"Black candles are pretty..." Celeste mutters, more to herself, in response to Mulligan's words. However the druid was smart enough to know that cults were bad, and the name Vecna made her skin crawl even if she didn't know exactly who or what it was. So if this is what her companions say it is, these black candles weren't that pretty any more. Her ears would droop as her hair stands on end.
(RP Int Check: 19 Rolled in log)
Ears twitch. Listening closely, Celeste sticks her nose in the air and does what she does most. She sniffs in all directions. The druid starts with those southern doors, listening to, then huffing at the cracks without stepping on the button found, before moving on to the direction of each passage way. She'd do her ear and nose tests, sifting through sounds and smells to see if she can identify anything living, dead, undead, or otherwise in any of the directions to see if it could provide a deeper glimpse into their options.
The stone doors close about a minute after removing the eyeball from the socket, despite Mulligan's attempt to block it open. The good news is that you can easily open the doors with the pedal on the south side when you want to leave.
In the strange hall with the eerie statue related to Vecna, Celeste sniffs the passages leading east and then west. From the east, she smells something like old grass and vanilla - perhaps old books? To the west, she smells wool, musk, and the slight stench of decay matching the desiccated eyeball you have been using as a compass and key...
Sniffing towards the east, Celeste coos and hums, looking as though she's taking in pleasurable scents. "Mmmn... Grass and vanilla... maybe old books." Her hips wiggle a bit, and continues as she adjusts to investigate the west. Went the smell inhibits her nose, her facial expression would start to sour the deeper into the smells she went. Her hips would stop. "Wool... Musk... decay... like the eyeball." She scrunches her nose. The druid personally preferred the eastern passage strictly because it smelled better and held more knowledge curiosity, however she was under the impression that the smells related to the eyeball are more directly related to their assignment, and is assumed to her to hold more obvious or expected dangers.
"Decay, like the eyeball, you said?" Dara asks Celeste. "We should go towards the west if we want to find out more about the cult. But the Undying King is the god of knowledge as well... there might be hidden knowledge in the old books," Dara continues, his grey eyes glance towards the east, "Given Vecna's ties to forbidden knowledge, the eastern passage might hold crucial information. Perhaps we should start there and see what we can uncover before venturing into the west."
Mulligan frowns and curses as the doors close. He had meant to wedge them open so he could steal the jeweled iris... He harumphs a bit quietly and kicks at the dirt. He considers going back out to get it but shakes his head and let's it go... Best to just go along with the group. Hurrying up, he catches up to them and listens to them debate which direction to go next.
Vesta nods as Dara speaks. "There could be valuable information if there is a library down here, perhaps even information about the cult," she says. "Let's go there first."
To Celeste she smiles and says, "Good job. That keen nose of yours is very useful."
Zyl shrugs, "Well who am I to argue with someone following their nose! Let's do this then! I want to get out of this dirty stinky place as soon as possible!" Zyl will follow if others have already gone, or start heading down the east passage.
The passage runs due east for 25' before opening into a 25' wide and 35' long chamber with an arched wall to the north and another passage in the southern wall leading south. Crooked shelves filled with books and scrolls stand against the walls. In the center of the room is a square table covered in scribbled notes and ink-stained parchment. (map)
If you spend 10-15 minutes investigating and studying the books and scrolls, read this:
The notes spread across the table detail the cult’s experiments and history. From them you learn the following:
Cult Experiments. The cult’s leader, Zalryr, is experimenting with ways to magically siphon secrets from an individual’s soul. Early experiments reduced volunteers to piles of necrotic sludge, which were disposed of in the sewerage. (No further details or location of this area provided)
Others? The cultists here are but one sect of many that have infiltrated Neverwinter. The other sects have chosen different areas of the city’s catacombs as their respective hideouts. Unfortunately, these papers do not reveal their locations.
DC13 Investigation for the bookshelves:
You find a small, locked, ebony box hidden behind a pile of scrolls. You can try to pick the lock, force it open, or find the key that opens it.
Prrt. Celeste smiles and her hips begin to wiggle again when she’s praised. She hums in delight, moving with a pep in her step along with the others to the east. It also made her happy that the majority of the group thought to go east to the yummy smells. Naturally, the druid wouldn’t, couldn’t stop sniffing now! So as they entered into the next area she’d keep at it, huffing and poking her nose around. Unable to stay still, Celeste wouldn’t sit to review the material, but she’d keep close, workin’ her sniffer! Honestly, she assumed others more attention inclined would take the time to do the reading.
Investigation: 14
“Ouu!” Sniff sniff. Huff huff. Celeste locked onto another scent. Sniffing her way to one of the bookshelves, she steps up onto the bottom shelf to hoist herself up to a higher one she wouldn’t have been able to reach otherwise. Sliding a couple books over, maybe dropping one… “Aha!” The Druid’s hips wiggle and she shoves her face between some reading material to get to the back. Reaching with a free hand she grabs something. Holding it up to look at it, she starts biting and gnawing on it first before coming to realize it was locked box. “D’awe.” She comes down to present it to the vertically challenged Mulligan and the others. “I found something.” Should he, or anyone, take it, it’d be a bit slobbery.
"Old cruddy books, old cruddy books and... oh wait! More old cruddy books!" Mulligan mumbles aloud as he goes through his "investigation" of the room. This sucks, he thought quietly to himself. Who wanted to read all this crap?? Specially when it is all in the sewers surrounded by... well, sewage... and dead zombies and all the other yuck? He'd rather be fighting more zombies.
Sure, there is a market for old books about vaguely arcane or mysterious crap, but that wasn't really the market he was tapped in to or had much interest in. He preferred the shiny, the spendable, the quick turnaround into coin...
"Hmm?" the halfling asks as Celeste proudly declares she found something and is presenting some kind of box. "What's this then?" Mulligan asks and takes the box.
And OF COURSE it is covered in slobber! Mulligan sighs and rolls his eyes... but also can't help to smile even as he rubs the box against his pants, and then his hands, to try to clean them a bit.
"Nice find!" Mulligan declares. "Shall we open it?" Of course it is locked. But that is good. That means whatever is inside is valuable. At least to the owner. But of course there is a new owner now... Or will be once he opens it. Reaching into a pouch Mulligan pulls out some small, metal, delicate tools and in a moment is poking at the box hoping to find a way to open it...
Mulligan deftly picks the lock of the obsidian box, setting off the trap inside. A sharp needle pricks the rogue in his hand, leaving a small bead of blood. (Make a DC13 Con save, taking 5 necrotic damage on a failed saved or half as much damage on a successful one!)
Inside the box are two crystal vials - both filled with a glittery-red, viscous liquid. DC12 Arcana or taste test:
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"Oof, that looks like it hurt," Vesta says sympathetically to Mulligan as he is jabbed in the hand by a needle. "Do you mind if I take a look at those vials?"
The sorcerer brings the vials closer to her eyes, inspecting them closely. Unfortunately, she isn't able to discern much just by examining the vials so she delicately and carefully takes a tiny sip from one of them. "Oh, these are healing potions!" she exclaims, as she feels a surge of renewed vigor. "Nice find."
Zyl patters around trying not to touch too many icky looking things but doing her due diligence to help in the search. She lets out a gasp though as Mulligan gets pricked, "Hey! Watch it! Gosh, you okay? Anyone else see anything? If not I'm gonna go see what's down here..." Zyl will flit toward the southern end of the room and peek into the hallway there.
Mulligan swears colorfully when he's pricked. ((Con Save: 9)) The only thing that really shuts him up is when he sticks his cut thumb into his mouth to help soothe the pain.
"Mwey!" he shouts out around his thumb as Vesta rushes in and grabs the vials. "As a matter of fact I do," he answers after pulling his thumb out of his mouth. "Celeste found them, I was just assisting her with the lock..." But of course it was too late, the Half-Elf was already slobbering all over them. Stupid talls, always so arrogant and narcissistic!
"Sorry," Mulligan says so Celeste, having nothing to present to her but a now empty box. He gives an apologetic shrug and then kind of looks to his hand where he has a glowy psychic dagger forming. Raising his eyebrows he silently asks if she'd like him to retrieve the potions she found...
"I'm fine, Zyl. Thanks," he answers the faery as she buzzes around. She was, typically, already buzzing off in another direction...
Dara's fingers flip through the books and scrolls, reading about the cult's unholy experiments and history. It shudders him to think that people, reduced to necrotic sludge by the experiments, were so carelessly discarded in the sewerage like refuse. Then he says, "There are more sects of the cult throughout the city. This is more widespread than we thought. We need to inform Lord Neverember about this."
"Are you okay?" Dara asks, his grey eyes filled concern as he sees Mulligan get poked by the needle. He was going to stop him from sucking his finger, afraid the needle might be poisonous, but relaxes when it seems not the case. "We should check for traps next time." Dara says, albeit a little too late. After noting the contents of the box are just simple healing potions, Dara follows Zyl toward the southern end of the room to investigate further.
"If you check for traps every time you end up doing nothing but that," Mulligan mutters. "Everything could be a trap. Each step, each door, each book..."
Looking in the passage to the south, Zyllyne sees that the stone passage heads about 15' south before turning to the west. Just at the edge of her perception, she hears whispers echoing along the tunnel...
Abashed, Vesta returns the healing potion vials to Mulligan. "I'm sorry, Mulligan," she says. "My eagerness got the better of me."
Hearing Dara's words about the cult, Vesta's eyes widen. "This is very serious," she agrees. "Once we finish exploring this place, we should return to Lord Neverember with all haste."
Inwardly she realizes she will have to inform the Harpers as well. This is a matter they would be most interested in and would focus their efforts toward eradicating such a cult in the city.
"No, no... they're the ladies," Mulligan says, hands up so as to force Dara to return the vials to Celeste, who had rightfully found them. "No problem, let's just not be grabbing other people's stuff. That's my job." The last bit is merely whispered. ((Really, all good. I just saw a chance for a bit of RP is all...))
Before much more could be said Zyl is asking everyone to hush. Not being one to want to piss off a crazed, occasionally supersized Faery, Mulligan hushes.
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"Black candles are pretty..." Celeste mutters, more to herself, in response to Mulligan's words. However the druid was smart enough to know that cults were bad, and the name Vecna made her skin crawl even if she didn't know exactly who or what it was. So if this is what her companions say it is, these black candles weren't that pretty any more. Her ears would droop as her hair stands on end.
(RP Int Check: 19 Rolled in log)
Ears twitch. Listening closely, Celeste sticks her nose in the air and does what she does most. She sniffs in all directions. The druid starts with those southern doors, listening to, then huffing at the cracks without stepping on the button found, before moving on to the direction of each passage way. She'd do her ear and nose tests, sifting through sounds and smells to see if she can identify anything living, dead, undead, or otherwise in any of the directions to see if it could provide a deeper glimpse into their options.
(Perception: 20 + Guidance: 1 Rolled in log)
just an unstable unicorn.
The stone doors close about a minute after removing the eyeball from the socket, despite Mulligan's attempt to block it open. The good news is that you can easily open the doors with the pedal on the south side when you want to leave.
In the strange hall with the eerie statue related to Vecna, Celeste sniffs the passages leading east and then west. From the east, she smells something like old grass and vanilla - perhaps old books? To the west, she smells wool, musk, and the slight stench of decay matching the desiccated eyeball you have been using as a compass and key...
Love God. Love Others. Any Questions?
Sniffing towards the east, Celeste coos and hums, looking as though she's taking in pleasurable scents. "Mmmn... Grass and vanilla... maybe old books." Her hips wiggle a bit, and continues as she adjusts to investigate the west. Went the smell inhibits her nose, her facial expression would start to sour the deeper into the smells she went. Her hips would stop. "Wool... Musk... decay... like the eyeball." She scrunches her nose. The druid personally preferred the eastern passage strictly because it smelled better and held more knowledge curiosity, however she was under the impression that the smells related to the eyeball are more directly related to their assignment, and is assumed to her to hold more obvious or expected dangers.
just an unstable unicorn.
"Decay, like the eyeball, you said?" Dara asks Celeste. "We should go towards the west if we want to find out more about the cult. But the Undying King is the god of knowledge as well... there might be hidden knowledge in the old books," Dara continues, his grey eyes glance towards the east, "Given Vecna's ties to forbidden knowledge, the eastern passage might hold crucial information. Perhaps we should start there and see what we can uncover before venturing into the west."
Mulligan frowns and curses as the doors close. He had meant to wedge them open so he could steal the jeweled iris... He harumphs a bit quietly and kicks at the dirt. He considers going back out to get it but shakes his head and let's it go... Best to just go along with the group. Hurrying up, he catches up to them and listens to them debate which direction to go next.
Vesta nods as Dara speaks. "There could be valuable information if there is a library down here, perhaps even information about the cult," she says. "Let's go there first."
To Celeste she smiles and says, "Good job. That keen nose of yours is very useful."
Extended Signature
Characters: Bryony Alderleaf (Phandelver and Below) ♦ Vesta Trevelyan (Vecna: Eve of Ruin) ♦ Ada Kendrick (Curse of Strahd) ♦ Gareth Blackwood (Dragon of Icespire Peak) ♦ Karys Velthune (Out of the Abyss) ♦ Surina Xarith (Simple, Heroic Adventure)
DM: Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus
Zyl shrugs, "Well who am I to argue with someone following their nose! Let's do this then! I want to get out of this dirty stinky place as soon as possible!" Zyl will follow if others have already gone, or start heading down the east passage.
The passage runs due east for 25' before opening into a 25' wide and 35' long chamber with an arched wall to the north and another passage in the southern wall leading south. Crooked shelves filled with books and scrolls stand against the walls. In the center of the room is a square table covered in scribbled notes and ink-stained parchment. (map)
If you spend 10-15 minutes investigating and studying the books and scrolls, read this:
The notes spread across the table detail the cult’s experiments and history. From them you learn the following:
Cult Experiments. The cult’s leader, Zalryr, is experimenting with ways to magically siphon secrets from an individual’s soul. Early experiments reduced volunteers to piles of necrotic sludge, which were disposed of in the sewerage. (No further details or location of this area provided)
Others? The cultists here are but one sect of many that have infiltrated Neverwinter. The other sects have chosen different areas of the city’s catacombs as their respective hideouts. Unfortunately, these papers do not reveal their locations.
DC13 Investigation for the bookshelves:
You find a small, locked, ebony box hidden behind a pile of scrolls. You can try to pick the lock, force it open, or find the key that opens it.
Love God. Love Others. Any Questions?
Prrt. Celeste smiles and her hips begin to wiggle again when she’s praised. She hums in delight, moving with a pep in her step along with the others to the east. It also made her happy that the majority of the group thought to go east to the yummy smells. Naturally, the druid wouldn’t, couldn’t stop sniffing now! So as they entered into the next area she’d keep at it, huffing and poking her nose around. Unable to stay still, Celeste wouldn’t sit to review the material, but she’d keep close, workin’ her sniffer! Honestly, she assumed others more attention inclined would take the time to do the reading.
Investigation: 14
“Ouu!” Sniff sniff. Huff huff. Celeste locked onto another scent. Sniffing her way to one of the bookshelves, she steps up onto the bottom shelf to hoist herself up to a higher one she wouldn’t have been able to reach otherwise. Sliding a couple books over, maybe dropping one… “Aha!” The Druid’s hips wiggle and she shoves her face between some reading material to get to the back. Reaching with a free hand she grabs something. Holding it up to look at it, she starts biting and gnawing on it first before coming to realize it was locked box. “D’awe.” She comes down to present it to the
vertically challengedMulligan and the others. “I found something.” Should he, or anyone, take it, it’d be a bit slobbery.just an unstable unicorn.
"Old cruddy books, old cruddy books and... oh wait! More old cruddy books!" Mulligan mumbles aloud as he goes through his "investigation" of the room. This sucks, he thought quietly to himself. Who wanted to read all this crap?? Specially when it is all in the sewers surrounded by... well, sewage... and dead zombies and all the other yuck? He'd rather be fighting more zombies.
Sure, there is a market for old books about vaguely arcane or mysterious crap, but that wasn't really the market he was tapped in to or had much interest in. He preferred the shiny, the spendable, the quick turnaround into coin...
"Hmm?" the halfling asks as Celeste proudly declares she found something and is presenting some kind of box. "What's this then?" Mulligan asks and takes the box.
And OF COURSE it is covered in slobber! Mulligan sighs and rolls his eyes... but also can't help to smile even as he rubs the box against his pants, and then his hands, to try to clean them a bit.
"Nice find!" Mulligan declares. "Shall we open it?" Of course it is locked. But that is good. That means whatever is inside is valuable. At least to the owner. But of course there is a new owner now... Or will be once he opens it. Reaching into a pouch Mulligan pulls out some small, metal, delicate tools and in a moment is poking at the box hoping to find a way to open it...
Sleight of Hand to unlock the box: 14
Mulligan deftly picks the lock of the obsidian box, setting off the trap inside. A sharp needle pricks the rogue in his hand, leaving a small bead of blood. (Make a DC13 Con save, taking 5 necrotic damage on a failed saved or half as much damage on a successful one!)
Inside the box are two crystal vials - both filled with a glittery-red, viscous liquid. DC12 Arcana or taste test:
If you tasted it, you are lucky! These are Potions of Healing (greater).
Love God. Love Others. Any Questions?
"Oof, that looks like it hurt," Vesta says sympathetically to Mulligan as he is jabbed in the hand by a needle. "Do you mind if I take a look at those vials?"
The sorcerer brings the vials closer to her eyes, inspecting them closely. Unfortunately, she isn't able to discern much just by examining the vials so she delicately and carefully takes a tiny sip from one of them. "Oh, these are healing potions!" she exclaims, as she feels a surge of renewed vigor. "Nice find."
Arcana - 18
Extended Signature
Characters: Bryony Alderleaf (Phandelver and Below) ♦ Vesta Trevelyan (Vecna: Eve of Ruin) ♦ Ada Kendrick (Curse of Strahd) ♦ Gareth Blackwood (Dragon of Icespire Peak) ♦ Karys Velthune (Out of the Abyss) ♦ Surina Xarith (Simple, Heroic Adventure)
DM: Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus
Zyl patters around trying not to touch too many icky looking things but doing her due diligence to help in the search. She lets out a gasp though as Mulligan gets pricked, "Hey! Watch it! Gosh, you okay? Anyone else see anything? If not I'm gonna go see what's down here..." Zyl will flit toward the southern end of the room and peek into the hallway there.
Mulligan swears colorfully when he's pricked. ((Con Save: 9)) The only thing that really shuts him up is when he sticks his cut thumb into his mouth to help soothe the pain.
"Mwey!" he shouts out around his thumb as Vesta rushes in and grabs the vials. "As a matter of fact I do," he answers after pulling his thumb out of his mouth. "Celeste found them, I was just assisting her with the lock..." But of course it was too late, the Half-Elf was already slobbering all over them. Stupid talls, always so arrogant and narcissistic!
"Sorry," Mulligan says so Celeste, having nothing to present to her but a now empty box. He gives an apologetic shrug and then kind of looks to his hand where he has a glowy psychic dagger forming. Raising his eyebrows he silently asks if she'd like him to retrieve the potions she found...
"I'm fine, Zyl. Thanks," he answers the faery as she buzzes around. She was, typically, already buzzing off in another direction...
Dara's fingers flip through the books and scrolls, reading about the cult's unholy experiments and history. It shudders him to think that people, reduced to necrotic sludge by the experiments, were so carelessly discarded in the sewerage like refuse. Then he says, "There are more sects of the cult throughout the city. This is more widespread than we thought. We need to inform Lord Neverember about this."
"Are you okay?" Dara asks, his grey eyes filled concern as he sees Mulligan get poked by the needle. He was going to stop him from sucking his finger, afraid the needle might be poisonous, but relaxes when it seems not the case. "We should check for traps next time." Dara says, albeit a little too late. After noting the contents of the box are just simple healing potions, Dara follows Zyl toward the southern end of the room to investigate further.
"If you check for traps every time you end up doing nothing but that," Mulligan mutters. "Everything could be a trap. Each step, each door, each book..."
Looking in the passage to the south, Zyllyne sees that the stone passage heads about 15' south before turning to the west. Just at the edge of her perception, she hears whispers echoing along the tunnel...
Love God. Love Others. Any Questions?
Abashed, Vesta returns the healing potion vials to Mulligan. "I'm sorry, Mulligan," she says. "My eagerness got the better of me."
Hearing Dara's words about the cult, Vesta's eyes widen. "This is very serious," she agrees. "Once we finish exploring this place, we should return to Lord Neverember with all haste."
Inwardly she realizes she will have to inform the Harpers as well. This is a matter they would be most interested in and would focus their efforts toward eradicating such a cult in the city.
Extended Signature
Characters: Bryony Alderleaf (Phandelver and Below) ♦ Vesta Trevelyan (Vecna: Eve of Ruin) ♦ Ada Kendrick (Curse of Strahd) ♦ Gareth Blackwood (Dragon of Icespire Peak) ♦ Karys Velthune (Out of the Abyss) ♦ Surina Xarith (Simple, Heroic Adventure)
DM: Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus
Zyl stops suddenly and turns back to the group and puts her finger to her lips and then whispers back, "Shh! There's voices! Let's take a peek!"
"No, no... they're the ladies," Mulligan says, hands up so as to force Dara to return the vials to Celeste, who had rightfully found them. "No problem, let's just not be grabbing other people's stuff. That's my job." The last bit is merely whispered. ((Really, all good. I just saw a chance for a bit of RP is all...))
Before much more could be said Zyl is asking everyone to hush. Not being one to want to piss off a crazed, occasionally supersized Faery, Mulligan hushes.