Id: 23ab65cc-633d-4c3d-b078-1c6dd4a9f350
SessionDate: 2024-07-28
GameDate:
{
	Day: 3
	Month: Istenarum
	Year: 3322
}
Author: Logan
Title: A Strange Creature Hiding in a Pool Protecting a Sword is Definitely Something to Run Away From!
Text: "On the evening of the 2nd of Istenarum, the rain continued to pour outside the abandoned and seemingly haunted mansion, the party (consisting of Dheir, Xedran, Saxon+Kit, and Cassian) took a moment to gather their bearings. Discussing the various events they've seen so far and where next to go, they decide to descend down the stairs instead of returning to face the pulsing green they saw above. Their descent leads to a door, they opened it, prepared to face something but instead found themselves in a laboratory, a flesh golem of sorts lay without hands, feet, or brain on an operating table. Various arcane and alchemical tools could be seen on tables and a great electrical device seemed primed and ready to electrocute anything it was hooked too. As soon as they all entered the room, the door slammed shut and an apparition of a person moving from the golem to a desk appeared then disappeared in a blink of an eye. Gas began to slowly spray into the room as Dheir went to the desk and found a paper that seemed to have a pattern denoting which hands, feet, and brains could go into the golem. While she and Saxon reviewed the puzzle and called out the results, Cas and Xedran went to work reattaching the limbs and sealing the brain in. 

  The teamwork made the dream work, as the golem came to life with a flick of the electrical machine electrocuting the creature. It got off the table and moved to the door, opening the lock on it and allowing the party to leave. They attempted to communicate with the creature but it made no responses and simply held the door open. Xedran grabbed a brooch that lay beneath the golem on the table. The party then made their way back up to the main floor, still determined to avoid going higher up, they decided to head back to the dining room (where ghosts and fire occurred) and attempting the doors beyond. Xedran and Dheir dashed through the dining hall, trying to avoid the screaming ghosts. Xedran found himself in an empty closet, while Dheir found herself in a ballroom. One end had a ancient fireplace while the other had a large glass wall viewing out to an old garden with a pool and several skeletons laying on the ground. Before she could really investigate further, two ghosts appeared in the room. A man (referred to as General Mantharthas) and a woman (who mentioned the man's wife, so is probably not her), discussing plans for an undead army before vanishing. 

  Dheir called the others in, and they all gathered around the glass wall, looking over the area that used to be a garden but now is just a collection of roots and decay. While looking out and discussing possibly jumping the wall to make an escape, they noticed a magical barrier above it, rain drops hitting and sliding off. With that off the table, they then noticed what appeared to be a sword hilt glint beneath the roots. Attempts to move the sword from afar failed, so Saxon stepped out to go pull it out. After they first stepped out, an undead beholder rose from the pond and instantly shot an eye ray at Saxon, paralyzing them. They shook off the effect just as another ray attempted to disintegrate them, quickly Saxon moved back inside and the party closed the door, moving far away from it. The Zombie Beholder slowly slipped back beneath the still waters. Cassian summoned an Aura of Vitality to restore health to the party while Xedran and Dheir worked out a trick to get the sword, using a lit lantern Xedran carried over to the roots with mage hand, breaking it on the roots to burn them away. He then used the mage hand to bring the sword back. 

  With their new loot, they decided it would be best to take some time and rest. Saxon used their mystical connection to divine the powers of the sword and brooch before the party took turns with a watch. It was quiet aside from some creepy laughter in the rooms above them. In the morning of the 3rd of Istenarum, they all felt weakened somewhat but continued to search the ground floor. Eventually signs of a secret door was found in the tea room, Cassian then made his way to the statue of the griffin and pulled one of the raised paws, revealing a secret room. When Dheir and Xedran investigated it, there was nothing inside. Cas pulled the lever again and while the door to the tea room closed, a new door opened. The pair went deeper as Cas and Saxon+Kit waited, discussing various topics while the others searched the new room. While the main room they searched did not have much beyond someone's target practice, the pair did find a spell scroll and some writing on a paper so ancient, they worried it would fall apart if they touched it  in a small living quarters. They turned their eyes to the next room, where they saw a cloak laying on what appeared to be a skeleton. 

  Xedran used mage hand to bring it closer to them, but as it did it revealed itself as a Cloaker, a monster that appears to be a normal cloak till it moves. So begins a desperate fight as Dheir and Xedran attack it with all they got as the Cloaker attempted to wrap and consume them. Things got so desperate that Xedran cast a Shatter spell to alert Cas and Saxon. Cas quickly moved the lever to unlock the door, as Saxon jumped into action and raced over, leaving Kit with Cassian for protection. As soon as Saxon was out of the room, the doll appeared from the floor above, preparing who knows what for the Sapien and Tiger standing before them..."