Arc 2, Episode 9 - "Highkeep Heathersage"
General Summary
When last we left off, the party, full for the first time as Daymon and GB returned, had just set off for the town of Grugglefield, returning the Divine Hunter Lodmus to his long-lost family.
After passing through Rivermouth, where they saw a missing persons poster featuring a gnomish male with a long white scar across his face, the party encountered a crystalline forest, full of red and yellow hues. A bell-like tinkling of breaking glass rings out translucent leaves fall from the trees, shatteringly gently on the ground. A figure emerges from this previously unseen grove, an exotic elven-ish woman with long sideswept lilac colored hair and eyes that wisp with a mysterious energy, dressed in flowing white fabrics with lavender ribbons about her shoulders. She is attended by three unseen creatures, which she introduces as Cybele, Kireen, and Borea. She gives her name as Ehre.
Ehre warns everyone to keep distance for their own safety -- a dark mist, smelling of decay and pestilence, grips the trees and plagues the creatures of the grove. Sensing that her plight may very well be connected to the strange occurrences in Anchek (and, indeed, the entirety of the Ten Scepters), the party invites Ehre to join them and seek out an answer to their mutual problems. With a single hesitant look back, Ehre leaves her grove with the party.
Soon afterwards, the Party arrived in Grugglefield. There was a tearful reunion between Lodmus and his wife, Old Lady Glimbal, and his sons Perry and Jerry Twinklefoot. Thanking the party warmly, Lodmus warns everyone that the judicial system in Highkeep Heathersage is odd, and advises them to stay on the right side of the law. He further says that, should the party ever find themselves standing trial, they should choose the trials of redemption, though most who choose that path are never seen again.
The party makes their way to Highkeep Heathersage, ascending the massive elevator to access the city itself, far above the valley floor. Arriving in the city itself, they find it to be a quiet, grim place. Though inhabited by a sizeable population of humanoids, largely dwarves, it seems somewhat lifeless, with little to no joy. The party is approached by a balding human male in dirty rags, with a scarf made of knotted socks, who offers to give them a tour of the city.
After paying his fee (and then some), the party learns of a mysterious affliction spreading through the dwarven miners of the Highkeep, which he refers to as the “Grey Plague.” This illness, when described by the man, sounds remarkably similar to the grey undead creatures underneath the abandoned well the party faced some days before. The man further recommends the party steer clear of the local tavern frequented by these dwarves.
Continuing on, he speaks of the Dragonspire, a high basalt tower once rumored to the the roosting place of the terrible green dragon The Emerald Wings, surrounded by swirling stormclouds. Inside the Dragonspire, according to rumor, an old forge master had set up shop, crafting terrible artifacts and even summoning demons. Long ago, a man named Tyrael Trakas, deep in his cups and severely drunk, purchased climbing equipment and attempted to ascend the tower - whether he fell from the spire or reached the dragon is unknown, but he was never heard from again.
Suspecting the Master Forger might, in fact, be the Plague Forger Ar’Ginog - a demon contracted by Shazok for dark purposes, the party pays the guide and heads to the Queenspire, a vast gothic-style cathedral built to honor the Raven Queen. Inside, Daymon and GB confront Zigismund Mox, a former Cardinal of the Raven Queen in Sal Senin who was deposed due to the use of his controversial “stasis” spell in fighting the Shatterjaw Plague.
The ancient human male sits on a throne, clad in white robes with a high peaked papal-style hat, with a sapphire/ruby combination gem necklace around his neck. Speaking in a quiet whisper, Mox reveals to Daymon and GB that he has made terrible mistakes and should never have pursued the stasis magic - that his life should have ended a long time ago. He admits to putting people in stasis to save them from the plague, but denies harvesting their energy, or drawing on their energy to prolong his life. Instead, he admits that a variation of this stasis spell is the source of his unnatural longevity, expressing tremendous remorse for the toll it has taken on his body. The head priestess, Hunnel Jimmei, was appointed by the Counsel and Nambra Danelis, the headmistress of the college and Head Arcanist about 30 years ago. Priestess Jimmei regularly speaks for Mox in meetings, twisting his words and presumably using his station to push policies favored by the College. Despite all that has happened, Mox ardently and sincerely maintains his devotion to the Raven Queen. This contention is confirmed by Daymon, who casts a detection spell which reveals no trace of the Shadow Taint that is the signature of the Shademother Shazok.
After passing through Rivermouth, where they saw a missing persons poster featuring a gnomish male with a long white scar across his face, the party encountered a crystalline forest, full of red and yellow hues. A bell-like tinkling of breaking glass rings out translucent leaves fall from the trees, shatteringly gently on the ground. A figure emerges from this previously unseen grove, an exotic elven-ish woman with long sideswept lilac colored hair and eyes that wisp with a mysterious energy, dressed in flowing white fabrics with lavender ribbons about her shoulders. She is attended by three unseen creatures, which she introduces as Cybele, Kireen, and Borea. She gives her name as Ehre.
Ehre warns everyone to keep distance for their own safety -- a dark mist, smelling of decay and pestilence, grips the trees and plagues the creatures of the grove. Sensing that her plight may very well be connected to the strange occurrences in Anchek (and, indeed, the entirety of the Ten Scepters), the party invites Ehre to join them and seek out an answer to their mutual problems. With a single hesitant look back, Ehre leaves her grove with the party.
Soon afterwards, the Party arrived in Grugglefield. There was a tearful reunion between Lodmus and his wife, Old Lady Glimbal, and his sons Perry and Jerry Twinklefoot. Thanking the party warmly, Lodmus warns everyone that the judicial system in Highkeep Heathersage is odd, and advises them to stay on the right side of the law. He further says that, should the party ever find themselves standing trial, they should choose the trials of redemption, though most who choose that path are never seen again.
The party makes their way to Highkeep Heathersage, ascending the massive elevator to access the city itself, far above the valley floor. Arriving in the city itself, they find it to be a quiet, grim place. Though inhabited by a sizeable population of humanoids, largely dwarves, it seems somewhat lifeless, with little to no joy. The party is approached by a balding human male in dirty rags, with a scarf made of knotted socks, who offers to give them a tour of the city.
After paying his fee (and then some), the party learns of a mysterious affliction spreading through the dwarven miners of the Highkeep, which he refers to as the “Grey Plague.” This illness, when described by the man, sounds remarkably similar to the grey undead creatures underneath the abandoned well the party faced some days before. The man further recommends the party steer clear of the local tavern frequented by these dwarves.
Continuing on, he speaks of the Dragonspire, a high basalt tower once rumored to the the roosting place of the terrible green dragon The Emerald Wings, surrounded by swirling stormclouds. Inside the Dragonspire, according to rumor, an old forge master had set up shop, crafting terrible artifacts and even summoning demons. Long ago, a man named Tyrael Trakas, deep in his cups and severely drunk, purchased climbing equipment and attempted to ascend the tower - whether he fell from the spire or reached the dragon is unknown, but he was never heard from again.
Suspecting the Master Forger might, in fact, be the Plague Forger Ar’Ginog - a demon contracted by Shazok for dark purposes, the party pays the guide and heads to the Queenspire, a vast gothic-style cathedral built to honor the Raven Queen. Inside, Daymon and GB confront Zigismund Mox, a former Cardinal of the Raven Queen in Sal Senin who was deposed due to the use of his controversial “stasis” spell in fighting the Shatterjaw Plague.
The ancient human male sits on a throne, clad in white robes with a high peaked papal-style hat, with a sapphire/ruby combination gem necklace around his neck. Speaking in a quiet whisper, Mox reveals to Daymon and GB that he has made terrible mistakes and should never have pursued the stasis magic - that his life should have ended a long time ago. He admits to putting people in stasis to save them from the plague, but denies harvesting their energy, or drawing on their energy to prolong his life. Instead, he admits that a variation of this stasis spell is the source of his unnatural longevity, expressing tremendous remorse for the toll it has taken on his body. The head priestess, Hunnel Jimmei, was appointed by the Counsel and Nambra Danelis, the headmistress of the college and Head Arcanist about 30 years ago. Priestess Jimmei regularly speaks for Mox in meetings, twisting his words and presumably using his station to push policies favored by the College. Despite all that has happened, Mox ardently and sincerely maintains his devotion to the Raven Queen. This contention is confirmed by Daymon, who casts a detection spell which reveals no trace of the Shadow Taint that is the signature of the Shademother Shazok.
Report Date
31 May 2025
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