Session 50: Reading the Whispering Reeds

S50 Recap: Reading the Whispering Reeds

TL;DR

A downtime-and-investigation session in Otari. Venris is dying — a darkness is clouding his soul, an echo of the "empty death" tied to Nimbaloth, and he's slowly fading. The party splits their day: Abbas cures Venris's lingering Velstrack disease with a heightened Cleanse Affliction, and they revisit Menhems' daughter Doriana, whose night terrors and "Lang" arm-markings have returned along with another cursed ruby hidden in a teddy bear. To trace it they scramble for a Locate spell — Cid luckily finds an uncommon scroll in the market, and Abbas learns the 3rd-rank version (though they discover they really need the 5th-rank one to target a creature). Then at Rin's, Abbas reads the Whispering Reeds and accidentally triggers a rot-emanation spell baked into it, blasting Rin, Cid, and Veve with mental damage. Pushing through, Abbas uncovers the full horror of the empty death — cursed souls become chaotic-evil ghosts that Nimbaloth eventually devours and annihilates — and confirms this is the same affliction killing Venris. A long lore session ties it to the old Rose Guard curse and Belcorra's revenge. Abbas's final reading is interrupted, leaving him owing a Will save next session.

Previously on

The party cleared the catacombs (killed the "Sigati" creatures and trapped the thing below), then returned to Otari and checked on Manhattan/Menhems' daughter, finding her afflicted by a curse linked to "Lang" markings and a massive ruby hidden inside a stuffed doll. Rin recognized the creature from a drawing as one of the offline "folk" likely behind it. The party planned downtime in town, partly because Venris keeps having worsening nightmares.

What happened

Abbas read Venris's worsening condition: the veil between his life and death is shrinking, a darkness clouds his soul, and his decline is slowly accelerating. Abbas couldn't say how long Venris has, but felt sure the answers lie in the Whispering Reeds — and that without action, Venris will be lost.
The party returned to the Menhems manor to find Doriana's night terrors had returned; she'd reverted to a childish, conflicted state clutching a teddy bear and babbling about her "Motley Men" dream-adventures. The "Lang" scratches on her arm were back.
Veve and Cid soothed and befriended her again (a performance/Diplomacy success, aided by Abbas's Guidance); Doriana handed over Teddy, and squeezing it revealed a hard object inside — likely another implanted ruby. This time they kept it intact to trace it.
Abbas went to the Dawnflower Library to find a Locate spell; the library's Vandy was stunned but couldn't help. Cid scoured the market and luckily found an uncommon scroll of Locate (60 gp, paid from his own pocket to be billed back to the mayor).
Reading the spell exposed a problem: base Locate only reaches 500 ft and targets objects, and tracing the curse to a creature needs the 5th-rank version the party can't yet cast. Abbas learned the 3rd-rank Locate anyway (16 gp, 3 hours, consuming the scroll) and repaid Cid.
The next morning Abbas cured Venris's Velstrack disease outright with a heightened (3rd-rank) Cleanse Affliction, succeeding on the counteract — the muscle-strain symptoms lifted.
At Rin's, with the party guarding him, Abbas decoded the Whispering Reeds (which grants a +2 to recall knowledge about Nimbaloth and the empty death). He involuntarily triggered a spell hidden in the text: a 20-foot emanation of whispers and seven evenly-spaced rotting "divots."
The party rolled initiative-style perception. The high rollers caught themselves; Rin, Cid, and Veve were caught and took 19 mental damage (DC 27 basic Will; Cid saved for half), plus a 1-minute penalty to emotion-effect saves. Abbas passed his own save and faced the empty death head-on.
Pushing through, Abbas uncovered the empty death's mechanics: dying under it curses and marks the soul, which immediately becomes a chaotic-evil ghost in agonizing pain; that ghost periodically rolls a flat check, and a failure sees Nimbaloth consume and utterly annihilate it (restorable only by a 10th-level effect or wish). The GM confirmed Venris has a milder "ghost seeds" version of the same thing.

Lore and theories

The party tied it all together: Tarnak (a Rose Guard descendant obsessed with a hereditary curse) developed and proved a method to keep a cursed body from turning to dust — the tradition the Menhems family still follows.
Per Menhems' grandfather's story, the Rose Guard (Vol/Volrajan, Asefna, and a more-independent wizard) suffered for years; a maddened Vol nearly killed a townsfolk, Asefna interjected, Vol was killed and crumbled to dust, and Asefna later took her own life and likewise turned to dust.
The party theorizes Belcorra hates the Menhems/Rose Guard line and sent the rot-creature to destroy their protected bodies (explaining the crumbled catacomb corpses), and that the original servant of Nimbaloth was beaten using Pharasma's power.
The maddened, disintegrated apprentice from earlier is judged to be the same affliction — it consumed him fast because he was weaker, while Venris's power keeps it at bay longer.

Decisions made

The party spent their downtime in Otari rather than returning to the Vaults, because Venris is fatigued and fading.
They kept the second cursed object (inside the teddy bear) intact this time so it can be magically traced.
Cid fronted 60 gp for the Locate scroll, to be charged back to the mayor/Menhems.
Abbas learned 3rd-rank Locate from the scroll (consuming it) and cured Venris's Velstrack disease with heightened Cleanse Affliction.
Abbas chose to keep being the sole reader of the Whispering Reeds (being almost done) rather than expose Venris — though Venris is pushing to read it himself.

Open questions / reminders for next session

Abbas owes a Will saving throw from his interrupted final reading of the Whispering Reeds — resolve it first thing.
The teddy bear's hidden object still needs tracing; base/3rd-rank Locate isn't enough (creature target needs 5th-rank), so the party needs another approach or a higher-rank caster (possibly in Absalom).
Whether Venris should read the Whispering Reeds himself (risking acceleration) or the safer Tarnak's journal / "Thresholds of Truth" excerpts. The GM will share Tarnak (safe, no immediate Will save) and the Thresholds of Truth (safety uncertain) for possible pre-reading.
Doriana's curse is back and ongoing; the party must find and neutralize its source, likely tied to Belcorra.
Venris is still dying from the empty-death echo despite the disease cure; finding a cure in the book is the clock.
Downtime/research reminder: the libraries (Dawnflower, Morlibint) and the Vaults library give bonuses to recall-knowledge research the party can use over the coming week.

Scene timeline (10)

00:00:00	Pregame chatter, tech setup, and last-session recap Players deal with computer/Foundry setup and off-topic chatter (Windows 11, power problems, scheduling the next sessions to 9pm). The party recaps the prior session: they cleared the catacombs (killed the 'Sigati'/things, trapped the creature below), returned to Otari, and checked on Manhattan/Menhems' daughter, working out what was wrong with her (connected to 'Lang' markings and a ruby hidden in a stuffed doll). They consulted Rin, who recognized the creature from a drawing as one of the offline 'folk' likely responsible. The party decided to spend downtime in town because Venris keeps having worsening nightmares. [S50 · 00:02:19 · turn 0008 · scene 001]
00:14:48	Venris is fading: the darkness clouding his soul Abbas uses an occultism check to gauge Venris's condition overnight. The veil between Venris's life and death is shrinking; normally his soul would pass to the river of souls, but a darkness is clouding him and his decline is slowly worsening. Abbas can't pin down how long Venris has left, but feels certain the answers lie in the Whispering Reads, and that if nothing is done Venris will be lost. Venris stays in town to rest, fatigued. The party discusses his 'anti-symptom' feat (reducing a clumsy/feeble/stupefied condition by one) and that Cleanse Affliction at base rank only reduces stage but doesn't cure stage-one affliction (the Velstrack/Valstrack disease). [S50 · 00:18:39 · turn 0145 · scene 002]
00:26:10	Planning the day: read the book, treat Venris, help Doriana The party plans the day in town. Abbas intends to read the Whispering Reeds (the book), but wants someone present this time in case it goes wrong; he repeats the contingency he once gave Rin (if he is overcome, seek the person Abbas knew in Absalom). The party will also recheck on Menhems' daughter Doriana and try to treat Venris's affliction. Abbas debates using a higher-rank Cleanse Affliction (counteract) versus the base version, and whether to wait for the sixth/seventh-level priest (about a week away) who could cast it heightened. [S50 · 00:34:30 · turn 0284 · scene 003]
00:37:15	Doriana's night terrors return; the teddy bear's secret The party arrives at the Menhems manor to find Doriana (~12-14) has had her night terrors again and reverted to a childish, conflicted state clutching a teddy bear and talking about her 'Motley Men' adventures. The scratches on her arm again read 'Lang' (confirmed by occultism). The party suspects another ruby/object has been implanted in a toy, as before. Veve/Cid use a Soothe + performance/Diplomacy check (success, aided by Abbas's Guidance) to befriend her again; Doriana hands over Teddy, and squeezing it reveals a hard object inside. They want it intact this time so it can be magically traced. [S50 · 00:39:23 · turn 0326 · scene 004]
00:59:50	Hunting a Locate spell at the Dawnflower Library and market Abbas pockets the teddy bear and heads to the Dawnflower (Don Floor) Library to find a way to cast Locate and trace the cursed object's source. He consults the library's Vandy/Vendy, who is shocked, hasn't heard of 'the innocents of Lang,' and lacks the magic. Cid scours the market and luckily turns up an uncommon scroll of Locate (60 gp; paid from Cid's pocket, to be charged back to the mayor/Menhems). Reading the spell reveals problems: base Locate is 500 ft, only targets objects, and a creature/ancestry target needs the 5th-rank version, which the party can't yet cast. Abbas instead learns the 3rd-rank Locate from the scroll (16 gp materials, 3 hours, religion check), consuming the scroll, and repays Cid. [S50 · 00:35:24 · turn 0295 · scene 005]
01:33:00	Curing Venris's disease and prepping to read the book at Rin's The next morning Venris is bedridden and fatigued (sleepless, not yet better). Abbas debates whether the heightened (3rd-rank) Cleanse Affliction with its counteract effect can clear Venris's Velstrack disease. He casts 3rd-rank Cleanse Affliction (success on the counteract, rank 4 vs the disease) and fully cures the disease — Venris feels the muscle-straining relieved. Abbas catches Venris up on Doriana's ruby, teaches that he learned Locate, and the party heads to Rin's. Abbas warns Venris not to directly read or touch the Whispering Reeds; an occultism check (25) confirms Venris can safely accompany as long as he isn't directly exposed. [S50 · 01:56:49 · turn 1005 · scene 006]
02:01:11	Reading the Whispering Reeds: the rot emanation strikes At Rin's, with the party guarding him, Abbas reads the Whispering Reeds (granting a +2 item bonus to recall knowledge about Nimbaloth and the empty death). Decoding it (religion 33), he involuntarily triggers a spell baked into the text: a 20-foot emanation of indistinct whispers and seven evenly-spaced 'divots' that rot vegetation and flesh. Initiative-style perception is rolled; the high rollers caught themselves and were warned, while the low rollers — Rin, Cid, and Veve — are caught. They take 19 points of mental damage (DC 27 basic Will save; Cid succeeds for half) and a -1 penalty to emotion-effect saves for one minute. Abbas passes his own Will save and faces the empty death directly. [S50 · 02:06:55 · turn 1086 · scene 007]
02:23:40	What the empty death does: cursed souls and Nimbaloth Surviving his Will save, Abbas (religion 33) uncovers grim lore about the empty death: a failed save would leave a victim incomprehensible; dying under its effect curses and marks the soul; the victim immediately becomes a chaotic-evil ghost in agonizing pain; and that ghost rolls a recurring flat check, a failure on which sees it consumed by Nimbaloth and utterly annihilated (restorable only by a 10th-level effect or wish ritual). The GM confirms this is essentially what Venris has — 'ghost seeds,' a not-fully-blown version. The party recalls the maddened apprentice (Tarnak-linked) who disintegrated, and ties together the catacomb undead as souls pulled from the river of souls and devoured by Nimbaloth. [S50 · 02:24:54 · turn 1260 · scene 008]
02:39:18	Theories: the Rose Guard curse, the dust-prevention tradition, and Belcorra A long lore discussion ties the threads together. Tarnak (Tarnett) studied and proved a method to keep a cursed body from turning to dust, born of his belief in a hereditary curse that killed his Rose Guard parents. The GM relays Menhems' grandfather's story: the Rose Guard (Vol/Volrajan, Asefna, and a more-independent wizard) suffered for years; a maddened Vol nearly killed a townsfolk, Asefna interjected, Vol was killed and crumbled to dust, and Asefna later took her own life and also turned to dust. The party theorizes Belcorra hates the Menhems/Rose Guard line and sent the rot-creature to destroy the protected bodies (which is why the catacomb corpses crumbled), with Pharasma's power being how the original servant of Nimbaloth was defeated. The party concludes it is all related, and Venris resolves to read the book himself; Abbas argues he should keep reading it instead, being more than three-quarters done. [S50 · 02:46:35 · turn 1420 · scene 009]
03:09:53	Cliffhanger: the interrupted reading, Rin's shop, and session wind-down Abbas heals the party (Treat Wounds / heal, Rin included) and pushes on with the reading. He asks Rin for a concentration potion/mutagen; the GM browses Rin's Wonders shop (a star-themed dome of curios) but finds nothing with a Will-save bonus — she has Cleanse Affliction at rank 3, the same the party already uses. The GM rules Abbas's last reading attempt a failure: he was interrupted before learning new information and now owes a Will saving throw, deferred to next session. The GM will compile and share the Tarnak journal and 'Thresholds of Truth' excerpts so Venris could safely pre-read Tarnak's (no immediate Will save), while the Thresholds of Truth's safety for Venris is left uncertain. Session ends. [S50 · 03:31:15 · turn 1794 · scene 010]

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