Session 30: Bones to Pick (5/21/24)

Desnova 13, 1423.

After spending considerable time looting through all the bugbear corpses, T-Rucia discovers something odd about the statue to the goddess Odhinnei, and soon the PCs confirm that it shifts aside and a stone stairwell descends into the rock beneath. They decide to rest in a Leomund's Tiny Hut and then venture down in the night. During one of the watches, a pair of ettins happens on by, but ignores the opaque barrier of the spell and focus on all the bugbear bodies our heroes had stacked off in the woods nearby, eating some and then dragging several others off with them.

Desnova 14, 1423.

Well before dawn, after watches, the PCs explore the hidden crypt below the statue, and find that it's some sort of abandoned hunters' sanctuary, with several chambers devoted to the bones and remains of prey, a lot of weapons which have brittled with age, and in some areas, skins hanging from the walls. They also find a riddle in one of the chambers, which asks the following: Bring to me, these prizes three, that I may brand my gift on thee. The gift of Claw, Great and Deep, The Beak of Eternity, stalking Steep. And between these objects, thou must lie, The Heart of Forest’s frenziest Eye. After farming for some difficult mushrooms that can be used in potions, and catching a slick blind cavern fish to remove a glittering ring from its stomach, they leave the place.

The PCs forge onward for several hours towards their destination, and soon arrive at a massive clearing which has been circled with a ward of bone relics that prevent the strange 'nightening' effect within the clearing from spreading. Sure enough, there's a misty castle ahead of them, though strangely it seems to stand renewed among the ruins of some older structure or outer wall which is more what they would have expected to find of Old Bloodwalls. The old architecture of the castle seems to pulse with an eerie crimson light, and the place is surrounded by silent dead who stalk the fogs, possibly sentries left to waylay them. After loosing an arrow at a random zombie, they all seem to moan and activate in unison, moving in to defend the courtyard from incursions.



Led by an intense Rucia, the PCs follow their undead quarry into the courtyard and a mass battle ensues. With area effect spells, they manage to destroy a lot of the lesser undead who await them, including most of the skeletons and zombies, some of which they recognize as former residents of Zolovny! Some of the other enemies seem more difficult to put down, including zombified beasts like a giant serpent, a bear, a small black dragon and a hill giant! What's more, certain lasting effects that are cast into the courtyard by our heroes cause ribbons on a central tree to set ablaze; obviously there are some wards in place. As Aldren kites about as many of the beasts as he can, and Rucia is regurgitated from his near-devourment inside the giant's stomach, the tide of the battle evens out...the PCs have used up many of their best tricks, and the remaining dead are starting to land their blows!

PCs: Aldren, Bjork, Nebol'shoy, Rucia