A Day at the Lake

Year, Season, Month, Days: 5990 F.Y. Frinle, Novulu 3

Molly and Felicity engaged the Deathweb and managed to escape mostly unscathed, save for a quick strength-drain nap for Molly. Molly was restored by Tektun and the party continued exploring the basement.

The party examined the food storage and found a significant amount of stored food, Felicity, noticing salted meat, went to alchemical storage to dump out the alchemical ingredients but became distracted with a golden dial on the table undamaged from the prior fire.

Molly noticed the sound of grinding stones as Felicity spun the dial a quarter-turn and called out to her. The party found a dark wood cabinet revealed by a shifting wine rack. Molly managed to pick the lock and disable the trap, revealing a dull black pearl necklace, a black stone, and an ornate gold-trimmed vial. The party took the black necklace and continued deeper into the basement.

Encountering a staircase leading downward, the party initially planned to descend before noticing a tunnel dug into the side of the room covered in spider webs. Sending Zoni through the tunnel first, the party found a fork, one tunnel dusty, the other covered in soot from the burning webs. The party took the latter tunnel and came to a large lake within a cavern, very dimly lit by glowing blue mushrooms.

Looking upwards, the party found several, likely, humanoids wrapped in silk suspended high above the lake. Felicity sent Zoni up to burn the silk binding the figures to the ceiling. The bodies fell into the lake, save for one that the party saw was suspended by mining equipment roughly 40 feet above the lake. Molly shot the rope and the body spun and fell into the lake, but not before an orb with a blue glow fell into the lake.

Felicity, excited about the cat toy properties of the desiccated body swinging and falling, dove into the lake immediately. While trailing the sinking orb, Felicity saw the blue tinge was actually from a blue fabric that the orb was wrapped in as it billowed behind in the water. As it sank further, Felicity noticed it was a bright white sphere dotted with diamonds and covered in golden bands with a flame that persisted within the water.

In order to easily swim with the orb, Felicity emptied her Bag of Holding filled with alchemical catalysts. As they all began to react with each other, the lake shook and flashed as Felicity began to swim away from the rending pressure after stuffing the orb into her clothes to provide some light.

Molly, witnessing the drastic changes to the water level of the lake, pulled the rope down from the ceiling, tied it to a crossbow bolt, and shot it into the lake to be carried by the current to Felicity. Felicity slid back against the current and touched the sphere, rattled from the sonic vibrations, Felicity was able to leap from the sphere and grab the rope.

The reaction in the lake became more violent as Molly pulled the rope while Felicity climbed. Through the arduous combination, they managed to pull Felicity from the lake as the reaction culminated in an electrical current running across the lake, a column of fire shooting to the top of the cave, and the lake instantly froze solid.

After catching their breath, the party chose to dig out the fallen corpses frozen in the lake and loot them. After taking the time to identify their loot, the party found they had a Ring of Foe Focus, Tremor Boots, Hand of Glory, Wand of Water Breathing, Orb of Golden Heaven, Scroll of Aqueous Orb, Scroll of Invisibility Sphere, Potion of Stabilization, and a Necklace of Beads of Force.

The party decided to continue across the frozen lake to the tunnel opening and proceeded forward until they reached a large wooden door. It appeared to be barred, but Felicity hit the latch through the slit in the door.

The party saw an old elf sitting on a stool asking how the party made it down there. As he started casting a spell Felicity threw a bead at him, detonating and trapping him in a sphere of force. They learn his name to be Barbarosa and he claimed to be locked in the basement by Merly.

The party watches as the elf disappears. Molly finds a scroll and she identifies the paper as a Scroll of Disintegration. Felicity found an instructional book on how to make Deathwebs. The party made their way back until they reached the original fork in the path. They chose to continue that direction and found a recently-bricked wall.

Deciding to dismantle the wall, the party dug it out and realized it entered into an ornate wine cellar. After taking down the wall and looking around, they realized this cellar belonged to Count Adrastante Morcorath. They re-bricked the wall and went through the tunnels to the basement where they fought the Deathweb.

Molly took the two other treasures left in the ornate cabinet, a Black Soul Shard and a Blood Reservoir of Physical Prowess, before locking the cabinet and resetting the trap. Felicity attempted to return the golden dial to its original place but found the dial would not turn backward; Felicity turned it as far forward as it would go but it locked a few clicks before a complete rotation.

The party, anxious to leave, found the exits no longer in place, but there was an altar where the stairwell leading downward used to be. Molly was able to identify the altar as belonging to Wedroe, The God of Fear, one of the gods to which Molly passively prayed.

Molly sliced her hand with her masterwork dagger and placed a bloody handprint on the altar with the dagger atop it. The dagger spun towards Felicity, who pricked her finger and placed the dagger back down, along with a drop of her blood. The blade twisted toward Tektun and gave a horizontal slice before placing itself back.

Tektun cast Consecrate upon the altar and the room started to shake, cut off from the god. The dial moved forward a few notches but was still resistant to the final click forward. After Molly touched the dial with her bloody hand, it turned black. Upon request, Tektun cast Consecrate again upon the dial and the room shook while the table partially collapsed.

Felicity attempted to move the dial again, but the table collapsed with the dial still in her fingers. The exit became visible and the party ran up to the top gate of the basement. They encountered Merly, who knew of Barbarosa and was disappointed at his release.

As the party prepared to leave, Merly asked if the party found the Orb of Golden Heaven, and the party denied and had no interest in the history of the cave nor talking with Merly further, he gave them a platinum diadem, petrified fairy, and testament of work as payment. Before the party left, he did ask the duo to place the gate doors back into place and they reluctantly agreed.

Completing the gate repairs, the party realized that the building they left was a monastery that worshiped Wedroe. After taking time to process, Molly chose to toss away her Wedroe pendant, but before doing so was asked by a disembodied voice if this was the decision they truly wanted to make, they had to choose between Wedroe or Novulu to which Molly asked: “What good has fear ever done?” without waiting for a response.

The duo returned to the inn where Molly took baths, Ruth repaired Felicity’s coat, and Felicity checked on the Samsarans. While in the bath, Molly faded out of reality and spoke with Novulu in cat form and was told when they left this place they would be given directions on where to find their former captors on the condition she tortured them how they did unto her. Molly was given the opportunity to become a Champion of Novulu and be given great power in exchange for “following her namesake”, to which Molly agreed. Felicity had the diadem identified as a Headband of Alluring Charisma +4. The party went to bed.

Molly gained a Mythic Tier!