Session Report: 05/08/21 The Nail

 The Regulators wake up and make their way to Melora’s Light. Lightkeeper Gladys greets them and brings them up to speed. Years ago a worshipper had fallen to her death in the small shrine to Melora beneath the lighthouse. The shrine has been boarded up since, but the past few weeks, a mournful wailing is heard at night that has kept her from restful sleep. The party heads down to the entrance and finds evidence of some of the vines being cut, and new growth filling in. Zoldara opens the door and a foul odor escapes.

The Tinker imbues a bolt with light before heading into the shrine, he hinds every surface covered with well-kept grass and flowers, even the walls are covered with fungus. A ramp descends down to his left. Tink shoots his lighted bolt into the wall near the ramp and sees a body slumped against the wall. The rest of the party makes their way in and as Zoldara enters, the fungus carpeting the walls begins to give off a soft glow. She offers a prayer to Melora as the party investigates the body. They see no signs of injury on the bloated corpse but can determine it is of elven heritage. They search the body and find a note written in Sylvan that reads “Whispers tell of a necromancer carrying the nail sent to defile Melora’s light was never seen again.” along with an unopened Bottled Breath.

The party decides to descend into the grotto but before they can make it to the grotto, an explosion of earth unveils a mass of long, fur-covered legs and snapping fangs. A group of five giant wolf spiders ambushes the party. It is a brief battle with Zoldara and Tink being poisoned by the beasts before Vishara fells the last creature. The party regroups before making their final descent to the grotto.

A meadow stretches across the cavern as the bioluminescent fungus glows on the rocky walls illuminate a large pool. as the party approaches the pool the soft grasses give way to the crunch of dried, dead vegetation beneath their feet. As the group pauses to investigate Rozenwyn uses her divine sense just in time to see the illuminated form of a foul creature rising from the depths of the pool. The Archheart bestows upon her the understanding that this assailant is an evil, undead menace.

A slightly transparent figure floats just above the surface of the pool. Never one to back down from a creature dwelling in the dark, Vishara leaps into the pool to mete out swift justice. She realizes too late that the pool runs deeper than she thought as she struggles to keep her head above water. Tink unleashes a gout of faerie fire, hoping to catch this wretched fiend unaware, but it deftly maneuvers out of the trap. The profane entity reaches out with an ice-cold hand which wracks Vishara’s body with pain before floating into the meadow to address the larger force. Zoldara screeches in pain, merely standing near it causes evil energy to course through her body. She attempts to stab at the thing with her javelins, but they cannot find purchase in its incorporeal form. Rozenwyn can injure it with a well-timed guiding bolt. Tuck scrambles into the fray pelting her with his fists after he is unable to strike her with his spear.

Vishara is unable to draw closer to the thing as crippling fear attacks her mind. She manages to make her way to the shore though. Tink fires off a scorching ray that manages to strike true. The thing then reaches out to grasp Zoldara with its corrupting touch. The pain is too much for her as she falls unconscious at its feet. Rozenwyn unleashes a necromantic spell that damages the thing, and Tuck manages to cause it further harm while resuscitating Zoldara.

Just as the group begins to rally, the undead being shrieked a blood-curdling cry which leaves Vishara and Zoldara unconscious. The thing quickly slips below the surface to escape. Tuck quickly partakes of the bottled breath and dives in to pursue it with Tink while Rozenwyn tens to the fallen. They find a small network of caves below the surface they find a small trove of coins, and some remains before being attack by the undead horror. They can make quick work of the badly injured being and set out to recover the treasure and investigate the remains located earlier. The remains here also appear to be of elven origin, and they find a small pouch along with a dagger appearing to be made of black glass with a bone grip.

Back on the surface, they examine the treasure which contains 1800 copper, 1400 silver, 50 gold, 6 blue quartz gems (10 gold each), a potion of lightning resistance, and a mithril breastplate. The pouch contains 14 platinum, 12 gold, 3 silver, and a ruby worth 150 gold, which appears to have an eyeball inside. Having rested the party makes their way to Gladys and informs her of what they discovered. She seems to recall that there was some vandalism taking place at the time of the incident, and the worshipper that fell to her death was acting as a guard the night of the accident. They never recovered another body, but the vandalism stopped. She rewards their efforts with a large diamond worth 300 gold.

The party then makes its way to the Whithered Bird Inn to get some lunch. They find their hired bosun, Kal Hammerhands there who informs them he has acquired materials to repair the ballistae and hired a capable crew. He advises them that the crew will cost 180 gold for a 90-day contract. He also requests the party to pay the remaining 90 gold for his contract which they agree to. He says the ballistae should be operational in two weeks before leaving. The Regulators order some ale and food before deciding on their next course of action.