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  1. Journals

Grave of a Discoverer

Claw Recap
2021-06-20

Lesotruth 14th, 989 IaC

Tuckered out by a day of shopping and getting stabbed, the group settled in for a rest at the Silver Shepherd. Before heading to bed, Ilryn was confronted by Avra regarding what she had learned about her patron's dubious past from Unknown. Avra largely deflected Ilryn's questions, offering only vague details about their past, though they admitted to making a grave mistake regarding their brother Unknown that they hope to correct. Avra once again asked about the time magic, and tasked Ilryn with collecting some information about it from Steve.

Meanwhile, Steve was experiencing a dream brought on by his injury the previous day. In this dreamscape he was forced to continually study the texts of the Black Book by a looming, shadowy figure with a familiar voice. Through his study, he was able to figure out a complex spell known as Adred's Double Body, which was an essential step for continuing progress into the book's magic. However, many aspects of the spell were still obscured to him, and would likely remain so until he practically utilized it.

Lesotruth 15th, 989 IaC

The group woke early to head out into the forests east of Adalhast to answer Rorug's letter and hopefully save Merilann. While making their way through the forest they party stepped around a number of traps and roadblocks that had likely been set up by Rorug, some of which had been triggered, claiming the innocent lives of forest animals and travelers. The group eventually made it to a clearing where they encountered Rorug sitting at a table with a large spread of piping hot food, and a tied-up Merilann next to him. Sensing something was off, Kel scouted out the surrounding area, but her vision was fogged as the Thin Man's Coin turned. Rorug exchanged words with the group, revealing his intentions were to separate Lambchop from his various conniving "love interests" so that they could explore ruins together as true "Discovery Brothers". When Ilryn went invisible, Rorug took this as a sign of hostility and brandished a rusty iron hook, preparing to engage the party.

With a nat 20 on initiative, Kel started by battle off by getting the jump on Rorug, preemptively blocking off an area in front of him with ice magic from Unknown and laying down some heavy denial with Spirit Guardians and throwing out Whirl. Caedali Hasted herself and climbed onto Lambchop's back as he started to run towards Rorug, but got caught in a bear trap hidden beneath moss. Rorug tried using his apparently magical meat hook to grab Caedali off of Lambchop, but it failed to connect as Caedali skittered around and dodged out of the way, aided by her enhanced alacrity. Before the others could react, a mage that was hiding in the woods revealed herself, catching Steve, Merja, and the invisible Ilryn in a powerful lightning bolt. The three weathered the hit and turned on the sorceress, with Steve using his Ill Portent to curse her and Ilryn striking her with Sick Old Bastard, soon wreathing herself in a Shadow of Moil. Merja used her time to check for any more ambushes or traps, noticing a large construct made of flesh approaching from the north that was fitted with both her arm and Lambchop's stomach. The construct approached, spitting acid at the party as the fight kicked into gear.

Rorug smashed a bottle of water on his head and proclaimed himself a master wizard as he threw bombs at the party, which somehow turned those that they struck invisible. Lambchop moved to rescue Merilann as Cora fought the Unknown, which took some heavy damage after being polymorphed into a rat by Steve and running through Kel's magic. She managed to sever the tube that connected the stomach to its mouth, preventing the use of its acid attack. Upon doing this, a voice hiding in the trees rang out, begging her to leave the stomach alone. Ilryn chased the sorceress Unknown, who began to run after causing some heavy damage with a Blight spell. Steve was ambushed by the necromancer mercenary Unknown who used her strange powers to steal some of Steve's intelligence. Merja revealed a number of traps on the field and casted Haste on Ilryn as the party began to turn on the necromancer, who Kel had spontaneously fallen in love with.

With a powerful Wrathful Smite from Caedali and a Phantasmal Killer from Steve, Eralta turned tail and disappeared out of sight as Lambchop and Merilann began attacking "wizard" Rorug, who managed to catch Lambchop in a net of flesh. Lambchop managed to escape his sinewy prison as Rorug shifted personalities once again, taking on the persona of Ragathor Willworth and drawing a strange, shifting weapon. In the meantime, Ilryn continued to chase down the fleeing Saheshna, and the mage was eventually taken down. The Screlcher continued to exist, but was largely ignored by the group as it was slowly pulverized by Kel's magic, including her Guardian of Faith. At one point it managed to catch Caedali in its jaws as Eralta reemerged to attempt to pull Unknown out of her neck, an act that would assuredly kill her outright. Steve was ambushed by Noesis, who nearly managed to kill him with a Finger of Death, breaking through Steve's Counterspell but having his spell undone by Ilryn's, who had used her spell scroll. Connor's weak body was instantly knocked unconscious by Kel's Spirit Guardians.

Eralta was badly injured yet again and attempted to run once more, and was followed by Caedali, though the Devil's Coin turned and prevented her from striking the tiefling. Lambchop, attempting to catch Kel's "girlfriend", hurled a Bead of Force that caught both Caedali and Eralta in the blast, trapping them within the bubble. The others hammered on Rorug, who switched into his "crazed lunatic" persona. With fate twisted by the coin once again, Rorug's weapon shifted into a giant, glimmering statue of Lambchop, which he used to hammer Ilryn into the ground after throwing Merilann into a bear trap. Steve responded to the chaos by summoning a clone of himself.

Rorug was eventually downed by the group as Kel was attacked by the Screlcher, getting caught in its jaws. Kel used her Unknown to strke back against the creature from the inside as Merja's arm attacked the party with a powerful lightning spell. Inside the walls of the bead of force, Caedali was attacked by Eralta, who managed to pull Spikesight out, killing her instantly. Kel finally ate through the other side of the Screlcher, finally ending the construct for good.

Lambchop helped Ilryn, who had been knocked unconscious due to more shenanigans by the coin, up to her feet as the group began to recover from the battle. Noticing that Eralta was standing and Caedali was not, Steve attacked her, knocking her out, despite Kel's pleas. After finding herself unable to restore life to Cora's body, Kel woke the tiefling with her magic, discovering that Caedali's consciousness had moved into the necromancer that killed her. The group met Caedali's claims with mistrust, making sure that it wasn't a ruse by their former enemy. Lambchop remained unconvinced, and Kel blamed Caedali for stealing her girlfriend.

Lambchop was soon approached by a strange, large, and rotund man with a large, puffy mustache and a chef's apron that introduced himself as Unknown, Demigod of Gastronomy. He claimed that his friend Soup had warned him about Lambchop's plight, so he had guided the Screlcher to him in order to reunite the half orc with his stomach. Bulbonch tore the soul orb out of Lambchop's gut and magically reconnected his stomach, allowing him to once again eat food, at the cost of being disconnected from the orb. He still retained the ability to see and interact with souls, however. Bulbonch tasked Lambchop with recovering the Mending Artifact in the Tower of Startha, which the demigod apparently needed to fix his "Great Pot of Big-Time Stew". Bulbonch bounded off into the forest, apparently incapable of quicker forms of travel.

Steve removed the Unknown from Connor's head and began to converse with his new, seemingly permanent double that he had apparently pulled from a mirroring dimension. The other Steve, quickly deemed "Steve 2" by the party, soon displayed some disturbing and dark tendencies, and Ilryn noticed that he was looking for a chance to kill the original Steve and take his place. When she attempted to attack him, he vanished with a pair of Misty Steps, running away into the forest.

Kel and Ilryn got to mutilating Rorug, smashing his head into paste to assure that he would not be getting up again. Lambchop looted some of the strange artifacts from his corpse, which Steve later identified as the Unknown, Unknown, and a legendary weapon known as Unknown. Ilryn used her Withering Arm on Saheshna, turning her into a walking husk. With Merilann and an unconscious Connor in tow, the party headed back to Adalhast.

The group debated on what to do with Cora's corpse, as Caedali wished to somehow revive her in the future. They decided not to bring her to a temple of Unavaranu, instead heading to Unknown. Connor woke as the group was traveling, and the group, rather bluntly, told him about Cora's death. Connor, unable to handle the shock, simply froze, and then seemed to all but die inside. He wordlessly began to follow the group, wishing to remain as close to Cora's corpse as possible, which was being preserved by Kel's Gentle Repose

While heading through the dormitories of the keep to meet Eliza and the Iron, the party was beckoned into a room by a very tall, bald woman in a cloak. Once the group filtered into the room, the woman introduced herself as Unavaranu, and was accompanied by a hooded, shy figure that was introduced to be Zevian. Addressing Caedali's sudden change in form, Unavaranu wanted to assure that she still held her mission in mind, and promised to continue aiding her in order to see the "experiment" through. Zevian offered to continue working with Caedali should she once again subject herself to her cursed items, but Caedali, her mind clear for the first time in months, declined. Noting that Caedali was still among the accursed whether she chose to use her items or not, Zevian cleansed the curse from Zevian's Nail in a display of sheepish kindness. He soon disappeared, and Un queried Caedali on if she wished to adopt the abilities of her new body, or stay blessed with her powers as a paladin. Choosing to remain a servant of the Goddess of Knowledge, Un "balanced" her power, stripping the body of its magic and providing it with godly strength in return.

As the godlike beings left, the group was contacted by the Thin Man, who invited the party into an extradimensional, completely white room. Sitting them down, he discussed how great their fates have been for his business, which appeared to be trading luck. Noting that the group's travels were about to become much more perilous, the devil offered other services to the group, such as information, in return for turns on his coin. He also told the group that he would accept valuable objects in return for taking turns off the coin, and was even willing to go into debt to the party, should their trade be lucrative enough. As he congratulated the group for their perseverance, he saw them out of his "office", which soon disappeared. Steve noted that if they wanted information, they could always use one of the spells from the Black Book, Summon Twine.

Left without equipment, Caedali headed into town for some shopping as the group met with Eliza and the Iron. Eliza gave some items to Lambchop that Rulan had sent over, 13 platinum eye medallions and a goat disguise. Kel convinced Merilann to hang back in Adalhast at Unknown, as their journey was about to become more perilous. Merilann begrudgingly agreed. After being given a guild contact that could teleport them to the Poison Pits of Levilthan, the group spent the rest of the night in their own pursuits, preparing for the journey ahead.

Lesotruth 16th, 989 IaC

The party met with the peculiar wizard Unknown in the morning, giving him only a description of the Poison Pits. Argosti warned that with few details, nailing the location could be hard. As he began preparations, the group confronted the depressed Connor, trying to convince him to stay behind, but he would not part with Cora's corpse, unbothered by the possibility of death. Kel used her powers to relieve him of his sadness regarding Cora's death, instead making him positive about reviving her as Kel herself fell into despair. As the two embraced and promised to bring Cora back, Argosti began the spell, which started off with a fault, causing everyone some force damage before the party arrived in their destination.

The party suddenly arrived in a desolate wasteland of cracked, ashen earth, with an ocean of steaming acid bubbling up from massive fissures. They noticed a number of flesh constructs meandering aimlessly around the landscape, and eventually spotted a giant mound of corpses in the distance. Seeing no other landmarks, the group headed towards the hill of flesh, and as they approached, the mountain slowly turned to face them. The party attempted to run around the mound in order to stay out of its "sight", but realized the monolith of stitched flesh contained thousands of eyes that were trained on their position regardless. The mouths of the creature spoke in unison, assuring the party that it planned no hostilities as its central head turned and faced them. Before the group was a large, sunken face of an old woman, half obscured by the corpses and flesh that appeared to function as the creature's body. Arms were stitched across the surface of its skin, some holding various instruments and items, most commonly needles and spools of black thread. The creature introduced itself as the witch Unknown, and asked the group to end its life.

Gav'tagmal explained that following Pelema's betrayal and the Dreadwitch Enama's death, Gav'tagmal was left without joy for life, kept alive by the Poison Pits and forced to continue feeding them by the foul magic of the Ossuate. Helpless under her former partner's will, Gav'tagmal implored the party to find a way to end her life, something Caedali was all too ready to do. As the witch spoke, the party noticed a number of lifelike clay sculptures that followed their movements, as well as a magical circle that resembled the ones they discovered in the Splintering Halls. Gav'tagmal explained as best she could what she knew of the Pits and how to defeat them, including:

  • Drinking from the Pits passes the curse to you, though not all can survive the process
  • The poison embeds itself in your bones and ends your mortal existence, separating you from your flesh and body
  • Flesh will grow on a cursed individual to grant the facade of life. If it is removed, the accursed have similar characteristics to undead.
  • The poison of the Pits is both a weakness and a strength. If applied to a cursed individual's flesh, it will quickly corrode it, though it has no effect on their essence.
  • The Singing Steel is highly effective against the bones of the accursed, but is simply an obstacle rather than an end. It will not end the life of the accursed.
  • Sealing rituals and prisons are effective, but are not final solutions.
  • It might be possible to destroy the Pits, but Gav'tagmal is clueless on how anyone would accomplish this. She also warned that due to the enchantments placed on her by the Ossuate, she would be forced to attack the group with her army of golems if they began hostilities, or attempted to keep her from filling the Pits with souls.
  • The curse could theoretically end if the Soul of Poison, currently housed within Pelema, was cast into the Pits during a complex ritual.
    • If the ritual does not succeed, the Soul of Poison may simply migrate to another vessel and continue the curse.

As the group offered Gav'tagmal various ideas, the witch had an epiphany, declaring that it might be possible to kill an individual under the curse if their soul was placed in a vessel without any bone structure. Without a seat for the curse, it might vanish. However, the soul would first need to be somehow removed, and would need to be placed in a suitable vessel. Gav'tagmal then offered the Unknown, a special magic item that could summon the Unknown, which could grant life to objects fired within it. The witch suggested the party use Life Alchemy to tear her soul away from her body and trap her within a clay vessel, which might allow her to die when shattered. While Gav'tagmal did not understand the secrets of Life Alchemy herself, she suggested that the party visit Soulstitcher, a former witch of the Coven of Enama that happened to be an expert on the subject. Gav'tagmal was willing to teleport the party close to where Soulstitcher lived, but first used a foul, dark magic that tethered the group in some way to her, ensuring that they would return to end her life. The witch opened up a portal of flesh in the ground that the party, with a little hesitation, jumped into.

The group was whisked away to the Unknown in Unknown, where they ended up on the outskirts of a forest village. They witnessed two half elves speaking to each other before one approached them, asking them their business. The group said a number of things that seemed to worry the man, particularly that they were "looking for someone". Hoping to avoid bloodshed, the man, named Unknown, escorted the group out of town to a cabin to bargain. He wished for the group to leave, but recognized they were likely powerful, and so the party ended up cutting a deal; Welwin would show the group to the house of the Malthyras where a young elf named Caedali lived, but the entire village would follow them, ready to end their lives if they displayed even a modicum of hostility. The party was escorted to a small house located a short distance from the village proper, deeper into the woods.

Arriving at this house, the party was allowed inside by an elf and half elf couple, Unknown and Unknown. While understandably worried that a group of intimidating travelers had invaded the village to meet their young daughter, reassured that the village was watching them, they relaxed somewhat. Yulaeryn admitted that their daughter Caedali was a little bit of a problem child, but that she would never hurt anyone and could not understand what the group wanted with her. In that moment, a room on the far side of the house opened, and an elf with long raven hair and fair skin emerged, covered in strange trinkets and wearing a tattered black dress. As Caedali, she assured her parents that she had called for the party to come here, and invited the group into her room for a discussion, closing her door to the village.