Session 63

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SESSION 1: WHISPERS AT THE BORDER

đŸšȘ Opening Scene: The Road to Torghal

As the players crest a wooded ridge on a damp, gray day, they see Torghal below. Nestled in the foothills, the village appears lifeless: no smoke rises from chimneys, no movement in the streets.

📍 AREA 1: The Village Boundary

Description:

The path winds into a circular clearing. Surrounding Torghal is a ring of still-burning torches—tall, wooden poles jammed into the ground every 30 feet, forming a perimeter.

  • The flames do not flicker or emit heat.
  • As players cross the line, all sound cuts off: boots on gravel, breath, armor creaking—gone.

Perception DC 13: You still feel the vibrations—steps, breath—but no sound.

Arcana or Religion DC 15: This is a field of anti-resonance. Not silence, but the nullification of all sound propagation.

📍 AREA 2: Elder Mareth’s House

Description:

A well-kept stone and timber cottage near the edge of the village. Modest, but with signs of order and devotion: herbs drying in the window, an altar to Selûne in the corner.

🧓 Elder Mareth

  • Race: Half-elf
  • Age: Late 70s
  • Class: Former cleric
  • Appearance: Wispy silver hair, deep purple robes, soft eyes. Always speaks slowly and respectfully.
  • Personality: Cautious, reflective, faithful to SelĂ»ne. Trusts quiet over action.
  • Secret: He performed a binding ritual 10 years ago to erase a tragedy (his grandson’s death). That ritual seeded the anomaly.

Dialogue Prompt:

“Words have weight here. If you must speak, speak gently.”

“The Whisper
 it began with dreams. Then the clocks stopped. Then the silence came.”

📍 AREA 3: The Church of the Silver Moon

Description:

A small, domed temple with a broken sundial inside and shattered windows. The inner sanctum is decorated with tapestries depicting phases of the moon—all seem stuck in the new moon phase.

🧙 Brother Sevren

  • Race: Human
  • Class: Monk/Cleric (multiclass)
  • Appearance: Robed in white and silver; ritual scars circle his bald scalp.
  • Personality: Thoughtful, inquisitive, speaks in metaphors. Knows more than he lets on.
  • Quirk: Uses an ancient mirror shard to reflect time-bound anomalies.
  • Secret: Once part of the Wardens of Continuum, an order that monitored temporal events.

Dialogue Prompt:

“Time is not a line, but a wound. And Torghal is infected.”

“I’ve seen the past in mirrors. And now, the mirrors are lying to me.”

🧒 NPCs: Lissa & Tobin

  • Lissa (12): Mute, short curly hair, clutches a sketchbook. Draws events that have not yet occurred.
  • Tobin (14): Overprotective brother. Wears a toolbelt, knows the village well. Writes everything down in a leather journal.
  • Personality: Wary but desperate for help.

Key Clues (Tobin’s Journal):

  • “The sun blinked. Once.”
  • “Lissa saw Grandma
 but she died last year.”
  • “Our mother hums in her sleep, but makes no sound. I hear her in my head.”

Insight DC 14: Tobin is hiding that he hears The Whisper every night.

đŸ§© Player Objectives (Session 1)

  • Map out the village and its affected areas.
  • Interview survivors (Elder Mareth, Lissa & Tobin, Brother Sevren).
  • Observe the silence effect.
  • Witness an unsettling dream (hinting at a larger entity).
  • Learn about the sealed well in the village center.

đŸ•Żïž SESSION 2: ECHOES IN THE STILLNESS

🌌 Scene 1: Dream or Time Loop

That night, players experience an hour-long loop or shared dream.

  • Wake up back in bed, even if they didn’t go to sleep.
  • The moon is always in the same place.
  • Villagers repeat the same actions—some out of order.

Insight DC 15: The loop is not perfect—something is watching them.

📍 AREA 4: The Village Square

Description:

A well at the center, surrounded by cobbled stone, now cracked. Faint runes glow when moonlight strikes the well.

  • Arcana DC 18: This is a time-seal, not a portal or summoning circle.
  • The well was sealed using a forgotten ritual.

📍 AREA 5: Haunted Homes

Some homes have villagers still inside—alive, but unmoving. They breathe, blink occasionally, but don’t respond.

  • Detect Magic: Chronomancy aura.
  • One woman’s hand twitches toward an invisible thread in mid-air (time loop fracture).

đŸ’„ Combat Encounter: Temporal Echo

Appears: As players investigate too deeply or stay after midnight.

Stats: Use Wraith as base, modify:

  • Silencing Aura (10 ft): No verbal components.
  • Echo Pulse (Recharge 5–6): INT Save DC 15 or forget one spell, name, or skill temporarily.
  • Phasing: Bonus action teleport 30 ft.

Description:

A mirrored figure of a player (e.g., a warlock’s past self), distorted and whispering phrases from the PC’s past.

“You should’ve let me die. You didn’t.”

🧠 NPC Insight: Brother Sevren’s Theory

“The Whisper is not a person. It is a moment—a terror, or a loss—that refused to pass. It lives. And it remembers.”

đŸ§© Player Objectives (Session 2)

  • Survive the night’s temporal echo.
  • Discover the well’s seal is weakening.
  • Learn that three names are needed to unbind the seal (found via drawings, journal entries, and Mareth’s past).
  • Choose to descend into the well or perform a partial ritual.

đŸ•łïž SESSION 3: THE CHAMBER BELOW

📍 AREA 6: The Sealed Crypt

Beneath the well is a spiraling stone staircase that descends into darkness. Arcane runes fade as they pass.

The Chamber:

  • Circular, 60 ft wide, with broken statues of forgotten gods of time.
  • In the center: a crystal sphere pulsing faintly—the Stilled Heart.

Inside the crystal: a frozen image of a child crying, while a shadow figure looms.

🧠 Lore Dump (via Sevren / Insight)

  • 10 years ago, Elder Mareth made a ritual bargain to remove a moment of tragedy (his grandson’s death by illness).
  • That moment could not be destroyed—only sealed.
  • It has grown into The Whisper, feeding on echoes of fear and memory.

⚔ FINAL ENCOUNTER: The Stillborn God

  • CR 7 Legendary Creature
  • Appearance: A fusion of shadows, broken clocks, a child’s voice, and distorted faces of villagers.
  • Abilities:
    • Steal Voice (Legendary): One PC loses all verbal actions for 1 round.
    • Memory Crush: DC 16 INT Save or lose memory of a spell, loved one, or skill (1 minute).
    • Time Fracture: Teleport randomly.
    • Weak to Radiant Damage and names spoken aloud (resonance weakens it).

🎯 Resolution Choices

Option Result
Destroy the Stilled Heart Ends anomaly, but villagers wake confused. Some aged, others regressed. Mareth dies.
Seal it Properly (Ritual) Requires all three names, SelĂ»ne’s light, and Sevren's help. Villagers return slowly over days. The Whisper dissipates.
Take it With You The Whisper bonds to a PC. Time anomalies follow them—possible future arc.

🎭 Key NPC Recap

NPC Role Secrets
Elder Mareth Village elder Tried to erase grandson’s death
Brother Sevren Temporal scholar Once a Warden of Continuum
Lissa Mute child Sees future fragments
Tobin Watchful brother Hears the Whisper


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