Prince of Darkness
| Prince of Darkness | |
|---|---|
| Date | 7/17/25 |
| Storyteller | Tire |
| Tier | Trainee |
| Player Characters | King of Dance, Crows, Tris, Muldog |
| Rewards | 350 xp, 30 gp, armor potency +1, potion of swimming, scroll of swallow light (rank 2), instructions for Binding Circle ritual |
| Result | Success, at cost of life |
| Author | King of Dance |
| Downtime | 1 |
At cost of an Associate's life, the Associates uncover a major issue lurking within Onadbyr.
Log
Beginning Report: Objective: Investigate explosions and suspicious sightings in Upper Sacks. Two buildings destroyed. Second building not notable, first building was someone's residence. We are sent to investigate the first building. Front door still locked, side blown open, spiral painting of blood from bodies painted across alleyway wall. Slime trail inside, strong smell. Trail hardens as we enter, trail clearly led out from this site. Fumes are sickening inside, opening front door does little to mitigate it. Inside is wrecked, burned from the explosion likely. Find stairs leading down, we prepare lights and head inside.
Find catacombs, seeming dedication to Aroden? Muldog assures us this means these catacombs are very old, over one hundred years at minimum if built during time Aroden still lived. Stairs leading further down, barricaded door. I kick barricaded doors down to find who was hiding here. Ambushed by serpentfolk, shot in side. Crows convinces them to stand down. We learn they were hired by "The Keepers". 5 human cultists all bearing the title of "Keeper". Serpentfolk grew concerned with job as they continue, hid away as monster began rampaging. Planning to leave, apologized for shooting me. We head deeper in, down the stairs, hundreds of feet down. Approximately 800 feet of stairs.
At bottom, we encounter more ruins. Trail leads north, we move north. Attacked by ghoul and pet rabbit standing atop odd altar. Ghoul is enraged by anyone that attacks rabbit, which unfortunately is Muldog. Muldog tries to escape after killing rabbit, Ghoul escapes us and kills Muldog. We finish ghoul off quickly. Tris ties Muldog's body to me, I rush him out to go find Kali for revival. Revival unsuccessful, warning included at end of log.
While this unit is gone, Crows and Tris explore remaining room of ruins. Discover "Pnakoptic Manuscripts", some sort of ritual book detailing the activities of the 5 keepers and who they were. The 5 keepers were Baskerwhel, Crove, Hyve, Marshan, and Myre. They planned to use the book to open a portal to the "Sunless Grove", a location connected to the Dark Tapestry, the space between stars. They wished to summon a creature from that Dark Tapestry, but the end of this book warns the ritual draws forward the souls of the ritualists, those contacts can consume said souls for use as they please. Based on two bodies, disfigured beyond recognition, found near altar, at least two fell from the attempt. Scroll of "Swallow Light" found within the book. Creature summoned is most well known as a "Spawn of the Dark Tapestry", and is likely loose within the city as we speak.
Return to Heggery, this unit meets up with the team to inform them of Muldog's fate. Gathering information with Heggery's help, we determine several details. Keeper Crove was seen setting up in a larger building in Lower Sacks. Seen recently, not one of two dead. Acting odd, people avoid them for obvious reasons. After most recent building, not the previous one, exploded, Crove became increasingly paranoid-looking. There have been rumors of people disappearing in the area. Hyve and Myre have also been seen in the past day, also increasingly paranoid. Hyve is outside the walls in Upper Sacks, in an old, abandoned church. Myre is also in Lower Sacks, rented place reeking of different, but equally horrible smell. Heggery notes they arrived before the apocalypse, these Keepers have always acted strange. Since rift opened, things act much more strangely around them.
Conclusion: Baskerwhel and Marshan were the two bodies in the catacombs.
Heggery sends us off for the day, says he will look into this on his own end.
Note to council and associates: Within an hour's time frame, Muldog still retained his soul. After the hour passed, his soul was gone from his body and he was left impossible to revive. Raise Dead spells are identified as one of the only ways to successfully revive someone within this time frame, so this unit requests those capable try to have one prepared when working about town, you are the only remaining hope for revivals while the rift remains in the sky. Possibly from now on. Best of luck to all, and please be safe. End of report.