Mourningfall
Lore
Open threads
Tamsin's Warning Open
Tamsin put Lavius to sleep on the road and told Owlin to leave Mourningfall tonight, or wake something that has slept for thirty years, "and it will not be gentle." She looked toward the mountain as she said it. Aelion has shouted that she knows where to find them.
The Hungry One Is Kept Open
Aelion's blessings drew five hidden lines out of the bell, ending with "Hush, hush. The hungry one is kept." What sleeps, and what is hungry?
Guard the Reliquary Open
The golden shard now floats inside the closed reliquary of the restored church. Aelion is sure someone will try to take it.
Ilara and Jasmine Vance Open
Both names are in the parish register. Ilara Vance is written down, crossed out, and marked a mistake. Tüül felt he should remember them, and something kept him from it. In the graveyard, Ilara's small stone has her name struck through and "mistake" cut beside it.
What Is Lavius Running From? Open
Lavius came to Mourningfall seven years ago with a trade caravan of about two dozen chasing gold, and was the last of them left. Nora says he came running and forgot the most. La Maestra suspects the caravan was Zhentarim; Nora would not say, and no tattoo has been found. Did he first leave this place thirty years ago, or seven? In Session 11 he told his nightmare: running from Mourningfall in the rain, the bell ringing behind him without stopping, and a voice he knew like a friend's: "You were here. Stop running." He kept running. Whose voice was it?
Who Makes Mira Fall? Open
Asked who she lives with, Mira collapses in a fit, and it has happened before. Who is talking to her and making her forget, and was her family taken by chance or on purpose?
Who Rings the Bell? Open
About a hundred and twenty-five tally marks in Tamsin's wardrobe, in two hands, and then about ten more that look different. Aelion believes they count the times the bell has rung. Who made them, and why did the count change hands?
Owlin's Dream Stone Open
In his dream Owlin carried a warm stone that hummed like the bell, and a soft voice told him, "Put it where it sleeps. It has been missed." The real Owlin has no such stone.
Uncover the Truth of the Burning Open
What really happened thirty years ago? The mine burned, the church fell, and the town forgot the dead. The party has found the golden egg's trail, a false priesthood, a sealed shaft, and a bell.
Wake Mourningfall Open
The bell has not rung in over a day, and the forgetting is weakening. People are starting to remember. The party disagrees about whether that is a mercy or a danger.
Find Tamsin Open
The barmaid has vanished. Her room upstairs at the Last Lantern is empty, with a window used as a door, a warm spot in the floor that answers the golden eggshell, tally marks in the wardrobe, and a scorched ring by the window.
Recover and Consecrate the Dead Open
Aelion has vowed to return to the mine and give its dead a proper rest, starting with the mummies still sealed behind the foreman's door.
Things of note
The Town Bell
An old bell with Draconic inscriptions: Remember as we permit, forget as we demand. Sleep and be spared the waking. When it rings, the townspeople forget their bad memories. Blessings in Session 12 drew out five hidden lines, ending "Hush, hush. The hungry one is kept," and the words then faded away. The bell now hangs silent in a restored tower.
The Holy Avenger Maul
A giant maul found across Holloway's lap. Aelion attuned to it and it revealed itself as a Holy Avenger: +3 to hit and damage, radiant against fiends and undead.
The Golden Egg
A giant egg the miners found, which Tüül reported to the church. It was removed, and its trail is all that is left. La Maestra's fragment of its shell matches it exactly.
The Glowing Shell Fragment
A hand-sized piece of golden eggshell that La Maestra found beneath a deliberately placed stone. It seems almost sentient, and lights the egg's trail and the warm spot in Tamsin's floor. In Session 12 La Maestra let it fly into the church reliquary, and the church was restored. It floats there now.
The Golden Restraints
Thin threads of gold running through the stone of the chamber with the enormous bones. Aelion alone felt them give off warmth.
The Lightning Javelin
A javelin stuck ten feet down in the underground river's pool, throwing off arcs that charge the elementals guarding it. The party left it there, for now.
Mother Vee's Ring
A plain gold wedding ring with a gem, once worn turned inward. It radiates abjuration magic, and it glowed when she touched Aelion. Her late husband blessed it in secret.
The Ledger
The burial registry of the Parish of Mourningfall, found pinned beneath the bell. It records 214 souls "given to the mountain," crossed out and replaced with "By grace none were lost to us. We remember, we endure." Its names are a mess: people recorded dying and dying again, a woman "recovered by grace," Mehmet Vance dying on the twenty-seventh of Emberfall, nearly two weeks after the others, and Ilara Vance crossed out and marked a mistake beside Jasmine Vance.
Powers and factions
The Zhentarim
Mercenaries and smugglers, for wealth. Their winged-sword banner hangs inside the mountainside cave. La Maestra has a history with them, and believes they reached Mourningfall before the legitimate church and wore its colours.
Lathander Priests
The genuine priests of Morning Rise, among them Tüül. Two days after the miners found the egg, a few "superior priests" arrived and gave orders. Several genuine priests were later found dead in the mine.
Priests and Paladins
The clergy who took over the mine after a gold vein was found. They barred Torm's followers, ordered the miners where to dig, and forced villagers to test a poisonous passage. The party now suspects most of them were impostors.
The False Paladins
Four men in dark mail and the garb of Lathander, met inside the church as it was. They stood between the party and the altar, watching the door as if they expected someone. One laughed at Aelion's smite: "What are you, a masseuse?" Another told him, "Forget the light. The dark will carry you." They decided Owlin was the dangerous one. When the party brought them down, the vision ended. Aelion calls them impostors.
Torm's People
Followers of Torm who were barred from the mine after the clergy took over.
The Surviving Townsfolk
The villagers brought back alive from the mine. They had not aged, and remembered only going to work and being led out.
The Drow
A drow force holds the caverns beyond the humid cave. At least a dozen, with several spellcasters. Two were digging up the old canal. One died; the other ran into a carrion crawler nest and was presumed dead.
The Duergar
Duergar who guarded the altar of Laduguer. They warned the party the statue was trapped, and six of their own were eaten by carrion crawlers.
The Water Elementals
Three elementals that guard the underground pool and the javelin that charges them. They ignore anyone who leaves it alone.
Closed threads
What Is in the Cellar? Done
Session 11 ended with something heavy shifting in the cellar. In Session 12 the party went down to the crypt and blessed the bell, and its hidden lines came out.
The Church as It Was Done
The vision's priests were the ones who came from the church of Lathander thirty years ago, answering Tüül's call. In Session 12 the golden shard flew into the reliquary and the church was made whole for real. Whose small hand left the print in the ash is still unknown.
Show Tüül the Church Done
Tüül has read the parish register and walked into the church, but he has not yet seen the bell, carved all over in Draconic, or the remains of the priest found beneath it. In his dream a voice told him, "Bless it, don't break it." Tüül thinks it meant the crystal he stepped into; Lavius thinks it means the bell. In Session 12 Tüül died before he could bless the bell, and Aelion blessed it in his place.
Find Mira Done
Aelion promised Nora he would find her daughter. The party found Mira at the edge of town and brought her to her mother at the Last Lantern. She does not remember Nora yet, but she knew her by the way she weeds, and the two of them are talking again.
The Vein Beneath Mourningfall Done
Easter Ashwell promised to lead the party to the gold vein. It turned out not to be ore at all: it was the trail left by the golden egg, dragged through the mountain and hidden under masonry.