Malice at the Palace

While resting in the Arid Spire, Grom once again finds himself dreaming of two doors; one marked with three green eyes, and the other with a gold and red dragon devouring each other. Faced with a choice, Grom walked through the dragon door, finding himself in a glittering golden cave. Looking down at his hands, he finds himself in his true dragonborn form. A powerful voice speaks out to him and tells him that only sacrifice and selflessness can restore his true self, before the visage of a massive golden dragon appears before him and wakes him up.
The party awakes and prepares to leave for the palace as evening is approaching. They ask Serik if he knows anything about the situation with the princess, but he has not left the tower in decades and would not be welcome in the palace even if he did and so can't offer much insight. He does know however that for some time now, worshippers of Solkath had been flocking to his holy city of El-Qima in droves, and that a few days ago the city had gone quiet. Before they leave Serik asks Grom if he would be willing to part with the book he discovered in Darkshroud Keep, as he believes it to be too powerful to risk falling into the wrong hands. In exchange he offers Grom a magical item that would allow him to teleport himself back to the Arid Spire. Grom accepts, and the party heads out.
The party arrives at the palace to hear a commotion from the gardens outside and find several soldiers of the Amber Watch locked in combat against a group of gnolls. The party leap into battle alongside Anton who had been in the palace most of the day. Vizier Beihram Torabi attempts to help but trips and falls down the stairs, as Anton sneakily tied his shoes together as a prank. It soon becomes apparent that the gnolls are attempting to kill Prince Kyrian, but the party are able to put down the monsters before he is too grievously injured. He is however completely terrified and collapses in a hysterical mess before being swept away by Beihram. The party realize one of the gnolls is still alive and attempt to interrogate it, but are unsuccessful. They are rejoined by Elria, who says her attempts to save the autarch were ultimately successful and that he was dead. The party, joined by Beihram Torabi, begin tracing the footsteps of the gnolls and are eventually led back to the temple of Solkath.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"Malice at the Palace"

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Previous Chapter: How to Win Friends and Influence Wizards

Next Chapter: The Screaming Pass

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Ingame Date: 1^st of Summerdawn, 1855
Real-Life Date: July 24, 2021
Protagonists:

• Grom
• Ari
• Jameson Harper
• Ra'zon
• Anton von Rheintach

Featured NPCs:

• Serik Thadan
• Beiram Torabi
• Kyrian Rumiyyad

Locations:

• El-Azahdron
• The Arid Spire