As the session began, it was the 36th day of the 1st Trigon of Elok’s Influence. The party was regrouping after an intense fight with several ghostly figures who attacked and tried to possess the party after you opened the doors leading into what appeared to be a tomb. A long hallway lay out before you with several doors positioned along the right side, all of which were closed. The sourceless light that has lit your way so far seems to dim toward the end of the hallway.
As the party cautiously proceeded down the hallway, they entered the first room on the right. There, they were met with a chilling sight-a ghostly figure, bound by chains to the wall of a prison cell. The ghost, introducing itself as Dusan Boldblock, offered a deal. In exchange for his freedom, he would share valuable information about the stronghold and its mysterious master, Karsa Shadowheart.
After freeing Dusan, the party continued down the hall. Several other rooms offered up little until you arrived at a large set of iron double doors that Dusan said led into Karsa’s lecture room. Shortly after the doors were opened, Karsa entered from his office just off of the lecture room.
Karsa asked the party to leave. When they did not, he attacked along with two ghosts that materialized at Karsa’s command. The battle was intense. The ghosts failed to possess the party, which infuriated Karsa. Douglan, Kogaan and Lyda battled with the skeleton mage in close quarters until a final mighty blow from Kogaan shattered his body. As Karsa crumbled to the floor, he thanked Kogaan.
With the battle over, the party began the search for the staff. A magical book on a table near the front of the lecture hall bellowed purple and black smoke into an archway at the front of the room. Douglan carefully closed the book with his halberd. The smoke stopped, and soon, an entrance appeared in the archway.
Douglan and Kogaan entered and immediately saw a staff on a stone pedestal. The staff was protected by stone archers, who opened fire on Kogaan as he pushed the pedestal over. Both the pedestal and the staff shattered. This was not Countersign. The party continued down a short tunnel, where the real Countersign was discovered buried in a fake stone statue. The party quickly returned to the Stargazer and departed for Lyelion.
The several-day trip was uneventful until a few hours before arriving in Lyelion. As the party sat below eating their breakfast, the skyship’s alarm bell began to ring. Heading to the main deck, the party was immediately engaged in a fight with multiple Githyanki riding Wyvern, who appeared to be trying to take over the ship.
As the first Gith landed on the deck, it immediately dropped several of the crew members with deadly blows. But, it quickly became clear from the Gith’s look that it had not expected the level of resistance it saw.
Yelling out to its fellow Gith, it spoke in very broken common, “Not Summerwind!” The Gith broke away from the combat and drove overboard. The others followed, diving toward the Midnight Depths below them and disappearing to the north, the direction they had originally come from.