Session 13. - New Horizons

The Realm of Tarsere       Adventures In Tarsere    The Horizon Beckons    Session Reports    Chapter III      Session 13. - New Horizons

---

32nd of Last Light, 1439 A.P.

 
 

As the island of Cìrdan slipped further behind them into the night and the ship cut through the waves, the sounds and rhythym of the ship became a strangely familiar comfort to the party. Angrar was the only one that seemed ill at ease as he stood at the stern watching Cìrdan disappear behind them. The others left him to his thoughts and watched the crew efficiently do their jobs.

  Deadeye wasn't the best sailor and if his feathers could have looked green they would have. The motion of the ship did not sit well with his stomach and he quickly retired to his cabin to alternately spend the trip drinking himself into a stupor or leaning over the railing puking his guts out to survive.
  When Cìrdan was finally only a glint on the horizon behind them, the others retired to their cabins, finally able to relax that they'd managed to escape their troubles. As Arbor entered his cabin however, he let out a shocked noise that brought them all up short. Sitting on his bed was a small ornately carved wooden box next to a longer thinner box carved from the same wood. Resting delicately on top of the box was a vellum scroll with an icy blue blob of wax embossed with a stylised elven letter L.
  The others crowded round as Arbor hesitantly cracked the seal. He read quietly to himself, letting a short laugh slip out which he quickly contained. When he was done, he opened the box up and removed a golden coin which he pocketed. He then offered a silver version of the same coin to each of the others, careful not to touch them himself. At the questioning looks of the group, he explained that the letter and coins were an apology from the Lady Leann for her last gifts. He also handed the long box to Oorr, stating that she was returning his sword, saying that the priests were stripping it of its magic and she fixed it for them. He also shared that Leann said he would need it "to rescue The Captain and travel to Baraquelle."
  Oorr ruefully shook his head at the irony of the situation and was very hesitant to take the blade back but eventually did so... instantly complaining that it was still broken. When Urith asked what was so special about the coins, Arbor said that the letter just said they would provide enlightenment and as a reminder of their time with the Lady, to which they all were a little hesitant to believe. With little else to be gleaned from the note, they retired to their cabins and let the sounds of the ship lull them off to sleep (interrupted only occasionally by the sound of Deadeye retching over the rail).
  When morning came, they were awoken by the sounds of gulls along with a brief rap on their cabin door by a crewman letting them know they'd be docking soon. Back on deck, they were witness to the sun-drenched beauty of Dhabara's capital, Aran Dhabar. While not as elegant as Cìrdan, the city covered several low rolling hills with the buildings accentuating the picturesque panorama.
  Once the ship was docked and the party disembarked, they briefly discussed their options. Oorr was extremely insistent about getting his sword fixed once and for all while the others wanted to find a place to stay first, especially as Deadeye was only standing up straight because he was being propped up between Suljurn and Angrar. Oorr took some convincing but finally relented and they set off to find somewhere suitable for Deadeye to sleep off his bender.
  They decided to find something upscale this time, taking the opportunity to indulge themselves while they figure out their next moves. Angrar continued to surprise the group by fluently speaking Dhabaran and asking directions from the locals. Which led them to The Gilded Lily, an upscale establishment near the heart of the city that was somewhat close to the Temple district (Oorr's only request).
  The group let Arbor do the talking with the proprietor, a pretty, dark skinned human lady of middling years who was gracious and happy to assist, even though the inn was already packed with pilgrims and celebrants here for the year end celebrations. After being given several options of rooms, Arbor settled on a private suite costing five times per night as the others, who were happy sharing two other rooms. After depositing their travelling gear in their rooms and pouring Deadeye into his bed to sleep off his self-inflicted state, they headed back down to the common room to break their fast and discuss their options.
  No one had any real idea of what they were going to do. Arbor and Suljurn both talked briefly about the logistics of possibly heading back north but after doing some rough math dismissed it as not something immediately feasible. Angrar suggested possibly searching for the crazy druid with the bounty on his head or following up on some of the rumours they'd heard back in Cìrdan like the rediscovery of the mines near Phandolin somewhere to the south. Urith quietly suggested that maybe they could, um, possibly, leave town and search the wilderness around town for some displacer beasts for a project he was working on but was loudly talked over by Oorr and his emphatic insistence that their only immediate concern was finding a priest to fix his sword and once they were done that, then they could book passage back north to Gald to reclaim his castle from his uncle.
  More because it would shut him up, than because they really agreed with his plan, the party decided to head to the temples and help Oorr fix his blade. Inquiring with the innkeeper for directions, they were pleasantly surprised to find that the Temple of Rayah was nearby. After leaving a note with Deadeye as to their whereabouts, they made their way to the temple of Rayah.
  The streets were fairly crowded with people as they made their way to their destination, getting more congested the closer they got to the temple. At first, they assumed it was due to the upcoming Midwinter celebrations of Samhain, but as they got to the steps of the church they discovered the area cordoned off and several guards speaking to the priests outside.
  Oorr, instinctively recognising a crime scene and "his people", pushed through the crowd to speak with the guards. The others, overcoming their natural urges to avoid the watchful eye of the law, followed along reluctantly. He stepped up, just as the watch captain finished his conversation and stepped away, and was left introducing himself to the priest.
  After a brief introduction where Arbor stepped in and took over the conversation before Oorr's mouth started getting them into trouble, they inquired about what had happened and discovered that the temple had been robbed the previous day. The thieves had broken into the crypt beneath the temple and stolen a sacred relic of the church. The priest explained that the city watch had chased the thieves through town but they had escaped on horseback and were last seen riding south along the road.
  Oorr, impulsively jumped at the opportunity to assist the priest, and stated that they would recover the relic. While the others, especially Arbor, balked at helping without discussing suitable remuneration Oorr ignored them and barrelled on, asking about getting his sword fixed. The priest's tone changed to genuine distress and he seemed lost. He apologised and said that they did normally offer the service to remove curses, however the only person who could do it was the Arch Deacon who was currently missing. The group could tell he was holding back powerful emotions in front of the still gathered crowd.
  Oorr missed the social cues and opportunity to be empathetic and instead asked about where they could find the Arch Deacon. The priest ignored the callousness, and took a moment to visibly collect himself. He realised an opportunity and asked the group to come inside, directing another priest to stay near the front doors.
  Once inside, he told the group that after the theft, the Arch Deacon had taken several of the church's young acolytes into the library and crypt under the temple to see what else the thieves had taken. He'd been concerned that there may have been more down there. That had been yesterday and they had not been seen from since. The priest said that strange things had been happening beneath the temple and he was worried about the Arch Deacon and the acolytes. He feared that with the relic removed, certain protections that it provided would fail, though he didn't elaborate as to what they were (and the party didn't ask). With the upcoming year-end celebrations in two days time, he was fearful of the consequences it would have on his parishioners .
  The party all agreed that they would help the priest out and find the Arch Deacon and the acolytes. They asked surprisingly few questions. Only inquiring briefly about the nature of the Relic, discovering that it was an ancient sword belonging to the first Paladin of their Order in Dhabara with powers against the undead. They also asked how many acolytes there were. The priest told them matter of factly that there had been seven acolytes, as was appropriate.
  While they were asking questions, they were interrupted by a hysterical young acolyte running up the stairs from the library below and collapsing at the priests feet. The priest (and others) quickly rushed to his aid. Through the sea of robes, the party saw ripped and torn robes and bloodly slashes against the acolytes pale skin. The priest they spoke to said there was poison in the wound and they would tend to his needs. He pleaded with the party to save the others.
  The party took this as their cue and charged down the stairs to the library beneath spoiling for a fight. They headed down the stairs, expecting something dingy and dark. Instead, they found well-lit tiled floors with stacks of shelves at least 20 feet high, all packed with books. The first chamber was well lit with magical glowing lights hovering at regularly intervals. When they got to the bottom of the wide, well lit stairscase, the room was huge. Almost sixty foot across at its longest point. Passages led north and south, both lined thickly with more books and to the east they could see what looked like another large room filled with desks with stacks of books.
  While they examined the passageways, Suljurn noticed a blood trail leading away down the southern passage. Feeling that was their best bet, they proceeded down the long corridor, ever cautious against something jumping out at them (like knowledge or wisdom). They came to a small round chamber off the passage and went inside, as the blood trail seemed to lead there. It was a small round chamber filled with more books. An odd mechanical clicking noise could be heard coming from down the southern passage and the blood trail seemed to lead that way as well.
  Following cautiously followed the passage as it curved around and opened into a larger room. At the far end of the room was the source of the noise. A giant mechanical sculpture with several orbs of various sizes set at different distances from a central larger orb stylised to look like a sun and all attached to a base with various gears and cables. Suljurn called the thing an orrery and noted that it was supposed to show the relative motion of the planets around the sun. The apparatus looked like it was broken however. It would shudder and shake as if attempting to move and then the clicking noise would be heard and then the motion would repeat.
  As they entered the room, they saw that the blood trail led to the back of the apparatus. When they were close enough, they discovered the body of an acolyte was wedged into the back of the apparatus. Her robes and the flesh underneath bore repeated slashes. They tried to determine the cause of death but were somewhat uncertain. The scene showed no signs of a scuffle and they were unsure how the body became wedged in the apparatus. They had two working theories. First, they suspected she'd been attacked in the outer passage and had ran here to hide, then passed out due to blood loss and her body had collapsed into the orrery, trapping it. The second theory that Oorr proposed was, that the acolyte had been attacked and killed elsewhere and the attacker(s) -- likely some of the thieves still in the library -- had dumped her body here as a distraction as they did something nefarious elsewhere.
  Regardless of the cause of death, they extracted the body from the apparatus and Suljurn uncharacteristically said a brief prayer to Ogham to ease her on her journey. Oorr, who was a Rayahn devotee, also said some faith appropriate words while the others waited respectfully a short distance away.
  Once the body had been seen to, they backtracked back to the main hallway and continued further down as it turned east. They hadn't seen any tracks and neither Urith or Oorr were certain this was the way she'd come as the blood trail had ended with her body. Halfway down the hall, they came to an opening on the northern wall that opened to a large room filled with bookshelves. They took the opportunity to investigate the room as they heard rustling noises within the room.
  Initially they didn't find anything within the room. Arbor looked at the books and those that he could read were mostly travelogues and monographs on historical events. While they were investigating the room, the source of the rustling noise soon became apparent as a flock of stirges swooped down from the rafters and attacked. The tiny creatures were more than a nuisance, latching onto Suljurn and Angrar and causing significant damage before flitting out of range again. Urith feathered a few of them fairly easily and Arbor a few more with his spells. Angrar even managed to cleave one in two as it attempted to latch onto him like the others had. Only Oorr and Suljurn had any real difficulty hitting them.
  The fight didn't last overly long though. With the vermin dealt with, the party determined that they were unlikely to have been the cause of death of the young acolyte. The room was searched and they didn't find any evidence of the the other acolyte's whereabouts so they went back to the main passageway and continued down it methodically heading east. When the passage turned back north and came to a crossroads, they realised the western route led back into the history wing.
  They decided to head north and quickly came to a small circular reading nook, or possibly an office. As they entered the room, they heard shuffling from the far corner and saw a young man in a dishevelled acolyte's robe cowering behind a bookshelf in the corner. He cowered away from them fearfully and only came out once he was nearly surrounded.
  Oorr instinctively went into investigator mode and started asking him questions about the dead body but the acolyte didn't understand the language. Only when Angrar was able to translate did he start to open up. He said he knew nothing of the girl or her death. Something about his appearance didn't sit right with the group though, and they pushed and pushed and eventually broke through his facade.
  After he finally broke down under their questioning, the young man revealed that his name was actually Garrick and he and his mates, Bashir and Narg had been hired by someone as local muscle to help them rob the crypt. They were local thieves, who'd been approached by The Daymaster, one of the leaders of the guild who'd recruited them to do some freelance work. It had been a good plan and good money. Too good to pass up really.
  Bashir was good with locks and Narg was good muscle. Garrick knew a servant girl who cleaned the temple so they had a way in. They didn't see their employers cause they'd always worn dark red robes and masks and rarely spoke. When they did, Garrick described it as an angry whisper. Their employers had said all they'd wanted was the sword and Garrick and his friends could have whatever other loot they could get their hands on.
  He said that they'd taken the sword and ran. Leaving Garrick and his friends to loot the gems and gold that had been lying around beside it. Garrick said that's when weird shit started happening. They started hearing voices and the hair on the back of their necks kept standing on end. They made their way out of the crypt as fast as they could, definitely feeling unwelcome. Then when they came up stairs, they ran right into his high holiness, the Deacon and a bunch of his whelps. Not wanting to face the wrath of the high priest, they split up and ran. Garrick said he ducked in here and lost track of his friends. Saying he'd been hiding ever since.
  They continued to question him about the death of the acolyte and refused to believe him when he said he'd had nothing to do with her death. The party was very insistent that he come with them, stating that he was under arrest. Garrick emphatically and repeatedly disagreed and asked them kindly to just let him go and be on his way. Oorr forced the issue and drew steel to threaten Garrick into complying. Unfortunately Garrick was prepared for it and a fight broke out.
  It soon became apparent that individually Garrick outclassed them and only their numbers kept the fight relatively even. He quickly hit them with several heavy blows and wove his way through their gauntlet with ease. Arbor let loose with a spell, only to have the wild magic take control and it backfire on him, turning all his gold coin to silver in an instant. Angrar and Suljurn thankfully managed to get some good hits on the thief, who quickly changed tactics from defending himself to escaping.
  He stunned and disabled them before making a break back down the passageway behind them. Urith managed to get his hunter's mark on him before he disappeared and chased after him while the others regrouped and followed after. The thief was fast though and raced ahead, staying just out of range of Urith's bow, and just far enough away to force him to chase rather than take aim. The thief raced northwards, down a hallway that they presumed led back to the main room but hadn't explored. When he got to the end, instead of turning left and heading upwards to the Main temple, the thief dodged right into the scriptorium. He ducked and weaved amongst the desks and strangely stacked piles of books making for the far archway.
  Urith finally caught up enough to take aim and placed a solid shot into his shoulder, which caused him to stumble, knocking over a stack of books. A great unearthly screech emanated from the room beyond and a ghostly female figure bore down on Garrick as he lay stunned on the ground. The figure reached into his chest, and his body stiffened painfully. He twitched once and then collapsed, lifeless on the floor.
  The figure looked up and locked eyes with Urith and an unnatural fear gripped his soul. The others entered the room shortly afterwards and they too were gripped with the fear once they saw the ghost bearing down on them. Oorr's natural resilence (or ignorance) allowed him to shake off the fear and he charged forward, ready to slay the latest threat. Suljurn charged forward as well. Fearful, but unwilling to yield to the ghost.
  The fight was brutal, with the ghost incapacitating both Angrar and Oorr on separate occasions. With their spells, and healing almost completely tapped out, they sounded a tactical retreat, heading back up the stairs to the Temple proper, hoping to get reinforcements. Oorr was first and sputtered "Guh-Guh-Ghost in the Library!" before collapsing at the feet of a priest who was investigating the commotion.
  Suljurn stubbornly refused to retreat, keeping the ghost occupied long enough for the others to get to safety. He finally collapsed, on the brink of death, only to be brought back not once, or twice, but three times by the lucky spellwork of the others. Each time he collapsed, the ghost came closer to the others. Finally Urith overcame his fear and managed to do enough damage to sever the creature's connection to this world. It disappeared into mist and they hoped it was gone for good.
 

The party, all crawled upstairs and asked the priests for a miracle, desperate for some healing. They were too tired or broken to even bother rummaging through Garrick's belongings.