Mist, Mourning, and the Eyes of Deno
(Elegy for a Count, Enchantment for the Crushers)
Day: 37, Mo/Yr: 5/12, 2993[AEP] irl: May 24th, 2025 Session 16
Scribe: Shadowfax
GM: Evil Tables
| Players | Broken Head | Acquaintances, Friends |
Agoston [Scholar 4] dcterraBelaros [Fighter 4] DeViateAlexos [Cleric 5] SaracorMeric [Thief 5] ShadowfaxNPC:Brunwolf* [Torchbearer] Lukios [Henchmen] Susarra [Henchmen] | Mikeleos [Druid 2] Saracor Feathers [Thief 3] jdsull Salvatore [Cleric 2] jdsull Gemistos [Scholar 1] Luminance Grim [Dwarf 4] Big_Pun Meric [Thief 4] Shadowfax Ilphas [Thief 3] lach Herakleon [Scholar 1] Syagria [Fighter 2] ☠ Our Dead: Hektor [Fighter] Saracor Hjalti [Henchmen] | Mikeleos [Druid 2] SaracorFeathers [Thief 3] jdsullSalvatore [Cleric 2] jdsullGemistos [Scholar 1] LuminanceGrim [Dwarf 4] Big_PunMeric [Thief 4] ShadowfaxIlphas [Thief 3] lachHerakleon [Scholar 1]Syagria [Fighter 2]☠ Our Dead:Hektor [Fighter] Saracor Hjalti [Henchmen] |
We began once again at the Broken Head Inn, drafting plans over ale and uncertainty.
Beneath the Pyramid
Near the grand pyramid, we were ambushed by a scuttling group of nine giant rats. Agoston lulled half of them into slumber, and the rest were swiftly dispatched by Belaros and Susarra.
Evidence suggested someone had been sniffing around our hidden stash — the trail was fresh. One hallway was unnaturally clean… cube territory, perhaps?
King Dalton & the Watchful Guards
Further in, we encountered guards — and a new title: Dalton the King. The registry book they asked us to sign bears many names. One group, ominously dubbed “The Broom”, caught Brunwolf’s attention. A bunch of cutthroats, he mutters. He recognized their leader as well, Harrold.
A robed figure, Linus, approached with probing questions about our direction. We counted eight guards in the main chamber.
Desecrated Pools and Undead Whispers (map 1)
In the pool room, green-grey mist coiled up toward the ceiling, reeking of foulness. Alexos confirmed the pool was defiled. Another chamber mirrored the misty blight, this one with a sunken area to the west and a pillar of black onyx rising 15 feet.
Benches faced the pillar, where an ancient Mythric inscription read:
“Thou may ask of Thoth what thy will — if thou accept his judgment.”
Then, from the north — skeletons attacked! Susarra took a harsh blow. Perhaps…
Note to future selves: Maybe leaving the crypt gates wide open in a dungeon full of undead wasn’t our brightest tactical move. Next time, let’s just hang up a welcome sign that says:
“Free bones, help yourself — BYO necromancer.”
Relics and Secret Mechanisms (map 2)
In a refuse-filled room to the east, we scoured gunk and decay and metal to uncover:
- A white 8×8 glass square — familiar from before
- Decayed black robes
- A hidden southern door
- A curious 4×4 slot in the wall
We inserted the broken pieces from the room into the slot in the wall. As the last piece clunked in, the wall opened to reveal rough-hewn stairs climbing upward — a narrow passage to the south leading up to the back side of another secret door (map 3).
Tentacled Terror (map 4)
From behind the next door, a slapping, wet sound. Opening it revealed six floating octopus-like horrors, each a writhing maw of pain. Lukios took a devastating hit. Agoston managed to put two to sleep — we retreated, sealing the door, but one beast slipped through. Five attacks per creature — madness incarnate.
Mouths, Bones, and Rumors of Fire
Back near the whispering mouths, we encounter another four skeletons and crush them with ease (duh) and avoid triggering the mouths into talking. Further south, beastmen intercepted us. Count Sceleros — they said — had fallen, burned alive by a foul wizard.
They ushered us toward his funeral rites.
The Funeral of Count Sceleros
As we approached the chamber, drumming thundered from the east. Sceleros’s possessions were on solemn display — including his beloved bones he liked to chew.
Inside his private sanctum stood:
- Deno, an ageless dark figure of unsettling beauty
- Two other Beastman counts: Georgic and Nickieos
- Five naked men reclining by the bed… 20+ zombies stood sentinel
Deno’s gaze lingered on Alexos as we entered. Belaros performed an Arkantian ritual. We shared what we knew of Sceleros’s murderer — and the goat-beast stepped forward, confirming our tale.
Deno, intrigued, spoke of revenge — but first: a feast of remembrance.
We declined food and drink… wisely. The room filled with the soft music of a lute. Deno’s eyes flashed emerald green. A spell — an enchantment of the heart and mind.
Those who failed their saves felt a magnetic pull — a desire to remain with Deno forever.
The enchanted:
- Susarra
- Lukios
- Meric
- …
Cliffhanger: Entranced in the Presence of the Ageless
The room spun. The lute played. Deno smiled.
Some of us longed never to leave. And so, from bone-crushers we became… bone-naughers — caught in the thrall of Queen Bitch Deno’s unearthly enchantment, our wills bent, our hearts bewitched. More than half the party now gazes longingly at an ageless being with a thing for zombies and mood lighting.Our only hope?
Agoston, Scholar of the Arcane, Master of Sleep (spells), and Certified Brain-User™, can pull off a miracle and shatter the spell before we’re all signing up for Deno’s cuddle cult.