The Deathly Palace (Session 6)

Summary

After defeating the kobolds in the ruined library of the Palace of the Silver Princess, Faela healed Elanduil while Lex tried to destroy the ruby-lit crystal pedestal. His mace caused the glow to flare but did no damage, so he covered the pedestal with the bodies of the dead kobolds and nearby refuse while offering a prayer of cleansing. The party then explored an abandoned storeroom filled with barrels and sacks of food that had long since crumbled into gray dust.

In the next room, five goblins were frantically searching a ruined pantry for food. Lex killed one before Faela spoke to the survivors and learned they were starving. The fight ended then, and Elan brought them the giant rat they had killed near the palace entrance. The goblins immediately began eating, and the party left them behind with a promise to tell them if they found more food.

Beyond the pantry, the party discovered a grand dining hall where twenty nobles, servants, and guards had been transformed into cold gray stone in the middle of a meal. Their food, goblets, books, and papers had also been unnaturally preserved and could not be moved. Lex sensed no evil within the room, but Herbert felt a distant pulse moving through the palace. Believing the ruby curse had frozen the diners in time, the party continued searching for its source.

A nearby living chamber showed signs of a violent struggle, with smashed furniture, scattered papers, bloodstained linens, and dried streaks of blood climbing the walls. The party found an unfinished report stating that a guard named Travis had behaved erratically since returning from the lower vaults. He had spoken of a glowing eye, refused to report for duty, and begun watching the other guards. Farther below, the party found a ransacked barracks where someone had carved the warning “Beware of Travis” into the wall.

As Elan examined the passage below the next set of stairs, Travis appeared behind the party in the armor of a palace guard and accused them of stealing his treasure. He threw a dagger at Auriel but missed, and the party fought to subdue him rather than kill him. Faela eventually knocked him unconscious with her staff. When questioned, Travis repeatedly screamed that they were thieves, while the ruby light shimmered around him. The party bound and gagged him in the barracks. While there, Herbert felt the palace vibrating beneath him and sensed an unnatural pull toward the ceiling as Barnaby began humming and twitching inside his pack.

Travis’s earlier shouting attracted four armed goblins from above. Unlike the starving goblins, these creatures attacked immediately. Mira and Faela caught the initial assault before the others joined the fight in the cramped stairway. The party killed all four, though Mira suffered several wounds and required Faela’s healing. After securing Travis again, they returned to the lower passage, where they found the body of the captain of the guard and several statues lining the walls.

Further down the hallway, around a turn to the west, Elan opened another door and was attacked by a wolf bearing the same crazed appearance as Travis. Faela and Auriel knocked it unconscious, then bound and muzzled it. Inside its comfortable chamber, Elan found a locked case beneath a loose flagstone. It contained two sapphires worth three hundred gold pieces each, a large emerald worth two thousand gold pieces, and a gold ring engraved with the initials “D.B.” worth one hundred gold pieces. Farther along, the party searched a room containing a massive desk, an ornate chair, meaningless scribbles, empty ink bottles, dried wax seals, blank parchment, and old military logs that suggested Travis had used the room.

The party continued through the western door and entered a short hallway that turned south. One door, at the end of that hallway, resisted Elan’s attempts to open it, while the opposite door led into a barracks occupied by eight orcs wearing ill-fitting blue-and-gold palace uniforms. Mira charged, and she, Lex, and Auriel bore the brunt of the battle while Faela joined the melee and Elan fired arrows from the doorway. Herbert’s Magic Missile crackled with white electrical energy and smoke but still struck its target. The party killed all eight orcs, after which Auriel healed Mira’s wounds. A search of the barracks uncovered twelve gold pieces, thirty-eight silver pieces, and sixteen copper pieces before the party paused to continue its exploration.

This is where the session ended!

Please start the recorder!

Exp: 99 + 10 = 109

Detail

After defeating the kobolds within the ruined library of the Palace of the Silver Princess, the party turned its attention to the shattered crystal pedestal surrounded by glowing ruby veins. Faela healed Elanduil’s wounds while Lex attempted to extinguish the evil light by striking the broken pedestal with his mace. The blow caused the ruby glow to flare but otherwise had no effect. Unable to destroy it, Lex covered the pedestal with the bodies of the dead kobolds and nearby refuse while offering a prayer of cleansing.

Continuing down the western corridor, the party entered an abandoned storeroom lined with shelves of burlap sacks. Whatever food the sacks had once contained had long since crumbled into gray dust. A dozen iron-bound barrels stood stacked against the far wall, but the room lacked the metallic magical presence found elsewhere in the palace. Stinky tore through the sacks and sent dust flying, but found nothing useful.

The next room was a pantry where five goblins were frantically searching through drawers, cabinets, broken plates, and shattered crockery. Lex charged into the room and killed one of them, but Faela spoke to the surviving goblins in their own language and learned that they were starving. The party stopped fighting and retrieved the giant rat they had killed near the palace entrance. The goblins immediately fell upon the carcass and began eating. Faela concluded that they had become trapped inside the palace and were simply trying to survive. The party left them with the rat and promised to tell them if they found more food.

Beyond the pantry, the party discovered a grand dining hall containing a long table set with silver platters and fine crystal. Twenty nobles, servants, and guards sat around it, perfectly frozen in the middle of an evening meal. Their bodies had become cold gray stone, though their expressions remained painfully lifelike. The food, goblets, books, and papers had also been unnaturally preserved and could not be moved. The palace crest remained visible on the clothing of the guards and upon the platters. Lex sensed no evil within the room, but Herbert felt the distant pulse of something moving through the palace.

The party suspected that the ruby curse had frozen the diners in time. They considered carrying one of the petrified figures into the storeroom, but there was no practical way to move anything from the table. Concerned that the same fate might eventually befall them, they left the hall and continued searching for the source of the curse.

A nearby living chamber showed signs of a violent struggle. Its furniture had been overturned or smashed, a footlocker had been emptied, and bloodstained papers and linens lay scattered across the floor. Dried streaks of blood climbed the walls toward the ceiling. Among the papers, the party found part of a weekly report stating that a palace guard named Travis had been acting erratically since returning from the lower vaults. He had spoken of a glowing eye, refused to report for duty, and had begun watching the other guards. The message ended abruptly in a jagged streak of blood.

The group found stairs descending farther beneath the palace. A door along the way opened into a ransacked barracks filled with stripped bunks and broken footlockers. Someone had carved the warning “Beware of Travis” into the eastern wall. As Elan examined another passage below, a heavily armored palace guard appeared behind the party and shouted that they were thieves trying to steal his treasure. It was this Travis character. He threw a dagger at Auriel but missed, and Mira rushed forward to engage him.

The party attempted to subdue Travis instead of killing him. After the others weakened him, Faela struck him with her staff and knocked him unconscious. They carried him into the barracks, bound him, and tried to question him. When he awakened, he repeatedly screamed at them, accusing them of stealing his possessions and he demanded that they leave his room. Madness filled his eyes, and the ruby light around him shimmered whenever he shouted. Unable to reason with him, the party secured his bonds, gagged him, and left him in the barracks.

While standing in the room, Herbert felt a vibration through the floor like the heartbeat of the palace. He also sensed an unnatural pull toward the ceiling. His spellbook, Barnaby, began humming and twitching inside his pack. Herbert apologized to the book, wrapped it securely, and put it away.

Travis’s shouting earlier, attracted four armed goblins from farther above them. These were not the starving creatures the party had encountered earlier, and they advanced with their weapons drawn. Mira, Faela caught the initial assault but with the help of everyone else, they were able to fight them in the cramped stairway. Herbert remained nearby Stinky. The party eventually killed all four goblins, though Mira suffered several wounds during the battle. Faela used her healing magic to restore some of her strength. Stinky found the pristine dagger Travis had thrown and played with it briefly before being persuaded to put it down.

After confirming that Travis remained securely restrained, the party returned to the lower passage. Elan opened another door where they found the body of he Captain of the guard and statues lining the walls. They continued down the hallway andf around a turn to the west.

Elan opened another door and was immediately attacked by a wolf. The animal had the same crazed appearance as Travis. Faela and Auriel struck it with nonlethal blows until it fell unconscious, then bound and muzzled it.

The wolf had been occupying a surprisingly comfortable chamber containing a straw bed, a table, an overhead lantern, tapestries, animal-hide rugs, and a bowl filled with fresh raw meat. Beneath the straw, Elan discovered a loose flagstone concealing a locked wooden case. After checking the case for traps, he opened it and found two sapphires, a large emerald, and a gold ring engraved with the initials “D.B.” The sapphires were valued at three hundred gold pieces each, the emerald at two thousand gold pieces, and the ring at one hundred gold pieces. The party left the restrained wolf inside the chamber.

Farther along the passage, they entered a room dominated by a massive wooden desk and an ornate high-backed chair. Brass candlesticks, a dry inkwell, a quill, and sheets of yellow parchment covered the desk. The papers bore only aggressive scribbles and erratic loops. Its drawers contained empty ink bottles, dried wax seals, blank parchment scraps, and old military logs. The room appeared to have been used by Travis during his descent into madness, but the party found nothing else of value.

They went through the door to the west and entered a short hallway that turned south. One door at the end of the corridor was locked and resisted Elanduil’s efforts to open it. Behind the opposite door, the party found another barracks containing eight orcs. Each orc had forced itself into a blue-and-gold palace guard uniform, leaving the tunics stretched and splitting around their larger bodies. The creatures immediately reached for their weapons, and Mira charged without hesitation.

A fierce battle followed inside the crowded barracks. Mira, Lex, Auriel took the brunt of the attack. Faela, made it into the room and joined the fight. Elan fired from the door at any orc he could see to target. Herbert attempted to support them with magic. When Herbert cast Magic Missile, the spell crackled with white electrical energy and filled the air with smoke, but it still struck its intended target. The party eventually killed all eight orcs. Mira had taken another severe hit. Auriel then healed Mira’s wounds. They search the room, uncovered twelve gold pieces, thirty-eight silver pieces, and sixteen copper pieces. With the orcs defeated, the party paused before continuing its exploration of the cursed palace.

This is where the session ended!

Please start the recorder!

Exp: 99 + 10 = 109