5. What the Shore Keeps

Summary

Wayseek

The month of Ascent and Travel. Associated with Kaelen. Snow clears enough for trade routes to open. Merchants seek the way.

Veilday

The Day of Mind. Associated with Soteris. A day reserved for study, planning, and magic. Locals avoid looking at the sky too long. New Moon falls on Veilday the 2nd - today.

In-Game Timeline: Dawn. Mid-combat on the stone bridge at Frost-Star Lighthouse. All characters have Exhaustion Level 1. Growth is at 0 max HP.

Hearthday

The Day of Kin. The "Hump Day" of comfort. Feuds are paused. Families gather to share a meal, and woodstocks are replenished. It is taboo to refuse a guest entry on Hearthday.

In-Game Timeline: Morning. Party returns to Frost-Star Lighthouse following a long rest in Oak Haven. Session ends in the lamp room.

Party Members

Bam Bam
Emilio
Maeve
Monroe
Liliana (joined this session)
Growth (Deceased)

Rules / Mechanics

Spectre: Life Drain

On a hit, reduces both current HP and maximum HP by the damage dealt. Automatic under 2024 rules - no Constitution save. Max HP reduction lasts until the target completes a long rest.

Cook's Utensils: Hearty Stew

Constitution check using Cook's Utensils (proficiency), DC 12. Brannock assisted (+2). Success. Effect: magical beast-detection radar within 60 feet, detecting living or unliving hearts of the same creature type. Requires a beast essence as magical component. Emilio learned this recipe from Brannock.

Last Session

Previous Session Notes

4. The Ice Ghost House
Night march to Frost-Star Lighthouse. Sheltered at the Ice Shelter; fought and destroyed the ghost Melkis (Monroe killed). Arrived at dawn at the lighthouse. The opening spectre strike was a critical hit on Growth. Monroe destroyed two spectres with Illusory Darts. Session ended mid-combat with approximately eight spectres remaining.

Party Goals

Quests

Cure the Captain — Pale Heart Leaves obtained (Session 3). The Captain is dying from black-vein poison. Every hour spent not returning to Oakhaven advances his infection.
Investigate the Lighthouse — Determine why the Frost-Star Lighthouse went dark and prove the group's worth to Skorva.
Retrieve the Anchor — Thala the Shipwright requested the party retrieve the iron anchor from their shipwreck.
Collect Salvage — Rurik Vale requested ballast plates, iron, rope, and wood from the wreck. The wreck was visible from the lighthouse bridge approach.
Open the Chest — Maeve possesses a chest entrusted to her by the Captain before the crash. Contents remain unknown.
Access the Forge — Emilio seeks to use the forge in Oakhaven to craft weapons from monster parts.

Short Term Goals

Identify the dead body in the lamp room and examine the parchment clipboard found nearby.
Safely retrieve the Rift Shard fragments and Rift Chaser extraction tools from the lamp room.
Decide what to tell Skorva Ironstride about the lighthouse and what was found inside.
Investigate the shadow entity Monroe saw in the upper darkness of the lamp room.
Dive for the anchor at the wreck site below the lighthouse.
Liliana: complete crafting of Snow Wolf Cl (10 hours remaining).

At a Glance

Locations

Frost-Star Lighthouse (bridge): Final spectre combat. Claw marks on the stonework.
Oak Haven (gates): Party halted; Garrick Saltborn summoned; Liliana introduced.
Oak Haven (hospital): Runa's body placed here; pale heart leaf delivered to Eda Brinemont; no Augustine among patients.
Oak Haven (cookhouse): Emilio cooked hearty stew with Brannock; short rest taken.
Sable's Workshop: Liliana traded Growth's plant materials for a wolf pelt and monstrosity beak.
Frost-Star Lighthouse (lamp room): Shattered lamp housing; dead Rift Chaser (Dresh); Rift Shard fragments; half-written field report; shadow entity glimpsed by Monroe.

People

Liliana: Dragonborn Psion; Omen's Reach survivor; joined the party. Searching for Augustine.
Garrick Saltborn: Captain of the Guard; received news of the spectres; arranged Runa's burial.
Eda Brinemont: Healer; accepted the pale heart leaf; confirmed Augustine not among patients.
Brannock: Cook; taught Emilio to make hearty stew with beast essence.
Sable: Hunter and Runa's former partner; traded pelts and monstrosity parts.
George: Guard/guide; re-assigned to the party; accompanied them to the lighthouse.

Monsters / Creatures

Spectres: Remaining spectres from the previous session defeated. Blue-green-purple energy forms. All destroyed.

Loot / Important Items

Rhyme wolf pelt (Liliana - beast crafting material)
Monstrosity beak/skull (Liliana - crafting material)
Enchanted tea kettle (party) - +1 Wisdom saves for 4 hours per cup brewed
Growth's quarter staff - Emilio
Pale heart leaf - delivered to Eda Brinemont (consumed)
Uncollected in lamp room: Rift Shard fragments ×3, Rift Chaser insignia, extraction tools, half-written field report

Story

Summary of Events

The remaining spectres were defeated on the stone bridge. Liliana - a Dragonborn Psion and Omen's Reach survivor - arrived on the scene during the fight and approached.
The party witnessed Growth's final moments: the mycelium threads withdrew, dissolved into spores, and scattered on the morning wind. What remained was Runa - a woman the party never knew.
Bam Bam carried Runa's body. Growth's gear was distributed. Monroe navigated the party back to Oak Haven.
At the gates, Garrick Saltborn was summoned. He reacted with flat, controlled grief and agreed to arrange Runa's burial. He acknowledged the party had carried her back with care.
At the hospital, the pale heart leaf was delivered to Edda Brinemont. She confirmed Augustine was not among her patients. Monroe and Maeve recalled he had been dragged away by the Deep Folk the night of the shipwreck.
Monroe cooked hearty stew with Brannock, learning the recipe. The stew granted temporary magical awareness of nearby beasts. The party took a short rest.
George escorted Liliana to Sable's workshop. Sable expressed complicated gratitude for Runa's return and agreed to trade - wolf pelt and monstrosity beak for plant materials from Growth's pouch.
The party was given accommodation in the barracks and completed a long rest. The following morning they returned to Frost-Star Lighthouse, door ajar and blown off its hinges.
Liliana led entry with her hooded lantern. The interior walls were thick with black soot, still warm. The spiral staircase wound up into the dark.
In the lamp room: the iron brackets of the central housing were twisted outward; the ceiling above was scorched in a wide circle. A dead body - young, practical clothing, tool belt - was slumped against the far wall. A parchment clipboard rested nearby. Monroe glimpsed a coiling shadow in the upper darkness before it vanished. Fragments of violet and green stone littered the floor.

Secret

GM Plot Hooks

The dead body is Dresh - a young Rift Chaser, sent by a rival cell. The half-written field report documents Kara Brinemont's arrangement with her contact Voss to replace the failed lamp with a rift shard. The name trails off: "V-o-s..." Dresh died before finishing it.
Jorik (former Voss operative) defected and sold the information that sent Dresh here. He is still at large and may try to finish what Dresh could not.
The Kara decision: the party holds the evidence. Cover for Kara with Skorva (Deception DC 14), tell Skorva everything, or go to Kara first. Each path has major consequences for their standing in Oak Haven.
The coiling shadow: something fed on the shard energy before the explosion - the fragments are cold, not warm. It is not a spectre. It is vast and old. It will appear below the Deep Ones during the anchor dive. Do not name it yet.
Augustine was dragged away by the Deep Folk the same night the lighthouse went dark. The timing is not random - someone wanted the coast unwatched.
The anchor dive is still pending. Drag marks in the silt, personal effects of the missing crew, Deep Ones watching, something vast and still below them.
The captain may wake now that he is being treated. He was smuggling Rift Shards to the Arkive. The Mystery Chest may be connected.
Rift Shard fragments ×3 are in the lamp room, uncollected. Emilio will want them for the forge. Skorva will demand they go in the sea. Safe handling requires Dresh's extraction tools, also in the lamp room.

Secret

Wiki Update List

Frost-Star Lighthouse (Location): Create new entry - correct name confirmed.
Oak Haven (Location): Add session history block.
Sable (NPC): Create new entry.
Liliana (PC): Create new entry.
Dresh (NPC): Create new entry - dead Rift Chaser in lamp room.
George (NPC): Add session history block.
Garrick Saltborn (NPC): Update full name; add session history block.
Eda Brinemont (NPC): Add session history block.
Brannock (NPC): Add session history block.
Growth / Runa (NPC/PC): Update - Growth's departure confirmed; Runa's body in hospital.
Augustine (NPC): Create new entry - missing; taken by Deep Folk during the wreck.
Kara Brinemont (NPC): Create new entry - Harbourwarden; rigged lighthouse lamp with rift shard; Voss is her contact.
Voss (NPC): Create new entry - Rift Chaser contact; unfinished name on field report; does not know he has been compromised by Jorik.
Jorik (NPC): Create new entry - former Voss operative; defected; sent Dresh; still at large.
Skorva Ironstride (NPC): Create new entry - Stormwarden; wants debrief; unaware of Kara.
Thala Driftwood (NPC): Create new entry - shipwright; wants the anchor.
Captain Valerius "Salt Eye" Thorne (NPC): Create new entry - unconscious; secrets about the Mystery Chest.
The Emerald Dawn (Faction): Create new entry.
Rift Chasers (Faction): Create new entry.
The Drowned Court / Deep Ones (Faction): Create entry.
Rift Shard Fragments (Item): Create item entry - Chaos damage rules.
Enchanted Tea Kettle (Item): Create item entry - +1 Wisdom saves for 4 hours.
Rift Chaser Extraction Tools (Item): Create item entry.
Half-Written Field Report (Item): Create item entry - implicates Kara; unfinished name "V-o-s..."
Hearty Stew Recipe (Mechanic/Item): Emilio learned from Brannock.
Snow Wolf Owl (Item - in progress): Liliana crafting; 10/20 hours complete.

Secret

Foundry VTT Checklist

Update HP / conditions for each PC (max HP restored; Exhaustion Level 1 removed after long rest)
Add/remove items from PC inventories (quarter staff to Emilio; wolf pelt and monstrosity beak to Liliana; harvesting pouch contents reduced; tea kettle allocated)
Update any NPC stat blocks if relevant
Mark Frost-Star Lighthouse interior and lamp room as visited on the map
Add session XP or milestones if applicable
Add Liliana as active party member token; remove Growth's token
Place Runa's body in the hospital on the map
Note Liliana crafting progress (10/20 hours, Snow Wolf Owl)
Confirm Emilio has Hearty Stew recipe noted on sheet
Note lamp room items as present but uncollected: Rift Shard fragments ×3, insignia, extraction tools, field report