Timlin Ath'shana pt. 1

• We travel in the direction indicated by Kalista and find a steep drop off that we are forced to navigate. We get to the bottom, in front of a gate, and several sets of skeletal remains greet us there. As we approach, they animate and attack. We dispatch them fairly easily.
• The skeletons had a healing salve and a pair of special gems. We experiment with the gems and find that they allow us to transit to a special plane that seems to be a spirit-amplified version of our own plane. The gems only work in areas of strong undead energy, of which Ath'Shana is one. Alena says we should keep the gems, but I feed her some dried mouse and tell her it's better if the barbarian ventures into the unknown. We can trade for the gems later if needed.
• John experiments with the gem a little bit: It works for an hour a day, once per day. Change in the alternate plane is difficult to effect, but sympathetic events can be generated that seem to be localized to specific objects. One of these allows us to open the gate. It's worth noting that coming out of the alternate plane brings you back to where you activated the gem, not your current location, so using the gems to bypass obstacles entirely doesn't work.
• We encounter a spirit acting out a role he seemed to hold in the past as entry clerk. He provides midly useful information and we move on.
• We enter a tavern in which an ongoing brawl is happening among spirits. The brawl continues with no progress being made, and we can't seem to impact the brawl.
• We enter a barracks in which skeletons lay in the military cots. We correctly deduce that these skeletons are the restless dead and execute an ambush against them. It goes well.
• Searching the barracks, we find a special longbow that sheaths the user's motions and actions. No one seems particularly interested in it but Alena reminds me that I trained with the longbow before I went to seminary so I give it a try and it fires true. I've been making a lot of use of these pedestrian weapons of war recently. It's disgusting.
• We also find a potion of sanctuary and a wand of sudden awakening. I'm excited to have a wand, but this doesn't seem of particular value. I admit that combined with the alarm spell it makes me a useful threat deterrent system. Alena says to hold on to it. The party splits a paltry sum of money of which I do not take a share because of my acquisition of magic items. This seems fair. Alena says it is not fair.
• There's a magic school, and some creatures inside that seem crazy and hungry. Their urges feel familiar to me. We set up an elaborate trap that goes very poorly and John and Roland start to get killed/eaten. There's a harrowing fight. I send in Alena. What is happening? Ah! AHHHHHH!
• VICTORY. WE RETRIEVE EROTIC BOOKS. WE GET A SPELL BOOK. WE GET A BOOK ABOUT CRAFTING.