Kingmaker: Ep. 18 – Gongaii

The party chose the river over the swamp and set out for Lantern Fort, the crumbling tower on an island the gremlin map warned them to avoid. They dug a forgotten canoe out of storage, poled down a gray, misted river past drifting bog lights, and tucked the boat beneath a decaying pier that had no business being on an “uninhabited” isle. The tower’s stones were carved with circles and tangled lines, and a chill dread pressed on their minds—especially Ashla and Brother Carl, who glimpsed a vision of countless eyes in the dark.

Within, three marsh lights swept in like hungry sparks. Yohei’s shot burst one in a glittery pop, Ashla and Brother Carl hammered the others apart, and the lights went still. In a side chamber, a stone basin caked in old blood cradled six strange “silver” coins; Ashla’s drop of blood drew a suffocating pulse from something below. Pressing east, they stepped into a hall where a towering sculpture of interlocked stone orbs ignited with blue fire and rolled to crush them. They shattered it and found a hidden armory: all rot and ruin save a garnet-studded bronze canister holding a spiraled black wand tipped in opal, marked with the many-eyed sign the priests named as Yogg‑Sothoth.

A larger vault beyond held ringed stone disks set into the walls and a sputtering iron rod for light. Shadows peeled from the rings and reached for their hearts—until Brother Carl raised his symbol of Ord and drove them back. South, a tar-dark pool woke when a torch touched it, rising as a gibbering mass of mouths and eyes. Izzy deafened Ashla to cut the creature’s maddening babble, Yohei reeled under its clamor, and together they hacked the thing to slurry. A celestial seal set in the floor warned: by Ord’s power, the many-eyed one is banished below. They pried up the stone; it cracked with a concussive blast, revealing stairs descending.

Far beneath, among tentacle-carved pillars and a floor slick with fresh red sheen, four mailed skeletons turned as one, their swords lifting in grim salute. Ashla fell under their blades before Brother Carl could drag her up the stairs and force a tincture down. The group broke for the rope. In the dark above, shadows struck Yohei and sapped his strength; he tumbled back into the light, still breathing. Brother Carl called on Ord once more, sending searing radiance up the shaft to scour the dead away. Bloodied but alive, they fled the island.

Back at Fort Owlbear, Asp Fang judged their scavenged morning star to be adamantine—stamped with the foul sign of Yogg‑Sothoth—so they paid her to file the mark away and set another in its place. The “coins” proved to be orichalcum; she smelted them into a new warhammer. At Labrod, Enfaun named the wand: a wand of Vision of Hell. With the island’s depths stirring and plate‑clad guardians waiting below, Lantern Fort had shown its teeth—and left the promise of darker halls yet to come.

OUTLINE:

River To The Forbidden Island

• Chose Lantern Fort over the Bottoms after a tie and pulled a forgotten canoe from storage
• Traveled down a cold, misted river while blue‑green lights floated over the water
• Stashed the canoe beneath a rotting pier on the “uninhabited” island
• Entered a ruined tower etched with circles and wavy lines; oppressive dread gripped the lawful‑minded

First Forays: Wisps, Blood Basin, and the Rolling Statue

• Destroyed three will‑o’-wisps that drained vitality when they struck
• Found a blood‑stained stone basin with six strange coins; Yohei’s blood offering drew an oppressive surge
• In an eastern hall, a massive orb‑statue ignited and rolled to crush them until the party shattered it
• Revealed a hidden armory with a garnet‑studded canister containing an opal‑tipped black wand marked with Yogg‑Sothoth

Shadowed Vaults and a Gibbering Horror

• Entered a vault with stone ring‑sockets and a sputtering iron light; shadows emerged until Brother Carl drove them off by invoking Ord
• South chamber’s tar‑pool rose as a gibbering mass; Izzy deafened Ashla to block the madness and the group cut it down
• A celestial seal warned that the many‑eyed power was bound below; lifting it cracked the stone and snuffed their torch, revealing stairs

Descent and Desperate Retreat

• Climbed to a deeper hall caged by tentacled pillars and slick with fresh red sheen
• Four skeletons in plate advanced in formation; Ashla fell under their blades
• Brother Carl dragged Ashla back and administered a tincture; the party fled for the rope
• At the shaft’s lip, shadows struck down Yohei; Brother Carl’s radiant invocation burned them away, buying the escape

Back at Fort Owlbear: Reckonings and Repairs

• Poured holy water into the blood basin on the way out and recovered the coins
• Asp Fang identified an adamantine morning star stamped with Yogg‑Sothoth; for pay she removed the mark and later forged an orichalcum warhammer from the coins
• Enfon at Le Broad identified the wand as a wand of Vision of Hell
• The group trained, prayed, and planned a return to face the mailed dead below the broken seal

NPCs:

• Asp Fang: The blacksmith at Fort Owlbear with the skill to read strange metals. She identified the adamantine morning star, removed its blasphemous mark for a price, and smelted orichalcum coins into a warhammer.
• Enfon: The mage at Le Broad who can name a thing for what it is. She examined the opal‑tipped wand and declared it a wand of Vision of Hell.
• Fat Slosher: A hard‑working alchemist whose provisions—like suspiciously durable ham sandwiches—have saved the party more than once.
• Lady Kremenko’s Court Wizard: A learned mage in Tarka who tutored Yohei in Draconic, broadening the gunslinger’s repertoire before this delve.
• Otto: Proprietor associated with Otto’s Trade Post, a stopover for goods and gossip on the road between wilds and walls.
• Ulyssia: A local contact who briefed the party on the place people call Lantern Fort—crumbling, uninhabited, but alight with swamp‑lights.

ITEMS:

• Adamantine Morning Star, “Thirst”: A brutal black‑hued morning star of uncommon metal, first stamped with the many‑eyed mark before the party paid to have it erased. Unyielding and prized for breaking what resists ordinary steel.
• Dragonfly Cloak: A strange cloak that can bear its wearer aloft when properly called upon, a lifesaver when stairs and ropes fail.
• Garnet‑Studded Bronze Canister: A handsome, two‑foot case adorned with garnets that protected the wand for a century of dust and silence.
• Ham Sandwiches (Healing Rations): Remarkably preserved rations from Fat Slosher that double as a quick pick‑me‑up when blood runs low.
• Orichalcum Coins (6): Six weighty sky‑metal coins recovered from a blood basin, later smelted into a weapon. Rare, potent, and unsettlingly marked.
• Orichalcum Warhammer: A newly forged hammer whose head shines with the soft gleam of sky‑metal; resilient and ready for undead skulls.
• Sonday: Ashla’s blade that answers a word with moonlight, cutting clean and true when the dark draws near.
• Wand of Vision of Hell: A spiraled black wand tipped with a sliver of opal, carved with the many‑eyed sign. When invoked, it can drown minds in a glimpse of damnation.

LOCATIONS:

• Blood Basin Antechamber: A small chamber beneath the tower’s entry where a stone bowl, black with old blood, held six strange coins and a suffocating sense of attention from below.
• Fort Owlbear: The home base where the party licks wounds, haggles with Asp Fang, and takes counsel before returning to the wilds.
• Gibbering Pool Room: A rectangular room whose black tar pool rose as a shrieking mass of mouths and eyes until the party cut it to sludge. A celestial seal lay set in the floor.
• Hall of the Rolling Orbs: A high, clean hall where a towering sculpture of interlocked stone spheres ignited and ground forward like a living machine until it was shattered.
• Hidden Armory: A dust‑heavy storeroom of decayed gear, where only a bronze, garnet‑studded canister and its black, opal‑tipped wand survived the years.
• Lantern Fort: A ruined round tower on an island in the river, long said to be empty but haunted by blue‑green lights. Its stones are carved with circles and webbed lines, and beneath it lurk seals, shadows, and mailed dead.
• Le Broad: The settlement where Enfon plies the Art and oddities are named, priced, and occasionally exorcised.
• Lower Hall of Tentacles: A deep hall caged by tentacle‑carved pillars and slick with fresh red sheen, where four skeletal knights in plate turned to face the living.
• Ringed Vault: A larger chamber lit by a burning iron rod, with two stone ring‑sockets in the walls from which shadow‑things emerged before Ord’s light drove them back.
• Tarka: A distant seat of learning and power where Yohei studied Draconic under a court wizard before this expedition.
• The Island Pier: A decayed, tilting wooden pier that shouldn’t exist if the fort has been empty a century. Crates lie smashed nearby; the canoe fit neatly beneath its slick planks.

FACTIONS:

• Court of Lady Kremenko: A distant power in Tarka where wizards tutor and intrigues coil; a source of knowledge that travels with the party.
• Cult of Yogg‑Sothoth: An ancient, many‑eyed heresy that left circles within circles on stone and seeded the fort with diabolic devices and shadowed guardians.
• Fort Owlbear Community: The hardy tradesfolk, smiths, and wardens who keep steel sharp, lanterns filled, and rumors moving along the frontier.

QUESTS:

• Find Grandmother in the Bottoms (to repair Kelsinger): Seek the reclusive ‘grandmother’ in the northwest swamps and learn what is required to mend Kelsinger.
• Identify the Wand from the Armory: Determine the nature of the opal‑tipped wand marked with the many‑eyed sign.
• Probe the Depths of Lantern Fort: Explore the island tower, uncover its secrets, and survive what waits beneath the broken seal.
• Purge the Fort’s Taint: Identify, contain, or destroy the many‑eyed corruption within Lantern Fort before it spreads or awakens fully.
• Reach the Island and Secure an Egress: Acquire a boat, navigate the river, and establish a safe landing at Lantern Fort.

PLAYER CHARACTERS

• Ashla: An Aasimar ex‑guard fighter who takes point without flinching, blade in hand. His sword, Sonday, answers a spoken word with cool moonlight, and he stood fast against rolling stone and gibbering slime alike. In the depths, skeletal knights finally dropped him, but he rose again to fight another day.
• Brother Carl: A lawful cleric of Ord and a battlefield surgeon whose faith burns hottest against the undead. He smashed wisps, turned shadow‑things twice with unshakable conviction, and even lanced darkness apart to save the retreat. Afterward, he prayed hard over seals and sins, and sees Lantern Fort as a place that must be cleansed.
• Izzy: A pragmatic priest of Yamath whose faith runs toward results over forms. He carries a morning star and isn’t afraid to call upon unsettling powers if it means surviving the dark. In Lantern Fort he blessed Yohei’s firearm, deafened Ashla to blunt mind‑sorcery, and helped batter down horrors while keeping a wary eye on things marked by the many‑eyed sign.
• Yohei: A kitsune gunslinger with a keen eye and a new command of Draconic. He keeps his distance, lets the smoke speak, and knows when to back a step to live to fire again. Lantern Fort tested him: wisps leeched his breath, a gibbering thing stunned him, and shadows nearly took him—yet he still put rounds where they mattered.