MA.1493.12 A Feast in Flames
Session Preface
Our story starts in Durindale as the year 1493 approaches its end. Vorothruun has just become the Chosen of Ragnalla, but he and Parathraax have not yet returned to Avraathe to uncover corruption and secrets long left buried. The Knights of Holy Judgement has just saved Second from a band of Githyanki pirates in Neverwinter. Tristain then departed for Chult, following visions of his father’s restless spirit trapped deep within the jungle. A decision which subsequently sends Hawk, Thaust, and Endriel to Waterdeep in search of a raksasha and Pax and Aethuriel to the first layer of Hell itself. In more ways than one, it is a decision and quest that will change the trajectory of many lives and perhaps even the fabric of reality itself. But today, we focus on other events. A festival and celebration. The Feast of the Moon. Celebrated on this day between the final months of the years in which communities around Faerun gather. They gather to remember and celebrate those who have passed on in the last year, as well as to tell stories or those who have gone on before, sharing legends and myths with merriment and joy. On this festival evening in Durindale, a stage has been constructed and community members have taken turns reminiscing and toasting to parents, friends, heroes, and legends. It is a clear, cloudless evening, a winter wind wafts through the city warmed by hearths and bonfires scattered throughout. Merchants and vendors have sets up dozens of carts. The air is filled with succulent scents of roasted meat and sweet floral notes. The stars shimmer above, watching over the city thriving as more and more come to call Durindale home with each passing month.Session Summary
As the festivities are well underway, each of the companions take in the event in their own way. Second spends his time in the allfaith temple at the shrine to Gond, receiving recognition. Gil is well into his cups at the Stoneway Inn where Davan gives a special performance. Era patrols the streets, rolling her eyes at the lack of security taken by many who take the protection of Durindale for granted. Parathraax walks the streets making sure all is in order alongside his brother who was all but completely unaware of the event outside of his research.Neverember's Speech
After the finishing of one tale, you watch as a figure dressed in rich dark green finery approaches the stage. You recognize him as Dagult Neverember, a prominent councilman of Neverwinter. He has come to celebrate the Feast of the Moon here in Durindale alongside Second in hopes of reinforcing the budding alliance between the two city-states. It is no secret he and Second have often found themselves on opposing sides of political matters, with tensions between the council and Speaker coming to a head. There are some who whisper that Dagult might have preferred if the githyanki pirates had managed to sever Second’s connection to the Weave and rid him of that thorn in his side. Those underlying concerns aside, the well-dressed politician with his meticulously trimmed mustache and salt-and-pepper beard, addresses the crowd. ”Duridalians and guests of this wonderful town, I am pleased to share in this evening’s festivities with you! Learning of your legacies and legends has been a delight and an inspiration. Neverwinter is proud to call you its newest neighbor and wishes for many years of peace and prosperity for both of our homes. It is not secret these last few years have been provided challenges, whether they be the machinations of malicious mages or giants laying waste to our way of life. But it is my firm belief, that together, we can rebuild stronger than before. And to that end, I now present a figure who represents both of our communities, First Speaker Second, one of your own heroes, to say a few words.” As Second starts to speak, preparing to describe Dagult's extension of peace and prosperity as drinks for all the festival attendees for the rest of the evening, Second’s words are cut short. A thunderous boom erupts from beneath the stage, sending wooden shrapnel and hunks of stone hurling into the air. Second is knocked back through the wall of the town's gathering hall, where he lands and crushes a table and set of chairs. A flame erupts from the earth below as the explosion reverberates through the street, shattering glass. What’s left of the stage is engulfed in flames as tents and wagons ignite from the burst of fire that spewed from the ground. Second finds himself shot backward off the stage, landing prone amidst a tangle of tents and tapestry. Screams of anguish, confusion, and pain crescendo from the crowd. Where once stood the stage is a crater, with smoke rising from a darkness below.The Immediate Aftermath
Following the explosion, Parathraax calls on those around him to aid those who are in danger, free those who trapped, and tend to the wounded and the dead. As he does so, Vorothruun and Era follow Dagult where he has been sequestered to a secure location by a half-dozen guards. Vorothruun presses the guards for visual confirmation of the councilmen's wellbeing when he sheepishly opens the door. Dagult explains that his is merely following protocol, but will be happy to help those in need once it has been deemed there is no furthe pressing threat to his safety. Reading Dagult's mind, Vorothruun senses that while he is considering the advantageous possibilities of Second becoming incapacitated, he is equally surprised by the events and thus likely not responsible, at least directly. Meanwhile, Gil begins to investigate the surroundings, and sees that the crater was likely caused by delayed arcane explosive, a powerful spell that requires acute concentration. He also discovers the source of the blast - a tunnel that runs beneath the street, a detail that concerns him, given that these tunnels have never appeared in any schematics he's seen of the town. After helping Parathraax get Second up and moving, he points out his discovery to the party and they make their way through the tunnel in pursuit of the assailants.Beneath Durindale
Following what appear to be mechanical service tunnels, the companions eventually arrive in a larger chamber with three subsequent, ornately detailed fountains filled with a dark algae. The rooms eventually lead to three doors, a massive steel door warm to the touch and barred from the inside and a pair of sliding stone doors. The first leads to a storage chamber filled with wooden beams, metal plating, and a pair of rust monsters. The party leave these creatures undisturbed and press onward, finding a control room where a figure operates a set of levers. Interupting him, the figure turns to fight, but retreats, calling out to an unseen figure to open the doors. As the party gives chase, another set of metal doors swing wide, filling a small chamber with acrid smoke. Pressing through the smoke, the companions are shocked to discover an operational airship within a massive mechanical dome, presumably hidden beneath the Starmetal Hills. Aboard the ship that is in final preparations for takeoff, are a handful of the assailants, all dressed in the matching crimson and silver of the Ravenous Claw, a name Vorothruun recognizes as a heretical sect within Ragnalla's faithful. Parathraax leaps onto the ship as mages fire magic missiles that shred his exposed skin, eventually falling to the leader's poisoned blade. Meanwhile, Vorothruun blasts the propellers of the ship, trying to prevent its departure. Gil maintains cover fire while Second charges onto the ship, crushing the engine with his construct fists. He grabs Parathraax just in time and leaps off the ship as it begins falling to the staging grounds below. As the ship collapses, the Ravenous Claws still aboard evacuate, but soon meet their end as Era, Gil, and Vorothruun take them out one by one. The assassin leader is the last to fall, but in her final moments presses Vorothruun to "prove himself in strength" to which he replies that he "has nothing to prove to worms" before eviscerating her with an eldritch blast.Dagult's Demise
In the moments falling the chaotic battle and the collapse of the airship, Era is alerted by her familiar Mae to something happening within Dagult's chamber where she was left to observe. Era shifts her senses into the familiar and watches the now bound Dagult sitting before a looming, shadowy figure. Moving to identify the individual, Era sees Second through Mae's eyes, or at least the appearance of Second. The figure holds up a scroll and begins to cast a spell, bestowing some curse upon Dagult that ages him rapidly, killing him within moments. The construct then departs the room and begins to assail the guards outside.Session Overview
Date Played:January 5, 2025 Party:
- Era
- Gil
- Parathraax
- Second
- Vorothruun
Feast of the Moon between Uktar 30 and Nightal 1, 1493 NPCs:
- Dagult Neverember
- Members of the Ravenous Claw
- The remnants of the airship to be repaired
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