Previous: Island of Quel
Session 18: Ancient Citadel
The group left the Tharkilite temple first thing in the morning after eating a meager breakfast. The set a good pace for the first half of the day before being forced slow their pace when they entered the marsh. Traveling through the swampy land was slow, since several times the group needed to double back to avoid a wide-open stretch of water. The map provided by the priests wasn’t very detailed, but the group was able to find several of the landmarks shown.
Late in the afternoon of the second day, the party stumbled upon a large group of froglike humanoids. Unlike the savage bullywugs that the group had encountered earlier, these creatures moved with a grace that showed their martial prowess, these creatures are known as siv. As one the group rushed to the attack, feet not even splashing in the water. Fortunately before the group could spread out, Corwynne was able to cast a spell to slow their advance. The plants in the area surrounding the creatures reached up and grabbed their limbs, entangling some and slowing the rest. While the animated foliage slowed the creatures, the group fired their ranged weapons, killing several of the siv. When the remainder of the siv broke loose from the spell, their numbers were cut by a quarter. The creatures still outnumbered the party two to one. A group of siv thought to overwhelm the largest fighter in the group, Allister. When they stepped up to him, he cut the four of them down quickly with his greatsword, forcing them to question the wisdom of their attack. Ollorin and Flynn were also winning their skirmishes with the creatures, while the rest of the party supported with their spells. When the group had turned the tides on the siv, the final four fled. A couple of the party members gave chase, but the water-walking siv quickly outdistanced them.
The night before the group estimated that they would arrive at the citadel, they were attacked by a group of bullywugs. The creatures attempted to ambush the encamped group, but they were spotted and the party was able to mount a strong defense, defeating the nine frog creatures with only minor injuries.
Late in the afternoon of the following day, the party approached the ancient, dilapidated citadel.
Sitting on a small promontory in the midst of the swamp juts the rather intimidating looking 3-story structure. It leans slightly to one side, as the foundation has slowly been undermined by the relentless attack of water and time. Several broken windows pepper the exterior stonework at the building’s higher levels, while a number of beautiful stained-glass examples remain unbroken, but in dire need of a cleaning. A small symbol above the heavy metal doors indicates this place is, or was, a haven for worshipers of Tharkil. After spending the last few days sleeping in the marshes, the prospect of a night within a stone structure seems kind of appealing. If you had a choice, however, this isn’t the structure you’d choose. Something about the place seems not-quite-right.
Corwynne flew around the building, trying to detect any inhabitants by looking through the few broken windows; the building seemed completely abandoned. She met the rest of the group at the front door, after expending considerable effort, the rusted portal opened out towards the swamp. Stepping within the doorway, the group found themselves in a large chapel with two balconies running down either side of the room. At the far end of the room, barely illuminated by the lantern was a raised dais with an altar to Tharkil. The group had no time to look around before five undead creatures rushed at them from the shadowed areas of the dais. The creatures resemble desiccated corpses with glowing red eyes. The creatures moved quickly, closing with the group in mere seconds. Raymond called upon the holy might of Magnus, sending two of the creatures running back from whence they came. Allister, Raymond, Ollorin, and Flynn formed a line to protect the rest of the group from the undead horrors. As soon as the creatures got within ten feet they each spit a gout of acidic bile at the defenders, following the acid with a flurry of claws and bites. When the three creatures were lying on the ground defeated, Flynn and Raymond had joined them on the ground unconscious, but alive. Corwynne healed Raymond and between the two of them they were able to heal Flynn.
Figuring that they should find a place to rest, the group moved up the stairs to the balcony to the right. At the top of the balcony the group settled in for the night. Corwynne and Skooby Two slept at the top of the stairs and around four in the morning, Skooby yelped and ran to the other end of the balcony. His yelp awoke the rest of the group in time for Corwynne to see a black form with glowing red eyes, floating towards her. The wraith reached out and its insubstantial claws passed through her, chilling her to the bone. She was able to fly through the rail when Raymond attempted to turn the creature. The wraith turned its baleful gaze upon Raymond and moved forward to attack. The creatures claws passed through Raymond’s armor, ripping at his very soul, weakening him greatly. The rest of the group rushed forward and after a tough battle they were able to defeat the wraith. Unfortunately the wraith’s touch sickened Raymond.
The group continued on, exploring the rest of the ground floor, defeating the two remaining acid spitting undead creatures, then they moved to the third floor. On the third floor they looked through several rooms before coming into a room with all of the furniture covered with sheets. Corwynne was flying through the room when she spotted movement. She called out, but not before one of the sheets flew towards Ollorin and wrapped itself tightly around him. As Ollorin struggled the rest of the group tried to free him, since they couldn’t attack the creature with their weapons without hurting the dwarf. Allister was able to grab a corner of the sheet phantom. Between the struggling dwarf and the burly fighter, the creature was forced to release Ollorin. Gasping for air, Ollorin flopped to the ground. Without their friend it harms way, the group made short work of the sheet phantom.
After the excitement in the sheet phantom’s room, the group came upon a stone door. The door was locked and Darstina stepped forward to pick the lock. When the door swung open and the group saw that the room was cluttered with items. The items looked mostly worthless weapons and armor, although there was some valuable items scattered throughout. Before the group could take in the entire scene, they were challenged by a skeletal creature sitting on a throne-like chair on the opposite side of the room. “State your business in this holy place”.
Corwynne flew forward and said, “we were sent by the faithful of Tharkil to retrieve any holy treasures of the deity”. The creature then asked for the password. Thrown off by the question, the group pulled out the map and looked for any notation giving a clue to the password. When the crypt thing saw the map it asked to see it. It decided that they group was telling the truth so it told them that they could take the holy items back to the priests, as long as the group would get the Tharkilite priest to release him from his stewardship.
The group closed the door and rested in the room with the undead creature. The creature was happy to have company after so many years alone.