The Joys of Extradimensional Spaces

Session 1

We all arrive at Candlekeep together. Upon arrival we see a line of people standing in line to gain entrance. In order to gain entrance, we have to surrender a book.   

Reep hands over a book “History, Stories, and Legends of Powerful Objects Lost to the Prime Material Plane” written by the Traveling Sage Rabitor McRabidton.  He goes to explain the proper way to open the book, using the password: “KRIPKRAPENTON”  to demonstrate. The guard quickly, but carefully, shuts the books and waves Reep aside.

Bob hands over “Bob’s Book of Many Rusty Things” written by…..Bob. The gatekeeper is … confused by this book, and reluctantly accepts this book, almost begging Bob to just proceed…preferably in silence.

Savina walks up and attempts to gain entrance by showing her library access badge but is denied.  She begrudgingly hands over the strange book she found washed ashore and quickly gains accessalongside her comrades.

We are all pulled through the gate and gain entrance to Candlekeep.  A huge, magical courtyard is before us packed with buildings.  We are soon informed our point of contact will be Matrius.  The rules are set before us, we can stay as long as we like, but once we leave, we will have to bring a book back, each, to regain entrance. No fighting, no stealing, no copying, and no damaging, marking or modification of the works contained within the library.  As only the avowed are allowed within the secret confines of the library itself,  Matrius will be our go-to guy to retrieve items we wish to inspect or otherwise borrow.

The group is ushered into an empty room with nothing more than some candles, a lit fireplace, and a desk.  Upon the desk is an open tome, wrapped in ornate leather.  Written along the spine are the words, “The Joy of Extradimensional Spaces.” Savina recognizes the face on the cover to be that of Mortimus, a powerful mage who is into dimensions. A note is found next to the book  with the letters S-C-E-P-T-E-R scribbled on it.  After Savina says the word, a royal looking dimensional gate appears before the fireplace. Reep, looking for Matius, goes into the dimensional gate that appeared. Bob tripped next to the gate, falling through the portal, not realizing that Savina actually pushed him just before flying through the gate herself.

On the other side of the gateway, they stumble into a large hallway that is completely silent unless you count the blanket of white noise. The group explores the stairs leading up to find an empty suit of armor on display.  Reep continues exploring, alone, through the partially open door and finds swords on display.  As he reaches for one, they attack!

After succeeding in combat with the twin swords, Vain and Zealous, Vain disappeared after being beaten, and Zealous was taken into possession by Reep. Upon looking around the room Savina finds a book, that looks very similar to the book found in the office room of Candlekeep, with just the letter Y written on the side.  They continue out to the next room where Bob and Reep shred a painting trying to find anything, but instead find nothing.  In this room is a black cat sleeping on a chain.  Upon joining them, Savina spots another book on the dresser next to the bed, again with the same appearance of the previous one, this one bearing the letter E along the binding.  

They continue on into a room with floating orbs in the center, a chalkboard in one corner, and the image of 5 burning suns on the far wall with a door.  Savina finds yet another book with the letter T on the binding. The group proceeds through the door and they enter into a room with 5 telescopes surrounding a crystal on the ground.  They quickly point the telescopes to point at the suns painted on the wall in the previous room lighting the crystal revealing a hidden door.  They proceed through the door where a bookcase is wrapped with chains with a single book laying on its’ podium.  Savina quickly flies up to the book, grabbing it.  This book is similar to the ones previous, with the letter L, but also causes the bookcase to animate and attack!  Reep rushes in the room shoving his blade through the wood to defeat the bookcase.  While struggling to remove his blades, Bob cleans up the piece of furniture, ridding it of dust and cobwebs, Savina finds an empty self-chaining spellbook, which she keeps for herself.  

They take a quick short rest and begin their way back to the first floor to continue exploring …..

Session 2

They explore the Arboretum under the balcony that Savina had flown down to earlier.  Bob eats some of the flowers, as some unseen source keeps playing with Bob by lifting his hat off his head, scaring him out of the room.  Reep follows him into what they assume to be a formal dining room.  The little tricksters introduce themselves to Savina as Sunbeam and Dew.  Two friendly little Fae creatures. Savina agrees to “play” with them and beckons Reep and Bob back into the room.  Reep does a little dance for the fairy dragons enticing them to reveal themselves to Reep.  He attempts to persuade them to help find Matrius, and fails.  THey leave Sunbeam and Dew and return to Bob, and continue their search for Matrius. They leave the dining room and enter a well-stocked, sparkling clean kitchen.

In the kitchen are two winged creatures, Coriander and Cumin, cooking Travelers Stew, and a cat in the corner. Unsatisfied with the lack of answers to questions, Reep grabs Coriander and asks who the “master” of the home is.  They reveal the master is Fistandia and Frayot, who have not been here in a very long time.

They move on to the next room, which turns out to be a library of sorts.  Bob “accidently” trips and destroys yet another painting. Savina is enthralled with all the books and is going through the bookcases. She finds another book, the 4 others she’s found, this one has an I on the spine.  She also realizes some of these books are handwritten memoirs of Fistandia.  While trying to pull a book out, she accidentally trips the trigger to open a false wall revealing a hidden passage.  Bob and Reep go to investigate, while Savina stays behind to read the memoirs. 

Bob tucks into his turtle shell and rolls down the stairs, smashing into a door, breaking it open. They stumble into a room with an unconscious man in a room.  Bob produces an odor awakening him, to discover that this is Matrius!

A demon imp sneaks up and stabs Bob in the back of the neck with his stinger, upon seeing that, Reep comes in and throws his dagger directly at the imp, pinning it to the wall, killing it instantly. Eyeing the dead imp Reep states “No one touches my turtle”, and checks on Bob.  Matrius begs Bob to kill the toad, yelling “It’s evil, kill it!” But before they are able to, Matrius hits the toad with lightning and it transforms into an imp, and fades into nothingness.  Reep continues to explore the hidden basement, finding a corpse room stocked with jars full of formaldehyde soaking dead creatures and body parts, along with an empty 4’ tall jar.  Upon further exploration Reep stumbles upon an alchemy lab where he finds another book, this one with the letter B written on the side. He also spies 50 gold pieces, and 2 unknown red potions.  Bob throws caution to the wind and consumes one instantly, discovering they are nothing more than healing potions.  Reep quickly corks and pockets the other potion.  Bob starts clearing all the tables with reckless abandon, to stain them.  They hear glass jars breaking coming from the other room. Reep goes to investigate and discovers a hand crawling on the ground, after breaking out of the jars from the corpse room.  They quickly eliminate the  foes and return upstairs to Savina.

Savina relays all that she learned reading the memoirs.  Fistandia was a powerful mage who was granted this mansion that’s only point of access is what is now Matrius’s office within Candlekeep.  Fearful that people would discover the hidden gateway and get trapped within her mansion, she hid 7 books throughout the mansion, each having one letter inscribed on the spine, as a clue to the magic word to leave.

Coriander and Cumin call them to dinner, as they all sit down, the chair Bob chooses, animates and chomps down on Bob. After defeating the mimic, they determine that the empty jar probably housed the chair.  They finish their meal, and continue on to explore the rest of the mansion in hopes to find the remaining book.

They enter a weapon training room, where a magic broom is busy cleaning.  Bob reaches for the broom, angering it. They quickly defeat the broom and make their way to the next room.  A large library. Upon entering the room, a bookcase topples over pinning both Bob and Savina, revealing a large book monster.  Reep makes swift work of the monster, and then assists in freeing his comrades.  They find the last book, showing the letter R on the spine.  Savina works at unscrambling the letters, and shouts “LIBERTY” ,opening the gateway back to Candlekeep and Matrius’s office.

Matrius informs them that the mansion is theirs to use now, as they wish, as a sign of gratitude for saving him.

They rest up and prepare to begin their respective research.

Mazfroth’s Mighty Digressions

Session 3

Bob, Savina, and Reep return to the dinner table within the hidden mansion to enjoy dinner while they’re going over their books they had Matrius retrieve for them.   The book that Reep requested grew spider-like legs and attached to his face, nearly killing him.  Bob and Savina eliminated the spider, but it left Reep in an unconscious state.  Savina had Cumin and Coriander take Reep upstairs to rest comfortably in a bed, while they figure out what it was that attacked Reep and a way to reverse the effects of the attack.

Bob and Savina return to Matrius to figure out what books Reep checked out to determine what may have been the bad book.  Upon asking Matrius, he handed them a list of books Reep had asked for.  They took that list and compared to what was still on the table where Reep was sitting, and determined that the book, “Mazfroth’s Mighty Digressions” was the book that attacked him. They returned back to Matrius to inquire about this book.  Matrius explains that this was part of a collection of books and notes written by the author about the abyss, magic and weaves, and about rare swords Mazfroth collected. 

Matrius suggests they make an appointment with an Avowed to learn more about the books origin.  All three books that have attacked people, were all recently donated within the last 2 months. The person who brought in Mazfroth’s Mighty Digressions, was Yelarian, a young male human, who is still somewhere within Candlekeep.  Another culprit that brought in a different book that had the same effect, Balor, a young female tiefling, is repairing an inn in the Court of Air, in an effort to repay for her bad book donation.  

Bob and Savina decide to go speak with Balor, so see if there is any connection between Balor and Yelarian. Balor says she just saw Yelarian within the Pillars of Patigonia, a popular study area within the Keep.  She told us that she  got her book from a pony tailed asshole wearing a purple vest in the Bauldersgate marketplace. She didn’t know it was a fake book, and that her book drained the life of a wizards humungaling killing it and pissing off the wizard, but didn’t know the wizards name.

They thank her for the information and go off to attempt to find Yelarian within the Pillars of Patigonia.  They quickly find Yelarian and explain what's going on, he’s quite shocked and saddened by this and accepting of his pending punishment.  Before the guards take him away he explains that the only thing he remembers about where he got his book is that it was on the “not so nice” part of the market and it had the word “DUNE” in the name.  Bob calls the guards and gets Yelarian tossed in the clink, and shouts unkind words at his as the guards take him away, feeding the rumor mill.

Bob and Savina return to Matrius and share this knowledge with him and inform him of their plans to head to Bauldersgate and investigate this bookstore selling these cursed books.  

They decide for safety and speed to buy a seat on a caravan for 5g each way per seat. Upon arrival, the driver warns them to be wary of the “bad side” of the market.  

Savina, having never seen a proper market, is excited by all the sights, sounds, and smells of the market, getting slightly distracted by the market itself. They stumble upon a Dwarf selling gems, of which Savina buys one for luck. Bob explains that they’re trying to get into Candlekeep and are in search of some rare books and if he would know of a place. He directs them to Amberdune’s shop. They head off in that direction. We find the shop, and pretend to be shopping for rare books on swords, to which the shopkeeper produces the same book that turned into a spider and ate Reeps face. They explained in an accusatory way that this is not a rare book, they’ve seen this same book their friend was reading, right before it turned into a spider and ate their friend's face! The merchant ushers us aside and explains that Corvalla will be out to speak with us. A stern middle aged woman comes out and Bob angrily explains what happened to Reep and they’re reasoning why the books are coming from their shop. She asks where this is happening and they exclaim “Candlekeep”! She immediately becomes worried and requests them to go with her down the dock to a creepy building. They go with her. They walk past some workers that she refers to as her “pack”. They go into her office where she explains that she didn’t want the books to end up in Candlekeep, nor did she intend these books to cause harm. She explains that they are making Gingwatzims, and they are just trying to raise money to bring back their leader, Adallia, that some upstar adventurers murdered. She offers to replace the fake books with the authentic books. Bob thanks her for the books and leaves the office, Corvalla exits to go get books for them. While Savina is waiting she notices all the animal hair around the office. Curious about the hair, she asks Corvalla about it, who tries to explain it away by suggesting that someone brought their dog to work. Savina plucks a hair off Corvalla’s shirt and presses her harder for information. Corvalla reveals that they are all in fact Werejackles. Savina, not feeling safe any longer, quickly grabs the books and quickly ushers Bob out. They quickly set off to leave Bauldersgate. Upon return, they submit their books, and are pulled aside by the guards to explain the books. They do and sell the other 2 original books back to the guard for 1000g, which Bob and Savina split between them. They make their way back to Matrius and share their adventure with him. Head back into the mansion, where Savina feeds Reep the potion, restoring him back to original self, as if nothing ever happened to him.

Book of the Raven

Session 4

Savina and Bob spend the first part of the morning telling Reap of their adventure while he was unconscious.  Shortly afterwards, they meet up with Matrius who shows them a book that a crow dropped off.  The cover is made of black oak wood.  Matrius shows them a map from the book, which the party soon set out to follow.

They hire the driver they used to take them to Bauldersgate, and set out to follow the map.  Upon arrival they meet Renick, who explains that the crows haunt the book, and he needs our help to decipher this book.  Bob loses his shit over the damage the birds have done to the wood cover and verbally assaults and accuses Renick of causing harm to the wood.The only thing he’s aware of is that this book is somehow connected to the Shadowfell.  The town they are in used to be called Wytchway, which is too connected to Shadowfell.  There is a portal open across the way on top of  a grave, and they are told that's where they need to go to find the artifact being held by a gargoyle.  He bestows one healing potion to each person, and off they go. 

They land safely and run into Jiscad, a gargoyle, who has been being hounded by Renick about this book for days.  In an attempt to make an underhanded deal, Reep offers to bring Renick’s head for the translation of the book.  Jiscad, quickly accepts this deal requiring the head first, before translation.  Reep was NOT expecting that to be the deal, and now the group must make a choice on who to kill.  Reep tries to sneak past Jiscad into the crypt feigning the need of a bathroom break.  Jiscad stops him and Reep immediately draws his sword to attack.  A battle ensues with Reep, Bob and Savina the victor.  Bob picks up card with instructions for someone to place their thumbprint on the card.  Bob asks Savina to do it, since she’s the only one with an actual thumb.  Upon touching it her name becomes scrawled across the back, identifying it as a membership to  KOST CO.  The book that they were trying to decipher, turned out to be an outdated catalog of items for sale.  The group decides to explore the crypt the gargoyle was guarding.  Reep goes on a grave robbing spree, robbing the crypt of a family of their buried riches.

They eventually return through the portal to Renick. Who quickly asks about the artifact he’s been looking for. They tell him that the gargoyle only had a KOST CO membership on him, that now belongs to Savina and the book was nothing more than a shopping catalog.  Reep mugs him for 70g and threatens him to not tell anyone, and turns to leave. Savina, behind Reeps back, gives him back 70g and apologizes for her hot-headed hare friend and inquires about some books.  He graciously gives Savina some research books on the Shadowfell and thanks her for her kindness.  They all return to the carriage driver, and head back to Candlekeep.  Gain entrance, head back to Matrius’s office. Savina and Reep have a long heartfelt talk about Reeps actions towards innocent people.  Reep promises to weigh the consequences of his actions before doing them in the future.

A Deep and Creeping Darkness

Session 5

Savina and Bob decide to follow Matrius’s directions and head over to KOST CO, leaving Reep behind to consider his actions from their last adventure.

Mr. Kost introduces himself and welcomes Savina and Bob to his shop.  He briefly explains the inventory system and how/where to purchase items.  He shows them the clearance sections, explaining it’s some merch from a group he used to sell to that became famous, The Housekeepers.  Savina buys an Elros shirt.

Mr Kost shows Bob a book called “A Dark and Creeping Darkness”, which Bob, wearily picks up and takes it back to Matrius’s office.  In his paranoid state, he opens in front of Matrius “just incase” and asks Matrius to read it aloud.

The book is about an old mining village, Vermeillon, the collapse of the mine, the subsequent vanishing of the miners, and the eventual demise of the village.  Inside the back of the book is a map of the location of this village that is now basically a ghost town near a local town called Mayrin. The map depicts that Vermeillon is up the mountain from Mayrin, which is the only known marker for this lost village. Bob draws a copy of this map so they can attempt to locate this village and investigate what happened.

They rest up, eat a hearty breakfast and prepare to head out. Bob eats some lettuce and water, disappointing both Cumin and Coriander , while Savina devours some waffles de la diabeetus.

They pay 1g per person, per way, to their halfling driver friend, Ruben, and head out to Mayrin.  They eventually pull up to a tavern called the Bored Weasel.  Savina and Bob exit the carriage, and enter the building.  Bob goes up to the bartender and inquires about Vermeillon.

The bartender, Lucas, shares his story about Vermeillon, his wife Lorna, and how she died in the collapse. Lucas tells tales of what he hears people claim about the town and his disbelief in them, he does ask them to buy some flowers and leave at his wife's grave for him while they’re there, and about a necklace he hid in the trunk of a tree in the center of the village.

Savina leaves to go find flowers to leave at the gravesite of his wife. After Savina leaves, Bob attempts to pick up and drink the trough of soup, dropping it and spilling it everywhere causing a horrible fish smell to permeate the tavern.

They head out on a 5 day journey up the snowy mountain to Vermeillon.  

When they arrive, they find a completely deserted village.  They set out to find the cemetery to leave the flowers on Lorna's grave for Lucas. They feel a sense of appreciation as they leave the flowers. They find a cart covered by a tarp, upon unveiling the trap they see a dead horse attached to a carriage.  They rummage through the cart and find 3 Bolts of common fabric, 2 small casks of wine, 3 salt preserved meats. The damaged containers are covered in claw marks, which are probably from wild animals attracted to the meat. The seat of the wagon has a hidden compartment under the seat which has a ledger and 15g.  A shriek startles them, and has them hurrying across town to investigate.  They come across a seeming weaponsmith shop, The Wand and Hammer, covered in dust. They slowly walk inside, upon going inside the sign that was barely hanging over the door, crashes to the ground.  Their attention is drawn to the anvil in the corner. It’s very obvious looking around that someone left in a hurry leaving most of the inventory left behind.  A false section of the floor reveals a hidden shield with serpents wound together, 2 matching short swords with the same pattern as the shield and 10 iron bars. Beneath the workbenches Savina spots a thin platinum ring, The Ring of Swimming, was left behind. Bob catches a glimpse of a shadow fluttering by towards the workshop next door.  The door is off the hinges a few feet away from where it once sat.  The sign hanging in the window says, “Tiris Frosthair: Stonemason.  Inquire around back.”.  They venture to the back to investigate. They find an abandoned project of a headstone mid-carving. Savina spots the tree Lucas told them that the necklace was hidden in and makes a beeline for it.

Savina looks in one of the open knots of the tree and pulls out a delicate necklace, looking at it it’s inscribed “For Lorna, Forever”.  Bob looks around and sees all the shadows of the towns are pointing directly at Bob’s feet and not following shadow logic. Bob calls for Savina, but as soon as she turns around, the shadows return to normal position, never seeing the weird shadows. 

Savina grabs Bob brushing aside his concerns with shadows, and head towards the big looming house.  Savina opens the door slowly and yells “Hello?”