Session 464 – The Dragonskull Vault

The story so far

A group of heroes adventure in the mysterious Kingdom of Emelrene, a realm where planar rifts are in abundance.

Seth, the son of Acheron and trained by dwarven weaponsmiths.

Kitiara found a newly hatched dragon and formed a powerful bond with it.

Raven, a magical clone of Quazzy, the infamous Raven Woman, and a member of the Cult of the Twisted Elf.

Alphonse, a Chirurgeon and dropout from the Guild of Arcane Lore.

17th of Nuzyael (Spring) 731TR

This is the continuation of Session 463 - The Time Of Fire.

The heroes rescued Scholar Enzo Reinhard, who was attacked and left for dead by bandits. They have captured the bandits and are now escorting them to Neoma Castle to face justice. Enzo and Raven are close friends, as Enzo is still under the influence of Raven’s Charm Spell.

Location: East of Mt Tirdhwy in the Kingdom of Emelrene.

Part 1 – Iron Butterflies

Ferrous Butterfly, art by Perchance

The party, along with their bandit prisoners, travels through a valley parallel to a winding section of a small stream and hears a high-pitched fluttering sound. Flying in from the Tirdhal Ethereal Zone (a rift to the elemental plane of metal) are half a dozen bizarre, tiny creatures that appear to be metal butterflies with delicate-looking wings. Despite their size, the elementals are dangerous; they flit past the traveller's, slashing with razor-sharp wings and causing deep, bleeding cuts.

Even the captured bandits are injured. Poor Enzo receives a deep cut, and only Alphonse, splashing Healing Elixirs on his wounds, saves his life. Eventually, the tiny terrors are destroyed. The suspicious Seth searches the prisoners and discovers that during the chaos of battle, they managed to pocket parts of the destroyed Ferrous Butterfly’s wings. These wings can function as blades, and the cunning rogues were planning to cut their bonds and escape. They are sternly warned and threatened with the loss of their fingers if they attempt such a trick again.

Location: Castle Neoma in the Kingdom of Emelrene.

Part 2 – Justice

Duke Anavras, art by Perchance

The heroes arrive at Castle Neoma and hand over the prisoners immediately. They briefly meet with the Warden of Jerinal, Duke Anavras Edhelen. The duke is a busy man and, being the likely heir to the throne, has taken on many of his elderly aunt, the Queen's, duties.

Warden Baridan, art by Perchance

He plans to leave Neoma in a week to handle diplomatic affairs for the rest of the year, so the matter of justice is handled by his subordinate, the hard-working and grumpy Deputy Warden Baridan Harnal, the Lord of Harnal Manor.

Deputy Warden Baridan takes criminals into custody, holds a brief trial, and the sentence will be decided after he checks with other regions to see if these men are guilty of any other crimes. In a few weeks, he learns that no other criminal reports by men matching their description, so, on the basis that they have not committed murder, the criminals are sentenced to a severe flogging, time in the pillory, and five years of gruelling hard labor.

Part 3 – The Dragonskull Vault

Enzo in Library, art by Artflow

Enzo Reinhard proudly shows the party around his pride and joy, the Dragonskull Archive. This former guildhall of arcane lore was founded a few decades after the “Time of Fire,” about 600 years ago, when fire drakes from Mt Belemys wreaked havoc. The chantry was abandoned 50 years ago, but under Duke Anvar's patronage, Enzo has reopened it. However, he faces a problem: he has been unable to access the underground vault; every time he tries to enter, he is overwhelmed by ghostly whispers and severe headaches. He asks the heroes to investigate as a favor.

The heroes descend and discover a large storeroom filled with a variety of odd and unusual items. Most intriguing are two large drums of preserving fluid containing the bodies of small fire drakes. The chamber is also filled with swarms of rats, but the heroes quickly eliminate the vermin, with Alphonse’s acid vials proving especially effective.

After a careful search, Seth finds a secret door but suspects it's trapped, as a concealed mechanism appears to be triggered when the door slides open. After the rest of the party backs off to a safe distance, using an empty chest as a barrier, Seth cautiously opens it. From a back wall, a metal spike shoots out, smashing through the improvised wall, shattering his sturdy shield, and nearly impaling the brave knight. Then something in the passage beyond moves.

Part 4 – Corpselight

Suddenly, an ancient, partially mummified corpse advances from the darkness. The undead has blue light emanating from its eyes and mouth. Raven recognizes it as a Corpselight, an undead will-o'-wisp that inhabits dead bodies. It lunges at Seth, who luckily has just enough time to equip his backup shield. The heroes fight back, and although the undead is dangerous, the combined efforts of Kitiara’s small dragon, Seth’s sword, and Raven’s psychic assaults bring the corpse down.

Corpselight, art by Perchance

Then, from the head of the collapsed body, a small semi-corporeal, skull-like form emerges and flies into the secret passage, possessing another nearby corpse. A new corpse with light emitting from its eyes and mouth staggers forward and vomits a cone of sickening light. This catches the heroes by surprise, drains their vitality, and spreads terror. Trembling, Kitiara’s dragon Storm faces the horror and is nearly killed when the undead strikes with its claw-like hands. Luckily, Seth deflects most of the damage. Storm then bites, severing the undead’s head. From the skull, the small, glowing Corpselight emerges again, ready to possess another nearby corpse. Kitiara runs forward, casting Frostbite. The small glowing skull is frozen in place, cracks, and is destroyed.

The secret passage leads to a hidden vault. Inside, there are several more long-dead bodies and unlocked cells, likely an old treasury but mostly empty. It does, however, contain a quiver of Dragonbane Arrows, which the grateful Enzo happily allows the heroes to keep.

To be continued.

NPC Interactions

Duke Anavras Edhelen, Warden of Jerinal.

Deputy Warden Baridan Harnal, the Lord of Harnal Manor

Enzo Reinhard - Scholar.

Related Content

Nothing this week.

Created Content

Duke Anavras Edhelen, Warden of Jerinal.

Dragonskull Archive.

Player Characters

Seth - Human - Level 1 Guardian

Background - Metallurgist.

Raven - Human - Level 1 Telepath Psychic

Background - Magical Experiment.

Kitiara - Human - Level 1 Dragon Summoner

Background - Dragon Scholar.

NPC Companion

Alphonse - Human - Level 1 Chirurgeon

Background - Academy Dropout.

Next Session

TBA.