Shattered Star: The Great Curator

Game Date: 12/19/2015
Location: The Game Keep
Campaign: Shattered Star, Session 42
System: D&D 5e
DM: Rusty

The Party:
Bjertha Brawlbaker (Matt) - Dwarf Fighter
Fellany Mertien (Cliff) - Human Fighter
Gustav Greycastle (Graham) - Human Necromancer
Maruca (Daniel) - Elf Ranger/Cleric/Rogue
Slancio Brioso (Thomas) - Human Bard

The Session:
We left off faced with a round, foggy room.  The room was a giant pit, but the fog obscured the bottom.  We could see a tunnel on the other side.  Gustav sent his bird familiar across the pit, and confirmed that the tunnels on the other side only led to places we'd already been.  Then he sent his bird down into the fog to determine it was safe to proceed in that direction.  Once we were ready, we all descended into the pit using ropes and fly spells.

Once we were past the fog, we saw that the room below us was a library.  There were four doors, one in each cardinal direction.  There were high bookshelves all over the place, and several robed people walking around.  As soon as we were detected, the robed people vanished, and the books started flying of the shelves and expelling a black mist.

As we landed, a pair of giant scorpion constructs attacked us.  They were powerful creatures that hit hard.  They had multiple attacks, poison, grapples, damage reduction, and a fear effect.  Gustav was knocked down to 0 before he even had a turn, and our Smilodon friend was killed in the first round.  Fellany soloed one (not by choice - she was grappled) while the rest of us ganged up on the other.  Bjertha dealt the final blow on the first one, and one of Gustav's zombies finished off the second.

Once the scorpions were dead, we searched the library.  Slancio found a set of thin metal plates that, when spread out, showed the anatomy of a large aquatic creature.  As we explored and looted, a glowing ghostly Curator appeared and told us to put everything back.  We asked him about the area, and he told us the South passage was full of interesting curiosities.  He said we could look, but not touch.  We took a short rest and proceeded through the South door.

This door lead to a series of hexagonal rooms.  As promised, they were full of interesting relics.  A ghostly voice welcomed us and reminded us not to touch anything.   We were very respectful and kept our hands to ourselves.  Yeah, right.  We saw a lot of neat artifacts.  The entry room had several statues of people with four wings and no faces.  One room housed a statue of a Sphinx, the front half buried under rubble.  Another room contained a fireball frozen in time.  Another artifact-filled room had a mummified snake with an Ioun Stone in its mouth.  Slancio grabbed the stone and waited for retribution, but nothing immediately attacked us.

In another room, Gustav found a spiral staircase, which took him to the top of the tower.  Up on the roof, he saw a forest one one side and a tundra on the other, which was odd considering this dungeon is in the desert.  He also saw some butterflies carrying a miniature version of this tower.  Or maybe he imagined the whole thing.  He came back down and told us about what he'd seen.

Meanwhile, Fellany also saw something strange.  While examining the butt of the Sphinx statue, it turned around and faced her with its faceless face.  The entire world seemed to fall away for a second before Fellany snapped back to reality, and the Sphinx was back to the way it was before.  Gustav came to help Fellany to investigate the Sphinx, and found a crystal ball.  Slancio tried to pocket the ball, and the Curator appeared and attacked.  The Curator was beyond talking to, so we had to fight him.

The Curator was tough.  He was insubstantial, had a lot of high level spells, and he had the ability to steal spell slots from our party's magic users.   Slancio hit him with Dispel Magic, which took away his Mage Armor.  The Curator dominated Bjertha early in the battle, and she fought Fellany for round before another Dispel Magic returned her to normal.  Angry at having been controlled, Bjertha finished the battle by hacking away with her Undead Bane Longsword. 

We ended the session pretty quickly after the final blow, so we haven't rested yet.  The party is getting low on spells and Hit Dice, so we could really use a long rest.

Reminder:
There is most likely no game on  12/26 or 1/2.  We should play again on 1/9.