[3/6] PCs: Bastra, Jenna, Lucas, Oren, Stone
We picked up in the immediate aftermath of the fight with the shadows. In the small cellar, they were confronted with two (obvious) doors – one large brass door with faces and symbols, magically locked. The other wood door was to a small bedroom, abandoned ages ago – with a skeleton still in the remnants of a mattress in a crumbling bed, a small table, and a bookcase.
Ironically, the first trio that headed into the bedroom was Jenna, Oren, and Stone; the bookshelf mostly interested them for the small brass chest on the shelf. After a careful look, Jenna managed to work the chest open and found a few old gold coins and a vial still containing liquid.
In the center room, Bastra & Lucas puzzled at the door and the waxed ball in the “mouth” of the door. They worked the bronze ball free and examined the four slots, debating whether they should try placing the ball at random. They were interrupted, however, by Oren calling out from the bedroom that they had found books, catching Lucas’s attention.
Many of the books showed signs of damage and neglect – mold along the edges, a few fully crumbling. Of the best remaining, one was quickly identified as the spellbook of a Goblin Enchantress, the second was a popular (but centuries old) treatise on business and partnerships, while the third was a journal.
Lucas decided to take the spellbook up to daylight for easier reading. Calling for guidance, Oren thumbed through the journal and stopped “randomly” on a page with cryptic words… that the PCs quickly put together as corresponding to the brass door puzzle.
Lucas was called, but stayed up in the sun, reading. As he read the enchantress’s spells, he wished for a victim to try them out on… but the remote wilderness and lack of traffic (along the road to the buried town) denied him the opportunity.
Beyond the brass door was a larger chamber with a green summoning circle in the center of the room, a few shreds of old robes hanging from hooks, and against the wall items in niches. Detect magic quickly identified the symbol on the floor as conjuration, linked to the door by an abjuration. Near the symbol was a corpse, apparently unmarred (though also quite old).
A few scrolls, some coins, and a cold enchanted javelin were fetched out of the niches. Then everyone exited and “don’t enter” signs were posted on the door, in hopes of preventing accidental summoning of whatever the symbol conjured.
Opposite the brass door, the PCs noticed that many mud tracks approached a blank wall. They investigated and found a tunnel heading left and right. Left turned 90 degrees after 40′, and trended up towards faint daylight. Right meandered into the distance; Bastra felt far more comfortable suggesting they follow the slight descent into earth. About 300′ later, the tunnel ended in a cavern that was flooded a few inches deep with water, and dripping water sound from the far wall. The pool was empty other than tiny finger length fish; after a pause, they decided to backtrack and try the route to the surface.
They emerged from the hollow of a tree, bursting loudly out. The sound drew small bush-like creatures to repel the invaders; after a brief battle, the vegepygmies were defeated.
[Session end]
The Heroes:
Bastra, a Drow sorcerer from another plane
Jenna, a Tibaxi psychic rogue from the feywild
Lucas, a Mikpos wizard from cosmopolitan Cratais
Oren, a Druid from the local wilderness
Stone, a Dragonborn paladin