Session 11 - Locked Vaults and Whispering Skulls
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Session 11

Locked Vaults and Whispering Skulls

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

In the bank basement, the party met Raoul, tested multiple keys against sealed doors, interrogated skull guardians, and fought an invisible attacker while pushing deeper into vault sections.

Participants

Recap

The party descended into the bank basement, met Raoul near a sealed floor door, and advanced through dangerous corridors guarded by skull-linked entities and hidden attackers.

Major Events

  • Entered the basement of Graydirge Bank.
  • Met Raoul, who had been attempting to access a sealed floor door through various methods.
  • Tested two keys (desk key from upstairs and the curved-spine key) on the sealed floor door without success.
  • Was attacked by two vultures in the hallway; the vultures later receded into skull sculptures at hallway offshoots.
  • Sabong destroyed one skull with acid while it was whispering in his ear.
  • Raoul spoke with the surviving skull to gather intelligence.
  • Skull-reported information:
    • Prior occupants smelled “yeasty” (possibly linked to poisoned grain operations at Old Erghaghs Farm).
    • A raid by six people occurred.
    • Raiders sought an ingredient in the vault in the eastern hallway.
    • It did not know the raiders’ hideout location.
    • It showed unusual fixation on the taste of names.
  • The party used the curved-spine manor key to open a door in the western hallway; contents appeared emptied.
  • Opened the eastern hallway door and was attacked by an invisible creature.
  • Found loot in the room after the encounter.

NPCs and Factions Mentioned

  • Raoul - New party member encountered in the bank basement.
  • Bone Shards - Potentially connected through “yeasty” environmental clues and prior poisoning context.
  • Skull guardians - Unknown entities with memory of prior occupants and raiding activity.

Important Context

  • Key behavior remains inconsistent: keys succeed on some doors but not on other major sealed points.
  • Eastern vault target appears ingredient-driven, suggesting alchemical or ritual objectives.
  • Skull dialogue may provide unconventional information pathways if engagement methods are refined.

Unresolved Threads

  • Determine how to open the original sealed floor door near Raoul’s discovery point.
  • Identify the six-person raiding group and whether they connect to Bone Shards, Kepgeda, or another actor.
  • Confirm what “ingredient” was targeted in the eastern vault.
  • Test nonstandard interaction ideas with skull entities (e.g., names/taste hypothesis) safely.