Session Nine: DEVILS AND DISEASE

The party pressed on through the jungle. Valra, upset about how they had just killed the Giant Constrictor Snake, transformed herself into a snake as she traveled, slithering alongside the rest of the party in silent disapproval. They kept walking until they reached the shore of the lake.

With the daylight receding and the foliage thinning out near the water, they were able to see the flickering light of a campfire further along the shoreline. Hoping to approach stealthily, Adamir cast a Pass Without Trace spell, extending a veil of shadow and silence around the party. Tessel, however, did not quite grasp what he was intending. “Hail!” she called out, before Ralnur grabbed her and shushed her. Luckily, there was no indication that anybody heard the shout. Led by Adamir and Ardwyn, they crept closer and closer to the campfire until they could see it properly.

Sitting cross-legged beside the fire was a monk with a shaved head and symmetrical red tattoos on his head and body. Further away, sitting still halfway in the water, was a Giant Crocodile. The monk did not seem disturbed by it, nor did he take any notice of the party. Ardwyn emerged from the trees and approached, greeting the monk and asking if they might share his fire. The monk just shrugged disinterestedly and stared into the flames. Adamir asked if he knew about the crocodile lurking nearby. The monk slowly looked over, then back at the ranger, and nodded. Tessel told him that they were seeking the monastery, and the monk shrugged again. “You can’t,” he muttered. “It’s... not allowed. I’m supposed to stop you...” He trailed off.

Their conversation continued like this for some time. The monk showed little concern or interest in anything that they did or said. They speculated that he might be enchanted by the fire in some way, or perhaps drugged. Tessel cast a Zone of Truth around the campsite, magically preventing the monk (and most of the party) from speaking lies. But the monk did not change his story. In the ensuing interrogation, the party began to get a clearer picture of what had happened to the monk. His name was Adso. He had been charged by Venkai, the leader of the monastery, to guard the shore and prevent anyone from crossing over to the island. Apparently, devils had attacked the monastery, though they had been sealed away. He had crossed the lake by means of a Water Walk potion, and he had two more with him.

Ralnur was the first to suggest that Adso might be a victim of Soul Sickness, recognizing the symptoms as a more severe version of those that afflicted his mother. And indeed, it seemed to fit what they were seeing. The monk confirmed that he had abandoned most of his supplies, and he offhandedly mentioned that he had not eaten for at least a couple of days.

Concerned about the enormous crocodile lurking nearby, Ralnur carefully approached it, hoping to get a sense for whether or not it was preparing to attack. It seemed a bit jumpy, and definitely unfriendly, but it wasn’t actively hunting for prey. The party decided that they needed to rest, and decided to stay near Adso to make sure he survived long enough to travel to the monastery with them. They began laying out their bedrolls, and Ardwyn made an attempt to rig up hers as a hammock in the trees. It didn’t look very sturdy, but she did her best to hide her lack of confidence in her handiwork.

Unfortunately, it was at this moment that the crocodile shifted, facing the party and tensed to fight. Ralnur drew his greataxe, looked back at the rest of the party, and announced his assessment: “Guys. It’s crocodile time.”

Everybody moved at once. Ardwyn was the first to rush forward, smacking the crocodile on the nose with the flat of her battleaxe and firmly saying “no!” But the monstrous reptile was only angered. It rushed forward with its mouth wide open and chomped down on the dwarf with frightening force. Bleeding and battered, she lost consciousness and began to slip towards oblivion.

The others hurried to help, and Adamir hit the crocodile with a well-aimed arrow. Ralnur charged forward in a rage, but the wild swipes of his axe missed the beast entirely. Tessel, worried for her friend that was still locked in the monster’s jaws, reached out and sent forth a small burst of healing power, just enough to wake Ardwyn from consciousness. The paladin followed up with a Sanctuary spell. When the crocodile tried to bite down and kill the dwarf, it found itself magically repelled, and instead turned its jaws on Tessel. But the croc’s teeth bounced harmlessly off the paladin's brand new plate armor. Frustrated, it lashed out its tail and struck Ralnur, but the half-orc barely felt the blow in his battle rage, and he managed to keep his feet.

Adamir began to cast a Cure Wounds spell on Ardwyn, but she called out, “why aren’t you fighting?” He drew another two arrows and fired them into the crocodile instead. Ardwyn then jumped forward to take her revenge. “It was fun,” she told it, “but a little too much tongue for me!” With that, she threw her dagger right into the crocodile’s eye. It reared its head back in pain, arcing its body into the air, before it finally collapsed, falling dead on its side. Ralnur, coming out of his battle rage, collapsed as well, exhausted.

Adso, the monk, watched all this with slightly raised eyebrows.

Adamir set to work retrieving the hide of the giant crocodile, while the rest of the party went ahead with making camp. They rested, recovering somewhat from their various wounds, though Ardwyn found that the teeth marks were slow to heal.

The next morning, Ralnur gently took the two Water Walk potions from Adso, who did not resist. Both he and Tessel downed a potion, and they steeled themselves to carry the entire party, including Adso, across the lake. Tessel carried Ardwyn, who held out her battleaxe and called “CHARGE!” as they walked, while Ralnur carried the other two.

(Valra, for her part, transformed into a crocodile and continued to silently haunt the party. She did not like how they treated the wildlife.)

Tessel was feeling quite tired by the time they reached the island, about 3 hours later. They were met by a trio of monks, each dressed and tattooed like Adso. The one in the middle was apparently Venkai, the head of the monastery, and he approached them with a scowl. “Thank you for bringing our brother back to this island. You may leave now,” he pronounced. They told him about Adso’s soul sickness and their fight against Baldric, but he merely told them that the Red Monks would not help them, since they did not involve themselves in politics. He insisted that they were not welcome and must go.

He began to waver, however, when Tessel offered to take care of the devils infesting the monastery. Venkai was surprised to hear that they knew about the devils, but after confirming that the party did not expect any reward in return for slaying them, he reluctantly agreed to allow them to stay. The party asked if they could rest and heal before their battle. Venkai agreed, but told them that he would be posting guards around them at all times.

The monks led them up a grassy slope toward the monastery. This turned out to be a large structure centered on a large dome, but most of the monks appeared to be camping out in front of the building in tents. Nearby were other buildings of a similar kind, but completely in ruins; Ralnur recognized the style as similar to the ones he had seen in his journey to the north, where he had found his crow totem. Many of the monks were milling around, setting up fires and gathering food, but it was clear that they were used to living inside the monastery itself instead of this makeshift camp.

The party was led to an empty tent and surrounded by a rotating group of 5-6 monks. They rested the entire day, but they were not totally idle. Ralnur spoke to the guards, and before long, Venkai returned to speak with them again. “Thank you again for bringing Adso back with you,” he began. “I did not realize how far this illness had progressed. He will not take food or water... I apologize if I was rude to you before.”

In the conversation that followed, he told the party much about the monastery and about the attack of the devils. According to Venkai, the Red Monks were an order dedicated to guarding a magical gateway in the center of the domed building that served as their monastery. They were charged with preventing anyone from passing through, and they had fulfilled this mission for millennia. But six months ago, three Barbazu (“bearded devils”) emerged from the other side of the gateway and attacked. One of the devils was killed, but the others slew the monks nearby. In desperation, the last monk broke the “Orb of Forbiddance”, a magical artifact that served as a defense of last resort. With the Orb broken, the monastery was magically sealed and the gateway suppressed, but control of this effect was tied to the current leader of the order, i.e. Venkai himself. He could maintain the seal and selectively allow certain people to pass, but the spell would be broken forever if he died. The monks were proceeding with caution, but they knew that they needed to kill the devils before they could be safe, and even then it was clear that their mission to guard the gateway had changed forever.

The next day, the party assembled outside the monastery. Venkai gave them strict instructions to enter quickly when he signaled. On the count of three, he opened the barrier to them, allowing them to pass. The burst through the outer doors, feeling the energy of the magical barrier as they passed through it. They found themselves facing an inner hallway leading to the monks’ cells on either side, and a double door to an inner dome right in front of them. Tessel used her Divine Sense and immediately detected the two devils waiting on the other side of the doors, prepared to ambush them. She silently signaled this to her companions, and they readied their attack.

Ardwyn began the assault, bursting through the doors and slashing with her daggers. She landed two blows, but she found that her nonmagical dagger didn’t cut nearly as effectively. Unfazed, she gave a wink and slipped back behind the others. The devils responded in perfect coordination, moving to block the entrance to the inner dome, where the gateway lay dormant. First they struck with their glaives from a distance, then they stepped closer to press the attack. The tentacles on their beards thrust forward, trying to strike out at the front line of the party. But despite their coordination, none of their attacks were able to find a target. The party was unscathed.

Ralnur retaliated with two mighty strikes of his greataxe. He made contact both times, striking the already-injured devil on the left, but again it was able to resist most of the nonmagical blade’s effect. Adamir stepped back and fired three rays from his Spicy Buffalo Rings. Arcing through the air, they twisted around the devil, with one of them hitting him straight in the chest. But the devil absorbed the fiery blast with little more than a grin. Its hellish nature, apparently, protected it from fire.

Tessel was quick to wipe the grin off its face. Infusing her sword with immense amounts of holy power, she struck the devil on the right with two mighty blows, each bursting with radiant energy. That was all it took to send the devil flying backward, crumpling dead in a heap on the ground.

Ardwyn attacked again, striking first with her magical dagger and second with the Ceiling Whacks that she had bought from Jilbin. She successfully attached the wax to the remaining devil, but before it could be slammed into the ceiling, it succeeded in breaking free, shattering the wax into pieces in the floor. The devil, now badly injured, struck out with its beard again, hitting Ardwyn and poisoning her. Then it drew its glaive... but instead of attacking her, it grinned once more and drew the glaive against its own throat. Instead of simply falling dead, it dissolved into a pool of ichor.

The corpse of the other devil lay dead on the floor. Tessel explained that it was truly dead because it had died by the holy power of her blade, while the devil that committed suicide would reform somewhere in the Nine Hells. Adamir, never one to waste an opportunity, began to gather what he could from the dead devil’s horns and hide. Tessel took a horn herself and brought it outside to present to Venkai. Though he barely believed that they had conquered the devils so easily, he was quickly convinced and thanked them profusely for their assistance.

Venkai reaffirmed that he could not bring the monks into the fight against Baldric, but he offered to help them get back to the mainland. Luckily, one of the monks had a scroll of a druidic spell, Transport Through Plants, which would allow them to teleport to any of the trees in the nearby forest/jungle. After some discussion, they asked to be sent to the northern end of the jungle, close to the city of Balenor. On the signal, they stepped through the tree (with Ardwyn unfortunately clipping the edge and stumbling through) and emerged at the edge of the forest...

Session Eight: SNAKES AND SECRETS

As the party exited Jilbin’s shop and walked out into the plaza, their attention was caught by a man stepping onto a platform to address the small crowd of people milling about. “Hear ye!” he proclaimed in a booming voice. “An official declaration from the Duke of Wayport! It is announced with great sadness that Duke Seyta Nazir, like so many of his people, has been stricken with the disease known as Soul Sickness. Due to this illness, he has decided to immediately abdicate his title to his son, who will henceforth be known as Duke Rasha Nazir of Wayport. On this day and the next, the Duke will open the doors of his palace to all those of noble blood who wish to greet him. Long live the Duke!”

As the crier stepped down from his platform, the people in the plaza began chattering about the news. One man, a noble wearing puffy clothes and trailed by an equally well-dressed servant, approached the party with his own idle thoughts. “Soul Sickness! Here in Wayport! Can you believe it? It’s one thing when it’s a bunch of Valish peasants falling ill, but a Duke!” However, the brief conversation that followed was strained and awkward for all, and the man quickly moved on.

But Ardwyn still wanted to hear more, and she ran to catch up to the nobleman. She apologized and proceeded to charm him with skillful flattery. The man turned out to be a minor noble named Ocean Talash, and he was happy to answer her questions. He informed her that, although the Duke’s audience was restricted to nobility, “nobility in Wayport could be bought for, oh, about a hundred pieces of gold.”

The rogue returned to her companions and they discussed the news. Ralnur speculated that, if Baldric was responsible for the Soul Sickness, perhaps he had intentionally caused the death of the old Duke. Perhaps the new Duke was different? Tessel decided to investigate this theory by approaching some of the merchants chatting nearby in the plaza. She asked them about the current and former Dukes of Wayport, but they told her that they didn’t expect much to change, implying that the main focus was always on business and wealth. “New Duke, same as the old Duke.” The party set aside the barbarian's theory for the time being.

Ralnur also put forward a plan: “We could go to this party thing, and then beat up everyone! Or steal from them!” Ardwyn decided to teach him a lesson by nimbly snatching his coin purse from his belt. “Yeah, just like that!” he responded enthusiastically. But ultimately, the party talked him down and collectively decided that meeting the Duke of Wayport was not their highest priority.

Instead, they decided to head to the Gold Tower, since they might get answers about the Soul Sickness (and since it was relatively nearby). They tried to figure out a cover story to use when they arrived, but Adamir suggested that they could simply (but carefully) be honest about the fact that they knew victims of the Soul Sickness and wanted to learn more. They set off on the road to the south.

After two days of travel, they stopped at an inn and spoke for a while with the innkeeper. Despite being somewhat hostile toward the half-orc in the party, he was happy to chat. He told the party a bit about the Gold Tower, including the fact that the Sage had not left his quarters at the top of the Tower in generations, and that the Tower was mostly being run by a mage who called himself “Golden Galen”. The innkeeper rolled his eyes a bit when he mentioned the name. He also informed the party that a Seraph had recently passed through, also heading toward the Gold Tower. He described her as a big woman who showed little interest in talking. The next morning, they set off on the road with a bit more trepidation.

The reached the Gold Tower later that day. It was unmistakable: a 12-story square tower made of yellow stone with a magical illusion causing it to glitter in the sunlight. On the lawn were dozens of students practicing simple cantrips, while several teachers strode between them, correcting their spells and giving advice.

The party was able to walk straight into the Tower itself before being greeted in the lobby by Galen Allidale (“Golden Galen”). He, too, was unmistakable. He wore richly decorated robes, bright spiked blonde hair, and a huge toothy grin. “Welcome! WELCOME to the Gold Tower!” he said, nearly shouting. He inquired as to their purpose, and was quick to advertise the variety of instructional courses and spellcasting services available at the school.

While he pitched, Valra decided to look around the lobby and noticed two portraits on opposite sides of the wall. One depicted Galen, while the other portrait showed the face of a rather ugly elf. Ardwyn noticed the portraits as well and spoke up: “Wow, Galen, that portrait of you is AMAZING! But who’s that in the other one?”

“Ah, yes,” he said somewhat grudgingly, “that is our... illustrious Sage, Zeno Caridove.” He explained that the Sage was happy to speak with visiting adventurers, but also suggested that such a meeting would be fruitless, and again began pitching the Tower’s various magical services. While Ardwyn continued to distract him, Tessel began marching up the stairs, and the rest of the party followed. Galen quickly noticed them leaving and showed a hint of dismay, but reassured them that he would be happy to discuss things further when they returned.

After twelve long flights of stairs, they entered a room filled with scattered books, scrolls, and bits of paper. In the center was the Sage of the Gold Tower, Zeno, an elf with stringy white hair and short, squat features. “Adventurers?” he asked brusquely, seemingly annoyed at the interruption. He grabbed a quill and paper. “Very well. Sit down! Answer my questions and let’s get this over with quickly.” There was only one chair in the room, but they made do as best they could. He proceeded to ask each of them for their name, their trade, and their “purpose in life”. The answers ranged from lies (“Arlav”) to truths (“I’m a Paladin”) to nothing at all (“pass”). Simmering with annoyance, the elf proceeded to ask the party how they had come to Rakos (“boats”), how they met (“boats”), what battles they had fought together, et cetera.

Ralnur’s excitement initially got the better of him. “These are the heroes!” he exclaimed. The others were quick to shut him up, but his attempts at covering his mistake (“erm... boats?”) were unconvincing to the suddenly-interested Zeno. Once it was mentioned that the party had fought a demon, his attitude began to change. It quickly became apparent that Zeno had deduced the party’s true identities. “Promising, promising!” he muttered to himself, “but... potentially dangerous...”

“Very well,” Zeno announced, concluding his interrogation. “You came to me for advice, I presume? I will help you. But on one condition: you must agree that when we are finished talking, you will leave this place and never seek me out or speak to me again!” They agreed. And with that, he awaited the party’s questions.

Valra began by inquiring into the nature of his research. “I study echoes,” he replied. “You know, patterns, repetitions, resonances!” He spoke grandiosely about the common threads that could be detected in history, in people, in societies, and in the structure of the multiverse itself. He further implied that some rare adventurers (perhaps including the party) seemed to leave “unusually clear echoes, as if they were marked by fate”, which made them especially interesting to study and especially dangerous to have personal contact with.

Soon the questions turned to their main focus: how to cure the Soul Sickness. Zeno initially professed ignorance, but he mentioned that he had a “pet theory” to which he had not given much credence in the past. “But if you are here asking about it... perhaps it’s possible?” he mused.

“Well... I think it sounds like the Mantella!” This proclamation was met by stares and silence from all members of the party. “Oh, nobody reads their history anymore,” the Sage complained. Valra was quick with a retort: “We are history.”

Zeno told the party that “in ancient days” Rakos was home to a group of powerful wizards who were working on a device or machine of some sort, which they believed would grant them a kind of godhood. As they neared their goal, they realized that they would need a source of energy, and they created the Mantella: a stone that would absorb the life force of creatures from a great distance and channel that power to the mages’ great project. Some time after that, they all disappeared. Nobody knew whether that meant they had failed utterly or succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.

The Sage apologized for the uncertain translations of some of the terms. Tessel was curious about one particular detail. Zeno had mentioned that the ancient wizards had been inspired to begin this project by the guidance of a demigod (“or some sort of extraplanar entitity”) named Corvax. He explained that the name Corvax translated to “crow” or “raven”, but he had assumed it was merely a name, since they never talked about this entity as if it were truly a bird.

The paladin turned to Ralnur. “Don’t you have a crow?” The half-orc enthusiastically showed off his totem. Tessel began to ask more about where he had found the crow talisman, how it spoke to him, and what it spoke about. Soon, Zeno was sitting very stiffly in his chair. Before long, he interrupted the conversation. “Well... if it’s all right with you, I would very much like you to leave now,” he said, obviously in great discomfort. The party agreed, though Tessel had to forcefully pull Ralnur along.

They were able to make it out the main door before running into Galen again. This time he stood alongside a tall, broad-shouldered woman wearing ornate plate armor trimmed in white. “Ah, I hope you weren't too disappointed with the Sage. But you’re in luck! There’s no safer way to travel the roads than alongside a Seraph! Isabel, you wouldn’t mind walking with them, would you?” Isabel looked them over with a thin smile. She politely responded that, although she could travel with the party for a day or so, she was not allowed to make camp with strangers.

Ardwyn, recognizing the name “Isabel” as the commander of the troops they had killed a few days ago, decided to overwhelm the Seraph with annoying flattery. It was not difficult to persuade Isabel that traveling alongside the party would be undesirable, and she abruptly mentioned that she would prefer to rest a bit longer at the Gold Tower before setting off. The party hit the road, leaving Isabel behind.

They did not, however, return to Wayport. Instead, they took a turn to the east, following a road that would lead them toward Lake Balen, where they had heard there was an island that was home to a mysterious “Red Monastery”. It was best to investigate it while they were already in the area, they figured.

After about a half day of walking, Tessel stopped to confront Ralnur once more about his crow totem. The half-orc agreed to try to speak to the crow to get more information about it. Valra prepared an Entangle spell in case things went wrong. Ralnur began asking questions to the mysterious crow spirit, and at first he received no answers. But, after a few tries, it began to answer him, replying directly into his mind. Tessel asked him what he was hearing. “Oh, it says everything’s fine!” said Ralnur. “It says our goals are aligned. It just wants us to get really powerful!”

Although this did not fully reassure the party, it was enough for now. Coincidentally, Ardwyn spotted a crow nearby, and she called out to it using her Mouthbeast. The clever bird was happy to inform the party that nobody was following them, and it mentioned that there was a village and a stretch of jungle between them and the lake.

They pushed on, reaching the village a few evenings later. It was a pleasant and quiet spot, humid and shaded by the dense forest that grew to its edge. The innkeeper identified it as Westwend, and he chatted amiably with the party. He warned them that the jungle beyond was not easy to travel through, and he didn’t know of any ferries or other means of crossing to the island.

The next morning they set off into the forest, which rapidly turned into a true jungle, almost too thick to navigate. Ralnur happily pulled out his greataxe and began chopping a path through the foliage. Following this narrow alley, they made fairly good time. Ardwyn, however, figured that she could do better by going up into the treetops and climbing along the branches. She climbed nimbly up the nearest tree. Seeing this, Adamir decided to prove his own climbing ability, and swung effortlessly into the canopy as well. He moved with such dexterity that he was able to spot the Giant Constrictor Snake before it began its attack on Ardwyn.

Drawing his swords, Adamir unleashed a flurry of blows, but the snake retaliated by coiling itself around the ranger and biting him over and over with its sharp fangs. They struck at each other again and again, each sustaining gruesome injuries. But by this time, the others were starting to enter the fight. Ralnur, down on the ground below, turned his axe upon the trunk of the tree on which the battle was taking place, nearly felling it in a couple of swift chops.

Valra took a different tactic, casting a Speak with Animals spell and asking the snake (through a series of short hisses) why it was attacking them. It hissed back at her: “They came right into my tree! Die die die die die!!!” Valra attempted to placate it, telling it that they meant no harm and would be happy to just move on. The agitated serpent did not stop its assault, but it noticeably relaxed its grip on Adamir.

Ardwyn, however, was not privy to the conversation, and ran forward to save her ally. With one swift swing of her battleaxe, she cut the injured snake in two. It slid off of the ranger's body, falling down from the tree with a muffled thump.

Ralnur nonetheless swung his axe one last time, causing the tree to come crashing down and giving the rogue a painful bump. Tessel took a moment to heal some of Adamir’s wounds once they were all safely on the ground, and they pressed on further into the jungle...