4.0.5 I AM YOUR WHISPERED ONE, WHELP!

SESSION DATE: December 2, 2023
PRESENT: Maltrixxian, Zugg Zugg, Lim Dul, Zorak

Deep Dive

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Adventure Photos

World Anvil Journal

Today I decided to see what sort of help was needed at the job board. I saw a posting about some odd goings-on at place close to Thistlebriar, a nearby town about a day's travel northwest of Urithiru. I found myself once again alongside Zugg Zugg, Lim Dul and Zorak. We made our preparations and then hit the road soon after.

On arriving at Thistlebriar, we met with the village elder who gave us what details he knew. I tuned out most of the conversation. All I know is there are farmers going missing and then reappearing some days later with no knowledge of what transpired during that time. There is word of some strange creatures roaming an area to the east near a supposedly abandoned temple of the God of Guardians. We are to visit the area and do what we can to figure out what's going on and put an end to it if necessary.

Lim Dul takes the lead, taking us toward a temple. It's a massive stone structure imposing on the surrounding lands. A pathway leads up to it, revealing a large stone door with a square shape cut into it. I can't quite make out what it looks like exactly before Lim Dul haphazardly opens the door. We could hear voices just beyond, but on opening the door, the voices suddenly stop. Two robed gentlemen look toward us quizzically, and ask us who we are and why we're here. With no answer, Lim Dul asks the same of them. They introduce themselves as Jeff and Geoff. Likely story.

They elaborate a bit when pressed. They say they have taken up residence at this abandoned temple and that they serve someone called Malloch Fargazer. None of us are familiar with the name. They tell us that Malloch Fargazer is the leader of their group and a direct channel to The Whispered One. Likewise, we are unfamiliar with that name as well. They are unwilling to elaborate further unless we join their ranks and swear our fealty to The Whispered One. That doesn't sound like something I would be interested in doing. At least without knowing more.

Surprisingly, when Zugg Zugg questioned them about if they knew about the recent rumors of farmers going missing, they confessed that they indeed do. Turns out these two are from Thistlebriar, and this group of followers have been taking them in for use in a "ritual" of some sort. If things already sounded bleak, they just got bleaker.

Lim Dul strongly suggests to them that they follow Dispater instead, to which Jeff and Geoff proudly exclaim that there is no room for other higher powers in their mind. Lim Dul commands that they make room, but the guys just look at him like they don't any conflict. They claim their mother is worried about them and that they should head home.

Before allowing them to leave, I ask them if they know what we are likely to encounter as we press forward with our investigation. They don't seem to keen on opening either door in the room, and suggest we don't head up the stairs either. I know I'm not getting more information from them, so that little bit of info will have to suffice. Lim Dul tells the boys to leave their robes and symbology behind before he lets them go. They do so, and they leave.

Their symbol looks like a staff or totem made of a femur bone with a skull at the top. Each of the skull's eye sockets is filled with a gem. Lim Dul dons the robe and the symbol. The moment he touches the symbol, he feels an instant exhaustion. He discovers that the exhaustion wanes immediately upon dropping the symbol. This has bad omen written all over it. I refuse to touch it.

We come up with a quick plan to barricade one of the side doors before investigating the other. Behind the eastern door were two skeletons, which were easy enough to dispatch. Removing the barricade allowed us to then look into the western room. Inside it were two zombies. They didn't immediately seem hostile. Lim Dul suggests we leave them be, but I think we should remove any and all threats now lest they become one later.

As a quick side note, for someone who is supposedly a follower of Dispater, Lim Dul has a hard time remembering that Dispater's name literally describes who he is: The Father of Dis. Yet Lim Dum still refers to Dispater as "she". Perhaps this is why Lim Dum's luck typically seems terrible. Maybe it's Dispater's way of showing his Dis-pleasure with his little lackey. Those who know me know that I'm not proud of my unwanted associated with Dispater, but even I dare not tempt fate and the higher powers that be. I already have enough to deal with with HER in my head.

Tangent aside, Lim Dul believes we should leave the zombies be as they are tools of Dispater, which sounds to me like all the more reason to destroy them. I ready my greatsword and swing. After a few seconds, the zombies have been dealt with. I thank Zugg Zugg and Zorak for their assistance, and sarcastically thank Lim Dum for his "help". At least he stayed out of the way.

He heads up the stairs without much thought, which, in all honesty, I probably would have done the same. We're here on a task, after all. We find ourselves within a circular corridor with several passages leading outward from it and surrounding a central room secured with doors. At the northern side of this corridor, there are three more doors. These doors have a similar square-shaped grid of round holes presented. It seems significant to our task in order to go further. It turns out that each of the six hallways leading from the central circular corridor probably has a key we need to open the doors. Perhaps they need to be placed in specific patterns? Not sure yet.

The first of the extending corridors we enter is the one in the southeast. At the end is an unlocked door behind which are four figures playing a game of Dragon Chess. Lim Dul attempts to persuade them that Jeff and Geoff sent us here, but they're not buying it. Lim Dul tells them we're here to deliver a "message", that being his greatsword to their heads, but he misses horribly, instead making contact with the table on which the priest had just laid his coffee. I guess they didn't like the message. A fight ensued, which we were pretty easily able to handle. We find another one of their symbols/keys and bring it to the northern doors and lay it down tucked in a sack to avoid their aura of exhaustion.

We continue counter-clockwise to the eastern corridor. At the end of this one is another unlocked door which Lim Dul can't wait to open. As soon as he does, a thick fog escapes the room, revealing what appears to be a deceased body lying on the floor in the center of the room. Lim Dul assumes she is dead, but I want to check before leaving. Trust, but verify. I bend down to check, and it turns out he was correct. She has been deceased for at least a day as far as I can discern. On closer inspection, I find a thin necklace with a golden leaf pendant. At the center of the leaf is a name: Neia. I place it into my pocket, and stand back up to rejoin the others.

Returning to the main circular corridor, I spot a statue. Not sure how I missed it before. Lim Dul pointed it out to me as though I couldn't miss it. If I'm honest, he's right. I must've been too busy studying the way the stone floors were laid in this gods forsaken place to notice it. I quickly look over it for any plaques, but find none. Instead, I find that the statue's fingers near the top of the sword which it grasps are movable, and the pinkie finger is adorned by a gem-encrusted ring. The ring nor the gems are removable. So I do what any self-respecting Illrigger would do and maneuver the fingers in such a way as to make it appear as though it is gesturing rudely at a fellow Illrigger. Lim Dul was none too impressed, but at least it made me feel better.

Continuing counter-clockwise, we find ourselves now within the northeastern hallway. At the end was yet another unlocked door. This time Lim Dul waits a bit before opening it, giving us time to listen closely first. Within, we can hear someone - or something - speaking in the third person and moaning and grunting. We're usually not ones to judge, and this was no exception. However, given the circumstances, we have to see what's going on. Luckily we seemed to arrive just in time to find an ogre torturing a seemingly-innocent orc. As soon as I realize what's going on, I tell the ogre, whose name is Wiggles, to cease his torturous activity. He does not, instead wondering why the orc was still alive. Having had enough, I raise my greatsword and swing. Once again, Lim Dum seems to be in another universe where this kind of thing is okay as he disapproves of my escalation. I tell him that we're here to stop a ritual, not participate in one. He seems a bit more keen to assist now. After taking some heavy hits from Wiggles the ogre, we dispatch him. However, as it turns out, Zorak had mistaken our enemy somehow and ended up also killing the orc on the torture device. Not sure how that happened, but I'm not going to question it.

On leaving the room a familiar thick fog swirls up and envelops me entirely. It turns out this fog is hungry for blood. The vampiric mist hurts my very life essence, causing me great injury and draining my vitality. I reach into my new Bag of Tricks and pull out a fuzzy object. On released, it manifested into a giant hyena, which I named Ed. The name seems fitting somehow. Afterward, I attempt to escape from the mist. I do so successfully, and head back towards the Dragon Chess room where it should be safe. At the same time, the vampiric mist seems to disappear, leaving us alone, at least for now. In pain and desperate need of rest, I strongly suggest that we hole up in the Dragon Chess room to sleep this off. They all agree. I leave Ed out in the hall to keep watch, and we are able to rest up.

After that harrowing encounter, I wish for more protection, so I pull out another fuzzy creature from the Bag of Tricks. This one turned into an ape, which I named King Louie. Once again, the name just seemed appropriate.

Feeling sufficiently protected on both sides, I continue following the rest of my party. Once again continuing counter-clockwise, we now find ourselves in the northwest hallway. At the end is another door. As we guessed, this one was also unlocked. Security here seems rather lax, not counting the three locked northern square grid doors. Inside are four bodies which have seemingly just been freshly reanimated. It's go time. The difference with this group of foes is that they seem rather intelligent and skilled in their tactics and abilities. They prove to be a bit of a nuisance, but nothing we ultimately couldn't handle. Even King Louie got in on the action by getting a killing blow by throwing a rock at the last acolyte. It looks like this was a previous adventuring party who weren't so lucky to leave this place alive.

We find ourselves a bit strained here, so we begrudgingly decide to call it for now. Perhaps we can make our way back to finish our investigation. Or maybe another group can do better. We finished with at least some insight into what might be going on. And we didn't leave empty handed.

We make our way back to Urithiru where we divvy up our findings and part ways for now.

Private Notes

• A village elder approaches the heroes and explains what is going on in the local area. Farmers are going missing and then reappearing several days later, with most of their memories gone. Strange creatures have been spotted to the east near an abandoned temple of The God of Guardians. The village elder asks the heroes to go investigate and put an end to whatever is going on.
• About a day or two's travel northwest of Urithiru we come across the small village of Thistlebriar.
• Lim Dul leads us toward the temple. A massive stone structure imposes upon the nearby lands. A pathway leads to the temple. A large stone door caps the edge of the entrance way ahead of us. A square shape is cut into the door where some light leaks through the other side. Two men are heard arguing on the other side of the door.
• Zugg Zugg is able to determine that this temple seems to be connected to some kind of primordial nature type of essence.
• Lim Dul opens the unlocked door. We see two individuals standing in front of us. Jeff and Geoff. They stop talking, turn to us confused, and ask us who we are. Lim Dul asks what their purpose is here. They respond that they've taken up residence in the abandoned temple. They serve Malloch Fargazer. They don't appear to be hostile, at least not now.
• Lim Dul asks for more information about Malloch Fargazer. He is the leader of their group, and a direct channel to The Whispered One. Lim Dul asks them to elaborate on who the Whispered One is.
• They say there are many secrets to the uninitiated, though they'd be happy to tell us more should we wish to join their following. Lim Dul asks them if Dispater knows of their leader or the Whispered One. They've never heard of Dispater.
• These guys are from Thistlebriar. Zugg Zugg asks them if they might know why folks are losing their memories. They respond that they do, and that they're taking them for a ritual.
• Lim Dul suggests they follow Dispater instead, but they say they have no room for other deities. Lim Dul suggests that they "MAKE ROOM." They seem like they're a bit in over their heads and are unsure of exactly what's going on. Lim Dul draws his weapon, telling them that Dispater wants their commitment. They use the excuse that their mom is worried sick, and they'd rather just go away and leave us alone.
• Before we allow them to leave, Mal asks them if they know what's further into the complex. They suggest that we don't open the doors on the left or right, but they don't know what's beyond them. Mal says "Look, you guard these doors for hours a day or whatever, but you've never even caught a glimpse behind the doors?" They say the only other thing they know is that beyond the steps just ahead, there is a circular room with other doors and passages, but they don't know any specifics. Lim Dul asks them to leave their robes and any symbology behind, and they may leave. They disrobe and leave their symbols, and then leave.
• Their symbol looks like a staff or totem made of a femur bone with a skull at the top of it. The eye sockets are each filled with a gem.
• Lim Dul dons one of the robes and symbols. At the very moment he puts on the symbol, he feels exhausted
• The room is large and open, getting smaller towards the stone stairs leading upwards. There are two doors, one east, one west, and four pillars hold up the ceiling.
• Lim Dul suggests we blockade one of the doors before heading through the other. While they're setting up such a blockade on the west door, Mal listens at the east door. He is unable to hear anything beyond it.
• Lim Dul tells Mal to move aside, then opens the door. Inside are a couple skeletons. INITIATIVE!!!
  • Combat over.
• We find two shortswords and two shortbows on the skeletons.
• We move back to the main room, remove the barricade from the other door, and Lim Dul opens that door as well. Inside are two zombies, but they do not attack. Mal thinks maybe it's because Lim Dul is dim as Lim Dul apparently doesn't know that Dispater is male, so Mal walks into the room. They still don't attack. Mal supposes it isn't brains they're after. Lim Dul says we should leave them be as they're tools of Dispater, to which Mal says all the more reason to destroy them. Zugg and Zorak also say the same. INITIATIVE!!!
  • Lim Dul wishes not to participate in this encounter.
  • Combat over.
• After the encounter, Mal says "Thanks for the help Lim Dum." He didn't like that.
• Lim Dul walks into the hallway up the steps. There are statues mirrored on either side of the circular room. There is a set of massive doors to the north. Embedded into the center walls, there are large stone doors going into the center portion of the area.
• We venture into the southeastern hallway coming from the circular room. The door at the end is unlocked. Lim Dul opens it.
• A dragon chess game is being played by a few figures sitting alongside one of the sofas in the room. They look up, putting their coffee down, asking if we're new. Lim Dul says "Yeah." He says Jeff or Geoff sent us, but they're on a union-mandated break at the moment and that Kevin on the far end can help us once they're done. Lim Dul says it's a good thing that Kevin told him to deliver this "message" right to this guy. Lim Dul attempts to deliver a strike via his greatsword, and misses horribly. INITIATIVE!!!
  • The cult fanatic tells Lim Dul to "grovel". Luckily Lim Dul is able to shake off the effects of the spell.
  • Combat over.
• From their bodies, we find four daggers, four sets of robes, three masks, four unholy symbols. 60c 20s 10g.
• This time we enter the eastern hallway. The door at the end is unlocked. Lim Dul opens it, releasing a thick fog in the area. A young female is lying in the room, pale. Lim Dul assumes she's dead, lets us know as much, shuts the door and walks away. Mal asks if any of us can speak with dead, but nobody can. Mal checks for signs of life on her, but finds none. Mal finds a thin necklace with a golden leaf. At the center of the leaf is a name, Neia. Mal pockets.
• Mal checks a nearby statue. No plaques to read, but he notices that the fingers atop of the sword are movable. On his right pinkie finger, he is wearing a ring that has two gems. Unable to remove the ring or gems and not noticing anything else at this time, Mal maneuvers the fingers in such a way as to make it appear as though it's flipping the bird to Lim Dul, then moves away down the northeast hallway.
• Someone or something is talking beyond the doors, moaning and grunting. Sounds like it's not quite used to talking. It's speaking in third person. "We gonna see how far you stretch. We gonna see how far you bend!" followed by the cry of pain and a smell of searing flesh wafting through the door.
• Lim Dul opens the unlocked door. A large thing wiggles, and an orc on a torture rack screams in pain. Many torture devices and implements line the room. A cabinet with a lock stands bloodied at the north side of the room. The ogre's name apparently is Wiggles. He has a sword sticking out of his chest and his intestines are half hanging out of his torso. Lim Dul asks if he can watch, but Wiggles says "You watch, you pay!" Lim Dul says he doesn't pay, that he watches for free. Zugg Zugg asks how much to watch. Wiggles starts counting on his fingers, and just holds up his four fingers and says "This many!" Zugg Zugg tosses him four copper pieces and moves in to watch. Mal notices Wiggles manipulating a lever that causes the orc in the torture device to stretch more and scream in pain. Wiggles says "Why alive?!" Mal doesn't like the fact he's torturing a seemingly innocent orc, so Mal moves in, drawing his greatsword and asks Wiggles why he's torturing him. It doesn't appear as though it's a "pleasurable" torturing. Lim Dul doesn't approve of Mal's threat, to which Mal says "We're here to stop a ritual, not participate in one." Mal takes a swing. INITIATIVE!!!
  • After some HEAVY hits on us and him, combat over.
• Wiggles ain't wigglin' no more. We look around the room. we find multiple jars thrown around, surgical devices, drills, scissors, lancets, unidentified liquids, etc. Lim Dul takes some thumb screws. The cabinets have 7 vials of acid, the unidentified vials of liquid, 8 potions of healing. Wiggles also drops his morningstar.
• The fog that has been moving throughout the area since opening that door earlier swirls up and around Mal, doing significant necrotic damage and reducing Mal's max hitpoints by that amount. Ouch. INITIATIVE!!!
  • Mal pulls a fuzzy thing out of his tan Bag of Tricks which turns into a Giant Hyena. His name is Ed, after the dumb hyena from Lion King.
  • Once the Vampiric Mist goes invisible, combat is over.
• Mal heads toward Kevin's room and strongly suggests that we rest for a while to see if he feels better. They agree, and we hole up inside Kevin's room. Mal stages Ed outside the door as a lookout should anything come knocking. Luckily nothing does. We earn a long rest, and Mal's affliction has been cured.
• After resting, we continue forth. We visit the northern set of doors, of which there are three down a hallway. On each door is a 5x5 grid of squares raised up from the door itself. Zorak realizes it seems to match the unholy symbols we found earlier (the femur and gemmed skull). We've found a few already. Looks like we need to find all such symbols. before we can open each door.
• We bring what we've found already to the doors and set them down before continuing further.
• In order to have protection on both sides of him, Mal pulls another fuzzy creature out of his Bag of Tricks, ending up with an Ape, which he names King Louie after the one from the Jungle Book.
• We enter the northwest hallway, which features yet another unlocked door. Inside are four bodies, which have just recently finished being reanimated. They rise up, and once Zugg Zugg steps into the room, the door shuts behind him, seemingly all by itself. INITIATIVE!!!
  • King Louie gets the killing blow on the final Acolyte by throwing a rock at it. Combat over.
• On the bodies we find 20g, one chain shirt, one mace, one leather armor, a shortsword, a longbow, two clubs, and two acolyte robes.
• It appears this party of reanimated bodies was a previous adventuring party who didn't make it out. We don't recognize any of them.
• We decide to call it quits here and return to Urithiru to sell what we were able to find.

That's all for this session!