Part 3: The Monster of Daggafor
Session 13: Monster of Daggafor: Part I
Afternoon, ?? Summer Prime, 498 CE
- Inquisitor Edred Zenith, Ragnar the Grave Cleric, Moira Summerset, and Maeve are a group of wandering Demon Hunters.
- Having heard of a monster being summoned in the small town of Daggafor, the party set out to destroy the monster.
- A few hours outside of town, they met a stern looking Judge.
- His name was Judge Elliot Kroll, judge of the town of Daggafor.
- He explained that, during a wedding between boy Keith Lancaster and Sarah Hazel, there was a demon attack.
- The Abbot of the town, alongside the Apothecary, were able to subdue the beast and seal it away in the crypt.
- The Judge also explained that the beast has been tormenting the townsfolk with promises of whatever they desire to be inside the crypt.
- As the party began journeying toward Daggafor, Maeve began to hear whispers in her head.
- The voice said that the Judge couldn't be trusted, and they he had locked her away in the crypt.
- Maeve recognized the voice as her dead sister, Nadine, and began to shut out the voice.
- The voice pleaded, saying that the Judge is a liar and that he has a scar on his leg that she gave him.
- When Maeve asked the Judge about the scar, he said it was from a childhood injury.
- When the party arrived in town, Edred said that he would retire to the wagon to investigate what sort of demon they were facing, and how to best deal with it.
- While he is studying, he told the party that they must figure out how the demon got here and who brought it here.
- He told them to investigate the apothecary, the abbot, as well as the two families of the bride and groom.
- The party began by going to the Apothacary, Nya.
- She was an old Elven woman, with many strange herbs and crystals in her house.
- She brewed some calming tea for the party, which Maeve drank to quiet the voice in her head.
- As soon as she did, she realized that the demon had been taking up a lot of real estate in her mind.
- Nya explained that she had moved to the town about 30 years ago, having left her home to explore the world.
- She fell in love with the town and hasn't left since.
- She acts as the town's doctor, providing medical service for the townsfolk, as well as selling tinctures and potions.
- Nya described what happened during the wedding, that the couple looked scared before embracing.
- After which, their skin began to melt off, their bones began to reconfigure, and they turned into a horrible beast.
- After some prodding, the party discovered that she was a Druid, and used her magic to help seal away the demon.
- Nya also explained that there was bad blood between the Lancasters and the Hazels, because Markus Lancaster lost his wife, Adia, during a hunter accident that was Lauren Hazel's fault.
- The party then went to the question Markus Lancaster, the blacksmith.
- Markus and the party initially had a really tense exchange, as they pressed him on having a negative relationship with the Hazels.
- Markus admitted to not liking the Hazels, but had forgiven Lauren for what happened to his wife.
- He claimed that the Hazels were the ones with the beef.
- At this point, Maeve noticed a necklace of Talena around Markus' neck.
- The party pressed him, and Markus claimed that the Hazel's never liked him or Keith because they worshipped Talena.
- When prompted with the idea that someone in town was responsible, Markus said that if he found someone in town did this that he would kill them.
- The party then went to question Taren Hazel, the Woodsman, and Lauren Hazel, the Huntress.
- The Hazel's house was one of the largest in town.
- They began questioning the Hazel's about what happened.
- They said that Keith's religion didn't bother them, but the party sussed out that that was a lie.
- Lauren appeared to regret her involvement in Adia's death.
- Taren said that what happened was divine punishment from their gods, for holding a wedding ceremony in Talena's name on their sacred grounds.
- Lauren said that her husband didn't mean it, and that he was speaking out of anger.
- When question about Nya, Lauren seemed really taken with the Elf.
- She mentioned palm readings and star signs and tea leaves, and she could make your wishes come true.
Session 14: Monster of Daggafor: Part II
Afternoon, ?? Summer Prime, 498 CE
- The party left the Hazel's and decided to talk with the Abbot of the local Church.
- They find the abbey at the top of a hill, near the crypt where the demon is sealed.
- There they meet Ronan Cellach, an Abbot of The Three.
- He confessed to having been the cause of the demon's appearance.
- He explained that him performing the ceremony on sacred ground caused a contradiction in his beliefs that could not be reconciled, and caused a being of great evil to manifest.
- The party then explained to the Abbot that that isn't how demons work, much to the relief of the Abbot.
- He also explained that he used Holy Water to drive the beast back into the crypt before Nya sealed it away.
- Maeve, while investigating the abbey, found a small statuette of the Goddess, Talena.
- The Abbot said it belonged to Marcus, the blacksmith, but he no longer wanted it back after the wedding.
- The party then left to exam the crime scene, the clearing in front of the crypt.
- Maeve examined the bushes around the clearing, finding nothing.
- Ragnar examined the crypt, finding no cracks that anything, even a mouse, could get in or out.
- Moira found a small, broken obsidian crystal near where the Hazel's would have been sitting during the wedding.
- The party then went to Edred, to explain everything that they had seen so far.
- Edred explained that there are three ways to summon a demon:
- You can create one, but this (as far as anyone knows) only happened once a thousand years ago.
- You can release one that was sealed away.
- Or it was already here, waiting.
- Edred also says that he thinks he discovered what creature it is that they are facing, though he doesn't know exactly.
- He does know enough to know how to kill it; with a silvered dagger after defeating it.
- The party, plus Edred, then leave to question Lauren Hazel under one of Edred's Zone of Truths.
- Maeve, while investigating the house, found a bunch of obsidian crystals like the one Moira found at the scene of the crime.
- Lauren said she the obsidian stones are wish stones, and people all over town buy them from Nya.
- Lauren admits to having crushed one of the obsidian crystals, wishing for the wedding to be called off.
- The party then arrest Lauren, and bring her to their wagon.
- They then went to question Nya, the elven apothecary.
- Nya said that the crystals were wish spells, but they didn't do anything.
- After you crush the stone, Nya would then try to make your wish come true herself overnight.
- She said that she created the stones herself, and Edred and Moira confirmed that none of the other stones appeared to stink like demons.
- The party then also arrested Nya.
- The party decided that they would continue questioning Nya to find out what exactly happened after defeating the demon.
- They wanted to have her be more secure, so they wanted to lock her up in the Judge's holding cell in his manor.
- Before they trusted the Judge, however, they questioned him with a second Zone of Truth spell.
- The Judge said he had nothing to do with the demon.
- He admitted to hating Nya, but is not trying to frame her.
- The party, satisfied with the Judge's innocence in this, agreed to have Lauren and Nya held in the Judge's holding cell while they went off to fight the demon.
Session 15: Monster of Daggafor: Part III
Evening, Summer Prime, 497 CE
- With Nya and Lauren locked away in the Judge's manor, the party left to deal with the demon.
- They moved the rock blocking the way to the crypt and then entered.
- Inside, everyone (besides Maeve who had drank Nya's calming tea) saw a beautiful forest scene.
- The forest resembled Maeve and Edred's hometown.
- As everyone entered, the demon Balhannoth attacked.
- After a bloody battle that nearly cost Edred his life, the beast was finally slain.
- Edred handed Moira a silvered dagger, which she used to destroy the demon.
- After a moment, the essence of the demon crystallized and dispersed around town.
- One of the crystallized pieces pierced Maeve, nearly instantly killing her.
- Edred was able to cast a healing spell on her.
- Eventually, Maeve stabilized and the party ran out to see what was happening in the town.
- Nearly every inhabitant of the town looked dead.
- Edred ran to the church to find the statuette of Talena.
- Ragnar ran around town, looking for survivors or people he could help.
- Moira and Maeve ran to the Judge's manor to check on Nya.
- While around town, Ragnar met up with Marcus the blacksmith.
- Inside the Judge's manor, Nya had managed to kill the Judge and escape.
- Before they could find her, a darkness took over the town.
- Edred mournfully sealed away the darkness using the statuette of Talena as a beacon to channel a spell.
- He told Moira that she needed to lead the party now.
- He told Ragnar that he'll know what to do, as he's seen where they're going before.
- He apologized to Maeve, saying that he only ever wanted to keep her safe.
- After his tearful goodbye, Edred sealed away the pure demon that had been summoned via the ritual.
- In reversing the spell, however, the rest of the party were transported to the land of the dead; Shadowfell.
- In Shadowfell, the party plus Marcus, reunited.
- The lit a torch to be able to see, and glimpsed Nya the elf.
- Nya seemed confused, wondering where Terra was, before being killed by something in the darkness.
- The moment of the demon's summoning, a young druid named Revana was awoken and became one of Terra's walkers.
Evening, 24th Summer Prime, 498 CE
- Back in the Faerealm, Revana, Sanglant, Ekhart, and Remy arrived at Uun's Ruins.
- Remy, now confronted with Ekhart's true form and the Shadow Elemental Uun, calmed asked to hear the whole story.
- She cast zone of truth, and the party explained who they were and what they were doing.
- She asked for clarification about whether Uun or Ekhart were demons, and they assured her that they were not.
- Remy then asked the party if she could join them on their mission to save the world.
- Uun then explained that he knew of a way to stop the demon that had been summoned into the world, as it had happened once before.
- A young human woman named Lenna, had traveled the world during the Burning Era and gained the blessings of the Elementals and sealed away the Darkness once before.
- The Elementals had been possessed by lesser demons themselves, so Uun does not have perfect memory of the events.
- But after helping each of the Elementals, Syndra the Fire Elemental, had been possessed by the Pure Demon.
- Knowing it would be impossible to gain her blessing, Lenna sacrificed herself to become the final blessing.
- The two of them, Lenna and Syndra, were sealed away into the Darkness.
- Lenna would eventually become deified and would become to be known as Talena, the Goddess of Light.
- Uun then offered his blessing to the party, to help on their quest.
- He gave Sanglant the abilty to Shadow Step.
- He gave Revana the ability to turn into a Shadow Beast.
- He gave Ekhart a better understanding of Conjuration magic.
- He gave Remy the ability to summon Shadow Guardians.