Session One Summary (Graveyard of Empires: After the Fall)
Session 1, July 1 2020
Introduction
As the space station XenoTel2 plummets toward the atmosphere, the party shadow steps down to Meidia on their quest to close the portal linking their world to Hell and defeat the devils raining down on their homeworld ...
Session Summary
Rallion/Larry's Account
1st of Tenrilden (October) at 12:00 pm noon. 1 year and 12 hours since the beginning of Graveyards of Empires
Clear Day, c. 80 degrees/27 C, in rough terrain near Old Greybeard, home of the four matriarchs.
We worked our way to the path up the mountain. We traveled all day and set camp in a gully with a lookout near the top. The DVL in the countdown clock is still there and says he is waiting until we find out about the next apocalypse so he can count down once again.
The next day we continued and finally came to the bottom of the trail and left an offering of food via Vikram.
At the next totem, there was a sphinx resting under a rock outcropping out of the rain. Rallion greeted her, but did not have an offering she liked. Kauri gave her a golden torc and told Kauri that she can't help restore magic to the de-magicked items. the rest of the party was ready for combat, but we avoided a fight.
The next totem we left another food offering from Vikram and then saw the golden shiny eagle on the next totem. The eagle kept one totem ahead of us, and settled on the rock outcropping that is eagle shaped over the cavern entrance where the stream tonight.
Azra was keeping watch and lowered her bow when she recognized us. She was glad we returned. She told Timon we were there, he greeted us. He told us that the village of Montoa was razed and the survivors came here. Not sure if Shem or Hizou did it. Kaliha is the shaman and in charge. Druetta was a Montoan and came with us, but was lost to the undead infection.
Timon introduced us to the deep gnome Braadler and his cave fisher pack animal. Braadler was sent by someone or something he called "Clickthump" to find us. We are not sure what that is. We have welcomed Braadler into our group.
We went to one of the now many repaired buildings to drop off our extra gear and the dwarven make stuff to avoid offending the Matriarchs before going to visit them. Vikram stays behind to watch out stuff.
We go into the maze and have many disagreements about which way to go, and only made it part way in. We left off with a puzzle of a lever that could release death if we don't interpret it correctly.
Bavmorda/Ray's Account
1st of Tenrilden at 12:00 pm noon. 1 year and 12 hours since the beginning of Graveyards of Empires
The party shadow steps to the southern foothills of Old Greybeard in the vicinity of the cockatrice lair. The survivors, Bavmorda, Kauri, Lambertus, Oxkhar, Peronnel and Rallion find themselves nearer the cavern of the dead than the peaks of Old Greybeard. They are accompanied by Vikram the DVL and the tacit Apocalypse Clock DVL. The day is warm, the air crips. Above the horizon, gouts of linear flame in the atmosphere herald Media’s newest immigrants. Grimnly reminding the terrestrial natives the latest calamity to fall upon their home.
Vikram voices his consent when the party decides to ascend northwesterly. Apparently, he is eager to visit the Matriarchs as much as Rallion and Bavmorda.
- Trekking for hours, mem
- Looking for totems
- Nano carbon items depowered, adamantine decohered to sand
- Ascent takes hours
- Camp in the foothills
- Oskar, Laris, Bavmorda, Rallion
- Kauri notices apocalypse clock DVL stays with clock because he has done it for so long
- Clock - Azreal was running magic when dwarves arrived offers to count down the next apocalypse for Kauri
- Constant star still in the night sky
- Continue up further into the foothill next morning, 2nd of Tenrilden
- Rallion dumps the dust of his adamantine spear head, drow cloak and drow boots turned to grey green sludged when wet by the rain, close to a tropical down pour
- Resembles quicksilver to Laris, goopier than quicksilver
- Ascent trail to maidens, turn about totem to a straight path 60’ party surprises a Sphynx
- Wants a gift
- Kauri bargains golden torque pretty for answer
- Can not answer how the matrons power worked
- Rallion asks vikram for another fruit offering
- Sphynx plays with torque in hidey hole
- Tells Rallion it is unwise to hand out names these days. Wishes him goodluck and says a friend is just ahead.
- Rallion decides to leave an offering on at every totem
- Next totem is about 20 minutes ahead, rain is now a downpour.
- 15 minutes later, we can see the next totem. Glowing in the rain is a large bird birched on the next totem, might be an eagle, rallion recognizes the bird of the feather
- Eagle hops a totem ahead of our progress guiding the party through the heavy rain
- Eventually wall rock as path levels
- See two streams of water falling before hitting a outcrop of stone that resembles an eagle over a cavern entrance over the path
- 2:00 pm, at cave entrance
- Alot of lights in the cavern and movement
- An older women is looking at us, bow notched not aimed at us
- Bav waves, she waves and invites us in
- “Come in, Timone is inside, good to have you back”
- “Weird stuff out there.”
- Timone is helping the new arrivals
- Wait by the large totem
- Two pools fed by streams from above
- Shelf of rock, new graves of the earthquake victims
- Lots of people, native islanders, wailing children, cooking, many repaired caves
- Little old man happy to see us, shakes our hands
- Azra and he now have refugees from Montoa which was razed, refugees lead by shaman, warriors called the Matriarchs Daughters, left village to live on mountain
- Kahlea the shaman wants to talk to her
- We are offered a place to stay
- Deep Gnome, and a crab like creature (Cave Fisher) with pack saddles.
- Click THump sent him there is grave danger and he needed to find, there is a danger, he noticed the fire balls. People that may know of such things. Why the magic is gone. His name is Braadlur Quartzwarper is a cleric Tizer Jagthar they heal people and communicate with stone people of told to come here and meat people he thinks thats us
- Click Thump, he thinks is a leader of the Stone People
- Stone People protect their communities
- He says the Drow still have magical abilities
- His people stay away from Drow and the Silence they
Those who Pass Beyond these Doors
Shall Face Tests to Prove whether they are Worthy
To Enter the Presence of those Matriarchs
Who Stood Against the Outsiders
Cerida (North), with Logic as Cold as the Northern Ice
Brita (East), As Vigorous as the Dawn’s Symphony of Bird-calls
Feldma (West), Protector of Wisdom’s Dying Light
Oswitha (South), Warm Bloom of Southern Isles’ Compassion
When Those from Beyond Threaten the World
The Way shall be Revealed in Cataclysm
For New Guardians of our Inheritance and Home
To Claim the Shard of the Mother from its Resting Place
- Door to the east - collapsed cavern - Braadlur investigates for ten minutes, he determines there is 10’ of debris before encountering a cavern
- Door to the north reveals a passage to the north
- 20’ later - east west t intersection “
- West - 10’ to a door with inscription “Cerida’s Gifts, / Reason Incalculable, / Will not be Divided”
- East - 40’ collapsed floor to passage below - cavern collapsed further east
- N-S passage, south ends in obstruction, north dead end
- Braad determines the north was constructed and the south is loose debris
- North - looks like eastern door collapse from another direction
- Laris finds a door to the north with an inscription “First Brita’s Courage and then Feldma’s Wisdom, Look then to Cerida and Oswitha’s Sacrifice is Unnecessary”
- North door - circular room 30’ diameter, lever in center in compass right left up and down, above the letter 20’ above 10’ x 10’ higher by 10’
- It is 5:10 pm 1 hour of oil burned