{Sorry I have procrastinated on my blog posts. This one catches up for 3 sessions}
#78
- The party arrived outside the castle and were denied entry by a group of Bullywug guards
- North of the castle site is a small village, occupied mostly by Bullywugs. There is one building there that houses a group of captive humanoids, who spend their time as servants to Egilina in the castle.
- They speak to one of the servants, who works as a maid for the queen. They also speak to an elder Bullywug, who is a bit of a historian. From them they learn....
- The castle is occupied by "The Lord" and "The Lady", The Lord being a 1000 year old wizard, and the Lady being the vampire queen Eglina. The Wizard is Uzidalf, once court Wizard to Eglina in the ancient past.
- One the castle grounds there is a large reptile monster that the Bullywugs revere as a god. Uzidalf has lured it here as a way to attract the army of Bullywug servants that keep the castle running.
- Egilina and Uzidalf are not really allies. They merely tolerate each other. They occupy different parts of the castle and have different goals. The Lady likes to pretend that she is a "normal" queen, denying her Vampire tendencies. She is conspiring with The Pal Moon thieves guild to gain political interest in Fort Aralan. The Lord is totally consumed with the study of arcana, and cares little for what is going on around him.
- While exploring the area around the castle, the party are ambushed by an angry beholder, who has tracked them down to try to recover the Eye.
- The Party sends the maid they had talked to with a message, requesting an audience with Eglina.
- Party is granted an audience with Eglina
- Inside the castle, they encounter a number of humanoids enduring a long slow transformation into inanimate objects, such as a giant clock, candelabra, and plates.
- They negotiate with the Queen, who expects them to pledge loyalty to her and Pale Moon in exchange for any help. They refuse, and are only able to get a small bit of information from her. She tells them that Uzidalf has an extensive library of arcane knowledge locked away in his tower, and that the secrets of the Eye can probably be found there.
- The party ascends to the top of the tower above Eglina's section of the tower, and finds a high narrow catwalk that crosses over to Uzidalf's tower. They are confronted by a horde of summoned creatures that Uzidalf keeps are guards (alien creatures statted like Glabrezu, Chasme (x2), Barlgura (x2}, and Vrock{x2})
- The party enters the tower and are greeted by servants of Uzidalf. (2 Nothics, a Flesh Golem, a Red Slaad in disguise as a gnome, a number of suits of animated armor, 2 shield gaurdian)
- Uzidalf is a lich, as the party suspected. He has an obsession with Constructs, and so is fascinated with the 2 construct members of the party.
- The party attempts to negotiate with the Lich for the lore that they seek. He refuses and insists that they turn the Eye over to him.
- A large red living bulbous item floats in the open space in the middle of the towers spiral stairs. The party assumes that this thing is the Lich's Phylactery.
- A fight breaks out. Perra banishes the Slaad. Samm grapples the Lich, enabling Perra to grab the tome of lore that they are seeking from him.
- The lich is killed by En-Gee's "Booming Blade"
My brother Uletrix brought
the artifact home with him. His study of
advanced arcane arts had led him to the ability to travel across the
planes. He returned from there with the
Eye in his possession.
Egilina and I soon
realized that the artifact was in fact in control of him. He became destructive to us and to the
kingdom. So we endeavored to break its
hold upon him. When we began to do this,
it spoke to me in my mind. It warned me
that efforts opposed to its will would cause retaliation in the form of
curses.
Each effort to dispel or
destroy its magic brought some misfortune upon us. A curse upon many staff members in the palace
was the first. Later a curse from the
Eye caused the affliction that came to dominate my existence. I cannot be sure, but I believe the spread of
the swampland to the south onto the site of the old city is in fact a
manifestation of a curse from the eye.
In order to rid my brother
of the curse, the queen and I joined forces to kill him, obviously causing
great pain to us both. We succeeded and
we locked it away, but its charm soon lured the queen herself to attune to
it.
To free her from the
curse, I resorted to the most powerful dispel ritual that my studies could
reveal. She was free of it, but soon
people in the castle began to fall ill.
And the illness was not confined to them, but quickly spread through
their families and neighbors. Some 2
years later, the kingdom was in shambles.
Our reptiloid rivals, who were less susceptible to the illness overran
us. A priest in the cult of Tiamat took
the dormant Eye for his own. He passed
it to his red dragon patron, known as Skakoan.
After that point in time I lost track of the Eye.
To understand the power of the Eye, you must understand that it is pan-dimensional. It consists of 3 parts, existing at the same time in different planes of existence. The Lantern and its contents may be in one place, moving about the planes as fate would take it. But connected to is a mystical cord not unlike the silver cord that connects some astral travelers to their homes. At the other end of this cord lies the true essence of the item. What form it takes, I do not know. The curses that protect the item emerge from that distant source. I surmise that to destroy the item without suffering the wrath of these curses, one must go to that source. The Eye is like the trunk of a mighty tree. It cannot survive without its root.
- This artifact is the preserved center eye of a long deceased Beholder named Igurse, floating within a modified bullseye lantern.
- It emits a very powerful and long-ranged anti-magic field. The cone emitted by the lantern has a range of a quarter-mile. This anti-magic does not however, effect magic of a psionic nature.
- Anyone attuned to the Eye has the ability to cast “Ray of Sickness” once. This ability can be re-charged with a roll of 6 on d6. If the role fails, the ability does not return until a full day has passed.
- Anyone attuned to the Eye has resistance to Necrotic damage
- Anyone attuned to the Eye has disadvantage on saves vs Poison
- While attuned to the Eye you emit a sour stench, noticeable from 10 feet away
Major Properties
- Anti-Magic field as described above
- Anyone attuned to the Eye has the ability to cast “Eye Bite” once. This ability can be re-charged with a roll of 6 on d6. If the role fails, the ability does not return until a full day has passed.
- You take 4d10 psychic damage when you become attuned to the item
- Potions within 10 feet of the Eye lose their potency, becoming worthless (This occurs only when the Eye is NOT dormant.)
Connected by a silver thread
- The item cannot be easily destroyed. Any attempt to do so risks releasing a
powerful curse. In fact, the plague that
created Terra Malatia centuries ago was the result of Egilina and Uzidalf
attempting to destroy it, after the death of Uletrix.
-
The source of this protection for the item lies
at its point of origin. There
is an unbreakable silver thread that connects the item to this point across the
astral sea
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