Post by hubertbartels on Jan 6, 2024 16:45:41 GMT -5
The Secret of Ythethn
Waking up from a good sleep and a warm breakfast, we headed out to the nearest tower – the Tower of Necromancy. We found it a shattered ruin, a stump of a structure with hundreds of undead hands crawling over the rubble. Melandrian spotted a wizard’s ghost nearby, watching the undead. The ghost was the former head of the Necromancers and it was his undead that were trying fruitlessly to recover the wizard’s body. Melandrian spoke a bit with the ghost and offered our help in laying the wizard;s spirit to rest. An hour of work later, we recovered the ghost’s body. In gratitude, the wizard ghost read off the line formerly carved into the ceiling of the Tower of Necromancy. “Trace a Circle with the Ashes of the Dead.”
Before continuing on to the Menagerie, we each grabbed a handful of the ashes of the dead from the stores of the former Tower of Necromancy. The Menagerie was a large domed building with scores of miniature environments. The gift shop featured a device for making your own chimera.
From the Menagerie, it was a short walk to the Tower of Evocation. We had no problems climbing to the top floor and reading the inscription, “Quench the Flame in Your Palm with Ice.” We ignored the unlit brazer in the middle of the room and the eight alcoves filled with frozen gelatinous cubes.
After a brief ambush of snow golems – they melted in Melandrian’s Fireball spell – we moved on to the Tower of Illusion. On the top floor, we found the actual inscription hidden by an illusionary script. The inscription told us to “Hide Your Face Behind a Mask.”
We made a quick stop at the Theatre to rummage in its backrooms for masks. A chained and paddocked desk was radiating magic so we had Rinaldo open the locks and look. The desk held five copies of a cursed play. We quickly locked up the desk again.
Next was the Tower of Enchantment. On the top floor, we found a woman sitting on a throne, her head wearing an iron crown. Melandrian studied it for a moment before stating while the crown had kept her alive for 1,600 years, it had also been cursed to remove almost all of her intelligence. We left after reading the inscription, “Coax a Secret From Another,” from the wall behind her.
A brief stop at the Hall of Weightless Wonders where Singe and Rinaldo amused themselves by flying and then we headed on to our last stop, the Tower of Transmutation. The top floor had a wizard, caught in the motion of fleeing, turned into adamantium. After determining that the wizard was truly dead, Melandrian turned the state into 1046 one pound ingots. We collected the ingots and put them into our Bags of Holding. The inscription in the room with the unfortunate wizard read, “Stand Firm Within the Circle of Death.”
We now had all the parts of the ritual. Checking the Central Spire, we found the twin mahogany doors were sealed with a barrier. Taking on the Central Spire and the demi-lich would take all our resources so we decided to get a good night’s rest and tackle it tomorrow.
In the morning, we returned to the barrier, performed the ritual and watched the barrier dissolve. Entering the Central Spire, we fought various servitors and guards of the demi-lich, collecting a set of animated musical instruments and a construct calling itself, Everlight. Everlight, after hearing out reasons for obtaining the city’s Mythlar, told us where it resided.
Before descending the stairs to the Mythlar room, we decided to go up another flight of steps to the quarters of the High Mage. When we got there, we were surprised at the number of books, the magical instruments and other regalia in the room. But a floating skull with jewels for eyes descended upon us and let out a howl. Inga and several others fell. Rinaldo and Beatrix immediately started healing as Melandrian and the skull traded spells.
Once Inga regained her health, she screamed and tore into the demi-lich. The other continued to throw spells or to hit it while Beatrix shielded us from more necromantic spells. Under the onslaught, the skull shattered.
After we had collected all the Netherese books and other items from the chamber, we descended down to the Mythlar chamber. It’s bulky – but weightless – so Inga shouldered the thing and bore it back outside to our ship. Bryn Shander would soon be the only Ten Town with a Mythlar...
Waking up from a good sleep and a warm breakfast, we headed out to the nearest tower – the Tower of Necromancy. We found it a shattered ruin, a stump of a structure with hundreds of undead hands crawling over the rubble. Melandrian spotted a wizard’s ghost nearby, watching the undead. The ghost was the former head of the Necromancers and it was his undead that were trying fruitlessly to recover the wizard’s body. Melandrian spoke a bit with the ghost and offered our help in laying the wizard;s spirit to rest. An hour of work later, we recovered the ghost’s body. In gratitude, the wizard ghost read off the line formerly carved into the ceiling of the Tower of Necromancy. “Trace a Circle with the Ashes of the Dead.”
Before continuing on to the Menagerie, we each grabbed a handful of the ashes of the dead from the stores of the former Tower of Necromancy. The Menagerie was a large domed building with scores of miniature environments. The gift shop featured a device for making your own chimera.
From the Menagerie, it was a short walk to the Tower of Evocation. We had no problems climbing to the top floor and reading the inscription, “Quench the Flame in Your Palm with Ice.” We ignored the unlit brazer in the middle of the room and the eight alcoves filled with frozen gelatinous cubes.
After a brief ambush of snow golems – they melted in Melandrian’s Fireball spell – we moved on to the Tower of Illusion. On the top floor, we found the actual inscription hidden by an illusionary script. The inscription told us to “Hide Your Face Behind a Mask.”
We made a quick stop at the Theatre to rummage in its backrooms for masks. A chained and paddocked desk was radiating magic so we had Rinaldo open the locks and look. The desk held five copies of a cursed play. We quickly locked up the desk again.
Next was the Tower of Enchantment. On the top floor, we found a woman sitting on a throne, her head wearing an iron crown. Melandrian studied it for a moment before stating while the crown had kept her alive for 1,600 years, it had also been cursed to remove almost all of her intelligence. We left after reading the inscription, “Coax a Secret From Another,” from the wall behind her.
A brief stop at the Hall of Weightless Wonders where Singe and Rinaldo amused themselves by flying and then we headed on to our last stop, the Tower of Transmutation. The top floor had a wizard, caught in the motion of fleeing, turned into adamantium. After determining that the wizard was truly dead, Melandrian turned the state into 1046 one pound ingots. We collected the ingots and put them into our Bags of Holding. The inscription in the room with the unfortunate wizard read, “Stand Firm Within the Circle of Death.”
We now had all the parts of the ritual. Checking the Central Spire, we found the twin mahogany doors were sealed with a barrier. Taking on the Central Spire and the demi-lich would take all our resources so we decided to get a good night’s rest and tackle it tomorrow.
In the morning, we returned to the barrier, performed the ritual and watched the barrier dissolve. Entering the Central Spire, we fought various servitors and guards of the demi-lich, collecting a set of animated musical instruments and a construct calling itself, Everlight. Everlight, after hearing out reasons for obtaining the city’s Mythlar, told us where it resided.
Before descending the stairs to the Mythlar room, we decided to go up another flight of steps to the quarters of the High Mage. When we got there, we were surprised at the number of books, the magical instruments and other regalia in the room. But a floating skull with jewels for eyes descended upon us and let out a howl. Inga and several others fell. Rinaldo and Beatrix immediately started healing as Melandrian and the skull traded spells.
Once Inga regained her health, she screamed and tore into the demi-lich. The other continued to throw spells or to hit it while Beatrix shielded us from more necromantic spells. Under the onslaught, the skull shattered.
After we had collected all the Netherese books and other items from the chamber, we descended down to the Mythlar chamber. It’s bulky – but weightless – so Inga shouldered the thing and bore it back outside to our ship. Bryn Shander would soon be the only Ten Town with a Mythlar...