Chapter 2 - Death and Rebirth

## Overall Summary

Jasttor leads Tally, Medericus, and Kitrick on a journey to Dunn's Gate, where Jasttor's amulet compelled him to stop on the way back to the Metalhearts base. While there, they met Havine and Relentless, who arrived in Dunn's Gate to investigate strange goings-on in the forest nearby.

The player characters formed a party with Aungor Shalehammer and found that a necromancer had been using wolves, bears, and other animals--including the forest guardian, a unicorn named Albion--in his necromancy rituals.

The party investigated the matter and found that Stonebend was affected. Further research found that Chogrim the Corpse Speaker had been lying in wait for years, waiting for the return of Tiamat, but got impatient and began to use the town for himself. Father Beauregarde, Havine's guardian for many years, had been an unwilling ally to the necromancer and was responsible for murdering Havine's parents and for instigating the rebellion that allowed him to have control of the town, as per Chogrim's demands.

After defeating the necromancer, Beauregarde was banished and Havine decided to start a new life as an adventurer, opting to go with the party who began calling themselves the New Dawn. The New Dawn began their journey back to the Metalhearts base, using the amulet Jasttor entrusted to Tally as a guide towards their destination.

## Sessions

### Session One

Havine and Relentless make it to Dunn’s Gate and meet with Aungor. There have been strange reports of unnatural phenomenon happening in the forest near that area, and as friendly neighbors, the dwarves requested help to check it out.

Meanwhile, the other group’s travels have taken them here after many miles of being together (Tally, Kitrick/Gnawdy, Medericus, Jasttor, and their prisoner Ilweth). Jasttor takes Ilweth to an inn to keep her away from the general public and to make sure she has a watch kept over her. Aungor mentions to the adventurers that if they’d like to help investigate the forest, there may be a reward in it for them if they ask the guards up nearer to the gate.

The party heads up to the gate markets, where there are a myriad of different shops. Tally sells some gems to the jeweler. Relentless checks out an arcane rune near the gate, meant to bar entry to any who do not have permission to enter Dunn’s Keep. Kitrick inquires about training Gnawdy and strikes a deal with Bega (the exotic animal handler) to work a few days at her shop to help lower the price of training. Havine buys potions and manages to haggle the price down; Relentless asks about artifacts and is given the rundown about an amulet that lets the wearer detect thoughts, a hat that allows the wearer to breathe underwater, and a pair of thieves’ gloves that give the wearer nimble fingers when pickpocketing and lockpicking. Kitrick effortlessly steals two potions from Elssol’s shop without being seen. Tally employs the help of Medericus to haggle down the price of a potion for themselves (Medericus then flirts with Elssol, who seems flattered enough to lower the price somewhat).

Medericus and Relentless both ask about herbs/tea, which Elssol scoffs about, sending them to Whitney at the Elkshead Inn to ask. Medericus asks an upset hunter what his problem is and gains information about the hunter’s wife who’d gone missing in the woods some time ago, seeking a beast only known to them as the forest’s protector. She has a hawk companion.

They eventually begin heading back at dark. Relentless and Havine fish for pearls to no avail. Kitrick plays around with some herbal recipes with herbs he’s picked up on his travels.

The group gets rooms at the inn. Relentless and Havine stay together, Aungor and two of his druid friends take another, Medericus takes a room and eventually drags Kitrick inside to sleep, and Tally gets her own room. Jasttor has a room with Ilweth but keeps watch all night instead of sleeping.

### Session Two

The group wakes up and makes their way downstairs, where breakfast is being served. Aungor is already awake (and eating a large dwarf’s breakfast, earning some teasing from Havine). Jasttor makes his way downstairs and looks exhausted, not having had any sleep the night before. He asks the group to help him in interrogating Ilweth, revealing that he’s “not very good at interrogations”.

He goes with Medericus and Kitrick upstairs to a room where they question Ilweth. Tally waits just outside the door. Kitrick uses a poisoned dagger and Gnawdy as intimidation but doesn’t go as far as hurting Ilweth before she reveals needed information. She was to assassinate Jasttor and stop him from reporting back to the Metalhearts. This was to be the prerequisite for her initiation as a true member of her organization: the Red Dragon cult. This cult is a collection of Tiamat worshippers looking to help overtake cities from the inside and lie in wait while she is resurrected.

Ilweth then reveals that the Red Dragon cult knew this information because the Metalhearts have a spy in their ranks: a human by the name Ashwing.

Jasttor straightens, turns around, and storms his way out, accidentally knocking into Tally on the way out. He stops to help her up and give her a quick apology, but continues downstairs and out of the inn.

Havine, Relentless, and Aungor are still downstairs, curious about the others but not about to nose into their business; Relentless casually puts an arm around Havine, alerting Aungor to their relationship, but the dwarf decides not to say anything on it until later.

Back upstairs, Kitrick continues questioning Ilweth about how and why she joined the cult in the first place. Reluctantly, she tells them that she was once a citizen of an elf city, and as a child, a few of the cultists arrived asking after talented children in the arcane arts. Thinking the cultists were professors, Ilweth and some of the other children went with them, supposedly to learn and study under them and come back after their education. However, they were spirited away and brainwashed to be loyal to the Red Dragon cult, never to see their families again. Ilweth mentions a brother and her mother. She also quickly reiterates that she owes her livelihood to the cult, as if defending them. Feeling empathy for their prisoner, Kitrick quietly promises that, if she ever wished to return to her family, he would help her. She nods but says nothing else.

Tally goes downstairs and looks for Jasttor, going outside to find him by the Kinesp River outside the inn. They’re silent for a few moments before he tells her that Ashwing was his friend, seeming angry and upset about the whole situation. Tally offers him a stone to throw into the water saying that it “might make [him] feel better”. (He tries to skip it but his lack of dexterity makes it simply plop into the water). He tells Tally that he needs to leave the group and report back to the Metalhearts about Favnir, properly imprison Ilweth, and investigate the matter of Ashwing’s betrayal. He gives her the amulet he’d been wearing, telling her that the Metalhearts’ base location will be revealed to her through it, as well as any other important locations to their quest. He tells her that he implicitly trusts her to do the right thing and carry on as the group’s guide in his place, and then heads back to the inn, leaving her stunned in his wake.

Some of the party heads back up to the gates to do business. Kitrick does a day of work for Bega, knocking 5gp off his total amount of the cost of training Gnawdy, and she teaches Gnawdy the difference between friend and foe. Tally and Medericus get assurance from a guard that they will be compensated in gold for taking care of the problems in the forest.

Back at the inn, Relentless buys caffar tea leaves (and learns of a few other available teas, including one called “birthnot”).

The party (minus Jasttor and Ilweth) heads to the forest, noticing the strange, quiet feel to it right off. Havine investigates a set of bloody wolf tracks and finds a corpse, seemingly killed by a man made weapon. Right when Relentless warns Aungor, nearest to the dead wolf, to watch for it in case it bites, it actually DOES come to life and the party becomes surrounded by an undead wolf pack. More and more filter in throughout the battle, including a huge alpha wolf.

Immediately, Tally shoots one of the first wolves and crits it, killing it instantly. Aungor shape-shifts into a bear to help fight the wolves. Medericus switches between healing a few party members with Healing Word and using his two-handed weapons. Havine Turns Undead and heals the party when they get critically low; most notably, she gets a critical hit against the alpha wolf just before its necrotic breath nearly knocks Relentless unconscious. Relentless allows himself to be bitten and uses Hellish Rebuke against the alpha before summoning an Eldritch Blast. Kitrick attempts to climb on top of the alpha wolf and grapple it, but it is too large for him to successfully get on top; he casts Darkness as well, making it difficult for the wolf to aim for them. Relentless then finishes the alpha and a feared wolf with Shatter.

The battle has left the party weary and in need of rest. They find a suitable place for camp and forage for food for a few hours; Tally investigates tracks leading deeper into the woods that they agree to follow in the morning. They rest for the night.

### Session Three

The party wakes early to a light rain and sunrise. The campfire has been put out and the party decides what to do next. They have a quick breakfast (Relentless asks about Medericus’s keytar which was apparently made in Aerilon) and decide to follow the tracks Tally had found the night before. Medericus tells Aungor about the missing dwarf woman (one of the hunters who are married to each other).

They make their way deeper into the forest and come upon a marshy, muddy grove that stinks of rotting vegetation. A large white figure comes into view and the party recognizes it is a unicorn, but… its body is not whole. Parts of its skeleton are showing and it is very obviously undead. It slowly turns its pale gaze upon them and makes its way over with menacing purpose.

Aungor instantly uses his wild shape to turn into a bear, lumbering up to the unicorn and biting it. Medericus attempts to use magic to incapacitate the unicorn with laughter but it fails, but he still gives Kitrick inspiration (sings “Sweet Child o’ Mine”). Kitrick casts minor illusion to give the unicorn the appearance of having a flaming mane, but the unicorn seems not to care about this development. It kicks out with hooves and gores Aungor with its horn, damaging the druid enough to force him back into his dwarven form. Havine moves forward and uses radiant magic to damage the unicorn, then summons a Spiritual Weapon to help attack it. The unicorn, as a Legendary Action, summons a dark shield of blackness that forms to its skin. Tally pulls out her longbow, and though there is a lot in her way she is a sharpshooter and she manages a hard-hitting sneak attack arrow. Relentless casts Shatter to do thunder damage to the unicorn. It uses another Legendary Action to draw the life out of nearby flora and heal itself. The sickly aura of its corrupted magic poisons both Tally and Relentless.

Aungor casts Barkskin on himself. Medericus tries to use Vicious Mockery on the unicorn which fails, but uses Healing Word on Aungor (“Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but here’s a healing word for Aungor maybe”). Aungor does the “thanks, brah” head nod. Kitrick climbs into the unicorn’s ribcage and attempts to saw at its spine to cut it in half from the inside. It’s a slow process and doesn’t work on the first turn. The unicorn makes a braying noise, similar to a horse but awful and distorted with its ruined throat. An undead bear lumbers out of a nearby cave to aid in fighting. The unicorn charges at Medericus and knocks him prone. The bear attacks Aungor and misses on the first swipe of its claws, but catches him with the second. Havine heals Medericus and Aungor. Tally shoots the bear with her steel arrows with sneak attack damage. She tries to stealth but fails to find anywhere suitable to hide. Relentless casts Dissonant Whispers, doing some minor damage on the unicorn.

Aungor casts Lightning Bolt and kills the undead bear and heals Medericus. Medericus decides to try and mock the unicorn (“It’s a good thing you’re dead, because your father would be very disappointed in you”) but it does not seem to understand it is being mocked. Medericus sings “Captain Tally Alexander” and gives Tally a d6 of inspiration. Kitrick keeps trying to saw the unicorn in half, manages to loosen a vertebra, and ducks out of the ribcage. The unicorn casts Entangle and manages to root everyone but Medericus and Kitrick. Havine is close enough to hit it and makes it stumble to one knee. Tally makes the killing shot, severing what’s left of its spine with a steel arrow (“That’s for my friends, asshole!”)

The shimmering form of the unicorn’s spirit appears and thanks them for releasing it from a necromancer’s spell. He says that a necromancer named Chogrim had been trying to use animals in the forest to begin his undead army a few weeks ago. Albion (the unicorn) had tried to fight him but lost, resulting in the undead form. Chogrim would not answer any question in regards to who he was working for, if anyone. Havine offers to do something else for Albion but he says that defeating the undead body was enough. He blesses them with immunity to the next poison check that happens (of the players’ choices). The party deduces that the necromancer must be in Stonebend after Aungor says there’s been nothing new happening in Dunn’s Gate.

They ask about the missing dwarf hunter and Albion shamefully admits being the one to kill her in his undead form. He points her out nearby. Her hawk is above them, watching. The party decides to take her body back to Dunn’s Gate. Relentless asks the woman a few questions (since his patron allows him to do so with dead people). He checks out a nearby cave and sees a bunch of dead bear cubs (he does not understand death so he believes they are sleeping). He harvests a few wild strawberries.

Medericus tries to trick Havine into looking away while snapping the unicorn’s horn off to take it with them and fails, resulting in Havine’s disapproval. However, when convinced by Kitrick that it may be useful, and Aungor agreeing that there was no need to let the dead body go to waste, she takes it and puts it away to make sure Medericus doesn’t try to hawk it at the Dunn’s Gate shops.

The party heads to Dunn’s Gate carrying the body of the missing dwarf woman. While in Dunn’s Gate, several characters go to take care of some business. Relentless haggles with Elssol for the amulet that has charges of Detect Thoughts and gets it for half off when he claims it is for university research. Medericus and Tally ask the guard about their reward, but Tally only takes half, saying that the job is unfinished until they get rid of the necromancer. Medericus pouts buts relents to Tally’s honest reaction to the situation. She goes to give him a little extra from her own cut, but he refuses it. She insists that she’ll “buy him a drink later”.  When they head back to the inn, Jasttor isn’t anywhere to be seen; Ilweth is with one of the dwarven druids (the one with all the birds) to let Jasttor get some rest since he’d been too stubborn to go to sleep. Tally goes out to buy some arrows and finds that the vendor recently got in some special ones, so she buys all three of them.

Relentless starts to read some of the book he’d found on the “borrow library” shelf aloud to Kitrick who happens to be there. It ends up being a trashy romance novel. Tally buys everyone drinks later on in the night and a lively party ends up happening with all the party members and the Dunn’s Gate tavern dwarves.

### Session Four

After traveling for around four days, the party makes their way to the Stonebend town entrance to investigate the possibility of a necromancer lying in wait here. They’re stopped by a guard who recognizes Havine and lets the party through. They head for the barracks, where Havine knows the captain of the guard who may know something about what’s going on. They’re stopped by Colter, an ex-bandit, who proceeds to point out that he thinks bringing a tiefling into town is a bad idea, and then makes eyes at Tally (who rolls her visible eye as they move along).

Olivar pauses in training a recruit to speak with Havine. Relentless pretends to write in his journal but is reading lips to “listen” to Havine and Olivar’s conversation. There’s an awkward conversation about Relentless’s presence, but upon mention of a necromancer, Olivar blanks out strangely and then denies any knowledge of undead or a necromancer nearby.  He at least agrees to put out an extra watch near the forest.

While this conversation is happening, Kitrick loses twice to the recruit in a dart-throwing contest despite moral support from Tally and Medericus. Kitrick pickpockets the kid out of spite and gets a few gold pieces from it.

Relentless moves out with the others and goes straight to a shop to get a hooded cloak to cover his horns/face/tail, much to Havine’s dismay.

They see Flint, a friend to Havine, running around trying to chase a chicken and get it back from a stalking cat. Much silliness happens when Relentless catches the chicken with Mage Hand, and Havine grabs the cat (after getting pecked a couple of times from an angry chicken). Medericus hangs back and plays silly music while this is going on.

Flint tells them about a little girl that had been missing, and found out in the hills. She was pale, stone cold, and wouldn’t speak. He says she’s at home with her mother and that she was brought there a few days ago.

Dusk falls when they head to the temple of Pelor (Relentless and Havine have a conversation about the town’s simple-mindedness and racism towards tieflings on the way). The party follows Havine, a bit subdued in respect for the importance of the place to their cleric. Relentless hangs back and checks out the aesthetic magical charms in the temple, sketching in his journal. The others stick closer to Havine; Kitrick uncomfortably so.

Beauregarde is speaking to an acolyte about the Spring equinox coming soon before turning to Havine and immediately commenting on her absence. He regards the others with a sneer and pointedly ignores any attempt at conversation with them. Havine mentions undead things in the forest and a necromancer, to which Father Beauregarde is cold and dismissive. However, when she presses on, he warns her to quiet down and presses a hastily written note into her hand, telling her to speak with him later, before dismissing her.

Near the end of the conversation, Tally feels the amulet given to her by Jasttor pulse gently for a few seconds before it stops. Kitrick mentions checking the temple out later for clues, but after they come up with some kind of plan. They make their way back to the simple inn of Stonebend. Medericus decides to chat up the female innkeeper later; she reacts in fear to Relentless but not outright hostility. They take their rooms and have a team meeting.

Havine voices her worries about Olivar’s and Beauregarde’s strange behaviors. Tally wonders if someone at the church has anything to do with what’s going on, and mentions the amulet’s odd pulsing. She mentions how the amulet works, smiling briefly at the memory of Jasttor (Havine fangirls a little, Medericus does waggly eyebrows, Kitrick gags, Relentless is clueless). Havine takes out the note pressed into her hands by Beauregarde and hands it to Relentless to decipher since it’s written in Celestial, much to the party’s annoyance. Relentless translates: “The town is in danger. Keep quiet, keep safe. Meet me before the sun rises at the oak tree.” Havine tells them about the giant tree by the library. Kitrick seems skeptical, saying that meeting in the middle of town just before everyone wakes is odd. At first, Havine says they shouldn’t go with her, but when the party insists the circumstances of this meeting are sketchy, she lets them start planning on how to get them all there just in case. She mentions that she dislikes Beauregarde, but trusts him; Tally says he may have been forced to lead them into a trap.

Relentless says it’s best to “trust your friends, but deal the cards yourself.” He begins to put together a plan, suggesting that they go out there before the set time and let Tally and Kitrick wait in hiding while the rest meet Beauregarde in person, with Medericus disguising himself as an average Stonebend commoner and Relentless himself using his Detect Thoughts from the amulet.

Satisfied with this plan, the party heads to bed (Tally checks her amulet with no results), resulting in some disturbing dreams.

*Kitrick-You dream of wandering a vast, endless plain at night. The stars are clear and shining above you and seem to be beckoning you. Before you can answer their call, hands shoot up from beneath the ground to drag you under until you suffocate.*

*Medericus-You dream of cold mountain peaks on an island of frost. You wander for days which turn to weeks which turn to months, but there is no other living thing on the island with you. You realize you are utterly alone.*

*Tally-You dream of walking through a scorching desert. Your feet are burning and you feel yourself beginning to turn to ash. Your last memory before scattering away is two huge eyes watching you with disappointment.*

*Havine-You dream of hacking away at a stubborn tree root that holds you to the ground. Eventually you manage to rip the root apart and pull it from the ground, but as you do you realize it is bleeding human blood. It pours all over the ground as you watch in horror.*

*Relentless-You dream of being wrapped in pleasant, velvety warmth. It comforts you, and you realize that there is a distinct dampness to it with the strong smell of copper. It does not bother you. You embrace it and let yourself be cradled by it.*

They carry out their plan the next morning and Havine speaks with Beauregarde, who is displeased that she didn’t come alone. He reveals that there has been a necromancer lying in wait for 27 years, having infiltrated the town in that time. It is Chogrim, the same necromancer that Albion the unicorn had mentioned. Chogrim, after a horrible display of his magic, threatened to turn the whole town into his personal undead army if Beauregarde didn’t do exactly as he wanted. (Meanwhile, Relentless is probing Beauregarde’s mind using his amulet of Detect Thoughts). Beauregarde admits to being a part of the plot, saying what he did was “for the safety of the town.” He backs away, apologizing profusely, when undead begin to appear.

### Session Five

The undead attack the group, two zombies joined later by a ghoul. At the start of the fight, Relentless moves towards the zombies to engage them with spells, while Havine turns to Beauregarde and casts Hold Person to paralyze him. Tally remains in the tree, shooting while hiding in the branches, while the others engage the undead. Kitrick decapitates one of the zombies after jumping on its back. After making a save against the Hold Person spell, Father Beauregarde helps the party, and uses a Guiding Bolt to destroy the ghoul while the others try to deal with the last zombie.

After the ghoul dies, Beauregarde attempts to escape, but Havine manages to tackle and grapple him.

The party continues to try and kill the last zombie, but it clings stubbornly to undeath. While still grappling Beauregarde, Havine turns and does a Sacred Flame at the zombie, finally killing it with her radiant fire.

With all the undead gone, a thin, high-pitched scream breaks through the silence, from the direction of the temple. Worried, Havine ties up Beauregarde and gags him, intent on finding out what’s going on. She asks him if he’s going to come with them willingly, and he reluctantly nods. Relentless, still able to read his thoughts, probes into what he’s thinking. Relentless stops Havine, and tells her that Beauregarde is thinking that they’re all going to die if they go to the temple. And that they cannot defeat him (referring to Chogrim).

Frustrated, Havine pulls the gag from Beauregarde’s mouth and demands that he tell her what’s going on. He tells her that Chogrim has started putting his plan --killing villagers, creating undead-- into place. Tells her that if they go in there, there must be undead crawling the temple, and they’ll die if they go in. Havine says they can’t just leave everyone to die. That if he did all this in the first place to ‘protect’ Stonebend, then what’s their alternative? She asks why Chogrim is doing this now. Beauregarde says he’s been getting impatient, and when he saw Havine and the others coming, he sped up his plans. Relentless asks if they’ve ever met Chogrim. Beauregarde says that none of the party know him, but he knows them, Havine in particular.

Havine asks Beauregarde if Chogrim killed her parents when he arrived twenty-seven years ago, around the time that they died. Beauregarde doesn’t answer, looking terrified. She grabs the front of his clothes and pulls him close, and says, “You answer me,” in an attempt to intimidate him. Going pale he tells her that he ‘had to’ that ‘he would kill everyone’ if he didn’t. He goes quiet when Havine interrupts him, stunned and angry, demanding to know if Beauregarde really was the one who killed them and not Chogrim. During this, Tally drops from the tree and draws her bow on Beauregarde. He doesn’t say anything, but stares at her, terrified. Furious, Havine decks him across the face, knocking him into the dirt, and turns and walks away to the other side of the old oak tree as he apologizes over and over again.

Relentless follows her, going to speak with her and offer a plan to handle the situation at the temple, to use Beauregarde as a distraction. They briefly discuss some possible ideas, but Havine is ultimately too distraught to think of anything. Relentless reassures her that he promised her he would help her find her parents, and that he’s going to help her with this situation. Havine insists that they just need to stop Chogrim. She admits she has no idea what she’s doing anymore, that all she knows how to do is help people and that’s all she’s ever done. He tells her that that’s what they should do then, comforting her, and she agrees, taking his hand and returning to the group and getting back to business.

Havine questions Beauregarde some more. He tells her that Chogrim is the one who manipulated Olivar’s mind before they got there. The meeting wasn’t originally an ambush, but Chogrim found out about it and turned it into an ambush, using Havine’s trust of Beauregarde against her. He also tells her that he begged Chogrim to spare her, and that he raised her in order to free Stonebend and fight against the necromancer. Everything he did was to make her strong enough to lead the town. He says the reason her parents had to die was because Chogrim found out that her mother was a powerful adventurer and he didn’t want any threats to his plan. Relentless also questions him, asking about his partnership with Chogrim. They discuss the fact that the necromancer used Beauregarde’s influence over the town to control them, including encouraging the rebellion for his own ends. He also tells them about Chogrim speaking of a ‘higher power’ that he serves. Chogrim has been living secretly in the temple, and they’re told where.

They convince Beauregarde to willingly come with them and help fight. They then head to the temple. Before they leave, Havine uses Aid on Kitrick, Medericus, and herself. Inside they find Susanna (a fellow cleric), wounded, with a young girl with her. The group approaches them, with Relentless sticking very close to Havine near-constantly. Susanna tells them there are undead in the temple, and that Issak is still in there somewhere. Kitrick helps Havine check Susanna, and he uses some healing herbs to stop her bleeding. Relentless uses a minor illusion of a rabbit to calm the little girl. Havine tells Susanna to take the little girl and get somewhere safe.

Tally suggests going upstairs by herself to scope things out, Havine expresses reluctance at putting her in danger alone, but Tally insists that they’re all in danger right now. Havine then insists that she doesn’t care about being stealthy, that they need to destroy every single undead in the temple. Before going upstairs they investigate the altar. As she gets close, Tally’s amulet starts to pulse, and when she looks through it all she sees is bright, blinding light. The others find some holy oil (HOIL) to use. Kitrick and Medericus coat their daggers in the holy oil for later, Tally applies it to one of her special steel tipped arrows. They also find some holy water.

The group tries to figure out what’s going on with Jasttor’s amulet, but they’re not sure. The closer she gets to the altar the more it pulses and the brighter the light gets. She places it on the altar and it starts vibrating, and she realizes it has something to do with the daylight orb. Tally decides to touch the amulet to the orb. When that happens the glass shatters, and all the light emerges from the orb and coalesces into a huge lion, which are associated with Pelor. Havine approaches the lion, and sees that it’s holding something in its mouth. She holds her hands out, and it places a large golden pearl into her hands that’s warm to the touch. The lion turns as Havine watches, in awe, and leaps over to the left side of the temple, heading towards the stairs.

Beauregarde, instead of feeling the awe Havine is, looks terrified by the lion and the presence of Pelor. Havine tries to speak to the lion, but it can’t speak, and she reaches out to touch its mane, which feels warm like sun-warmed fur. Kitrick tries to climb onto the lion’s back, but it tosses him off and pins him with a paw with a growl to get him to stop.

Havine tries to check the pearl, which feels alive, and she knows that it’s not of Pelor, but she also doesn’t feel evil. She tries to ask the lion about it, and it tilts its head and sort of gestures at her bag to put it away. Havine and Tally discuss who should keep the orb, Havine being uncertain if Tally should take it since it reacted to her amulet, but the others feel it might be more useful in the hands of a cleric. She puts it away in her bag for now.

Heading to the left side passageway, they stop at the door to listen for what’s on the other side. Havine uses Detect Evil and Good to sense the undead, and discovers that the lion is a celestial creature. As she approaches the door, she senses two undead. Havine asks the lion to help them fight, but instead it begins to emit a light granting them advantage against necrotic damage. The group then rushes through the door to attack the undead.

Havine attacks the more intelligent undead to the left of the door with her mace and Sacred Flame. Relentless uses Dissonant Whispers and Chill Touch. Medericus shoots the skeleton to the right with his crossbow but misses, then uses Vicious Mockery (“Hey, looks like you’ve got a bone to pick with me!”) which rattles angrily and hurts itself. Beauregarde uses Sanctuary on Tally to protect her from attack. Kitrick runs up to trip the skeleton and tries to stomp on it but misses. Tally shoots at the ghoul, but misses, then ducks behind the wall to hide (ghouls have trouble with object permanence). The lion moves forward to keep everyone in its aura.

Medericus smacks the skeleton with his hammer and the pommel of his dagger, critting and destroying it. Then he turns to Viciously Mock the ghoul, which doesn’t affect it. Relentless uses Shatter against the ghoul, and Eldritch Blast which misses. Havine attacks the ghoul with her mace, using a Luck in order to hit, killing it.

The moment the undead are destroyed, Havine heads towards the classroom and goes inside, looking for anyone who might be hiding, but finds no one. The lion lays in the hallway, and begins emitting an inviting, restful aura. Havine then goes to check the store room, which is also empty. The party gathers by the lion, which heals and restores spell slots to everyone (except Beauregarde). After a moment with the lion, Havine goes to check the study with Relentless following her.

In the study Relentless finds a book called ‘Travel and Trade: Trade Routes’, some wine, and an herbalist kit he immediately takes. Kitrick takes three vials of holy water from a nearby font. Medericus goes to check out the classroom, leaves a note inside a notebook and takes a bottle of ink. Havine quickly goes back to the store room and takes some cooking spices, along with some dried herbs she gives to Kitrick.

The group then prepares to head upstairs.

### Session Six

Prior to the start of the session, the group takes a moment during their brief rest to examine the golden pearl given to them by the celestial lion. After taking some time to identify it, Relentless is able to deduce that it can only be used by someone of draconic blood, and so the party turns to Medericus (quite literally). Taking the orb in his hands, he discovers (and subsequently annoys) Troannaxia, one of the ancient gold wyrms that serve Bahamut, also known as ‘The Presence’. Or ‘Presents’, as Medericus likes to call her. She demands to be taken back to her master, and the party decides that they only thing they can do is take her back to the Metalhearts.

The group then heads upstairs. The area is near Havine’s room and the bath, and the party spots one of the temple cats which seems unfazed by the lion. Havine spots some blood to the north, and hears some noise behind the door leading to the balcony over the central chamber. She uses Detect Evil and Good again to scout for undead, and goes to check her room and the bathroom to look for people hiding, but doesn’t find anyone. (Relentless tries to pet the cat, but is snubbed.)

Approaching the door to the balcony, Havine senses two undead presences where the sounds are coming from. Tally and Kitrick decide to throw holy water at the undead, and prepare to burst through the doors. Havine shoves open the door and they see Issak, wounded and trapped by the edge of the balcony. Kitrick and Tally both hit their respective skeletons, and begin the fight.

Medericus attacks a skeleton with his hammer and it falls apart, destroyed, then turns to the other and uses Vicious Mockery (repeating his bad bone pun for the second time). Havine charges the remaining skeleton and misses with her mace and Sacred Flame, but makes sure to put herself between it and Issak. Beauregarde uses Sacred Flame and kills the skeleton.

With the fight over, Havine turns to Issak and he tells her he needs to show her something. She uses Cure Wounds on him and he leads the group back towards where they saw the blood by the north wall. He says that a man disappeared near there after ordering skeletons after him. Havine tells him to go find anyone else who might still be in the temple and to get somewhere safe. Before he goes she’s sure to give him a hug.

After he leaves, they go to inspect the wall to try and discover the secret passage that Beauregarde told them about beforehand and Issak gave them a hint about. Relentless and Medericus both spot that one of the sconces looks suspicious, and Tally steps in to check it for traps. It isn’t trapped, and they open the door. The lion is too big to follow them inside, and has to remain in the temple. He nuzzles Havine and restores her spells slots, and she thanks him.

Havine asks Beauregarde if he’s ever been inside, and he says no. He only knew that it existed, but wasn’t allowed in. She pushes him ahead of her into the tunnel. Havine casts Light on her holy symbol so that they can see, partially blocking it with her shield to sort of disguise it. The tunnel is carved into the stone of the mountain, and widens as they progress. There is a gate ahead of them, they can feel air, and Havine opens the gate, leading them into a large chamber with a vaulted ceiling and columns. There’s an oppressive, dark, eerie feeling that envelops the group. There are raised platforms and bridges in the center of the room, and bones litter the ground. Chogrim is lurking in the darkness, watching them approach.

Skeletons rise from the piles of bones, and Chogrim waits on top of one of the platforms as the battle begins.

Tally sneaks towards the platform that Chogrim is on, critically shooting him and beginning to climb up the ladder. A skeletal horse charges Havine and attacks her with its hooves. Chogrim, looking for the source of the arrow that hit him, casts Confusion on the party (except Tally), which only affects Beauregarde. He then turns to Relentless and uses Gain Insight. Affected by the confusion, Beauregarde turns and hits Kitrick with his mace. Medericus tries to slap the confusion out of Beauregarde (assisting with his saving throw against the confusion) but it doesn’t work. He attacks the skeletal horse with his hammer and the blunt end of his dagger, shattering part of its leg and slowing its movement speed. Then uses a Healing Word on Havine. Havine lashes out at the horse, using her last Luck to hit with her mace and destroying it. Circling around the fallen pillar, she moves further into the room and senses more undead, choosing to ignore the sight of Chogrim to pursue them on the ground. As she moves she triggers a spike trap that wounds her. She then uses Shield of Faith on herself to increase her defenses. As Havine passed by where Chogrim was, Kitrick spots where the necromancer is and rushes up, drinking a Potion of Fire Breath on the way and exhaling it towards him and burning him and catching the bridge behind him on fire. One of the skeletons approaches Havine and hits her. The second skeleton moves to one of the other platforms, taking an attack of opportunity from Havine as it turns away. It then shoots at Medericus and hits him in the back. Relentless moves to follow after Havine, activating another spike trap and failing his save, even with his Fault Lie and Havine’s Helpful ability. He then does more fire damage to the already burning bridge, and uses Dissonant Whispers against Chogrim, which sends him fleeing from Relentless across the flaming bridge. Kitrick tries to take an attack of opportunity against him but misses.

Tally continues the rest of the way up the ladder and shoots at Chogrim with her arrow dipped in holy oil, striking him. Chogrim moves further away from the group and Relentless sees him jump over part of the floor (avoiding a trap). He casts a spell and something dark and shimmering clings to his body and he casts Chill Touch on Relentless. Beauregarde frees himself from his confusion and sees that Havine is wounded, ignoring Relentless and casting Cure Wounds on Havine. He then attacks the skeleton on the ground with Sacred Flame, but misses. Medericus attempts to climb over the fallen pillar but falls prone on the other side. He eats one of his sweet rolls from Frostshore, and ends up using up his Albion’s Blessing to protect himself from poisoning himself and healing slightly from the un-poisoned sweet roll. Havine uses Cure Wounds on Relentless, then creates a Spiritual Weapon to attack the skeleton in front of her, destroying one of its legs. Kitrick attempts to cross a rope connecting two of the platforms but falls off, successfully landing on the skeleton and killing it. He rushes over to the other platform, using the ladder, and attacks the archer skeleton but misses. The skeleton then attacks Kit with its short sword, hitting him. Relentless uses Dissonant Whispers again against Chogrim, forcing him further away from the group and out of line of sight. He then uses Chill Touch against the remaining skeleton and moves further up the room.

Tally crosses the rope that Kit previously fell from, trying to get a better sight on Chogrim, using a dash to make it possible. She also spots the little undead girl hidden away in the corner. She attacks, hitting him with one last arrow and dropping him to the ground. The girl and the last skeleton both collapse to the ground as his magic connection to them severs.

Relentless turns to make sure that Havine is okay, Havine suggests to Kitrick to destroy the fallen skeleton to make sure that it can’t come back. Tally goes to tie Chogrim up and Relentless warns the group of the trap that Chogrim avoided earlier. Havine finds some of the other hidden traps, warning the others so they can continue to avoid them. She checks the little girl with her magic, and finds that she’s no longer undead, now just a corpse.

While the others are occupied, Relentless goes to speak to the little girl. He asks her who she is, where she’d like to go, and what happened to her. She says her name is Elizabeth, and that she wants to go to her mom, and that she remembers being in the woods and being hurt by some strange people.

Tally searches Chogrim’s body, and Relentless is sure to take his spellbook. Havine uses a Cure Wounds on Kitrick, who was severely wounded, and eyes Beauregarde, who is standing off to the side and staying quiet.

The group finds a small study to the north, leaving Kitrick to watch Chogrim with his remaining uses of Fire Breath. Relentless is sure to nudge Beauregarde along with them into the study. Tally confronts Beauregarde for a moment, mocking him for insisting that Chogrim would ‘kill them all’. Cowed, Beauregarde says that it’s fortunate that they were all there, and Havine shoots him a look but doesn’t say anything. Relentless squints at him, but also remains silent. Kitrick flips him off. Tally says that he could have just asked for help, but didn’t. Relentless has been very sure to make it clear to Beauregarde that he is there for Havine, putting his arm around her shoulders and making his presence well known.

Tally checks for traps within the study, but doesn’t find anything. Inside the room they find a nondescript bag, several books (an artifact lover’s guide, potion maker’s notebook, and other small books), a satchel of uncut diamonds, a gold bracelet with bloodstones (non-magical), two potions, an alchemist’s kit, and a coin purse. Havine picks up the bag and finds inside a circlet, a pair of gauntlets, a set of studded leather armor, an amulet, and a silver-colored ring.

Havine is also careful to ask the group to check for any papers or notes within the study. Medericus finds a sketch of a five-headed dragon and papers detailing gruesome anatomy of people and animals, and necromantic study.

While the others are gone, Kitrick removes Tally’s arrow from Chogrim’s body and he regains consciousness as everyone returns. Tally draws her bow on him as they gather around to speak with him. Havine asks him who he’s been working for. He says he doesn’t work for anyone anymore. He looks at Havine and recognizes her. She glares at him as he grins and tells her he wanted to kill her, gesturing to Beauregarde and telling her that he begged him to save her. Chogrim tells them it doesn’t matter who he works for, because he betrayed ‘her’. Havine asks if he means Tiamat, and he pauses and comments on her being a ‘smart one’. He tells them that he was to take over Stonebend because there is an artifact somewhere that he hasn’t been able to find. Havine asks if he’s part of a group, he says he’s not sure if they even exist. They ask about Olivar, and he says he only gave him a ‘little suggestion’. Havine tells him it won’t matter once Chogrim’s dead.

The group discusses what to do with Chogrim and Beauregarde. They decide to not trust Chogrim to corroborate Beauregarde’s story and Havine insists he needs to die. While she hesitates over who should kill him, Kitrick gestures that he’d be fine doing it. Havine gathers up the body of the little girl and nods at Kitrick, who then grabs Chogrim and breathes fire directly into his mouth. He then uses the last use of his potion to completely destroy the necromancer’s body at Havine’s request.

As he’s burning, Havine turns to Beauregarde and asks him if he’s planning on telling the town the truth. Medericus casts Detect Thoughts. Beauregarde stutters and wrings his hands, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes. Medericus, reading his thoughts, tells the group that Beauregarde doesn’t want to tell them. That he’s afraid of the townspeople. Havine, hesitating and feeling a bit conflicted, tells him, “We could easily kill you, and no one would know you just didn’t survive this fight.” Beauregarde cowers, terrified, and nods, clearly having no choice. Medericus says he’s still thinking about running. That he’d rather die now instead of having a slow, dishonorable death at the hands of the town. At the mention of him thinking about running, Havine and Relentless instantly move towards him to keep him caged in, Havine grabbing him and tying him back up.

Medericus turns to Beauregarde and tells him he has two choices. He can tell the town, and not die now. Or he dies now, and ‘he’ will tell the town the truth, with himself disguised as Beauregarde. Tally says that he could always spend the rest of his life trying to make up for what he did. She tells him that dying is easy, and he gets out of everything if he just gets to die. And he owes it to those people to try and make up for what he did. But none of this seems to get through to Beauregarde. Havine expresses her concerns about Medericus’s plan is if the townsfolk try to take him disguised as Beauregarde, because she doesn’t want him to get hurt. Relentless steps in to suggest they just give him over to the town, that as a leadership figure a proper transfer of power needs to happen. He thinks killing Beauregarde now would leave the town in a bad spot without any leadership.

The group leaves the temple to check on the rest of Stonebend, to decide on Beauregarde’s fate after finding Olivar and others from the temple.