Mysteries of Mystara 012

After finishing up with the Twilight Grove, the group heads back to the surface and deals with the fairies and soldier/geese. Finally, they get on their way back to Novaci and eventually arrive at their destination, the Keep. The on-going GURPS saga of five unlikely companions attempting to unravel the mysteries of Mystara.

Mysteries of Mystara 004

After more searching the curse of the banshee's tower is finally laid to rest. Also some strange geese and mischievous Fey. The on-going GURPS saga of five unlikely companions attempting to unravel the mysteries of Mystara.

Mysteries of Mystara 003

Mysteries of Mystara
Session 003

Rest Easy, Child

211009

The group woke at dawn to prepare for the day though Panya, the strange monk, had been up since midnight reciting litanies, performing katas, burning incense, and meditating. When she finally finished, the group headed back to Old Lord Stelenov's tower to confer one last time with the Traladaran Priest, Father Berabellus. Dak excused himself to run another errand but promised to meet up with the group later. 

Father Berabellus

The cleric once again thanked the group for tackling the problem of the haunted keep nearby. As promised, he was able to pull together some items that might help against the incorporeal undead that had been discovered. A scroll containing an old spell that, once cast, enables the target of the spell to directly and physically interact with spiritual entities was given to the party in addition to several vessels of holy water. Finally, the priest blessed the gathered adventurers in hopes of protecting them in their upcoming exploits. 

Ilya the Red

Cass of the Gray Company

The group then meets up with their two hired mercenaries, Cass and Lev, members of the Gray Company, a renown group of hired soldiers and guards. The mercenaries then introduce the group to their mage associate, a young Traladaran woman with red hair wearing orange robes called Ilya the Red. Panya and Ilya stare at each other with wide eyes and mutter, "You?" at the same time. Clearly both know each other from a previous incident involving pushing someone off a mountain, though neither seem interested in elaborating. 

They take the "Old Road" back to the keep, hearing the mournful wail for the last mile of a several hour hike. Malachai seems to struggle with the hike and Panya once again feels the chilling effect of the howling. Finally, the keep is approached and just before entering, Lucky casts a spell to help Panya overcome her fear. 

The enormous death vulture is perched atop the defeated willowhaunt tree and the remains of the deaf thief are nothing but cleanly picked bones. Malachai once again engages the winged creature, but no real information is gained besides the vulture's desire to consume all of the adventurers. Talyn heads toward the door to the building just north of the entrance where Malachai and Dak each detected movement thought to be undead. Kicking the door open,he finds himself surrounded by sword-wielding skeletons and a wight blowing on a set of darkly enchanted panpipes.

The wight

The rest of the group quickly moves to engage with the undead, though somehow, Talyn gets isolated inside the building battling the wiley wight while the rest of the group trades blows with the skeletons in the courtyard. After a gruelling battle of back and forth, the undead are finally vanquished. Malachai, intrigued by the panpipes, moves to inspect them and feels a dark energy emanating from them and into himself. Suddenly he realizes that the light shining in from outside is painfully bright and he has to shield his eyes. Ilya, the mage, offers to analyze the magic of the pipes, though states that it will take her at least an hour to do so. Malachai agrees and moves to pass the pipes to her, then changes his mind and holds on to them himself.

While resting, Panya grills Ilya on why she did not help fight the skeletons, noting that she stayed behind Dak for the duration of the conflict. The mage in the orange robes replies by stating that she is not a combat mage or adventurer, but does have many magics that could be useful out of combat. The two seem to be at odds, but Panya tries awkwardly to bridge the gap peacefully. Cass and Lev stay out of it, just watching how the group of novice adventurers work together. Lev was quite battered during the battle and receives some healing in the form of potions and spells. Lev points out that adventuring is much different and dangerous than mercenary work. From the shadows of the skeleton-inhabited barracks, Malachai coolly informs the mercenaries that if they were to turn on the group there would be consequences. The mercenaries proclaim the honor of the Gray Company and pledge to uphold their end of the contract.

After patching up and resting for a bit, the group makes their way into the next outbuilding by squeezing through a narrow crack in the wall that might have once been a window. As Panya and Talyn make their way into the darkness of the next area, a growling can be heard from a dark corner. Malachai follows them in, and hearing the growling sounds, bravely steps forward to discover a dog-like creature with stripes of blue, glowing fur. Malachai looks and says, "Its a blink dog. I don't think it's aggressive."

The mercenary Cass calls from outside, "We'll stand out here. A blink dog? What's that?" Malachai cautiously approaches and explains they are magical creatures, typically of a good nature but shy around strangers. It growls some more and Talyn fishes some food out of  his pack, tossing some dried meat to the animal. It takes the food and quickly starts eating it. Malachai suggests leaving the beast alone as it is not a threat. The group makes their way back out of the crumbling building.

Heading back to the main tower, the group moves around to the kitchen area and the trap door leading below ground. More of the brown, metal-rusting spider webs have been strung about this area, though not as many as before, are easily cleared away by waving a stick around. The group follows their glowing warrior back down the narrow stairs. Once again at a crossroads, the group decides to head to the left this time. Finding the door secured, Lucky attempts to open the lock using the thieves tools he had recently picked up. Sadly he is not yet skilled in that art and finds himself unsuccessful. Talyn proceeds to bash it in with his found crowbar. After several mighty swings, the door is in shambles and the group is greeted by a foul, damp smell. Moving in, Talyn finds himself in a small cramped storeroom. A pool of murky brown water dominates the leftmost half of this room while hogsheads filled with moldy ale stand against the curved northern wall. Looking up, it is seen that the ceiling above is damaged and seems to line up with the broken floor at the base of the tower stairs. Falling through would have deposited Talyn into this stinking pool of brown water. Hoping to find more treasure or clues as to what is going on here, Talyn begins smashing barrels open, only to find dark, sticky liquids inside.

Finding nothing, the group proceeds to the next unopened door. Lucky again tries to pick it, but fails, so Talyn uses the crowbar to bash the door in easily. The path passes through a rough stone area into a room lined with flagstones. A crumbling table and chairs dominates the center of this strange underground conference room. While exploring the dark corners of the room, Talyn triggers a bit of a rockslide as the floor and walls crumble and fall away. He is just able to dive away to avoid falling down into a darkened pit below. The group moves on into another rough stone passage and finds a doorway off to the left. Lucky and Talyn check the door out and both find it difficult to open. It seems there has been some settling and the rock above the door frame has moved down to block it. Talyn swings away until it is opened, revealing a dark, curving stone passage that follows some steps downward.

The group opts to remain on the current level before delving any deeper and takes another passage out of the room. As they move into another worked stone corridor, they are accosted by a suddenly manifesting massive skull bathed in purplish flames. It croaks in a low, unearthly voice, "Go away!" then suddenly vanishes.

Flaming purple skull

Ilya the Red shrieks "Ahh. That was scary!" and moves back behind Lev. 

The rest of the group, undaunted by the warning, continues forward to find what looks like the beginning of a dungeon block. Several ironbound, locked doors line the hallway. Small metal panels in the bottom of each door allows a peek in if the observer does not mind lying prone and forcing a light through the opening. Several of the chambers appear empty though some are “occupied.” One chamber has some human remains as well as another shadow guardian that reaches out and caresses Talyn’s face, sapping his strength before he can roll away and shut the panel. Panya also encounters a shadow that claims to be the lord of the keep and proclaims, “Come for me, have you? No need! I sent myself to my own watery grave!” Panya is able to nimbly roll away before being touched by his shadowy, grasping hand. Panya looks puzzled, "How would a ghost go to a watery grave from a locked prison cell?"

Ilya responds, "Sometimes a spirit does not manifest where it passed. There is a reason it is here though."

The group quickly moves out of this area and continues through the dungeon, finally entering what appears to be a torture room. As he enters, Talyn notices that his celestial nimbus dims and the torches some of his companions bear also seem to shed only half their normal light. He then hears quiet whispers coming from some manacles bolted to the far wall. The far end of the room seems to have suffered a bit of a cave-in and it is quickly deduced that it was caused by Talyn’s earlier search in the conference room. Thoroughly creeped out by this area, the group continues on. The exit passage leads around and up some stairs, connecting with the door that was hampered by the settling rock, making something of a circle. Malachai groans. "Human architecture makes NO sense."

Finally the group gets into a discussion about the source of the wail and Ilya the Red says that despite the presence of spiritual activity in the basement, the source of the wail needs to be dealt with, and its source seems to be from the upper floors of the tower, so the group heads back to the surface to climb the upper floors of the Mourning Lady’s Keep. 

Carefully bypassing the broken floor at the base of the stairs, the party climbs to the second floor of the keep. The second floor room at the top of the stairs contains nothing but some scraps of destroyed furniture. The mournful keening can be heard coming from behind the door to the next chamber. The stone stairs continue up to what used to be the third floor, but the unfiltered light of the sun shining down indicates that there is not much left up there. Malachai curses quietly and shields his face from the intense light and asks Lucky to read the incantation on the scroll to imbue his weapon with the ability to interact with the banshee if it comes to blows.

The Mourning Lady

Peeling paintings of unicorns and fairies cover the walls of this once lovely room. A gaping hole in the roof permits natural light. The wooden floor is heavily water damaged and covered in many long, dark fingernail scratches. A sobbing and moaning phantom of a woman crouches in the northernmost corner of the room. A badly weather damaged painting hangs on the wall behind her. It seems to depict two girls playing by the willow tree in the courtyard. She wears an incorporeal crown of white flowers on her head and clutches the tattered remains of two little girl dolls. She paces then turns to face you, “Why? Why did you do this!” she screams at you.

Talyn calls back, “Do what?”

His only reply is an increase in the wailing sound and her crying, “By babies, my babies!”

Immediately, the group begins to question her about her babies and how they can help though the banshee seems to not really follow their line of questioning. Malachai looks at the painting and ponders, "The bones. the bones by the tree illusion."

"Where are my babies? They need to go to bed. It is much too late." She moans loudly and a wave of intense cold hits both Talyn and Panya. Seeing this as an attack, Talyn charges, swinging the Mace of St. Yuric at the phantom. She glides away but the holy weapon strikes her, "Oh nooooooo!" she cries. 

The phantom of the woman does not really even seem to pay attention as the group moves to attack. She floats across the room and gazes out the window. Dak asks, "So we're fighting this thing?" Malachai frowns, observing her behavior. Numerous attacks on her seem to have very little effect on the ghostly apparition as she floats from one side of the room to the other, moaning and gazing out various windows. Talyn’s assaults as well as Dak’s magical attacks seem to do the most good. Panya finds that using the holy water seems to help, though she is not quite sure she wants to attack the phantom anymore.

Panya cries out, “Could we find another way? She seemed beyond comprehending us!”

"I can try to repel her, but she does not seem to be attacking us," Ilya responds. 

Malachai begins playing his panpipes to try to negate the banshee’s wail, which works quite well and keeps her from more damaging wails. The battle ranges back and forth across the room with many ineffective attacks against the banshee and her seemingly unaware of the attacks. After a few moments, it is decided to retreat out of her chamber and regroup. She does not pursue while the group heads back out to the courtyard. It is decided that they must find and recover the remains of the Lady’s children, which just might be found near the willow. 

While the search for the children’s bones begins, Malachai goes in search of the blink dog in an attempt to get more help. Ilya says she may be able to find the bones via her magic, but states that it may be difficult as she does not have much connection or knowledge of them. She is encouraged to try but she is unsuccessful and cannot attempt the same spell until a week has passed. Everyone else starts physically searching the courtyard near the tree. The ground is a thick mat of dirt, debris, and leaves from years or being undended.

Meanwhile, Malachai finds the blink dog watching from near the outbuildings. He approaches in an unthreatening manner and casts a spell to be able to speak with the fey animal. The wild defender crouches and speaks to the blink dog, "Little one, how long have you been here?"

The blink dog replies happily, "Hello, my name is Lesaro. Are you here to help the sad lady?"

"We are,” Malachai replies. “She's sad because she wants to find her children. You, knower of bones, have you seen the bones of human children?"

Lesaro yips happily, "I have been here for a while. I am glad you destroyed those undead and that tree. The Vulture still scares me though,” it says, glancing up to the upper reaches of the nearby tower. "As for the children’s remains, they may be in the yard, but beware, sometimes the children return to the yard. They are scary. I have seen them play around the tree."

Lesaro the Blink Dog

Malachai flashes a concerned gaze to the tree. "When do they come back? When the sun falls?" Malachai asks.

“Yes, mostly yes, at night. They are SCARY," Lesaro explains, quivering in fear as he speaks.

Malachai nods and says, "I see,” he smiles warmly. “Thank you, friend. We will not harm you, and we will do our best to help the sad lady." Just then, Malachai recalls something from his journey to Veseya and gasps. "Lesaro...! You-!" He quickly reaches into his pack for the token he was to give.

Seeing the wooden feather token, Lesaro jumps up and down a few times, then suddenly teleports around Malachai several times in little blue flashes. "Thank you for the message from Robin Graywing. By the way, I can understand Sylvan if you can speak it, I just can't speak it myself." Malachai nods at this, confirming that he can in fact, speak Sylvan. Lesaro seems interested in helping the party in their quest to ease the suffering of the Lady of the Tower and agrees to help find the remains of her children. Malachai relates what he has learned from their new blink dog ally.

With Lesaro’s help, the remains of the children are located and dug up. They are taken up to the second floor of the tower and presented to the banshee. Upon seeing her dead children, she breaks out sobbing uncontrollably again and flies into a wild rage. Quickly, Lucky plays a song and enacts a magical spell to silence her. She rages across the room and does not seem to want to see the dead bodies of her babies. Quickly the group retreats back outside, Malachai sticking to the shadows and keeping out of direct sunlight as best he can. 

After some deliberation, it is determined that the remains should be buried somewhere. Talyn thinks it is a bad idea to bury them on the ground of the keep with so much undead activity around they could reanimate. Lucky says that most Traladaran nobles would have a nearby family plot or graveyard. The group spends the next several hours searching the nearby forest until they finally find a small and weather-beaten cemetery. Malachai uses his magic to shape the earth into a grave for the two long-dead children. Talyn says some words and attempts to recreate some funeral services he has witnessed before, though it is quite evident that he did not quite get it right. Lucky changes some words and phrases to a traditional Traladaran mourning poem as the final bits of soil are moved on top of the grave.

In the distance, the wailing moan of the banshee continues.

Session Pics

Session Notes

Missing a player again tonight (we miss you, Ben, come back!) the group followed through on their plans anyway. More exploring, making a new friend, battling a foe that did not seem interested in battling back.

Cast of Characters:

Malachai, Faetouched, Wilderness Defender - played by JeCorey H
Talyn Dilectus Vanyilam, teenage Celestial warrior on the run - played by Don K
Dak, a Makai islander fluid mage - played by Ben L
Panya Masika, a bronze skinned Nithian monke stranded out of time - played by Carol C
Vlajic Savago, the Lucky Savage, a Traladaran bard - played by Dan E

and GMJasonGURPS as the DM

Mysteries of Mystara 002T

Mysteries of Mystara
Session 002

From Talyn's Point of View

2109613

Having passed the night in Novaci, unfortunately there was bad news in the morning. The main road had been blocked by a landslide and it would take days, maybe weeks to clear and repair the road. Fortunately there was an old road that while not a straight shot did loop around and reconnect to the main road.

After some discussion the caravan decided to follow the old road. After a few hours' travel an eerie noise was heard that spooked the horses. It was decided that Talyn, Panya, Lucky, Malachai, and Dak would scout ahead and see what was going on. 

After traveling towards the noise we discovered an abandoned, ruined keep. Easily entering the ruins from the "front door", even though there was no door. We quickly made our way over to the tower and entered. In the main chamber of the tower there were some stairs that I attempted to climb, but accidently broke through the rotting boards. Deciding to explore the rest of the tower before attempting the dangerous climb the group went through a door. 

Finding themselves in a kitchen with some metal corroding cobwebs that Malachai eventually cleared we opened a trap door into a basement area. Curiosity compelling us to descend into the darkness. Once down the stone stairs we found ourselves in a corridor and decided to open the first door on the right. After some attempt to see if any traps were left we managed to get the door open into a storeroom. 

Confidently entering the room to search for clues or other hidden things we were attacked by shadow monsters. Our weapons were mostly ineffective, but the torches and perseverance won the day. After a search of the room where some coins were found, we decided to fall back, regroup, and see if we could find any resources to deal with the shadows back in town.

On your way out, as we trooped back through the kitchen I once again saw a glint of something shining. With no hesitation I pulled the shining thing out of the pile of debris and discovered a magical mace. Panaya almost immediately asked to see the mace and we discovered that she had been searching for it for the monastery up the hill from Novaci.

We then moved out into the courtyard through the back door when Malachai approached the Willow in the courtyard and we discovered that it was an undead tree. Which of course promptly attacked Malachai. We immediately sprung into action and after a few exchange of blows the tree was felled, but not before the vile thing whispered foul things about Malachai. I mean really what did the fae do before joining us?

There was then a lively discussion about what to do with the dead body behind the tree, apparently the man was a thief. I just couldn't understand why Panya wanted to bury the guy, I mean what benefit to us was that? Meanwhile Malachai wanted to leave the body to nature. There was a giant vulture that he seemed to be talking to and I think he wanted to leave it to the bird. I wonder if he is going to try and convince the vulture to become his familiar? Anyway a compromise was reached in that we would leave the body for now and then bury the remains when we come back. Note to self bring a shovel. We then made our way back to town and decided to visit the village priest up at the Lord's keep. At the keep we were stopped and questioned by some mercenaries working for the lord of the keep. After explaining our business, I was then let in to see the priest and we had a discussion about the old keep, the old lords, and the probable ghost there. The priest then said he would provide some items to help, and we could pick them up in the morning.

As we exited the keep I realized there was an opportunity before us and inquired if the mercenaries were for hire or knew someone who was. To my surprise this sparked a round of argument among my companions as some of them did not see the wisdom in hiring mercenaries. I pushed ahead anyway and came to an agreed price for 1 day service from the mercenaries. Amazingly Panya agreed to help defray the cost.

In the morning we plan on heading back to the old keep with the newly hired mercenaries and the items that the priest provides. Better equipped, with more swords, and more information. I am confident that we can overcome this challenge.

Written by Don K.

Session Notes

This was an In Character report from our last session (not posted yet, not done putting it together). Talyn is a young and naïve Celestial that has recently escaped from the Cult of Vanya. He was being trained as a holy avenger but chaffed under the strict training and dogma. Now out wandering the world, the young, glowing warrior tries to fit in with a strange and eclectic group of companions, but has no real skill to do so.

Cast of Characters:

Dak, a Makai islander fluid mage - played by Ben L

Malachai, Faetouched, Wilderness Defender - played by JeCorey H
Panya Masika, a bronze skinned Nithian monke stranded out of time - played by Carol C 

Talyn Dilectus Vanyilam, teenage Celestial warrior on the run - played by Don K
Panya Masika, a bronze skinned Nithian monke stranded out of time - played by Carol C
Vlajic Savago, the Lucky Savage, a Traladaran bard - played by Dan E

and GMJasonGURPS as the DM

Mysteries of Mystara 002

Mysteries of Mystara
Session 002

The Keep of the Mourning Lady

210911

Tsorvano’s caravan, with a small band of new adventurers acting as guards, arrived in Novaci late in the evening. After getting the caravan settled for the night, the five newly acquainted strangers all went their separate ways.

Malachai spent the evening roaming the lands around the small mountain village. He came across a curious owl that seemed to take an interest in him. The owl, which he named Pearl, seemed quite smart and almost seemed to understand when Malachai spoke to him. The Half-Faun was happy to see the owl following him around on his meanderings. He also came across a small shrine to Zirchev, one of the Traladaran Patrons known as the Huntsman and protector of the wild lands and its creatures. It was about a half mile from the village, in a very secluded grove of aspens, but seemed well tended, though he could not find whoever it was that did so.

Panya spent the evening up at St. Yuric’s monastery on the heights above Novaci. She was welcomed warmly and allowed to stay. The Abbot was not upset that she had yet to find the missing mace and told her that if she did, they would appreciate its return, but if she did not, they still appreciated her looking for it. 

Lucky decided to take the evening off from entertaining and just check out the quaint village. He wandered around and spoke to several people, learning a bit about the place, namely that it was a mining and timber village and that the Lord, Old Ivan Stelenov, was over 100 years old without an heir and hated most things. The Grey Company, a locally renown mercenary company was also employed by the Lord to supplement the Duke’s Men that patrolled from Castellan Keep to the north.

Talyn spent the evening in quiet contemplation going over all the new things he had learned about the local Traladaran religion, specifically about Halav, Petra, and Zirchev. He already knew much about the Church of Karameikos, as that was not much different from the Church of Thyatis, which revered many of the same Patron Immortals, including Vanya, whom he was very familiar with.

Dak, the mage from the southern islands, was still nursing a hangover from the night before in Bergoi, and went to bed early.

By noon the next day, the caravan was ready to set out on the final leg of its journey to Castellan Keep. Panya had rejoined the group from the monastery, and everything was good to go when the caravan was approached by a well dressed and important looking Hin. He introduced himself as Gren Ilenovich, the town’s constable and justice of the peace. He informs Tsorvano, who in turn informs everyone else, that the road to Castellan Keep is currently impassable due to a serious landslide and washout. He estimates it is going to take weeks of work to repair the road and at least several days to blaze a detour around the area. 

He tells of “The Old Road” which heads north west out of Novaci and loops around some nearby rises before rejoining the road to the Keep in the north. He says that it will add several hours to the trip, but should still get the caravan to its destination, albeit a bit later than expected. Happy to have an alternative route, Tsorvano confers with his security detail and everyone agrees that is a good option. 

The "Old Road"

The “Old Road” is definitely not as well maintained as the Keep Road but the caravan is able to make its way along it just fine, if not a bit slower than their usual pace. Ahead, in the distance, the outline of a ruined structure is spotted from time to time. Lucky learns from one of the locals that had joined the caravan that the structure is an old, ruined keep that is rumored to belong to the original rulers of the area, long before Old Lord Stelenov’s family came to power. After a few hours of climbing the “Old Road,” a strange, low keening can be heard. The caravan continues a bit farther and the sound turns into a sad, dirge-like wail. The caravan comes to a halt as the animals, drivers, and some newly added followers become frightened. The wail sinks into Panya’s bones, giving her a shiver as well. Most all of those that were following the caravan, a group traveling from Novaci to the Keep, decide they are going to walk back to town instead of continuing onward. 

The road appears to head up and pass by the old, ruined keep, and that also appears to be the source of the wailing. It is decided to go check out the keep and attempt to put a stop to the frightening sound. Tsorvano says it is best that he and the rest of the caravan wait on the road. After a bit more climbing, the group makes it to the keep, a crumbling and considerably overgrown thing that once may have been a nice little structure. The wailing sound is much louder now and clearly coming from the keep.

The tower itself, about 100 feet across, looks to have been at least 3 storeys tall, though its upper reaches are all crumbling and no sign of a roof can be seen. The rest of the compound appears to be made of several smaller out-buildings surrounded by a wall, also crumbling with many openings. 

The Tower

After a cursory bit of scouting around the outside of the structure, the group enters through a wide opening in the eastern wall, between two of the other structures. It appears that this may have once been the main gate entry to the small keep. Slowly and carefully the group begins to enter the overgrown and debris-filled courtyard, but Malachai stops the group when he hears a sound from the building to his right. Calling on his nature magic, he attempts to sense life beyond the crumbling stone wall. His spell tells him there are no living things in that area. “Undead,” he warns his companions.

Talyn continues on, across the courtyard to what appears to be the main entrance to the tower. The wooden door appears to be stuck, but with some effort, it is forced open. Entering the aged structure reveals a room with a stone spiral staircase circling the central pillar of the chamber. Talyn immediately goes for the stairs and finds that the floorboards at the base are rotted out. His feet crash through the weakened boards but he is able to fling himself to the side and avoids falling into the darkness below. 

Malachai moves around the outside edge of the room and spies a door leading further into the tower. He opens the door to find a kitchen area full of strange, brown spiderwebs. The webs appear to rust metal objects. Another door leads out of the kitchen and it is discovered that it opens back out onto the courtyard. A trapdoor can be seen further over in the floor of the kitchen.

Using an old broom and some scrounged sticks, the cobwebs are safely removed and the trapdoor is lifted, revealing a narrow and steep stone stairway leading into the earth. The group follows the bold and glowing Talyn down the steps, though Dak lights a torch to give a little more illumination. 

At the bottom of the steps, the group finds itself in a small cramped area with a dirt floor and cobbled stone walls. Three locked doors lead from this area, to the right, the left and straight ahead. Talyn chooses the door on the right. After some effort, the door is forced open and the party enters what appears to be an ancient storeroom. As the shadows from Talyn and the torch play along the walls, two shadows coalesce and attack the group. 

Deadly Shadows

A desperate battle rages but in the end, the shadows are vanquished by steel, spell, and flame. A quick search of the room reveals a moldy bag of coins stuffed behind a loose cobblestone at the base of the wall. Counting themselves lucky to have survived the battle with the incorporeal undead, the group decides to head back to the caravan to relay what they’ve found and regroup, possibly returning to Novaci to seek out some advice or more appropriate weapons for dealing with this type of threat.

As everyone comes up through the trapdoor back into the kitchen, Talyn notices something shiny in the far corner of the room poking out from under some cloth wrapping. He retrieves the item, which appears to be a finely wrought, golden mace. Immediately, Panya seems interested in the mace, calling it the Mace of St. Yuric. She says she has been seeking its location for some days after a thief stole it from the Monastery. Lucky nods, knowing full well the stories of St. Yuric, a Traladraran hero of old that is known for fighting off the Frost Giants and protecting his people. Panya claims the mace and carries it out of the tower with her, intent on returning it to its rightful place.

St. Yuric's Mace

The group heads out the near kitchen door and makes their way back across the courtyard, past a tall and wispy willow tree. Malachai detours when he sees a body lying against the base of the wall just past the tree. As he approaches, he starts to hear dark whispers implicating Talyn in dark conspiracies. Just then, one of the long, sinuous branches of the tree lashes out and strikes at him. As it attacks, everyone sees that the willow tree is just an illusion and a smaller, darker tree composed of bones of the fallen is what is truly attacking, an undead tree monstrosity.

The tree presses its attack, both physical and mental as it tries to pit the companions against each other through its dark whispers. Panya rushes in and attempts to climb the tree, though she is stopped and mentally stunned in the process. Eventually, the dead tree is felled and is a threat no more. The body beyond is pulled a safe distance away and examined. He has only been dead for a few days at most and clearly was bludgeoned to death by the tree. It appears to be the body of a rogue or adventurer based on his attire and gear. Panya believes that he must be the one that stole the mace from the Monastery. Talyn searches the rest of the area for more treasure but finds only broken bones.

At that point the group begins debating what to do with the body, Panya wants to bury it, Malachai believes it should be left to become one with the earth again. The rest of the group divides themselves with wanting to bury the man and wanting to move on and leave him there. The discussion is interrupted by a flapping and hissing sound from above. Looking up, a huge vulture-like bird can be seen perched on the highest levels of the tower.

Malachai uses his nature magic to speak to the bird. The bird, he finds out, wants to eat the body and has been watching it for a couple of days. He thanks Malachai for having it moved out into the open. It flaps down and lands nearby on the top of one of the out-buildings, continuing to hiss as the others still debate the corpse's fate. Talyn worries that burying it here will cause it to rise as an undead creature that will need to be dealt with later. 

The vulture also divulges information that the Keep is haunted by the “Mourning Lady” and she lives on the 2nd floor of the tower. For this information, Malachai promises the vulture he can have the body and works his hardest to convince Panya and Lucky of such a course of action. Finally he prevails by promising to bury the thief’s bones after the vulture has picked him over. Having settled that argument, the group heads back to the caravan waiting on the “Old Road.”

Tsorvano is happy to turn the caravan around and head back to Novaci, not willing to risk his people and shipment trying to pass a haunted keep. He supports the plan for the group to return the next day, prepared to deal with the “Mourning Lady.”

Once back in Novaci, some of the group head to Old Lord Ivan’s tower to seek out Father Berabellus, the local Traladaran clergyman. After dealing with some Gray Company mercenaries guarding the Lord’s tower, Talyn and Malachai are admitted inside, sans weapons. They speak to the priest and learn much of the history of the abandoned tower. He thanks them for looking into the unquiet dead there and pledges to find some tools to help in their quest if they return in the morning. 

Father Berabellus

Outside, Panya and Lucky converse with some of the mercenaries, which all seem to be a pleasant sort. They appreciate Lucky’s playing and when Talyn and Malachai come out, Talyn attempts to enlist some of their number as extra muscle for taking on the “Mourning Lady” the following day. Another debate quickly flares up among the companions regarding the hiring, and more importantly, paying the mercenaries. Finally, Lucky agrees to broker a deal but Talyn is left footing the bill for it, though Panya agrees to help him defray the cost. 

The question of returning the holy mace comes up, but it is decided to hold on to the mace for the time being as it would be a good tool to use in fighting whatever unholy creatures may inhabit the rest of the tower and its environs. So the group makes a plan, with mercenaries Cass and Lev in tow, to meet again with Father Berabellus first thing, then head back to the haunted keep to deal with whatever undead threats still lie there. With that, everyone turns in for the evening. 

Session Pics

Talyn finds some weakened floorboards

Shadows Attack

A Dark and Deadly Tree

The Tower Grounds

Session Notes

2nd session of our brand new campaign. Still playing remotely, but hopefully soon we'll make it back to the table! This session went smoothly, shared lots of images, used lots of helpful macros on Roll20. I believe all had a good time. We were short one player, sadly, hopefully we'll have the full crew back for session 3!

Cast of Characters:

Malachai, Faetouched, Wilderness Defender - played by JeCorey H
Talyn Dilectus Vanyilam, teenage Celestial warrior on the run - played by Don K
Dak, a Makai islander fluid mage - played by Ben L
Panya Masika, a bronze skinned Nithian monke stranded out of time - played by Carol C
Vlajic Savago, the Lucky Savage, a Traladaran bard - played by Dan E

and GMJasonGURPS as the DM

Wandered Roads 42

Wandered Roads of Varisia
Session 42
month day, year

Campaign Timeline

Securing the Area

Starday 6th Neth

Where Is That Elf Off To Again?

Daellin finds himself, once again, in a location different than that of the rest of his companions. After taking a second to get his bearings, he sees that he is standing in a gold paneled alcove at the end of a large, lavish chamber. The domed ceiling is frescoed with an image of a starry night sky while a thick rug of exquisite manufacture covers much of the floor. Two black benches carved in the likeness of coiling serpents line the nearby walls. Another golden alcove lies to the north. There appears to be a passage leading out to the south of the chamber and across the far end of the room is a hallway with stairs leading up and out of sight.  

More Sinspawn

More importantly, two armed figures stand near each exit from the room. They appear to be the Sinspawn, creatures that were previously battled in the ruins underneath Sandpoint. These Sinspawn are wearing heavy leather armor and carry long polearms. They immediately see the newly arrived Elf and ready their weapons.

With a wry smirk creeping slowly across his face Daellin rolls his eyes in feigned surprise.  "Of course this side would be have to guarded, and by four of these fiends no less" he mutters under his breath.  "I really do need to talk to my companions about these predicaments they keep getting me into.  Sooner or later someone is bound to get hurt.  I can't always be there to protect Ehlyna and the others if duty keeps pulling me forward."

Pretending to notice the guards for the first time Daellin grabs the edges of his cloak and flourishes them dismissively as he offers the guards a curt bow.   Not giving the guards any time to react he steps forward and summons his most arrogant demeanor.  "You there!  Where are the refreshments?  Have you not been instructed to have the kitchen at my full disposal?  What sort of hospitality is this?  Heads will certainly roll if our master hears of this!"

As Daellin is putting on his best spoiled lord imitation (thankfully not much acting required there) he is trying to position himself for slipping around the guards position.

One of the creatures from the far end of the hallway yells something to Daellin in a language he cannot understand, probably ancient Thassalonian. One guard from each position begins to advance slowly, their long pole arms ready to attack. As they approach, Daellin notices some differences between these Sinspawn and the ones previously encountered. These look the same in the arms, legs and head area, but their torsos are different. Even through their heavy leather armor, Daellin can see they shaped like voluptuous, large breasted women.

The nearest advancing guard will be in range to attack within a few seconds though it will take the other one longer to close the distance. The remaining two guards each take up a position in the middle of the exit they are guarding.

The creatures ignore all of Daellin’s attempts at trickery and diplomacy and eventually make it to attack range. Not wanting to risk another combat away from his companions, Daellin quickly casts a spell and teleports himself back to the room he had just been in. His friends were still there, waiting for him to return.

A Sweet Discovery

With Daellin safely back, the party heads back to find Ehlyna and Samad and tell them what they had discovered. When they pass back through the bathing chamber, Vexeron notices a secret door that had not been previously discovered. “Well I say, I do remember casting my See Secrets spell AFTER we came through this room earlier. Good show, chaps. Let’s see where this leads!” he announces in his familiar thick accent.

It is decided that they should retrieve Ehlyna before exploring further and the Dwarf is called from her post in the next chamber. Eager to be done with guard duty, Ehlyna leads the way through the secret door even before Calina and Daellin get through checking it for traps!

The Heroes follow an ancient and seemingly undisturbed hallway around several turns until it ends at a set of double doors. A sweet, perfumed scent can be detected in the air. Daellin and Calina begin checking out the doors and when it is deemed safe, Ehlyna kicks them open. Just as Ehlyna does so, Vexeron notices another secret door just behind the party, directly opposite of the doors Ehlyna just kicked.

The liquid filled orb is quite desirable.

The air in this room is thick with the scent of expensive perfumes. Dozens of delicate crystal jars and vials are displayed on pedestals of polished pink marble along the walls. A glass orb that swims with liquid amber light hangs from the ceiling above on a delicate golden chain. As several of the Heroes enter the room, they are suddenly overcome by the intoxicating cloud of perfumes, causing quite a bit of confusion. Kallin begins looking at his hands and laughing while Vexeron smashes his own foot with the butt of his staff while Daellin and Ehlyna both try to reach the hanging globe. Ehlyna tries to use Daellin as a climbing post but as she does this, Daellin attempts to use her advance to position himself closer to the orb by using a Blink Spell but something goes terribly wrong and Ehlyna finds herself unexpectedly hanging in midair right in front of the glowing amber orb. She grabs for it, causing it to explode, which in turn causes several other vials in the room to explode as well. Glass and dangerous fumes fill the room as the Dwarf crashes back to the ground, landing squarely on top of a confused Daellin. The noxious fumes begin to cause everyone in the room to cough and choke while several of them are still confused by the overpowering perfumes. Eventually the room is cleared and the doors are slammed shut, keeping the toxic gas contained.

A Darker Discovery

After some healing and poison recovery, the party turns their attention to the newly discovered secret door. The usual precautions are taken and the door is opened to reveal a dark and secret shrine of some sort. This black marble-walled chamber’s ceiling is lost in a layer of shimmering black fog, while a long golden rug runs down the center of the room on the floor. A rectangular block of polished stone, black with blood red streaks, sits at the far end of the rug. Several objects sit atop the stone, and Daellin and Vexeron can tell that some of the are magical from the doorway. The air is filled with a strange, nagging hum and the thick scent of cinnamon. The wall beyond the stone altar is decorated with a mural of a voluptuous demonic woman with bat wings, a serrated tail, legs of molten stone and a crown of seven horns. Both of her hands are held out to her sides, palms turned upward toward the ceiling. A globe of blackness hovers above each palm.

a dark altar

Fearing some dark magical trap, the heroes forgo entering the chamber but instead send in Bob, a warrior/ butler created with Vexeron’s magic. The knife wielding butler enters the chamber and approaches the altar. In turn, he retrieves the items off the altar and brings them to the party waiting eagerly in the hallway. The gathered treasure consist of a 7-pointed unholy symbol made of onyx and pearl similar to the headdress worn by the demon in the mural, a blood stained golden goblet, a blood crusted and curved magical knife, a magical incense burner that emits the smell of cinnamon, a case with several hunks of magical incense and a silver scroll case containing a magical scroll.

The Heroes decide to head back to check in on Samad and the prisoners before doing any more exploring and find their companion doing just fine. They tell him about the encounters they have had and that they plan to do some exploring in the natural caverns outside the Grey Maiden’s base before using the teleporter again.

Several of the Maidens have made a case to be set free, they have promised that they are no longer associated with the current goals of the Grey Maidens and want no part in the events going on. They give up what other information they know and pledge to do no ill will toward the party. The members of the party consider it and release 4 of the Maidens who make themselves useful around the camp while the others rest.

Shadow dogs attack!

While the group is resting and Vexeron is analyzing some magic items, Dallin leads Samad off to show him the areas they had previously explored and they return to the exploding perfume room and each take several vials of fragrant ointments without setting off further traps. Daellin then shows Samad the dark altar room and when they enter the room to get a closer look, two huge dog like beasts form in the mist and descend to attack. The shadow dog’s sorrowful howl stuns Samad and Daellin is able to remove his friend before anything bad happens. The doors are closed and the shadow beasts do not pursue. They return to the rest of the party and decide that resting is a good thing.

Sunday 7th of Neth

Don’t Be Such a Hag

flooded tunnels

At the behest of the recently freed Maidens, the Heroes of Sandpoint set out to explore the natural caverns on the entry beach, looking for one of the Maidens that had been led that way by “Sorshen” but never returned. They follow the caverns, which twist around and often end in submerged passages. In one such watery chamber they encounter a tiny fiendish beast that throws water bolts at the party before fleeing into deeper, darker water. Not wanting to engage such a foe in its natural environment, they press on and bypass the submerged chambers until they come out to a small underground lake with a rocky island in the middle.

A single stone post extends from the middle of the island while watery tunnels lead east and west. A naked woman with a scarred face is bound to the post by lengths of dark seaweed. She is covered in fresh wounds and the rock below her is stained with blood. Standing over her and poking her with the butt end of a long spear is a hideous hunchbacked woman with wet, green skin, dripping white hair and bulging orange eyes. Several strange creatures caper and dance at her feet, the same wolf-headed, lobster-clawed beasts that were encountered in the other watery rooms.

When the Hag sees the party on the narrow beach, she cackles with joy and cries out, “Oh no! New playmates here for Daefu to toy with! Sorshen is good to Daefu! Sorshen loves Daefu as Daefu loves her! One? Two? Three? How many more playmates come to Daefu? More sweet, pink flesh to poke and prod, more mouths to sing songs of agony, all because Daefu is loved by Sorshen. She sent you to me, yes? Who wants the first kiss from Daefu? Be patient, new flesh, all will get a turn!”

The Heroes face off with Daefu the Hag

As she cackles and everyone fully takes in her hideous appearance, several members of the party feel their strength sapped from them. The evil Hag then stares at Kallin, cursing him with her Evil Eye. She sends her little gremlins forward to attack while several of the party members engage her on the island. The battle is fierce and Daefu holds her own for some time before falling to the combined might of the Heroes of Sandpoint. The Hag attempts to flee underwater but Daelin takes a deep breath and flies under the water and stops her.

As everyone recovers on the beach, Daellin swims beneath the water and drags back her treasure that had been hidden away in an underwater cave. The treasure consisted of several magical healing potions and a bag of assorted gems, two of which look to be magical in nature as well as her enchanted long spear and a magical necklace she had been wearing made of the bones of dangerous looking sea creatures. The Heroes of Sandpoint then drag themselves back toward their current base of operations to regroup and rest again after such a taxing encounter. Kallin hopes to use some of this time to meditate and contemplate on his recent actions since he seems to have overstepped his boundary with his goddess, Pharasma during the battle with the Hag.

Session Notes

This session saw the departure of an old friend and the re-acquaintence of a different old friend! Greg has unexpectedly had to leave the group but we recently reconnected with an old member of the group, Don, who stepped in and took the reins of Greg's character, the wizard Vexeron.

Session Photos

Daellin and Samad flee from the shadow mastiffs

Hag battle from above

Evil Eye point of view

The Hag, Daefu!

Characters Present:

Kallin Hawkril, Half-Orc shaman and budding Priest of Pharasma - played by +Daniel Ernst
Calina - Varisian Human archer and scout - played by +Carol Coburn
Daellin Silvanthalas, Elven Farstrider Ranger - played by +Ben Lipe
Vexeron, Human wizard - played by Donald K
Ehlyna Fuzziface - Dwarven Warrior - played by +Jodi H
Samad Aldhul, Human ex-mercenary - played by +JeCorey Holder

and +Jason Woollard as the DM