Morthos – Diary IX

I had the time so  I decided to start this early rather than waiting until an hour before our session. Turns out most of the group can’t make it tonight so we won’t be playing. On the bright side, I got this diary finished early.

 

Our mission was complete. The apple was destroyed, and Sharwin was rescued. Sadly, Talgen did not survive the ordeal. We must take comfort in knowing that Kelemvor has led the poor boy to his proper place beyond this world.

As we ascended to the main level of the temple, one of the kobolds appeared and told us to join them in the throne room for a very important ceremony.

The throne room was crowded with kobolds and their hushed whispers. Toward the throne at the other end of the room stood Yusdrayl, draped in robes and standing over a large form on the ground. I took a moment to let my eyes adjust to the lighting and then realised that they had brought the corpse of Calcryx here. Initially I assumed that they were going to celebrate the life of their pet dragon until I saw it. An apple. Yusdrayl pulled it from her robes, held it above the dragon, and before I could act, it disappeared into the corpse.

A hush fell over the crowd for a moment as we all waited in anticipation. The moment passed and silence turned to doubt and anger in the kobolds until the corpse suddenly twitched. In an instant, Yusdrayl was flung across the room. Blood dripped from the teeth of the beast as it turned its attention to the onlookers. Calcryx opened its mouth and let loose a breath of ice that engulfed the majority of the kobolds. Their expressions of confusion and horror frozen on their faces for an eternity.

Having dealt with the immediate threat, the dragon crashed through a wall, and quickly tunneled its way to the surface. We attempted to stop it but the dragon was determined to leave captivity behind it. I would be chasing the dragon still but I could not sense an undead presence coming from it. If it was truly living, then it was not currently my concern. Returning Sharwin to safety was our top priority.

Above the throne we noticed an ornate key that seemed to match an intricately carved door toward the entrance of the temple and decided to explore that section before heading back to town. We took the key and left the temple’s inhabitants to their fate.

The door was magically sealed, which prevented anything but the key from touching it. In this section there was a large statue of a dragon with a riddle engraved on the base. Immediately after reading it, Floyd said the answer and the next room was revealed to us. In this room, six statues sat in alcoves and a large spiked pit occupied the space in front of the exit. Sonya braved the ten foot jump across the pit, and along with Aedan, secured a rope to help people across. Almost as soon as I touched the stone floor on the other side of the pit, I glanced back and saw Meleck fiddling with one of the statues. Suddenly, stone began to scrape on stone and a path emerged across the pit. Everyone else was lucky enough to walk across.

In what appeared to be the last room was a large stone sarcophagus. It was carved into the shape of a dragon and was the only thing in the dimly lit room. As we took our time and inspected the room, Meleck oozed across the bridge and managed to warn us that the person buried here was a dragon priest and that we should be wary.

From my meditation when we entered the temple, there should have been no undead left within its halls so I was not sure what to expect from this. The cover was slowly slid aside before being burst open by a troll. Despite being locked away for an age, it managed to survive our initial round of attacks before striking out at me and lifting me into the air. The troll did not have the chance to attack before I fell to the floor, its arm still clutching my waist. It screamed in pain, lashing out one final time before falling to the ground in a bloody heap. Once finished, we headed for the entrance.

Jace and Kaladin were waiting for us outside of the temple with Sharwin and Sir Brafford. They told us that they came here because twig blights were creating trouble for people in the area so Sir Brafford was gathering a party to deal with them. Sharwin and Talgen decided to offer their help rather than sit by and do nothing. That kind of action was worthy of Kelemvor. Perhaps they should be sought out to join the temple. I will keep them in mind a mull the decision over in my mind.

Upon arriving in Oakhurst again we were greeted by Omin Dran. He rewarded us for completing our mission and then informed us of the situation that was developing. He told us that we must stop a group attempting to bring a powerful immortal being back into this world. To accomplish their task they require four pieces of eight, the only remaining artifacts of the ritual used to seal the immortal away. One of those pieces just so happened to be the amulet that Sonya found on the body of Beleck. The others seem more interested in trivial tasks so I must convince them that stopping this ritual is in everyone’s best interest.

In order to continue on our journey we required a map. Floyd had one commissioned by the local cartographer and went to pick it up. Upon receiving it, he lost his temper and felt that it was not worth what he paid. I thought it was an informative and aesthetically pleasing map, but what do I know? I am a just simple grave-digger, after all.