Session 21
The Ancient Staff
Party: Chunk, Coine, Urzein, Vaelen and Zalos
Short Synopsis
The party opens the door to the east and defeat several groups of gnolls. Upon entering the last room, they find a Stone Giant who hands an ancient staff to Coine for safekeeping.
Long Synopsis
The adventurers continue exploring the Giant’s temple, hoping to help Selene find her missing comrades. They run into a group of gnolls, one of whom is feeding on a halfling. Zalos, Urzein and Chunk charge headlong into battle, while Coine conjures elementals while Vaelen attacks with his own magic. During the battle, Zalos hears a cry, and charges northward to find one of Selene’s missing comrades, Randolph. It does not take long for the party to defeat the gnolls.
In the aftermath, the adventurers learn many things. Randolph mentions that the gnolls keep referring to “Lutash the Flame.” Selene’s map has the word “staff?” written on it, with a note about the Keeper of the Staff, Jestek. It also states that: “Should the beast people search for the staff, let the Keepers stand eternal.” The gnolls have their own map, with the Orcish words “Find the staff, the Flame demands it.”
They open the next door to the east, and they see a staff enclosed in a glass case being guarded by a stone giant. The stone giant is the keeper of the staff. He is old and weary, desiring to pass on the responsibility of the staff before he becomes unable to protect it. Seeing that the party had defeated the gnolls, he asks whether they are capable of bearing the staff which is meant to unite, not to divide people. After a brief discussion, it is agreed the Coine should take the staff, and he also gives the gnome a smooth disk known as the “Builder’s Token” that can be shown as a token to those who know the old ways. Then, the stone giant hands “Giant Chronicle Tablet” to Vaelen that may be helpful in studies on historical lore. With that, the party rests in the temple.
