Session Date: 21 Aug 2026
Players: Janette, Nathan, Stuart, Jeff, Kyle, Colin, Landon
Scribe: Stuart
Location: The Unnamed Tavern
Valecar Date: Goldwane ??th, 701 AC (Ascendant Cycle)
Session Table of Contents
We begin this session still in the bridge chamber high up in the Monolith. The storm still rages beneath the bridge but now the obelisks along the right wall are back in place and we have the realization that by reassembling the broken one we inadvertently rebuilt or repaired a defensive mechanism within this monolith. It was, in fact, these obelisks that eliminated the threat of the skeletal necromancer and his purple worm.
Esmira is gone. And in her place we now have a new traveling companion named Lydia, a human fighter with fiery red hair and a long glaive as her primary weapon. We made our introductions and began asking her questions about how she came to be trapped within the base of this broken obelisk. She told us she was part of the 14th Ascendants and that her group could find no clear entrance into this monolith. Eventually, after much searching, they had simply tunneled into it and had suddenly entered one of the “test” chambers that we have been experiencing. She could remember her team completing a few of the challenges as we did but then she had no memory of what happened after that. We began to actively search this large, airy chamber. There was a narrow footbridge just up ahead on the left that led out to the ruins we spotted back in Session 6. It turns out this was only a small portion of what looked to be a much larger structure. When we crossed the narrow footbridge we found only a single chamber with several desecrated sarcophagi. All were broken open and bony remnants of former occupants were strewn about. A few old runes could be seen here and there on the outside of the sarcophagi and Turok was convinced these runes had something to do with Aurelyx, The Gilded Warden. But almost all of the runes had been scratched out, apparently recently, and there was evidence the purple worm had been a part of the damage to this mausoleum. No decipherable messages could be read from what few runes remained. On a hunch, Obadiah climbed into one and rested himself. While in repose he felt sure that these sarcophagi were not meant to merely hold the departed, but rather to contain some one or some thing. He did a brief search of the interior and discovered a small, concealed panel containing a pouch. Inside the pouch was a whistle shaped like a crystal dragon curled up like a snail. Just to see what would happen he put the whistle to his lips and blew but no sound was heard.
We left the mausoleum back across the narrow footbridge and continued across the main
bridge to the far end of the room. As we neared the end we could see that a door had appeared. It was slightly ajar and bright light could be seen around the edges. Turok and Lydia were at the head of our party and they pulled the door open. Beyond was pure, bright light. No features or details could be seen within. After only a moment of hesitation they strode into the light and vanished. After another brief moment of hesitation the rest of us followed suit. The transition was instantaneous and somewhat shocking. We were no longer inside the monolith but found ourselves in two sturdy boats being propelled by some unseen force across a vast ocean. We were in bright daylight. The salty smell of the ocean was in our nostrils. There were no sails nor oars to propel us but we moved through the water at a steady pace. There was no land in sight in any direction. But, as things were actually very pleasant we decided to sit and relax. A brief respite was definitely in order. Also, as we took stock of our new situation we saw that Stak had rejoined us. Once again, he had no memory of the time the rest of us spent on the bridge.
Our party was now 7. No sign of Maeve at this point. We were able to achieve a short rest and the resulting benefits before a distant shoreline was spotted dead ahead. We anxiously awaited our chance to set foot on dry land. Soon, we began to make out rocky cliffs ahead. The shore seemed to be high and stony but as we got closer we could see a large, ruined monastery above a cove-like opening. The closer we got we began to make out the details of a small fishing village beneath the monastery. Our boats were being propelled directly toward this village and a short time later they each came to a stop next to a long dock within the cove. We could see a thriving village and people everywhere. A very welcome albeit strange sight to everyone. We stepped out onto the dock and Merric was immediately hailed by a familiar face withing the crowd. Giovanni Stelaris, the guard we had captured on the first day we entered the monolith, rushed up to Merric and said:”Merric! You’re finally here! Welcome! The ceremony is just about to start.”
Merric and Giovanni had parted on good terms after his capture and had actually struck up a
sort of understanding with one another. Merric was surprised to see him but his face was not
unwelcome. He followed him towards the center of the village where most of the villagers had gathered. Targoth was looking around the rest of the village and spotted a Deep Gnome hammering away at something next to a blacksmith’s forge. He walked over and struck up a conversation. The blacksmith offered to upgrade his weapon for him. While Targoth was negotiating with the blacksmith Bulger Cuttlefish noticed the Deep Gnome too. He hadn’t seen another Deep Gnome in some time and wanted to make his acquaintance. But as he approached the Deep Gnome called out to him by his proper name and Bulger realized it was his father! He was shocked and curious at the same time.
How could his father be here? They exchanged hugs and pleasantries. The blacksmith was outwardly very excited to see his son again but couldn’t exactly explain how he came to be in this village. Bulger was perplexed. Meanwhile, Turok was slowly approaching the crowd when a familiar figure stepped out of the mass of people and greeted him. He held out his hand and asked if his gift had been helping. This person was none other than Vaelis Thorne, the leader of the Thornveil Reapers and a powerful druid that had given Turok a headband that granted him additional wisdom. We had encountered Vaelis Thorne the day after our party was initially ambushed as we began our journey to the Crownwood Expanse Monolith. His Thorn Veils meant to kill all Ascendants but after a brief skirmish and then a parlay we were able to stop the conflict and work together towards finding out the truth of the monoliths.
Their exchange was short and cordial but it turned strange when Lydia approached him and
asked what had happened to the rest of their party. They were both part of the 14th Ascendants group. He knew her instantly but had no recollection of their group actually visiting the monolith. This was all VERY strange. Something here just was not right.
At this time their was a commotion at the center of the village and our group began getting
closer to see what was happening. Much to all our surprise a funeral ceremony was under way for our fallen Marbleborn comrade Esmira. Her broken and battered body was stretched out on a ceremonial stone platform at the center of the village. Flowers were all about her and the villagers were gathered in a respectful circle as though she were a member of this community. A robed man, probably a cleric of this village, was officiating the ceremony and after a few brief words asked if anyone wanted to approach her. Merric stepped forward, touched her arm, and said: “I am so very sorry.”
The cleric stepped forward and asked Merric: “Who are you and how did you know Esmira?”
Merric replied: “She was our comrade.” The cleric then asked: “If you were her comrade then
why didn’t you save her?” And Merric replied: “Because I wasn’t good enough.” The cleric’s
brusque reply came swiftly: “Obviously.” This exchange was all very strange. Bulger stepped forward near her body and shouted to the crowd: “Ah but if you had only known her in life!” He then cast an illusion showing Esmira in all her glory as she worked and fought alongside us on our journey. While the crowd was awed by this performance Bulger surprised Merric with a rather deft sleight of hand by accessing Esmira’s pouch and recovering the lost glowing sliver that Esmira had been carrying. But, to both Bulger and Merric’s astonishment, the sliver dissolved into fragments as though it was nothing more than an illusion itself.
Everything about this entire place and these strange interactions was strange and surreal. A lot of it did not make any sense and yet there were so many people that were familiar to us. But, for whatever reason, the “clouds” suddenly dissipated and Merric saw this place for what it truly was. The people disappeared, the building suddenly fell into decay and abandonment as though no one had lived here for decades. His comrades now stood around him in the village center in a stupor. They each had blank looks on their faces and were still mesmerized by the group hallucination they had all been sharing.
Atop a stony, sun-bleached perch near one of the cliff walls was a creature Merric had only
heard about in stories. A blend of horse and eagle, a hooked, razor-sharp beak and dark,
predatory eyes in a large eagle’s head leading down to eagle-like forelegs with sharp talons in the fore. The slate-grey feathers at the head leading down to softer, downy-like feathers near it’s thighs and tapering to scaly yellow skin nearer the claws. A pair of massive wings folded snugly against it’s sides. The latter half the size and shape of a muscular warhorse. It’s coat was dapple-grey, smooth and gleaming where the light shone on it’s powerful flank.
The creature was gazing skyward chanting an incantation and Merric accurately guessed this was the source of the hallucination. He called out to the creature and said: “I see you! End this now!” It stopped chanting, looked down at Merric and said: “I’m not surprised it was you that woke first?” And with that the spell ended.
Our party came out of their stupor instantly and with the awareness of what had been done to us. We were all in a loose group near the now empty and dusty stony platform that only moments ago had held the body of our former comrade. We readied our weapons and prepared for battle but the creature did not attack. Instead it cast some brief incantation and suddenly two angelic seraphim appeared on the ground near our party. One was light and streaked with gold, much like Esmira. The other was dark and streaked with red. We hoped the first might be a servant of Aurelyx like our former comrade. And we feared the other might be a servant of Kaeldrax, the God of War. But these two were merely servants of the hippogriff and were here to do battle. They each carried a stylish mace and went into their attack stances. Targoth hurled a javelin but it did not appear to do any damage. Lydia and Stak rushed forward to melee them as they each struck at Merric. Merric was lucky and only took one hit. He somersaulted over the stony bier and fired off an arrow at the hippogriff. Again, even though the arrow appeared to strike true, no damage could be seen.
Targoth had stepped into the ruins of the blacksmith shop and Turok cast magic Weapon on
one of Targoth’s javelins. As Turok began searching for a way up to the hippogriff Targoth hurled his javelin and this time clear damage was seen on the winged creature. Apparently only magical attacks could really hurt our foes. Targoth rushed out to assist Stak and Lydia with the two seraphim. The hippogriff spread it’s wings and flew across the village square to land atop a ruined, stone tower. Bulger used his Mysty Step to instantly move to the base of the tower and then his spider climb to begin moving up the outside of it. Obadiah had recovered his wild shape ability on the boat ride and now morphed into a large, hairy spider. He leapt to the tower and began scaling it as well.
While the fight raged with the two seraphim on the ground the hippogriff swooped down. It
quickly morphed into a bear, grappled with Targoth, morphed back into a hippogriff and then flew up into the air again. It dropped Targoth and the fall damage nearly killed him. He lay prone at the foot of the tower. Bulger, seeing how effective this tactic could be, quickly used his staff to fire off a web at the hovering hippogriff. The spell hit the hippogriff dead on and it plummeted to the ground. The fall damage very nearly killed the hippogriff as well! Now the creature was prone and incapacitated. Merric leaped to attack it with Booming Blade on his rapier. Bulger dropped to the ground and bashed at it with his magic staff and Obadiah leapt on it in spider form and buries his fangs into it, filling the wound with venom. Targoth staggered to his fit, gripped the “magic” javelin still protruding from the hippogriff and rammed it in deeper. All this firepower was too much for the creature and it finally succumbed to our onslaught. With it’s demise the battle ended.
Just as quickly as it was over the hippogriff reappeared atop it’s original stony perch and called down to us: “You have passed my final test. Now, I can tell you the TRUTH of the monoliths.” Our session ends with all of us wondering what we will learn when next we meet and where our journey will take us next.