Session 32: The Gang is Done with Arran’s Shit

The next morning, Grombrin and Arran are missing. This is not unusual for Grombrin, who they figure has wandered off to smith or to search for materials. The group asks around for Arran, and find out that he was seen leaving the inn at night, heading to the harbour, then coming back later. They go to his room and find it locked, so Vojta goes below the door as a spider and opens it from inside. They find Arran catatonic on his bed with bloody hands, with lots of notes scattered around the room. The notes contain disorganised phrases written in blood about something hiding in the town and messing with Arran’s mind. Joe and Vica notice that the notes have symbols on the back, which spell out the word “aboleth” when assembled correctly. None of the group knows what it means.

Meanwhile, Vojta heals Arran’s bleeding hands, causing him to wake up. He is surprisingly lucid and explains that he went to get some oars during the night, only to find that the raft was gone. He obtained a new boat from an old lady, in return for doing a favour for her. The favour is that the group has to go back to the celestial ruins and convince the guardian spirit to allow the old lady’s deceased husband to be buried there. Vojta offers to transport the group out of the swamp magically instead, but Arran says that he signed a soul-bound contract to fulfil the request, meaning he will die if they leave the swamp without doing it. Arran also has no memory of writing these notes, or of encountering anything that might have prompted it.

Joe starts chugging wine in frustration at this situation, while Arran brings Vica and Vojta to the old lady. She explains that her husband, Blackscale, was not a religious man. As such, the guardian spirit didn’t allow him to be buried on the island of Saralya, and he was buried on an adjacent mound instead. She nonetheless wants him buried there so the oni don’t dig up his body and eat it. She also explains that she used to be a shaman, thus why she has the means to make soul-bound contracts.

When the three of them return, Joe scolds Arran at length for his actions. While the others are suspicious of the old lady’s request and its possible relation to the mysterious aboleth, Arran is weirdly confident that it’s no big deal. Vica pulls out Sazir’s charm and uses it on him, seemingly purifying some kind of enchantment effect. Arran develops a powerful headache as a result, and remembers some information about the aboleth. He explains that aboleths are ancient aquatic creatures that use psychic powers to turn others into slaves. He still doesn’t remember encountering one, and he no longer remembers waking up this morning to the notes he wrote. Vica opts that the thing she spotted circling the island of Saralya may have been the aboleth. Joe says that he is willing to negotiate with the celestial spirit on the island, but that they should leave immediately if the aboleth shows up.

The group uses the old lady’s boat to reach the island. Arran and Joe speak to the guardian spirit, who explains that Blackscale is not allowed on the island because he refused to honour Saralya. It is part of Saralya’s commandments that those who do not acknowledge her do not get her protection. Joe asks if the spirit knows anything about aboleths, but it doesn’t. The group then heads back to the shrines in Namos and asks the priestess of Saralya about Blackscale. She explains that he was among the people who objected to the laws imposed by Saralya when she brought civilization to the lizardfolk. The priestess agrees to commune with Blackscale if the group brings his remains. They buy a barrel to store it in, then head back north and find the burial mound close to the celestial ruins. Vojta uses his magic to excavate the grave. Dark grey mist gathers around the island while whispers tell them to stop, but they have no choice but to keep going.

Arran’s magic bow makes a beeping sound, warning of danger. A moment later, four hooded spectres appear from the mist and attack with poisoned swords. Vojta incinerates his attacker with a series of lightning strikes, while Arran perforates another with a rapid flurry of rapier thrusts. Vica fights one of the spectres on the boat, and stabs a hole into the hull when she misses one of her attacks. She retreats from the sinking boat, before managing to disintegrate the spectre with her planar strike. Joe swordfights the final spectre, but is gravely injured. Arran jumps in to perforate the spectre, then pours a potion into Joe’s mouth to return him to consciousness.

Arran repairs the hole in the boat with the cork from the healing potion, while Vojta finishes digging up the body and puts it in the barrel. The group then goes back to Namos. Joe is way too fed up with this situation, so he goes to the old woman by himself to argue for annulling the contract. Meanwhile, the others bring the priestess to the boat. She initiates a communion, giving a semblance of life to the skeletal remains. When questioned, Blackscale explains that his family was powerful, until their property was taken by the new laws of Saralya, thus why he rejects her faith. Arran convinces him to acknowledge Saralya for his wife’s sake. Blackscale reluctantly agrees before returning to inanimateness. The priestess says that she will perform a religious conversion ritual on his remains after sunset.

Joe returns and explains that the woman lacks the skills to annul the soul-bound contract. She also apparently doesn’t remember making one for Arran. Joe asks what’s up with that, but Arran avoids answering. Joe is then relieved to hear that the others have managed a solution to the task. He also shows them a silver ring, which the woman gave as additional payment for their task. The group rests until night time. Arran continues learning orcish, while Vojta gives Joe some pointers on how to move in medium armour. When the sun is down, they bring the barrel with the remains to the shrine. Arran rolls the barrel in a way that makes far too much noise, which prompts Joe to go right back to drinking his problems away. The priestess performs the ritual, which should render the body worthy of being buried among the celestial ruins. The group rests for the remainder of the night, intending to bury the bones on the island after sunrise.