Session Date: 2/5/2023
We opt to sleep in the cell and we all have dreams.
Rohan has an out of body experience in the space between wake and sleep. There is a chill around him as his patron addresses him and he apologizes for being so brash. He would like to offer assistance. Rohan asks what the catch is, since there’s always a catch. If the patron is not supportive then Rohan won’t use his powers and then his goals won’t be met. Rohan is nervous to use his power but he agrees to use it to destroy the necromancer, though Rohan isn’t exactly thrilled by it. The patron admits he will try to screw Rohan over. Rohan agrees to try to set some things on fire but he will not kill anyone in the party. The patron says he is always close if Rohan ever needs anything. The patron is not a devil.
Inky:
While playing with his new celestial weasel familiar, he notices a door that is small even for him. Inky goes to see if the door is unlocked — it is, so Inky enters to find a long corridor. He feels as if he moved dimensions and has to push a pile of papers sat in the way. He enters a HUGE library. There is no wend in sight, with books of all kinds inside. The documents are in an unknown language, and a book he tries to read is in the same unknown language. He doesn’t quite know how the library is organized. He continues to look around, then hears something hit the floor and someone clears their throat. An older female kobold wearing spectacles is there, and she asks who Inky is. She goes on about how she is being tested and she doesn’t like that. Her name is Mattai, and this is the Libarary Between. She explains access is not often given to people. Inky asks how to come to and from the library and Mattai tapes a piece of plastic on Inky’s nose twice, then hands it over. It’s his library card. Mattai explains it only works for kobolds and dragonkin. There is no way to contact Mattai except to go to the library. She says do not run, do not scream, and do not remove books from the library. She recommends he add books to the library instead.
We wake in the morning and Kalvag is making breakfast, making all vegetarian food. Inky and Iskra help him cook.
Rohan grabs Dia and asks about sin mazes. He specifically wants to break Kalvag out of this sin maze. Dia knows that there are spells that could bind him here, but it would be visible and she is not seeing them. Kalvag explains that he chooses to be here as penance and he doesn’t want to leave without permission as it would be seen as an escape. On top of this, he’s afraid of the outside world as it is something he doesn’t understand anymore. Dia convinces him that he has done all he can inside of here and now he must work to better the world. He reluctantly agrees to help uncover the source of the necromancy, then go his own way after.
Iskra feels abbott Abott Dugald is not trustworthy. Dia tries to defend him but Iskra points out that it is possible that he is still involved. Dia refuses to believe that the abbott is the cause of this and Iskra gets really dark to point out religion is used for control. Rohan points out we need evidence either way: for trust or the accusation. Dia looks sad after the conversation and demands proof of if the abbott is actually behind this, thens he will take care of it herself.
Kalvag wants to talk to the abbott and he explains he doesn’t want us too close so that we don’t get into trouble over this. Once we head out he makes the sin maze collapse so it’s easy for us to traverse. As we move, Iskra is aware that something is going on: he is aware the that the monks are moving about the corridors as if looking for us. Rohan recommends that we lie and say we got lost on the way to breakfast.
Dia and Arythas do not like this and say that we will simply tell the truth: we were investigating and helping the Frosty Princess Glaciebella. Iskra and Rohan do not like this.
We continue and find the abbott and a few monks waiting for us. We explain that we helped the princess and he seems as if he’s not entirely there. Iskra and Dia notice that the abbott is not okay: there is something very wrong as his head snaps and he speaks in a strange voice. He proclaims that death will be the winning cosmic force. A black smoke exits the abbott and monks and we begin combat as the abbott and the monks attack us.
We manage to take care of them and we all make an escape as the Abbey of St. Cuthbert begins to collapse. Once we make it out, Brother Raghnall explains that a human visited not to long ago. He was a wounded adventurer. The abbott treated him and he seemed to be different afterwards. This was about a month ago. The librarian does remind us that the abbey made wine and they may have put something into the wine, actually. Dia pulls out the wine bottle she was given and proposes we test it.
While this is going on, Iskra is bringing Kalvag down from a panic attack.
The librarian will take this to the high priest of Pelor to inform the land as a whole of what is going on, and we learn that Ladina Koller is the high priestess of Pelor. Inky returns the books he borrowed to the librarian and is thanked.
Iskra and Dia ritual cast detect poison & disease on the wine and Dia finds an energy in the wine: the same chanting of Nerull and she grows upset as hell as she tells us the wine is tainted. We get ahold of the wine shipping manifest and we discover the wine is on the way to a larger city near the coast. About 20 barrels of wine were shipped, sent just before we left. It will be a few days forced march for us to get there. The city is called Oceanscar.
The librarian gives us a sending stone to communicate with him as we move forward. We agree that if we wish to move faster through the mountains, we can attempt to contact the Frosty Princess. We take a long rest.