Our heroes set off into the silent darkness of the Shademark, the borderlands between the mortal and immortal realms, also known as the Land of the Dead. Raehendra concentrates on her shadow compass, the one item that will let her navigate the directions given by The Wise One.
Raehendra guides the party between a pair of tentacled statues, counter-clockwise around a standing statue, beyond a seated statue, and through an invisible maze. On the way, they meet two riddle-giving denizens of the Shademark; our heroes answer the riddles begrudgingly.
In time, our heroes come across a cluster of shelves and tables, covered with all kinds of items. Raehendra recognizes them as products sold at her parents' stores—and made for them by enslaved kobolds. The party examines the items and finds them to be low-quality, even fake. It is quite an unusual scene to discover in the dark of the Shademark. Raehendra and the others ponder on that.
They continue on and find another strange environment, small growths of trees—and an unmoving dragon...something. A statue? Perhaps more?
Barclay magically senses another mind immediately before they are attacked by the "Promise-Keeper", a balhannoth. The creature is an annoyance, disappearing and teleporting around while grappling the party with tentacles and biting with powerful jaws. Kodrak and Raehendra deal significant damage, while Renn investigates the "dragon" (an illusion), and Sentie is polymorphed into a gorilla. Barclay is shaken but aids the rest of the party. Kodrak lands the killing blow, opening the way to the Path of Greebles.
This path is more like a river of Greebles, which our heroes walk on to reach the Well of Souls. They match some runes to open it and call upon the Mouth of Greebles. Raehendra masterfully negotiates for the Greebles' help in defeating Eltheodir, a dead god being resurrected by cultists in the mortal world. Ooblex, a tiny sludgy Greeble, travels with Raehendra.
In the distance, a pair of doors appears, leading back to Sister Vara's refuge. From there, our heroes pass through another door, climbing seemingly neverending stairs up a mountain, until they lose consciousness.
The party "awakes" in Caddes Byr, the City of Graves. A month has passed, and tomorrow is the first of Haws, the date of the impending ritual. Recent events have changed everyone, perhaps Barclay most of all. He has dropped his fake accent, and he actually seems comfortable with everyone else; he congratulated Raehendra on her negotiation skills, and his interactions with Sentie are less angry and more playful.
Barclay sends messages to Rixiilliandrias, who says they must reach Nevriath as soon as possible. Our heroes take a path along the ley line, which gets them to the city before noon.
Nevriath is bustling with activity. Unfortunately, almost no one knows that in a day, a ritual may resurrect the dead god Eltheodir—which carries powerful consequences for everyone. The party has no clue where to start, until Renn hears his sister Liliani shouting above the crowd.
We'll continue with that conversation next time!
Soundtrack:
Bardify, Shadowfell
DesertX, EP01 (2024)
The Main Cast, our player characters:
- Barclay Stone (he/him), human bard (college of eloquence)
- Aevyr, his imp familiar
- Kodrak Kukkerlun (he/him), dwarven fighter (battle master)
- Raehendra Tiddlybumpkin (she/her), gnomish ranger (hunter)
- Renn Summerstar (he/him), elven cleric of Lioris (twilight domain)
- Sentie Rancis (they/them), human wizard (school of transmutation)
The Supporting Cast, non-player characters:
- Rixiilliandrias of Pallistae Starling-on-Tinsley, wizard
- Two riddlers
The Promise-Breaker, a Balhannoth- The Mouth of Greebles, an aggregate of greebles
- Ooblex, greeble
- Clerics and priests of various death gods
- Liliani, human, Renn’s sister
See the full cast list at Campaigns in Elsemorn—now with photos of the miniatures used in the game!
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