WB2, Session 18: The Shade of Tranur-Kun

Session 18: "The Shade of Tranur-Kun"
Tuesday 20th, April 1001 AC
(destiny token 1)

Companions

• Urist, dwarven cleric of Kagyar (level 3)
• Rurik, dwarven fighter (level 3), holding the rope up there.
• Zao-rin, human monk (level 3)
• Danik, human scholar mage (level 3)
• Serrin, human bounty hunter (level 3)

Lost companions

• Grom, half-orc druid, went missing during dragon attack.
• Adran, gnome bard, fell to his death after being dropped by a Drahie.

And so the companions were back at the Simphiwe village and, after a good night rest to wash away the weariness of their recent travels and encounters, found themselves once again in Manelesi's hut for breakfast, sharing algae biscuits around a small fire.
After some discussion among themselves regarding maps and the possible location of the pyramid mentioned by Ziphozonke, the black dragon, they finally asked the young woman. According to her:

• The only Pyramid she knew of was something she called "Mthunzi Dingane" not far from the village.
• The Pyramid had apparently some significance to the Simphiwe and Manelesi indicated that the Nozizwe, the old woman they had met previously, would not appreciate them going there.
• Mustering her courage, Manelesi offered to lead the group to her lover, the now exiled Themba, who was living on the outskirts of the village and have him be their guide to the Pyramid itself.
• She also indicated that Nozizwe had not left her hut since their last encounter and that only her daughters were allowed in to bring food.

After some menial tasks ordered by Danik (as in, having her cleaning up the scholar's clothes) and a quick search for food rations, the group had the young woman lead them to Themba. 

There, barely a mile northeast of the village at the edge of a mushroom tree forest, the young man was explained the situation and quickly agreed. With Manelesi safely back at the village, the companions resumed their journey east, led by Themba who seemed to know the path quite well. After a couple hours, they finally arrived in a large clearing in the middle of which stood a large pyramidal structure, made with the now usual crudely worked white stone:

• Themba refused to go too close, obviously reaching the limit of his rebellious intents and finally retreated back into the forest. Before doing so however, he informed them that the black dragon sometimes came here, for something called "Dingane" and that they should be careful, this was not a good place.
• While the base of the Pyramid was covered by the usual moss found in the area, the structure itself seemed quite clean, as if often maintained. Standing about 100' high at the top with large steps leading up, there was no obvious entry passage to be found.
• The area around the Pyramid seemed devoid of animal life and plunged into an eerie silence overall.

After some time discussing their options and how to approach the structure, they finally climbed the well used large stairs all the way to the top. There, they found a 30' wide platform, with a large hole in the middle and apparently leading down about 100' below, inside the Pyramid itself.

To scout the area below, Serrin went in first after they had secured ropes together. He was quickly joined by a worried Zao-Rin though after a quick reconnaissance and word of warning from Serrin, they both climbed back up the rope, to discuss what they had found:

• The large chamber was in very poor condition with mushroom trees growing oddly all around. The mushroom trees were in bad shape as well, their bark grayish and dried up. Serrin immediately perceived that something was wrong with most of the smaller ones and indeed, a large number were actually Basidiomids, mushroom men, though they seem dormant for now.
• On the floor were multiple fossilized skeletons, easily recognizable as dragon bones, as well as remains of what seemed to be shells of large eggs, fossilized as well in their broken condition.
• The walls of the stairs going out of the chamber seemed melted and pushed through, as if something large forced it's way in the passage and up the stairs.
• There was a set of silver bars leading to another passage, most likely controlled by a mechanism nearby.

Finally, all but Rurik went back down, ready to fight the Basidiomids should they wake up. Nothing happened however, the chamber remaining plunged in silence as they went about and investigated further. Serrin made quick work of the mechanism and the silver bars lowered into the ground, revealing a narrow corridor, walls covered with carvings and drawings of battle scenes.

Following the corridor as it seemed to loop around on itself corner after corner, they finally reached a large sivler door with a Sun Jaw symbol on it and writings in Old Draconic quickly translated by Danik:

• The carvings on the door show the binding in servitude of the Rock Claws families, both in life and in death. Above a Sun Jaw symbol, the following is written in Old Draconic: "Here lies the last Herald of the Shamed, forever Bound with his Sons but never Forgotten"

After some debate about whether or not the door was trapped and how it was locked, Serrin and Zao-Rin justed pushed the door and, oddly enough, it opened. Not two steps past the entrance, the bounty hunted noticed glyphs on the walls ahead, faded but perceivable. Past them, a small room with an altar in the middle on which stood a large silver chalice with black filaments flowing in and out of it, as well as a number of Sarcophagi.

The glyph was taken care of as most glyphs seemed to be taken care of: with a "PSSHT" followed by a massive "BANG!". Serrin used the wall corner to protect himself however and only the nearby walls suffered damage from the thunder-wave that resulted after he scratched the glyph.

As the dust settled, kilek, Danik's trusted raven familiar, suddenly went into panic and flew back the way they came while Zao and soon after. Danik reported something brushing past them. Apart from a spectral form noticed by the monk, none could pinpoint what was the cause.

As the group entered the room, the black filaments flowing around the silver chalice went into some kind of frenzy but couldn't go further than about 5' away from it it seemed. Suddenly, a torrent of them surged into the northern Sarcophagus, the only one among the 8 that was made of pure silver, and out of it appeared a large Drakkin spectral form: 

• The specter introduced himself as The Shade of Tranur-Kun, herald of his clan. He also seemed to speak Common though later, as Danik spoke Old Draconic, implied some kind of Comprehension spell had been used.
• Tranur-Kun welcomed the companions as "Saviors of the Bound" and seemed quite honest about it. During the entire conversation, he seemed quite eager for them to finish their task and cast down the silver chalice, that was apparently some kind of prison for himself and his sons. The group mixed reactions were met by confusion by the Shade, since he indicated that they had broke the "Seal" already, therefore must be here to release them.
• Urist detected no evil demonic or fiendish presence around but a large concentration of Life Energy, or Souls, within the Chalice.
• Asked about the Crown, Tranur-Kun indicated that it was in the hands of "the enemies" which seemed to be the Sun Jaws (while he was of the Rock Claws). He could feel it still in it's resting place, even in his weakened and bound state. He mentioned that the Crown of Submission was a legendary artifact for his people, used to control Silver Dragons, their mortal enemies back before what he called "the Great Cataclysm", and thus ending their age long war against them. He called it a "Legacy of the Drakkins" that only the high priests of the Sun Jaw knew in details, but that he himself had little use for. Finally, on a personal level, he believed that the Crown itself was just a vessel for something more powerful inside it and not just a magical artifact of some kind.
• Apparently, worldly matters also don't seem to matter much to him. The Simphiwe, he ignores as weaklings of no use and the black dragon, he refers to it as the "last survivor of the birthing who killed his brothers and sisters trying to survive the pyramid" but concluded that it's mind was no longer with the Drakkins legacy and therefore not a concern whatsoever.
• The glyphs on the walls are apparently rituals done by Drakkin Priest in the past, binding magic into them to perform certain actions should some conditions not be met. The art of glyph drawing is an arcane knowledge and while it's easy enough for the artist himself to cancel the glyphs, it's apparently much harder for others to do so...unless of course you just explode them...

After much talk, pressed by the Shade to cast down the chalice and release the Bound, Danik suddenly poured the black content in his mouth, trying to drink it all. The other companions immediately readied for action, not sure about the results, while the Shade seemed more annoyed than anything and kept on pressing the matter of their release.

Danik himself remained paralyzed, as if in trance, for a moment, as visions of an empire past flashed before in his mind. Exhausted as he regained conscience some time later, finally, the chalice was cast down and the binding broken. The black filaments contained within exploded around the scholar and the room, surging in all directions and into the remaining sarcophagi. Finally, the "Sons of Tranur-Kun", more Drakin shades, emerged from them and all saluted the companions briefly, before leaving the room to find the clan and release all the Rock Claws.

The Shade explained that the Crown itself was kept in it's resting place, to the South, in the great Palace of the Sun Jaws itself and that they will not let it go easily. Finally, saluting them once more as the Saviors of the Rock Jaws, the Last Herald left.

Searching the room quickly, Zao-rin discovered that all the sarcophagi were devoid of any possession or even burial honors apart from a symbol of the Rock Jaws carved onto them. As they were discussing their next step and the consequences of the release of the Rock Jaws, Rurik stepped into the room...