Neverwinter Stories: Campaign 1 — Session 38
Book One: The Trees of Life and Death — Chapter Thirty-Eight: Carving the Path
General Summary
Finally, after all the preparations were made and everyone had finished what their personal tasks, everyone gathered at Icebrook Dairy. The Redwings, Forkbeard Family, Zhentarim, and Giants of Heim Haug all anxiously listened as Evanolhis, Alessandra Corlinnar, and Worvil "the Weevil" addressed the joint expeditionaries.
Finding Furtîlorn not only meant many things to each participant, but it also had the potential to heal the Neverwinter Region. Belak the Outcast was at large, his power much greater, and the blights swelling in number. A war was breaking out between them and the tenacious residents of the woodland. In order to find Furtîlorn, the joint expedition would have the march right through that chaotic conflict. To ensure that they had the highest chance of success, the expedition would be split into two groups: the point group, and the main group. The main group contained the majority of the manpower, would travel by day, and be responsible for heavy labor such as hauling, foraging, hunting, cooking, and cleaning; protecting all of the expedition's supplies, and defending the point group when they needed to recover. The point group was an assembly of elite fighters and explorers that would travel by night. The Redwings made up the bulk of the group, and one additional member from each participating faction. This included Ilyra Saevel Nylathria, Erazek, Trogo "Good Shot". The mission was to find where the armillary was guiding everyone toward, pathfind for the main group, survey the area for dangers to both groups, and to fend off smaller threats to the expedition.
With the plan laid out, everyone gathered into their teams. As soon as dusk fell, the Redwings and company activated the magic armillary and plunged into the forest.
Not long after passing by the sinkhole that lead to Dagon's Temple, the point group spotted a roaring fire through the trees. What they found was a burning grove filled with the charred remnants of hundreds of blights. A massive one in the center was littered with arrows. A single eladrin, one with golden skin that shined like the sun, watched quietly as the party investigated his handiwork. Lilith and Alessandra soon recognized this as the same grove that they had rescued Cooper Icebrook from. Markus attempted to communicate with the eladrin, but he silently bled back into the tree line and disappeared.
The next few nights were less eventful. During their scouting and pathfinding: Ilyra recruited to aid of a quickling, Lilith attempted to douse sources of wild magic, and Alessandra bought the aid of a small owl. Deep into the fourth night, the party discovered the grizzly aftermath of a small battle. The bodies of a single paladin of Helm, later identified as Sir Braford, and a few dead fey were surrounded by ten times as many destroyed blights. Some team investigated the scene while others investigated the body. They salvaged a few items from his remains, one of which was the Shield of the Watcher, a precious and historically significant shield to the Church of Helm. As for the scene, they soon discovered that there were other humans that were injured and routed during the skirmish.
Not wanting to delay support, Ilyra rushed ahead of the group and quickly found two other desperate and injured warriors of Helm. However, it was all a trick. Their magical disguises faded away, revealing themselves to be blightchanged vampires thirsting for their new victim. A deadly trap was sprung, and Ilyra was nearly slain. She only survived due to the reassuring calls from her fasting approaching allies. The party did what they could to regroup and protect the gravely wounded elf while she recovered. Retaliating against the sudden surge of blights, the party managed to fight off the initial attack. The blights retreated, but Alessandra was severely wounded as well, a king was sighted by Lilith, and to make matters even worse, the party heard the sounds of a skirmish behind them as they realized that Erazek and Trogo "Good Shot" had been separated from them while they were distracted.
Finding Furtîlorn not only meant many things to each participant, but it also had the potential to heal the Neverwinter Region. Belak the Outcast was at large, his power much greater, and the blights swelling in number. A war was breaking out between them and the tenacious residents of the woodland. In order to find Furtîlorn, the joint expedition would have the march right through that chaotic conflict. To ensure that they had the highest chance of success, the expedition would be split into two groups: the point group, and the main group. The main group contained the majority of the manpower, would travel by day, and be responsible for heavy labor such as hauling, foraging, hunting, cooking, and cleaning; protecting all of the expedition's supplies, and defending the point group when they needed to recover. The point group was an assembly of elite fighters and explorers that would travel by night. The Redwings made up the bulk of the group, and one additional member from each participating faction. This included Ilyra Saevel Nylathria, Erazek, Trogo "Good Shot". The mission was to find where the armillary was guiding everyone toward, pathfind for the main group, survey the area for dangers to both groups, and to fend off smaller threats to the expedition.
With the plan laid out, everyone gathered into their teams. As soon as dusk fell, the Redwings and company activated the magic armillary and plunged into the forest.
Not long after passing by the sinkhole that lead to Dagon's Temple, the point group spotted a roaring fire through the trees. What they found was a burning grove filled with the charred remnants of hundreds of blights. A massive one in the center was littered with arrows. A single eladrin, one with golden skin that shined like the sun, watched quietly as the party investigated his handiwork. Lilith and Alessandra soon recognized this as the same grove that they had rescued Cooper Icebrook from. Markus attempted to communicate with the eladrin, but he silently bled back into the tree line and disappeared.
The next few nights were less eventful. During their scouting and pathfinding: Ilyra recruited to aid of a quickling, Lilith attempted to douse sources of wild magic, and Alessandra bought the aid of a small owl. Deep into the fourth night, the party discovered the grizzly aftermath of a small battle. The bodies of a single paladin of Helm, later identified as Sir Braford, and a few dead fey were surrounded by ten times as many destroyed blights. Some team investigated the scene while others investigated the body. They salvaged a few items from his remains, one of which was the Shield of the Watcher, a precious and historically significant shield to the Church of Helm. As for the scene, they soon discovered that there were other humans that were injured and routed during the skirmish.
Not wanting to delay support, Ilyra rushed ahead of the group and quickly found two other desperate and injured warriors of Helm. However, it was all a trick. Their magical disguises faded away, revealing themselves to be blightchanged vampires thirsting for their new victim. A deadly trap was sprung, and Ilyra was nearly slain. She only survived due to the reassuring calls from her fasting approaching allies. The party did what they could to regroup and protect the gravely wounded elf while she recovered. Retaliating against the sudden surge of blights, the party managed to fight off the initial attack. The blights retreated, but Alessandra was severely wounded as well, a king was sighted by Lilith, and to make matters even worse, the party heard the sounds of a skirmish behind them as they realized that Erazek and Trogo "Good Shot" had been separated from them while they were distracted.
Rewards Granted
The team took a few items from his body: an amulet of Helm, Shatterspike, and one of two legendary shields from Helm's Hold known as the Shield of the Watcher.
A prank played by the quickling also netted the party a handful of coins.
Character(s) interacted with
Evanolhis, Worvil "the Weevil" Forkbeard, and Swordhar Jhessail Evercrown spoke to the Redwings before addressing the briefing the joint expedition. The party was assigned to the point group, where they reunited and caught up with Erazek, Trogo "Good Shot", and Ilyra Saevel Nylathria.
Notes
Markus collected some charcoals from the razed Blight Beast Grove.
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The Trees of Life and Death Saga
- Sunless Expedition Arc
- Map Hunters Arc
- Shadow Giant Arc
- Armillary Road Arc
- Furtîlorn Expedition Arc
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