The Psychopomp’s Burden
Date: Mar 11th, 2026
Summary
The party returned to town with their hard-won spoils, floating the heavy stone tablet through the streets on a shimmering disc of magical force. The local tavern erupted into a standing ovation as they entered, and Jax, the keeper, pressed small bags of gold into their hands — tips from an audience that had watched their exploits with rapt attention. The crowd was thrilled by the tablet retrieval, though more than a few had been unsettled by the sight of Cornelius’s hand turning to gold before being severed. The party explained that Cornelius and Poppy’on had gone off to find someone who might reattach the gilded limb, and that the rest of them were very much alive, somehow.
With the tablet in tow, the party made their way to the home of John Harrison, a dwarven scholar whose residence was a masterwork of intricate stonework and stained glass. Harrison looked up from his translation work just long enough to shove a pile of books off his desk and make room for the tablet, his eyes widening behind his spectacles as he examined it. He confirmed it was likely the key to translating a shelf of pristine, dust-free books from the golden age, and offered to appraise it properly if they returned later. The party also produced three ancient iron and wood pickaxes recovered from the abandoned mine shaft beneath the temple, and Harrison purchased them on the spot for fifty gold pieces each. He directed them toward a wizard’s tower on the outskirts of town when they presented the fist-sized quartz cluster, identifying it as a magical phenomenon rather than a historical relic — and one that, as the party had already begun to suspect, was slowly and continuously growing.
Before heading to the wizard, the party stopped at the general store, a well-stocked establishment run by a drow woman named Zarya. She was striking — white-haired, sharp-featured, and dressed in a flowing gown cut dramatically low at the back — and she greeted them with the practiced warmth of someone who knew exactly how she looked. A small companion found a thick glass jar with two handles and immediately claimed it as a personal dwelling, hopping around the shop with an enormous grin while Zarya watched with bemused delight. The party restocked on rations, oil, daggers, darts, and a light crossbow, and one member splurged on a set of half-plate armor, finally deciding that looking like an adventurer might be worth the investment. When the subject of land came up, Zarya revealed she owned a plot she was saving for when she found a husband strong enough to share it with — and the party, sensing an opportunity, offered to play matchmaker in exchange for the deed.
The journey to the wizard’s tower took the better part of a day, and when they finally arrived at the outskirts of town, the tower was simply not there. In its place was a cleared circular plot of land and a cobblestone path leading to nothing, the faint impression of a foundation the only evidence that something had once stood there. A nearby farmer, a pudgy man in red and black flannel who was inexplicably carving a canoe far from any body of water, looked up and pointed skyward. The tower, he explained, was now inside a dense, unmoving cloud high above them, and had been for some time. The party tipped him two gold coins for the information and stared upward at the enormous shadow the tower cast across the earth below.
An owl named Jeremy was sent aloft to scout the tower’s interior, and what he found was a series of increasingly bizarre and dangerous floors. The first held a life-size chessboard with animated pieces and a spiral staircase winding upward. The second was entirely flooded with water and patrolled by sharks that lunged the moment Jeremy broke the surface. Higher floors contained a locked room full of mysterious glowing vials and goblets, a suit of animated armor that mirrored every movement of an intruder, a room packed with squirrels that all turned their heads in unison, and a congregation of thirteen silent figures in long black robes wearing white masks streaked with red lines. Jeremy returned to the party shaken, and the group concluded that the wizard was almost certainly at the very top — and that reaching him would require surviving every floor in between.
While the party debated their options, a pale woman in a black corset and long flowing dress appeared beside them, staring up at the cloud with enormous, unblinking eyes. She introduced herself as Amanda and seemed genuinely surprised that they could see her, a detail that none of them missed. She claimed her skills were finding people and escorting them, and she deflected most of their questions with half-answers and shifting stories. The party decided the tower was too dangerous and inaccessible for the time being and made camp near the farmhouse to rest before the long walk back to town.
During the night watch, a party member noticed something deeply wrong about Amanda. She never blinked — not once, not even when staring directly at someone for an extended period. A closer inspection of her sleeping form revealed that her eyes remained wide open even as she lay in her bedroll, arms crossed over her chest. One party member crept into her tent and, with extraordinary stealth, slipped a necromantic ankh necklace from around her neck. They walked back to the fire, necklace in hand, feeling rather pleased with themselves.
The satisfaction was short-lived. Amanda and her tent vanished the moment anyone looked away, and the necklace wearer suddenly found themselves face to face with the ghost of a young boy named Justin, hovering beside the farmhouse where his grieving father wept over an empty bed. When they tried to hand the necklace to a companion, their arm pulled back involuntarily. When they tried to throw it on the ground, the same thing happened. When they critted a monumental feat of willpower and actually managed to hurl it away, they immediately sprinted after it and put it back on. The necklace had chosen its new keeper, and it was not letting go.
The situation grew worse almost immediately. A farmer driving a cart through the night had his horses rear up in terror at the sight of the ghost child, sending the cart flipping and crushing the man beneath it. The party rushed over, but by the time they lifted the cart, the farmer was gone — and his ghost rose to join Justin beside the road. The cart, it turned out, had been carrying a substantial quantity of refined poppy seeds, which a party member quietly filled a water skin with before the group moved on. The necklace wearer proved the reality of the ghosts by having Justin stand behind a companion and identify a number held behind their back, which he did correctly, to the visible discomfort of everyone present.
The party pressed on through the rural countryside, and the ghosts kept accumulating. An old woman named Beatrice dropped dead of a heart attack on the road and immediately fell into step behind the group. The party carried her body to what they believed was her home, only to discover they had the wrong house — an ancient man named Alberta nearly had a heart attack of his own before they retreated. At the correct house, Beatrice’s husband greeted the news of her death with undisguised relief, calling her a despicable gossip and demanding they take the body far away. He then tripped over something in his kitchen and died, his ghost rising to join the growing procession. The party adopted the couple’s large orange cat, Fenrir, and noticed that his collar contained a small orb that swirled with what looked like a captured galaxy — and radiated the same dark magic as the necklace.
Back in town, the party returned to Zarya’s shop with news of a ruggedly handsome, stoic, recently-single landowner who was emotionally vulnerable and in desperate need of companionship. A flattering magical portrait was conjured to seal the deal. Zarya’s eyes lit up, and she agreed: bring him to her, and the land was theirs. The party then visited John Harrison again to ask about the ankh, and he identified it as a symbol of eternal life, suggesting that whoever wore it had taken on the role of a psychopomp — a guide for souls between the living world and whatever lay beyond. He pointed them toward an old woman living in a hut far outside the safe boundaries of town, someone who might know more about the mechanics of death.
First, though, the party returned to the grieving farmer who had lost his son. They spoke to him gently, offering philosophical comfort about the closeness of the afterlife and the illusion of permanent loss. The necklace wearer relayed a message from Justin’s spirit, telling his father that the boy wanted him to be happy and to find love again. The farmer, hollow-eyed and broken, agreed to travel to town and meet the woman they had described. The party spent the night at his farm, and in the morning, they set out for the swamp.
The journey to the swamp hut took the better part of a day, and the environment grew increasingly oppressive as they went — thick heat, clouds of mosquitoes, and a darkness that seemed to settle over the wetlands regardless of the hour. The ghosts trailing behind the party grew visibly agitated as the hut came into view, a small structure perched on a tiny island in the center of a murky expanse of water, purple light flickering from its windows. A post with a hanging lamp and a small boat at the water’s edge suggested that visitors were expected, if not exactly welcomed. Even the ghost child Justin pressed close and said he did not want to go near it.
The party rowed across and knocked on the door, and the old woman inside bade them enter without looking up from her cauldron. The vessel was enormous and filled with a swirling mixture of orange, purple, and green that glowed and churned, and from within it, tentacles writhed and twisted against the sides. She stirred it with a long stick and spoke in riddles, encouraging the party to approach the cauldron and touch what was inside. Most of the party declined with varying degrees of alarm, but one member stepped forward and pressed a hand against one of the tentacles.
The sensation was not what they expected. The suckers gripped gently, and something in the center of their chest loosened — a feeling of profound connection, of being not a single isolated self but a small and beloved part of something vast and ancient. Through that connection, an answer surfaced: the ankh could open a gateway between the living world and the realm of the dead, and the wearer could use it to escort spirits through. The old woman made several cryptic and suggestive remarks as the party prepared to leave, and they thanked her and departed into the swamp air, considerably more informed than when they had arrived.
The party returned to their newly acquired land, where builders hired through Jax had already begun breaking ground on what would eventually become a stronghold with a wizard’s tower attached. Standing on the soil that was now theirs, the necklace wearer reached inward and opened the gateway, and the gray realm beyond shimmered into view — a vast, dim expanse dominated by a towering wall of faces and long lines of souls waiting to pass on. Justin looked up at the necklace wearer with wide eyes and said it was scary. The wearer knelt down and conjured a warm, blue image of the goddess Mystra, the goddess of magic, and told him to think of her warmth while he waited in line. The boy closed his eyes, clutched his shirt, and stepped forward. One by one, the other spirits followed — Beatrice, her bickering husband, the cart farmer, and the rest — until the line was full and the gateway closed. The necklace wearer stepped back into the living world, and for the first time since stealing the ankh from Amanda, the air around them was quiet.
Short
The party returned to town triumphant, delivering a significant stone tablet to dwarven scholar John Harrison, who confirmed it was key to translating rare texts from the golden age. Along the way, they sold ancient pickaxes to Harrison, restocked supplies at Zarya’s general store, and struck a deal with the drow shopkeeper — promising to play matchmaker with a grieving widowed farmer in exchange for a plot of land. Their attempt to consult a wizard about a mysterious growing quartz cluster was thwarted when his tower was found floating inside a cloud; a scouting owl revealed the interior to be filled with deadly and bizarre obstacles. A pale, unblinking woman named Amanda appeared near the tower and joined their camp, but vanished in the night after a party member stole a necromantic ankh necklace from her — triggering a curse that bound the necklace to its new wearer and caused the spirits of the dead to begin accumulating around the group.
As the party traveled back through the countryside, ghosts continued to gather — including a boy named Justin, a cart farmer killed in an accident, and an elderly couple named Beatrice and her husband — along with a stray cat whose collar contained a mysterious orb radiating dark magic. Seeking answers, the party visited a cryptic old woman in a swamp hut, where one member touched a tentacled creature in her cauldron and learned that the ankh granted its wearer the power to open a gateway between the living world and the realm of the dead. Back on their newly acquired land — where construction of a stronghold had already begun — the necklace wearer opened the gateway and gently guided each spirit through, offering the ghost boy Justin a vision of the goddess Mystra’s warmth to ease his passage. One by one, the souls crossed over, and for the first time since the ankh had chosen its keeper, the air fell quiet.
Classic
Last we left off, our intrepid band of adventurers returned to town in triumph, bearing a great stone tablet upon a shimmering disc of magical force, greeted by the roaring applause of a tavern full of admirers and the generous tips of a crowd that had watched their every move. They brought their findings to the dwarven scholar John Harrison, who confirmed the tablet’s extraordinary historical significance and eagerly purchased three ancient pickaxes recovered from the depths of the mine below. They restocked their supplies at the shop of the striking drow merchant Zarya — and, sensing opportunity in her longing for companionship, struck a deal to play matchmaker in exchange for a plot of land. Their search for a wizard to examine a strange and ever-growing quartz cluster led them to the edge of town, where they found not a tower, but a shadow — the tower itself having retreated into the clouds above, its floors revealed by a scouting owl to be filled with animated chess pieces, flooded shark-infested chambers, synchronized squirrels, and thirteen silent, masked figures. The wizard, it seemed, would have to wait.
It was during that night’s camp that things took a turn toward the deeply unsettling. A pale, unblinking woman named Amanda had joined them — and when a sharp-eyed party member noticed she never once closed her eyes, not even in sleep, one among them crept into her tent and lifted a necromantic ankh from around her neck. Amanda vanished. And in her place came the dead. The ghost of a young boy named Justin appeared first, followed by a procession of souls that grew with each mile of road — a cart farmer crushed beneath his own wagon, an old woman named Beatrice who dropped dead mid-stride, and her husband, who followed shortly after in his own kitchen. The ankh, it became clear, had chosen its new keeper, and no amount of willpower — not even a feat of extraordinary resolve — could keep it gone for long.
Seeking answers, the party crossed into the swamp and found an old woman stirring a cauldron of writhing, glowing things, who offered cryptic wisdom and an outstretched invitation to touch what lurked within. One brave soul did — and through that strange, ancient connection, learned the truth: the ankh was a key between worlds, and its bearer had become a guide for the dead. Armed with that knowledge, the party returned to their newly claimed land, where the foundations of a stronghold were already being laid. There, the necklace’s wearer opened the gateway to the gray realm beyond — a vast, dim expanse of waiting souls and towering walls of faces — and one by one, guided each spirit through. Justin went last, clutching his shirt, eyes closed, stepping toward the warm blue light of Mystra. And when the gateway sealed, the air was, at last, quiet.
Middle English
Lythe and listin, gentilmen, Of adventurers bolde and true; Who bore a tablet through the towne, And won the tavern’s great halloo!
With pickaxes sold and armour bought, And Zarya’s land a prize in sight, They sought a wizard in his cloude, And camped beneath the starless night.
A pale Amanda joined their reste, With eyes that never deigned to close; An ankh was stolen from her necke, And with it, all the dead arose!
Through swamp and sorrow, ghost and griefe, They gathered souls along the waye; An olde woman’s cauldron lit the path, To guide the wandering spirits’ straye.
At last upon their hard-won lande, The gateway opened, grey and wide; Young Justin stepped with eyes shut tight, And all the dead passed to the other side!
Snarky
Welcome to the most accidentally haunted the party has ever been: a roving psychopomp situation that started with one (1) stolen necklace and ended with a full ghost parade through the countryside. Nobody asked to become the Grim Reaper’s unpaid intern, and yet here we are. The ankh made its choice, and it chose chaos — specifically the kind of chaos where you try to throw a cursed necklace on the ground and then immediately sprint after it like a golden retriever who just remembered they love fetch. Meanwhile, the party was also running a matchmaking service, adopting a cat whose collar contained a galaxy, and stocking up on refined poppy seeds from a cart they definitely did not flip on purpose.
The real emotional gut-punch came at the end, when the necklace wearer — now fully accepting their role as a guide of souls — opened a gateway to the gray realm and sent a ghost child named Justin into the afterlife by conjuring a warm image of the goddess Mystra and telling him to think of her warmth while he waited in line. That’s it. That’s the most tender thing that has happened in this campaign, sandwiched between a man who was relieved his wife died and a wizard living inside a cloud with a room full of synchronized squirrels. The party now owns land, has a stronghold under construction, and the air is finally, mercifully quiet.
Limerick
The party returned with tablet in tow, Through town on a shimmering magical flow. The crowd gave a cheer, Jax tossed gold in the clear, And Harrison’s eyes put on quite a show!
At Zarya’s shop they restocked with delight, A small friend claimed a jar as their site. She’d trade land for a groom, So the party assumed They’d play matchmaker — what could go wrong, right?
The wizard’s tower had taken to cloud, A farmer carved canoes, unbowed and proud. An owl named Jeremy Found sharks, chess, and mystery, And thirteen masked figures — a very strange crowd!
Amanda appeared with her wide, unblinking stare, A necromantic ankh hidden under her hair. When stolen that night, Ghosts came into sight, And the necklace refused to go anywhere!
On the land that was theirs, a gateway was made, The gray realm beyond shimmered, souls unafraid. Young Justin stepped through, Then the others did too, And the air fell to silence — all debts finally paid.
Memorable Moments
After stealing Amanda’s necklace, the wearer discovers they can see ghosts and cannot put the necklace down — even after critting a wisdom save to throw it, they immediately sprint back to pick it up.
The party watches helplessly as their companion throws the cursed necklace away with tremendous willpower, only to run after it instantly.
A passing farmer’s horses are spooked by the ghost child Justin, causing the cart to flip and crush the farmer to death — an innocent bystander killed by the ripple effects of the stolen necklace.
The party had no way to warn the farmer in time, and the ghost child’s presence triggered a chain of events leading to his death.
“Good. Fuck that bitch. I hope she’s dead. I hope she’s fucking dead.” — Beatrice’s Husband
Delighted reaction upon being told his wife Beatrice had died on the road, moments before he himself tripped and died.
A party member touches the writhing tentacles in the old woman’s cauldron and receives a vision from an Old God, learning that the ankh can open a gateway to escort spirits to the afterlife.
The party had traveled eight hours through a dangerous swamp seeking answers, and the solution came through communion with an ancient, unknowable entity.
A party member opens a gateway to the Gray Realm, conjures an image of the goddess Mystra to comfort the frightened ghost child Justin, and escorts all the lingering spirits into the line for the afterlife.
The culmination of the session’s spiritual journey, finally giving peace to the ghosts that had been following the party since the cursed necklace was stolen.
Scenes
Return to the Tavern
The party returns to town with their spoils, including a mysterious tablet, and receives a warm welcome at the local tavern.
- The party discusses storing their loot and finding a permanent property in town.
- A character summons a floating disc to carry a heavy stone tablet found in a temple.
- Jax, the tavern keeper, informs the party they have become popular and hands out bags of gold from tips given by the townspeople.
- The party explains that Cornelius and Poppy’on have left to find a way to reattach Cornelius’s gold hand.
Meeting John Harrison
The party visits the scholar John Harrison to sell artifacts and seek information about their recent discoveries.
- The party enters John Harrison’s intricate dwarven-style home and presents the stone tablet.
- Harrison identifies the tablet as a potential key to translating ancient books from a ‘golden age’.
- The party sells three ancient iron and wood pickaxes to Harrison for 50 gold pieces each.
- The party shows Harrison a fist-sized cluster of quartz that was blocking a cavern hall, which he identifies as a magical phenomenon rather than a historical artifact.
- Harrison directs the party toward a wizard’s tower on the outskirts of town for more information on the magical quartz.
- The party asks about purchasing land, and Harrison refers them back to Jax.
Shopping at the General Store
The party visits a general store run by a drow woman named Zarya to restock on supplies and inquire about land.
- The party enters the general store and meets Zarya, a drow shopkeeper.
- A party member inquires about glass receptacles, and Zarya leads them to a cabinet of jars.
- A small companion finds a thick glass jar with two handles and uses it to jump around.
- The party restocks on adventuring gear, including rations, oil, and a mess kit.
- The party purchases several daggers and a large quantity of darts.
- One character buys a light crossbow and restocks on arrows and torches.
- The party discusses the possibility of purchasing a plot of land from Zarya.
- Zarya reveals she is saving the land for when she finds a strong husband, and the party offers to act as matchmakers in exchange for the land.
The Vanished Wizard’s Tower
The party travels to the outskirts of town to find a wizard’s tower, only to discover it has floated up into the sky.
- The party arrives at the site where the wizard’s tower should be, finding only a cleared circular plot of land and a cobblestone path.
- An investigation of the area suggests the tower either disappeared or floated away.
- The party approaches a nearby farmhouse and speaks with a pudgy farmer carving a canoe.
- The farmer informs the party that the tower is now located inside a dense, stationary cloud high in the sky.
- The party compensates the farmer with two gold coins for the information.
Jeremy’s Aerial Reconnaissance
An owl familiar named Jeremy is sent to scout the floating tower, discovering a series of strange and hazardous floors.
- Jeremy flies up to the floating tower and enters the first floor, finding a life-size chessboard and a spiral staircase.
- On the second floor, Jeremy encounters a room filled with water and predatory sharks.
- The third floor contains a table with various mysterious potions and goblets, but the exit is locked.
- The fourth floor features a suit of animated armor that mirrors the movements of intruders.
- A higher floor is filled with a large number of squirrels that all turn to stare at Jeremy.
- Another floor holds a congregation of thirteen figures in black robes wearing blank white masks with red lines running from forehead to mouth.
- Jeremy returns to the party to report the bizarre challenges found within the tower.
- The party observes the tower’s massive shadow and concludes the wizard is likely at the top.
Encounter with Amanda
The party meets a mysterious woman named Amanda while observing the floating tower.
- A pale woman dressed in black, named Amanda, approaches the party near the tower’s base.
- Amanda expresses surprise that the party can see her, suggesting she may believe herself to be invisible.
- The party discusses the difficulty of reaching the tower, which is approximately 500 feet in the air.
- A party member considers using celestial wings to fly up but realizes it would be a one-way trip for the group.
- The party questions Amanda about her background; she claims to be good at finding and escorting people.
- The party decides the tower is too dangerous and inaccessible for now and prepares to rest before returning to town.
The Unsettling Night Watch
The party rests near the farmhouse while keeping a wary eye on the mysterious Amanda, whose behavior and magical aura raise suspicions.
- The party settles in for a rest near the farmhouse.
- A party member detects that Amanda has a necklace with a necromantic aura.
- During the watch, the party realizes Amanda never blinks, even when staring directly at them.
- A party member uses minor illusion to mask the sound of footsteps with cricket chirps to aid a stealthy approach.
- The party observes Amanda sleeping with her eyes wide open and her arms crossed.
The Theft of the Ankh
A party member successfully steals the necromantic necklace from Amanda, only to find the item carries a supernatural burden.
- A party member successfully sneaks into Amanda’s tent and removes the necklace from her neck while her eyes are open.
- Amanda and her tent vanish instantly when the party blinks or looks away.
- The party member discovers a ghost child named Justin near the farmhouse and realizes the necklace allows the wearer to see the dead.
- The necklace binds itself to the wearer; they are unable to hand it to others or throw it on the ground.
- A passing farmer’s horses are spooked by the ghost child, causing his cart to flip over and killing him.
The Cart Accident and the Ghostly Encounter
A farmer’s cart flips over, leading to his death and the appearance of his ghost, while the party struggles with the cursed necklace.
- A farmer’s cart flips over after his horses are spooked by the ghost child, pinning and killing him.
- The party attempts to rescue the farmer, but he passes away and his ghost appears alongside the ghost child.
- The necklace wearer discovers she cannot remove the cursed necklace, as her own arm reflexively blocks any attempt to cut it off.
- The necklace wearer attempts to throw the necklace away with a massive burst of willpower but immediately runs to pick it back up.
- The party discovers the cart was carrying large quantities of refined poppy powder, leading to a discussion about its value and potential uses.
- The necklace wearer uses the ghosts to prove her new sight to the party by having a ghost identify a number held behind a companion’s back.
- The party debates how to fix the broken cart axle, considering stealing a fence post from a nearby farm but ultimately deciding against it.
The Burden of the Spirit Necklace and the Poppy Seeds
The party investigates the crashed cart’s contents and discusses the cursed necklace while traveling through the rural area.
- The party discovers the cart was carrying large quantities of poppy seeds and discusses their potential use as drugs or medicine.
- A party member fills their water skin with poppy seeds.
- The party learns from the ghost child that his mother, Tammy, ran off to the city to become an entrepreneur.
- The party hatches a plan to play matchmaker between the lonely grieving farmer and Zarya, the shopkeeper in town.
- The party discusses the mysterious wizard’s tower and concludes the tower’s continued flight proves the wizard is still alive.
- The party decides the necklace can be passed between sleeping party members to share the burden of seeing spirits.
The Tragedy of Beatrice and the Grumpy Husband
The party encounters a series of deaths and ghosts while traveling through a rural area, leading to a bizarre interaction with a bickering couple.
- An old woman named Beatrice dies of a heart attack on the road and her spirit begins following the party.
- The party attempts to return Beatrice’s body to her husband, but accidentally visits the wrong house first, causing a scare for an elderly man named Alberta.
- They find the correct house, where Beatrice’s husband expresses joy at her death, calling her a despicable gossip.
- The husband accidentally trips and dies in his kitchen, and his ghost immediately rises to join the growing group of spirits following the party.
- The party adopts the couple’s large orange cat, Fenrir, and notices a magical collar on it.
The Matchmaker’s Proposal
The party returns to Zarya’s shop to propose a match between her and the lonely farmer they encountered.
- The party describes a ruggedly handsome, stoic landowner to Zarya, omitting the tragic details of his recent losses.
- A magical illusion is used to show Zarya a flattering portrait of the farmer.
- Zarya expresses intrigue at the prospect of a stoic, emotionally vulnerable bachelor and agrees to the deal, promising the land in exchange.
Consulting John Harrison
The party visits John Harrison to identify the mysterious magical ankh and seek a way to remove it.
- The party presents the magical ankh to John Harrison, explaining that the wearer can see the recently deceased and cannot remove the item.
- John Harrison identifies the symbol as an emblem of eternal life and suggests the wearer is now a psychopomp.
- A party member peruses Harrison’s library, finding a book on Thoth and the weighing of hearts, leading to a profound spiritual realization about the nature of existence.
- The party attempts to persuade the ghosts following them to move on by explaining the illusion of separateness, but the spirits remain tethered.
- Harrison suggests seeking an old woman in a distant hut who might know more about the afterlife and how to help spirits move on.
Comforting the Grieving Farmer
The party returns to the grieving farmer’s home to offer him hope and a chance at a new life.
- The party speaks to the grieving farmer, offering philosophical comfort about the proximity of the afterlife and his son’s continued presence.
- The necklace wearer uses the ankh to relay a message from the son’s spirit, encouraging the father to find love again.
- The party proposes a match between the farmer and Zarya, the successful shopkeeper.
- The farmer agrees to travel to town to meet Zarya, and the party spends the night at his farm.
Planning the Bastion
The party discusses their newly acquired land and plans for building a base of operations.
- The party reviews the deed for their new eight-acre plot of land.
- They discuss the bastion rules, planning to build a combination of a stronghold and a wizard tower.
- The party agrees to invest 1,000 gold pieces to hire builders through Jax to begin construction.
- A party member purchases a set of half-plate armor to improve their defenses for future encounters.
The Hag’s Hut in the Swamp
The party travels deep into a dangerous swamp to seek answers from a mysterious old woman about the cursed necklace.
- The party travels for eight hours to reach the edge of a hot, mosquito-infested swamp.
- A party member casts detect magic, discovering necromantic energy emanating from Fenrir’s collar.
- The party finds an isolated hut on a small island in the center of the swamp, with purple light flashing from the windows.
- The ghosts following the party express fear about approaching the hut.
- The party rows a rickety boat across the water to reach the hut.
- Inside, they encounter an old woman stirring a cauldron filled with writhing tentacles and glowing liquids.
- The party asks the woman for advice on how to help the spirits move on to the afterlife.
- The woman encourages a party member to touch the tentacles in the cauldron to find answers from an ‘Old God’.
- One party member touches a tentacle and experiences a profound sense of connection and transcendence.
- Through this connection, they learn that the necklace can be used to open a gateway and escort spirits toward the afterlife.
- The old woman makes several cryptic and suggestive remarks before the party departs.
Escorting the Spirits
Returning to their land, the party uses the magical necklace to guide the ghosts to the threshold of the afterlife.
- The party returns to their property where construction on their new base has begun.
- Using the power of the necklace, a party member opens a gateway to a dark, gray realm filled with lines of souls and a wall of faces.
- The party member comforts the ghost of the young boy Justin, reassuring him about the afterlife and conjuring an image of the goddess Mystra using minor illusion.
- The spirits of the boy and the other deceased individuals join the line, successfully beginning their transition to the afterlife.
- The party member returns to the material plane, and the party receives 800 XP.
NPCs
Jax
The tavern keeper who manages the party’s popularity and distributes gold tips earned from their recorded exploits.
John Harrison
A scholarly dwarf who wears spectacles and specializes in translating ancient texts and appraising historical artifacts. He has a vast library of books from the golden age and lives in a beautiful dwarven-designed home.
Zarya
A drow woman with white hair who owns the local general store. She is 125 years old but appears to be in her twenties. She is enterprising and owns a plot of land she intends to build a house on once she finds a strong husband.
The Farmer (near the Tower)
A pudgy man with deep sunken eyes and a thick mustache, seen carving a canoe at his farmhouse in a red and black flannel shirt. He provides information about the wizard’s tower ascending into the clouds.
Amanda
A mysterious, pale woman with black hair fixed up in buns, black lipstick, high cheekbones, and large eyes. She wears a black corset and long flowy black dress. She never blinks, sleeps with her eyes wide open, and possesses a necromantic ankh necklace. She claims her skills are finding and escorting people, and she seemed to believe she was invisible to others.
Justin
The ghost of a young boy who died of sickness. He haunts the farmhouse where his father grieves and is the first spirit perceived through the cursed necklace.
The Grieving Father
A man found weeping by his son’s bedside inside the farmhouse, unaware of the spectral presence of his child.
The Cart Farmer
A traveler encountered in the middle of the night whose horses are spooked by the ghost child, causing his cart to flip over and killing him. His cart was carrying large quantities of refined poppy powder.
The Grieving Farmer
A man who recently lost his son and was abandoned by his wife Tammy; he owns thirteen pigs and a farm. He is eventually persuaded to travel to town to meet Zarya.
Tammy
The grieving farmer’s wife who left the farm to seek her fortune as an entrepreneur in the city.
Beatrice
An old woman who dies of a heart attack on the road. Her ghost follows the party, and she was described by her husband as a despicable gossip and ‘how-to-do person.‘
Alberta
An ancient, sunken-eyed man living in a nearby farmhouse who is briefly terrified when the party mistakenly tries to deliver Beatrice’s body to him. He mentions his wife is named Mildred.
Beatrice’s Husband
A man who hated his wife Beatrice and is delighted to hear of her passing, only to accidentally trip and die shortly after, becoming a ghost himself.
Fenrir
A big, fat orange cat that belonged to Beatrice and her husband. The party adopts him after both owners die. He wears a magical collar with a small orb that looks like a swirling galaxy.
The Old Woman (Swamp Hut)
A mysterious and eccentric magic-user living in a swamp hut. She stirs a cauldron filled with glowing orange, purple, and green liquids and writhing tentacles, communing with an Old God. She provides cryptic guidance on how to use the ankh to escort spirits to the afterlife.
Locations
The Tavern
A lively hub where the party is celebrated with a standing ovation upon their return; managed by Jax.
John Harrison’s House
A beautiful home of dwarven design with stained glass featuring a dwarf with a fedora and a diamond-tipped cane; the interior is filled with impeccable, dust-free books from the golden age.
Zarya’s General Store
A shop in town run by a drow woman named Zarya, stocked with adventuring gear, glassworks, and weaponry.
The Tower Site
A cleared circular plot of land on the outskirts of town where a wizard’s tower once stood, now featuring only a cobblestone path leading to where the tower used to be.
The Floating Tower
A massive, seemingly endless magical tower floating inside a dense, stationary cloud high above the ground, casting a large shadow. Each floor contains a unique and dangerous magical challenge, including a chess room, a shark-filled water room, and a congregation of masked figures.
The Farmhouse (near the Tower)
A residence near the original tower site where a pudgy farmer with a thick mustache and flannel shirt carves a canoe.
The Roadside Farmhouse
A rural farmhouse near which a fatal cart accident occurred; the site where the ghost child Justin was first encountered and where the cursed necklace was stolen from Amanda.
The Grieving Farmer’s Farmhouse
A somber location where a farmer mourns the recent loss of his son and the departure of his wife, and where the party later brokers a matchmaking deal.
The Road
The site of a cart accident where the party discovered a stash of poppy seeds and encountered several ghosts, including Beatrice.
Alberta’s Farmhouse
A small farmhouse belonging to an ancient man named Alberta, mistakenly visited by the party when trying to return Beatrice’s body.
Beatrice’s House
A small shack where a bickering couple lived; it becomes the site of the husband’s accidental death and where the party adopts the cat Fenrir.
The Party’s Land
An eight-acre plot of land acquired through matchmaking, where construction has begun on a future bastion intended to serve as a stronghold and wizard tower.
The Dangerous Swamps
A hot, oppressive wetland filled with pests and dark magic, housing a mysterious hut on a small island.
The Swamp Hut
A small, isolated shack situated on a tiny island in the middle of a hot, pest-ridden swamp, inhabited by a mysterious old woman who communes with an Old God through a cauldron of tentacles.
The Gray Realm
A transitional plane between life and death, described as a dark gray area dominated by a giant wall of faces and endless lines of souls waiting to pass on to the afterlife.
Items
Stone Tablet
An ancient artifact recounting the story of a half-god, found in the temple. John Harrison believes it is the key to translating books from the golden age.
Ancient Pickaxes
Three iron and wood tools found in an abandoned mine shaft beneath the temple; notable for having preserved wood despite their age. Sold to John Harrison for 50 gold pieces each.
Growing Quartz Cluster
A fist-sized lump of quartz found blocking a cavern hall that radiates enchantment magic. It grows continually and had visibly gotten larger since being found. John Harrison identified it as a magical phenomenon rather than a historical artifact and directed the party to the wizard.
Zombie T-Rex Jawbone
A massive jawbone harvested from a defeated undead dinosaur, rope-strapped to a party member’s back with morsels of flesh cleaned off using acid from a gelatinous cube.
Whimsical Glass Jar
A sturdy, thick glass jar with two handles on the sides, purchased from Zarya’s general store for three copper pieces. Used as a receptacle for a small companion.
Light Crossbow
A ranged weapon purchased by a party member at Zarya’s general store.
Mysterious Potions and Goblets
An array of vials and goblets found on the third floor of the floating tower, including a small green vial, an oil lamp-shaped bottle, one shaped like two hands holding an apple, one with a skull, a very thin one, and one shaped like an eight-pointed diamond.
Tenser’s Floating Disc
A magical horizontal plane of force summoned as a ritual, floating five feet off the ground and capable of carrying up to 500 pounds. Used to transport the heavy stone tablet.
Necromantic Ankh Necklace
An Egyptian-style ankh symbol representing eternal life. It radiates necromantic magic, allows the wearer to see and communicate with ghosts, and magically binds itself to whoever takes it. It can only be removed from the wearer while they are asleep. Previously belonged to Amanda, who used it in her role escorting the dead.
Refined Poppy Powder / Seeds
Large quantities of poppy seeds found in the overturned cart. In small doses prepared correctly they can serve as a painkiller or anesthetic; in larger quantities they can severely alter one’s state of consciousness. A party member filled a water skin with some of the seeds.
Tinker’s Tools
A set of tools used in an attempt to repair the broken axle of the farmer’s crashed cart, though a blacksmith would ultimately be needed.
Fenrir’s Magical Collar
A cat collar featuring a small orb that looks like a moving galaxy filled with stars. It radiates necromantic magic.
Book on Thoth
An ancient, difficult-to-translate text found in John Harrison’s library that discusses Ma’at’s feather and the weighing of hearts.
The Deed
A legal document granting the party eight acres of land, acquired through their matchmaking efforts with Zarya.
Half-plate Armor
A sturdy set of metal plates purchased by a party member to provide significant protection in combat, costing 750 gold.
The Cauldron
A large vessel in the swamp hut filled with glowing orange, purple, and green liquids and writhing tentacles, used by the old woman to commune with an ancient Old God entity.
Spells
Tenser’s Floating Disc
A magical horizontal plane of force summoned as a ritual by a party member, used to transport the heavy stone tablet through town to John Harrison’s home.
Detect Magic
Cast as a ritual on the growing quartz cluster to reveal its enchantment properties, and later used to identify the necromantic aura on Amanda’s necklace and Fenrir’s collar.
Find Familiar
Used to send the owl Jeremy to scout the various dangerous and bizarre floors of the floating wizard’s tower.
Celestial Revelation
A once-per-long-rest transformation that grants the user heavenly wings and a fly speed. Discussed as a potential means of reaching the floating tower, but ultimately not used.
Minor Illusion
Used on multiple occasions: to mask the sound of footsteps with chirping crickets during a stealthy approach, to create a flattering portrait of the farmer to show Zarya, and to conjure a comforting image of the goddess Mystra for the ghost child Justin.