The Elven Tomb
The party moves in closer towards what appears to be a gazebo.
In the middle of this marble gazebo sits an unlit brazier made of similar material, its bowl twenty inches in diameter. The brazier is full of snow and pine needles that the winds have swept away from the gazebo’s polished marble floor. The brazier seems to be carved or molded of the same stone as the floor, preventing it from being moved. Maddy and Eddie open their senses and peer into the weave, they can see that the Brazier dully glows with magic. Pushing further into the weave, Maddy and Eddie can see that the Brazier is marked with the sky blue of abjuration, but it is also speckled with the small amounts of canary yellow, the hallmark of conjuration. They also realize that the brazier is not glowing dully, it is simply overshadowed by a diffuse aura of abjuration that permeates the air around them.
Atop the eastern berm, a granite sarcophagus rests in a half-circle defined by five quartz-like crystal pillars. The top of the sarcophagus is covered in a blanket of snow, presumably from the blizzard two days ago. The party notices a carving near the top of each pillar; from north to south, these images depict a twig, a pinecone, a flame, a feather, and a humanoid hand. Clearing the snow off the lid reveals an engraving of a brazier, not dissimilar to the one found in the gazebo below. The lid of the sarcophagus seems to be stuck. No amount of pushing seems to free it. Maddy and Eddie can tell that the sarcophagus glows with the sky blue of abjuration, the pillars are non magical, and the air is still suffused with abjuration. The party investigates a stone statue, which appears to be a weathered elf wearing ceremonial robes, but the party is unsure of what variety they might be.
Looking over the edge of the berm, the party can see a circular area below. Rising from the center of the circular depression is a tall, triangular, crystal gnomon—a device one typically finds in the middle of a sundial. It is thick near the base and narrows to a sharp point at the top. The snow around the gnomon has melted away, revealing a circle of symbols carved into the stone around it. The symbols depict phases of the moon, suggesting that the circular depression is not a sundial, but a moon dial. Currently, the symbol for a waxing gibbous is lit up, the light from the gnomon shining down upon it, akin to the shadow of a sundial.
Something has punched a rough hole in the wall in the northwest edge of the depression, creating a dark opening that leads under the hill and into a chamber beyond. The party descends the south side of the berm and finds six more elven statues, still radiating abjuration. They find a non-magic door that cannot be opened. It has no visible handle, and appears to be a stone slab that may open only from the inside of this structure. The party makes their way around the edge of the moon dial, where the ground is surprisingly warmed, aided by some evocation magic it seems. The gnomon glows with divination and evocation.
Brarr creeps around the edge of the hole, the party in tow. He sees a white furred moose, its hooves and antlers stained with fresh blood, standing in the middle of a group of sleeping animals, who are awakened as the moose lets loose a terrifying bellow.
The White Moose
Brarr lets out a roar of his own as Ghaileigh blesses him and the rest of the party. He charges in and takes a swing at the moose bringing it low as the other animals scamper out of the barrow. The floor is covered in bones, humanoid in nature, but they are older than the hunters that have gone missing it seems. He strikes the moose and it topples over, not ready for the force of nature that is Brarr. Devi fires a shortbow arrow at where she thought the moose would be, but due to its prone nature, the shot goes over it.
The moose rises, a guttural and low sound emanates from its maw, almost like speech. It slams Brarr with its antlers and Hooves, slamming down on his shield, rattling his bones.
Eddie runs by the opening and flings a golden bolt of flame at the moose. It goes wide, but he grabs onto the threads he spun in the weave, and pulls it into the back of the moose’s head. Maddy fires a purple firebolt, slamming into the moose’s front right leg. Ghaileigh runs up behind Brarr and heals him, saying a quick prayer to Lathander. Brarr slams his axe into the moose once more, but it seems to anticipate it this time, avoiding the brunt of the attack. Devi runs up to the moose and stabs it with both her short sword and scimitar, before running back beside Brarr.
The moose takes that opportunity and gores her with its antlers before giving chase, goring Brarr and slamming Devi again with its hooves. Brarr is barely hanging on, as Devi goes down beside him. Eddie and Maddy unleash more magical energy; Eddie throws another firebolt, while Maddy fires off a bolt of cracking electricity that goes wide, splashing and scattering about the back wall of the barrow. Ghaileigh heals Devi with a prayer, and realizes how exhausted she actually is. Brarr swings and misses, being quite battered himself. Devi stands up and stabs the moose twice more.
The moose attempts to gore Brarr, but he deflects it. The moose rears up and slams its hooves into Devi once more. Eddie fires off another firebolt, and it sears off the moose’s ear. The moose Rears up to attack agan, but brarr blocks once again, deflecting its hooves. One of its hooves steps on the recently severed ear, and the great beast slips, slamming its head into an elven statue, knocking it unconscious.
The party breathes a sigh of relief and begins taking the moose’s hide and meat, before settling down for an uneventful long rest.
Mysterious Moons
The party, now well rested, turns to exploring the other passageways. Eddie finds a large circular silver mirror with symbols of moons along the stone edges, the largest of which appears full. Two of the other passage ways lead to stone doors with white half circles inscribed on them. The final passage leads to the other side of the door the party had found earlier.
They move to the moon dial and begin inspecting it. Maddy discovers some writing: “Gaze upon your own face and have seven questions answered.” is inscribed under the full moon, while “Unlock the tombs of the half moon.” is inscribed by each half moon symbol. The party begins to think of questions for the next full moon, which is only three days away.
The party returns to the gazebo, tossing in a feather, a twig, a pinecone, and a moose hoof, but upon ignition, nothing seems to happen. Eddie prestidigitates an organic baby gnome hand and tosses it in, in the hopes that it works.
As the hand goes in, the flame’s color quickly shifts to that of silver. The contents of the brazier are quickly consumed, leaving nothing behind, save for the flame and the moose hoof. Despite being only about a foot and a half in diameter, the flame lets off heat and light similar to a roaring campfire. The flame continues to burn, seemingly without fuel.
The party ascends the berm once more. With a little effort from Brarr and the others, the party slides the lid off of the sarcophagus’s body. As they do, a blend of spices, including cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves, hits their senses of smell, piercing through the numbing cold. Inside of the sarcophagus lies the mummified remains of what appears to be a moon elf, its arms crossed over a silver amulet in the shape of two eyes, set with moonstones and surrounded by seven silver stars. Ghaileigh, recognizes this as the symbol of Selune, elven goddess of the Moon. The mummy is wrapped in fine strips of white linen cloth, inscribed with elvish characters. Eddie can make out that this might be some sort of obituary for someone named Sahnar.
As the party takes in the sight of this ancient elf, its eyes shoot open, glowing faintly with silvery light. It sits up in the sarcophagus, causing those of you closest to recoil in surprise. It turns its head slowly to look at those who awoke it, but it does not make any aggressive moves.
It opens its mouth, the linens loosening around it revealing leathery light blue lips. A dry and raspy voice issues forth.
“I am Sahnar, druid of the Lonely Woods. May I know who has awoken me?”