A session log of our D&D adventure with ‘The Master’s Vault’ . Details in the contents page (link above).
Chapter 4: The Ghost of Dolor Forest – Part 2
It’s getting dark. After getting lost in the Dolor Forest a little more, Gwynfor, Rifma and Sephy succeed in finding the tree under which Helene is supposedly buried. It’s a beautiful flowering tree, shedding its ethereal petals like snow. When the group approaches it, Helene’s restless ghost appears.
She asks for the reason the three has come. Rifma tells Helene that her beloved mentor Elaria has passed away and that people are after the treasure in her vault. He successfully persuades her to help them find the cause of Elaria’s unnatural death. But Helene wants to be sure that Gwynfor and Rifma are really Elaria’s chosen students, so she tasks them with showing her what they have learned.
Rifma is to show his best performance as a bard. However, due to the exhaustion from all the walking, he performs poorly. Rifma having no other way to prove himself, Helene decides to forcefully pry into his mind with her psychic powers to confirm his identity. Rifma writhes painfully on the ground. Helene leaves him alone after she finds out that he’s indeed Elaria’s student.
Helene then taunts Gwynfor and asks him to climb a nearby tree, having seen that it’s his fear when he fought the wolves. Feeling somewhat insulted and eager to prove himself, Gwynfor climbs the tree twice as fast as he usually would, surpassing Helene’s expectations.
Happy with the results, Helene declares that Gwynfor and Rifma have passed the test. She entrusts three of the nine tiles required to open Elaria’s vault to them before passing on, as her job in this world is over.
Gwynfor watches her vanish, and hears a meow at his feet. Seeing Sephy there, he tells Rifma that they probably won’t even need to go through Helene’s test if they just show Sephy to her as proof. Rifma throws a fit over his unnecessary pain. Seeing that Rifma looks rather pale and distraught from Helene’s spell, Gwynfor advises that they rest in the town before proceeding to the next place.
Interlude
Through her will, Elaria’s mansion has been passed down into Gwynfor and Rifma’s possession. They retreat for the night and rest in the rooms that they used as Elaria’s students.
Lights out, Rifma sits on his bed alone in his room. When Helene forcefully broke into his mind, he thought that everything was over for him, as he has an unspeakable secret. Luckily, Helene only looked for memories regarding him and Elaria; nothing more. Rifma rolls up the long sleeves of his sleeping robes slightly, revealing the black snake scales on his arm.
He has come dressed as a human bard, but in truth, he’s a member of the Yuan-ti, a race of snake people who wish to revive their god of destruction Merrshaulk. The 800-years-old wise elf Elaria must have something they can use to fulfill their goal, prompting Rifma’s higher-ups to send him here as a spy. Rifma would certainly want to find out if whatever’s hiding in the vault is usable, but until then, he must make sure that his cover’s not blown.
Helene having disappeared without noticing anything, he should be safe for now. Hiding his scales under his sleeves, Rifma rests for the night.
- Sleeping Rifma. Gwynfor stroking Sephy and his pet kitten who lives in his hood.
- The next morning. Sephy stretching and Gwynfor making preparations for their next journey. Rifma tidies his clothes in front of the mirror and puts on his make up.
Chapter 5: The Dragon of Staircase Cliffs – Part 1
The keys from Dolor Forest found, Gwynfor, Rifma and Sephy have the Staircase Cliffs and Icebound Peak left to explore. Considering Gwynfor’s amazing climbing skills yesterday, Rifma suggests that they go to the Staircase Cliffs next. Gwynfor agrees, wanting to finish it off before his climbing luck runs out.
The party leaves town and arrives at the Staircase Cliffs. It’s a tall cliff with strange holes in its walls. The task there is to talk to Elaria’s dragonborn friend Alcaeus Scaevola, who lives high up on the cliffs. Seeing the tip of Alcaeus’ house atop the cliff, Gwynfor, Rifma and Sephy begin to climb.
There doesn’t seem to be any monster in sight. Finding it boring, Rifma suggests that they make it a race. Seeing no problem with it, Gwynfor says that the loser should treat the winner. Rifma smirks, saying that Sephy should do his best too, as they’ll both buy him premium cat food if he wins. Sephy excitedly chases after them up the cliff.
Gwynfor’s the first to arrive to the half point up the cliff. However, his arrival there awakens the local flying snakes. The numerous holes on the cliff face are apparently their nests! Five of them come to attack the party.
Gwynfor and Sephy are surprised, but Rifma feels the most horrified. Snakes being sacred animals to the Yuan-ti, they’re considered kin and it’s forbidden for him to harm them. In some Yuan-ti communities, killing snakes is even punishable by death. He stares in horror as Gwynfor and Sephy prepare themselves to cut down the snakes.
In desperation, Rifma convinces Gwynfor that they’re outnumbered, so it’s best to show the snakes that they mean no harm. The snakes might just retreat to their holes in peace. Sounding like a plan, Gwynfor agrees and tries his best to calm the snake in front of him. However, it doesn’t turn out well and things quickly turn sour.
Chapter 6: The Dragon of Staircase Cliffs – Part 2
Following Rifma’s suggestion, Gwynfor tries to settle things peacefully with the Staircase Cliffs’ local flying snakes. Gwynfor showing that he means no harm, the snake in front of him seems to be calm for a moment, but then it bites back, poisoning him severely. Rifma and Sephy panic.
One of the five snakes who has sneaked up behind Sephy takes him out with one poisonous bite. The other snakes attack Rifma, but being a Yuan-ti, he’s immune to their poison and earns only minor wounds.
Still, with Sephy down and Gwynfor in a critical condition, the situation is dire for the party. Rushing up to get Alcaeus’ help sounds like a plan but, afraid that he might just cut down all the snakes, Rifma decides not to even suggest it. He’d like to talk to the snakes with his natural Yuan-ti abilities, but it’ll give away his identity. So he uses a spell and charms one of the snakes instead.
But that leaves four of them. They make quick work of the weakened Gwynfor and gather to take Rifma down. With both Gwynfor and Sephy out, Rifma can safely talk to the snakes without blowing his cover. So he endures the snakes’ bites and convinces them to leave one by one.
Gwynfor feels the poison spread through his body as he floats between life and death. He thinks that he hears Rifma talk in the snakes’ tongue, but wonders if he’s just hearing things.
In the meantime, Rifma has successfully returned three of the snakes to their nests. He hopes that he can make it in time to save Gwynfor. However, once he sends the fourth snake home, Sephy has regained consciousness and tries to kill the last snake. Unfortunately or fortunately, it misses, and Rifma manages to send it off before it gets hurt.
The battle over, Rifma and Sephy heal Gwynfor. The three rests on the midway ledge for a moment before continuing their journey to the top. Sephy arrives first. Rifma and Gwynfor promise him his premium cat food.
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