Runes of the Father
| Runes of the Father | |
|---|---|
| Date | 8/25/23 |
| Storyteller | Doug |
| Tier | Trainee |
| Player Characters | Bees, V, Disorro Saur, Wrax, Terog Shalesmiter, Amani Hashmi |
| Rewards | 200 exp, 100 gp |
| Result | Success |
| Author | V |
| Downtime | 7 |
Log
This outing proved to be the most curious since I have found these people. Several associates and myself were sent out to investigate a hanged man in a tree. Merchants were being forced to circumvent this tree on their way into the city by increasingly great distances (a delay I am told is quite costly!). The area seemed to have a menacing aura instilling dread in travelers, and indeed some say this weighed on them so greatly it made it difficult to even breath! So, we set out westward with Disorro as our guide. We traveled apace a few days before Terog and I began to get the unsettling feeling we were being trailed. Worry not though dear reader! For our mysterious stalker was no dangerous villain but a strange little sprite named Bees and their traveling companion Cees (though in truth I found the pup difficult to look at! Yuck!) From what they told us they had but only arrived in our land through a portal from far far away (so cool!) They accompanied us onward to the tree.
When we arrived I was stricken with awe at the sight before us! There stood the tree, blackened and rotten in sharp contrast to the foliage around it. It was a fleshy and monstrous vignette of decay. If not for the apparent danger it opposed it would have been a wondrous scene indeed! As reported, a naked man was hung there by a gleaming noose, his hands shackled behind his back. After getting a closer look we noticed this tiefling man had tattoos on his face, and the rest of his body was covered in runic scars. Such beautiful and intricate flesh wounds that clearly bespoke a commendable faith on behalf of the deceased! Nearby laid fine clothes and a sword; Though by the state of them they had been there for untold generations! Soft earth was marked below the man in a language that was indecipherable to us. We found the tree itself was fleshy, sporting open wounds and sores like a beast. The trees in its immediate vicinity seemed to be giving in to its rot.
The rope that held the man aloft seemed to be made of a metal unknown to us. Our attempts to sever it were difficult, but when we did cut it free we were shocked to see the man still held aloft! All manner of chaos broke loose as the hanged man eyes gave off a fiendish glow. Hands sprung from the soil beneath, bidding we join them in despair and sink into the comfort of the quiet death that lie below. The hanged man instilled a dread in us all the likes of which I've never known. Thinking fast, the party discerned they must break the shackles that held his wrists. With a miraculous shot, our new companion Bees broke the binds and (relative) peace resumed. Strangely, the man still hung there, but when pulling on his the noose that now hung below him our minds were filled with a terrible vision. We saw the hanged man in life accompanied by a woman. Both were dressed in regal attire and seemed to be in a newly constructed mausoleum. The man wore mask of despondency... and his words betrayed a melancholic sorrow. The woman seemed to be his subordinate. While the cause of his grief was not mentioned it was clear he had decided to end his life. He seemed to pass on some title of authority to the woman with the following words:
"I proclaim you Alaznist, Archousan of His Majesty's Order, Rise with Thassilon on your shoulders". Alaznist and Thassilon, I fear, must be so ancient as to have lost their meanings to the annals of time. The man then goes on to tie a noose to a sapling above the tomb. Over the ages the tree grows and the rope tightens. As it does, the man inscribes the very same words we saw upon the ground. As the vision fades we find we are able to read the words on the ground before us.
"Here sits the man
Who matured and took name
Here stands the man
Who marched and grew fame
Here hangs the man
Who learned he never changed."
We decided we must investigate this mausoleum. The tree was set ablaze and we watched the floating corpse silhouetted by the growing flames... a sight as grim as it was beautiful. Once the path was cleared we investigated the crypt below. There were six coffins but only five bodies. We were able to discern which name belonged to our hanged man: Krune of the Ablukhan family. After signing his name at the end of his poem and speaking it aloud Krune finally drifted down, his skin sloughing off as though finally accepting the wear of ages. He walked down below finding his place among his long deceased kin (It would seem he finally conceded to his eternal rest). At the same moment an ominous portal opened in the ground. The rest of the associates and I decided we must report back our findings. Bees hung on to the flesh that carried the rune on the mans chest, but it seems to be having an affect on them...
I find myself conflicted and insatiably curious about Krune and his fate. Not to mention what lies beyond the portal. Perhaps in time its mysteries will be laid bare.
(V has sketched a silhouette of the man hanging from the tree in the margins here)
<3 V