Shadowdark Stonehell Session 2

In our prior session, only Rachel and RJ could play so they each rolled up two characters to play. We had everyone in attendance for this session so Jen and Todd both rolled up one character each. Jen is playing Clara, a human priest who had been previously working as a haberdasher. Todd is playing Collem, a human thief who was once a mariner. I will leave it up to Rachel and RJ if they want to continue playing both of their characters or to drop down to just one. Any of the players are also free to swap characters in and out each session as they feel is necessary. So just a quick recap, we have six characters at the moment (I’m sharing Clara and Collem’s motivations below; for the motivations of the others, see Session 1).

• Brielle, dwarven fighter played by Rachel
• Clara, human priest played by Jen; Clara has come to Stonehell in search of a friend who came here and was never heard from again.
• Collem, human thief played by Todd; Collem is looking for treasure and to hide from a former boss who wants to find Collem after he slept with the daughter of the boss (not yet shared with the group).
• Ivy, half-elf witch played by Rachel
• Korgath, goliath fighter played by RJ
• Torin the Beast, human pit fighter played by RJ

In our first session, Brielle, Ivy, Korgath, and Torin had come to Stonehell…each with their own reason for being here. They did a little initial exploration of the canyon beyond the curtain wall and had found one area that caught their attention. We will pick up with things there after the break.

There are, of course, spoilers for Stonehell Dungeon: Down Night-Haunted Halls below. My GM comments, as usual, are in italics.

3 Spring 1024

• Clara and Collem, having tarried back in Hawk’s Nest, make their way to Stonehell and quickly come upon their four other adventuring companions in what appears to be an old temple. Clara recognizes the statue as a depiction of St. Ras the patron saint of duty and fidelity, one of the servants of the Shining Lords of Law.
• The Beast hands Ivy the needles and thread that had been found under the fallen stone stairs, asking if they are valuable…maybe valuable enough for him to buy a tavern. Given that they are in pristine condition, Ivy mentions that they must be special.
• Korgath hears the voice again, presumably of St. Ras, which tells him that the needles are blessed. If Korgath can complete a quest, he will share what they are and what they can do. Korgath agrees and (to continue the Monty Python tone RJ inadvertently set in the prior session), St. Ras asks for a nice shrubbery to be placed around his statue. Something nice to help attract worshipers and petitioners.
  • Korgath heads out to seek plants for this shrubbery with Clara joining him and Collem lagging a bit behind. During their explorations in the canyon, Collem hears some loud breathing or snoring coming from a cave higher up the canyon’s walls.
    • Collem sneaks up to the cave and peeks in, seeing a very large black bear sleeping within.
    • After sharing this information with others, a few folks recall stories about a bear, dubbed Coal by other adventurers, that leaves here. Rumors says that spotting Coal or leaving an offering for him can bring luck during adventuring in Stonehell.
    • Collem then recalls that he had heard a faint buzzing noise coming from within the Gatehouse as he passed by on his way in.
    • The group decides that buzzing might mean honey. Bears love honey and so that would be a good offering for Coal.
• The party regroups to head into the Gatehouse.
  • Collem takes the lead. He thinks that the buzzing he heard came from the upper floor and so the group begins looking for a way up.
  • The first room they examine has a lot of debris and ruined furniture within…an old bed, desk, and the like. The remains of the bed has something within it that moves.
    • As the group heads in, a few large insects emerge from these remains. They are large pillbugs. A fight ensues. A couple of these bugs are killed and two others flee, squeezing through a crack at the base of one of the walls.
    • After the fight, Luna (Ivy’s meerkat familiar) sniffs at the insect remains. She announces that it is poisonous (and the group already learned that it was venomous during the fight). A number of small versions, young ones, are also in various debris piles. These get smushed and Lun’a enjoys these as a tasty snack as they are not poisonous.
  • Continued exploration finds a ladder at the end of a hall which leads up to the next floor. Heading up, the party comes to a large chamber. There are the remains of a campfire as well as various trash and debris. A set of odd tracks can be seen amongst all the dust and like. They are bipedal, narrow, and smallish with three toes.
  • Loud buzzing can be heard from a door that leads to the center of the gatehouse.
    • The group gathers up various combustible objects and debris to setup a fire next to the door in the hopes of smoking out the “bees” beyond. Once the fire gets going, they crack open the door and and fan the smoke into the room beyond.
    • After a little bit of this fanning, the buzzing has not subsided at all. The door is opened further to get a quick look inside. There is a massive hive hanging from the ceiling over in one corner. Many black and red striped bees or wasps are flying all about it. A massive, some three to four feet long, bee/wasp is emerging from a large opening at the bottom of the hive. It has an almost humanoid style face.
    • As the party closes the door, they can see why the smoke has had no real effect. There is a large gap in the ceiling of the roof and the smoke is flowing up and out of it…as smoke tends to do.
• The party heads back outside to finish gathering supplies for St. Ras’ shrubbery, deciding NOT to pursue getting an offering for Coal.
  • Korgath sets up the shrubbery around the statue and St. Ras informs him that this quest has been completed. The voice then shares information about the needles and thread.

And that is pretty much where we wrapped the session.

Below are the write-ups for the magic needles and thread that the party discovered.

Golden Thread of St. Ras

A clean, pristine needle with a slight curve to it and already threaded with a spool of gold thread.

Benefit. If used as part of a check to stablize a dying character via first aid, you gain advantage on the Intelligence check. If successful, the thread leaves a circular scar and the stabilized character gains the ability to cast cleansing weapon as if they were a priest with a range of self as long as they are not Chaotic in alignment.

The thread and needle can only be used once in this manner, becoming a normal, non-magical needle and thread afterwards.

Green Thread of St. Ras

A clean, pristine needle with a slight curve to it and already threaded with a spool of green thread.

Benefit. If used as part of a check to stablize a dying character via first aid, you gain advantage on the Intelligence check. If successful, the thread leaves a circular scar and the stabilized character gains the ability to cast shield of faith as if they were a priest as long as they are not Chaotic in alignment.

The thread and needle can only be used once in this manner, becoming a normal, non-magical needle and thread afterwards.