Rappan: Worm Hunting and a new quest

Session 294 was played on 08/17/25

Morgana, wizard 10 (Rob)
Borumar, Triton Thief 11 (Josh)
Blotto, Goblin Fighter 8 (Lanse)
Nick, Fighter 8 (Me)
Koltic, Cleric 9 (Cindy)
Aroon, Fighter 8 (NPC)
Jameth, Fighter 8 (NPC)
Lor’Koth, Dwarf 8 (NPC)

After spending some time back at the keep recovering from the fight with Sarek the Fallen, and getting the ratfolk settled in with the kobolds, the party discusses what to do next, and settles on returning to Rappan for some worm hunting. Morgana seems especially into the idea, in spite of the many powerful dangers.

The trip back down river from the keep to Zelkor’s Ferry to Sanctuary to Rappan was uneventful. Entering the dungeon was simple, as the gargoyles hadn’t returned or reformed yet. The party entered Rappan proper and made their way to the steps down to level 2 when they were stopped by a dozen plus angry giant rats. They weren’t immediately aggressive, and eventually it was figured out that they were upset that their wererat friends had been taken away, and they’d been left alone. Morgana solved this by using her teleport ritual to send them back to the manor to reunite with their friends. 

Down to the worm caves was otherwise uneventful, and it wasn’t long before a great big purple worm showed up and swallowed Aroon! The resulting battle wasn’t pretty, but it got the job done, and the worm was killed, and Aroon was cut out of its belly. Within its gullet the party finds 5 large egg shaped turquoise nodules, and a 32 point star shaped glowing stone. 

Deeper into the worm caverns was a large rocky outcrop.Exploring around it, they found a secret door carved into the mountain, one Morgana was looking for, but didn’t want to tell the party about in case we couldn’t find it. Through it is a set of shimmering steps. Climbing them, Jameth discovers a rune that drives him insane. He thinks he’s Lor’Koth… Honestly, it could be worse. Lor’Koth is both a good guy to have around and kinda dumb and agreeable. The Lor’Koths find it weird, but not too worrying that there seems to be 2 of them. 

Beyond the secret door and the shimmering stairs is a glowing white chamber with an oversized sarcophagus. Within is a robed figure well preserved though clearly long dead. On his brow, a magical circlet, and on his arms are bracers bearing the symbol of the law. Upon a tablet attached to the sarcophagus reads:

Here lies Spiegel, Hidden in Darkness
Take up my Mantle, Take up my Legacy 
Purge the Chaos in yourself

Morgana hesitates a moment before checking over the rest of the sarcophagus, and finding a secret compartment. Within is a staff, a tome, and a ring, and 4 large gems. Knowing the choice she’s making, she takes them all. She then tells the rest of the party of a temple to Orcus to the south of the mountain… 

Down the magic stairs, through the secret door back out to the worm cave, and then to the far southern wall where Morgana directed the party straight to a door. On the far side Borumar could hear chanting in orcish. He opened the door, and in the brief moment before Morgana engulfed the room in a fireball 4 heavily armored orc warriors were worshiping an idol or Orcus. Through a series of hexagonal rooms beyond the now flame scarred idol room they finally come to the final room in the complex, with a pentagram inscribed on the floor, and a talking skull sitting in the middle of it. 

“I am the oracle. Ask what you will”

Morgana asks the skull for the path to the temple of Orcus within Rappan, for a wish to restore Jameth’s mind, or another path to sanity.

The skull informed Morgana the price to answer her questions. 10,000gp for the temple, 1,000gp to 5,000gp for the wish, depending on the difficulty, or 500gp for an alternate path. 

Morgana paid the 500gp, and the skull told her to “cross the river to the glade Fithane”

Morgana then disintegrated the skull. Nick asked her why! It was a valuable source of knowledge. Morgana pointed out that that was a problem. She didn’t want anyone using it against the party. The pentagram was then destroyed as well, before Morgana used the ritual to teleport the party home to address Jameth’s issue. 

Gains: More magic items from the army of light
Kills: purple worm, orc cultists, oracle skull
Losses: Jameth’s sanity