Session 35: The Battle for Stonemantle

General Summary

The Battle Erupts

The skies of Stonemantle blackened with ash as we faced the fury of Korvathran the Embermaw. No sooner had we engaged the beast than the ground itself rebelled against us. Great molten Crucibles, forged by twisted magic, erupted from the earth, flooding the battlefield with lava and filling the air with choking smoke. I barely kept my footing amid the chaos. Chungle was the first casualty of the terrain, sent soaring into the sky by a violent eruption while the rest of us struggled to stand against the dragon’s onslaught. Everywhere I looked was flame and ruin, and for a moment it felt as though the city itself would be swallowed whole.

The Coming of Warby

Far from the battlefield, Warby faced his own test. Reaching for the Eternal Flame, he found himself judged not by words but by visions—by colors and sensations that spoke to the soul rather than the ear. Whatever the flame saw in him, it deemed him worthy. I saw it from the ground: a tearing in the sky, a comet of fire racing toward us, and at its heart, Warby himself. He struck the back of Talzilk’un with all the grace of a hammer thrown by a god, and though the cloud dragon was startled at first, he quickly took to the air, bearing Warby aloft as they streaked toward our desperate battle. Their arrival was like the breaking of a dam. Talzilk’un turned his magic against the Crucibles, dismantling their power strand by strand, while Warby’s flaming blade cleaved toward Korvathran’s scaled hide.

A Costly Victory

Realizing that the Crucibles could not be felled by ordinary means, Sunny and Goq turned their fury wholly upon Korvathran. They fought with all the strength they could muster, but the dragon was faster—and crueler. I saw it happen almost in slow motion: a sweep of the beast’s molten claw, a flash of red against the gloom, and Goq crumpling to the ground in a cloud of steam and ash. Sunny rushed to him, shouting, but there was nothing he could do. Goq was gone, claimed by the fire before even the gods could blink. It hit me like a stone in the chest, but there was no time to grieve. Chungle, having fallen from the heavens like a battered meteor, crashed back to earth and rose again with furious determination. Together, we pressed the assault. We battered Korvathran to the ground, hammering at him with every ounce of rage and sorrow we could summon. In the end, it was Sunny who landed the final blow, driving his blade through the dragon’s eye and ending the Embermaw’s cursed existence.

Mourning and Miracles

When the last of the dragon’s death throes subsided, I rushed to Goq’s side with Talzilk’un close behind. His body lay still, his spirit already slipping beyond our reach. We called for help, and Balvorn himself answered. Wasting no time, he summoned the strongest healers Stonemantle had to offer. They worked tirelessly through the day and the night, weaving the perilous magics needed to call a soul back from the grasp of Mordos. It was a dangerous undertaking, and one we knew might fail, but we could not let Goq’s story end in ash. Against all odds, the ritual succeeded. Goq’s eyes fluttered open once more, and though his body was battered and his spirit raw, he lived. True to form, the first thing he did was stumble to his feet and begin prying salvaged materials from Korvathran’s smoldering corpse, muttering about future projects even as the ashes of death still clung to him.

Rewards and Recovery

The Council of Ash, in their gratitude, granted us a king’s ransom in gold and offered relics from their most sacred vaults. Their generosity could not erase the scars the battle left on us, but it would help us prepare for the trials ahead. We knew we could not continue immediately; our bodies and our spirits needed time to heal. We agreed to rest for three weeks within the recovering city. Dulb vanished into the labyrinth of Stonemantle, undoubtedly chasing whispers and secrets. Goq threw himself into the forges, hammering out plans and prototypes as if trying to reclaim every heartbeat lost in the battle. Sunny, ever the stalwart, lent his strength to the city’s priests, helping to rebuild what had been broken and to heal what could be healed. As for me, I remained by the Chainbreaker, ever watchful, knowing this victory was but a single step on a much longer journey.

Next Steps

The Eternal Flame rests now in our hands. Ahead looms the climb to Jarak’s Throne. And beyond that, mysteries still deeper than any we have yet uncovered.

Campaign

The New Dawnbreakers

Protagonists

Sunny Grannach

Brazen White Bulb Conquering Red Blossom

Dulb the Deckhand

Dulb's sheet

Level 13 Swashbuckler.

Health

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Goq-Ixai

Report Date

26 Apr 2025