Abomination Vaults Session 8
Published:
10-16 Pharast 4721: Downtime and The Gauntlight Ruins
The group spends one week of downtime in Otari. Corbin starts his business of offering occult consultations, albeit with a slow start. Zazgaz spends the week helping farmers till the fields. Arryn is invited to marvel at the display of his recovered monster corpses in Hall of Honors in the Dawnflower Library–right next to famous town heirlooms. Rizzard learns how to play cards at the Crooks Nook. The proprietor, Yinyasmerah, lets slip that she is looking for four of her associates that have not returned from the Gauntlight (50 gp reward!).
Carman Rajani, often seen sleeping off his drunken bender in the town square, gets in a scuffle with the town guard. The group has to defuse the situation before things turn even uglier. Carman sure seems to have a reputation in town.
On 16 Pharast, the group returns to the Gauntlight, exploring the adjacent buildings. They find an old boat deck and some evidence of the thieves from the Osprey Club. They also discover an entrance to a flooded cave under the broken pier.
To the North, the explore an old lens workshop. They fight with a flying bird puppet, animated by a strange gem, and encounter a little creature calling itself “Spooky Whisp”. In exchange for a shiny spyglass, the creature reveals that the workshop belonged to Volluk Azrinae, an apprentice to Belcorra Haruvex. In the workshop, they also find several old paintings displaying the Gauntlight and Absalom in flames.
Descending down a winding staircase, they find some old servants’ quarters. Arryn recovers an old sketchbook of Volluk’s, full of detailed medical drawings.
In another room to the West, they find a strange contraption. An operating table, leather straps, a strange drill with a gemstone lens. While trying to discern its function, the grey meat on the table animates. The large, leech-like creature burrows its round, toothy maw into Arryn and begins to suck his blood out. Arryn turns ash-white and collapses. The others attack but the creature does not relent. Loud sucking sounds reverberate through the room as the life is drained out of poor Arryn. At the last moment, a heavy overhand blow by Corbin kills the creature–which explodes in a cascade of blood, guts, and necromantic energy. Zazgaz rushes over and attempts to save Arryn’s life but the blood just keeps gushing out of his chest wound. A healing potion saves his life at the last second–gods be praised!