Session 27: Trouble in the Monastery
Canon Summary
- Physical date: 2026-09-06
- In-game date: Session 27
- Starting location: Library of the Monastery
- Ending location: Monastery of the Open Hand
- Key locations: The Monastery of the Open Hand
- Major outcome: Who do these bad folks belong to and where is Salazar and the Wand of wells?
- Review status: applied, applied 2026-09-07
The session began in the monastery after the party had rested and recovered. Their original intention was to speak with Samuel about the Wells, but that plan had been interrupted when Ishmael and Rune spotted suspicious individuals—one of them an elf—apparently carrying the missing books concerning the Wells. The party regrouped and followed them.
The hidden passage
The suspects disappeared around a corner, but a careful search revealed that part of the monastery wall had been left slightly ajar. The party concluded that the men had probably escaped through a secret passage and chose to investigate rather than immediately going to Samuel.
Beyond the wall was a long, dark corridor leading to a spiral staircase. Investigation revealed suspicious raised stones and tiles, an unfamiliar symbol, and magical evidence suggesting evocation magic and offensive protections in the passage. The party cautiously made its way down.
At the bottom, Roon spotted two people, but his armor made stealth difficult and the strangers realized they were being followed. When Roon advanced onto the landing, he triggered a vicious trap: an enormous ballista-like bolt struck him for 40 points of piercing damage and pinned him to the wall.
After freeing Roon and realizing that the underground complex was extensively trapped—and that their quarry already knew they were there—the party wisely abandoned the pursuit. They returned upstairs and resumed their original plan to speak with Samuel.
Samuel's revelation
The party told Samuel about the missing books, the mysterious elf, and the hidden complex beneath the monastery. Samuel claimed not to know about the secret area and offered to help locate the missing books. A very strong Insight check indicated that Samuel was not lying about his knowledge of where the books had gone, although Faban remained suspicious of him.
Then came the session's major revelation.
When the party asked whether they could actually meet the Well they had come seeking, Samuel revealed:
Samuel is the Well. His true name is Gustan.
He had been concealing his true identity because it was safer to hide himself.
Gustan also gave the party a disturbing assessment of the other Wells: he believed everyone they had encountered except Korag had been compromised, with Korag apparently protected by the Feywoods.
The discussion returned to Salazar and the Wand of Wells. The party suspects Salazar possesses the wand but still doesn't know where he is. Gustan acknowledged that there are ways to enter the Hells, but fighting Salazar there, on his own ground, would essentially be suicidal. More importantly, if Salazar truly possesses the wand, it becomes especially dangerous in his hands.
Gustan provided an important new lead: the wand leaves an arcane mark wherever it travels. Someone capable of tracing that magical trail might therefore be able to determine where the wand is being held. The trail isn't an ordinary visible marking; Goosan described it as something existing on the astral plane, beyond normal material sight.
The missing books suddenly became much more alarming as well. Guatan explained that the texts contain information about the Wells and are magically connected to them—they update to reflect the Wells' locations. That is why the books are kept protected in the monastery. If someone deliberately stole them, they may have obtained a means of tracking the Wells.
The battle beneath the monastery
The session eventually erupted into a large battle involving six hostile opponents in the hidden complex. The attackers included several very different combatants—including a human, a Goliath, a Minotaur, an elf with a gun, a drow with some kind of shadow blade, another human—suggesting an organized group rather than random monastery intruders. At least one human attacker emerged from the shadows with rapid poisoned strikes, while a Goliath charged into the fight wielding a scimitar.
This became a long, dangerous melee.
Faban's Cloud of Daggers was particularly effective. At one point he repositioned it so that two enemies were caught together, dealing 29 damage in one application. The spell continued to punish enemies who moved through or remained near it during the battle—very much explaining our conversation tonight about why you don't want to give that spell up.
The party gradually turned the fight. The Goliath was killed, followed later by the Minotaur, while several other enemies were progressively worn down.
One surviving enemy eventually tried to flee through the trapped corridor. In doing so, he set off multiple traps himself. The party attempted to bring him down at range, and the chase continued as he put considerable distance between himself and the group. Near the end, Faban even prepared to use Dimension Door to close the distance on the fleeing enemy. He jumped ahead of the fleeing human-like enemy and was able to stop him and bind him up. This is where the session ended.
By the end of the encounter, five of the six enemies had been defeated and one was captured. Most importantly, despite several characters taking substantial punishment, no party member died. Even though Roon tried to a few times.
So Session 27 significantly changed the campaign situation. The party now knows that Samuel is actually Gustan, one of the Wells; most of the other Wells may already be compromised; the Wand of Wells may be traceable through an astral/arcane trail; the missing monastery books magically track the Wells' locations; an organized hostile group has penetrated the monastery; and there is an extensive secret, magically trapped complex beneath it that even people familiar with the monastery apparently didn't know existed.
whoever is operating beneath the monastery now knows for certain that the party has discovered them.
Chronological Major Events
- The party discovered a hidden passage behind a wall leading to a dark hallway and spiral staircase.
- The party observed unusual markings and an aura of evocation in the hallway.
- The party navigated the hallway and staircase, encountering traps involving wire and crossbows.
- A character suffered a broken arm while attempting to escape the hallway.
- Samuel revealed that the Wand of Wells was likely held by Salazar and provided lore about the Well and compromised siblings.
- The party discussed the nature of arcane marks and the information in the library books.
- The party successfully navigated the hallway traps by noticing thin strings of wire.
- The party engaged in a chaotic combat sequence involving a Goliath, Orc, Drow, and an elf.
- The combat involved complex mechanics, including spiritual weapons, bonus actions, and teleportation.
- The party successfully defeated the Goliath and other adversaries.
- The session concluded with detailed discussions on combat mechanics and the fate of the entities involved.
Key Locations
- Library - The starting location where the party sought ancient texts and met Bedrock.
- Monastery - The general location where the party was situated and where the combat occurred.
- Hallway/Staircase - The area where the party navigated traps and encountered physical injury.
- Samuel's Office - The location where the party sought information regarding the wells.
- The Well of Wells - The central artifact and location of interest.
- Paramon - Mentioned as a major campaign location.
Key NPCs And Entities
- Samuel - An NPC who held knowledge about the wells, the history of the Well, and the compromised siblings.
- Salazar - Suspected demon who holds the Wand of Wells.
- Goliath - A major adversary defeated in the final combat.
- Orc - An adversary defeated in the final combat.
- Drow - An adversary involved in the final combat.
- The Human / Pseudo-human - Entities involved in the final confrontation.
Combat And Encounters
- Hallway/Staircase Encounter - The party navigated a hallway and staircase, encountering traps involving thin strings of wire and a crossbow mechanism.
- Physical Injury - A character was restrained to the wall and suffered a broken arm while attempting to remove a projectile.
- Final Combat - The party engaged in a complex fight involving a Goliath, an Orc, a Drow, and an elf.
- Mechanical Combat - The combat involved complex maneuvers, including the use of spiritual weapons, bonus actions, and teleportation.
- Damage Calculation - Specific damage types (piercing, poison, fire) and mechanics (flurry of blows, opportunity attacks) were heavily discussed and applied.
Items Loot And Resources
- Wand of Wells - The central artifact the party was seeking, suspected to be held by Salazar.
- Ring with Guidance - Used by the party to gain a d4 to ability checks and saving throws.
- Archian blade - A weapon used in the combat sequence.
- Thin Strings of Wire - Used to bypass traps in the hallways.
- Guidance Mechanic - Provided a d4 to ability checks and saving throws.
Character Notes
- Rune - Suffered a broken arm/shoulder (shoulder popped out of its socket) during an encounter.
- Party Members - Successfully used guidance (via a ring) to gain d4 to ability checks and saving throws.
- Party Members - Successfully used thin strings of wire to bypass traps.
- Party Members - Engaged in detailed discussions about combat mechanics, including the rules for prone/restrained conditions and advantage.
- Party Members - Successfully coordinated attacks and maneuvers, leading to multiple enemies being downed.
Party Interpretations Versus World Facts
- Party interpretation - The party attempted to use Cure Wounds to fix a broken socket, but the GM clarified that it only heals HP, not physical damage.
- Party interpretation - The party discussed the idea of using a "wand of warming" as a fantasy solution to the problem.
- Party interpretation - The party expressed frustration about not having enough information to locate the Wand of Wells and the true nature of the information provided by Samuel and Wayne.
- World Fact - Healing spells like Cure Wounds only replenish HP and do not repair physical ailments.
- World Fact - The walls contained impressions with super thin strings of wire used to step over traps.
- Party interpretation - The party decided to split up to pursue different objectives.
Open Threads
- The exact location and whereabouts of the Wand of Wells and Salazar remain unknown.
- The true extent of the threat posed by Salazar and the compromised siblings is unclear.
- The specific nature of the traps in the hallways and the fate of the unseen targets remain unresolved.
- The exact outcome of the final combat sequence regarding the remaining enemies is implied but not explicitly stated as a final count.
Timeline Seeds
- Starting location: Monastery Library
- Ending location: Unknown (Post-combat sequence)
- Real-world date: September 6th
- In-world date: Session 27
Needs Review
- The exact outcome of the final 10d6 damage roll is not explicitly stated in the narrative flow.
- The specific rules for AOE effects of Scorching Ray are debated among the speakers.
- The exact status and fate of the character Raida after the sequence of events is implied but not fully quantified.
- The specific identity of the "fake human" or "pseudo-human" is established as a party interpretation, not an objective fact.
Provenance
- Reviewed narrative from campaigns/farrlind/reviews/session27_review.yaml.
- Draft micro-events and extracted entities were used as composition evidence, not as direct canon.
