The Long Shadow Sessions 21 - 30

General Summary

Session 21 After a brief rest, during which the party fended off an ambush by air elementals (Buttons rolled 3 nat 20s in a row) and Leona used speak with dead to interrogate their recently deceased captive (learning that the Heralds were indeed allied with Cataclysm, who was said to be "coming soon"), the party prepared to press farther into the crypts. They encountered the Herald of Talam, who sprung a trap on them that sealed off a section of the crypts that housed nearly a dozen shadows and a pair of wraiths. While they ultimately defeated the spirits, many of them found their strength sapped significantly. Despite this, they pressed on.
After overcoming a door that triggered the Weird spell when opened (only Eladan succumbed, seeing hallucinations of his father attacking him, though he quickly snapped out of it), they encountered another defending force of cultists, led by the Herald of Talam. A tense battle ensued in which the cultists took advantage of the puzzle door's mechanisms to summon wraiths to their side. Ultimately, they were successful and claimed the Herald's (cursed) armor of invulnerability and Earth-Shaker maul as their own.
Deeper in, they encountered an entourage of cultists who signaled that the Harbinger himself was willing to speak with them. Accepting the offer, they were escorted into his private chambers, where they encountered Coryn Hlaeghymn: an elderly high elf with near-albino skin. He greeted them and acknowledged their skill in getting this far. He spoke of his involvement with Cataclysm (Tul'Mith to him) and how the Heralds' ultimate goal was to prepare the world for his coming and the resulting apocalypse. He also revealed that it was he who had given Cataclysm access to Zandre by way of "healing" his mother's pregnancy complications. Lastly, he revealed that the Reckoning were "tools" of the Heralds and that the party was to thank for opening the way to the foci they were searching for. With that, the Herald bid them farewell and triggered all the explosives within the Sanctuary and teleporting away. However, Tria and Buttons were able to make note of the highlighted locations of a Foci Map also within the chamber.
On their way back to the surface, the party realized that the foci the Harbinger spoke of was likely the Oracle. With a grim realization that time was of the essence, the party decided that despite the wear and tear of the Sanctuary, they needed to make sure the Oracle was secure. In order to ensure that the information they lifted from the Sanctuary was secured (Buttons had previously cut out the pages of a warded book that contained names and jobs within the Heralds), Tria teleported back to Sigil, taking with her the foci map copy and Button's documents, also promising to send aid should the party need it. With that, the party made haste towards the Oracle, hoping it wasn't already too late…
XP earned: 10,200 each
Session 22 The party quickly made their way to the Oracle, stopping only to send Flick to request backup from the Sacrosanct. Unfortunately, the priest the imp requested assistance from was a Herald himself, and opted to keep the information to himself. Within the Oracle, the party found the cave to be occupied by an excavation team containing orcs, dragonborn, and a pair of stone giants, all overseen by Lazaros, Priscilla, and Praeston. Without attempting to speak with them, the party sprung a desperate assault, pulling out all of their biggest spells and abilities in an attempt to overwhelm them. And while Zandre's maddening darkness and psychic scream spells cleared away much of the rabble, the tougher fighters were undeterred. Lazaros charged headlong into them, all but ignoring Zel (much to his chagrin) in order to get at the healers. Leona attempted to destroy the goliath with her Talisman of Pure Good, but he was able to avoid falling into the fissure. When Praeston "summoned a devil," the party decided it was in their best interest to leave.
Eladan attempted to use his amulet of the planes, but unfortunately, it misfired, transporting all of them, including Lazaros, to the Plane of Elemental Chaos of all places. There, the battle continued on a floating island of earth tossed about in a tempest of roaring wind, whipping rain, lightning, and fire. Lazaros continued to tear into the party, but just as they seemed to be overwhelming him, reinforcements appeared: Priscilla's cubic gate being keyed to the Plane of Chaos, she was able to open a portal directly to their location (with a tip-off from Cataclysm, who was keenly aware that intruders were fighting in his domain).
The battle was fierce. Leona, Zandre, and Eladan were all taken down, though the former were against all odds able to recover (with some timely nat 20s on their death saves). Zel was finally able to land a killing blow on Lazaros, taking his head and ending his unyielding rage. With that, Leona used Word of Recall to teleport them all back to the Parthenium in Crucible, which was quite a shock for the night owl acolytes still lurking within the sanctuary.
Beaten and bleeding, the party trudged back to Shadehaven Manor where they intended to collapse and finally rest, but were interrupted by one final surprise: the lich Shepherd was sitting in their living room, casually reading a book. He revealed that he had been set free by Echoless and Brynn, the former of which he was travelling with in search of leads on Cataclysm. He revealed that they were hoping to track down Lazaros' clan to see if they could find his connection with Cataclysm. Speaking of Lazaros, he also revealed that Lazaros was the one who sprung Cataclysm from his prison. Shepherd also offered some information on the Tome of Vile Darkness and that he initially sought it to bolster his own power (he also made a snide jab to Leona that if Echoless was Fos then he was Dorcha). Together, they also interrogated the Herald's soul still trapped in Zandre's soul cage, from whom they learned that the Reckoning and Heralds had been partnered for less than 2 years and that they sought to break the seals (the foci) that would begin Aevilok.
With this grim information come to light (they also reported back to King Aurum about what had transpired in the Oracle), the party settled in to rest and make plans for the coming days…
XP earned: 9,600 each
Session 23 After recuperating and finding themselves surprisingly refreshed in the morning (they leveled up), the party visited Eladan's siblings, Nefari and De'lan at their deli shop "Ham Job" and then split up to take care of business in Crucible. Zandre and Zel set out in search of the illusive part one to "the Lusty Lizardfolk Maid" and successfully located it after they assisted some suspicious looking halflings steal potatoes for their family, who were able to point them in the direction of a corner tabloid stall. Zel covered the 3 copper cost of the book with 4 gold, prompting the kid who ran the stand to shut it down. Meanwhile, Echoless, Leona, and Buttons visited with King Dorian, who recounted his battle with Lazaros and how he had destroyed a strange idol pendant the goliath wore during their bought, which Echoless recognized as the idol that held Cataclysm. Shepherd also took a field trip to the Library of Cere to do research of his own.
Much of the party made individual trips to the Lunar Forum, where Zel purchased Bracers of Defense and had the armor he took from the Herald of Talam identified as Armor of Invulnerability, which was ultimately given to Leona. Zandre inquired about certain magics affecting pregnancy and childbirth in regards to what he learned from the Harbinger, and Buttons bought some nifty potions. Eladan was able to reclaim the Bronze Griffin they retrieved forever ago and also asked the wizards to keep him in the loop about any interesting magic items they came across. Likewise, he also hired a scholar at the Library to look into information on the Temple of Talam and the Battle of the Fire Plains. At the end of the day, they regrouped at the manor and prepared to return to Sigil, breaking out Reginald's "Tricksy Juice" stash in the meantime.
However, when the Crown Mage came to collect the party, Leona proposed that she travel with Echoless and Shepherd instead, siting both her feelings for the former and desire to aid them both, believing she could help them in their aim to track down Cataclysm directly. And so the party bid them farewell and teleported back to Sigil, where Zandre promptly wandered off to meet up with Jack and Tano and discuss everything that happened. The rest of the party on the other hand, met with a surprise return: Venatrix was in Sigil at behest of the King and would be rejoining the group.
In the morning, the party assembled with the King's Council to discuss their strategy going forward. There, they encountered another surprise reunion, though this one was far less welcome: Palios Pseftis was revealed to be the King's Arcane Advisor. After pointing weapons at each other, the party let it go (though not before Eladan informed Kruzikmaar that he had found Palios), and the meeting continued. It was confirmed that the locations found on the Foci map were indeed the Reckoning's targets and that they sought to break the seals to trigger Aevilok. Sigil, along with their allies, would move to find and occupy those locations to prevent the Reckoning from taking them. In addition, the intel the party retrieved from the Herald's Sanctuary revealed the locations and jobs of many prominent members of the cult; a large blow to their machinations to be sure. Lastly, King Aurum gave them their next assignment: They would travel to the city of Aaqa on the Plane of Air where they would strike a deal with a certain genasi who claimed to know how to reach Charaka's Fortress, where the Reckoning was ostensibly based. The mission was set to begin in 48 hours, but in the meantime, the King also asked them to look into another matter: two of his Crown Mages had recently been murdered and a third injured, allegedly by terrorists from Far Reach. After accepting payment for their work so far, the party acquiesced and set out to see what they could see…
Other noteworthy events include Buttons sending a message from Crucible to Kittsadora informing them of the Roaring Peak Clan's arrival, Eladan requested that a Crown Mage inspect the new robes his acolytes received from the imposter, a copy of the "Leviathan Binding" documents from Abhaina's Confluence is being sent to Cato to study, and Shepherd, Echoless, and Leona will be retrieving the Rod of Neutralization in the hopes of using it on Lazaros' axe next time they get the opportunity.
XP earned: 1,100 each
Session 24 The party investigated the crime scene and learned that the victim, a Crown Mage called Novello, was nearly killed by a single assailant who attacked with some sort of poison that targeted the victim's mana. Upon leaving, they were met by King's Spymaster, who informed them that the Herald's of Aevilok's reach was far more widespread than initially suspected. She believed that they had even infiltrated the Crown Mages. To that end, she believed that these Heralds could be targeting their brethren. She pointed them towards another mage, Zanobi, who she believed to be dirty.
Meanwhile, Eladan spoke with Aefaren and Kruzikmaar at Emanuel Guiden's shop to discuss Palios' theft of the scroll of wish. Through discussion and the use of the spell legend lore, they determined he likely had it stored on a demiplane. To that end, they opted to send Tria to attempt to find more information about it.
The party knew Zanobi frequented the House of Deperdition in the evenings, so in the meantime, they questioned the staff of the Dragonroost Tavern, the establishment Novello frequented before his attack. There they learned that he arrived with an entourage but left alone after unsuccessfully wooing a potential suitor. Upon interviewing Novello himself, they learned that he suspected the assailant to be a fighter from Far Reach, a city the Crown Mages recently helped occupy.
At the casino, Ven made a big scene about not paying the cover charge and yelling at the bouncer about sexual assault (she had previously shown her portable hole and the guard asked her to "open it" again after she put it away), but regardless, they made it inside and engaged in some casual revelry. Venatrix caused a diversion with illusory gold swirling about, which drew out Zanobi, who Zandre followed invisibly back to his private room, where he spoke at length with 3 city officials. Most notably, they spoke in Thieves Can't. When they left for the evening, Zandre continued to follow Zanobi while Eladan tailed one magistrate while the rest tailed the other.
Zel and co were almost immediately thrown from the casino after trying to talk to the guy "his" way, which involved hoisting him by the collar and clobbering him on the head. Ultimately, the party left peacefully. Meanwhile, Eladan schmoozed with the other magistrate, managing to make friends with him; learning that he was well acquainted with Zanobi and claimed he was part of a movement to convince the King to be more aggressive with their struggles with Far Reach. At the same time, Zandre followed Zanobi and watched him get murdered by an assassin, throwing a wrench in the whole "he's a contact for the assassins" theory.
He healed Zanobi enough to save him from death and gave chase, but the assailant gave him the slip with the aid of some potent magic weapons. With the rest of the group, they escorted the wounded mage to a clinic and went to fetch the Spymaster for interrogation. The spymaster was able to surmise that Zanobi was indeed a Herald, but not involved with the killings, indicating that this was indeed an outside group. With a brief exposure to the assailant, the party opted to pursue a plan they considered earlier: dressing themselves as a Crown Mage and baiting the assassin. As they made preparation for that, Zandre also went to check in with the Hellfire Legion, as they had also been subtlety brought into the fold in this ongoing investigation…
XP earned: 1,500 each
Session 25 Zandre and Zel head off to the Hellfire Legion's HQ while the rest hit the town, encountering a little boy having fallen into a well. Venatrix floats down on her flying carpet to save him, but unconsciously finds herself reaching for her dagger. Fortunately, Buttons witnessed the hesitation and dove in after her, shaking her out of her trance. Meanwhile, upon connecting with Jack, Zandre learned that each of the Crown Mages who were attacked were part of Sigil's invasion of Far Reach. Realizing that the assassins were likely targeting specific mages, the party needed to modify their strategy.
In the morning, Eladan and Buttons hit up Guiden's Arcania and bit the bullet on overpaying for some magic items: a few potions for the former and a necklace of fireballs for the latter. The Spymaster met the party at the 12 Beaks Tavern, a higher-end pub that she had recommended they use to stage their trap. There, they finalized their plan: Buttons would disguise himself as the mage Zanobi and make a big scene at the pub in an attempt to draw the assassins out while the rest of the party followed invisibly. The Spymaster would keep men on the lookout throughout the city in the hopes of spotting them should they try to escape again.
With some wing-manning by Eladan, Buttons put on a convincing enough show as Zanobi; chatting up women, gambling, flashing coin, etc. Two other Crown Mages entered at one point, but Zandre was able to head them off and explain what they were up to. Later, a woman who claimed to know Zanobi appeared and struck up a conversation. Evidently, this was the woman who stood the real Zanobi up the previous night. She eventually suggested he join her at her inn, but Buttons played off needing to "take care of some business" first and exited the pub. On the street, it became quickly apparent to the other PCs following from a safe distance that Buttons was being followed. As Buttons rounded a sharp corner, an unseen assailant attempted to grapple Zandre, but wasn't quite able to cut it. Combat broke out and the assailant was revealed to be the assassin who was quickly joined by the woman from the bar. They were clearly skilled, but ultimately outnumbered and outclassed by the party, despite the assassin's use of surprisingly rare magic items and poisons.
The assassins were handed off alive to the Spymaster, who took them in for questioning. Eladan's request to sit in on the interrogations was denied, however, and as the party took their leave, the lead assassin broke his silence to claim the party had "no idea who they're working for and what they've done to his homeland." Regardless, the party took their leave and collected payment in the morning before making final preparations to travel to Aaqa on the Plane of Air. The King, Tria, a handful of Crown Mages, and Palios were present to send them off, giving them brooms of flying and two plane shift scrolls. They were told to seek out Dain, a genasi who claimed to know where to find Charaka's Fortress. After a quick sidebar from Buttons to Tria, asking her to quietly see what the assassin was talking about, Eladan activated the spell scroll and in an instant the party was transported to the Plane of Air…
XP earned: 2,000 each
Session 26 The party quickly got their bearings on the Plane of Air, investigating the nearby settlements inhabited by genasi and aarakocra. They learned that while the inhabitants of the Undercroft do not have a currency system per se, they do highly value precious metals, and as such, their gold was considered even more valuable here than elsewhere. Whilst wandering about the central town around the "bottom" of the Silver Citadel, the party sampled the locally crafted ale, chatted with the locals (who regarded them as "tourists") and found their contact, Dain, who recognized them as the ones who let he and his cohorts pass back through a portal on the material plane outside of Borne.
Dain explained that he had a friend called Austra "employed" by a Djinn Lord called Doraj. If the party was able to free her, he would lead them through the Labyrinthian Winds to Charaka's Fortress. The party opted to bargain with the Wind Duke first, traveling to his estate in the Heights (though Venatrix refused to disarm in order to enter). Inside, Doraj was intrigued to speak with traveler's from beyond but made it clear that he regarded is servants as quite valuable. However, Eladan came in clutch by offering to get him in contact with an ancient silver dragon. A sending stone was exchanged, and after some terse silence, Doraj agreed that this was an acceptable trade. Austra was freed and reunited with Dain and the party was free to roam Aaqa while Dain made preparations.
The party rested in a hostel of sorts generally used by charters in the Rounds and in the morning met with Dain at the sky docks where he had his wind skiff tethered. Dain explained that they would be navigating through the Labyrinthian Winds to reach their destination. With a method of flight secured for everyone, they set off into the great blue void.
It was smooth sailing until the Winds took them directly into the path of a massive electrical storm. With wish, Eladan was able to divert the worst of the maelstrom, but they still had to sail through buffering winds, heavy debris, and fields of lightning. They took some hits, but made it to the eye of the storm unscathed. However, they soon realized that they had stumbled into the feeding grounds of a pack of Wind Drakes…
XP earned: 800 each
Session 27 The party did battle with the Wind Drakes and defeated the beasts. Continuing on, they came across a section of the Labyrinthian Winds that was locked in some sort of cyclonic winds, spinning chunks of ice and rock around a central focus. Upon approach, the party was greeted by a pack of mephits, who demanded a toll in order to pass. It was pretty clear that the mephits did not set this trap on their own, but they didn’t let slip who had put them up to it. When Eladan threatened them, they simply dispersed, leaving the party to deal with the trap alone.
Upon careful inspection of the vacuum, it was discovered that four magic glyphs were acting as conduits for energy that powered the cyclone. They opted to attempt destroying the glyphs. To achieve this, Buttons was tied off to an immovable rod and trepidatiously lowered himself into the pit. He was successful in cutting one glyph, but the force of the vacuum caused his rope to snap. Zel attempted to catch it, but found himself sucked in as a result, with Buttons just barely able to catch himself and pull himself back to safety. Dain mused that the cyclone likely spat out elsewhere on the Plane, but warned that he would not follow if they decided to pursue; he would no longer be useful as a guide and his skiff would be unlikely to survive the journey. Ultimately, the party decided to follow after Zel and leapt into the void.
On the other end, they were spit out into a free fall, with the only visible land being an inverted, misty forest. They made their way there and touched down, quickly located Zel as well, who had simply been wandering the wood. They rested there, but found themselves watched by an unseen observer, who seemed to be toying with them as they searched; conjuring illusions and playing tricks of the mind. When Ximon proved a conjured dragon to be an illusion though, the assailant revealed himself to be an exiled cloud giant called the Smiling One. The giant lived on the island and used his games to determine what visitors were worth speaking with and which were just for eating. As it turned out, he had been exiled from Charaka's fortress and knew the way back, as well as having access to a secret passageway that led to the heart of the fortress. The party opted to rest within the forest and set out once they were fully recovered.
En route, the group came across an Aarakocra hunting party pursuing a flock of pegasi. Eladan flagged them down and offered to pay them if they could bring him one alive. True to their word, the hunters netted one and left it for Eladan. The pegasus proved incredibly weary of Eladan's intentions, but ultimately agreed to follow them the rest of the way. When they arrived at the Smiling One's secret entrance, the giant offered to watch over the steed, leaving its ultimate fate still undetermined.
Through the passage, the party found themselves in an obscured corner of the central courtyard, where an overwhelming number of giants were listening to Charaka himself. He spoke of the "time of reclamation" and "unleashing the World Shaker." When the speech ended and the giants dispersed, the party stealthily made their way to find Charaka's quarters…
XP earned: 4,000 each
Session 28 There were some close calls, but the party was able to sneak their way to the doors of Charaka's fortress; narrowly avoiding the molten slag of forging fire giants, remaining concealed even when faced by Lazaros himself, and narrowly ducking the vigilance of sentinel stone giants. However, they weren't able to find a decent way into the office without alerting the guards at the door. Venatrix phased through momentarily, but unfortunately, Charaka caught wind of her. They were saved by the arrival of Lazaros, Priscilla, and Praeston, who had a meeting with the giant commander. Buttons snuck inside with them while the rest of the party made their way to the exit before their invisibility wore off.
Maintaining a safe distance, Buttons learned that a massive force was gathering the northeast region of Requiem and that an invasion was slated for two weeks from now. At the conclusion of the meeting, Buttons followed Priscilla and witnessed a massive gathering of forces outside the castle. With this information in hand, the party departed, having only a minor confrontation with the Smiling One over ownership of the pegasus Eladan coerced into following them, as it had taken a shining to the giant, who attempted to extort Eladan (and failing that, enchanting him) in exchange for the horse.
Ultimately though, the party and their new steed plane-shifted back to Sigil and reported to the King and his council. From there, he offered them payment (1500 gp and a clockwork amulet) and three potential courses of action: investigate wildfires that are likely linked to the Herald's missing Flame Priest, investigate seismic activity at the Foci location within a temple to Talam, or personally recount their experience in Charaka's Fortress to the Queen of Cognance and the Lord of Ensmore and aid in their preparations for the coming invasion. Tria (along with her new friend Kruzikmaar) reported back on her investigations: Palios seemed to be hopping on and off the material plane and the Far Reach prisoner was evidently seeking vengeance for his brother, who was evidently captured in response to the bombing of one of Sigil's coliseums. Lastly, Eladan learned that his doppelganger had made another appearance at the temple, this time gifting the acolytes with ceremonial tridents and bedazzling the sanctuary in opulent rubies.
With all this info in hand, the party tentatively decided to first investigate the fires. After a quick spat of shopping, they were ready to make use of the teleportation circle sequences the King gave them in order to begin the next leg of their journeys…
XP earned: 2,000 each
Session 29 The party restocked supplies in Sigil and purchased a few minor magic items (namely +1/2 weapons and ammo, as well as a pair of decanters of endless water) and set off for Borne. They made a quick pit-stop to check in on Zel's potion, but found no sign of Agatha. A guard on the street made it seem like they were still investigating her for selling illegal magic items. Otherwise, the party noticed on their way out that the city guard and Sacrosanct were making a big show out of arresting the now-exposed Heralds.
Traveling to the east, it became immediately obvious where the fires were raging; following the massive smoke clouds through the plains and then hills of the Crested Highlands, the party only had minor run-ins with travelling adventurers and roaming goblins. On the third day, they encountered the farming town of Aprila, where they found its denizens hastily digging trenches in an attempt to thwart the quickly encroaching flames. There they also found Ezra Donneur, the masked Way of Mercy monk, who was also attempting to help the townsfolk. Getting as close as they could to the fires, Eladan "wished" for a rainstorm, which was able to extinguish the bulk of the fire, at least in the nearby area. Doing so also revealed at least a partial culprit of the infernos: elemental salamanders. Ezra pointed out that these creatures were likely a symptom of the cause though, and their presence likely indicated some sort of gate had been opened to the Plane of Fire.
He townsfolk to hunt down the remainder of the Salamanders, the party pressed farther east into the burnt lands. Camping in the remains of a forest, the party was assailed by a horde of burnt dryads, driven mad by the destruction of their homes. They were easily fought off, but later that ight, Venatrix noticed a massive fireball in the distance, like the sun rising for a brief moment before dissipating and being punctuated by a screech-like roar. This phenomenon was witnessed again the next day as the party progressed eastwards. After convincing a small circle of druids that they meant to put a stop to whatever was causing this (and not trying to harness it for their own gains), the party discovered the long-ruined Temple of Fire, though they did not find it abandoned.
Inside, guarded by four more of the salamanders, were three robed cultists, seemingly channeling magic from the still burning altar at the temple's center. The leader turned to face the group, revealing that he wore a gleaming obsidian mask in the shape of a horned skull, which Eladan immediately recognized as Bivodan's Crown…
XP earned: 1,500 each
Session 30 The Fire Priest was clearly not in a state of mind to hold much of a conversation. When Zel mentioned a power residing here, the Priest offered to show it by sacrificing their life forces to the flame. And thus battle began, but not before a mighty Phoenix surged forth from the Allfire.
A tense battle ensued, with the guardian salamanders soaking quite a bit of fire, allowing the backline spellcasters to rain down powerful attacks and the phoenix blazing a path through the party. Ultimately though, Zel and Ximon made quick work of the salamanders, and Buttons was able to kick away the Priest's delayed blast fireball (though ultimately the Priest threw it back, it still did very little damage to the dexterous party). Venatrix as well proved quite adept at dealing large amounts of damage to the Phoenix, which eventually exploded with great force from a well placed radiant arrow.
With the flow of battle turning away from his favor, the Priest utilized a transformation to dole out huge swaths of fire damage. However, the fire ultimately consumed him, nearly taking Zel in the process. The party claimed his obsidian mask, trident, and Phoenix egg, which the bird left behind, as their plunder, but in regards to the latter, they received an unexpected visitor to claim it for themselves: Sabriel, Logira's personal Planetar, stepped through the Allfire to see that the Phoenix egg was returned to its rightful place, albeit to the chagrin of Zel, who wanted to keep it in his bag.
Upon poking around the ruins some more, they found indications of other temples scattered across the land. Between this and the mask, Eladan decided he wished to pursue more into this and requested that the King bring in a temporary replacement for him while he sought out the Great Temple described on the old inscriptions. In the morning, he would create a teleportation circle for the party to move on to their next objective and then he would take his steed westwards to Adelden on his own. For the time being though, the party opted to rest in the temple ruins for the evening…
XP earned: 6,200 each

Report Date

13 Dec 2022