Dramatis Personae
Alizander Carmelizzia - Human (Varisian) sorcerer
Carlos Santiago - Half-orc (Alkenstarian) wizard
Slavé/Jancen – Tiefling (in guise as a human) rogue
Tavo Dechirent - Human cleric of Pharasma
Vaeden Corleone - Human rogue
Starday, 22 Kuthona, 4708 A.R.
The party uses two of the grave candles retrieved from the Chelish Crux to hold scéance with the spiritual fragments of Venture-Captain Aiger Ghaelfin and Coriana Heavenscape.
From Ghaelfin, the party learns some details of the layout of the old Pathfinder lodge:
“Delvehaven, yes, a great museum it was. A museum and a gathering place for friends and fellows. It was a great lodge, in its time. Delvehaven is comprised of four levels:
The ground level: a stately and grand place, featuring the great library, the grand vestibule flanked by the foyer of reflection on one side and the foyer of fellowship on the other. The Nautalica: a grand and exotic feasting hall. No feasting occurs there now, I fear. The Rostrum of Vanishment, where we often practiced our ability to fight unseen foes. And finally the illuminated Council Chamber, where we discussed matters of great importance – ventures to unknown lands, archaeological expeditions among the ruins of the ancients – under a blanket of stars and a permanent image of the Glyph of the Open Road.
The upper level: apartments, guest rooms, the vanity room where Mirrorskin awaited each of us every morning.
The cellar: featuring the tavern, where we traded stories of our travels and the finest elven vintage. The Mariner’s Display and the Insect Museum – featuring replicas of famous ships and specimens of the rarest insects.
Finally, the vault below the cellar: where we kept our most priceless treasures, and the most dangerous.
But we failed in protecting Delvehaven, and in protecting the city of Westcrown against the depredations of those who care naught for history. Those who would rewrite history in their own favour, and damn us all to Hell in the doing. Alas, I failed my Coriana…oh my Coriana….”
At that, Ghaelfin’s spirit is wracked by choking sobs and remembered anguish. The spirit is no longer responsive.
From Coriana Heavenscape, the party learns that her good friends Ilnerik and Bisby had a falling out in the lodge’s final months, and that Ilnerik left without a word several weeks before the god Aroden’s death, and that in the days after his departure it became apparent that he took half of the strange relic that he and Bisby had recovered in the Mwangi expanse. Bisby himself had grown increasingly paranoid and protective of the remaining half of the relic. Coriana saw the complete relic only once – it was gold and black, with two heads – a bird head and a bat head. As far as she knows, Bisby remained inside the lodge after it was sealed.
Coriana also tells the party that she helped Loremaster Liriam create the extradimensional space in Cutlass Cove, and that the keys left there can be used to open the doors to Bisby’s chambers, the Summoning Room, and the triple doors leading to the Gauntlet of the Sun (as Bisby began referring to it after retrieving the relic) in the vault under the cellar.
As Coriana speaks to the party her gaze lingers on Vaeden Corleone, and the spirit appears to have a moment of reflection:
“I know you. Nicolo? Nicolo Davion; is it you? Are we dead? Yes, we were killed together by those Thrune soldiers and that wizard, Commandra. Commandra Voxlay. Aiger tried to convince me to leave the city; told me that it was doomed to suffer under the Thrune ascendancy. But I could not leave, and your house, House Davian, bravely resisted the Thrune tyrants. But Aiger Ghaelfin was right, wasn’t he? We were powerless against Thrune, powerless against the might of Hell. I should have listened to him. No. I made my choice, as did you. It is good to see you, even in this cold place called death. It is not what I expected – death. No elysian fields, no golden host to greet us on white steeds. Perhaps the gods are a sham, and Hell is but a dream of our own creation.”
The spirit of Coriana Heavenscape vanishes into the ether. Vaeden recalls the stories told to him in his youth by his keeper, the elf Alfred. He remembers the name Nicolo as that of his great-grandfather, patriarch of House Davion at the time of Aroden’s death. Coriana’s words suggest that there may be more to the story of House Davion’s fall than Alfred has seen fit to reveal.
Starday, 29 Kuthona, 4708 A.R.
After spending a week in preparation, the party decides to take on the task of exploring Delvehaven. Although it has sat largely undisturbed for the past century, rumours of haunting, dangerous wards, and strange goings-on surround the place. The lodge itself faces the meandering Adivian Walk, the road that runs along the eastern shore of the Rego Sacero; the far side of the road at this point overlooks a 30-foot-high bluff that drops into the waters below. The party arrives at the site in the early afternoon. The area is generally not well travelled (the notorious building keeps folk away). The party has little trouble bypassing the seized and rusted gate barring entrance to the expansive and overgrown courtyard. Once inside, Carlos, Alizander, and Vaeden detect the presence of numerous magical traps warding the grounds. The party members gingerly bypass these areas and approach the front doors of the lodge. The sagging veranda, its columns think and mildew-spotted with age, adorns Delvehaven’s façade. Two huge oaken doors stand in the centre of the veranda, a carving of a road receding into the horizon inscribed within a circle decorating each portal. A wooden placard above the doors hangs precariously from rotting joints, its face bearing an inscription that reads:
To liberate the Past for the knowledge of Today
To live the maxim that fortune is earned by the bold
To prove there are no boundaries
Amazingly, the doors leading into the lodge are unlocked and slightly ajar. There is little evidence of activity on the threshold, and the party moves inside.
Approaching the Grand Vestibule, the party members take a moment to let their eyes adjust to the dim light before moving on. They move as a group through the Foyer of Fellowship and back into the Library of Inducted Experience, where the party members read several books that seem to draw the readers into their mesmerizing pages, leaving each of them shaken but possessed of new insights as a result of reading the strange tomes.
It is within the Nautalica, the old feasting hall of Delvehaven, where the party meets its first challenge. The animated and shadow-infused skeleton of a huge beast, some tri-horned reptile from a long forgotten land, steps from behind the murky waters of the Nautalica’s massive aquarium. Luckily, the cautious party manages to act before the beast attacks. Vaeden begins to circle around the aquarium, intent on sneaking up behind the creature. Alizander and Carlos hurl spells at their foe, while Jancen and Tavo retreat to safer positions. The shadowy creature responds by exhaling a greasy black ray towards Alizander, missing by inches. Another barrage of spells from Carlos and Alizander ensue before the two move back out of the room themselves. The creature follows, and Carlos receives the full-force of the beast’s central horn. The shadowy triceratops punches the bony horn through Carlos’ stomach, lifts the wizard off his feet, and slams him against the wall. Carlos slides off of the horn and into a bloody, lifeless heap.
Jancen manages to get in and pull Carlos body out of the way while Alizander gets the beast’s attention, moving backwards down the hall. In a moment of inspiration, Alizander summons a powerful gust of wind and physically blows the shadow-stuff off of the triceratops skeleton. The shadowy tendrils float behind the skeleton, inching through the air back towards the host. For the moment, however, Alizander is successful in rendering the creature bereft of its shadow-power. Vaeden continues to sneak up behind triceratops, hoping to get in a single, tactical strike.
Treasure:
· From the Library of Inducted Experience:
o Pathfinder Chronicles collection (75% complete) (worth currently unknown)
Experience Awards
· Story Award (scéance with Ghaelfin and Coriana) – 1500 xp
· Isolation sphere traps – 4800 xp
· Transposition trap – 2400 xp
· Total – 8700 xp
· Per PC (5) – 1740 xp each
Current XP Total per PC
· Alizander, Carlos, Slavé, Vaeden – 20,835 xp each
· Tavo – 20,140 xp
· Total Current Fame Points – 12
