July 12, 2015 Session Notes:
From the Diary of Roland Red Oak, acolyte of the Karlsburg druid circle.
A few days ago I hired a local mercenary, named Thagmar, to help shepherd pilgrims to the holy oak grove a couple of miles from Karlsburg. During our travels he told me of the group of adventurers he had joined and that some of their number had gone missing. It wasn’t until he mentioned the town of Orlane that I became interested. Archdruid Ferdinand had confided in me that our circle had not heard from the Orlane Temple of Desonia for some time and he was becoming concerned. When I approached him with Thagmar’s information, I was told to accompany him and any fellow adventurer’s we could gather and head to Orlane to investigate the town.
Before we left, Thagmar introduced me to, two of his companions. A halfing bard named Milo and a dwarven mage named Draven over a fine dinner and ale from a local tavern. During our conversation they both shared Thagmar’s concern for their missing companions and we agreed to set off first thing in the morning. Before retiring for the evening our small group was approached by an elven bounty hunter named Ouasi and his half-orc shield bearer (pack mule?) named Borg. They had overheard us talking about going to Orlane and the bounty hunter stated that they were seeking a local bandit who may have fled in the direction of Orlane and they asked to accompany our group. We agreed and retired to our rooms for the evening. (Strangely, the bounty hunter and his companion chose to sleep in a tent instead of a warm bed in the inn. Too each their own, I guess).
It should be noted that the bounty hunter and his friend purchased a large amount of silvered weapons; they seem to be expecting A LOT of trouble. Should I be concerned? Are we walking into a werewolf den or does he just like shiny things, like a magpie?
As we traveled down the road we over took a pair of travelers on the road to Orlane, a monk named Nengan and his cousin Tsiakune. They had been wondering the land looking to help the good people of Karlsburg in any way they could. Once introductions were made, we all agreed to continue on our journey.
We arrived around dusk at the town of Orlane from the west; from there we approached the Golden Grain Inn. A small establishment, populated with local farmers and merchants. We spoke briefly with the inn keep and asked about the missing adventurers. The inn keep assured us that the group had not been through the town. The rest of the patrons were also unfriendly and seemed in a stupor. However, we did learn the location of the local constable, a general store, and the location of the Temple of Desonia.
We decided to pay the constable a quick visit and see if he would be more helpful than the rest of the town folk we had met so far. His name was Donavon and he seemed normal enough, when asked about our friends he stated that the he was unaware of any travelers and they could have easily perished in the swamps around the town. Very upset and concerned the group left the office, that is when Milo informed us that he felt the constable was lying. A feeling of unease had settled on the group, deciding to not confront the marshal we visited the general store instead.
When we entered the general store we were greeted by the proprietor, Trawler. When asked about our friends he stated that he had not seen any such group. Once again detecting a liar, Milo attempted to bribe Trawler for information. At this point, events turned for the worse as three thugs emerged from the rear of the shop with loaded crossbows pointed at the group. Thagmar tensed for battle and uttered a low menacing growl as he prepared to launch himself at the crossbowmen. However, Nengan suddenly appeared in front of Trawler and his hand burst into flame, eyes glowing with fire and fury, he threatened to burn the old man to ash if they didn’t back down. I am not sure if it was the sight of the monks wrath or the armored form of his cousin that convinced him, but the group backed down. Sufficiently cowed by the experience, Trawler confided in the group that our missing friends had been through the village about 10 days ago and had visited the temple and had not returned. The group gathered our gear and headed to the temple.
We arrived at the temple just prior to closing and found an acolyte in the main entrance. Milo confronted the priest and “convinced” him that it would be in his best interest to take the group to the high priest. The acolyte took the group to the top floor, when we entered the first room, he attempted to flee. Milo leaped up and cracked the priest in the back of the head, dropping him to the floor like a sack of flour. Thagmar attempted to move the unconscious priest out of the entrance and somehow triggered a trap causing eight skeletons to charge the group from the back of the room. A short but furious battle ensued with the group eliminating the skeletons; of note, was the ferocity that Thagmar fought with. He downed three of the undead with mighty swings of his axe.
After the battle Milo woke the priest and “convinced him” (personally I never knew haflings could be so terrifying) to take the group to the high priest. Shaking in his robes and being frog marched by Negen, the acolyte led the group towards the high priest. I could not believe what I saw next, a torture room, in a sacred temple of Desonia! I was so angry that I struck the acolyte for blasphemy and surely would have run him through if not for the sudden appearance of eight lizard men like creatures.
The battle opened with the group dropping four of the foul creatures in the opening moments of combat. What appeared to be a quick scrimmage, turned into a near route when two more joined the attack, the high priest and a dragonborn warrior. Thagmar, Milo, and Draven immediately recognized Froc, one of their missing companions. However, Froc did not recognize them and quickly vomited a thick stream of acid that struck both Borg and Quasi (the damage was horrible). Additionally, the coward acolyte found his spine and attacked Draven from behind. Combined with Thagmar succumbing to a command spell and fleeing the area, the group looked in dire straits.
Just as things appeared to turn for the worst, Milo put Froc to sleep with a spell and just as quickly the battle turned in our favor. Especially, when Draven blasted the high priest with a witch’s lightening spell. Even after the high priest succumbed to his wounds, Draven continued the assault. Quasi standing over the very dead and very crispy high priest summed things up the best with, “I think he is dead now.” Of note was Negen, the monk slaughtered three of the lizard men with a combination of fire and steel.
The group having witnessed to many horrors and being bloodied from the recent encounter decided to recover and take a short rest. After binding our wounds and catching our breath we decided to check the high priests quarters (in addition to being a snake worshiping blasphemer he is an incredibly messy house keeper). We found strange carvings on his desk of “snake mother” and “crocodile has many teeth” repeated over and over again in a shaky script.
During our search of the quarters Milo found a secret door that led to a secret room. Dominating the room was a giant statue of a jade snake with a woman’s head. Chained to the wall was Tiefling male named Eben and a young female held in a cage. Eben informed the group that he had been part of the group that visited the temple with Froc, Vroc, and Anders. He informed the group of the ill-fated expedition to the temple and how they had been captured. The young woman explained what had been happening in the town since the snake worshippers had come. Eben and the young woman rested in the high priests chambers and kept an eye on the acolyte while the group finished exploring the temple.
The group returned to the second floor to finish exploring the temple in an attempt to find the source of the corruption and evil that had permeated the city of Orlane. A trap door on the first floor led to narrow, dark tunnels underneath the temple. Quasi scouted ahead of the group and just as he rounded a corner a very large beast thing jumped from the shadows and attacked, Quasi parried the first blow but was struck with a vicious follow up attack. The group joined the battle and after flurry of attacks the monster dropped after being run through from behind by Tatsumi.
The group ventured deeper into the tunnels when Quasi stopped the group because he had identified some shrieking mushrooms. The group silenced them before they could raise an alarm. This allowed us to sneak up on a final group of the lizard men, we made quick of the defilers.
Unfortunately we could not find the source of the corruption, so we gathered up Eben, the female captive, the acolyte, and Froc (tightly bound and muzzled) and left the temple to find a hermit named Ramme that had helped the original group. Ramme explained that the original group was taken to the swamp, minus Anders (no one knows what has happened to the thief, has he escaped?). Ramme pledged aid when we are ready to venture into the swamp.
Thanks to Chris for writing it.
