Stonehell Session 21

~ Skeletal Woe ~

~ Loot and Run ~

~ Fog of Death ~

15th of Cold Frost, Imperial Year 525

Cutting windchill

Vesper the young necromancer

Solstice the foundling bandit

Esau Emof the kettlewright

Session began with getting some downtime taken care of. 

Esau inquired with the Mason's Guild about repairing the Stone Oracle. He was tasked with bringing back some samples.

Between her holy book and the local Church, Vesper learned how to create holy water, with some fresh herbs and a secret blessing.

Solstice asked around Stonehome for information about an expert acrobat to help them improve their dexterity. They found no one local, but did get recommended the Thieves' Guild in the Capitol.

The party left for Stonehell after selling off the loot from their previous adventure and restocking supplies.

Traversing through the inclement weather, they made slow progress and ended up having to hike through the snow drifts to reach Stonehell. On their way they spied a lone Frost Elf. It stood at a cliff edge, overlooking the frozen marshes that the party had been hiking through. Esau recalled some legends told to him by his senile grandfather, advising the party to stay away from the amoral and fickle fae. They made it to the valley just as night fell, and decided to camp in the gatehouse. 

After a cold night, they made their way to the main entrance to the dungeon.

They cut across the dungeon directly towards the crypts, and upon entry were immediately greeted by more evidence of the Excavator's Alliance. Seems like they have made it into the crypts.

With a goal of looting the crypts cleared out last session, they crafted some paper funnels that would hopefully give them an edge in listening for the funeral skiff. Instead, they heard the approaching clatter of bones on pavestone. Even with the forewarning, Esau settled into a fighting stance, with Vesper and Solstice holding the rear.

This proved a nearly fatal mistake, and as the party decided to save their holy water flasks, Solstice and Vesper were immediately battered by rusted weapons. After a single round of combat, Esau was the only one left standing. He dropped his weapons, tossed some holy water flasks, and began dragging his allies in a retreat. 

It wasn't enough, however, and the skeletons continued their single-minded pursuit. Desperate, Esau decided it would be best to flee. But he could only carry one comrade. He flipped a coin, picked up Solstice, and left Vesper for dead.

That wasn't all, though. As one last parting gift he tossed the last vial of holy water over his shoulder, killing the final skeleton. Esau returned to Vesper, sheepishly, and the party was able to rest and stabilize.

After a quick debate of whether to run home, the greed won out.

With a magic detecting amulet from Solstice and Vesper's Detect Magic, they were able to identify crypts with necrotic beings inside, and crypts that posed no danger to loot. 

They found a Harbinger's Bell, and from a series of relief carvings learned it was a bane to the undead blessed by the Goddess herself. Also, it only had 1 charge, and to recharge it they would need to melt it down and reforge it.

They also found some leather Boots of Obfuscation, and a large stash of gold.

During their hunt for loot, they eliminated two recently created zombies, learning of the potential presence of a resident Necromancer of the Crypts. They also found some fire beetles making a nest in one of the previously cleared crypts. Turns out they really like digesting bones, and their dung works to quickly burn eyebrows off. They elected to ignore the beetles.

The Party made it to the end of the hall, finding a door that opened into a massive chamber filled with columns. Thinking it was probably a temple filled with terrible enemies, they turned around and left it for another time.

They made their way back to the entrance unhindered, picking up some pieces of the Stone Oracle on the way to bring back to Snorri. Taking another rest at the gatehouse, they marched back through the blizzards to their warm rooms in the Hellseeker's Guild.