Session 5
When last we left our heroes they travelled to Phandalin with Sildar Hallwinter looking for their friend Gundran Rockseeker or someone who could tell them where he had been taken, Cragmaw Castle.
At the local inn they discovered their former teammates, Morgran and Tarique were wanted for murder and fugitives from the law.
Through rumors at the inn and in discussion with Halia, the owner of a local miners supply shop, they learned the town has been struggling with a local gang called the redbrands who have been harrassing, robbing, and murdering local townsfolk under the orders of someone called Glassstaff. Halia asked the characters to eliminate Glassstaff and bring back any papers they find to her.
The characters instead chose to head out into the foothills outside Phandalin to look for the home of Gerald the poisoner. They found his laboratory perched on the side of a cliff, fought his flesh golems and released the kobols and goblin prisoners held in his dungeon.
6 giant wasps
Roll a perception check
The path takes you along a ridge overlooking a wild valley. You happen to see a ruined stone structure through a gap in the trees. It is about a mile away, nestled in the valley and would be completely hidden if a tree branch along the path hadn't broken off in a recent storm.
There is no path to the ruined castle of Kal-ugthur. It is more than a thousand years old and forgotten. Two hundred years ago a necromancer Darthmel setup a blood cauldren sepulcher with the intention of summoning the red goddess Marena. He was struck down instead and his dessicated husk can be found curled up entranceway. A swarm of giant wasps has built an enormous paper nest over the entrance chamber.
As you approach the ruin, hacking your way through the thick underbrush, you hear a deep droning with makes your stomach unsettled and makes your teeth chatter. A minute later it goes away.
You step out of the underbrush to see an overgrown stone castle half buried in a massive paper wasp nest. The nest has a large round opening pointing to the sky some fifty feet off the ground.
There's a heap of debris on the ground below the opening and something sparkles in the sunlight.
4-6 giant wasps attack if molested. If the party waits for five minutes they see one emerge from the nest and fly away with a heavy drone. 300xp The mound contains 40gp worth of dirty gems and ~100 cp and 50sp among the droppings, dead animals and dirt. It looks like it was dug out of the castle and thrown away with the other trash.
The ruined castle
Under the nest is a shattered stairway leading down into the basement of the ruined castle.
The carved stone doors show an image of a woman in red flowing robes hovering over a series of cauldrons overflowing with blood. A engraving along the top and bottom explain this is marena the red providing the blood that sustains the undead and keeps the realm safe.
The shriveled husk of what once was a man lays face down on the floor just beyond the doors. He's wearing black robes and his face is contorted in a silent scream.
He carries a kris knife on his belt and belt pouches - the contents long since rotten.
The temple to Marena goddess of blood
The stone stairs lead down onto a carpet of bones. Long straight bones are lined up to make a mat that covers the floor of this 30 foot long corridor. A screaming skull marks the end of the passage where it looks like steps lead lower down.
The bone covered floor shift and creaks and bones spring up, reassembling themselves into 6 skeletons which attack.
You step down into a large stone room with four stone cauldrons bubbling with blood. A cross shaped dias in the center of the far wall features a terrifying status of Marena the red with one hand outstretched and her face gaunt and and rotten.
The churning blood in the nearest cauldron bubbles over and the head of a overweight bald man with white eyes rises from the crimson depths. Blood pours down it's face and bare chest and gurgles from it's open mouth. It coughs out a clot of blood and lets out a piercing shriek before stepping out of the cauldron to attack.
The four zombies:
- ac10
- 25hp
- +5 to hit 1d6+2 damage
- 400xp
if reduced to 0 make a con saving throw against dc 5+ damage taken. on success the zombie is at 1 hp instead blood drain - on successful hit it draing 1d4 hp of blood and gains as much in return.
kobold_press_blood_vaults_of_sister_alkava_for_5th_edition.pdf (2.5MiB) |