At the end of last session, we left our heroes standing over the shattered remains of two gigantic necrophidius they had slain.
After this latest battle, several of the party were badly injured and the available healing magic had grown thin. Because of this, the party decided to retreat to the ship and see if either Grooble, Tristham or Morden would like to accompany them back to the ruin. Thus they retreated to the beach. Tristham elected to stay on the beach to guard the sailors, but both Grooble and Morden were keen to return to the ruin. Nok, however, was exhausted from his escapades and elected to remain on the boat.
Grooble healed some of the heroes’ injuries and then—bolstered by their companions—the party plunged back into the forest. They reached the ruins without incident and recommenced their explorations from where they left off. The bulk of the remaining areas had nothing of interest beyond ruin and rubble. However, the party discovered a large bronze bell in the bell tower. Maddeningly out of reach, the bell was obviously heavy and valuable. Much plotting and scheming resulted from this discovery. Grooble was particularly keen to retrieve the bell, however the party had not yet completely cleared the ruins.
Pushing on, the party discovered one area that seemed relatively intact. The door leading into what seemed clearly a chamber was locked. Thus, Narfu decided to climb up the wall and access the chamber through the roof. Zainnis decided to follow and they both scaled the wall.
However, before they could reach the roof, a creature comprised of mist and wind appeared in their midst. It first vaguely resembled a tentacled octopus, but its shape rapidly changed into that of beautiful elven woman. The creature spoke in Druidic and only Narfu could understand her. She introduced herself as Kahobeah and declared she was the guardian of the ruins. It was her task to oversee the chapel’s return to nature. She talked with Narfu for a long while. It transpired she didn’t care what the party did in the ruins and that they were free to take whatever they wanted. She even mentioned the altar contained hidden treasure.
This galvanised the party, who immediately searched the altar. Inside, they found a mass of tarnished coins, a grey bag (identified as a grey bag of tricks) and an iron rod (which Kara eventually identified as a lesser metamagic rod of silent spell). The party were jubilant and decided to return to the ship (once they had retrieved the bell—which they eventually managed with some clever rope work). However, before he left Narfu decided to try to destroy the altar—to hasten nature’s return—but despite his best efforts (which included pushing it into the sea using a boat feather token) he failed.
Eventually, the party returned to the Mermaid’s Mistress to rest and recuperate. Here they shared out the treasure and reflected on their experiences. The lagoon in which the vessel was anchored seemed a good place to linger for a while so Markessa decided to carry out some minor repairs to the vessel. These took about a week to complete and in that time several of the party further developed their skills.
Eventually, however, it was time to resume their journey south—to the Lady’s Light and the hiding place of the third shard…