The Keys of Telku / The Final Key pt. 7 / Kith the 13th through the 24th, 3593 CE / 2-27-22

General Summary

The Adventurers have bested the strange creature calling itself "the Scion." Having left Castle Argaine two days ago, they have now returned after learning that the guardsmen assigned to protect them on their journey to Pandona were in fact lycanthrope worshippers of Anubhak, the Lord of Monsters. Fearing for the safety of the companions they left behind under the protection of Lord Rickard Argaine, the Adventurers hurried back to the ancestral Argaine castle, only to find it overrun with bugbear cultists and undead shadows. After defeating all of their opponents, they were finally able to capture and subdue the strange being who appears to be masterminding the cultists activities. While he is still under the spell of Stele, the party's cleric of Accuris, the Adventurers quickly bind the Scion before pulling off his mask to reveal the face of an older gentleman, one of the Argaine family servants. Rados notes with his magic sight that the evil necromantic energy of the Scion's mask and robe immediately begin to fade, even as the terrified manservant begins screaming from behind his gag. The party can only look in in horror as blood begins pouring from the dying man's eyes and mouth, until he expires before them. Hoping to still find signs of the ranger Shadolok and the ex-cleric Sultar whom they left behind at Castle Argaine, the party once again begins to search, but they are rejoined by the dwarf Bladehelm, who bears grim news. He shows them a scroll of ledger that he recovered from the still missing Lord Argaine's chambers. It lists the names of many of the missing staff along with a value in gold pieces for each. At the bottom of the ledger are listed the names of Shadolok and Sultar, and it is signed by someone named "Kezeif," along with the seal of the Church of Baal. Facing the shocking discovery that their friends have been sold into slavery, Baijao convinces Bladehelm to return to the Amarathian capital of Lidea and warn the King and his advisors that not only has House Argaine fallen to the dark depravations of Anubhak, but that Baalite slavers roam the king's lands. Bladehelm agrees and sets off, but not before drawing a map for the party that will get them to Pandona much more quickly than the route originally proposed by the treacherous House Argaine guardsmen. The Adventurers leave the cursed Castle Argaine behind and head once more towards Pandona. It is a blissfully uneventful eleven days across the beautiful rolling hills of the Amarathian countryside, until they reach a ferry crossing to Veluna, and from there, Pandona, the City of Smoke and Towers. For some members of the party, this is the first they have ever encountered a city of such magnitude, with great stone buildings rising high into the sky. As Pandona is the greatest merchant hub of all Anoria, the party decides to take advantage of their access to its varied markets before attempting to locate their erstwhile companion Night, the Amita K'un ninja who preceded them here. They sell of the wagon and cache of weapons they recovered from their former escort, then make their way through various shops both magical and mundane. At their final stop, a store selling rare magical artifacts, they notice another patron looking at them oddly, a small wooden creature known as a wyrwood. But before they can react, the Adventurers are intercepted by Night and her companion, an Amita K'un ninja who calls himself "the First." They tell the party that they are in danger, and urge to them return with the two ninja to the palace of their master, the Overlord of Pandona. At that moment, a gang of ninja calling themselves Bloodguard rush to attack, starting a vicious and bloody battle in the market square. At that same time, the wyrwood reveals himself to be Moss Cherry-Blossom Quickroot, Adrienne and John's former companion thought lost to them after he went missing from the royal dungeons in Lidea. With a combination of might and magic, the Adventurers and their Amita K'un allies slay all of their Bloodguard assailants, after which they follow the direction of Night and are quickly ushered back to the palace of House Dracus, the merchant house of Pandona's current Overlord and headquarters of the Amita K'un who serve him. Night deposits the party in one of the ninja's spartan sleeping quarters in a tower of the palace to await an audience with Overlord, and they now find themselves for the first time with an opportunity to catch up and make introductions between the party's newest members and the formerly-missing druid Moss.

Rewards Granted

+1 returning heartseeker dagger

Character(s) interacted with

Adrienne Kirk, Jaunzagarroth, Doctor Marrow, Baijo Chen, Rados, Stele, Koragar Blackiron, Bladehelm, The Scion/Argaine butler, Moss Cherry-Blossom Quickroot, Night, The First, Pandonan citizens, shopkeepers, Bloodguard

Report Date

28 Feb 2022

Primary Location

Pandona