Episode VII: The Echoes of Torment: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 11:47, 20 February 2024

The party fights the torturer and his aide
Next Episode VI: The Belly of the Gryphon	Previous Episode VIII: Veils of Deception

The Echoes of Torment is the seventh episode of the Trials of the Forgotten Relics campaign.

Synopsis

Recap

In the previous session, you embarked on a quest to find Chloe Rowen, a young wizard, who had vanished after assisting you in exploring the catacombs beneath the temple of Waukeen in hope of finding the truth behind her pursuers and attackers. Your investigation led you to confront and defeat a group of strange individuals, cultists like, in the catacombs, where they discovered a mysterious letter that hinted at their possible headquarters. You were joined by Captain Grendar Ironkith, Chloe’s adoptive father, who came to you during your stay at the Enchanted Chalice Tavern and together you came to the conclusion to probe into the activities at the Golden Gryphon tavern for further clues.

Heeding Wintson's advice you choose an unconventional approach, and opted not to enter the tavern directly. Instead, you navigated through the sewers and, after a bit of adventure in the slime and grime of the sewers, you found yourselves in what appeared to be the basement of the tavern. Your journey there was immediately met with peril, as you encountered and fought off several mimics disguised as innocuous objects.

However the noise and commotion of the battle with the mimics did not go unnoticed. During the fighting you seem to have attracted the attention of certain individuals in the adjoining room, but Ed the brilliant idea to temporarily block the door just before the door opened. You now find yourselves on the tense situation, with the hope that whatever you find here it will lead you closer to finding Chloe.

Maerek and Gornak the brute

As the adventurers prepare to finish the last mimic, they hear the door opening and they hear a frightening male voice yelling from beyond the newly erected barrier by Mother: "What is this?" The barrier does not hold too much, but enough for the group to prepare for the incoming new enemies pouring into the chamber. As the barrier crumbles, a massive figure, orcish in

In the basement of the Golden Gryphon Tavern’s basement, the adventurers prepared to leave the way they came with the new information at hand and with two new people on board: the unconscious prisoner and the torturer. Sarya, with ears attuned to the secrets that lay just beyond their reach, listened intently at the trap door above the stairs, catching fragments of a conversation laced with ominous intent. Lady Althea Starheaven’s voice, cool and calculated, spoke of ancient rituals, a precious book and lost artifacts, her words intertwining with Master Thorne’s trying to justify his failures. The adventurers, then emerged from the sewers to find the the Golden Gryphon Tavern consumed by flames and people in street running towards the commotion.

Planning what to do with the bodies, they headed towards the central park where Ed brought the dying prisoner to life. Questioning him about his involvement, they found out that his name is Caelum Windstride, a book collector in the city, apprehended by the cult for his information about a book previously in his collection. After thanking them for their timely rescue, Caelum leaves for his home.

Elara's hidden truth

Seeking refuge and counsel, they ventured to the Enchanted Chalice Tavern, carrying the body of the torturer with them, pretending they are all drunk. At the tavern, Sarya presented the eagle badge to Madame Elara Mistral, asking for a more private place to discuss important matters. Elara, looking a bit distressed, led them into the bowels of the tavern, where her incantations together with an arcane contraption built within, caught the party in a psychic trap laying bare the thoughts and fears of the adventurers . Despite Ed’s brash defiance and Wintson’s silent reservations, Elara discerned their hearts’ true intent, finding no malice within.

Yet trust is a fragile thing, and Wintson and Ed, wary of Elara, chose to leave rather than listen to her. Elara, undeterred, unveiled to the ones that remained, a tapestry of conspiracy that involved the highest echelons of Sagemont with the coils of the Cult of the Serpent. She offered them a tense collaboration if they would solve puzzle that would lead to one of the cult's secret meetings.

A call for help

As the group retreated to deliberate, a Sending spell brought Draella’s voice to Elinor, pleading to come to her laboratory to test the cure for her daughter, Freya. Trying to help Elinor, the party picks Elinor's brother, Gwaindir from the Shrine of Silvanus and head to the Hollow, the district for the poor and the trodden, where Draella’s home emerged as a beacon of despair within the Undercroft. There, in Draella's laboratory, Freya’s life hung by a thread, her fate sealed within a glass-sealed chamber. Draella’s desperate gambit, a mixture infused with the Light of Caeth and her own blood, faltered at the precipice of hope.

In the face of unspeakable loss, Draella’s pleaded for Elinor to give some of her uncorrupted blood, a request that Elinor honored reluctantly. The new mixture, woven with Elinor's untainted blood, finally brought Freya back to consciousness, reuniting mother and daughter. The consequences however did not delay: Draella showed her true intent, betraying the trust of Elinor, as the curse carried by her daughter passed unto her. Moreover, she did not intend to return the Light of Caeth back to her cousin Gwaindir, but opening a new passage through the glass container, fled with her daughter and the vial, with the adventurers not being able to follow immediately.

Feeling betrayed, Gwaindir went into a rage, trying to break the glass window, helped by Wintson, but the aggressive intent of the two awakened the lab’s dormant guardians. Two mechanical serpents descended from the ceiling, ready to do battle with the current occupants of the lab.

Featured characters

The adventurers

Other characters

Lady Althea Starheaven: revealed to be part of the cult.
Gwaindir: Elinor's half brother.
Master Thorne: a spymaster of the cult.
Master Alendar: part of the cult.
Maerek: a torturer of the cult.
Caelum Windstride: a book collector, captured by the cult.
Madame Elara Mistral: the proprietor of the Enchanted Chalice Tavern.
Draella Khassad: an half elf female alchemist, cousin of Elinor.
Freya Khassad: Draella's daughter.

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 ==== Maerek and Gornak the brute ====
-As the adventurers prepare to finish the last mimic, they hear the door opening and a male voice yelling from beyond the newly erected barrier by Mother.
+As the adventurers prepare to finish the last mimic, they hear the door opening and they hear a frightening male voice yelling from beyond the newly erected barrier by Mother: ''"What is this?"'' The barrier does not hold too much, but enough for the group to prepare for the incoming new enemies pouring into the chamber. As the barrier crumbles, a massive figure, orcish in
 In the basement of the Golden Gryphon Tavern’s basement, the adventurers prepared to leave the way they came with the new information at hand and with two new people on board: the unconscious prisoner and the torturer. Sarya, with ears attuned to the secrets that lay just beyond their reach, listened intently at the trap door above the stairs, catching fragments of a conversation laced with ominous intent. [[Althea Starheaven|Lady Althea Starheaven]]’s voice, cool and calculated, spoke of ancient rituals, a precious book and lost artifacts, her words intertwining with Master Thorne’s trying to justify his failures. The adventurers, then emerged from the sewers to find the the Golden Gryphon Tavern consumed by flames and people in street running towards the commotion.