Praerus D&D 5e Campaign Notes, Session 8

Evening, everyone!

Sunday was certainly interesting for gaming, and here's how!

To begin, the phrase "rub your butt on the enlarged man" was uttered.

This week, we had Sabah and Ulic in attendance, and Saito's player introduced a new character named Rellon (information on the character page). Hec and Trinity's players couldn't make it, making this the first time that Trinity was on DM-autopilot.

As a note, there was a lot of improvisation on my part as the DM this week. And, you know what, I think everyone enjoyed it that way.

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Rellon was en route from the Arcanum to Rosewood to locate the prophecy that was underground.

After some trial and error, he was able to find his way into the tunnels below Rosewood (the same pit that Kara and Ulic had used when they first went there).

It was about that time that Ulic's amulet "ping'd" and set Sabah on guard.

She assumed a defensive posture and approached the hallway while Trinity and Hec enjoyed "brain over brawn." Ulic was ill from trying the stuff.

After some quick searching of the nearby tunnels, Rellon discovered an ancient armory where everything was marked with elemental runes. As a researcher, this tickled him in a powerful way.

Sabah and Ulic decided they might want to seek out the mage that triggered the charm, so made their way slowly through the tunnels.

After some bungling about on both parts, Sabah and Ulic located Rellon and Sabah attempted to sneak up on him.

Rellon, however, has unusually keen ears and heard the approaching priest. With the snap of his fingers, he produced the sound of a rattlesnake near her feet, freezing her in place.

Rellon took advantage of the situation to knock over a table and take cover.

However, it turned out that such movement triggered some sort of elemental windstorm in the chamber, snuffing out all light sources and making it hard to hear.

At this point, Ulic cried out "I think I know him..." and the player's cell phone indicated a text message with two silenced pistol reports. Much laughter ensued.

After settling down, Ulic and Rellon confirmed each other's identities and the party gathered once more.

Together, they looked about the room for anything interesting or important.

And, in a stack of odds and ends, Rellon found a shortsword that was strangely clean.

He wrapped and stowed it and the party moved onward.

This room had several entrances, and they tried one of the doors.

Sabah heard something on the other side and warned everyone, getting them into combat positions.

Without warning, she kicked the door in.

And it bounced back from something.

With another kick, it was revealed that the room beyond was full of zombies.

Thankfully, Sabah's Channel Divinity feature was ramped up at this point and could destroy any undead of CR 1/2 or less. And so, only one zombie (an ogre) was left in the room.

And it failed its saving throw.

It made a very hasty retreat toward some stairs that it stumbled down and promptly went to pieces under.

As Sabah torched its remains, the other party members examined the room.

It was a way-shrine to the traveler god Fharlanghn.

But, the question was asked, what was it doing here?

With this mystery ever-building, the party headed downstairs.
And discovered a large summoning seal in the floor of the first chamber.
With a little remembering legends and lore, they discovered that this was part of a long-lost labyrinth complex described in some passages of Old One literature.
And it was hiding under Rosewood the entire time.

With a little wandering, they mapped out a good chunk of the southern portion of the map.
There, they found a chamber for guards to rest in and a place where they stored their food.
While passing through the storage room, Ulic set off a trap that launched two walls at each other.
Thankfully, his checkered past prepared him to jump out of the way.

With a few minutes of work, he was able to dismantle the trigger to prevent any further trouble.

Beyond this, they saw a strange sight - a shrine. It was apparent that this was not part of the original construction.
Shortly after entering, Sabah approached the alter, knelt down, and said softly "so, this is where I died..."
It turned out that a ghost was residing in this room and possessed Sabah to communicate with the party.
During a rather pleasant conversation, the party learned that this was the ghost of Arroh Hartsight, a member of one of the races they call the Old Ones. She was once a huntress, but became the high priestess of the god Trykus (knowledge and light, symbol is an open tome with a scepter along the spine). And, much like the party, she was unsure as to how she got to where she was presently.

Rellon decided to see if Arroh could recognize the summoning seal in the other room, and so led Sabah/Arroh to the door.
Where the two promptly separated, with Arroh's form floating in the doorway.
At this point, one of the ghost's natural defenses kicked in and everyone had to make a Charisma save to avoid being frightened.
Sabah and Rellon were fine, Trinity and Hec were frightened.
But Ulic got hit the hardest. Having failed his save by more than 5, he also aged 40 years, making him go from his youth to middle age in the blink of an eye.

Arroh did not expect that happen and apologized immediately.
With short order, however, her specter vanished from sight.

With some puzzling over the situation, Rellon decided to become a willing vessel for Arroh.
While the two were connected, they did a very high-speed information exchange. Rellon ended up converting to the faith of Trykus in that time.

Then the joined-souls struck upon a plan.
Using his conjuration ability, Rellon created a holy symbol of Trykus to act as a focus for his beliefs.
The theory was that this would allow Arroh's spirit to leave her final resting place.

So, with a deep breath, they crossed the threshold...

And it worked!

Now free of the shrine, the group went back to the summoning seal and let Arroh analyze it.
Unfortunately, she knew nothing of it.

With their new ghostly companion, the party returned to Rosewood to try to establish a more permanent abode for Arroh and restore Ulic's youth.

And that's what happened.
Lots of fun for everyone, like I said.

But what sort of strangeness is going on in the tunnels below Rosewood?

Tune in next time to see what happens!
Until then - roll the bones :)