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Message: <blockquote data-quote="TheAlkaizer" data-source="post: 8442524" data-attributes="member: 7024893">Party of four:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">4th level Human Warlock</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">4th level Half-elf Rogue</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">4th level Warforged Fighter</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">4th level Halfling Sorcerer</li> </ul>Previous sessionThe previous session, they had arrived at the Temple of Tuurn. They were accompanying a scholar named Valora and were protecting her as she carried a mysterious golden egg in which she believed was something of great value. They met up with her superior; an old scholar named Master Kelran. He opened the golden egg and confirmed them they had the key to Labyrinth in their hands. It is an object that allows instant transportation to Labyrinth; the deepest and most secret part of the former headquarters of the Halls of Scholar that was destroyed in a world-ending cataclysm years ago. Rumors were that the grandmaster of the order had managed, through self-sacrifice, to safeguard it as everything else was turned to dust.This sessionIt went very well!The players spent the evening doing some downtime activities at the temple. The Halfling Sorcerer went walking outside and a voice spoke in his mind, warning him that someone was after him. The Half-Elf Rogue went to hide gold in a stash under a rock. The Warforged Fighter went to look through the travelers amassed around the temple for someone that would be willing to part with incense. The Warlock spent the night working with Valora and Master Kelran trying to solve the enigma of the Key.The following morning, they were woken up by the clamor of people making their way outside of the temple. Guzrad the Eyeless, the most revered of the Nomad Clerics would give the morning prayer to the travel idol, Peregri. The Nomad Clerics made two lines to keep people out of his path. Guzrad, a hobgoblin, came out of the temple in a long white robe and slowly made his way through the crowd, shaking hands, meeting people, giving words of encouragement. As he passed by the party, he whispered words of things he shouldn't know about to each one.He told the Sorcerer that this was a gift for his friend as he gave him two blocks of incense wrapped in cloth. He told the Rogue not to worry, that nobody saw her and that her gold was safe. He told the Warlock that the word she would look for would be KA.He proceeded to the hill. Gave a sermon. Everyone felt the warmth of Peregri's embrace and for the party, it took the form of some dices of Bardic Inspiration.A few hours after, they reconvened with the two scolars. Master Kelran exclaimed that he was one rune away from solving the enigma of the key but that he went through every scroll he had, he did not know the missing rune. The Warlock proposed KA as the appropriate rune. It worked and the key activated.The players agreed to scout the Labyrinth in case of danger. Once made safe, the scholars would join them and would share some of the magic secrets of the Vault with the party as a reward.They activated the key and were transported to Labyrinth. A series of tall rooms made of pale blue bricks with blue torches flickering. Glass windows gave view on the Astral Sea and the players quickly understood that Labyrinth was now a minuscule self-contained plane floating in the Astral Sea. They slowly explored through about a third of the dungeon; they found traces of books being burned, smeared with ink or torn to shreds. They also saw traces of unholy green flames and cracks running along walls and structural components of the Labyrinth. Finally, they found the place to be exceptionally clean and tidy even though no one is supposed to have visited it in over thirty years.As they made their way back from one wing, they heard a clacking noise, and rushing to meet it, they came face to face with a Flameskull and two flanking Skeletons. The fight being in a corridor, it made the Flameskull very efficient with its Flaming Sphere and two Fire Rays per turn. They took alot of damage, but defeated the threat and agreed to take a short rest.We'll resume the rest of the exploration in a few weeks.ThoughtsOverall, it went very well. The last two sessions only had one combat encounter and the game leaned pretty hard towards travel and social encounters with a bit too much exposition. This changed the tone nicely to a good room by room crawl with plenty of mystery. It also ties nicely with hooks to two other storylines I have planned. I'm very much taking the approach of where I'm offering my players half a dozen hooks at a time and let them face these shorter and local quests instead of the usual world-saving epics. Also, the Labyrinth and its vault lends itself to some interesting rewards...Finally, I'm planting a seed for a later reveal. We might never get there. But this is the first time my players are exploring it; they will not find any trace of the Grandmaster that allegedly sacrificed himself. But he's secretly dormant in a secret room. Loneliness and despair over thirty years turned him to madness. He's only part way through a ritual to attain lichdom (which I decided takes some time). If they come again later, they might catch him outside of his secret room. I'll give hints of decay (falling hairs, gaunt, pale skin) that may increase with each meeting. If we get to higher levels, I will most likely homebrew a lower CR lich.</blockquote>

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