Session Date: 24 July 2026
Players: Olivia, Nathan, Janette, Landon, Stuart, Kyle
Scribe: Stuart
Location: The Unnamed Tavern
Valecar Date: Goldwane ??th, 701 AC (Ascendant Cycle)
Session Table of Contents
Session 5 begins with us just having left the encounter with the Runic Golem that became a
dragon. As we left the chamber along a narrow corridor the very walls and ceiling began to fold and morph into an entirely different passage. The experience was very disorienting. But it gave us the impression that we are not merely in a giant structure but rather a collection of “realms” all accessible within this structure. This caused a few of us to wonder if time within the monoliths passes at the same rate as the outside world. We have seen no possible exit from this structure and so we are bound to follow along our journey to whatever conclusion awaits.
We came to a platform that that overlooked another large chamber. The ceiling was not even
visible within this chamber and though it wasn’t bright it was well lit. Below us we could see a
large statue of what appeared to be a marbleborn warrior with a giant sword in each hand. The statue was in the center of this chamber. The walls of the chamber were a disturbing, dark fleshy material and countless yellow eyes blinked and leered out into the room as though a huge audience of spectators was in attendance. But these eyes were actually part of the walls and it was very creepy. The floor of the chamber was covered in sand and gave the room an appearance of a desert or a coliseum battleground. On four sides of the statue were large obelisk-like structures of a dark stone but each had a yellowish pane on the sides that made them appear to house stored energy. A beam of golden light ran from each of these obelisks out to the statue in the center. Turok accurately surmised that these beams were somehow feeding this statue and if anything happened we should attempt to block or destroy the source of those beams.
The platform upon which we stood began to descend into the room as soon as the last of us
stepped upon it. Turok and Esmira were leading the party at this point. As soon as they stepped onto the sandy floor the truly giant marbleborn warrior began moving towards us with swords raised. Turok , Maeve and Esmira moved towards the nearest obelisk to our right. Merric darted for the next closest obelisk to the left. Stak and Targoth followed behind Merric towards the 2nd obelisk.
Our first volley of attacks seemed to damage the obelisks and the Marbleborn Warrior flinched with each successful strike. But, even though he was large and ponderous, he had an ability to instantly transport to his target. We could not avoid him. Maeve took the brunt of his first attacks and was downed after only three rounds of combat. Merric moved on to the 3rd obelisk when Stak and Targoth joined him to destroy the 2nd.
Most importantly, the giant warrior was physically staggered by the loss of the obelisk. Turok and Esmira tried to draw the attention of the giant warrior so that aid could be rendered to Maeve. A few attacks got through to the Giant Warrior but he appeared to instantly heal. Once this had been seen to be the case all attacks were aimed at the obelisks. As Stak and Targoth finished the 3rd obelisk Merric dashed towards the battle with the giant Marbleborn warrior. He arrived just in time to receive a crushing blow from one of the massive swords and nearly lost his life in that one attack.
Across the room, Stak was drawn to the eyes that had been eerily watching this encounter. He had fired a crossbow bolt at them upon entering the fight but it had been a miss. So now, he attempted a physical strike with a monk fist. This had the unfortunate result to pull a fearsome Roper out of it’s camouflaged position near the wall and it began flailing at both him and Targoth.
By some miracle both of them managed to get outside it’s range before they were ensnared in it’s tentacles. Targoth hurled a javelin at the thing but it is incredibly difficult to hit one. A truly horrible fate was narrowly escaped. They both dashed to assist in the fight with the giant Marbleborn warrior. Back at the melee Turok tried to speak with the giant creature in celestial and it actually responded to him. It stated it’s purpose was to “Guard and Maintain”. But it continued to fight us.
At long last the final blow was struck on the last obelisk and the fight instantly ended. Esmira
rushed to Maeve and she was stabilized before death took her. The giant Marbleborn warrior
spoke to Esmira and stated: “The worthy need not destroy the faithful”. It then passed a glowing shard to her that was about the size of a human heart. Once it was in her hand the warrior stopped moving and became statue-like again. The walls of the chamber began to close in around us. Fearing another Roper attack we retreated to the platform and it raised us back out of this chamber.
At the top of the room a new passage opened up before us and we followed it until we began
to notice more light and warmth as well as signs of greenery. We exited into a roomy cavern with an oasis on one side and plant life in abundance. Even though we were still within the monolith this chamber put us all totally at ease and we were able to rest fully and completely.
After our long rest a new passage opened up for us and we followed along it to the a set of
metal doors. They opened easily enough and we entered another large room. This one, like the last, was well lit without an obvious light source. Also, the ceiling was not visible. But in this stone chamber we saw five tall, glowing man-sized crystals floating 20 to 30 feet around a central dais-like platform. A polished surface could be seen on this platform as well as 5 “slots” or “sockets” for some unknown objects. The crystals were not orbiting the center of the room. They were stationary but each was slowly revolving where they stood. As we neared the first crystal several of us thought we could hear hushed voices and other odd sounds. When we peered at the crystals we could see vague shapes reminiscent of skylines. Upon further investigation we determined that we were seeing the skylines of known cities in Valecar. It was as if these crystals were portals for viewing the surrounding countryside. Turok mentioned that there were five crystals and, coincidentally, five monoliths. Merric stated that if these represented the five monoliths then one of them should be damaged just like the monoliths themselves. This turned out to be the case as one crystal definitely was darker than the other four and dark shapes could be seen moving within.
Maeve was the first to touch one and when she did her hands were instantly stuck to the
crystal. A wraith-like creature appeared behind her and placed it’s hands on her shoulders. She began to freeze in place. Several of us rushed to aid her and a sword thrust passed cleanly through the creature. No damage seemed to appear but it let go of her and she was able to release the crystal. Since it was obviously dangerous to touch these crystals we searched the room to see if there was some other clue to be found. We attempted to discern what the purpose of this room might be. It was agreed that this was an observatory of sorts for someone to monitor the five main regions of Valecar. What, if any, other purpose could not be discovered. But, Stak volunteered to use his Mage Hand to try to move the crystals and he discovered that they would only move in one direction. They could be moved towards the dais. Also, incredibly, as they moved towards the dais, they began to shrink and take the form of the slots around the circumference of the dais. It was merely a matter of moving them all together and inserting them into the dais and we “passed” this obstacle. And so, a passage to the next encounter is before us. Our party is well rested with little to no damage.
We are beginning to function more as a team and lean into our individual strengths. Who knows what the next encounter will show us?