The exploration of the chambers and passageways beneath the ruins of Valvur Abbey continued in out last session. I believe that this was their fourth or fifth foray down after returning to the surface to rest and recover. Two new characters joined the party, Alex and Denton, and the Creepy Flesh Idol continues to put to good use…now with two characters who can attempt to active and use it. When we ended our prior session, the creepy eye, which is rather red and bloodshot while it is being used, had been stopped by a ghostly monk figure who emerged from another door.
Rachel was missing this session and Savannah had to bow out early. Rachel is our resident note taker and I often base these recaps on her notes. I don’t have those this time so I may be missing things; hopefully, the other players will jump in the comments if I did miss anything critical.
Most of this session use a somewhat modified version of the adventure, The Shattered Fist Monastery, from Delver #1 by James Floyd Kelly. There may be spoilers.
As the ghostly monk blocked the way of the eye, Denton lost focus and the eye disappeared. The party moved ahead to encounter the ghost in person.
- The ghost was clearly a ghost of one of the monks that had resided in the abbey before its destruction. It did not immediately attack but did block access to a door in this chamber. A bout of charades began with the ghost gesturing and nodding or shaking its head in response to the party’s questions and comments. Eventually, the party indicated that they were here to deal with any evil here…with one exception. Aja’s response was more along the lines of here for treasure. All of the characters with the exception of Aja were allowed to pass through the door. So the bard stayed behind.
- The rest of the party passed through the door to a short corridor with a lone helmet, old and battered, sitting on the floor. They were careful to not disturb the helmet. Another door opened into a room that was covered in old, dried blood. Gouges were in the floor, walls, and the chamber’s side of the door…as though someone had frantically dug and scraped. A dais was at the far end. A bunch of rags were piled in the center of this raised area with five, fist-sized stones, arrayed around them in a semi-circle. As Norfek entered the chamber, the rags rose up revealing another zombie, but this one held a blade as it charged at the paladin. After defeating this undead, the party gathered up the stones.
- Returning to the chamber with the ghost and Aja, the party examined a wall that was covered by a tapestry. A fist-sized hole, around arm’s height, was found behind the old wall covering. The stones from the dais looked like they would fit. Each stone had a symbol etched upon it. One stone was tried and did nothing…except cause damage to the character who placed the stone within. A second stone was attempted and even more damage was suffered. The party then decided to check out some areas of this level that they have not yet explored.
- Another chamber was found. Beds had been stacked up against the door. Multiple corpses were at the far end of the room. These corpses looked like slain zombies and most looked to be dressed like travelers/adventurers with a few monks mixed in. A skeleton was kneeling between the door and these corpses…in a pose very similar to the monk skeletons on the prayer mats on the level above. This skeleton was holding a small book. The book was a journal of sorts…most of it detailed the daily life of an ascetic monk. The end, however, had some information regarding the last night of the Abbey. This monk had remained to hide a relic while the Abbess used something called the Idols of Tuvalk, a name that Denton recognized as being associated with the Princes of Chaos. The journal indicated that the Abbess was risking her very soul by using this item to ensure that the contagion would remain sealed forever.
- The last of journal spoke to the fate of this monk and contained the clue (which I won’t reveal) to the appropriate stone (based on the symbol etched upon it) to be used. The other corpses were also searched and some usable equipment was found and a map. The map indicated the location of the Catacombs of Kalaxar. Kalaxar was a necromancer of some renown from long ago. Notes with the map indicate that a group of adventurers had found the catacombs, entered, and some were quickly killed by the guardians within. The group departed and made their way to the Abbey to rest and recover as some of their surviving members had fallen ill (more clues as to what had happened to the abbey).
- Returning to the “ghost chamber,” the party placed the correct stone into the hole in the wall and the wall opened, revealing a small chamber with an altar. A tapestry on the wall depicted a monk negotiating peace between a human and an orc. Atop the altar rest a silver mace, the Fist of Janda. Janda was the founder of the monastic tradition of St. Taius. The mace is, of course, magical and a full write-up is below.
- The party then went back to the room with the dais. Alex had noticed a slight draft coming from between the dais and the back wall. After some experimenting, they found that they could slide the top part of the dais away from the back wall to reveal a staircase leading down. Alex could sense that something bad was down below. The stairs led to a series of chambers which appeared to be of an older–and better–construction. Everything down here was clean and seemingly untouched. The floor of one chamber was littered with pages that appeared to have been incinerated…with the exception of one page. It turned out to be a scroll of detect magic and was taken by Denton. A second chamber held the sort of supplies that a monastery might store. All were in excellent condition despite the abbey falling into ruin some one hundred years ago.
- The final door down here had a slight glow and was magically warded. The party had no method of opening the door and Denton was pretty sure that the ward would need to be dispelled or otherwise removed to gain access to whatever lay beyond. With that, the party headed back to the surface with the plan to return to town. Electing to camp in the woods for the night first, everything seemed to be going fine until Denton’s watch when he heard a twig snap from the darkness beyond the light of their campfire.
And that is where we stopped for the night. During this session, the party also found a training sash under some hanging cloaks. The sash was in perfect condition and made of a golden silk while the cloaks were showing the signs of 100 years of abandonment. This was taken as well.
Janda’s Fist
A well-crafted mace with no decorations or embellishments.
Bonus: +1 mace.
Benefit. Once per day, a Lawful wielder may place the mace against an injured living creature, other than themselves, and heal them for 2d6 hit points.
(Janda was the founder of the Order of Jandastines, a monastic order devoted to St. Taius.)
