AAR [3]: Cloister of Silence (2020-03-12@2200GMT)

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sigfriedmcwild
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Re: AAR [3]: Cloister of Silence (2020-03-12@2200GMT)

Post by sigfriedmcwild » Fri Mar 13, 2020 11:24 pm

From "Notes on the world outside the kaers" as penned by Norg

A group of historians led by a Semyon Targalig posted a request for assistance. On my way to the meeting at the Great Library I was joined by William Carver, Karl Tomsson, and Dubhan a dwarf wizard who I hadn't met before. Semyon turned out to be a youngish dwarf researcher who had found note about a temple to Rashomon nearby called the Cloister of Silence. Notably this temple was converted into a kaer and if still intact may hold information about Rashomon before they turned into Raggok.

Semyon's request was for us to clear a path to the Cloister so that a larger expedition could be mounted to investigate the temple/kaer. We quickly set out, taking the road towards Sausanopa since the Cloister is in the foothills near there. As usual William took the lead navigating and Karl provided overwatch. I helped Zil with the cooking, while Doubhan assisted Karl. All in all the first part of the journey was uneventful and filled with good meals, I know Zil "cheats" with magic, but his stew is still excellent.

After a few days we left the road and turned north east into the mountains, to begin the climb towards the temple. A few hours later we started hearing noises like children laughing, Zil and Dubhan looked around with astral sight and saw a couple of spirits that looked like dancing children. William tossed a rock at one, which made it appear and beckon him to dance.

This is were things got weirder. William joined the dancing child and another one appeared beckoning the rest of us. Moments later William broke out of the dance, saying the child was draining his life or something and the spirit immediately attacked him. Most of us rushed in to help William except for Zil that decided to see if he could placate the other spirit by dancing all the way through. The fight was short but aggravating, spirits are hard to punch and can fly out of reach. Karl got hurt fairly badly in the process, although I think some of it may have been over straining his talents. Poor Zil eventually managed to placate the other spirit but was seriously drained by the fight.

The road ahead looked blocked by a landslide and somehow Karl found a corpse buried in it carrying a thread bow of all things... The placated spirit showed us a side path that looked safer, so we took off in that direction. A little while later we made camp, Dubhan provided first aid for everyone that needed it and we decided to take a day of rest to give Zil a chance to recover from his ordeal.

The next morning we were woken just before dawn by a very loud scream in the distance, we looked around a bit, wildlife in the area seemed normal, but I noticed some odd namegiver tracks. I pointed them out to William, who thought they looked like somebody had landed there from a jump. At this point a thing that looked like an elf crossed with a shrieker bat dropped in front of us, quickly followed by 3 other mutated creatures and they attacked us. Upon closer inspection there were two kinds of creatures, both capable of flight and both fond of screaming at us. On the positive side they decided to concentrate their attacks on me, instead of my less armored companions. On the negative side all the noise got quite disorienting and I spent a large portion of the fight on the floor, barely able to tell up from down... I may have also lost what little I had in my stomach from dinner at some point.

However the other were able to focus on taking the creatures down while I kept them... occupied... and even while on the ground I managed to smash one of them in the nearby cliff face. Dubhan examined the corpses before we burnt them and determined they were some kind of horror creation, probably one interested in weaponizing sound.

The next day, after we were all fully recovered, we reached the Cloister of Silence, or at least its outer gate, where we found a number of monks in deep meditation just outside, there was also some kind of effect muffling noises. I guess the name Cloister of Silence is apt. Zil immediately started exploring around and entered a nearby structure, only to find two monks walking around with a crazed expression and yet another mutant creature.

The ensuing fight was quite short, even if anther crazed monk and mutant popped out of a hole in the ground. Both mutants charged the meditating monks and just shrieked at them. I worried that it was an attempt to bring down the temple defences, so I focused on taking them down first. This worked but I do feel bad for leaving the crazed monk to have their way with my companions. In fact it turns out these crazed monks behave very much like cadaver men, including the sudden burst of fury and violence, I am glad that the one that enraged thus decided to attack me instead of Karl, I'm not sure his squishy human physique could have taken it, as it is it was struggle to keep standing under the onslaught.

After we dealt with the horror spawn, we examined the situation and concluded that the temple is safe for now, but under constant assault. The monks outside are somehow tied to the defensive spells on the place which reinforces their bodies at the same time as their life force powers them. Or something, I'm not well versed on magical theory and even Dubhan and Zil weren't completely sure what was going on.

ottdmk
Posts:462
Joined:Mon Dec 12, 2016 10:25 pm

Re: AAR [3]: Cloister of Silence (2020-03-12@2200GMT)

Post by ottdmk » Sat Mar 14, 2020 5:29 pm

From the journal of Dubhan Gorononich:

A fellow Dwarf by name of Semyon Targalig engaged myself and a few other Adepts to act as trailblazers. Targalig and some other researchers had discovered accounts of a Temple of Rashomon near Throal; the group was intrigued by the thought of records of Rashomon before he transformed into the Mad Passion Raggok. Records suggested that the Temple had been turned into an above-ground Kaer before the Scourge.

The group was convinced that the path was the right one; what they wanted from us was assurance that the route was safe. I teamed with William and Zil, whom I had worked with before, as well as a Gauntlet named Norg and an Archer named Karl Tomsson.

With both Karl and William favouring ranged options, I was grateful that I had added Seeking Sight to my repertoire not long before. It did indeed prove useful.

As usual, it didn't take us long to discover trouble once leaving Throal. This time, it was in the form of a pair of mostly astral spirits. They wanted to dance, of all things. William accepted, but soon disengaged when he discovered that the thing was draining his vitality. We engaged it in fearsome combat when it grew enraged. Zil, meanwhile, at great personal discomfort, engaged the second in the dance and managed to win its acceptance. This helped our group immensely; the spirit showed us the path we favoured was distinctly unsafe. Even better, it appears Karl found a Named bow in the rubble of the unsafe path.

After patching up the party's wounds we went on our way after a couple of days rest. We were then set upon by weird flying creatures that used sound extensively in their battles. We prevailed, but the battle took a distinct toll. Again we had to heal up.

Reaching the Cloister we discovered a group of monks in some kind of suspended animation. We also discovered more horror spawn and a few monks apparently driven insane. We were lucky to have Norg with us; the amount of punishment taken by the Troll was truly astonishing. The horror spawn were apparently trying to break through the Cloister's defenses. We managed to prevent this, but Zil and I determined that attempting to wake the remaining monks would be unwise. We returned to Throal to alert Targalig and his group that the way was (relatively) clear. I look forward to learning more about the Cloister.

Dougansf
Posts:465
Joined:Mon Nov 28, 2016 4:14 am

Re: AAR [3]: Cloister of Silence (2020-03-12@2200GMT)

Post by Dougansf » Sat Mar 14, 2020 5:47 pm

The Great Library of Thoal thanks Karl , Dubhan, Norg, William , and Zil for their additions to the archives.
In return, please accept 70 Legend points and 68.8 silver.

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