Nolla Isle

This island on the Sarodin Sea is the rumored home of the ancient master alchemist Noita.

The party was approached by Velkor to delve its depths trying to find the Amulet of Yendor or something called the Sampo. They struck a deal; the party gets 60% of all monetary treasure. When it comes to magic items, Velkor gets the first two picks, then the party gets to pick one, then he gets one, and so on till all have been divied up.

Velkor explains that no one is quite sure who Noita was, he personally thinks it was a dwarven woman. He has come into possession of a large stack of notes supposedly written by someone called Minä, though that could be Noita herself, he isn't sure.

Thanks to the notes Velkor knows that the tower on the island is impenetrable and likely empty; the mines is where they should go. Going down the mines the party encounters all kinds of creatures they have never seen before, including a race called the Hiisi. All through their journey they encounter pedestals carrying vials of strange potions and wands. In some cases they first needed to solve a sort of puzzle first.

Eventually they end up in a room with smooth brown/yellowish brickwork at the end of it. There's a large portal that leads them to something called Holy Mountain that holds fresh water and a large rack containing a number of weapons, ammunition, and armor repair tools. It's a good place to recuperate. After leaving the ceiling collapse, blocking any re-entry to the room.

They are now in the Coal Pits and eventually end up in the Fungal Caverns. A book they find gives them the idea to consume the fungus growing all around the place and after imbibing quite a lot of it, Teresa has really weird visions and triggers a Fungal Reality Shift. Something fundamental has changed but they don't know what.

Another room with a portal leads to another Holy Mountain which in turn leads to an exit on a mountain plateau. Looking at the sky it is clear they are no longer anywhere near Nolla Isle; none of the stars look familiar. A sudden avalanche forces everyone to jump onto one of the nearby toboggans and race down the mountain. It's a close call but they make it down safely. The way further down the mountain is blocked by a huge wall of ice but they can cross hills to go from one dale to the next. On one side there's a huge, blue worm, making the party decide to try the other direction.

After spending a nice time in a building with a room containing benches along the sides and a stove under a compartment holding small rocks they find a small building with a locked door. After solving the puzzle to open the door a tunnel leads to the next portal room and the next Holy Mountain.

This final level contains, among other things, laboratory, a portal room without a portal and a hidden room the party eventually finds. They are able to use the four kivi stones they have found on their adventures to restore the portal, and when taking it, they end up on the small mountain back on Nolla Isle, next to an altar.

The Most Interesting Finds

Dale with pipes

A dwarven woman, wearing chain armor and carrying an axe and a crosbow was found here, frozen to death. She didn't seem to have any personal effects but her coins were mostly Miforan and less than a century old and she had an amulet that looked to be pretty unique. She also had in her backpack the novel The Tunnels of Ashley Province which was first published only fifty or so years ago.

Laboratory

When opening the door, you find a very large room that contains many work surfaces, most of them covered with beakers, retorts, Erlenmeyer flasks, Schlenk tubes, separatory funnels, Thiele and thistle tubes, Bunsen burners and many other implements that just scream alchemy. There are also many differently colored stains all over the place, often running down the sides of the work surfaces; whoever used this lab wasn’t the neatest of persons.

Most of the closets contain more of the same implements and one large storage closet holds what is left of the stock of reagents; that is to say, very little, and nothing of any real worth. A large emerald tablet of the kind you have seen before stands propped up against a wall. A wooden lectern in the middle of the room holds a stained, heavy book. A smaller book sits on a shelf inside the lectern next to a small green stone.

A box full of broken wands stands next to an open doorway. Beyond it is a small, circular room. Inside you find a much-oversized anvil sitting in the middle of the room. A shiny metal pipe about twenty centimeters in diameter, covered by some kind of black material at the bottom of it extends out of the ceiling centered over the anvil. Five letters are inscribed along the perimeter of the room, all equidistant from each other; I A N O K.

Notes in notebook show that none of the vials work outside of the island. Acrostic shows hidden messages: “They think they can keep me in this gilded cage to unlock the secrets of the Art for them to use as they see fit but there can be no gain without sacrifice.” The next message at the end of the notebook isn't hidden: “I am no soothsayer but that which was inevitable was clear to my eyes as much as they were blind to it. And my timing could not have been any closer. It took me years to convince them to move my laboratory to the sea for these rare reagents that were nothing more than pure fancy sprung from my mind. And then only months later magic stops working for a bit, things go haywire, and the entire realm is gone. Now I can finally focus on the only truly important thing in life.”

Hidden Room

This hidden room contains devices of steel, amber and glass, made in a style you haven’t seen anywhere else. There are tanks of lemon-smelling viscous slime, buzzing equipment of uncertain character and nodules of amber by the hundredweight.

One tank made of steel and smoked glass is the size of a hansom. There's something, or possibly someone, in it. Not quite human or any humanoid you recognize, the figure is unformed and featureless, like an unfinished statue. It is quiet and still, although its chest rises and falls perhaps twice a minute.

A large desk is placed on one side of the room, kept clear of any machinery, there are notes, journals and drawings here.

One of the walls is taken up completely by a custom-built cabinet that almost looks like a trophy case. Starting on the left the first six cubbyholes are closed off with a glass pane, beyond them is a pinkish mist in which you can just about make out large globules of amber that seem to contain something that pulses every few minutes. In the cubbyholes beneath each of these lay small books.

Three of the cubbyholes on the right side of the cabinet are also filled; one contains a smoothly polished, multicolored stone (agate), the second something that looks like almost completely transparent gloves, and the third that contains a small blue rock that seems to be covered in a layer of water.

The notes are in an ancient form of Dwarfish. They describe the research for a process to store a dying being’s consciousness and then implant it in a new, specially grown body using a combination of alchemy and necromantic magic. The process appears to be excruciatingly painful and you don’t recognize all the materials needed for it. Apparently to ‘grow’ a body you need number of unborn children and then a weekly supply of child’s blood for the first year. It takes about five years and a lot of very expensive reagents for the body to grow to full size.

A bubble of air rises from the creature's mouth through the syrupy liquid in the tank. Is the shapeless thing inside watching you?

According to the journal it took many tries before the first success and progress has been slow. The author seems nothing but meticulous though, carrying on with unshakable conviction and zeal. From what you can piece together they haven’t been able to keep a restored body alive for more than a week.

The six books:

• Vuth Rythyn, Vagrant. Considering the physical and mental defects of vagrants I have put a stop to our harvesting of them; they have fundamentally failed as research subjects. Keep stored just in case we ever run out of other options.
• Bareena Grayfell, Cooper. Personal, not to be used for experimentation!
• Jalabar Ghalmrin, Apprentice. One of the worst I have ever had, he might still be of some actual use to our cause in this way.
• Tassarli Impaerlath, Queen. Having finally gained the royal physician position made it possible to harvest her as she ‘died in childbirth’. Probably of no direct use but who knows if we ever a need a claim on the royal line.
• Sambril Impaerlath, Princess. ‘Stillborn’, probably also of no use since we have the heir we want, no need to have one that might not be aligned with us around.

• Arnvald Throndor, Assassin of Cardinals. He managed to eradicate three impeders of progress before capture. We managed to harvest him as he was kept in the dungeon before execution. Store until we have perfected the process and then we can use him to finally take down the church of Rades once and for all.

Loot

Chest of Preserving - Bruneor, donated to Silverwick Ward

Food and other perishable items do not age or decay while inside a Chest of Preserving. The chest is 25 lb, 2½ feet long, 1½ feet wide, and 1 foot tall with a half-barrel lid. The chest has a lock, which can be picked with thieves' tools and a successful DC 15 Dexterity check. Smashing the lock or any other part of the chest renders it non-magical. Left at entrance to the mines and then picked up at the end.

Ruusu - Wand of Entangle - Maybell

Holds 7 charges and does not refresh. Functions as the spell, also does 1d8 thorn damage to those caught.

Kiuaskivi - used

A tiny yellow rock that looks most fiery. Gives fire immunity when held, the flames don't hurt the wielder but can set things on fire if you're not careful.

Kantele - party

A wooden, stringed musical instrument. (Wikipedia)

Keihäs‎ - Tiny

Found in Holy Mountain. A spear for more than fishing.

Playing Cards - Velkor

Ancient looking set made of sliced bone. Four suits: water, fire, lightning, and earth. One card missing.

Paha Silmä - Velkor

Something that looks suspiciously like a giant eyeball. Looking at it more closely is seems the eye projects a malevolent glare. It’s about the size of a human’s head, whatever creature it came from must be huge. When you hold it by the severed optic nerve at the back you feel an unpleasant tingle run down your spine and the world suddenly looks a little different. Everything you see now has a slight red tinge, living creatures are a deeper red, and you notice that any motes of dust that fly in front of the eye just disappear.

Kiekurakeppi - Wand of Viscid Globs - Velkor

While holding it, you can use an action to expend 1 of its charges to cause a small glob of viscous material to launch from the tip at one creature within 60 feet of you. Make a ranged attack roll against the target, with a bonus equal to your spellcasting modifier (or your Intelligence modifier, if you don't have a spellcasting modifier) plus your proficiency bonus. On a hit, the glob expands and dries on the target, which is restrained for 1 hour. After that time, the viscous material cracks and falls away.

Applying a pint or more of alcohol to the restrained creature dissolves the glob instantly, as does the application of oil of etherealness or universal solvent. The glob also dissolves instantly if exposed to sunlight. No other non-magical process can remove the viscous material until it deteriorates on its own.

Holds 7 charges and does not refresh. A wand of viscous globs is destroyed if exposed to sunlight for 1 hour without interruption.

Tannerkivi - used

A tiny brown rock inscribed with a rune depicting a downwards pointing triangle crossed by a horizontal line. Gives acid immunity when held and slowly turns solid materials into soil up to an inch in diameter when held against it.

Runestone of Fire - Velkor

An orange stone shaped like an egg but more pointy at the top. It’s about a foot tall and carved into it is a rune of a circle bisected by vertical line and horizontal line from the left side of the circle to the vertical line.

As an action you can kick a Runestone of Fire and it will temporarily create a field that changes any magical elemental damage within it, from any other type, to fire.

Ukkoskivi - used

This small blue rock makes you feel very charged. Gives lightning immunity when held, the periodic bursts of lightning crawling along its surface don't hurt the wielder but could electrify things if you're not careful.

The Tunnels of Ashley Province - Eldron

Novel

Valtikka - Wand of Winter - Velkor

A large wand made of wood close to the end are two crossbars tipped with small blue gems and a very large blue gem held between four tines at the end of the wand. You must be attuned to the wand to use it.

The wand has 7 charges that do not refresh, which are used to fuel the spells within it. With the wand in hand, you can use your action to cast one of the following spells from the wand, even if you are incapable of casting spells: ray of frost (no charges, or 1 charge to cast at 5th level; +5 to hit with ranged spell attack), sleet storm (3 charges; spell save DC 15), or ice storm (4 charges; spell save DC 15). No components are required. When casting one of these spells the wand does 1d4 cold damage to the wielder.

Huilu - party

A golden flute.

Bottle of Mithral Mist - party

Ancient dwarven liquor worth a king's ransom, if Eldron's memory isn't playing tricks on him.

Keoghtom's Ointment - Velkor

As an action, one dose of the ointment can be swallowed or applied to the skin. The creature that receives it regains 2d8 + 2 hit points, ceases to be poisoned, and is cured of any disease. 2 charges left.

Alchemy Jug (Blue) - Maybell

You ask, we pour.

Kammi - Velkor donated to party

Instant Sauna.

Secretorum Hermetis - Eldron

Alchemical katalyst.

Stone of Good Luck - Tiny

While this polished agate is on your person, you gain a +1 bonus to ability checks and saving throws.

Hands of the Interloper - Velkor

Getting really hands-on.

Vuoksikivi - used

This small blue rock seems to be covered with a layer of water at all times.. Gives cold immunity and water breathing when held. Can also produce an unlimited amount of water, given enough time.

The Sampo - Velkor

The first step on the path to creating the fabled Amulet of Yendor?

Potions of:

Acceleratium - increases movement speed.

Polymorphine - turns whoever gets covered in it into a sheep temporarily.

Acid - destroys most materials.

Healthium - when imbibed or covered in it gives the subject a regeneration of 5 hp per turn for 10 turns.