Mist-B-Gone a.k.a. Trickster God: Awaken

#### *Methodology*

The team set off from Haven in a northwesterly direction toward an area marked with yellow on the map obtained from the Siege of the Goblin Keep. Lavender had the foresight to bring along the compass to determine whether its needle pointed in this general direction. In fact, as we made our way, the compass continued to point toward our mapped destination.

We made camp at The Keep at Tartarus 1000's suggestion. Elora hunted a deer **(EDITOR'S NOTE: Was this a normie deer?)** to feed to Sherbert, as our snake friend had eaten through roughly half of the rotting goblin corpses we fed to him after the Siege. We set ourselves to investigate The Keep to identify whether others had roamed here since our last visit. Lavender re-examined some of the objects we found here (e.g., the tapestry fragments). We then found a path leading from The Keep due west and slightly south.

When we made camp, we played a game that Torva called "Never Have I Ever." I learned very quickly that I am not good at this game. Torva supplied us with some alcohol to facilitate discomfort related to social anxiety.

At first light, we headed out on the western path. We spotted a large blackish-bluish bird flying from south to north. We made ourselves scarce to avoid a confrontation. In early afternoon, we continued down the path where we encountered several hobgoblins camped out in front of a large structure with giant doors. It appeared they were attempting to blast the doors open, to no avail. We encountered these hobgoblins and handily dispatched them.

We headed to the large doors, finding that our compass continued to point directly toward this structure. In addition, we noted that the mists here were thicker than we had observed from Haven. After some experimentation, we discovered that only Elora, a human, was recognized by the doors. The doors opened for her. We entered the structure.

We carefully explored the inside of the structure (the layout of the explored area of the structure is presented in Figure 2). The area was covered in a thick layer of dust. A door with runes like the ones that had exploded on Kallax in the Northern Mines was situated to the right off the entrance of the structure. We discovered that several trap-like puzzles had been set for us. It was evident that each puzzle must be solved correctly before entering subsequent areas of the space. We encountered the puzzles in the following order:

* Mirror and basin
* Nine Pillars, Nine Objects, and an Altar
* Nine Statues, Ten Dolls, and a Guillotine
* Oh No, We Darn Fucked Up

#### *Results*

With each puzzle encounter, we also learned that writing would appear on the back of the compass, presumably with clues for solving the puzzles (Figure 3).

##### **Mirror and Basin**

We stepped into a room with six mirrors, each with a basin underneath. The compass text read:

> You've found your way and now to prove your worth // To prove you have the mettle of a 'man // Place essences that show your rank and birth // And from which line your lineage began.
>
>

We all placed our own blood in a basin (except for Tartarus 1000, who used some of Elora's blood to fortify himself) and stated our names and species into the mirror.

##### **Nine Pillars, Nine Objects, and an Altar**

In the next room, we found nine pillars, each with an object resting on top:

* Shepherd's Crook
* Hammer
* Lute
* Sword
* Sickle
* Broken Skull
* Shield
* Book
* Scepter

The compass text read:

> Nine implements that show the gods of old // Before the wicked made us disappear // Our glory was a wonder to behold // But only I now hold the power here.
>
>

We found that certain individuals triggered a response in certain objects. For example, Torva connected with the hammer, Lavender connected with the Lute, and Spenser connected with the Shepherd's Crook. Oddly, Elora did not connect with any of the objects. From the remnants of tapestry that Lavender had recently re-inspected and recalled from her diligent research, we were able to piece the following connections together:

* Shepherd's Crook — Elves
* Hammer — Dwarves
* Lute — Halflings
* Sword — Hobgoblins
* Sickle — Lizardfolk
* Broken Skull — Goblins
* Shield — ?
* Book — ?
* Scepter — ?

We guessed that the book might be the implement that connected with a human, believing that to be the common thread of these puzzles (i.e., that only humans could pass — little did we know). We placed the book in the altar, and we were granted passage into the next room.

##### **Nine Statues, Ten Dolls, and a Guillotine**

The nine statues all started with a humanoid but ambiguous and constant appearance, yet they held various objects in one hand. The other hand was empty. The objects were the same nine objects as in the previous room. On the wall were the ten dolls:

* Goblin
* Hobgoblin
* Lizard
* Snake
* Dragon
* Dwarf
* Elf
* Bear Man
* Human
* Halfling

The compass text read:

> Destroy the false king ere the memory fades // For the usurpers must be made to pay // As we have been reduced to simple shades // To save our chosen we are sealed away.
>
>

We began matching dolls with the objects. Every time we successfully matched a doll with the correct object, the statue would change to the appropriate appearance (e.g., placing the dwarf doll in the free hand of the statue holding the hammer caused the statue to take on the appearance of a dwarf). Ultimately, we matched the objects and dolls as follows:

* Goblin — Broken Skull
* Hobgoblin — Sword
* Lizardfolk — Sickle
* Snake — Book
* Dragon — Scepter
* Dwarf — Hammer
* Elf — Shepherd's Crook
* Bearman — Shield
* Human — Guillotine
* Halfling — Lute

Before we had successfully matched all the objects, we misplaced the book with the human. The statue did not conform to the humanoid appearance as expected, but all the statues began to twitch as though they might attack us for our error. Then, we mismatched the dragon with the book. The statues began to come at us. Finally, we correctly placed the book with the snake. We then guillotined the human doll. It became apparent that we were in a lair for snakes.

##### **Oh No, We Darn Fucked Up**

Upon "successfully" completing the previous room's puzzle, we entered the final room, a chapel-like area. There was a mummy with its hands cupped, kneeling under a beam of light under a bluish crystal in the ceiling hung by a silver chain. The compass text read:

> The relic placed, you shall be proven wise // This ancient god will thank you with his prize.
>
>

We placed the compass in the mummy's hands. Tartarus 1000 and Elora immediately fell unconscious. The rest of us saw the mummified figure flail back and look upon us with cold, reptilian eyes. In Common, it said to us, "At last. This will be fun." The mummy and the crystal then dissipated. When Elora and Tartarus 1000 woke, they told us of their visions. In Tartarus 1000's vision, there was a buzzing sound (like connecting to AOL, he said, whatever that means) like something was being activated. In Elora's there were two cities. One city had a big purple crystal. One city exploded (this city matched the city portrayed in painting we recovered).

The compass conveyed a final message:

> You found your way and proved your every worth // And snuck inside as only humans can // Your brought together those of different birth // And forged a bond 'tween each and every man.
>
>
> Nine implements showed you the gods of old // Before the wicked made us disappear // Our glories shall again be sung and told // Our names restored, with wonder and with fear.
>
>
> Calamity has cast the false king down // And all who followed him were made to pay // For we have power e'en as simple shades // And from this land we shall not fade away.
>
>
>
> The relic placed, your story's just begun // A new age dawns, the Trickster God has won.
>
>

#### *Discussion*

Reeling from our adventure, we recovered a few magical items from the room:

* Forgetful Liar's Loop (ring, given to Torva): Gives the wearer advantage on all deception checks but imposes a 50% chance that the wearer will misremember history.
* Blood Fire Band (bracelet): Once per day, the wearer can cast the spell Burning Hands at whatever spell level desired; however, the wearer must incur damage (EDITOR'S NOTE: 12 points of damage).

We also recovered part of a book that shifted to a language we could understand. It noted that "the plan is in motion" and mentioned "Strauss, the high priest of Luvo (EDITOR'S NOTE: Livo??)." Elora took the book for further study.

I took the silver chain that held the crystal above the mummy.

We departed the structure and found that the mists over Itlacar had dissipated.