Sunlit Coast
FifthRace
Watcher:Zephyr
1. Lvl 7 Monk | Zephyr
2. Lvl 7 Drunk | MC Hammerstorm
3. Lvl 6 Cleric | Elandor
4. Lvl 7 Sorlock | Yordad
5. Lvl 6 Monk | Rose Talbot
6. Lvl 5 Barb | Bork the Barb
Background – Sol’Vereaux, Sun Coast
Contact – Father Kelly
Situation – Reformers faction controls a vault beneath the cathedral. In the vault there is a vat of molten gold that creates all the gold for the city.
Task – Asked to drop a device to test the vat to find the source that has tainted the gold
Gear – our weapons and armor and a giant cloak to conceal ourselves on the streets
The cavern yawns wide, swallowed in shadow. The only illumination comes from your torches — their flickering light dancing across jagged stone and slick moss-covered walls. The air is damp and heavy, echoing with the roar of rushing water that drowns out all but the closest voices. Somewhere deeper, the stream vanishes into a dark tunnel, its current churning violently.
A rickety wooden dock juts out over the black water. Tied to its edge, a small rowboat rocks gently with the rhythm of the current. Inside the boat a corpse. Pale. Bloated. Arms draped unnaturally over the sides. Beyond the dock, wedged into the cavern wall, is an ancient metal door. Its rusted lock clings stubbornly, vines and grime grown over it like a wound left to fester. BORK steps forward, raising his massive greataxe. “BORK has thieves’ tools!” he says. With a crash, the axe cleaves into the lock. Each blow is thunderous, ringing out like iron bells but the roar of the river swallows the sound whole.
Inside the chamber, there is a second door. I took this one and smashed the lock with two blows with my fists. The door creaks open. Darkness waits beyond. “Shall we continue?”, I say.
The sound of the river fades behind you, replaced by a deep, unsettling silence. The torchlight reveals a spiral stone staircase immediately to your right, carved with an aged precision and rising into the gloom above. Faint torch sconces line the curved wall, some still lit, their flames wavering undisturbed.
Ahead, a narrow corridor stretches forward, MC spots eight heavy metal doors, set into the stone walls like iron tombs. Some stand ajar, revealing only more darkness within. Others are firmly shut. The smell is thick rot, rust, and something fouler still. Elandor and MC spot in one of the open cells: A woman, long dead. Her body slumped forward, shackled at the wrists high above her head, knees just touching the floor. Skin stretched thin over bone. Across her back, burned and carved markings symbols, brands, lash marks a history of torment written in flesh. Some old, some disturbingly fresh. Her face is slack, her mouth frozen in a final breathless scream.
Rose, following close behind, pauses. She tilts her head, eyes narrowing. Then she holds up a hand. “Wait... Do you hear that?”, She says. Everyone freezes. She steps lightly toward one of the closed cell doors, fourth on the right. From behind the thick iron, faint but clear: A soft whistling. MC steps forward, his frame casting a long shadow over the whistling cell door. The sound is clearer now, hollow and strange, like it’s echoing through cracked lips. The others stay behind, weapons gripped, hearts held tight in their chests. He leans close, voice low but steady.
“Hello… we heard you. Are you alright in there? We’re not here to harm you. Can you tell me your name?” The whistling stops instantly. A moment of silence. Then a hoarse voice, barely more than a breath through the slot in the metal: “Who… who are you…?” There’s a rasping cough, then another question, choked and unsure: “Are you… are you with the church…?” Another pause, “Do you serve him? Are you with? “The followers of Paelor?” Even muffled by iron, you can hear the fear crawling under every word. “We are friends, why are you in here”, MC asks. “I am here for singing a song about the Pontiffs Cock”, the man says quietly.
As the muffled voice inside confirms his name “Hago… my name is Hago, I am from Illisia…” we exchange glances, the group quickly forming a tight huddle in the narrow corridor. “I don’t feel any darkness in him,” Elandor whispers, “Whatever happened to him… it wasn’t by choice.” BORK steps forward once more, grim determination on his face. He raises his greataxe again, the blade glinting in the flickering torchlight. With a mighty swing, the axe collides with the rusted lock on Hago’s cell. CLANG! The sound crashes through the cavern like a war drum, echoing down the corridor.
Immediately from the three sealed doors to the left come low, guttural grunts and the clattering of chains. Metal doors shudder, hinges creak. Something behind those doors is awake and angry. “Not good,” Yordad mutters, and with practiced speed pulls a cloak from his pack. He wraps it around the lock, holding it tight for BORK’s second swing. THMP! The blow is muffled this time, but effective. With a sharp snap, the lock gives way, falling to the ground with a muted thud. Inside, Hago blinks against the light, shielding his eyes. He’s thin, too thin, gaunt and shivering, dressed in filthy remnants of a robe, shackles hanging loose around his wrists. His eyes flick from face to face, haunted but grateful.
MC steps in close, notices he has the same markings on his back from the torture he has received. “Hago. Listen carefully. We don’t know who or what else is still in here. But we need you to stay safe. Head back to the way we came. There’s a boat tied at the dock.” “Climb in. Lay low. Play dead.” MC states. Rose nods. “If someone finds you and they’re not us… you stay still. You’re just another corpse in this place.” “But don’t try to go down the river,” MC warns, voice firm. “There’s a waterfall further into the cavern. It’ll tear the boat apart. You stay at the dock and wait. We’ll come back for you.”
Elandor gave Hago some of his rations to eat to build up whatever strength he can get being the malnourished living corpse Hago seems to be. Hago nods weakly, his voice trembling.
“Yes… yes, I understand. Thank you. Truly.” He limps off down the corridor, each step measured, slow. The group watches until he vanishes around the bend then all eyes shift back to the rattling doors. Whatever is behind them has heard your presence and it is no longer asleep.
The moment Hago disappeared into the dark, the weight of the cell doors behind you returned grunts turned to guttural growls, metal scraping against its frame, yet the locks remained fast. Upon closer inspection, Elandor reached out, brushing his hand near one of the doors but stopped. His fingers hovered just above the lock, eyes narrowing. "These are the same locks… but they’re not just metal. There’s a presence. Enchantment something keyed. If they open, it won’t be mechanical. It’ll be intentional." A chill sets in. Whatever keeps these things trapped, it’s no simple key. Hago, mentioned before he left up the tunnel, said: “The warden… he never sleeps. He’s behind the northern door. He comes when there’s noise. Curious. Cruel.” That’s when the plan begins to form.
The Setup--
Yordad and I take position, slipping into the thick black veil of magical darkness conjured just outside the cell corridor, pressed close to the stone walls. Rose, MC, BORK, and Elandor, duck into the open cells, hiding behind benches and bone piles, silent as death. The corridor is still. Tense. A heartbeat stretched long. Then, MC reaches out with a hand, whispering arcane words, and slams a spell a crackling, concussive blast against the northern door. BOOM! The air stills again. A minute passes. Then… footsteps. Measured. Calm. Echoing on the stone. From behind the northern door, it creaks open, and a figure steps out a short feeble looking man in long, layered black robes, etched with strange symbols. Bald. Gaunt face. Silver eyes that shimmer with cold intellect. He moves slowly, walking down the corridor toward the magical darkness. “What foolishness is this…?” “I smell sweat. Hear breath.” “You think to test my patience?”
The Ambush—
MC slips from the darkness, silent, fast, low to the ground and grapples the warden from behind, arms locking under the man’s shoulders and yanking him back with sheer brute force. The warden gasps, surprised. “Wha—!?” From the shadows, the others spring to life. From the shadows, the others spring to life. The warden struggles — lips moving to cast, but MC tightens the hold, muscles bulging as he crushes the breath from the man’s lungs. He gurgles, eyes wide, and arms pinned. Blood stains the stone floor. Within seconds, the warden is dropped to his knees, bruised, battered, within an inch of his life. He gasps, wheezing still alive, but barely. You have him. He says, “release me, you will be mine again”.
Elandor soon placed his manacles on him as we questioned him further. I ask him from the shadows in a voice to intimidate, “Who is Karagan?!”. His response was, “Karagan will kill you all”. I then lifted the shroud of darkness towering over him a 6ft 5 in Leonin. His response was to spit in my face. I took the spit and wiped it on him. He called us freaks, monsters, showing a sliver of what seemed to be dominance over species that are not human. Rose spotted what seemed to be a bell with some symbols on it and lifted it from his pockets.
The feeble coward of a man is soon put down permanently by BORK with one swing of his greataxe. I searched through his pockets and found 13 gold. Elandor examines the bell further, finding the same markings as the ones on the locks. We found it best not to use the bell and have whatever beasts behind the doors released.
We drag the warden’s limp body aside, binding him with shackles ripped from the very cells he once ruled, and leave him unconscious and bleeding at the threshold of the northern door. Inside, the chamber he emerged from is… jarringly clean. An altar room. The scent of burning incense lingers faintly in the air, untouched by the rot and decay outside. Stone floor polished smoothly, the walls etched with intricate runes and symbols all centering around a pristine white altar, adorned in gold-trimmed cloth and lined with candles. In the center: a sunburst symbol, too bright, too perfect. “Paelor…” Elandor whispers, his voice dries with disdain. “A god… or a lie pretending to be one.” At the back of the chamber, a staircase descends into a pitch-black shadow.
We descend. The air is getting colder. Thicker. Every footstep seems to fall into nothingness. A wall of black stone greets you at the bottom, silent, unyielding. At first, it appears solid. Featureless. But as Rose approaches, the dim torchlight catches something carved into the stone. A mural. Phases of an eclipsed moon layered and shattered jagged crescent fragments scattered across the surface like celestial debris. Beneath them, the suns shattered, fractured and broken.
All but one. One sun whole. Golden, gleaming, untouched. As the group stares in silence, we catch something else a faint trail of dried blood, barely visible, trickling from the center of that whole sun. “This… this is no altar to a god,” he mutters. “This is a test.”
MC steps forward. Without hesitation, he cups his hands and helps me leap upward. I launch off his grip and slam my fist into the center of the sun, skin splitting on impact. The stone seems to drink in your blood the trickle sinking into the carved grooves. You land. Silence. Then, MC growls, steps back, and with a deep breath and pure force, launches himself skyward, his fist crashes into the sun with a fierce crack. Stone shatters, blood splashes, and… Click… Click… GRRRRRK-THUNK. Gears whir to life deep behind the wall. A low rumble vibrates through the ground. The mural slides, shifting downward like a veil being pulled back. And then a flash. A brilliant white light floods the chamber, searing your vision. All of you reel back, covering your eyes, blinded momentarily. The light is gone as quickly as it came. Silence again. Only the soft creak of a door now open.
The Task-- We step through the now-open passage and into a vast chamber a vault, ancient and sealed by blood and divine deceit. The torches already lit as we enter, casting long shadows across the glittering piles of gold heaped in mounds across the stone floor.
Simple weapons, spears, swords, broken shields lie scattered among the treasure, dull and dusty, as if untouched by time. But in the center of the chamber, unmoving yet impossibly present, stands a stone golem, easily ten feet tall, carved from obsidian-veined granite, runes etched across its shoulders and chest, pulsing faintly. Its eyes flare with white flame the moment you enter. “Intruders. Intruders. You don’t belong.” Its voice is a grinding rumble, like boulders colliding in a deep canyon. With each syllable, dust rains down from the ceiling.
Rose, without hesitation, turns to Elandor, snatching the canister from his satchel, the one you all knew had only one purpose. Her eyes lock on the vat at the far end of the room hidden behind the gold, near the back wall. A cylindrical basin of black stone, softly humming, covered in an alchemical shimmer. She whispers to herself: “We end this now.” And then she runs light on her feet, cloak fluttering behind her, vanishing into the maze of treasure as the golem lurches forward with a grinding step.
The rest of us quickly ganged up on the stone golem and after a few rounds of forceful punches and BORKS greataxe we turned the stone golem into a pile of stone and sand. With Rose up in the distance standing next to the vat where the city makes its gold, we notice two more stone golems standing still but inert. BORK looking at Rose says, “Uppies?”. Rose took that opportunity and lowered the device into the molting gold that stirs in the vat. The top of the device opens, and black viscous tendrils crawl out and stir around the molten gold soon becoming one with the gold and turning back into the golden heat that once showed before.
Once Rose makes her way down from the top of the vat with BORK’s assistance, two more golems previously still, nearly indistinguishable from the vault's stonework ignite to life. Their eyes blaze white, joints grinding as they lurch forward in unison. Once again after a few blows and swings of weapons the golems go down into a pile of rubble.
Rose, without hesitation, turns to Elandor, snatching the canister from his satchel, the one you all knew had only one purpose. Her eyes lock on the vat at the far end of the room hidden behind the gold, near the back wall. A cylindrical basin of black stone, softly humming, covered in an alchemical shimmer. She whispers to herself: “We end this now.” And then she runs light on her feet, cloak fluttering behind her, vanishing into the maze of treasure as the golem lurches forward with a grinding step.
The rest of us quickly ganged up on the stone golem and after a few rounds of forceful punches and BORKS greataxe we turned the stone golem into a pile of stone and sand. With Rose up in the distance standing next to the vat where the city makes its gold, we notice two more stone golems standing still but inert. BORK looking at Rose says, “Uppies?”. Rose took that opportunity and lowered the device into the molting gold that stirs in the vat. The top of the device opens, and black viscous tendrils crawl out and stir around the molten gold soon becoming one with the gold and turning back into the golden heat that once showed before.
Once Rose makes her way down from the top of the vat with BORK’s assistance, two more golems previously still, nearly indistinguishable from the vault's stonework ignite to life. Their eyes blaze white, joints grinding as they lurch forward in unison. Once again after a few blows and swings of weapons the golems go down into a pile of rubble.
Regrouped. Bruised. Victorious. Making our way back through the corridor, past the mural of shattered suns and eclipsed moons, past the altar of Paelor and the bound, the dead warden, you find Hago still in the boat at the dock, just as instructed. He blinks up at you while spooning the other corpse, startled. “Is… is it over?” You help him up, explain nothing, and begin the trek out. The caverns feel less heavy now. The magic here twisted, suffocating is fading. The river is still rushing. The caverns still echo. But you know the way. And you’ve seen the worst of what’s down here
We ride down the fast-moving river and soon come crashing into a metal gate that protects us from falling down the waterfall. A rope guides us to the path in which we came to the other side and down the cliffside. Cloaked, we make our way into the city and see Hago off handing him the 13 gold I found earlier on the warden’s body. We watched him disappear into the crowd.
]We find our way into the temple to find Father Kelly who gave us the task only to find Brother Brian, who asks, “where have you been?”. MC mentions that we were doing the task that Father Kelly asked us to do.~father kelly
That’s when Brother Brian said, “Father Kelly was killed several days before we were to meet up with him to find out what he needed help with”. This news shocked us. Then who did we meet up with. I asked Brother Brian who Karagan was to him. His response, “he is the overseer of the vault”. He teleports us back to the Steelhawks transportation room then suddenly activates it for himself and vanishes.
Watcher:Canna Lili
1. Lvl 7 Dogue | Canna lili
2. Lvl 7 Cleric | Zass
3. Lvl 5 Barbarian | BORK DA ORK
4. Lvl 7 Bardlock | Kiwi
5. Level 7 Barbarian Fighter | Dande’lion
6. Level 4 Barblock | Azrael
7. Lvl 4 Ward | Karai
Canna receive note- go teleport room. See friends! Told that envoy from secret and secluded land approach us. They want help- maybe make contract? Envoy man name Brother Brian- call BB. BB stare at all us. Canna stare back. Rude to stare if they stare first? But BB seem happy. Twinkly eye. Canna think he maybe santa?- but he drink from hip container- it smell yucky- like what friends like. BB call us creatures- then say people. Canna no understand. BB say he from Sol’Verrol- it have many money. He come get us for secret mission.
Lionman…Dande’ want know if mission is honest- say secret is sus. BB take big breath- say issue in nation is complicated. History steeped in mistakes. Some people want mission to fail. BB say this first time- talk to outsiders-Especially non paylor people. Many rich-powerful cityfolk- want experiment fail. Current ruler working-make city better-but slow. Many gaudy churchfolk…ministers- with sway… BB take big breath. Say work is blessed? He say he proof. Trust not everyone in city- fundamentalists no want whats best overall.
Party questions BB more about words used. BB come clean- say city commit terrible crimes for “god”- kill all not like them. He ashamed. Say city ruler…pontif- try to fix all- but take time. Lots of high folk want dark times. We believe BBs belief in ruler. Small green fox…kiwi tell bb no lose hope. We agree help.
BB say nation all human- be first to be there in FOREVER. Say since technically legal- guards no bug (canna hope there good bugs there). BB say he mere clerk- setup as fallguy. If fail- like never happened. Place is dangerous. Small green fox want know- will people attack us? BB say no-commonfolk should be fine-rich meanies may hurt us. They fear many things- unknown,different. Only bad reasons for humans being only people there- but some try be better.
BB opens big case- pull out big cloth to help hide fact we different. He say music not of the faith not allowed by last ruler. He draw silly symbols on floor in chalk and then we poof- off to sunlit shores.
Magic swirly-canna feel funny- then land on stone. In only room in chapel. BB say called Last Lights chapel. Very small- no pay attention when walk by. Chapel located in city. BB tell us- go docks, find bar…Abbey. Talk Father Kelly (He no Canna father tho- canna father kenku)-call father-man. Father-man give church mission facts. BB say be sneaky (Canna SOOOO sneaky). He ask forgiveness- he want be better with help from steelhawks. “Walk with the light, all of you” - he say. BB leave.
Walk outside-Sprawling harbour district, lots going on. Canna climbs onto the roof- super stealth. We have no idea where Abbey. Dockhands-fish mongers- stare at all but Canna- since giant fire lady…Karai-stick out like bad feather. Party panic- too many eyes. None on Canna though- she sneaky. Cityfolk go to draw weapons. Firelady does a dance- no reaction. Small greenfox act cute-tell people no be mean and afraid- causes people to feel less like fighting but still super sus. Tries convince she child- is mix bag. People stare Firelady- weird looks. Man of cloth…Zazz change church robes- more people relax.
Kiwi say seem people ignore when the church is involved.
Lionman go-ask directions. Even offer help. Man who work dock want crate go up. Lionman try- crate heavy? Canna get distracted-get fish- no see who put crate up. Dockman look impressed- give directions. Canna find! See all on roof- lead party.
~ Helen
Abbey is styled like church. Handsome. Good architecture. Canna notice-all buildings like churches. Once inside-all stare again-canna sneak up onto the ceiling. These people not as convinced by small greenfox. Go talk barlady…Helen. Helen is kind-confused-alarmed. Suddenly man come in. He wear black fancy version of BB wears. He must be important-he got whole bar to go away.
He introduce himself- it father kelly… just call father-man-we introduce ourselves. Fatherman ask man of cloth about robes- bond slightly over religion. Fatherman say we only need know: he with ‘the reformers’- serve the pontif (head guy)-bringing outsiders is part of it. He say below castle is prison-below that caves. Caves have access to vault of gold. Fatherman explain- man called minister Kerrigan oversees prison and vault. He bad guy- vocal about opposing ruler- want old dark ways. He produce gizmo. It look pretty-canna want. Fatherman explain strange things happen in city- think kerrigan man mess with stuff in vault. Wrong things happening- to do with religious symbols. Fatherman want non church folk sneak in vault and put gizmo inside- will test purity of all items inside.
Party ask about risk/reward- say depend on who catch us. Party ask about prison- believe most prisoners arent supposed to be there. They have orcs guarding prison- they been driven crazy. Fatherman say-bit of hypocrisy: Church's old way-unwilling to accept non-humans. Party as too many questions for canna member- but fatherman say (this part canna member very well) “Sneak in where the river pours out from under the cathedral, swim under to the hatch, follow the river further, it will intersect with the lower levels of the prison, keep heading down through prison until you find the vault". He hands over a key. Ensure many work opportunities if we do well. Canna want do well-want shinies. Fatherman say lastly that guards call dawnstar should give no trouble- believe loyal to pontif- but ask us to still try no be seen. Then he get up and leave.
Quickly discuss what heard- then head out-being sneaky. No trouble- get to hole where water come out of wall. It high up- so Canna climb and take 2 ropes, tie and help party up. Kiwi slipped-but Dande help. We stand in water.
Water very deep- so canna walk along wall. Find grate- canna take key and try go under to unlock- water VERY cold- current fact- sweep canna back to party. Try again-sweep back to party. Canna determined-beat water! Rest of party try swim- Rageman…Bork try twice- current strong. Small green fox try-but she get too cold. Canna smart!- send out rope from last area- it help! All make across.
Walk down river. Come to cave area. But where go now? Canna decide-go right. Smell stinky gross dead smell-attempt to find stench. Canna go toward pipe-no entry. Small green fox say smell come from true north. Party go left- head up first ledge- go ahead to scout. See pile of grossness. A monster!- he no notice Canna.
Canna back up and go up to next area and bring down third rope to help friends. Small green fox send familiar to scout- find two more gross monsters further up. But say river go true north. Try to sneak past all three monster- but rock goes down hill and hits a mound. We fight valiantly and hard- hopefully no notice noise.
Keep going up river- come to wooden door in stone frame. Door call to Canna. It calls to you. Do you open it?
Sunlit Coast S0ep00: “A Grand Experiment- Part 2”
Watcher:Zephyr
1. Lvl 7 Monk | Zephyr
2. Lvl 7 Drunk | MC Hammerstorm
3. Lvl 6 Cleric | Elandor
4. Lvl 7 Sorlock | Yordad
5. Lvl 6 Monk | Rose Talbot
6. Lvl 5 Barb | Bork the Barb
Background – Sol’Vereaux, Sun Coast
Contact – Father Kelly
Situation – Reformers faction controls a vault beneath the cathedral. In the vault there is a vat of molten gold that creates all the gold for the city.
Task – Asked to drop a device to test the vat to find the source that has tainted the gold
Gear – our weapons and armor and a giant cloak to conceal ourselves on the streets
Rose, following close behind, pauses. She tilts her head, eyes narrowing. Then she holds up a hand. “Wait... Do you hear that?”, She says. Everyone freezes. She steps lightly toward one of the closed cell doors, fourth on the right. From behind the thick iron, faint but clear: A soft whistling. MC steps forward, his frame casting a long shadow over the whistling cell door. The sound is clearer now, hollow and strange, like it’s echoing through cracked lips. The others stay behind, weapons gripped, hearts held tight in their chests. He leans close, voice low but steady.
“Hello… we heard you. Are you alright in there? We’re not here to harm you. Can you tell me your name?” The whistling stops instantly. A moment of silence. Then a hoarse voice, barely more than a breath through the slot in the metal: “Who… who are you…?” There’s a rasping cough, then another question, choked and unsure: “Are you… are you with the church…?” Another pause, “Do you serve him? Are you with? “The followers of Paelor?” Even muffled by iron, you can hear the fear crawling under every word. “We are friends, why are you in here”, MC asks. “I am here for singing a song about the Pontiffs Cock”, the man says quietly.
As the muffled voice inside confirms his name “Hago… my name is Hago, I am from Illisia…” we exchange glances, the group quickly forming a tight huddle in the narrow corridor. “I don’t feel any darkness in him,” Elandor whispers, “Whatever happened to him… it wasn’t by choice.” BORK steps forward once more, grim determination on his face. He raises his greataxe again, the blade glinting in the flickering torchlight. With a mighty swing, the axe collides with the rusted lock on Hago’s cell. CLANG! The sound crashes through the cavern like a war drum, echoing down the corridor.
Immediately from the three sealed doors to the left come low, guttural grunts and the clattering of chains. Metal doors shudder, hinges creak. Something behind those doors is awake and angry. “Not good,” Yordad mutters, and with practiced speed pulls a cloak from his pack. He wraps it around the lock, holding it tight for BORK’s second swing. THMP! The blow is muffled this time, but effective. With a sharp snap, the lock gives way, falling to the ground with a muted thud. Inside, Hago blinks against the light, shielding his eyes. He’s thin, too thin, gaunt and shivering, dressed in filthy remnants of a robe, shackles hanging loose around his wrists. His eyes flick from face to face, haunted but grateful.
Elandor gave Hago some of his rations to eat to build up whatever strength he can get being the malnourished living corpse Hago seems to be. Hago nods weakly, his voice trembling.
“Yes… yes, I understand. Thank you. Truly.” He limps off down the corridor, each step measured, slow. The group watches until he vanishes around the bend then all eyes shift back to the rattling doors. Whatever is behind them has heard your presence and it is no longer asleep.
The moment Hago disappeared into the dark, the weight of the cell doors behind you returned grunts turned to guttural growls, metal scraping against its frame, yet the locks remained fast. Upon closer inspection, Elandor reached out, brushing his hand near one of the doors but stopped. His fingers hovered just above the lock, eyes narrowing. "These are the same locks… but they’re not just metal. There’s a presence. Enchantment something keyed. If they open, it won’t be mechanical. It’ll be intentional." A chill sets in. Whatever keeps these things trapped, it’s no simple key. Hago, mentioned before he left up the tunnel, said: “The warden… he never sleeps. He’s behind the northern door. He comes when there’s noise. Curious. Cruel.” That’s when the plan begins to form.
The Setup--
Yordad and I take position, slipping into the thick black veil of magical darkness conjured just outside the cell corridor, pressed close to the stone walls. Rose, MC, BORK, and Elandor, duck into the open cells, hiding behind benches and bone piles, silent as death. The corridor is still. Tense. A heartbeat stretched long. Then, MC reaches out with a hand, whispering arcane words, and slams a spell a crackling, concussive blast against the northern door. BOOM! The air stills again. A minute passes. Then… footsteps. Measured. Calm. Echoing on the stone. From behind the northern door, it creaks open, and a figure steps out a short feeble looking man in long, layered black robes, etched with strange symbols. Bald. Gaunt face. Silver eyes that shimmer with cold intellect. He moves slowly, walking down the corridor toward the magical darkness. “What foolishness is this…?” “I smell sweat. Hear breath.” “You think to test my patience?”
The Ambush—
Elandor soon placed his manacles on him as we questioned him further. I ask him from the shadows in a voice to intimidate, “Who is Karagan?!”. His response was, “Karagan will kill you all”. I then lifted the shroud of darkness towering over him a 6ft 5 in Leonin. His response was to spit in my face. I took the spit and wiped it on him. He called us freaks, monsters, showing a sliver of what seemed to be dominance over species that are not human. Rose spotted what seemed to be a bell with some symbols on it and lifted it from his pockets.
The feeble coward of a man is soon put down permanently by BORK with one swing of his greataxe. I searched through his pockets and found 13 gold. Elandor examines the bell further, finding the same markings as the ones on the locks. We found it best not to use the bell and have whatever beasts behind the doors released.
We drag the warden’s limp body aside, binding him with shackles ripped from the very cells he once ruled, and leave him unconscious and bleeding at the threshold of the northern door. Inside, the chamber he emerged from is… jarringly clean. An altar room. The scent of burning incense lingers faintly in the air, untouched by the rot and decay outside. Stone floor polished smoothly, the walls etched with intricate runes and symbols all centering around a pristine white altar, adorned in gold-trimmed cloth and lined with candles. In the center: a sunburst symbol, too bright, too perfect. “Paelor…” Elandor whispers, his voice dries with disdain. “A god… or a lie pretending to be one.” At the back of the chamber, a staircase descends into a pitch-black shadow.
We descend. The air is getting colder. Thicker. Every footstep seems to fall into nothingness. A wall of black stone greets you at the bottom, silent, unyielding. At first, it appears solid. Featureless. But as Rose approaches, the dim torchlight catches something carved into the stone. A mural. Phases of an eclipsed moon layered and shattered jagged crescent fragments scattered across the surface like celestial debris. Beneath them, the suns shattered, fractured and broken.
The Task-- We step through the now-open passage and into a vast chamber a vault, ancient and sealed by blood and divine deceit. The torches already lit as we enter, casting long shadows across the glittering piles of gold heaped in mounds across the stone floor.
Simple weapons, spears, swords, broken shields lie scattered among the treasure, dull and dusty, as if untouched by time. But in the center of the chamber, unmoving yet impossibly present, stands a stone golem, easily ten feet tall, carved from obsidian-veined granite, runes etched across its shoulders and chest, pulsing faintly. Its eyes flare with white flame the moment you enter. “Intruders. Intruders. You don’t belong.” Its voice is a grinding rumble, like boulders colliding in a deep canyon. With each syllable, dust rains down from the ceiling.
Once Rose makes her way down from the top of the vat with BORK’s assistance, two more golems previously still, nearly indistinguishable from the vault's stonework ignite to life. Their eyes blaze white, joints grinding as they lurch forward in unison. Once again after a few blows and swings of weapons the golems go down into a pile of rubble.
The rest of us quickly ganged up on the stone golem and after a few rounds of forceful punches and BORKS greataxe we turned the stone golem into a pile of stone and sand. With Rose up in the distance standing next to the vat where the city makes its gold, we notice two more stone golems standing still but inert. BORK looking at Rose says, “Uppies?”. Rose took that opportunity and lowered the device into the molting gold that stirs in the vat. The top of the device opens, and black viscous tendrils crawl out and stir around the molten gold soon becoming one with the gold and turning back into the golden heat that once showed before.
Once Rose makes her way down from the top of the vat with BORK’s assistance, two more golems previously still, nearly indistinguishable from the vault's stonework ignite to life. Their eyes blaze white, joints grinding as they lurch forward in unison. Once again after a few blows and swings of weapons the golems go down into a pile of rubble.
Regrouped. Bruised. Victorious. Making our way back through the corridor, past the mural of shattered suns and eclipsed moons, past the altar of Paelor and the bound, the dead warden, you find Hago still in the boat at the dock, just as instructed. He blinks up at you while spooning the other corpse, startled. “Is… is it over?” You help him up, explain nothing, and begin the trek out. The caverns feel less heavy now. The magic here twisted, suffocating is fading. The river is still rushing. The caverns still echo. But you know the way. And you’ve seen the worst of what’s down here
]We find our way into the temple to find Father Kelly who gave us the task only to find Brother Brian, who asks, “where have you been?”. MC mentions that we were doing the task that Father Kelly asked us to do.
Sunlit Coast S0ep00: “A Grand Experiment”
Watcher:Canna Lili
1. Lvl 7 Dogue | Canna lili
2. Lvl 7 Cleric | Zass
3. Lvl 5 Barbarian | BORK DA ORK
4. Lvl 7 Bardlock | Kiwi
5. Level 7 Barbarian Fighter | Dande’lion
6. Level 4 Barblock | Azrael
7. Lvl 4 Ward | Karai
Party questions BB more about words used. BB come clean- say city commit terrible crimes for “god”- kill all not like them. He ashamed. Say city ruler…pontif- try to fix all- but take time. Lots of high folk want dark times. We believe BBs belief in ruler. Small green fox…kiwi tell bb no lose hope. We agree help.
BB say nation all human- be first to be there in FOREVER. Say since technically legal- guards no bug (canna hope there good bugs there). BB say he mere clerk- setup as fallguy. If fail- like never happened. Place is dangerous. Small green fox want know- will people attack us? BB say no-commonfolk should be fine-rich meanies may hurt us. They fear many things- unknown,different. Only bad reasons for humans being only people there- but some try be better.
BB opens big case- pull out big cloth to help hide fact we different. He say music not of the faith not allowed by last ruler. He draw silly symbols on floor in chalk and then we poof- off to sunlit shores.
Kiwi say seem people ignore when the church is involved.
Lionman go-ask directions. Even offer help. Man who work dock want crate go up. Lionman try- crate heavy? Canna get distracted-get fish- no see who put crate up. Dockman look impressed- give directions. Canna find! See all on roof- lead party.
Party ask about risk/reward- say depend on who catch us. Party ask about prison- believe most prisoners arent supposed to be there. They have orcs guarding prison- they been driven crazy. Fatherman say-bit of hypocrisy: Church's old way-unwilling to accept non-humans. Party as too many questions for canna member- but fatherman say (this part canna member very well) “Sneak in where the river pours out from under the cathedral, swim under to the hatch, follow the river further, it will intersect with the lower levels of the prison, keep heading down through prison until you find the vault". He hands over a key. Ensure many work opportunities if we do well. Canna want do well-want shinies. Fatherman say lastly that guards call dawnstar should give no trouble- believe loyal to pontif- but ask us to still try no be seen. Then he get up and leave.
