Session 39: The Hunt Continues

General Summary

A Courteous Door and Turning Paths

The party began with what was, surprisingly, a civil farewell — bidding the sentient vault door a pleasant goodbye after having unlocked its hidden chamber. With their rest complete and gear prepared, they strode west into the Molten Tithefields. But their destination shifted almost immediately. Upon spotting the skies — the vast hanging chains looming above the scorched landscape — they recognized a pattern: each chain floated directly above a Crucible. The realization set a new course. And so they turned back, heading north across the blistered flats of the Embershard Plains in search of the last known location of the Pheonixdrake.

Parley by Firelight

The Pheonixdrake was no mere beast, but a creature of deep wisdom and heavy sorrow — born of the First Flame and tethered to the essence of Jarak’s original crucibles. That they were allowed to even approach was miracle enough. Goq’s presence, demonic as it is, stirred tension, yet through calm words and honest conviction, even that resistance was overcome. The Drake judged their motives to be true: they sought not only to stop Melkorion, but to preserve the sanctity of the Forge itself. With a final gout of heat and a sweep of his embered wing, he offered them his blessing — and the final Vault Key Fragment.

Crucibles Before the Vault

There was no celebration, though they had gathered all three fragments. The Vault — wherever it lay, likely buried deep within the Cindershroud — would remain sealed until the Crucibles were restored. The Phoenixdrake had confirmed what I had begun to suspect: if the party entered the Vault without first cleansing the corrupted forges, it would only hasten Melkorion’s rise.

So they watched the sky. The chains, floating impossibly above, gave away the locations of the remaining Crucibles. The closest floated high amid the Shifting Crucibles, a perilous region of drifting stone and roiling flameclouds. They flew with caution, drawing nearer until they could see it — the Crucible of Echoing Steel, sunken and twisted, belching shadowflame in steady rhythm.

The Echohaunts' Assault

Guarding the Crucible were spectral horrors — Echohaunt Reclaimers, echoes of oath-bound souls trapped since the War of Shadows. They struck first, unleashing banshee-like sonic pulses that warped air and vow alike. The party surged forward — Warby and Dulb to the front, Sunny a beacon of defiance, Goq using the elevation and angles to pounce from above.

The echoes reverberated across the forge-core, splitting memory from motion, testing the will of each adventurer. But the party pressed on, striking steel and spell against the shadowed echoes of what once was — and what Melkorion might yet unleash if they fail.

Campaign

The New Dawnbreakers

Protagonists

Sunny Grannach

Brazen White Bulb Conquering Red Blossom

Dulb the Deckhand

Dulb's sheet

Level 13 Swashbuckler.

Health

/

Goq-Ixai

Report Date

27 May 2025