Heedless they...

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Overview

GM: Martin
Session: Spring 799 WK

Party
  1. Aryan, male human warrior.
  2. Galland, male human Mind mage.
  3. Jade, female human warrior & ranger.
  4. Mary-M, female halfling Namer.
  5. Pennlucien, femal elven warrior & Namer.
  6. Silken, female human E&E.
  7. Everin, male human Scholar.


Employer
Duke Leto of Carzala.
Mission
There had been new disappearances near Slippery Rock, similar to those that occured in the Summer of 781 WK (see Crown of Souls {pdf} scribe notes). A troop of the Duke's Own heavy cavalry were sent to investigate, accompanied by Silken who was doing Guild service for a minor infraction and had been lent to the Duke. Silken and the cavalry had all then vanished and the Duke sought guild assistance in resolving the matter.
Pay
Standard guild rates (200sp per week), except for Silken who was working off a fine.

Mission Summary

Travelling to Slippery Rock the party encountered unusual mists and found themselves transported to the Shadowlands. They followed the trail of the missing cavalry through Falkovnia and into stranger lands, finding bodies along the way as the cavalry's number dwindled.

They tracked the last survivors into the Shadowlands realm of Borovia, a facsimile of County Borovia in Western Alusia, and eventually to the duplicate of Rabenschloß castle, where they met an apparently unharmed and unconcerned Silken, and the castle's master, one Baron von Silberner.

Spending the night in the castle the party were overcome by magical means (and the Silken golem collapsed back into shards of mirror). Awakening, the party (now including the real Silken) found themselves prisoners of their host and worse, their heads had been removed from their bodies (though both parts appeared to be operating independantly).

The Baron outlined his plan for the party which involved sending their minds through time, back to County Borovia in the years before the first Western Kingdom to gain for him a powerful holy artifact, the Seal of Rabenschloß for which he had some dark plan. Given their predicament the party had little choice but to agree and gained the item for him (after a couple of false starts).

Leaving the party's heads on his workbench, the Baron disappeared off to make use of his new prize, and the party eventually managed to reclaim their bodies (largely through taunting one of the Baron's familiars into doing something stupid).

Searching through the castle the party found the Baron in the basement encased in some form of device attached to a coffin-like artifact that contained a spirit of extreme evil; the previous Lord of this Realm. The holy symbol was being used to force the spirit into the Baron, presumably with the aim of gaining the spirit's power and becoming the new Lord of the Realm.

Tampering with the machine the party removed the symbol, and an explosion of unlife swept through the castle immediately changing all living beings, save one, into Undead. Pennlucien, who was holding the symbol at the time, was protected from the blast and discovered that the rest of her party were now Wights. A few minutes later, as the party took stock of their unfortunate state, Mary-M, who'd been looking weaker and weaker since the blast, suddenly fell over, and then moments later gasped back into life; her natural regeneration having reversed the process.

The Baron appeared to have vanished in the disruption of his ritual, but pursued by minions the party fled the castle. Penny and Mary-M managed to use the holy symbol, a lot of pain (caused by the holy symbol), and a good deal of master rank healing to force the unlife out of the party members and restore them to life.

Heading back to the castle the party discovered a giant, slow-beating heart in one of the towers and surmised that this was the life force of the castle's master. Attacking the heart they were chased off by a huge flock of vampire bats, which Everin then managed to control with an item and proceeded to command them to destroy the heart. They did so and great quakes rocked the castle. Fleeing again the party watched happily as the castle slid down the cliff, and then with less pleasure as the flock of bats streamed out of the collapsing castle and formed a single menacing figure in the sky -- having devoured the Lord's heart the flock had absorbed his power and become a single composite entity, and the new Lord of the Realm.

Hiding from the bats the party watched as the flock descended on the town at the foot of the cliff and began ravaging it.

Waiting until dawn the party crept into town in search of the bats whom they found asleep in the largest inn. Barricading the doors and windows, and putting the holy symbol on top of the chimney opening, the party piled faggots of wood around the inn and then burnt it to the ground. Many of the bats attempted to flee up the chimney where they were destroyed by the holy symbol. With the power of the whole weakening the fire claimed the rest and a dark spirit rose, held together for a moment in the air, and then dissipated in the breeze.

Quakes and shocks began and the realm stated to break up. The mists of the Shadowlands rushed in to reclaim the land. The party were plunged into the mists, but through exceptional tracking efforts by Jade were able to find their way back to Alusia.

The Seal of Rabenschloß was turned over (read: sold) to the Western Church where it was discovered to be the lost Holy Standard of Saint Jeremiah.

The disappearances around Slippery Rock ceased; the destruction of the Shadowlands realm changing the alignment / conjunction of the planes and closing the doorway.

Appendix

An Astrology reading was made in preparation for the mission, and the adventure title comes from the penultimate line of that reading. (In view of the events of the mission several of the party claim that there was an error in the reading; heedless should have been headless).

Where will we find the Duke's Soldiers... and Silken?

The first in barren gardens lie,
Where bloody roses bloom.

The second rest in native earth,
Dreaming against the dawn.

In ancient lands the third toil,
Building their Lord's tomb.

The fourth lies scattered, rent and torn,
By Luna's mad children.

The fifth and last with ravens dwell,
In land both far and near,
Heedless they in time's mirrored realms,
When Darkness seeks revenge.