The Plane of Vitas Nova

Session 2026-05-30: Haunted Barn and Desert Portal

8 min read

Session, 2026-05-30, Haunted Barn and Desert Portal

The party continues northwest after the road ambush, meets a purple-robed merchant tied to Kezmet, investigates a supposedly haunted barn, exposes an eldritch impostor that butchered the farm’s real caretaker, and follows a portal into a desert realm with old ruins and an approaching sandstorm.

Cast

Major Canon

  • A voice tells Tharion: “The Right Hand of Roku must die.” The reward offered is “what you wanted.” The voice feels similar to the projected voice connected to Silent from the prior session. ^[ambiguous]
  • The party meets a purple-robed merchant, possibly named Althazar, who operates through a pocket-dimension shop and is described by Alaric as a messenger or envoy under Kezmet. The exact name was not cemented at the table. ^[ambiguous]
  • Dorian obtains or commissions a hookshot: bonus action, no damage, pulls Dorian toward larger targets or smaller targets toward him. Final range/cost/gold must be confirmed before sheet overwrite.
  • Azalea uses Speak with Animals at the barn and learns the old woman in the house is not the caretaker. The real caretaker is found dead under hay with organs removed.
  • Roland destroys the eldritch impostor with a massive Searing Smite / White Stag strike. The creature’s death blows out the farmhouse walls and reveals the laboratory below.
  • The laboratory contains organ jars, three incubating miniature versions of the creature, and an eldritch portal. Dorian takes one incubating vial for study. The others are broken and killed.
  • Several party members step through the portal into a desert realm. The portal remains behind them, ruins or a coliseum lie ahead, and a sandstorm begins forming an animalistic being.

What Happened

Morning and the Voice

  • A royal-purple berry or residue is handled at camp. The transcript is unclear about owner, effect, and whether it remains in inventory.
  • Lilith is described as escaping to the astral plane to ask questions of Toma and Isar. This may be an absence/AFK handling device rather than full table canon. ^[ambiguous]
  • The next town northwest is rendered inconsistently by the transcript as Epalia/Appaloosia. The party is still following the northwest lead.
  • Tharion hears the Silent/Roku-linked voice, resists or prays through it, and the voice fades after warning that it is only a matter of time.

The Purple-Robed Merchant

  • A purple-robed stranger with a large sack mutters about Silent needing to die, then opens a traveling shop.
  • Offered prices include:
    • Clockwork Amulet — 75 gp
    • Javelin of Lightning — 850 gp
    • Cloak of Protection — 1000 gp
    • Wand of Magic Missiles — 450 gp
  • The merchant warns of a haunted barn a half-day farther along the road and mentions an old woman watching from a farmhouse.
  • Azalea and Dorian trade a large hazelnut and a newly-infused Bag of Holding. The merchant values the bundle at 550 gp, and the party takes gold instead of a wand.
  • Later, Alaric says the merchant may be Balthazar/Althazar, a messenger under Kezmet who brings both good and bad fortune. The DM explicitly notes the name was invented at the table and should not be over-cemented. ^[ambiguous]

Hookshot and Party Funds

  • Dorian asks for a Zelda-style hookshot.
  • Table definition: if the target is smaller than Dorian, the hookshot pulls the target toward him; if the target is larger, Dorian is pulled toward it; it does not deal damage.
  • The final working version sounds like a bonus-action movement tool with 30 ft range, potentially upgradeable later. Earlier 60 ft discussion was reduced.
  • Cost appears to be 200 gp, but the party also discusses Lilith-held group money, 760/900, 150 remaining, and other gold totals. Treat all gold movement as unresolved until confirmed.

The Haunted Barn

  • The party reaches a barn with claw marks and an open side door.
  • Inside are farm animals, hay, and an old woman who acts like the caretaker.
  • Echo senses the old woman has something to hide and does not trust her.
  • Azalea casts Speak with Animals. The chicken, cow, and Herbert the pig indicate the woman at the house is not their caretaker.
  • The real old woman is found under hay, recently killed, with a clean but jagged incision down the body and organs removed.
  • Sendera scouts the farmhouse and reports the impostor moving a cabinet to reveal a hidden staircase.
  • Azalea’s Chicken card gathers or stores 16 chickens. This needs table confirmation before sheet inventory is changed.

Farmhouse Fight

  • The party approaches the farmhouse and splits between front, back, and window entry.
  • Dorian shoots the old woman with a crossbow, revealing an eldritch form with contorted body, extra long arms, a tentacle tail, and a face opening in four ways.
  • The creature hits Dorian with a force/kinetic attack for heavy damage.
  • Roland rolls a critical hit and commits his smites. The table calculates enormous damage, then narrates the divine strike.
  • Roland invokes Amareses, the light, and the White Stag, stabs his sword into the ground, and a flaming white stag runs through the room and through the creature’s chest.
  • The creature dies screaming. A burst of energy blows out the farmhouse walls and exposes the laboratory below.
  • Roland heals Dorian afterward.

Laboratory and Portal

  • Below the house is a stone-floored laboratory with organ jars, a study, a journal, three incubating miniature versions of the creature, and an eldritch portal.
  • The journal records observations of the original old woman, judging her suitable for organ dissection/harvesting and describing ways to lure travelers. The last entry says the creature will make its move when she visits the animals.
  • Dorian uses Detect Magic and senses outer-worldly/eldritch magic, not for good purposes but potentially usable.
  • Dorian takes one incubating vial into the Bag of Holding to study later. The table discusses suffocation, hatching risk, and safe containment; do not treat this as settled item mechanics.
  • The remaining vials are broken; the small creatures struggle and are killed.
  • Dorian sends or tests a homunculus through the portal, then walks through himself. Azalea and Roland appear to follow; K’roaa’ka/Echo and Tharion’s exact positions need confirmation because the transcript has cross-talk.
  • The portal leads to a desert realm. Old ruins or a coliseum are visible in the distance, the portal remains behind them, and a sandstorm approaches as sand begins forming an animalistic being.
  • The session ends there, partly because Rachel/Lilith is absent.

Open Threads

  • What is the purple berry, who has it, and what does it do?
  • Is the voice in Tharion’s head the same force that projected the earlier Silent/Roku message?
  • Does the party now have a live eldritch specimen vial, and where exactly is it stored?
  • Who crossed the desert portal, who stayed behind, and where are G.L.U. and Echo?
  • Is Lilith canonically in the astral plane, temporarily absent, or both?
  • What is the desert realm and its connection to the laboratory?

Contradictions and Clarifications

  • Dominae wants Silent alive for 3,000 gp, but the new voice says the Right Hand of Roku must die.
  • The merchant is connected to Kezmet in Alaric’s lore, but the table says not to cement the name yet. Use Purple-Robed Merchant until confirmed.
  • Hookshot range/action/cost is mostly settled by talk, but not sheet-safe.
  • Gold totals are too noisy to update.
  • Rachel/Lilith absence creates uncertainty around whether Lilith crossed the portal or remains elsewhere.

Transcript Windows

00:00-00:20

Morning camp, the purple berry, Lilith’s possible astral absence, Tharion hearing the Roku/Silent voice, first contact with the merchant, shop inventory, and the haunted barn hook.

00:20-00:40

The hazelnut/Bag of Holding trade resolves for 550 gp, several custom item ideas are negotiated, and Dorian proposes the hookshot.

00:40-01:00

Hookshot rules and cost are discussed, the party exits the merchant pocket shop, Alaric explains the possible Kezmet/Balthazar link, and the party reaches the haunted barn.

01:00-01:20

Echo distrusts the old woman, Azalea talks to the animals, the dead caretaker is found under the hay, Sendera finds the hidden staircase, and the party debates saving/transporting the animals.

01:20-01:40

The party assaults the farmhouse, Dorian reveals the impostor, the creature nearly drops him, and Roland lands the decisive critical smite.

01:40-02:00

Roland’s White Stag strike kills the creature, the house explodes open, the lab is explored, Dorian takes a vial, and the party prepares to enter the portal.

02:00-02:08

The portal reveals a desert realm with ruins and an approaching sandstorm. The table pauses the session and gives feedback about the shop, homebrew items, and the missed Speak-with-Dead opportunity.

Mentioned Pages

Graph View

Backlinks