Sol Tenebrus: Game Session Notes

February 13, 2016
The group decided that the best first course of action was to tackle the issue of the Shadow Gate that was supposedly below the ruins of Tresendar Manor. We've said that Gor-Gor was still recovering from his experiences in the Gray as the reason why he was not available. Missing their favorite Sunshard wielding goon, the group asked around town to see if they could find someone to fill the vacant spot.

Silas wasn't able to recommend anyone in particular, though he mentioned that lots of adventurous folk have started to congregate in the town looking for work. He has sent them all to the Stonehill Inn. Sister Garaele said the same, but she did mention two things: One in elvish towards Syril specifically that you may or may not hear from the group, and also that a newcomer has arrived in town. A monk from the B'omarr Monastery has come to Phandalin, and had left an offering in the Nature Temple that the Sister tends.

The group headed to The Stonehill Tavern, and even though the place was chock full of lunchtime patrons, it wasn't difficult to pick out the newcomer. The bizarrely dressed monk was at the bar conversing with some of the waitstaff, but the group wasted no time in introducing themselves. The Monk (Fish), some variant of human that none of you are familiar with, introduced himself as Kilgore Knox, and explained that he was a chronicler for his sect. he was searching for a lost brother (a gobber) but also had heard tales of the group... and of Kyros (Adam's warlock/sorcerer) specifically, and by name. The group was a little taken aback that their exploits had already been heard by the Monks, as it has only been a few weeks since you've started this adventure. Nevertheless, here we are. Bob (who was also laid up with the lingering effects of the Gray) was consulted concerning this missing gobber monk, but he had never heard of him. Is was suggested that Auntie Gert might be a good resource for this.

So, with a new party member in tow, the group headed towards the Tresendar ruins. Once out of town, Kilgore had a secret to reveal: it wasn't just the group's exploits that he had heard about. It was one in particular. The monks had heard that the group had battled the brain-bugs of their Illithid foes! Gor-Gor, like most of the group, has no idea what an Illithid is, and might assume (as others have) that "Illithid" is what the brain bugs are called.

Lurking in the shadows at the top of the hill, the wizard Iarno met with the group to ask their intentions in the ruins. Upon learning of the mission to find and destroy the Shadow Gate, Iarno was pleased. He wasn't going to give too much information about the gate, as he apparently wanted the group to tackle this one on their own. He was quiet sure of their abilities.He did lead the group through the process though, which entailed using Detect Magic to find the gate, making an Intelligence: Arcana check to learn about how it functions, and then a dispel magic (with contested roll vs the gate) to dismantle the dweomer.

The group scouted the ruins' basement level, and found it just as it was left. Thoriden (Sküm's cleric) suggested that the gate might be in the Crypt (spookiness seems to go with gate locations), and so Syril prepared to cast the Detect Magic spell as a ritual. Sure enough, the room began to emit a necromantic aura to the elven druid's eyes. The entire room. The crypt caches, where the bodies of the Tresendar dead have been put to rest, seemed particularly potent.

Once this was learned, Kyros made an Intelligence: Arcana check, and rolled a 19. With this roll he was able to learn that A) Undead could use the gate at will, but only at night. B) That the crypts could be used as gates too, and that the skeletons that laid there were somehow involved. It appeared, upon further investigation, that the some skeletal remains had climbed out of their crypts, and apparently then gotten back in. I let the group know that if the roll had been a 20, they would've known the DC to beat to dispel the shadow gate.

It was decided that before attempting to dispel the gate, that they would try to destroy the skeletons and the crypt caches first and see if that did the job. There were 6 skeletons in the 9 caches, 4 of which crumbled to dust at Thoriden's call to the Four Lords. The other two rolled out of their caches, drew swords,  and attacked! Kilgore  wasted no time in showing off his impressive combat skillz (they were that mad, yo, that they required a "z"!). From 10 feet away he lashed out at them with his fists and quarterstaff, and the attacks connected as if were right next to them! One of the skellies exploded into bits, the other was quick enough to not be. That gave it the opportunity to bang the pommel of its sword in a rhythmic pattern on the wall, and the group all concluded that "this can't be good". And it wasn't! One of those weird, old-timey ghouls appeared literally out of nowhere and attacked, who else, Syril! Those ghouls really like elf-flesh! This ghoul wore better clothes and seemed to carry itself a bit differently, with a noble air. Donny succinctly called from the other room "It's probably a Ghoul Noble". Adam's kid, who'da guessed? Anyway, Donny was correct, and the Ghoul Noble grabbed Syril and started devouring him at the neck. Not liking that one bit, the druid shapeshifted into an ape, and broke free from the undead thing, but only after Kyros had hexed it and blasted it with some of his magic. Blows were traded, but when the Noble Ghoul's turn came next he looked at Syril smiling his bloody grin, said "I'll find you" in a sing-song voice, and disappeared.

Meanwhile, Bob the Gob was off investigating the rest of the level, and is certain he heard goblin voices. He couldn't tell if it was goblins or gobber kids lurking in the dark, but they sure seemed to have noticed him and departed. Bob decided to bring out the Morningstar and sunlight washed over the chamber. All he could find of the goblins were an obvious small camp over at the entrance to one of the tunnels. He also saw a glint of light in the crevasse that splits the room, and assumed it was a coin. Upon further investigation, it turned out to be a beautiful, all bronze, curved dagger. Later he would attune to it, and learn it was called Aeris's Tooth and was a +1 weapon that could take the form of a dagger, or a spear. It was always warm to the touch, as if it had been laying in the sun.

After the battle with the Noble Ghoul, Syril ran upstairs to see if it was still daytime: it was. Iarno sat on a stone knocking spent ashes from his pipe, and asked the druid how the mission went, noting by the bite on his neck that he "appears to have met The Sandman". Syril asked who the fuck was that guy, and then told Iarno what had happened so far. He mentioned that the group's research pointed to the fact that undead could only use the gate during the night... why could this thing appear during the day? Iarno hefted his wizard's staff and said that he could do it, maybe the Sandman has an item or ability that allows him to as well.

Thoriden cast dispel magic on the Shadow Gate, but was not strong enough to take it down (ie rolled too low on his dispel magic check). It was decided that the group would camp there for the night, and Syril would prepare dispel magic to attempt again on the morrow. Meanwhile, at all times one of the group has been keeping vigil, holding the Morningstar aloft and alight to keep the Gate from working (it doesn't function at all in direct sunlight).

March 19th, 2016
You all rested in the cellar of Tresendar Manor, and after regaining your spells for the day, you attempted once more to dispel the Shadowgate in the crypt. The first attempt was a failure, but on second try the group rallied and was able to dismantle the gate to the Grey. This will go a long way to bolstering the small town's defenses.

Bob the Gob went off into the depths of the cellars, looking for the goblins he thought he had heard the night before. After some skulking about, they found him!! Arrows sailed through the air, and Bob shouted to the group to come join the fight. All of you chased after the goblins, down the stairs to the Temple of the Nighthunter, and stumbled upon a group of goblinoids! A couple of Bugbears, a Goblin Boss, and a mess of half a dozen goblins crept out of the gloom to engage you all. In the back of the large chamber, a ghostly red flight of bats seemed to be circling around a central point, which the group later figured out was likely a Priest who had cast Spirit Guardians spell. After defeating the group of Bugbears and Goblins, the group didn't encounter the priest at all. It is assumed the he fled deeper into the tunnels. Using the Mithral Pick, Thoriden worked to collapse the tunnels to the north and the one to the east as well, hoping to stave off any further intrusions. The tunnel to the west (leading to the Blasted Fen) was left open. The group kept one goblin alive to question him, who gave up some info, but mostly tried to convince Bob the Gob to join the Nighthunter's cabal. I'll let someone from the group fill you in on what else they found out. The last the group saw of that gob was that he headed off down into the tunnels, cursing once he found two of them collapsed.

Upon exiting the cellars, the group had a meeting with Iarno, the wizard you all "rescued" from the Mines. After getting the details of what happened down in the depths, Iarno says that he's going to plan to put together a group of adventurers to map out the tunnels. If the goblins made their way to Phandalin through there, it could end up being a weak point in the town's defenses. Emmet, Iarno's homunculus,  has joined the group. Iarno made sure that the group remembered that anything Emmet knows Iarno does as well, and vice versa.

Bob, Syril and Gor-Gor then went to talk with Sister Garaele, and while there a River Elf came running up from the docks looking for Syril. One of the boats was travelling upstream when they saw a body floating in the water, cradled in the roots of an oak tree on the bank. Garaele takes a look at the body, and said that it was Reidoth, the druid that was monitoring Ogremont. The naked body was covered in thousands of little cuts, and was completely drained of blood. The group thought it looked an awful lot like the wounds from those Razorbats that you all encountered the first time you were in the Nighthunter's Temple below Tresendar Manor.

The group met back up at Stonehill Inn for lunch, and Kyros came down from the rooms to join them. Something seemed off though, as though he wasn't quite himself. Knowing the Warlock's past... eccentricities? the group became very cautious. Kyros told them that they should expect someone to arrive, someone who will aid them in the battle against The Enemy. Shortly after this, Kyros went back to the rooms, and promptly passed out.

The rest of the group met in the rooms as well, and Kilgore (your new Monk ally) revealed a further secret: he is not human! He removed his head wrappings to reveal pointed, yet serrated, ears and an oblong skull. He said that he is a member of the Gith race, and that his kind were once enslaved by the Illithids. He is Githzerai, of those who went into monastic contemplation after acquiring their freedom. He mentioned his kind's cousins, the Githyanki, who are a murderous lot prone to raiding and plunder. They share a common enemy in the Illithids, though, and his Monastery was able to find an enclave of the monsters here on this world. The Illithids, they believe, have no knowledge of the Gith's presence on Athas as of yet.

Bob and Syril go to see Silas, the townmaster, and get the deed to 10% of the mine's profits. They have some scribes make up a dozen copies or so for the individuals of the group to have, but where to keep the original? Also, the adventuring group needs a name...

The group decides that it is time to investigate the strange happenings at Ogremont, but Bob and Syril announce that they will not be joining. Bob feels that he is more valuable here in Phandalin,if not Tyr, and Syril feels a draw to the Blasted Fens to the south. Kilgore gives both Bob and Syril a token, one that they can give to any of his monastic brothers if they ever need to find him again. One of the River Elves (Captain of the group that found Reidoth's body) offers to ferry the heroes up to Ogremont, and can leave the next morning at earliest. It will take you about 2 days going upstream to reach the town.

The group calls it a night, and sleeps soundly without a care in the world. Well, not really :)

See it turns out that tonight is one of those rare occurrences where both Ral and Guthay (Athas' moons) are in their new phase at the same time... and the night is completely dark. Known as Goblin's Feast, this is historically when Goblin raids would attack human caravans and small settlements. With their night vision, the goblins held a great advantage over the night blind humans.

Thoriden decided that he wanted to see the great darkness for himself, as being a dwarf he wondered if the dark sky would remind him of the underground dwellings of his people. So he spent the evening wandering around with the Watch, and it was around midnight that the first watchman fell from the sky, before breaking apart on the cobblestone streets like a melon. A melon that screamed all the way down before being silenced in a sickening crunch, that is.

A Nightwarrior, one of those strange bat-goblins that you saw made in the temple, swooped out of the sky and picked up another guard, only to drop him to his death moments later. The alarm was sounded, and the group was rousted from their sleep. Kilgore and Gor-Gor (no known relation) both leaped from the windows of their second floor rooms down to the square. Kilgore landed gracefully in a roll. Gor-Gor hit the ground like a ton of bricks, but it seemed to hurt the cobblestones more than it did the Ogrun warrior. Battle ensued. Bob and Syril sniped from their windows as the Nightwarrior engaged Gor-Gor, Kilgore, Thoriden, and the two remaining watchmen. Gor-gor, wielding Lightbringer, smote the demonic Bat-goblin hybrid, but the watchmen's crossbows and Kilgore's mighty fists did nothing to the beasts. Giant bats with goblin riders swooped out of the darkness, releasing clouds of Razorbats that had been clinging to their bellies. One of the Riders cast a spell at Gor-Gor, paralyzing the only fighter on the ground with the ability to harm the Nightwarrior. Clouds of Razorbats harried Thoriden, effectively keeping him out of the battle. The bat-riders searched for something, and upon seeing Bob in the windows of the Inn, they pointed to and yelled "There he is, in the window!" and it became apparent what they searched for. Then the two riders focused on Bob, shooting at him with blowguns. One struck home, and nearly knocked the Legendary Gobber out with the needle's sleep enchantment (missed it by 1 hitpoint!!!). Bob shot his bow and Syril blasted at the rider multiple times with his druidic magic, and dropped the flier. The bat flew off into the night, screaming in rage and pain. Down below, the priest Thoriden had fought free from the razorbat clouds and called upon the power of the Four Lords to smite the Nightwarrior. With the glowing wounds it had already received from Lightbringer's bite, the beast beat its mighty wings and began to get away. Syril blasted it down with nature's fury, and the thing crashed into the cobblestones below. Poestic justic for the beast that had killed so many against those same streets. The two giant bats, one with a rider the other without, took off into the night, and the group could hear their cries as they flew off to the north east.

In the moments it took for the battle to unfold, citizens came streaming out of their homes to see what was going on. A loud bellow of "Citizens, return to your homes!" called out as Terric Mol strode into the square. The paladin commander of the watch set his eyes upon the group, "Of course its you. Its always you. What foul terror have you brought to my town this night?!" he roared. The band of heroes stood firm against the accusations, someone even calling out asking where he had been, during the attack. Terric riled at this, and told the group he would see them ejected from his town at first light!