Amath Sercent stood before the blazing fireplace, resplendent in the red and black robes of a priestess of Bane. She raised her hands and lifted her face towards the ceiling. Her four acolytes followed suit.
The five of them stood in a circle around a middle-aged man. The man was manacled at his wrists and ankles and was chained to the floor on his hands and knees - forced to bow in supplication to the dark god of tyranny and destruction.
The priestess and her acolytes began their chant. The man on the floor, a newspaper editor named Shan Chien, sobbed and pleaded, "No more! Please! I beg of you! No more!"
One of the acolytes noticed a tiny owl perched in one of the arrow-slits overlooking the darkened street outside. The acolyte pointed her finger at the owl and a burst of crimson radiance flared into existence, enveloping the owl with accursed flame.
- Winterfire of House Silverspear - Chaotic Good Moon Elf Noble and Fighter. The daughter of elven diplomats, raised among dwarves.
- Etlenda, aka "Exile" - Neutral Good Eladrin Outlander and Paladin. Exiled from the Feywild and raised by wolves. While exploring the Feydark he crossed over into the Underdark and emerged into the Mortal World.
- Tempus Vegvisir - Lawful Good Human Trade Sheriff and Cleric of Helm. Husband and Father.
- Push-ta Tok - Neutral Half-Orc Former Smuggler and Rogue, secret member of the Zhentarim.
- Kem Hearthfire - Chaotic Good Half-Orc Former Gladiator Priestess of Gond.
Yellowspire
The Mystics of Trollskull Manor stood outside in the snow-covered street. Some more flakes began to fall. The sun had recently set behind the blanket of white sky. The darkness had that diffuse glow of a wintry landscape at night.
Before them stood the ancient edifice of Yellowspire, a forty foot tall tower, once the home of a lesser wizard. It was supposed to be abandoned yet warm light shined through the arrow slit windows on the second floor and smoke billowed from the haphazard chimney.
Winterfrost - who now insisted on being called Winterfire after drinking a magic potion to change her hair color bright red, sent her tiny familiar, T'owl, up to the arrow slit to look inside. She closed her eyes so that she could share the owl's sight.
She saw a room littered with ruined furniture, broken decades ago. A middle-aged man was manacled at his wrists and ankles and chained to the floor, forced to kneel on his hands and knees. He was surrounded by five women - four dressed as religious acolytes and one a priestess. Several black black winged snakes were coiled among the rafters of the ceiling.
One of the acolytes noticed her owl. She pointed at the bird and a small burst of holy flame appeared. The owl barely escaped. She recalled T'owl and told the others what she saw.
Tempus said, "I've heard enough. We're going in!"
Charge
Tempus ran up to the door but turned to call to Push'ta, "Push'ta, get up here and pick this door!"
Push'ta ran up with his lockpicks ready, but hesitated, "Uh, there's no lock."
Tempus cursed and took a step back. He took a deep breath and prepared to kick the door in.
Winterfrost walked up casually and gently opened the door, "It's not locked."
Tempus and Push'ta exchanged an embarrassed glance. Tempus shrugged.
Winterfrost ran inside towards the spiral stairs leading up. Etlenda magically appeared in front of her in a puff of silver mist. The pair charged up the stairs together, followed by Tempus and Push'ta.
Kem entered more carefully, guarding the rear.
Grand Mal
The Mystics burst into the room and spread out. Winterfrost grasped one of the acolytes with a shocking grip spell. Kem said a prayer and a spiritual hammer appeared near one acolyte, smashing her from behind. Kem followed up with her own hammer, knocking the acolyte to the ground.
The priestess snarled, "These infidels have disturbed the holy work of Bane! Kill them my sisters!"
The acolytes said prayers of their own. One said a prayer of sanctuary over the priestess. Another said a prayer of healing for downed companion, returning her to consciousness. The fourth attacked Etlenda with little effect.
Meanwhile the flying snakes harried the intruders, attacking before disappearing into the rafters.
The priestess made intricate hand movements and said a prayer. Suddenly the area around her swarmed with ghostly apparitions - spiritual warriors of Bane, the god of Tyranny and Warfare.
The spiritual warriors clashed against Push'ta, seriously wounding him. Push'ta took aim with his crossbow but the sanctuary forced his aim away. He took a breath and overcame the aversion of the miracle of sanctuary, sending a crossbow into the priestess. The crossbow caused her to lose her concentration and interrupt her chant. She screamed and the spiritual warriors disappeared.
DM- Spirit Guardians are NO JOKE! Push'ta took 20 points of damage and was in bad shape. If he hadn't spent his Inspiration to re-roll that Wisdom save to overcome Sanctuary, had he not hit the priestess, and had she not failed her Concentration check, it would have been bad news for the party. He was MVP for the night!
Etlenda slew one of the acolytes with a strike that rang with a clap of thunder. Winterfire followed up with a magical stream of acid that burned away another acolyte. Winterfire then sent her familiar, T'owl, out the arrow slit so that he could fly up and enter the chimney. In so doing she hoped to surprise the priestess from behind.
Tempus called forth spiritual flame upon his adversaries while his familiar, Edward the Bat, exhaled icy white dragon breath upon the flying snakes.
The priestess regained her composure and summoned forth another swarm of spiritual guardians.
This time, without the Sanctuary to protect her, Push'ta easily took aim and shot her with another crossbow bolt. This time, the priestess fell dead. The remaining acolytes were soon dispatched and the room was secured.
DM - Push'ta was once again MVP for the second time in as many rounds.
They freed the bound man. His name was Shan Chien. He was the editor of a broadsheet and was critical of the Zhentarim. He had been captured the night before by the acolytes and brought here. The priestess made it clear that he was to be subjected to a painful ritual that would break his will so that he would stop writing stories critical of the Zhentarim. He also revealed that someone named Manshoon was supposed to arrive soon. He said the only Manshoon he knew was the historical founder of the Zhentarim who had died over a hundred year ago.
Push'ta searched the priestess' body and found a smooth stone about the size of a yam. Along the side of the stone were three beady eyes surrounded by wrinkled lids. The eyes blinked and looked at him. A voice in his head whispered, "Feed me." He grimaced and put the stone in a bag.
Manshoon Appears
The team moved quickly to avoid the imminent arrival of Manshoon. Winterfire had earlier noticed the presence of scaffolding outside the arrow slit windows on the rear of the tower. Everyone squeezed through the slits and moved onto the scaffolding, carefully making their way down the ladders and away from the tower.
Tempus and Winterfire, however, stayed near the outside of the tower so they could observe the interior through the eyes of their familiars hiding in the rafters. Push-ta maintained a position on the roof of the entrance foyer, watching for any entry through the front door.
A few moments later a cloaked figure emerged into the upstairs chamber through the spiral stairs. Curiously, Push-ta had seen no one enter through the front door.
The figure spoke in a thin raspy voice, "Amath, I have arrived. Do you have the stone?"
The figure stopped as it surveyed the scene - the dead body of Amath, slain with a crossbow bolt, four dead acolytes, and three frozen flying snakes. "I see."
The figure crossed the room, stepping over the acolytes. He reached out with a strange mechanical hand and searched Amath's body. It came away empty.
"I was too late." The figure stood up and examined the rest of the room. "This is not the work of Xanathar's Guild. Nor does this appear to be the handiwork of agents of Neverember. This can only be those fools - the so-called Mystics of Trollskull Manor. They will pay for their insolent interference."
The robed figure spun on its heel and fled the room down the stairs. Wintefire's familiar, T'owl, followed from a distance. Push-ta saw no one leave the tower. T'owl flew down into the cellar where it found a table and some cards. There was a closed door in one corner of the cellar. A keyhole on the door indicated a level of security not present elsewhere in the tower. Unable to open the door, Winterfire recalled T'owl.
Winterfire, Tempus, and Push-ta rejoined the others at a nearby station of the City Watch, where Etlenda was reporting the abduction and ensuring the safety of Mister Chien.
The Stone of Golorr
The party regrouped and planned their next move. It was roughly 9 bells at night. Fearing retribution from Manshoon, they chose not to return home. Instead, Kem requested asylum at the House of Inspired Hands. Despite the late hour, Valetta, the dragonborn priestess of Gond, was happy to assist the group. Kem Hearthfire had recently proven herself invaluable to the Temple of Gond so Valetta was happy to provide sanctuary.
DM - Kem had earned that favor in her recent down-time. Since her Charisma limited her to only one favor at a time, she was happy to be able to cash it in.
That night the party slept in the spartan guest quarters. Winterfire spent her hours meditating with the Stone of Golorr.
The next morning, the team ate breakfast with the other priests of Gond. They even assisted in testing a new invention - a device worn around the neck with small arms controlled by one's eyes that allowed one to use a knife and fork without using their hands.
DM - I love silly improvised fluff.
After breakfast, the group retired to a meditation cell. Winterfire produced the stone. Push-ta prepared to fight Wintefire should she succumb to mind control or a curse.
The Stone of Golorr spoke to her telepathically, "I require knowledge. Feed me."
Winterfire replied, "Well, that may be a problem. I don't know very much."
The stone sighed, "Ugh. Indeed. You are an idiot. You are useless to me. Read a book or something."
DM - Thus did I roleplay the Stone of Golorr as a grumpy but needy presence that fed on knowledge. He talked like Bat-Dad. Deep secrets of the universe were hearty meals that sated the stone. Mundane trivia and daily facts were tiny candy-like morsels.
He was fun to roleplay. I would say stuff like, "Winterfire! Winterfire! Read a book for crying out loud! I'm starving!"or "I measure the passage of time in the birth and death of stars. I am eternal. Tell me more about this 'Babysitter's Club' series of novels."
The stone was especially keen on actually getting to see the play from two nights previous. "Winterfire! Winterfire! Take me to the play! I never actually got to see it and I feel cheated!"
Upon her communion with the stone, Winterfire learned several facts:
- Dagult Neverember sequestered his embezzled treasure in a dwarven vault beneath the City of the Dead.
- The entrance into the vault lies within the Brandath family mausoleum.
- The vault is guarded by a dragon with scales of gold. His name is Aurinax.
- The dragon wields the Dragonstaff of Ahghairon - his payment for guarding the treasure.
- The dragon was instructed to guard the treasure until such time as Dagult Neverember or his authorized agents.
- The entrance to the vault is sealed and can only be opened with three keys. The keys change every tenday. The three current keys that will open the vault are:
- The eyestalk of a beholder
- Gems worth at least 1,000 gp
- a Unicorn
The team considered the list of items before them.
Etlenda said, "I know where we can get the eyestalk."
Push-ta said, "I can get the gems if you all pitch in."
Winterfire said, "The unicorn is tough, but I know the dwarven mindset that created these keys and I have an idea."
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