Our heroes have just met some of the Mountain Folk who have taken refuge in a room of the Amber Temple accessible from a fissure, probably caused by an earthquake. It's still early in the morning, and first light hasn't reached the rest of the mountain canyon yet.
Our dramatis personae:
Ser Adon de Rouge of House Starbright (a half-orc Paladin, from a knightly background, with two human retainers and a priest), played by Paul (dr_mitch). Lawful Good. Married to Ser Alys.
Kelwarin (Kel) (a half-elf Sorceror flush with the powers of wild magic, an outlander), played by Graham (First Age). Chaotic Good.
Gaddock Teeg (a halfling wizard and former prizefighter), played by Alex (Doggetay), Neutral Good
Ser Alys de Adon-Rouge of House Starbright (a half-orc Fighter with a soldier background, currently the leader of the town militia of Daggerford), played by Tom (Guvnor). Lawful Neutral. Imagine a slightly greener take on Grace Jones... Married to Ser Adon.
also featuring:
Ireena Kolyana (a human warrior, daughter of the Burgomaster of Barovia, Twice-Bitten reincarnation of Strahd's unrequited love, Tatyana) - upgraded as a sidekick.
and introducing:
Muriel Vinshaw (a member of the Keepers of the Feather, travelling with the party to repay them for rescuing her), a wereraven upgraded to a sidekick (yes, I know that breaks rules as she started at CR2 but frankly I don't care)!
All characters and sidekicks are level 8.
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18th December, Morning.
The Mountain Folk tried to discourage the party from entering the Temple, saying it was a dangerous place with evil spirits. One of their group had entered and been incinerated by something. They'd not stop the party entering but it was clear that they believed they'd be unlikely to meet again if they did.
The party headed out into the eery light. The sky was lit from dawn but no light was directly reaching the canyon floor yet. The human's lit torches and Kel cast a light spell to help Gaddock. They searched but found no entrances other than the ominous staircase. The black granite temple looked imposing in the half-light and the amber statues of hooded figures had some kind of unnatural glow in the light.
Adon and Alys led the way down the stairs, the others trailing behind a little in case of trouble. At the bottom of the stairs, they reached a short corridor sheathed in amber, exquisitely carved and prepared. The floor was a polished black stone. The two warriors noticed some arrow slits in the wall and cautiously checked through them. Both rooms seemed long abandoned, but the eastern wall seemed to have a body slumped in it. Gaddock established it was frozen using his mage-hand, but it was difficult to see properly. They'd have to find a different way if they wanted to.
The corridor opened into a large balcony and there was clearly a huge open space ahead in the darkness. For some reason, the darkness seemed oppressive and even the half-orcs had to strain to see. Gaddock caught a glimpse of some kind of flamed light high up on west wall, and then it was gone. Perhaps it was something dangerous? Perhaps it was nerves? Something made him think that it was a flaming skull. Something about the place put people on edge, like whispering ethereal voices at the back of their mind, just out of hearing, chanting and singing. Ser Adon could feel an oppressive evil nearby, perhaps below them.
There was a large amber double-door to the west, lit by a faint flickering light within. They carefully checked it out before realising that the room they'd taken refuge in with Mountain Folk was behind the amber-carven doors. They turned around and headed to the eastern end of the balcony. The doors here were open, and a chamber lay beyond with a dark shaft broken into the floor. There was an amber pebble beside the opening, and Adon turned around to Gaddock and said "Don't you be a fool of a...". At which point bickering broke out with Alys taking Gaddock's side accusing Adon of playing to stereotypes. They bickered loudly for a few moments, only to stop when they saw the halfling lifting the pebble with his magehand. Everyone held their breath for a moment, only for Gaddock to bring the pebble back to himself. Looking down the shaft, there was an uneasy darkness below. They debated covering the shaft but decided it would be prudent not to disturb it at all.
Searching the area, they discovered a door in the wall to the east. It opened into the remains of some kind of bunk room, perhaps a barracks. The furniture had long collapsed or perhaps been broken. They noticed a concealed door in the carvings on the east side of the room; opening it cautiously, they discovered the corpse they'd seen previously. Approaching, Gaddock and Kel recognised the boots. The frozen body, covered with rime was revealed to be their lost friend, Roscoe Tosscobble. Frozen solid, he sat there with a gentle, calm smile, mediating on his amber hearthstone and holding an amulet. A feeling of despair and sadness passed through the party. Adon swore to avenge his friend. They carefully covered him with a blanket, planning to recover the body later; the amulet and hearthstone were recovered in case they gave a clue to the nature of the Temple.
They headed north into a large corridor that led from the chamber with the well into the darkness. To the left, the corridor opened like a balcony into the space below. Again Gaddock suspected that he saw something in the darkness across, a flickering light. They found a door on the west wall, and opened it, discovering what appeared to be a lecture theatre for training mages. Advanced magical formulae where on the slate board, and the room was permanently lit by four magical candelabras. They decided to rest for a while and take stock. As they did, they noticed movement and realised there was some one hiding here. After some cajoling, an emaciated man with diseased features emerged. He introduced himself as Vilinius; he'd crossed through the mists looking for a cure for his family from a horrific disease but had realised the temple was too dangerous. He asked if the party to help him find the magical lore to save his family; of course they agreed, but there was a degree of suspicion about him, perhaps because of his annoying mannerisms.
Resting, they became aware of the deep cold of the Temple. It cut into their bones; soon, Ireena was shivering and turning blue, and Ser Adon's armour was frosting over and his teeth chattering. Kel drew Ireena into an embrace and managed to warm her; Ser Alys took a more direct route with her spouse and slapped Ser Adon hard in the face and told him to 'pull himself together'. That worked too.
They all headed out into the darkness, turning north. The corridor flooring was cracked, perhaps by the earthquake they suspected to have happened. It ended with open double amber doors. Adon looked through and saw a jackal-headed amber statue nearly as tall as two men. As he stepped in, it turned and said 'You are not permitted to be here" before slamming him hard against the wall, twice. Winded, Ser Adon struck back, hitting hard but not seeming to stop the creature. Muriel Vinshaw rushed in to help, and Ser Alys drew her greatsword and stepped into the fray drawing its attention. Adon healed himself, fortunately, as he was struck again. Fortunately, Ser Alys' crescendo of attacks smashed the golem into pieces as her sword sang. The room was earthquake damaged; they pressed on, going onto a balcony that looked out into the temple floor.
They could vaguely see the outline of a statue in the darkness, when suddenly there was a streak of light and a fireball erupted around them. Half the group dived into a nearby room, the rest back to where the golem remained. A very proper voice said "You are not permitted to be here. You must leave this place now. The secrets here are protected from the darkness." Ser Adon yelled back that the party was here for those secrets to help them defeat Strahd and that whoever it was had better not get in their way. This was met with another fireball being thrown into the room where they'd duck in, burning and singeing them all. Muriel and Adon were in a bad way. They couldn't see where the attacks were coming from, and they were being hurt, badly. The wall on the far side started to have flickering flames at what appeared to be arrow slits; definitely flaming skulls.
The group that had pressed into the room found a staircase downwards behind a concealed door; there was a taint of death and darkness that way. They realised that otherwise it was a dead end. Downwards didn't seem the sensible thing to do, so they ran. The voice said told them to leave this place. They all took refuge in the lecture theatre to heal up.
Once recovered, they crept out of the lecture theatre to hear the disembodied voice talking to itself. "Disturbed again, how frustrating. I was deeply into that book and they broke my flow. I'm fed up of these treasure hunters after dark secrets. They need to be protected; so much of this falls to me because Exethanter hasn't been himself the last few centuries. Oh well, perhaps I'll get a decade or two of quiet this time. Twice in a week, how frustrating."
They decided to see if they could sneak down the other side of the Temple. However, even with light's dowsed, the voice called out "You know I can see you. I warned you." A dialogue ensued. Somehow, Gaddock managed to talk into a parley. He bravely headed down into the darkness, soon coming towards the statue. Looking around, he couldn't see where the voice was coming from. The statue was of a hooded figure, he went around it and saw steps upwards. Starting to mount them, there was a click, and a voice behind him said "No, not there, this way". He turned to see light from a door in the back of the statue, with a foxlike creature silhouetted in it. Introductions followed; Gaddock was introduced to Neferon, a librarian and protector of the temple. He was taken up into the statue, which had three floors and shelves of books and scrolls about magic. In the head of the statue, they had tea and cake, and Gaddock explained their reason for visiting the Temple; the fact that they wanted to free the Fanes.
Neferon decided that the others could come down too. The balcony to the west had collapsed, providing a good place to set up an impromptu picnic. The others came down, while Gaddock helped Neferon set some tables and cake and more tea.
They established that Neferon had been here for centuries. Adon realised Neferon was some kind of fiend, but he didn't radiate evil; rather, if anything he was good. Adon asked if Neferon was of the lower planes, and the mage replied to the affirmative, tartly responding that you shouldn't believe everything you read as everyone has an opportunity to choose between the darkness and the light. They also established that there were flaming skulls overmatching them to the west. Neferon said they were his former colleagues who had elected to continue their servitude to the Order, protecting the dark secrets kept here. There was a bit of a discussion about the rightness of using undead creatures, but it felt like Ser Adon's heart wasn't fully in it, especially when Neferon pushed back that it was the choice of the mages involved to do this.
They discussed Strahd, learning that he was previously a regular visitor (and welcomed). He had not been unlike Ser Adon and Ser Alys in those days; bright, strong and full of hope and passion. But as he aged he changed. Ser Adon explained how they planned to defeat Strahd, by bringing back the Fanes and severing his connection to the land, then killing him. Neferon looked sorrowful, and said that they would fail. The party argued that they had stout hearts and explained their successes so far.
Neferon looked sad, and shook his head. He explained that would not be enough. Strahd had died before, but comes back. They could only permanently defeat Strahd if they defeat Vampyr. They looked confused, saying that they'd kill Strahd the Vampire. Neferon patiently explained that Vampyr was a dark power that Strahd had released from entombment here in the temple, sealing a dark pact. Vampyr escaped and drew the spaces between worlds to itself, the mists that surround this place, the place that it naturally existed. When Strahd killed his family and was slain, the pact was finally sealed and Barovia drawn into the mists, Vampyr's escape concluded. To destroy Strahd and bring Barovia back from the Mists, they would have to destroy Vampyr as well.
They asked if there was a way. Neferon grimaced and said they'd have to asked Exethanter and consult the library. The problem is that Exethanter is no longer himself; the years have taken their toll. However, if they said Neferon had sent them, he should be helpful. Neferon finished by giving them his blessing to consult and research but they were in no way to approach any of the dark powers entombed in amber below. If they did, he'd have to destroy them, utterly. The party agreed.
Neferon also politely asked Gaddock and Kel if they'd like to join the Order protecting this temple, and even joked that they had good death benefits. They declined.
As they cleared up and prepared to go up the stairs to meet Exethanter, they realised that Vilinius was no longer with them. They mentioned this and Neferon observed he was probably a seeker after darkness. They should watch for him and be careful. Often such folk followed amulets that led them through the Mists, unwitting servants of the Dark Powers within.
GM notes:
This was the most dungeon-like we'd been and Roll20 did it brilliantly (once I realised that the page had daylight set initially. It was creepy with the lighting. I also deliberately put a track from the Cranes (Watersong) on repeat at low level to put people on edge. The amber golem fight showed that the place was dangerous as Ser Adon was almost down on death saves (one more hit would have done it). Adon also, luckily, saved against being effectively slowed.
Neferon's defence of the Temple was also scary; how can you fight something you can't see? Neferon was only using the lower end of his powers too. Several characters could only have taken one or two more hits.
They've effectively neutralised the main attacks the temple will make against them, provided they don't mess with the captured Dark Powers. They've also found out more of Strahd's back story and realised that killing him alone probably isn't enough.
It was sad to see the ending of Roscoe Tosscobble; it was something that Jag and I had discussed in advance. His quest had always been to find the Temple, perhaps unwittingly drawn there by a Dark Power, or perhaps drawn by something that the Order had created to find like-minded souls.
8 September 2022
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