Session Report 4/3/2020: The Shrine of Rollo the Strong

Kyle the Halfling, drowning in freezing water.

Persons mentioned in the text:

• BOCCE, a level 1 Barbarian
• PERSEPHONE, a level 1 Elf
• KYLE, a level 4 Halfing; a hero of the Battle of Fennburgh
• RANDY, a level 1 Elf
• ORION, a level 1 Elf
• BUSSY, a level 1 Cleric
• ERIC, a level 1 Cleric of St. Bartholomew the Just

The time:
    The month of AMETHYST, second month of the year 1120 Anno Daedalus


The place:
    TRISKELE, the capital city of the THUNDERMOOR, nestled where the RIVER GREEN meets the RIVER UR
    A SHRINE in the THUNDERMOOR, a frozen wasteland in the southern reaches of KATHON

    Our Heroes set off for a nearby shrine they had learned about when they arrived in Triskele the week before. When they arrived, they spent a couple hours exploring the perimeter and making a careful map of the potential exits. During the mapping expedition, they were waylaid by zombies, to which they lost their cleric, BUSSY.

Our Heroes decided to explore the south-east portion of the shrine, three totally empty rooms that appeared to have been looted already. They found engravings on the walls that gave them some clue as to whom the shrine feted: a tale of a great and terrible general betrayed by his lieutenant and concubines. Of particular note was a ring that appeared on the hand of his traitorous lieutenant in the scenes depicting the beheading of the general.

They made their way to the center of the shrine, and found a large effigy of a four-armed man with a dog’s head, wielding a greatbow and greathammer; the general from the engravings, they assumed. There as well was ERIC, a Cleric of St. Bartholomew. They set fire to the heretical ancestral effigy. As the fire blazed, a group of diminutive creatures that looked like a cross between a chameleon and a parrot appeared from where they had camouflaged themselves against the walls and skittered away. Panicking, Our Heroes gave pursuit, fearing the creatures were raising an alarm of some kind.

They came across a nest of the creatures, who called themselves Critterlings. Their leader spoke common, and the charismatic Elf Persephone smoothed over the situation, agreeing to help clear out the shrine of “bad men” who had moved into the north-west of the shrine.

Our Heroes explored the north-west wing of the shrine very carefully, listening at every door they came across. They opened the door to a silent room and found the floor was completely ice, and in the center of the room were two large sacks. Their caution that they had been exercising up til now vanished in the presence of treasure, and the halfling Kyle scurried across the ice to the treasure. Adorra followed, clanking along in her plate armor. They found that the sacks were full of copper, about eight stones’ worth. They hefted the sacks and started walking back…

What they didn’t know was that the sacks were situated on a column, and our two Heroes were weighed down with treasure and plate armor; as they walked off the column and onto unsupported ice, it gave way and they plunged into freezing water. As her dying act, Persephone threw her sword to safety. By a miracle of tenacity, Kyle was able to escape the freezing water by clambering up Persephone’s sinking corpse, and grab onto Bocce’s sword, cutting his fingers and palms deeply as Bocce pulled him out.

Our Heroes swaddled Kyle in a blanket and took him to the room where they burned the effigy, warming him by its embers as they continued to smoulder. They rode back to Triskele, Kyle fading in and out of consciousness. He lived, but barely, and was a few fingers and one nose short when he finally recovered.