Echoes of Time Sessions 31 - 40

General Summary

Session 31 The party fought valiantly against the horde of skeletons blocking their path. Eladan in particular was able to cut down a majority of them with two well placed fireballs. However, just as escape seemed within their grasp, Shepherd appeared on the field of battle, fury brimming in his eyes. Despite their best efforts, the party was already nearly depleted from the previous battles, and could not stand against Shepherd's magic. One by one, they fell.
But Shepherd did not finish them off, instead reviving those who had fallen and retrieving Eladan from the Ethereal plane where he had been shunted by a blast from a prismatic spray. He then offered them a choice: serve him and he would spare all but one of them, or refuse and die here. The party agreed. Shepherd then demanded they choose who amongst them would take the blow to pay for their transgressions against him. With the assurance that what he had planned would be permanently fatal to whomever took the blow, Poppi agreed; valiantly sacrificing herself for these people whom she had only recently met and come to know. With that, Shepherd absorbed her very essence into his amulet and bayed the party to locate a suitable replacement dragon for the dracolich the party slew.
After relenting and giving some background on the amulet and Echoless and giving the party 2 weeks to find a dragon, Shepherd returned to his lair. The party then made haste back out of the mountains and again into Luma Forest, bumping into Jakob Woods in Stone's Landing. In the forest, the party encountered a host of bats seemingly watching them from the branches. One in particular caught Venatrix's attention, which she promptly shot with an arrow.
The bat revealed itself to be none other than Bartimaeus, following orders to follow the party and monitor Venatrix. After some banter, he turned into mist and floated off, informing them that he'll be around, but has been ordered only to watch for the time being.
With that, the party continued their journey deeper into the forest in search of the green dragon Verdafen…
XP earned: 2,500 each
Session 32 The party picked up the trail of the green dragon Verdafen, meeting up with the elderly centaur Fenrag, who was also pursuing the dragon as the younger members of her herd were "taking too damn long". Together, they travelled deeper into the forest and off the beaten path.
Aside from the more subtle signs of the dragon's passage, the party stumbled across the remains of a failed centaur ambush, where several centaur corpses bore the marks of severe poison damage, while others seemed to have been slashed to ribbons. Farther along, the party came across scouts from Gnomenclature, who were also on the lookout for the dragon who had evidently been encroaching on their borders.
Finally, after carefully navigating through increasingly thickening briars and virtual walls of vines and vegetation, the party made it to the edge of the lake that housed the dragon's lair; the surface of its waters rolling with a thin, acrid mist. Eladan opted to fly over the lake a ways and do recon, calling out for the dragon as he did so. Unfortunately, this worked too well, and the dragon pounced on him. After a brief aerial battle, Eladan was able to wriggle away. Meanwhile, Fenrag, while in water elemental form, was able to scout out an entrance to the dragon's lair deep beneath the lake.
The party regrouped and after a short rest, prepared to enter the lair. However, in an attempt to keep them out of his lair, Verdafen attempted to parlay with them from the cover of the tree line. After some conniving and finding out why exactly the party wanted to kill him, he offered to tell the party where they could find a different dragon as well as give some information on the whereabouts of Echoless. To that end, he even offered to fly the party to the Hag's Coven, where he claimed Echoless was last seen.
Unfortunately for Verdafen, the party suddenly backtracked after he had already shown himself and was preparing to fly them. Sensing that they would likely just try to kill him now that he was out in the open, he struck preemptively. But the party's retribution was far more intense than he expected, and he was slain before he could retreat to his lair.
With that, Shepherd teleported to their location with an entourage of Wight's and Deathlocks, one of them bearing a small chest containing the soul of Lizunvaar, Sheperd's dracolich. During a tense moment, Ximon nearly attacked, hoping to perhaps destroy the dragon's soul before it could be put in it's new body. He refrained though, and Verdafen rose again as Lizunvaar. With that, Shepherd bid the party farewell, but deigned not to remove his mark. Ximon left in a fit of rage to cool off. Meanwhile, the rest of the party raided Verdafen's lair for some sweet loot, including an Oathbow and a dancing sword, as well as the Former artifact Weathersense, which Ximon had been keeping an eye out for since their first trip to Gnomenclature.
With their deal with Shepherd at an end for now, the party now looks to go once again southwards towards Termina to investigate the so called "Paradise" of Logira, but not before perhaps paying the Hags and their Commune another visit…
XP earned: 3,000 each
Session 33 After avoiding a treant and his sprite scouts (who were searching specifically for Ximon because of his previous antics), the party set out to find the hag coven. After a half-day's journey through the wood, the party encountered members of the sound of distant voices drifting through the branches. Curiously, there seemed to be no source of the voices, until Mr. Buttons finally noticed the trees had been enchanted with magical "mouths" that spoke random words simulating speech. Once past these diversions, the party encountered actual members of the Commune; armed with spears and seemingly searching for a certain kind of herb.
Ximon scouted them out for a moment, investigating their movements and their spears before setting his earth elemental on them. The Commune members fled and Ximon gave chase; the commotion alerting the rest of the party. After careening through the trees for a time, the Commune members led the party to a clearing where two discarded sets of plate armor suddenly surged to life as elemental myrmidons. However, the myrmidons were avoided and the members captured, though they were not particularly helpful with regards to information, as they appeared charmed and unaware of what was really going on.
Despite this, the party was able to eventually track their way to the Commune proper, only to find it covered in a thick fog. This turned out to be the work of the archdruid Pertabus, who had managed to narrowly escape death at the hands of the party last time they encountered. He had agreed to protect the Commune in exchange for the hags offering their thralls to him to cleanse the Elder Yew with. After learning from Pertabus that Echoless had left the forest with Pertabus' blessing and that the hags had no more interest in the party aside from keeping them away, the party opted to part from the Commune.
With that business done, they returned to Gnomenclature to spend the night. Ximon returned the Former artifact "Weathersense" and Venatrix traded Sindri Talltree their sending stone connected with Aefaren Thrangur (his old mentor) in exchange for a fresh pair. After briefly communicating through the stone, Sindri shared with the party that Aefaren had fled the Lunar Forum because of a "powerful secret" he had uncovered.
The party decided their next move would be to head towards the Kateran Wastes to pursue Logira's Paradise, but before they enjoyed an evening of revels, with Evan blacking out (after goading from Venatrix and her "passenger"). However, early in the morning, Ximon decided to strike out on his own to pursue a lead on Echoless. He left a note for the party as well as supplies in good faith that he would return for them. Ironically though, after finding out about this, the party decided to head to Fendelen as well to search for Echoless.
Along the road, they encountered a strange sight: a gnomish Artificer standing amongst the corpses of a group of adventurers. The gnome in question is Allston Preslet, who has travelled with several adventuring parties (all of whom have ended up dead). Despite this, the party allowed him to travel with them, and together they set off to Fendelen together, and fended off a roaming hydra that was taking advantage of the heightened water levels caused by excessive rain. With that, the party found themselves once again on the edge of Lake Aberran overlooking the skyline of Fendelen in the distance…
XP earned: 3,000 each
Session 34 The party arrived in Fendelen and got up to some nonsense; first checking in at Cardinal Cathedral to see about removing Shepherd's mark. Unfortunately, the High Priest, the only cleric capable of casting the specific spell needed, has been gone for nearly a week on a mission trip of sort. The priests still there did find it odd that he had not yet returned.
The party deigned to pursue this, as it was possible Warwick was in danger. But first, they had to go shopping, obviously. Eladan and Mr. Buttons specifically bought hallucinogenic drugs in the Cistern is pursuit of ingredients for his "special brew". They also picked up a few minor magic items from the Lunar Forum. Specifically, Ven picked up a wand of smiles, which she gleefully used on an angry looking noble. Also at the Forum shop, the party learned that the two proprietors were out exploring the Aboleth lair in a fantastical submersible vehicle. Evan went to a brothel because reasons.
The following day, the party set out to Garth's Hallow, the town where Warwick had travelled. They found the town to be gloomy at best. Oddly, no guards seemed to be present, except for appearing to make the occasional arrest. They learned that giants had recently attacked the village, and since then, things have been off. The party decided to investigate the keep, which they found to be sealed and fortified. In order to get in, the party laid in wait until a group of guards left the keep, where they then attacked them and knocking them out (except for the one Eladan brutally murdered with his trident). Disguised as guards (and Mr. Buttons and Allston as prisoners), the party was able to get through the gatehouse, but were stopped at the keep doors when the guards posted there saw through their disguise.
A battle ensued. The party abandoned trying to keep the guards alive and killed many of them in the courtyard before picking their way into the keep where they found a host of barbed devils corralling a group of civilian prisoners. More guards also stood by, seemingly complacent with the devils' activities. The party engaged to devils, with Eladan opting to fire storm the entire great hall, killing the guards as well as every civilian present. It was brutal and stunning to both Evan and Allston, who both couldn’t bring themselves to fight on for a moment. Most unfortunately, the fire didn't even phase the devils.
Despite this, the creatures were eventually defeated and the party was able to secure the great hall, still burning in some places and just filled with the bodies of devils and innocents alike. Tensions are high as the party prepares to embark further into the keep, not knowing what lay ahead or what should be done about Eladan's homicidal tendencies…
XP earned: 1,800 each
Session 35 The party, after being rejoined with Phenrag, fought their way through the devils and possessed thralls defending the Duke's Keep. They encountered a group of survivors who had barricaded themselves in the kitchen staff's quarters who informed them that the troubles started a week ago when the wizard Rak'Sha came into their midst to help defend against the stampeding giants. This was further corroborated by the Duke's personal log in his study, noting concerns about Rak'sha and the "help" he summoned to defend the village. They also came across the Duke himself, seemingly heavily enchanted and barely acknowledging the party.
After fighting their way into the great tower of the keep through waves of guards and more devils, the party encountered Rak'sha in the middle of some sort of summoning ceremony in which a catatonic High Priest Warwick was the source of life energy powering it. Words were exchanged, and then blows. Rak'sha conjured an illusory Pit Fiend to distract the party, but they were able to see through this and break the focusing skulls, preventing a real Pit Fiend from coming through. Rak'sha fled in the ensuing chaos, and the party was able to save Warwick from his imminent death…
XP earned: 5,000 each
Session 36 With the rakshasa and his devils gone, the party turned their attention to dealing with the fallout. Alston revived Priest Warwick and explained to the guards, just now coming back to their senses, what had happened. However, when the guards inquired about the charred bodies in the great hall, Alston was quick to rat out Eladan. When the guards asked if he was also responsible for the devils, he did not correct them. The guards then came and took Eladan away for questioning. Phenrag then decided this party was too weird for her taste and flew away as a bird.
Back in the keep, the party checked in with the Duke, now lucid, as well as the people who had barricaded themselves in the kitchen staff quarters. After resting in the keep for the night, the party was ready to set out in the morning with Warwick and the two surviving knights he brought with him. Warwick remarked that it was odd that Venatrix was there, as the Night's Song had declined the exorcism job because "none of their agents were in the area".
On the road back to Fendelen, the party was met by two messengers: Deathlocks in the service of Shepherd. Shepherd himself appeared as an illusory image and offered the party a deal: keep the brands for a while longer and he would lead them to an old Antecean vault where they could have their pick of the magic items left inside in exchange for one specific item he was after. The party agreed on the condition that the brands be removed afterwards. Shepherd countered that all but one would be removed. To this the party agreed.
After laying up in Fendelen for 5 days and restocking on supplies: Alston bought materials for crafting and fashioned a +1 bow for Venatrix, Evan went carousing, Mr. Buttons went hunting, and Venatrix found out that she was excommunicated from the Night's Song until she loses Shepherd's Mark. With a new carriage and horses in hand, the party set out on the long journey to Termina, where they would begin their search for the vault as well as possibly Logira's Paradise, as the party agreed that bringing a fire god to bear against Shepherd may be a good idea.
Halfway through Luma Forest, the party encountered a crazed, almost feral wizard named Thomnas who nearly demanded the party assist with his research into "the swirl protected by a snake". Intrigued, the party decided to see what the hell he was talking about. Upon investigation, it turned out that Thomnas had stumbled across a grove sacred to the Former that housed an unsullied foci as well as a Former artifact. The guardian, a naga tasked with overseeing the grove, refused to allow the wizard in. When the party learned this, they decided it was in their best interest to leave it be and agreed to "remove" Thomnas from the area.
Thomnas fought valiantly and nearly escaped (cackling like a madman), but a well-placed stunning arrow from Mr. Buttons allowed the party to capture him and, like a mouse caught in a home, carted him miles away before letting him loose back into the woods as they made camp for the night. After that strange day, the party prepared for whatever else this long road to Termina may have in store for them…
XP earned: 2,000 each
Session 37 After reuniting with Eladan, the party began their long trek west towards Termina and the Kateran Wastes. Along the way, they encountered a surprisingly adorable Ettin guarding a lonely bridge. Venatrix made friends with him and got a tour of his home beneath the bridge: a small cave just beneath the lip of the cliff. Farther on was an old, long-abandoned town where the party found some old gold and a stone of poison detection.
Once through Lovem's Throne and into the Gleanlands, things started to get weird. The party awoke to find bizarre, nonsensical runes carved around their camp. With no immediate threat at hand though, they carried on. Eladan discovered a Roc nesting in a massive carving of some kind of Earth Deity. The rest of the party found smoke on the horizon, many miles way. The next day, things got weird again. A large arrow carved into the road lead off the path. This lead to another arrow pointed slightly to the right. Then another arrow. And another. Until they circled back to where they had left off. This mildly infuriated Eladan.
Farther along, the party learned of the source of the smoke. The small mining village of Howeston had been set ablaze to destroy a host of Spawn of Kyuss that the miners had exhumed accidentally while pursuing a coal vein. The party agreed to investigate and cleared the town of what Spawn they saw, including torching the unearthed burial chamber deep in the minds. Though whether they were able to find every last parasite remains to be seen. While travelling with the refugees, the party mingled with the common folk and even had a bit of a party with them; digging an impromptu hot bath on the hill overlooking the town and just generally having a good time. Venatrix almost discovered Evan's gender (because this matters for some reason), but Evan caught her in the act. After the night, the party discovered stacks of rocks next to their sleeping quarters.
Finally, after helping the town and nearing the end of their journey, the party came across a self-proclaimed "spirit of the hill" that they were passing under. It asked them riddles in exchange for promised riches or death. At the end, it was revealed that this was a Copper Dragon having a go at them. It had been this dragon that had been responsible for all the weird stuff going in the Gleanlands to the party. After a delightful chat, the dragon left them, and the party was able to continue on until they found themselves overlooking the glittering, sandstone walls of Termina on the edge of the Kateran Wastes…
XP earned: 5,000 each
Session 38 The party arrived at the outskirts of Termina. Traipsing through the shanty towns outside the walls, Mr. Buttons bought a totally worthless necklace, and the rest of the party encountered a group of wood elves who seemed to be interested in their movements. They claimed to be simple travelers from Eodur, but Venatrix suspected ulterior motives. After begrudgingly paying a "visitors tax" to the guards at the gate, the party found themselves in the city proper.
Almost immediately, a member of the Dunewalkers sold Mr. Buttons Sand, a potent opioid. Just a little down the road, they encountered a group of Sand Sharks harassing a jeweler for coin. The party stepped in and made short work of the bandits, though the jeweler seemed less than optimistic that they were gone for good. In the evening, they had an absolute smash of a time mixing some of the Sand with Venatrix's patent-pending tricksy juice at the Dragonfruit Inn. They got high as hell and completely missed Merric Leagallow walking in to talk to them.
In the morning, Ven and Alston discovered that the jeweler had been killed some time in the night. They assumed it was the gang members, but this may not entirely be the case (it's not). For the rest of the day, the party split up to track down the halfling they were to meet. Evan found himself cornered by the elves from outside the city, luring him into an alley with "news of his father". It turned out to be a trap sprung by Mainar, Evan's brother. Evan barely made it out alive before running into Mr. Buttons, who escorted him (Now revealed to be, in fact, Evangeline) to an infirmary. Meanwhile, Ven and Alston got tied down with politics seeking an audience with the Earl to talk with his advisor who may know this Merric fellow. Meanwhile, Eladan went to a brothel.
Eventually, Merric met up with Alston and Venatrix and informed them that he would be around in the evening to speak with them at the Inn. True to his word, he appeared before them after sundown and escorted them to the Vingard Winery attached to the Pendant Gardens. Ven noted that there were two men following invisibly behind, but paid them no mind. Merric summoned Shepherd with an orb of communication, and the lich revealed the location of the Vault the party was to enter for the orb of dragonkind he sought. Merric procured supplies for the group, including clothing, shelter, and spell scrolls, as well as information on another expedition that just left that they may want to rendezvous with. And with that the party set out into the Kateran Wastes the next day. Their first day was uneventful, only seeing sandstorms crop up in the distance. They made camp outside of an abandoned tower their first night, and aside from a magical fog cropping up in the night, nothing of note occurred. Now the party faces at least another four days in the Wastes before reaching their destination. Whether their luck holds out for the entire journey remains to be seen…
XP earned: 700 each
Session 39 The party traversed farther into the Kateran Wastes, opting to ignore the tower containing an iron golem for now. Whilst travelling through the desert, the party was approached by what appeared to be a blue dragon wyrmling being pursued by a group of tiefling wildlings, ostensibly out "training" the dragon. During the encounter, they met Kylus, the wildling warrior in charge of their little band. He inquired about the party's purpose here and where they were going before wishing them safe travels.
Farther along, Eladan discovered a burning marker depicting the emblem of Logira emblazoned in a dead tree stump. Upon closer inspection, it became clear that he was the only one who could see this. Despite this, the party opted to trust him and they diverged course to see where the markers lead. It appeared that every mile or so, a new marker lead them down a path that snaked through the high dunes and lowlands of the wastes. What's more, their path seemed to shield them from the sandstorms and other malign magic that permeated the area.
However it was not all smooth sailing. At night, a raiding party of wildlings attempted to rob the party. Despite getting some good shots in though, they were easily repelled, and their leader was captured: Kylus, the warrior they encountered earlier. Eladan decided to brand him, though this didn't seem to phase Kylus all that much. In the night, Evan and Allston opted to let the poor sod go, believing dragging him along would only cause more issues. Kylus graciously left, vowing that the party "will never cross paths with him again".
Finally, after several days of following this path only Eladan could see, the party came across an old, long dilapidated ruin. It was clear that it was much older than the Antecean ruins they had seen dotting the landscape, but it was so heavily deteriorated that not much more could be gleamed. Until Venatrix noticed arcane ruins carved into the interior of a stone archway. When Eladan approached, the stones began to glow and opened what appeared to be a portal that lead to the interior of the ruined temple; still intact.
Inside, the party found themselves in a massive, pristine, and totally empty temple. A great brazier burned in the center of the great hall. Beyond that, a door with an inscription that read "the Supplicant's Path". Allston, Evan, and Venatrix decided they needed to rest before moving on, but Eladan and Mr. Buttons were impatient and decided to explore what lay beyond the door. It was there that they found the trials. First, the trial of flame where they had to prevent an air elemental from extinguishing four sconces. The second was the trial of smoke, where they had to find their way to the exit in blinding, choking smoke. Lastly was the trial of ash, where they had to find and then hatch a phoenix egg.
Beyond the trials was the final test: to be judged by the temple's guardian, a sphinx in the service of Logira. After some back and forth and deliberating on the past deeds of Eladan, the sphinx deemed him and his companions worthy of entering the paradise. In the paradise itself, a balmy, summer town of gleaming sandstone and colorful tapestries, the party found themselves surrounded by Beltaine, all of whom were adorned in pristine robes. De'Lan, the brother of Eladan who had sought him out in Crucible, met them at the entrance. After some brief discussion on the nature of the paradise and the trials of the temple, De'Lan began leading the party towards the great Pagoda at the center of the Paradise where they would meet Logira…
XP earned: 3,000 each
Session 40 After much anticipation, the party met with the primordial fire god Logira. He had many interesting things to say on the nature of gods and existence: his power is derived from his followers, hence congregating them in a safe Paradise. He "creates" his Beltaine by sending one out into the material world to find a partner and then imbuing the subsequent child with a fraction of his power. They then pass through the trials to prove their worth. He had a son named Eladan once, but he is long dead. He is relatively certain Eladan was somehow banished from his original plane of existence. He plans on repopulating the material plane with his children after a Cataclysm burns the planes to ash. But the most pressing thing he had to teach the party was that he was keeping them in the Paradise indefinitely. He needed every Beltaine on hand for after Cataclysm, and Eladan's compatriots will make excellent additions to his support staff.
While the party was refused the ability to leave, they were given free reign of the Paradise. De'Lan acted as a guide of sorts. Logira also offered them a chance to prove their combat abilities in the arena, which the party agreed to do the next day. For the rest of the day, the party putzed around the Paradise with De'lan, imbibing of fine spirits and sweet meats and enjoying the revelries of the Beltaine.
In the morning, the party faced off against a rival party in battle, but not before they tipped the scales in their favor by "offering" them tricksy juice laced with Sand. The battle was intense, but the range-based party was able to out-maneuver the more melee based one, and the party won the day. Logira, impressed by their might, offered each of them a boon, which took the form of boosting a chosen ability score. Only Allston refused. While the boon was generous, it came with a hidden cost: by putting some of his power in them, Logira is able to keep tabs on them. He can also cause the energy to inflame their spirits, should he deign to.
But for the time being, the party is free to wander the Paradise. Only time will tell what will become of them and the world beyond in the meantime…
XP earned: 3,000 each

Report Date

13 Dec 2022