The Cave of Echoes - Ghosts of Satlmarsh, Chapter 52

Captain Alot, Aella, Father Craig, Cai'luin, and Corvid climbed the paved path up the hill overlooking Niole Dra, the capital city of Keoland. They were searching for the Cave of Echoes, an underground temple to Olidammara, god of music and trickery, built in ancient times by the proto-Suloise tribesmen who settled the area. The entrance to the cave had been sealed by a boulder and hidden until it was recently discovered by a woman named Genevieve Woodstock. She and four kenku hirelings had opened the ancient cave and had unleashed the Cadenzas - deadly musical elementals that now sowed havoc and death in the city below.

The crew soon found the entrance to the cave and stood at the threshold to a long series of stone stairs that led deep under the hill. The haunting musical melody that accompanied the attack of the cadenzas echoed out of the cave below. They could hear a waterfall. 

Captain Alot addressed his crew, "Okay, gear up. Corvid, why are you putting wax into your ears?"

Corvid was breaking a candle into quarters, shaping the wax, and stuffing it into his ears, "It will protect me from the mind control music."

Alot said, "That's a good idea, do you have more candle?"

Cai'luin the bard said, "Okay, but be aware, you have to actually be able to hear me play to get any benefit from my musical magic."

Corvid looked momentarily confused, then loudly blurted, "WHAT??"

CHAPTER 52

"THE CAVE OF ECHOES"

The Crew of the Sea Ghost:

• Alot Aname - Neutral Good Warforged Fighter, ancient sentinel of a wizard's fortress, spent several decades deactivated underwater, Captain of the Sea Ghost.
• Avastana "Aella" Kádár - Neutral, Half-Elf  Outlander and Storm Sorceress from Ket, daughter of the king of the sea elves, deck sorceress and first mate of the Sea Ghost.
• Craig "Blunderbuss" Oxworth - Lawful Good Dwarven Priest of St. Ogden (Cleric), sailor and shipwright, bosun of the Sea Ghost.  
• Cai'luin Manaan - Chaotic Good Sea-Elf Bard, member of the royal family of the tribe of Manaan. Cook of the Sea Ghost.
• Corvid Ravenson - Neutral Good Fallen Aasimar Paladin of Vengeance and Divine Soul Sorcerer, sent to Oerth to avenge those who wronged his angelic "brother", Auric Ravenson. Second mate of the Sea Ghost.

DM Note-

I'm running the adventure "Sing a Song of Sonant Spells". Its a nice short adventure to fill that 8th level dead zone between the Final Enemy and Tammaraut's Fate. It's also fairly light fare and not a deep time or brainpower commitment. 

Note also that this was my first time using an isometric dungeon map in Roll20. The experience was a bit of a learning curve at first but we all adapted to it quickly and it worked out great.

Descend the Stairs

Alot entered first and began descending the ancient stone stairs. He moved towards an alcove on the right. A small music elemental emerged and attacked the armored automaton. Alot's magical dragon-hammer smashed the invisible force. He continued down the stairs. Another elemental emerged from the next alcove. Once again, Alot's dragon-hammer made short work of the entity.

The Cave of Echoes

The rest of the crew descended the stairs and entered into a large grotto. The cave had a sixty foot ceiling and was bisected by a small subterranean stream. The sound of falling water could be heard from the tunnel from which the stream emerged. The music of the cadenzas echoed throughout the cave. A set of stone stairs were carved into the left wall of the cave. The cave was L-shaped towards the left and the stairs turned around the corner and disappeared from sight. 

Two kenku armed with short bows stood on the landing of the stairs where it turned around the corner. They launched arrows at Alot as he entered the cave. The arrows bounced harmlessly off his armored shell. 

Alot called up to them, "Hey! We're here to help! Boots-and-Cats and Pocket-of-Coins sent us!"

The kenku ignored him and prepared to loose more arrows. Alot grunted in frustration and dashed towards the stairs. One of the next volley of arrows struck him in the shoulder.

Aella, Corvid, Father Craig, and Cai'luin descended the stairs. The hypnotic music emanated from the roof of the cavern. The cadenza was up there somewhere - invisible. As they entered the cave they each felt the music creep into their brain. 

Father Craig concentrated all his effort into fighting back and music and drove it from his mind.  Father Craig said, "Cai'luin, start playing the music backward." When he heard no reply he turned around. Cai'luin stood still at the bottom of the steps. He stared vacantly off into the distance. 

Craig said to Aella, "I thought you elf-types were immune to this sort of thing!"

Aella shrugged and ran into the cavern after Corvid. 

DM Note-

Everyone had to make a Wisdom save vs. 15. As a sea-elf, Cai'luin had Advantage on saving throws vs. Charm. He rolled an 8 and a 2. Father Craig's Blessing added another 3, so he got an 11. He was stunned.

Craig grumbled something about bloody elves before saying a prayer to dispel any magic that might be affecting. The prayer had no effect. Father Craig spat a curse and said, "Sorry. You're on your own. I have to go help the others!"

DM Note-

Dispel Magic only cancels any ongoing spells affecting the character, it doesn't do anything to alleviate conditions. Father Craig's player asked me what he needed and I said, "Look, what you really need is Greater Restoration". The other players scoffed, "Yeah, like we got 5th level spells just lying around!" As a result, poor Cai'luin's player missed pretty much this entire fight.

Tubes and Crystals

There were a series of twenty-one hollow tubes standing vertically erect in the center of the stream. The tubes extended into the small tunnel in the cavern wall from which stream flowed. The four tubes in the tunnel would glow in sequence every twelve seconds. Each time a tube glowed it played a musical note. 

Scattered across the gravel bank of the stream were seventeen clear crystals of various sizes. 

Alot charged up the stairs and pushed his hammer into the stomach of one of the kenku. The blow knocked the kenku off his talon-feet and the avian fell off the stairs and landed on the floor of the upper area of the cavern around the corner. The kenku was unconscious and gasping for breath but otherwise unharmed. Alot did the same with the other kenku, knocking it unconscious and off the stairs. 

Alot could see runes carved into the stone on the wall beneath teh stairs and a small alcove on the far wall. 

Alot jumped off the stairs and saw that there were twenty-one runes in total. The last four runes glowed with magic whenever the last four notes of the crystals in the stream played. When that happened, he witnessed a glow emanating from the alcove and a new music elemental was formed. 

Two more kenku descended the stairs and stood on the next landing where the stairs turned right, following the far back wall of the L-shaped cavern. Alot climbed back up onto the first landing and continued up the stairs. He struck the next two kenku with his hammer, knocking them down and unconscious. He continued up around the corner up a passage out of the cavern and out of sight.

Witch Bolt

The cadenza attacked Aella, siphoning her spirit. Aella grit her teeth. That one hurt. 

She scanned the air until she felt she had a good idea of where the large invisible cadenza was located. She cast a continuous bolt of lightning at the area and managed to strike the musical entity! The continuous lightning bolt gave the other members of her crew something to target. Now they knew where to attack! 

The cadenza was hovering ten feet off the ground - out of reach from any sword or axe. Father Craig told Corvid to stand still and not move. He prayed to Tristan and a five foot by five foot cube of stone rose from the floor beneath Corvid. The cube elevated Corvid to a point where he was close enough to attack the cadenza with his magical sword. 

Corvid smote the cadenza with righteous vengeance. The musical entity blared its displeasure and retreated to the top of the room, out of range of the witch bolt.

DM Note-

I had to quickly google a PNG file of an isometric grey cube to upload to Roll20. I put it under Corvid's token.

The Musical Runes

Alot reached the top of the stairs and ran into a woman dressed like a musician. She had a bow and loosed an arrow at Alot ineffectually. Alot, assuming the woman was Genevieve, once again tried to communicate reason. When she attacked again he knocked her unconscious with a hammer to the stomach. There was a short corridor to the left, an ancient bronze door in front of him, and an ancient bronze door to his right.

The sound of rushing water came from the corridor to the left so he took the ancient door to his right. Within was a room decorated with bas relief carvings. The carvings depicted strange round shapes marked with runes emerging from a cave to torment the Suloise tribesmen by the river. A group of priests bearing musical instruments made of crystal defeated the creatures and sealed cave. There were twenty-one priests, each bearing a crystal identified by one of five runes. The runes matched those carved on the wall beneath the stairs.

DM Note-

Alot's player said, "Great, I go back and I tell everybody else which order the runes go in."

I replied, dubiously, "How do you do that? How do you describe the runes to them?"

He said, "Good point. Okay, I write them down."

Again I asked, "Okay, on what? Check your inventory for paper and writing equipment."

Alot's player checked his inventory, then said, "Okay, Plan-B."

Alot poked his head out from the top of the stairs and shouted, "Hey! I need one of you with paper and pen to come up here and write down these runes in order!"

Father Craig shouted, "I'll be right up!"

Witch Bolt Again

Aella had moved halfway up the stone stairs. To her shock, the invisible cadenza once again drained her life force. She scanned the room and located the source of the music. She once again cast a witch bolt spell at the cadenza which gave a target for the others.

Corvid pointed at the spot identified by the lightning bolt and a tiny bolt of fire streaked across the cavern. It hit the cadenza and it died with an audible boom like a brass bell. 

Aella and Corvid quickly moved to the upper part of the cavern and spotted the alcove where the smaller cadenzas were emerging. Corvid's blade flashed as he did battle with two of the smaller cadenzas surrounding him. 

After dispatching the smaller ones, Aella and Corvid created magical bonfires at the entrance to the alcove. As cadenzas formed, they would move through the bonfires and be destroyed.

Cai'luin Regains Consciousness

The disappearance of the cadenza's hypnotic music allowed Cai'luin to break out of his reverie. He finally entered the cavern and heard Aella and Corvid battling smaller cadenzas just around the corner. He took in the tubes and the crystals. He immediately recognized the four musical notes played by the crystals in the stream as being the last four notes played by the cadenzas but in reverse order. 

Father Craig, who was ascending the stairs to record the runes on the bas relief, told him, "Hey! Start putting the crystals in the tubes!"

Cai'luin said, "Got it!" before immediately ignoring the dwarf and climbing the stairs after him. Father Craig paused and said, "What are you doing? The crystals are down there!" Cai'luin looked confused and replied, "No. Got it. Right." before turning around and descending the stairs. He scoured the stream bed for the crystals while Father Craig and Alot recorded on paper the runes above.

A moment later, Father Craig and Alot descended the stairs but saw Cai'luin already inserting crystals into tubes.

"Don't you need the order?" inquired Craig.

"Nope. I already figured it out. There are five sizes of crystals. Each corresponds to a musical note. They go in to the tubes in reverse order and will play the reverse of the tune the cadenzas play. Want to help?"

Craig and Alot looked at each other, impressed, "Sure." Cai'luin gave Father Craig crystals. Alot told Craig into which tubes each crystal went. 

After a moment, all the tubes were filled with crystals in the correct order. The music played in reverse and no more cadenzas emerged from the alcove. 

DM Note-

I was really impressed with Cai'Luin's player. Since he was the bard, I gave him the musical notes that made the melody. 

bAbG AFGG bbCb AGFA bAGG G

Then I told him the four tubes with crystals played, in order:

1. Tube 1 plays musical note G
2. Tube 2 plays musical note G
3. Tube 3 flute plays musical note G
4. Tube 4 plays musical note A

Once he gathered up all the crystals, I gave him a list of how many of each size crystal he found.

• size 1
• size 2
• size 2
• size 2
• size 2
• size 2
• size 2
• size 3
• size 3
• size 3
• size 4
• size 4
• size 4
• size 4
• size 5
• size 5

Cai'luin's player glanced at the information and said, "I've figured it out." and started telling me which sizes when into which tube. And he got it on the first try. 

What Happened?

Genevieve and the four kenku eventually regained consciousness. They were free of the hypnosis of the cadenzas. Genevieve was very confused. She had no memory of the intervening time. 

When questioned she revealed that she had performed her music at the festival of Olidammara for years hoping to be good enough to channel the blessings of the god - but she had yet to attain that honor. So she sought out the aid of- a friend. She had learned about music elementals called cadenzas and had learned that rituals would allow one to bind and control a cadenza in order to become a master musician. She obtained books and information from her friend and learned about the ancient temple in the Cave of Echoes where one could find a natural portal through which cadenzas emerged into our world. The crew knew immediately that she was trying to protect her friend - the monk Brother Blanc.

In order to bind the cadenza she would first need to disable the ancient crystal device that played the cadenza melody backwards, forever blocking cadenzas from entering our world, then she would need to perform a perfect five part harmony to bind the cadenzas that emerged - and for that she needed four kenku who could precisely mimic her singing. Armed with this information she hired four kenku and trudged up the hill to the ancient hidden shrine.

She removed the crystals, the cadenzas emerged, she and the kenku performed the ritual - and that was the last thing she remembered.

The crew informed her that the ritual failed, she had been hypnotized, and the cadenzas kept emerging through the portal. The music elementals descended the hill and disrupted the festivities and have killed dozens of innocent people.

Genevieve was despondent. She never meant to hurt anyone. She would cooperate willingly and be punished for her crimes.

The crew were suspicious of Brother Blanc and demanded to know how he was involved. Genevieve continued to try to protect her friend which served only to heighten their suspicions.

They bound Genevieve and took her down the hill and back to town. The kenku were paid pawns in this scheme. They were allowed to leave. The sun was rising behind them.  

Confessions

The coterie marched to the monastery of Oldimmara and banged on the door. A meek initiate opened the door but was thrown aside as Father Craig burst in demanding to see Brother Blanc. The initiate fled down a corridor with Alot and Corvid close behind. As expected, the initiate ran directly to Brother Blanc's cell to warn him. Corvid and Alot grabbed the gnome monk and carried him like a sack of potatoes back to the entrance of the monastery.

The initiate was sent to fetch Captain Vaud of the city watch. Vaud soon appeared with several guardsmen. 

Father Craig and Captain Alot laid out all that transpired. They demanded Blanc confess to his crimes, warning him that they would subject him to a holy zone of truth. 

Brother Blanc confessed to helping Genevieve against his better judgement. He provided her with the books she sought and answered her questions. When she disappeared, he went to Pocketful-of-coins to look for her. He learned that she had hired four kenku and Pocketful-of-Coins was worried about what she was going to do. The guilt-ridden monk told the kenku leader not to worry and that the temple of Olidammara owed their people a great debt and that he would take care of it if anything bad happened.

Father Craig, still suspecting some deeper nefarious plot, was dumbfounded, "Wait, that's IT? This wasn't some religious plot?"

"No, I am guilty of helping my friend when I shouldn't have."

Father Craig rolled his eyes. He would have no religious conspiracy. 

Having heard confessions from both Genevieve and Brother Blanc, Captain Vaud took both into custody. The magistrate would decide what to do with them.

Celebrations

For their role in stopping the cadenzas and saving the capital city, the crew of the Sea Ghost were hailed as heroes. They were granted an audient with King Skotti who personally congratulated them - their victory was received as their personal gift to the king on his "birthday". Statues would be erected in their honor in Remo Square. They were awarded a vial of Keoghtom's Ointment and two potions of healing from the herbalist Fineser. Cai'luin the bard performed and was successful at himself channeling the spirit of Olidammara - earning for himself a Blessing of Protection. 

Next Week - 

• Spending time in the city.
• Shopping at Cimbri Carrion's magic store.
• Meeting the Ambassador from the Sea-Elf Kingdom of Manaan.
• Hunting Lost Treasure
• And More!

DM's Thoughts on Sing a Song of Sonant Spells - 

Things that were great:

1. The Music Files were a nice touch and really added an extra layer to the adventure for the players.
2. I like the musical theme. It really allowed the bard to shine. 
3. I liked the assortment of NPCs.
4. The music puzzle was pretty good. My players enjoyed solving a puzzle for once!

Things that not as great:

1. Genevieve's motivation wasn't very clearly communicated. I had no idea WHY she wanted to break the seal on the cadenza cave. What did she hope to accomplish? What was her goal?
2. Likewise, its never explained what was meant by Brother Blanc telling the kenku "Don't worry, we'll fix it." That line alone drove a lot of my players' suspicions of some deeper conspiracy, but there was no payoff.
3. Likewise, there was no clear timeline of events of what really happened given to the gamemaster. The GM has to deduce what happened based on the clues provided just like the players. There's no omniscient explanation.
4. The rooms of the Cave of Echoes were poorly described in the text. The descriptions could have been more specific or detailed.
5. In the original adventure, Genevieve and the kenku are already dead and turned into zombies by the time the PCs arrive. That's a very depressing ending. I changed it so that Genevieve and the kenku were alive and mind controlled, thus giving the players someone to actually save. 
6. The title. "Sing a Song of Sonant Spells" is a terrible title.

Most of the descriptions and explanations and motivations above were my own, so its not that the module can't be saved - it definitely is a good start - but it could have used another pass to tighten up the details and get more feedback and revision.