quickly forced to shield his eyes as the wizard's fireball rockets into the pack just beyond them. Of course, it was their new ally. His magics pushed the rot back so that he could assure everyone's safety before purging the undead with fire. Set had been raised to accept such water as was offered, but the man gave them a wave in the desert. Truly, the wizard was more powerful and a far better ally than Set had any right to expect. "Carve through and reform a wall on the other side to keep the wave of filth before us." The Mighty's roar punctuates Mal's cry, pulling Set forward without question. "Mido! With me!" Set calls back, hefting the glaive. "Through the gap, now!" Holding his left hand flat and punching it forward, Set quickly signals for a spear on his left lest his words not reach Mido over the crash of battle. Set charges after Vargath, veering slightly right where the half-orc split left to split a ghoul or three. Half choking on the stench of sizzling, rotted flesh, Set helps forge a path through the living dead. Spoiler: OOC Show Move: Moving forward into the gap, same as Vargath, but if there's enough open space for the two to split and hold the gap open on the far-side, that's what Set will try to do. He's also trying to maneuver Mido into the relative safety between Vargath and Set, but we'll see. Action: Attack: (1d20+6)[9] plus (1d4)[3] bless plus 7 from bardic inspiration Damage: (1d10+3)[7] slashing Bonus Action: Polearm Mastery BA Attack: (1d20+6)[16] plus (1d4)[4] bless Damage: (1d4+3)[6] bludgeoning Pre-emptive Reaction: If a ghoul approaches from outside 10 feet. Polearm Mastery Attack: (1d20+6)[21] plus (1d4)[1] bless Damage: (1d10+3)[12] slashing

[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 only hesitated for a fraction of a second before she burst into motion. Her silent steps carried her though the horde, eyes narrowed as she dashed past slavering once-men with agile grace. Before they could claw at her, she was past, flowing through like breeze through branches, before she skidded to a halt and turned to make sure the others had made it through. Spoiler: OOC Show Moving through the ghoul swarm. Action:dodge or dash, whichever is necessary. BA: Disengage to avoid any AoO as we sprint though the horde.

[purepolarpanzer]

As Vargath, Set, and Esai hack, stab, and hammer their way through the hoard of undead, hewing a path through the animate corpses, Selissa, Mal, and the dark wizard all rush the gap. As you proceed through the underbelly of the arena, more and more ghasts and ghouls leap down, including several on the wheeled boards from the earlier bout. One of them does not stick the landing, causing both it's ankles to snap like cord wood as it's board flies out from under it into the darkness. But now there are well into the double digits ghouls and ghasts, and with the magic of the student's bow spent they come rushing forward in a hoard of rotting flesh and bone claws.

The first to leap forward finds the point of Set's spear rammed through it's head. The Abydossian is disgusted that the necromantically infused dead man tries to rip the spear from his hand even as the tip protrudes through the back of it's skull with brain dripping from it. Set yanks it back with force however, just in time to meet the rush of undead. Four undead, a mixture of ghasts and ghouls, move in a wave, with the ghouls gripping at the melee heroes' shields and weapons while the ghasts lay in with savage bone claws. Mido intercepts one of these creatures before it can leap bodily onto Set, but the other claws at Set's exposed arm, drawing a bit of blood.

Esai is ignored, having no flesh to consume, and uses the opening to bodily hurl itself between Vargath and one of his would be assailants. But even Esai's bulk and Vargath's might cannot stave off the storm entirely. Two ghasts rake at him with claws, drawing blood, and both he and Set feel the rot of the ghouls reveling in their flesh. For his assistance, Mido is rewarded with a bite from a ghoul that causes his voice to rise to a high note and crack in pain.

The black wizard begins to move further back, towards a metal hatch set into the floor, but it turns to consider the mass of undead gathering before them. He reaches into his sleeve and draws out a prism, which he turns until beams of light shoot out at Vargath, Set, Esai, and himself. The light brightens to a blinding flash, and suddenly there are two copies of each of those targeted standing in a defensive line of imposing steel and lethal intent. "I can get this hatch open, but I'll need time! These emergency entrances are warded heavily. Open it before the arcane runes are decrypted and the whole thing explodes! Protect me, and I'll see you all safely to the underground. Fail... and... well, we'll all be ghoul food, so I won't hold it against you, but I will be rightly pissed!" He sets to work, waving his wand over glowing runes in the steel capped hatch and murmuring.

Spoiler: OOC

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Each of Vargath, Esai, and Set are currently under the effect of a two copy mirror image. Your enemies are not quite endless, but for all intents and purposes your job is to survive until the dark wizard can open the hatch. Ready, set, endure! Set takes 5 damage and must make a DC 10 con save, Vargath takes 14 (from two separate attacks) and must make two saves. Mido took damage, but it was just a nasty, rotten bite, so no save required for paralysis.

[Awful]

Selissa Betula Wood Elf Scout Rogue AC: 16 HP: 38/38->45/45 PP: 17 Conditions: heroic encouragement, Aid Concentrating: no The wood elf stood next to the dark wizard, nocking an ethereal silver arrow to her bow. The frontlines clashed, living against dead, in a flurry of claw, axe and spear. More undead boiled from the hole above, a tide of howling, hungry corpses. Set and Vargath could hold their own - must. She heard Mido scream, voice high and desperate like a wounded beast. He didn't have the benefit of the dark wizard's magic, was weak from his ordeal in the ghouls prison. Selissa picked her moment. Draw-breathe-release and the arrow flashed down into the melee. The ghoul that was doing its best to finish off what they'd started on Mido suddenly found an arrow sprouting like a deadly flower from its left eye. "Hurry, human," she hissed to the wizard. Spoiler: OOC Show 24 to hit, 23 magical pierce damage to the ghoul that's attacking Mido.

[Amnestic]

Vargath Hubrecht Half-Orc Rune Knight Fighter AC: 19 HP: 30/49 PP: 13 PIv: 12 PIs: 10 Conditions: Infected (Lycanthropy), Bardic Inspiration (d8), Bless Concentrating: -- They had a goal, at least in the short term. With renewed focus Vargath continues to swing his axe this way and that, hoping that they can hold out - and perhaps weaken the wizard along the way. He positions himself as best he can to be in the way of his allies, but any chance of him growing large in this encounter was unlikely - they needed to make their escape down a hatch, and it was unlikely his engorged form would fit. Every swing of his axe seeks to carve more and more of the ghouls through. Perhaps, here in their defensive posture, they could hold out...and clear them all. It wasn't their goal, immediate or otherwise, but every one beheaded was one fewer to prey on innocents in the future.

Spoiler

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Bonus Action: Second Wind. Healed for 6 (discord) bringing him up to 30/49.
Move: To block the wizard from being attacked by any of the paralyzing guys, if Vargath can make such a distinction. Non-paralyzing attacks he's fine with letting through...
Action: Attack: (1d20+7)[21] + (1d4)[4] (Bless) Damage: (1d8+6)[10]
Extra Attack: (1d20+7)[19] + (1d4)[3] (Bless) (Bless) Damage: (1d8+6)[13]

[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 - 3/4 2nd - 0/3 3rd - 1/2 Fey Touched: 1st - 0/1 2nd - 0/1 Masquerade Tattoo: 1st - 1/1 Levistus Legacy: Armor of Agathys - 0/1 Darkness - 1/1 Bardic Inspiration: 0/4 Healer's Kit: 20/20 Mal Conditions: Comprehend Languages. Disguise Self. 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: Bless. 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 raised his hand and loosed a blast of Levistian contempt for the unliving. The bolt caught a ghast in the chest. Esai, however, had his blow come down on air as Selissa's arrow jarred his target out of the line of his attack. The warrior kept his shield high, pressing to make himself a wall for the more desirable among the party. The militant scholar called over the din to the robed wizard, "Would the hatch unseal swifter with assistance?" The stench and the spittle make the tiefling's skin crawl. He wanted nothing more than to sink into a hot bath and hear Nomcebo sing. Instead, he had to keep his wit's focused on filth and frothing ghasts--the gory remains of undigested living. He'd almost make a deal with Levistus himself in this moment to make the prospects of Darakhul decadence disappear from his sight. For now, the mage had to settle with ushering necromantically charged fools into the dark lord's presence one by one.

Spoiler: OOC

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Mal Ray of Frost: 16 to hit, 13 frost to a ghast. (Discord)
BA Esai attack: 7 to hit, whiff. (discord).
Esai: Preemptive reaction to Warrior's Protection a nearby ally or OA if a foe seeks to bypass him for the back line.
Mal: OA if someone seeks to pass him (unlikely) or flee (unlikier)

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.

Unknown Egg. Vargath has an egg that might be a moon drake, recovered from an oven in the Iron Ghoul territory of the sewers of Harumvale.

Imperium has a unicorn sourced for arena consumption.

Spoiler: Bence's After Shadow

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Confirmation that the ritual and journal at Bence's Cabin had merit: "Meanwhile, the remains of the prisoners are dragged away by the victors, no doubt for a victory meal. A magically amplified voice begins speaking in the language of the ghoul empire, which Mal's magic translates precisely. "Ghouls, ghasts, darakhul, and mortal guests, we have the honor of hosting Pale Night's emissaries! Servants of the illustrious planar mage John Bence, they come to us with the Moonlit Lady's contribution to our great goal, and a full day ahead of schedule! That means the portal is one day closer to completion! Soon, very soon, the Death Prince's armies will come marching into this world from the 113th layer, and the world will become our larder! To honor them, we have a special bout lined up tonight! A feast that all may partake in! For it is rare that such a luscious, sweet treat becomes available to us! I present to you an embodiment of everything that is pure and good! I'm sure it will taste delicious when our champions are done with it!"

A number of ghouls lead a equine form with chains around it's legs and a hood over it's head into the arena. The creature bucks and kicks, but mighty though it is it cannot shrug off the chains, which looked spiked and painful. The form is pure white except for the grime of the sewer, but even besmirched there is a gravity about the creature that causes the crowd to go silent in awe. "No worries, folks, those chains stop the beast from escaping, either physically or mystically. As long as they hold our dinner is bound. But not quite helpless! Do we have any volunteer chefs who will prepare the meal for all of us hungry, hungry folk?" It is at this point that a ghoul roughly removes the bag from the creature's head, revealing a pearlescent horn that emanates an internal light. These creatures intend to maim, kill, and butcher a unicorn, then serve it up like a spitted pig."

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.

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