2024-07-05 – Shadowed Keep

Characters

  • Chartreuse (pp 14)
  • Eldrox (pp 16)
  • Helm Hobbs (pp 17)
  • Radon (pp 14)
  • Voxi (pp 11)
  • Zaffre (pp 14)

Strong Start

Brother Navros, Sir Gidion, and the cultists of the Black Harbinger

Scenes

  • The Key of Eyes and Mouths is collected.
  • Rest or return to the doorway.
  • Open into the chambers of the Undercrypt.
  • Face High Priest Kryxsis and the Claws of World's End
  • Meet the Children of Lolth.
  • Journey to the Drow outpost.

Secrets and Clues

  • Ancient glyphs of elves can be found deep in the earth. Do the children of Lolth live here?
  • The natural formations of the earth are different here. The obelisks twist them somehow.
  • How far do the abyssal machines reach? All the way to the archeplaegos of Radon's birth?
  • The whispers of lolth travel through these halls.
  • Blood Sister Zaxya of the World Eaters holds the Key of Eyes and Mouths. She and her World Eater assassins hunt Black Harbingers.
  • High Priest Kryxsis Blacktooth attempts to channel energy from the Shadowed Keep obelisk which infuses his allies with tremendous power.
  • Passages in the Undercrypt lead into the caverns of the underdark.
  • The Black Cathedral lies beneath the dwarven citadel of Vongyth. Vongyth lies at the edge of the Forest of Grey Spires carved into a plateau.
  • Blood Moon goblinoids used to haunt these halls but they were subverted by the voice of the Eater of Worlds on the other side. They can be heard to whisper a word – Hethradiah.
  • Two lead the forces of the Black Harbinger, Sir Geldron Grayhand and Brother Navros.
  • Three lead the World Eaters – Blood Sisters Axleva and Zaxya and Elder Kryxsis Blacktooth.
  • Deep caverns lead throughout the underworld, some passages lead to the drow city of Erelhei-Cinlu. There's a nasty temple of demon-worshipping Kuo-toa down there as well.
  • The drow are having a bit of a civil war between noble houses – two in particular – House Kilsek and House Eilservs who now serves another deity.

Drow Houses

  1. House of Tormtor: Actively allied with the House of Eilservs, they are very powerful despite their low rank .
  2. House of Everhate: Nominal supporters of the houses worshipping Lolth, preferring to wait and see the outcome of contests .
  3. House of Despana: Closely allied with Kilsek and Noquar to bring ruin upon the Eilservs, seeking to gain first precedence .
  4. House of Noquar: Close allies of Despana and Kilsek, hoping the struggle with Eilservs will weaken their allies so they can become the greatest noble family .
  5. House of Godeep: Committed to the anti-Eilservs faction, they seek greater rewards from the victorious Kilsek combination .
  6. House of Aleval: A weak family primarily bent on gaining more power by waiting for either faction to become supreme and then joining the victors .
  7. House of Kilsek: Loyal to their society of sororities and ranked second among the noble houses.
  8. House of Eilservs: As the house of first precedence, they seek an absolute monarch to rule the Vault, turning away from Lolth and proclaiming an Elder Elemental God.

Notable NPCs

  • Blood Sister Zaxya holds the key of eyes and mouths.
  • High Priest Kryxsis of the Eater of Worlds
  • Sir Geldron Grayhand – wight commander
  • Brother Navros – Priest of the Black Harbingers but secret priest of the Dead Night
  • Shadowhunter Angaste Duskryn
  • Shadowhunter Gurina Duskryn

Treasure

  • 291 sp, 2,244 gp, 72 pp (2,993gp), 750 gp ghoulish coral bead necklace , Ring of Protection, Spell Scroll (4th-level, Death Ward), Portable Hole,

Game Notes

  • Helm Hobbs was cut down by Sir Geldrin who trapped him in his sword.
  • Brother Navros used a concoction to pull Helms soul into the realm of Demogorgon where the characters realized that Demogorgon is behind both the Eater of Worlds and the Dead Knight.
  • Voxi used a scroll of revivify to resurrect Helm Hobbs but he is marked by Demogorgon and has now “seen some shit”. He now talks to the creepy weepy doll
  • The characters made their way into the undercrypts to the chapel of the World Eater and are about to face a dozen World Eater goblins.