Sacred Stone Monastery

What they encountered within the monastery

After successfully sneaking into the monastery with the help of the masks and cloaks they collected off the dead "Bringers of Woe" in Red Larch, the party stumbled upon a dining chamber where the entirety of the order seemed to be assembled. They quickly lied that they were new recruits. They were then escorted by a significant guard to await within a barren chamber until the hour of their audience with the leader of the order. Leopold attempted to cheer the gloomy setting with a song, but the guards did not approve. Apparently these reclusive monks are no fans of music. Leopold will miss his beloved lyre. Leopold will have to learn to read a room.

These masked, Sacred Stone monks seem far more disciplined and dangerous than the easily-bested "Bringers of Woe" from Red Larch.

Before their audience with the head of the order Qarbo could begin, an embittered Leopold cast a charm spell which seemed to instantaneously cause the floor to drop out beneath the party. The slid down a ramp and into a large chamber housing a terrible beast. The above image was emblazoned above the alter in the larger chamber where they briefly met with Qarbo. LiKi remembered that this was the same image imprinted on the black leather armor worn by the dead bugbears at the ambush site.

Descending into the underneath of the monastery

The party narrowly achieved victory over a formidable foe.

Bugbears, Umber Hulks? It was becoming clearer and clearer that these "Sacred Stone Monks" have allied themselves with monsters far beyond the pale of an austere monastic order. But what were they up to?

An old crypt . . . a fresh body?

The party entered an old burial chamber that was populated by several odd looking undead. These mumbling lumberers shuffled around the room, adorned in the scraps of ancient bits of armor and clothing. But they were not hostile. The group investigated an old sarcophagus expecting to find some clues about the nature of this crypt and perhaps the monastery itself, but surprisingly, they found the body of a warrior that appeared to have been dead for about a month or so. Now who was this??

Dungeon guards messing about with a poor ogre

Three orogs were tormenting an ogre named Drool. Leopold sent Drool a telepathic message, urging the lumbering monument to attack his tormentors. The confusion that this caused (which Drool expressed out loud) allowed the party a surprise round as they barged in and attacked.

The party found some loot and a key on the leader of this group of dungeon denizens. Jarth was unwilling to talk. Leopold removed his head.

A nobleman within the slave pens

The party finally found one of the missing Mirabarans. As they explored this lower level, they came across three locked jail cells. The key they retrieved off Jarth allowed them to enter and free the 17 commoners within. They were desperate and hysterical. They had been forced to dig tunnels, yet for what purpose they couldn't say.

One of the prisoners was a dwarf scholar named Bruldenthar. He was relieved to be free of the cell and told the party what happened at the ambush. Deducing that this must have been the caravan member in charge of the sacred old books, LiKi assured him that she could account for seven of the tomes and that they would be returned to him whenever possible. The old dwarf was grateful, yet expressed ominous concern for his two colleagues, Rhundorth and Teresiel, who were "taken below to an unknown fate."

After a bit more exploring, they found a secret tunnel that lead a mile underground then suddenly opened up into a hidden dale deep within the Sumber Hills. As they escorted the slaves toward the open air, it was apparent that even members of the Sacred Stone Order were unaware of this secret entrance, for it was obvious that the passage had not been traversed in centuries. The party felt fairly comfortable setting up camp in this secret spot. Although eager to return to the settlements from whence they had been kidnapped, those rescued hesitantly agreed. So they slept as a full moon emerged, blood-red against the horizon before climbing high into the sky.

TL;DR:

After a day or so of searching the Sumber Hills, the party located the Sacred Stone Monastery. It was very quiet outside. There was no evidence of activity.
Just before dusk, they looked through a narrow window and saw vacant hallways.
They decided to dawn the masks and cloaks that they had recovered from the slain "Bringers of Woe" from the temple beneath Red Larch.
They entered the monastery through the front door where they stumbled into two guards. The guards, in masks of their own, didn't budge. They were completely indifferent to our heroes' entrance.
The party explored a couple of rooms, finding empty barracks and a locked chest that Leopold unsuccessfully attempted to open.
They next entered a large dining hall where seemingly the whole cult was engaged in a deathly-quiet supper. The party stood, mouths agape until one of the monks asked them where they were supposed to be.
The party indicated that they were new recruits. They were escorted to a room which was immediately locked. They were told that they would meet with the head of the order Qarbo at midnight. They were accompanied by five sleeping monks and four vigilant guards.
Leopold pulled his lyre out and strummed a few chords. One of the monks casually walked over, snatched the instrument from Leo's grasp, smashed it against the ground, then resumed his post with his back against the wall near the only door to this chamber.
Enraged, Leopold started to decry this injustice, but sharp looks from LiKi, Alexander, and Kahntun told him that perhaps this wasn't the time for a fight.
The party was escorted to a large chamber at midnight and met with a masked figure claiming to be the head of the order.
Leopold cast a charm spell on this masked figure. Suddenly the floor dropped out beneath our heroes and they found themselves in a subterranean chamber with an angry, giant monster coming through a newly unlocked gate.
The party narrowly defeated the beast and explored the passages of this underground chamber.
They found a crypt with zombies present, but the zombies didn't attack.
They found another room where they killed an ogre and three orogs. They got a key off the leading orog.
They found slave pens with 17 commoners. Among these prisoners was one of the missing delegates from Mirabar, a dwarven sage named Bruldenthar.
From Bruldenthar the party learned that the caravan had been ambushed on the Dessarin Road by the inhabitants of this monastery. Their guards had been killed and the captives had been lead to the Dessarin River where they met pirates with keelboats. The pirates ferried the Sacred Stone Monks and the captives across the Dessarin River in exchange for some stolen treasures, most notably (for Bruldenthar) a collection of rare and valuable books from Mirabar.
Although he was unaware of the fate of most of the other nobles taken captive, Bruldenthar claimed that he and two other delegates were brought to the Monastery, but the other two, Rhundorth and Teresiel, were "taken below to an unknown fate."
After a bit more exploring, the party found a secret tunnel that lead out to the Sumber Hills. They freed the prisoners and lead them to the open air.

Google Sites

Report abuse