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Keys from the Golden Vault Session 48
Starring
Chéri Powder, level 9 human Illusionist Wizard
Elowen Fernwhisper, level 9 wood elf Circle of the Moon Druid
Stayzie Diamondz, level 9 orc Champion Fighter
Taveen, level 9 aasimar Warrior of Mercy Monk
Varrow, level 9 gnome Thief Rogue/Gloomstalker Ranger
After hurtling through time and space from interrupting the ritual beneath the Neverdeath Cemetery, each of the party members wake up inside a cramped, dark coffin (well except for the druid-bear, who’s trapped beneath a pile of coffins, but it did spark a funny conversation about bear coffins).
Stayie and Chéri are momentarily stunned by the events, while the others are able to bust out of confinement, into a dark world with sour-smelling air. And the sky oddly devoid of familiar constellations. The sound of monstrous growling surrounds them.
Welcome to the Shadowfell! Here’s a horde of flesh-hungry ghouls to welcome you!
(This mission is taken from Chapter 1 of Vecna: Eve of Ruin. The alternate dungeon map is from Tessa Presents 56 Maps for Vecna: Eve of Ruin.)
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The party begins in a mass grave pit in the cemetery. Before they can get their bearings, over half a dozen ghouls descend on them!
Varrow hears a bumping and uses his crowbar to free Eldon, the elven scholar from the cage in the dungeon. The elf is grateful for the rescue, and thankfully he’s not useless. He’s a cleric of Deneir, and casts spirit guardians to hit the ghouls as they run in.
The gnome quietly hides in a corner, leading the majority of the ghouls to attack Taveen and Elo-bear.
Elowen takes the worst of the damage, getting absolutely surrounded and viciously bit and scratched, while Chéri and Stayzie come to their senses and bust out of their coffins.
While the bear struggles, Stayzie and Taveen hack, slash, and punch, and Chéri pulls out his lighter and roasts half of them (burning hands!).
Eldon maintains concentration on spirit guardians, and one of the ghouls tries to flee, prompting Varrow to chase after and kill it.
At the top of the pit they get their first glance at the world they’ve entered.
A dark, twisted version of the city of Neverwinter. Gothic towers and spires, giant bats, and roaming undead.
Welcome to Evernight!
Eldon, being a scholar of planar travel, helps explain the situation they’re in. He recognizes the Shadowfell, and that by interrupting the ritual (in a place where the veil between worlds was thin), they were shunted through a Shadow Crossing.
They’re still in the city, but an entirely different plane, one of eternal night or dusk) that’s primarily populated by undead.
The party has also become linked to The Whispered One, aka Vecna, and gained a portion of his knowledge-absorbing power. By learning important secrets, they can spend those secrets to gain a temporary buff (advantage on d20 tests!). They also get a once per day free casting of See Invisibilty.
After clearing the ghouls, they recover some wounds with a short rest. Elowen reverts back to elven form, and heals everyone up with a massive 30hp Mass Cure Wounds.
Eldon suggests they ask around where a Shadow Crossing could be, as the one they came through was a temporary rift. A market should be nearby — but they’ll need a plan to explain why a bunch of living adventures are just waltzing around (most living creatures here are slaves, or food).
Thankfully, Chéri has access to a powerful mass disguise spell, Seeming! He asks everyone what their undead-sona looks like, and magically disguises everyone to appear more undead — including himself as the supreme Lich Lord!
Now they just have to carefully navigate through a city of undead in order to find their way back home.
Live post-session discussion:
Next session: The Corpse Market!
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