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Session 67, The Password!
Paldegora
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Session 67 – 2026-02-21
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Summary
The battle on the docks had wound down. Symon considered how to secure the pirates still trapped in his magical web. After Angelique healed some of X'or's damage and explained the fish on the deck, X'or began tying up the remaining pirates while Eryn and Cassandra covered them. It took a little time as he had to cut through the webbing to reach them. Seaman Gumby reported he was feeling better. He and Captain Hurst stood ready.
On the docks between the two vessels, Cal-El turned over his bound father, John Laroque. Recognition flashed across the older man's face. “Well, if it ain't the girly boy of mine,” Laroque mocked, noting that his son seemed to have finally become a man. Cal looked down at him with disdain. “I see you're still alive. You've always been good at surviving, usually by drinking and bullying people while others pay the price.” Cal warned him that Captain Hawthorne did not value men like him and would cut him loose the moment he was no longer useful.
Laroque noted that Cal had finally found his voice and suggested they join forces to “teach all these bastards a lesson.” Cal rejected the offer immediately, pointing out that his father had just tried to kill him. Cal demanded information about the kidnapping of Princess Seraphine Valoris and the fortress called the Rook’s Eye.
John Laroque attempted to bargain, asking for a skiff and his freedom in exchange for everything he knew. He noted that Cal was now the “arbiter of his demise” and expressed a twisted sense of pride in his son’s newfound strength. He warned that having the princess captive gave the Cult of Sahn and House Umbridge significant leverage against the Grand Council. He also mentioned that while many were “scared shitless” of Jesse Jack Johnson, he feared no one.
The Company finalized their deal with Laroque. He described the Rook’s Eye as a black fortress built on a jetty where the seas were perpetually rough. It consisted of four tiers—a dungeon basement and three floors—resembling a dark pyramid. He detailed the defenses, noting the main gate was heavily guarded but that a cave in the southeast allowed for supply boats to enter. He warned of a “weird jailer” in the depths and confirmed that Captain Hawthorne had stayed ashore ever since Jesse Jack Johnson had nearly caught him. He added that Aphobis was desperate to hold the princess as a tool against the Council.
They prepared Captain Hurst's ship, the V.H.S. Seeker. They took a skiff from the Sea-Bitch as well as the flag, in case it could come in handy. They also loaded a another little boat with a sail on it for the deal that Cal had made with his father. Seaman Gumby agreed to stay behind and guard the prisoners until the Valdernost Navy arrived in two days. X’or gave Gumby 50 gold pieces for his service.
As they set sail, the party spent the first day identifying captured magical items. These included a Wand of Fireballs, Bracers of Defense (AC 2), a +3 Scimitar named Wave Cleaver that allowed breathing underwater, a Ring of Protection +2, and a Ring of Spell Storing containing two Lightning Bolt spells. They also examined an unusual Wand of Quiet Elements made of petrified driftwood, which Symon determined could manipulate air, earth, water, fire, and static electricity using Sylvan command words.
Using his Helm of Comprehend Languages, Symon read an inscription on the wand's case:
“Five muted wards in salt-wood lie, Each drinks the sigh where dragons die. When hue'd destruction seeks its prey, The quiet word turns death away. The stolen gale within the stone Awaits the voice to claim its own. One draught per venom, frost, or spark— Then silence falls, the jewel goes dark.”
After a day at sea, Cal brought his father to the deck. He provided him with clothing for warmth, a small sword, a dagger, and supplies before lowering him into a skiff. He damaged it's sail so it would not work as well as it should. Laroque expressed pride in Cal one last time before sailing away into the mist. Symon watched the skiff disappear, jokingly remarking that he wouldn't have been breaking the truce if he had turned the old man into a fish.
The Seeker reached the islands known as the Three Eyes. Following the map, they targeted the southern island where the Rook's Eye stood. Jesse Jack Johnson (Lady Jessica Primrose Smythe) planned to draw Hawthorne’s warship away while the Company approached the fortress from the western side. Hopefully this had worked and Hawthorn and his crew were not there.
They anchored at daybreak and rowed skiffs through the rocks to the shore. After an eight-hour trek through the rugged terrain, they arrived at the massive black fortress as the sun began to set. Symon used a Levitate spell to lift X’or, who carried Eryn up the forty-foot sheer walls.
As they ascended, a Specter materialized from the stone, demanding a password. After the were unable to give it an acceptable answer, the Specter attacked X'or. It did manage to hit X'or for some damage, it didn't succeed in draining his life force. Eryn attacked the creature with her sword. X'or was unable to attack as he had to try and hold Eryn stable so she could. Eryn did hit on a second attack. Symon immediately began lowering them back to the ground. Angelique rushed forward and used her holy power to turn the undead, forcing the Specter to retreat into the wall.
The Company decided not to attempt the levitation on front of the fortress and instead moved east to the corner looking for stairs to climb. They found a long set of stairs leading to a door in a small square building. They could see another set of stairs coming out of the west side of that building heading to the fortress. They began the long climb. As the were getting close to the door, another Specter appeared, again demanding a password. Eryn didn't waste time and immediately attacked. The group defeated the creature.
During the chaos, Cassandra had attempted to leap onto a stone railing but slipped on the wet, slimy surface. She fell forty feet into a dark chasm below. Symon used his levitation spell to lower X’or into the darkness to find her. X’or swept the injured Cassandra into his arms, and Symon raised them both back to the safety of the landing. Angelique applied Keoghtom’s Ointment to Cassandra’s wounds, healing her almost entirely.
Below them, on the other side of the stair case, they spotted a cave. This must be the cave that Laroque had mentioned. They decided they should shift and make their way to the cave to enter the fortress.
This is where the session ended.
Please start the recorder.
Exp: to be dispersed later
Detail
The battle on the docks had wound down. Symon considered how to secure the pirates still trapped in his magical web. After Angelique healed some of X'or's damage and explained the fish on the deck, X'or began tying up the remaining pirates while Eryn and Cassandra covered them. It took a little time as he had to cut through the webbing to reach them. Seaman Gumby reported he was feeling better. He and Captain Hurst stood ready.
On the docks between the two vessels, Cal-El turned over his bound father, John Laroque. Recognition flashed across the older man's face. “Well, if it ain't the girly boy of mine,” Laroque mocked, noting that his son seemed to have finally become a man. Cal looked down at him with disdain. “I see you're still alive. You've always been good at surviving, usually by drinking and bullying people while others pay the price.” Cal warned him that Captain Hawthorne did not value men like him and would cut him loose the moment he was no longer useful.
Laroque noted that Cal had finally found his voice and suggested they join forces to “teach all these bastards a lesson.” Cal rejected the offer immediately, pointing out that his father had just tried to kill him. Cal demanded information about the kidnapping of Princess Seraphine Valoris and the fortress called the Rook’s Eye.
John Laroque attempted to bargain, asking for a skiff and his freedom in exchange for everything he knew. He noted that Cal was now the “arbiter of his demise” and expressed a twisted sense of pride in his son’s newfound strength. He warned that having the princess captive gave the Cult of Sahn and House Umbridge significant leverage against the Grand Council. He also mentioned that while many were “scared shitless” of Jesse Jack Johnson, he feared no one.
The Company finalized their deal with Laroque. He described the Rook’s Eye as a black fortress built on a jetty where the seas were perpetually rough. It consisted of four tiers—a dungeon basement and three floors—resembling a dark pyramid. He detailed the defenses, noting the main gate was heavily guarded but that a cave in the southeast allowed for supply boats to enter. He warned of a “weird jailer” in the depths and confirmed that Captain Hawthorne had stayed ashore ever since Jesse Jack Johnson had nearly caught him. He added that Aphobis was desperate to hold the princess as a tool against the Council.
They prepared Captain Hurst's ship, the V.H.S. Seeker. They took a skiff from the Sea-Bitch as well as the flag, in case it could come in handy. They also loaded a another little boat with a said on it for the deal that Cal had made with his father. Seaman Gumby agreed to stay behind and guard the prisoners until the Valdernost Navy arrived in two days. X’or gave Gumby 50 gold pieces for his service.
As they set sail, the party spent the first day identifying captured magical items. These included a Wand of Fireballs, Bracers of Defense (AC 2), a +3 Scimitar named Wave Cleaver that allowed breathing underwater, a Ring of Protection +2, and a Ring of Spell Storing containing two Lightning Bolt spells. They also examined an unusual Wand of Quiet Elements made of petrified driftwood, which Symon determined could manipulate air, earth, water, fire, and static electricity using Sylvan command words.
“Wand of the Quiet Elements
This unpretentious wand is fashioned from a 12-inch length of petrified driftwood, crusted with sea salt and weathered by countless years adrift. Just above the rough handle, five minuscule jewels—each no larger than a grain of rice—are embedded in a subtle arc, half-buried in the wood as if naturally grown there. These appear dull and unremarkable at first glance, mere decorative pebbles faded by the ocean's embrace.
The wand is usable by any character. It contains 40 charges when found (It is rechargeable by a wizard or druid of 9th level or higher). Functions are activated by pointing the wand and speaking the appropriate Sylvan command word; only one function may be used per round. All effects operate at 1st-level caster strength. The wand performs best outdoors or in daylight (indoors, halve duration and area of effect). It cannot directly harm or manipulate living creatures. There is a 5% chance of backfire on any use (roll d100; 96-00 indicates a minor reversal, such as a breeze blowing toward the user).
The five functions are as follows:
Air (“Sough”): Produces a gentle, directed breeze of 5-10 mph in a cone 10 feet wide and 50 feet long, lasting 1 turn. The breeze can dry sweat, scatter light debris.
Earth (“Crumb”): Allows the manipulation of 1 cubic foot of loose soil, sand, or clay (but not solid rock). The material may be shaped into a small tool, used to fill a minor hole, or loosened from packed earth.
Water (“Droplet”): Creates or purifies 1 gallon of fresh water drawn from available moisture. Alternatively, it can condense a 1-foot-diameter puddle containing 1 quart of water.
Fire (“Spark”): Ignites fine tinder into a small campfire sufficient to cook one meal, or warms 1 cubic foot of material by 10° F (no burning damage possible).
Storm-Static (“Hush”): Grounds minor static electricity in a 10-foot radius for 1 turn, preventing small shocks, quieting crackling garments.
Each function causes its corresponding jewel to emit a faint, temporary glow while the effect is active (visible only up close in dim light). The jewels are:
Fire (“Spark”): Tiny carbuncle garnet, deep blood-red with an inner fiery glow like a smoldering coal.
Air (“Sough”): Speck of cloud agate swirled with soft emerald green bands, evoking toxic mists.
Storm-Static (“Hush”): Fleck of cloud agate, pale sky-blue laced with white banding, like lightning-veined thunderclouds or St. Elmo's fire.
Earth (“Crumb”): Sliver of dark jasper, inky black sheen with mottled patterns, like corrosive acid on shadowed stone.
Water (“Droplet”): Minuscule pearl, opalescent and milky white with frosty iridescence, like glacial melt or frozen sea foam.”
Using his Helm of Comprehend Languages, Symon read an inscription on the wand's case:
“Five muted wards in salt-wood lie, Each drinks the sigh where dragons die. When hue'd destruction seeks its prey, The quiet word turns death away.
The stolen gale within the stone Awaits the voice to claim its own. One draught per venom, frost, or spark— Then silence falls, the jewel goes dark.”
After a day at sea, Cal brought his father to the deck. He provided him with clothing for warmth, a small sword, a dagger, and supplies before lowering him into a skiff. He damaged it's sail so it would not work as well as it should. Laroque expressed pride in Cal one last time before sailing away into the mist. Symon watched the skiff disappear, jokingly remarking that he wouldn't have been breaking the truce if he had turned the old man into a fish.
The Seeker reached the islands known as the Three Eyes. Following the map, they targeted the southern island where the Rook's Eye stood. Jesse Jack Johnson (Lady Jessica Primrose Smythe) planned to draw Hawthorne’s warship away while the Company approached the fortress from the western side. Hopefully this had worked and Hawthorn and his crew were not there.
They anchored at daybreak and rowed skiffs through the rocks to the shore. After an eight-hour trek through the rugged terrain, they arrived at the massive black fortress as the sun began to set. Symon used a Levitate spell to lift X’or, who carried Eryn up the forty-foot sheer walls.
As they ascended, a Specter materialized from the stone, demanding a password. After the were unable to give it an acceptable answer, the Specter attacked X'or. It did manage to hit X'or for some damage, it didn't succeed in draining his life force. Eryn attacked the creature with her sword. X'or was unable to attack as he had to try and hold Eryn stable so she could. Eryn did hit on a second attack. Symon immediately began lowering them back to the ground. Angelique rushed forward and used her holy power to turn the undead, forcing the Specter to retreat into the wall.
The Company decided not to attempt the levitation on front of the fortress and instead moved east to the corner looking for stairs to climb. They found a long set of stairs leading to a door in a small square building. They could see another set of stairs coming out of the west side of that building heading to the fortress. They began the long climb. As the were getting close to the door, another Specter appeared, again demanding a password. Eryn didn't waste time and immediately attacked. The group defeated the creature.
During the chaos, Cassandra had attempted to leap onto a stone railing but slipped on the wet, slimy surface. She fell forty feet into a dark chasm below. Symon used his levitation spell to lower X’or into the darkness to find her. X’or swept the injured Cassandra into his arms, and Symon raised them both back to the safety of the landing. Angelique applied Keoghtom’s Ointment to Cassandra’s wounds, healing her almost entirely.
Below them, on the other side of the stair case, they spotted a cave. This must be the cave that Laroque had mentioned. They decided they should shift and make their way to the cave to enter the fortress.
This is where the session ended.
Please start the recorder.
Exp: to be dispersed later