March 25, 118
The party feel that they are too weakened to face the mysterious figures in the city above, so they decide to rest for the night. They return to the aboveground shrine and barricade the doors so the figures can't get in.
Before resting for the night, Ellyanna returns to the pool for one last experiment. She throws a flask of oil into the pool and ignites it. The oil seems to float above the other black liquid and it burns away cleanly, leaving only the same black film behind. Reusing the oil flask, Ellyanna fills it with the black liquid so she can experiment with it later.
March 26, 118
After an uneventful night, Ellyanna tells the rest of the party that she received a message from her professor back in Ember during the night, having updated him before going to sleep. In it, he commented on what they'd found in this area, telling Ellyanna that the presence of Zargon might be the disturbance that he had felt which caused him to send her to investigate in the first place. He has commanded her to continue investigating and, if necessary, stop whatever Zargon is doing.
Well-rested and refreshed, the party return aboveground and prepare to face the hiding figures. Once again, they send Ellyanna out first, hoping to be able to communicate with them. This time, the plan works, and one figure steps out to speak with her.
As soon as the figure begins talking, they recognize the voice - it is the undead woman who they fought in the dragon's lair. She tells Ellyanna that normally she would simply kill them, but she has received orders to the contrary. Her master ("General Cyrus, commander of the Imperial Legions") has instructed her to take them to him. They can either come with her willingly, or be taken forcibly.
Ellyanna tries to get more information out of the woman. She tells them that Cyrus is about a week away to the north (or two weeks for the living, who need to rest at night), but otherwise, she is tight-lipped. Ellyanna decides that she doesn't trust the offer and instead attacks, firing a trio of Scorching Rays at the woman.
As the rest of the party rush forward to help Ellyanna, the black-cloaked woman's allies also show themselves. A second black-cloaked figure steps out from a nearby building, a half-dozen skeletons rise from the ground and begin advancing, and two hulking undead ogres burst out from underneath nearby piles of rubble.
Ellyanna is dropped by a barrage of arrows from the skeletons, but Calanon hurls one of the beads from the Necklace of Fireballs, incinerating half of them and hitting the black-cloaked woman as well. Kaplan moves forward to hold off the two black-robed figures while the rest of the party heal Ellyanna and take on the skeletons and zombie ogres.
The party continue fighting until all of the undead have moved close enough to Feyrith, who invokes her god Soloneth and unleashes a wave of holy energy, driving the creatures away as she did when they first met her. Only the few remaining skeletons manage to resist; the rest of the undead begin to flee from the holy power.
The party make short work of the skeletons, and as the woman flees, Calanon throws a second bead from the necklace at her while Ash-Daughter attacks with her bow. However, the woman escapes their range before they are able to drop her, and she is faster than anyone in the party, so they have no hope of catching her.
The party know that the undead will only flee for about a minute before the effects of Feyrith's invocation wear off. Since they all ran in different directions, they decide to chase the second black-cloaked figure. They are able to keep pace with it, but it has a head start, since they finished off the skeletons and attacked the woman before giving chase.
They pursue the creature until it regains its senses, but once it realizes that it's all alone and sees the party charging towards it, it decides to keep running anyway. Realizing that they can't outrun a tireless undead creature, the party give up the chase.
However, by chance, they spot one of the ogre zombies nearby. It has also regained its senses, but appears to be just standing in place now. They charge the creature and attack it. Although it hits hard and takes a lot of punishment, it's no match for the seven of them on its own, and they destroy the creature without too much trouble.
Rushing back to the shrine, the party find that none of the undead creatures have returned and they are alone. However, they're worried that either of the black-robed creatures might return with reinforcements at any time. So, they decide to collect the White Elf commoners from below and make a run for it.
Since they need their supplies in order to keep following the bone compass, they need to return to the White Elf village to retrieve them. They ask Feyrith how they could get back there, and she suggests two options. The safer but slower option is to walk around the lake, which should take about two days. The faster but riskier option is to return to the eastern slopes of the mountain and steal the boats they arrived in. That would allow them to get to the village in only one day.
The party decide to attempt to steal the boats and, along with the four commoners, head out for the east side of the mountain.
Monday, March 21, 2016
Session 36: The Scrying Pool
March 25, 118
Passing through the secret entrance, the party move through a hallway before arriving at a door. Inside is a room decorated in bones, feathers, totems, and other shamanistic trappings. Evidently, this is the home of the bugbear spellcaster that they previously fought. They take some time to search the room, but they find nothing of interest. If the various shamanistic items inside have any use, none of the party are able discern what it might be.
Moving past this room, they arrive at (as far as they know) the last unexplored room in the complex. Inside, it is a large crypt, in which all of the coffins have been stacked to the side. The rest of the room contains a large, confortable-looking bed and a large wooden chest. Searching the room, they find nothing else of interest, except that the chest appears to be locked.
Ash-Daughter is able to pick the lock, and inside the chest is filled with coins, mostly of the copper and silver variety. Digging through the chest, they find that it also contains some black gems, several golden bracelets, two potions, and a silver necklace. Ellyanna determines that the potions and the necklace are magical.
While Ellyanna tries to identify the items, the rest of the party check out the bed, wondering if it's the same as the one they found beneath Frosthaven. Although it looks similar, it doesn't seem to be magical and they don't feel any different while lying on it. They leave it alone after Ellyanna finishes studying the items, which she determines are a Potion of Fire Giant Strength, a Potion of Clairvoyance, and a Necklace of Fireballs. They distribute the items among themselves.
Putting off further investigation of the pool room for now, the party head up the stairs and find themselves at ground level, inside a temple of some sort. The far end of the room contains a double door and two narrow, slit-like windows that offer a view of the outside. The temple looks to be similar to the shrine they found below, but unused. Where the shrine below contained a bloodstained altar and human bones hanging from the ceiling, the shrine above contains a clean, unmarked altar and empty hooks hanging from the ceiling.
Moving forward through the building, the party open the doors and look through. They find that they are in an ancient, ruined city. Only the building that they're in is still intact; the rest consist of little more than foundation stones and the occasional intact wall. However, they also see that there are several figures hiding in the ruins, watching them. They immediately back into the building and close the doors behind them.
While Ash-Daughter keeps an eye out through the windows, the rest of the party ask Feyrith if she knows where they are. She tells them that there is supposedly an ancient city on the northern slopes of the dragon's mountain, so that's probably where they are.
Several minutes pass while Ash-Daughter stays on watch, but the figures outside do not move. Suspecting that they are waiting to ambush the party, the group discuss their options. They decide to send Ellyanna out, dressed in the black robes, posing as an ally of the undead. When she steps out, they do not attack, but neither do they respond to her at all.
Eventually, the party decide that they should finish investigating the pool down below before they deal with the figures outside, so they head back down into the complex. Leaving Feyrith on watch in case the mysterious figures follow them in, the rest of the party return to the pool.
Knowing that the pool reacted when blood was dripped into it, they decide to retrieve one of the bugbear corpses and use its blood. They drag the corpse in and slit its throat, draining as much blood as they can into the pool. However, it seems to have no effect.
The party stop to discuss why the blood isn't doing anything. Eventually, they decide that it might be because it isn't fresh enough, of possibly because they blood must be drawn using the black dagger. Ellyanna volunteers to test their theory by cutting herself with the dagger and bleeding into the pool, but the hardier Kaplan insists that he take her place instead.
Kaplan steps in front of the pool and Ellyanna cuts his wrist with the dagger. As his blood spreads throughough the pool, they begin to see an image appear. The image is of a series of quivering, rubbery, mustard-yellow overlapping scales, with metal wires running across them, periodically anchored into the scales with nails and metal braces.
Kaplan keeps bleeding until he nearly faints from blood loss; at the last moment, Calanon heals him and closes the wound. At this point, the blood covers about three-quarters of the pool's surface. Wanting to see the full image, they heal up Kaplan and repeat the process until the whole surface is covered.
Once the full image is visible, they see one more detail: near the edge of the pool, they can see what appears to be the start of a colossal eye. Acting on a hunch based on the incription before the room ("Speak the Name of the Master") Dark Star speaks aloud the name "Zargon".
The image shifts as the eye moves toward the center of the pool, but the adventurers each see only a split second of movement before their minds are enveloped with searing pain. Most of the party are immediately incapacitated; only Dark Star and Calanon retain their senses. Immediately, they avert their gazes from the pool and begin healing their companions and dragged them out of the room. Dark Star risks a quick glance back at the pool, but again his mind is filled with searing pain.
Feyrith rejoins the group outside of the room and helps to heal them. They return to the secret area where the White Elf commoners are hiding and rest for an hour to recover.
Once they're recovered, the party return to the room where they fought the black ooze and double-check the statues. Comparing the four statues to the image they saw in the pools, they realize that it seems to match the depiction of Zargon. Given that it also seemed to react when Dark Star said the name "Zargon", it seems quite possible that they were seeing Zargon itself.
They return to the pool room, but this time, Dark Star goes in alone with his eyes closed. They tie a rope around him and the rest of the party holds it, ready to pull him out if anything goes wrong. Dark Star attempts to communicate with Zargon while inside, but his efforts produce no reaction whatsoever.
Eventually, Dark Star decides to risk taking another look at the pool. He discovers that the image is gone, and only the oily black substance remains.
Passing through the secret entrance, the party move through a hallway before arriving at a door. Inside is a room decorated in bones, feathers, totems, and other shamanistic trappings. Evidently, this is the home of the bugbear spellcaster that they previously fought. They take some time to search the room, but they find nothing of interest. If the various shamanistic items inside have any use, none of the party are able discern what it might be.
Moving past this room, they arrive at (as far as they know) the last unexplored room in the complex. Inside, it is a large crypt, in which all of the coffins have been stacked to the side. The rest of the room contains a large, confortable-looking bed and a large wooden chest. Searching the room, they find nothing else of interest, except that the chest appears to be locked.
Ash-Daughter is able to pick the lock, and inside the chest is filled with coins, mostly of the copper and silver variety. Digging through the chest, they find that it also contains some black gems, several golden bracelets, two potions, and a silver necklace. Ellyanna determines that the potions and the necklace are magical.
While Ellyanna tries to identify the items, the rest of the party check out the bed, wondering if it's the same as the one they found beneath Frosthaven. Although it looks similar, it doesn't seem to be magical and they don't feel any different while lying on it. They leave it alone after Ellyanna finishes studying the items, which she determines are a Potion of Fire Giant Strength, a Potion of Clairvoyance, and a Necklace of Fireballs. They distribute the items among themselves.
Putting off further investigation of the pool room for now, the party head up the stairs and find themselves at ground level, inside a temple of some sort. The far end of the room contains a double door and two narrow, slit-like windows that offer a view of the outside. The temple looks to be similar to the shrine they found below, but unused. Where the shrine below contained a bloodstained altar and human bones hanging from the ceiling, the shrine above contains a clean, unmarked altar and empty hooks hanging from the ceiling.
Moving forward through the building, the party open the doors and look through. They find that they are in an ancient, ruined city. Only the building that they're in is still intact; the rest consist of little more than foundation stones and the occasional intact wall. However, they also see that there are several figures hiding in the ruins, watching them. They immediately back into the building and close the doors behind them.
While Ash-Daughter keeps an eye out through the windows, the rest of the party ask Feyrith if she knows where they are. She tells them that there is supposedly an ancient city on the northern slopes of the dragon's mountain, so that's probably where they are.
Several minutes pass while Ash-Daughter stays on watch, but the figures outside do not move. Suspecting that they are waiting to ambush the party, the group discuss their options. They decide to send Ellyanna out, dressed in the black robes, posing as an ally of the undead. When she steps out, they do not attack, but neither do they respond to her at all.
Eventually, the party decide that they should finish investigating the pool down below before they deal with the figures outside, so they head back down into the complex. Leaving Feyrith on watch in case the mysterious figures follow them in, the rest of the party return to the pool.
Knowing that the pool reacted when blood was dripped into it, they decide to retrieve one of the bugbear corpses and use its blood. They drag the corpse in and slit its throat, draining as much blood as they can into the pool. However, it seems to have no effect.
The party stop to discuss why the blood isn't doing anything. Eventually, they decide that it might be because it isn't fresh enough, of possibly because they blood must be drawn using the black dagger. Ellyanna volunteers to test their theory by cutting herself with the dagger and bleeding into the pool, but the hardier Kaplan insists that he take her place instead.
Kaplan steps in front of the pool and Ellyanna cuts his wrist with the dagger. As his blood spreads throughough the pool, they begin to see an image appear. The image is of a series of quivering, rubbery, mustard-yellow overlapping scales, with metal wires running across them, periodically anchored into the scales with nails and metal braces.
Kaplan keeps bleeding until he nearly faints from blood loss; at the last moment, Calanon heals him and closes the wound. At this point, the blood covers about three-quarters of the pool's surface. Wanting to see the full image, they heal up Kaplan and repeat the process until the whole surface is covered.
Once the full image is visible, they see one more detail: near the edge of the pool, they can see what appears to be the start of a colossal eye. Acting on a hunch based on the incription before the room ("Speak the Name of the Master") Dark Star speaks aloud the name "Zargon".
The image shifts as the eye moves toward the center of the pool, but the adventurers each see only a split second of movement before their minds are enveloped with searing pain. Most of the party are immediately incapacitated; only Dark Star and Calanon retain their senses. Immediately, they avert their gazes from the pool and begin healing their companions and dragged them out of the room. Dark Star risks a quick glance back at the pool, but again his mind is filled with searing pain.
Feyrith rejoins the group outside of the room and helps to heal them. They return to the secret area where the White Elf commoners are hiding and rest for an hour to recover.
Once they're recovered, the party return to the room where they fought the black ooze and double-check the statues. Comparing the four statues to the image they saw in the pools, they realize that it seems to match the depiction of Zargon. Given that it also seemed to react when Dark Star said the name "Zargon", it seems quite possible that they were seeing Zargon itself.
They return to the pool room, but this time, Dark Star goes in alone with his eyes closed. They tie a rope around him and the rest of the party holds it, ready to pull him out if anything goes wrong. Dark Star attempts to communicate with Zargon while inside, but his efforts produce no reaction whatsoever.
Eventually, Dark Star decides to risk taking another look at the pool. He discovers that the image is gone, and only the oily black substance remains.
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Session 35: Statues, Statues Everywhere!
March 25, 118
Having defeated the ooze creature, the party pause and catch their breath. Ellyanna's clothes have been ruined, but luckily they are still carrying a set of robes from the Guild of the Twinborn and the robes that the necromancer below Frosthaven was wearing. Worn together they provide her with enough warmth to handle the temperature in the dungeon.
Moving past the remains of the ooze and into the room, they take a closer look at the statues. The first is of a slimy, ooze-like creature that has taken humanoid form. Its features are indistinct and hard to identify. The second, uniquely among the four statues, is made of a jet-black stone with thin veins of purple running through it. The figure it depicts is humanoid, and on its forehead is a stylized purple eye that appears to have been painted on. The third statue is of a humanoid figure wrapped around by a huge snake, which starts at its feet and wraps around its entire body, such that the snake's head is next to the humanoid head.
The fourth statue is the strangest, being a six-legged creature that is somewhat similar in build and proportion to an elephant. It is depicted in a rearing pose, and each of its legs ends in vicious claws. Its skin is covered in scales and two rows of sharp spines run down its back. Finally, its head is disturbingly human-like on the top half, but the bottom half houses two long trunks which each end in fanged mouths.
Kaplan is trained as a stonemason, so he studies the statues and tries to learn anything he can from that perspective. Based on the style and technique of the carving, he is able to say that the statues are quite old; probably around 1000 years. This seems consistent with the rest of the complex. Most are made of normal stone, but he does not recognize the black and purple stone that the second statue is made of.
The rest of the party also inspect the statues, trying to see if they can recognize the depictions or if they know anything about them. Dark Star finds the fourth statue to be vaguely familiar, but cannot put his finger on why. Calanon also recognizes the fourth statue. He recalls reading a book during his education that referred to the "Great Old Ones", a group of legendary god-like beings who are theorized by some to have long preceded the current gods of the world. This particular statue depicts a Great Old One known as Zargon.
The statues don't seem to have any magical or otherwise special properties, so the party decide to rest before continuing on. During this time, Kaplan chisels off a small piece of the black and purple statue, hoping he can get help identifying the stone later. Several others search the rest of the room. Hidden underneath a bit of smashed wood, Feyrith unearths a pair of books - one large and bound in black, and one medium-sized and bound in brown. Neither has a title or any identifying marks, and both are written in High Imperial.
Dark Star is the only person who can read the language, and he identifies the black book as a spellbook and the brown book as a ritual book. He isn't a wizard, so although he understands the language, he cannot really understand the contents of the spellbook. The ritual book he can basically understand, but it hasn't weathered the years particularly well; it is missing many pages and in many spots the ink is faded. He can tell that it pertains to a single, extremely complicated ritual, but would need more time to study it to learn more.
Leaving the room, they head down a nearby passage and eventually find themselves in front of another door. After listening and hearing nothing, they open the door and find another statue-filled room beyond. This room is slightly smaller and contains six humanoid statues, a ritual circle drawn in blood, and the dessicated corpse of a goblin.
The six statues are near identical, with each depicting a robed figure holding out a scroll. Each scroll has a single word written in High Imperial on it; the six words are "POWER", "KNOWLEDGE", "OBEDIENCE", "SECRECY", "FEAR", and "PERSEVERANCE". The third statue ("OBEDIENCE") has been smashed and is lying on the ground, although the word is still legible. Ellyanna compares the black robes that she is wearing to the robes depicted in the statues, and finds that they do seem to be similar in cut and style.
The ritual circle is fairly recent, given the state of the blood using to scribe it, and seems to be a demonic summoning circle. This most likely means that either there is a demonic creature on the loose somewhere nearby, or that this circle was the source of the monstrous ape-creature that they fought previously.
Finally, searching the goblin corpse reveals that it clearly died from a slit throat, and based on the state of the body, it has been dead for only a few days. However, something seems to have sucked the blood out from it, resulting in its dessicated appearance.
The party decide that these statues may be significant and start investigating them. They place one party member in front of each statue, trying to match each person to the word that best suits them. Counting Feyrith, there are seven people and only six statues, but Elvish wants nothing to do with the statues and waits outside. They match Calanon with "POWER", Ellyanna with "KNOWLEDGE", Feyrith with "OBEDIENCE", Ash-Daughter with "SECRECY", Dark Star with "FEAR", and Kaplan with "PERSEVERANCE".
At first nothing happens, but when they each reach out to touch their respective statue, they each feel an effect related to the word on the statue. Calanon feels stronger, Ellyanna feels more knowledgeable, and so on. The only person who feels nothing (apart from Elvish, who isn't in the room) is Feyrith, who is standing in front of the broken statue. It seems to have no effect on her.
Having learned everything they can in this room, the party continue searching the complex. A nearby branch leads them back to the central hallway, where they find several additional crypt rooms. Like the ones they've already found, these rooms are full of alcoves and disturbed coffins, with the coffins' occupants nowhere to be found. They search each room, but find nothing of interest.
In the north-western corner of the complex, the party find themselves in front of a wooden door; above it, they see an inscription written in High Imperial that reads "Speak the Name of the Master". Dark Star says the name "Zargon", while Ellyanna, remembering her studies from back in Vornheim, speaks the name "Duvan". Nothing seems to happen, so they open the door and step in.
The room beyond is dominated by a large pool of water, twenty feet across and two feet deep. At the back of the room, two stone fonts contain a mysterious black liquid, and a black-bladed ritual dagger sits between them. Dark Star picks up the dagger, and immediately starts to feel somewhat uneasy as he holds it.
Checking out the black liquid, they learn that it absorbs both fire and ice when Ellyanna throws magic at it. It also instantly snuffs out a light spell that she casts. Dark Star tries hitting it with an Eldritch Blast, which causes it to splash all over, hitting himself and Ellyanna and knocking some of it into the pool of water.
Apart from smelling terrible, it doesn't seem to have any negative effect on Dark Star and Ellyanna, but when it hits the pool water, it sticks to the surface and forms an oily sheet above the water. Deciding that this must be what it's for, Ellyanna conjures a small bowl and starts scooping the black liquid into the pool.
After a few minutes, the surface of the water is completely covered in black, but this doesn't seem to have accomplished anything useful. The party try various things that seem to have no effect, until Dark Star tries pricking his finger with the ceremonial dagger and dripping some blood into the pool. When the drops of blood hit the water, they seem to react and form a yellow-greenish color, but with only a few drops, they can't tell for certain what it is.
They briefly contemplate dragging over one of the dead bugbears and using its blood to fill the pool, but the eventually decide to finish exploring the rest of the complex before continuing to investigate the pool.
Returning to the main hallway, they bypass a few more pit traps and pass by several rooms that seem to be goblin and bugbear living quarters - now unoccupied. They scavenge through the creatures' belongings until they have enough warm clothing to provide an outfit for Ellyanna, who will need something warmer than the robes that she's wearing once they make it outside.
After passing by the living quarters, they arrive at a stairway leading up, and they can see faint light in the distance. Right before the stairs, they also discover a secret door leading to the northeastern corner of the complex, apparently the last bit that they have left to explore.
Having defeated the ooze creature, the party pause and catch their breath. Ellyanna's clothes have been ruined, but luckily they are still carrying a set of robes from the Guild of the Twinborn and the robes that the necromancer below Frosthaven was wearing. Worn together they provide her with enough warmth to handle the temperature in the dungeon.
Moving past the remains of the ooze and into the room, they take a closer look at the statues. The first is of a slimy, ooze-like creature that has taken humanoid form. Its features are indistinct and hard to identify. The second, uniquely among the four statues, is made of a jet-black stone with thin veins of purple running through it. The figure it depicts is humanoid, and on its forehead is a stylized purple eye that appears to have been painted on. The third statue is of a humanoid figure wrapped around by a huge snake, which starts at its feet and wraps around its entire body, such that the snake's head is next to the humanoid head.
The fourth statue is the strangest, being a six-legged creature that is somewhat similar in build and proportion to an elephant. It is depicted in a rearing pose, and each of its legs ends in vicious claws. Its skin is covered in scales and two rows of sharp spines run down its back. Finally, its head is disturbingly human-like on the top half, but the bottom half houses two long trunks which each end in fanged mouths.
Kaplan is trained as a stonemason, so he studies the statues and tries to learn anything he can from that perspective. Based on the style and technique of the carving, he is able to say that the statues are quite old; probably around 1000 years. This seems consistent with the rest of the complex. Most are made of normal stone, but he does not recognize the black and purple stone that the second statue is made of.
The rest of the party also inspect the statues, trying to see if they can recognize the depictions or if they know anything about them. Dark Star finds the fourth statue to be vaguely familiar, but cannot put his finger on why. Calanon also recognizes the fourth statue. He recalls reading a book during his education that referred to the "Great Old Ones", a group of legendary god-like beings who are theorized by some to have long preceded the current gods of the world. This particular statue depicts a Great Old One known as Zargon.
The statues don't seem to have any magical or otherwise special properties, so the party decide to rest before continuing on. During this time, Kaplan chisels off a small piece of the black and purple statue, hoping he can get help identifying the stone later. Several others search the rest of the room. Hidden underneath a bit of smashed wood, Feyrith unearths a pair of books - one large and bound in black, and one medium-sized and bound in brown. Neither has a title or any identifying marks, and both are written in High Imperial.
Dark Star is the only person who can read the language, and he identifies the black book as a spellbook and the brown book as a ritual book. He isn't a wizard, so although he understands the language, he cannot really understand the contents of the spellbook. The ritual book he can basically understand, but it hasn't weathered the years particularly well; it is missing many pages and in many spots the ink is faded. He can tell that it pertains to a single, extremely complicated ritual, but would need more time to study it to learn more.
Leaving the room, they head down a nearby passage and eventually find themselves in front of another door. After listening and hearing nothing, they open the door and find another statue-filled room beyond. This room is slightly smaller and contains six humanoid statues, a ritual circle drawn in blood, and the dessicated corpse of a goblin.
The six statues are near identical, with each depicting a robed figure holding out a scroll. Each scroll has a single word written in High Imperial on it; the six words are "POWER", "KNOWLEDGE", "OBEDIENCE", "SECRECY", "FEAR", and "PERSEVERANCE". The third statue ("OBEDIENCE") has been smashed and is lying on the ground, although the word is still legible. Ellyanna compares the black robes that she is wearing to the robes depicted in the statues, and finds that they do seem to be similar in cut and style.
The ritual circle is fairly recent, given the state of the blood using to scribe it, and seems to be a demonic summoning circle. This most likely means that either there is a demonic creature on the loose somewhere nearby, or that this circle was the source of the monstrous ape-creature that they fought previously.
Finally, searching the goblin corpse reveals that it clearly died from a slit throat, and based on the state of the body, it has been dead for only a few days. However, something seems to have sucked the blood out from it, resulting in its dessicated appearance.
The party decide that these statues may be significant and start investigating them. They place one party member in front of each statue, trying to match each person to the word that best suits them. Counting Feyrith, there are seven people and only six statues, but Elvish wants nothing to do with the statues and waits outside. They match Calanon with "POWER", Ellyanna with "KNOWLEDGE", Feyrith with "OBEDIENCE", Ash-Daughter with "SECRECY", Dark Star with "FEAR", and Kaplan with "PERSEVERANCE".
At first nothing happens, but when they each reach out to touch their respective statue, they each feel an effect related to the word on the statue. Calanon feels stronger, Ellyanna feels more knowledgeable, and so on. The only person who feels nothing (apart from Elvish, who isn't in the room) is Feyrith, who is standing in front of the broken statue. It seems to have no effect on her.
Having learned everything they can in this room, the party continue searching the complex. A nearby branch leads them back to the central hallway, where they find several additional crypt rooms. Like the ones they've already found, these rooms are full of alcoves and disturbed coffins, with the coffins' occupants nowhere to be found. They search each room, but find nothing of interest.
In the north-western corner of the complex, the party find themselves in front of a wooden door; above it, they see an inscription written in High Imperial that reads "Speak the Name of the Master". Dark Star says the name "Zargon", while Ellyanna, remembering her studies from back in Vornheim, speaks the name "Duvan". Nothing seems to happen, so they open the door and step in.
The room beyond is dominated by a large pool of water, twenty feet across and two feet deep. At the back of the room, two stone fonts contain a mysterious black liquid, and a black-bladed ritual dagger sits between them. Dark Star picks up the dagger, and immediately starts to feel somewhat uneasy as he holds it.
Checking out the black liquid, they learn that it absorbs both fire and ice when Ellyanna throws magic at it. It also instantly snuffs out a light spell that she casts. Dark Star tries hitting it with an Eldritch Blast, which causes it to splash all over, hitting himself and Ellyanna and knocking some of it into the pool of water.
Apart from smelling terrible, it doesn't seem to have any negative effect on Dark Star and Ellyanna, but when it hits the pool water, it sticks to the surface and forms an oily sheet above the water. Deciding that this must be what it's for, Ellyanna conjures a small bowl and starts scooping the black liquid into the pool.
After a few minutes, the surface of the water is completely covered in black, but this doesn't seem to have accomplished anything useful. The party try various things that seem to have no effect, until Dark Star tries pricking his finger with the ceremonial dagger and dripping some blood into the pool. When the drops of blood hit the water, they seem to react and form a yellow-greenish color, but with only a few drops, they can't tell for certain what it is.
They briefly contemplate dragging over one of the dead bugbears and using its blood to fill the pool, but the eventually decide to finish exploring the rest of the complex before continuing to investigate the pool.
Returning to the main hallway, they bypass a few more pit traps and pass by several rooms that seem to be goblin and bugbear living quarters - now unoccupied. They scavenge through the creatures' belongings until they have enough warm clothing to provide an outfit for Ellyanna, who will need something warmer than the robes that she's wearing once they make it outside.
After passing by the living quarters, they arrive at a stairway leading up, and they can see faint light in the distance. Right before the stairs, they also discover a secret door leading to the northeastern corner of the complex, apparently the last bit that they have left to explore.
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