Post by hubertbartels on Dec 3, 2023 13:59:32 GMT -5
Journey to Zeno’s Tower
With the aid of the Royal Marines, we had returned to Saltmarsh. Before we arrived at Saltmarsh, we had dropped off the three lizard folk with promises that we would come to the Marshes of Hool and find out what the sahugin were up to. This was echoed that evening after docking when Captain Fishborne asked us to look into rumors about the sahugin.
We had a few days to recover before beginning our investigations. Connor bought a house with his proceeds of the sale of the Sea Ghost. Rissa held on to her money – she had plans. Revus invited the sea elf, Oceanus, to join him at his tower. And Einar got a visitor at his shrine in Crabber’s Cove. Dorven was a bookseller. He had recently lent one of his books to an adventurer. That adventurer had gone to a place known as Zeno’s Tower. The book was volume four of a eight book series. Dorven wanted some hero to travel to Zeno’s Tower and get the book back.
Zeno’s Tower was an old square tower built by a mysterious mage many years ago. It has been abandoned for a long time and was supposed to be filled with the remains of the mage’s treasure. A glyph on the front door protected the contents of the tower from being looted but it had recently lost its power. Since the tower lay a half-day’s journey from Saltmarsh in the direction of the Marshes of Hool, we would be passing by it on our travels.
Having agreed to Dorven’s quest, we set out on the West road, arriving at the tower about mid afternoon. Approaching the tower from the north, we noticed a large, overgrown graveyard adjoining the site of the tower. Rissa walked across the graveyard, looking for recent disturbances of soil marking the signs of ghouls. The only thing disturbing thing we found was a dirt tunnel, leading down into the ground.
The tower was in better shape although part of the third floor and the roof had been blown off in a massive explosion. Rissa went over the front entrance carefully but found no sign of the magical glyph. She did find a thin string being used to trigger an alarm – which she disabled.
Entering the tower, we barred the door and Revus cast Arcane Lock. Moving down the corridor from the front door, Lindsey noted another alarm string. It was also recently set. The corridor passed two doors before opening up into a wider area, once a richly decorated sitting area. A spiral staircase led upstairs.
The door to the left of the corridor opened to room with Xvarts lying in ambush. One of them released the leashes to the rats it held as the others attacked. We cut them down. Right of the corridor, the door led to a kitchen. The kitchen had a another staircase leading down to the basement but it was firmly sealed and nailed down.
Returning to the former sitting area, Rissa noticed the finial on the banister of the spiral staircase rotated. Rotating the finial opened up another spiral staircase leading down. We decided to explore that later and asked Rissa to return the finial back to its original position, closing the hidden stairs.
Upstairs, we’re in another corridor. The left door opened to a bedroom with the remains of a four poster bed. Hiding in the curtains of the bed were more Xvarts. As we fought the Xvarts, their leader called in the aid of a were-bat. Revus and Connor kill the were-bat before finishing off the leader. While checking their bodies for magical items, Revus noticed the mattress of the bed was magical – unspoiled by the years and still vermin free. On the other side of the corridor was another bedroom – the lair of the were-bat. Climbing further to the third floor, we found ourselves in the remains of an alchemical lab. The destruction, loss of the roof and the weather had ruined anything that might be of use.
Since it was growing late, we went downstairs, cleared the left bedroom of bodies, set watches and retired for the night.
With the aid of the Royal Marines, we had returned to Saltmarsh. Before we arrived at Saltmarsh, we had dropped off the three lizard folk with promises that we would come to the Marshes of Hool and find out what the sahugin were up to. This was echoed that evening after docking when Captain Fishborne asked us to look into rumors about the sahugin.
We had a few days to recover before beginning our investigations. Connor bought a house with his proceeds of the sale of the Sea Ghost. Rissa held on to her money – she had plans. Revus invited the sea elf, Oceanus, to join him at his tower. And Einar got a visitor at his shrine in Crabber’s Cove. Dorven was a bookseller. He had recently lent one of his books to an adventurer. That adventurer had gone to a place known as Zeno’s Tower. The book was volume four of a eight book series. Dorven wanted some hero to travel to Zeno’s Tower and get the book back.
Zeno’s Tower was an old square tower built by a mysterious mage many years ago. It has been abandoned for a long time and was supposed to be filled with the remains of the mage’s treasure. A glyph on the front door protected the contents of the tower from being looted but it had recently lost its power. Since the tower lay a half-day’s journey from Saltmarsh in the direction of the Marshes of Hool, we would be passing by it on our travels.
Having agreed to Dorven’s quest, we set out on the West road, arriving at the tower about mid afternoon. Approaching the tower from the north, we noticed a large, overgrown graveyard adjoining the site of the tower. Rissa walked across the graveyard, looking for recent disturbances of soil marking the signs of ghouls. The only thing disturbing thing we found was a dirt tunnel, leading down into the ground.
The tower was in better shape although part of the third floor and the roof had been blown off in a massive explosion. Rissa went over the front entrance carefully but found no sign of the magical glyph. She did find a thin string being used to trigger an alarm – which she disabled.
Entering the tower, we barred the door and Revus cast Arcane Lock. Moving down the corridor from the front door, Lindsey noted another alarm string. It was also recently set. The corridor passed two doors before opening up into a wider area, once a richly decorated sitting area. A spiral staircase led upstairs.
The door to the left of the corridor opened to room with Xvarts lying in ambush. One of them released the leashes to the rats it held as the others attacked. We cut them down. Right of the corridor, the door led to a kitchen. The kitchen had a another staircase leading down to the basement but it was firmly sealed and nailed down.
Returning to the former sitting area, Rissa noticed the finial on the banister of the spiral staircase rotated. Rotating the finial opened up another spiral staircase leading down. We decided to explore that later and asked Rissa to return the finial back to its original position, closing the hidden stairs.
Upstairs, we’re in another corridor. The left door opened to a bedroom with the remains of a four poster bed. Hiding in the curtains of the bed were more Xvarts. As we fought the Xvarts, their leader called in the aid of a were-bat. Revus and Connor kill the were-bat before finishing off the leader. While checking their bodies for magical items, Revus noticed the mattress of the bed was magical – unspoiled by the years and still vermin free. On the other side of the corridor was another bedroom – the lair of the were-bat. Climbing further to the third floor, we found ourselves in the remains of an alchemical lab. The destruction, loss of the roof and the weather had ruined anything that might be of use.
Since it was growing late, we went downstairs, cleared the left bedroom of bodies, set watches and retired for the night.