Session 28: The Twistening (2/25/24)

Desnova 12, 1423.

The giant boars' cries immediately alert the giants within the Crumblemoor Keep, who rush out to join the battle against the intrusive PCs, only to be met with magical traps set up by Aldren and others. The two boars are taken out quickly. Spiky terrain, lightning bolts, and bardic musical assaults all slow down the giants' rush, but eventually the twisted creatures' brute strength, enormous damage thresholds, and ability to send out curses at range, that warp the flesh of their victims, inflict heavy casualties on our heroes. Almost all of them are felled numerous times, only to be revived with desperate magic and potions being stuffed down their throats by companions nearby. At one point Sludd had to flee into the nearby forest, leaving just a few of the PCs standing, but through a twist of fate and tactics they managed to survive, and the devious D'vryn returned to the fray when things started to shift once more in the reverse direction.

At long last, the giants are all slain, and the PCs, now decimated, begin to recover within the shelter of the Keep as they make some final explorations of the interior. They throw out a shelter spell, but on his watch, Nebol'shoy notices Krusty, the earth elemental familiar of his former compatriot Grittnar, snooping about the ruins, probably looking for his party. Before he can alert all the other PCs and deal with the creature, it disappears, burrowing into the dirt, likely to report back to its master. The party finishes looting about the area, finding a huge sack with some treasure that belonged to the giants, and then they prove further about the grounds. Aldren decides to dip himself into the rotja-filled well in the courtyard, and discovers a sealed, rusted panel at the bottom. After a few attempts, the half-elf uses a crowbard to wedge open the panel, emptying out the well into a chute and hidden chamber below. It appears to be the long abandoned stash of the brewers that once made the Crumblemoor their home.



Nebol'shoy and Sludd join Aldren below while the rest of the PCs wait at the top of the well, and they begin to take some of the old stores of liquor, when suddenly the possessed lantern begins to react to something in the chamber, a yellowish light that intermingles and responds back to its blue. A pair of shadows form defensively, and are quickly taken out by the trio of PCs, especially once Aldren dowses the lantern's glow, and then they discover the source of light...a golden censer on a chain of copper and brass, which also seems to contain some sort of swirling, ethereal being! When attempting to contact the device directly with his person, Aldren notices that it attempts to wrest control of his mind, perhaps this particular prison of efirnyy has a different defense than the lantern! Nebol'shoy cautiously prompts it into a sack, and the PCs join their companions above to figure out their next move.

PCs: Aldren, Bjork, Nebol'shoy, Rucia