7 Neth (Nov) 4720
Venture-Captain
Sheila Heidmarch, on the advice of
Office of Magnimar Security Chief Intelligencer
Seraphina Gustavos, had a valuable location at her disposal. This location was believed to have been an old temple used by
Karzoug somewhere on
Mhar Massif. C.I. Gustavos believed Karzoug kept a portal necklace there, a device that could be used to access
Xin-Shalast in secret. Wanting to aid the
Saviors of Sandpoint in their fight against Karzoug, Heidmarch tasked four members of her
Pathfinder Society -
Jatsu,
Dawson,
Belos, and
Giselle - to find the medallion, enter the ancient city, and find something that could be used to stop the Runelord of Greed.
The Pathfinders teleported to an area of Mhar Massif known as the
Fen of the Icemists. There, they discovered an immense stone ring covered in magical runes. The runes came to life and summoned protectors from the mists - a pack of yeti empowered by the transmutational magic of the ring. Dawson, a halfling warrior, told the rogue Giselle to find the necklace. They would buy her time.
But the yeti just kept coming out of the mist...
Meanwhile, the ancient white dragon
Arkrhyst carried the Saviors of Sandpoint toward the giant mountain. It would take about three days to fly there, and every few hours the dragon would land to feed on anything it could find. During the first night, the party was visited by
Kumiko's sister
Dilay. Dilay was wearing
Lord Blackmoor's cursed armor and was riding his still-damaged azlanti dragon construct known as Deathwing.
Dilay told the heroes she had gone to
Turapal to ensure Blackmoor was dead. As she crossed the kingdom, she realized that the stories she had heard about the place as a child were true. At night, a mist would rise from the ground. Some nights, those mists contained undead mistwalkers of various sizes. Dilay watched as the undead entered the towns and villages of Turapal, listening for any signs of life. If they heard anything - a whimpering baby, whining dog, anything living - they would tear the building apart until they found and destroyed the source.
During the day, Dilay spoke to the townsfolk. They told her that every town had a magical obelisk in the town's square. Lord Blackmoor had placed them there to repel the undead. Lately, the obelisks hadn't been working. The locals weren't sure if Blackmoor was punishing them.
At
Castle Virin, Dilay discovered Blackmoor's armour propped up in his throne. A valet stood nearby and told Dilay that Blackmoor controlled the obelisks through his armour. It was a failsafe to keep his people from attempting to assassinate him - if he died, they died. To save the people of Turapal, Dilay put on cursed armour.
She fought against its control and had been successful so far. Through the armour, she controlled Deathwing and other azlanti weapons. Dilay told the heroes that, should they fail to stop Karzoug, she would use those weapons to slow his armies down.
Jayvielle made her promise that if the Saviors of Sandpoint failed, Dilay would return to Sandpoint and free the people by taking out acting mayor
Titus Scarnetti.
Days later, the heroes arrived at Mhar Massif. Akrkhyst flew them up the side, following several rivers. The unnatural feeling of the mountain plagued them. Arkrhyst dumped the party off high in the mountains, surrounded by mist. The dragon departed, and the heroes heard the sound of combat nearby. They found Jatsu standing atop a high block of stone, surrounded by yeti and partial remains of the other pathfinders. Together they managed to kill most of the yeti and sent the surviving few disappearing back into the mist.
They investigated the ring and deactivated its magical protections. The ring shrunk into the medallion they were looking for. Arkrhyst returned and saw the medallion. Jatsu, unsure why a dragon was there, quickly activated the medallion and created a portal. Beyond the portal was a large wall and even larger towers and buildings. Jatsu stepped through, followed by the rest of the heroes. Arkrhyst changed into his human form and followed after them.
On the other side of the portal, Arkrhyst turned into his dragon form. Everyone climbed aboard except Jatsu and Kumiko, who the dragon took in his claws. Arkrhyst flew over the wall and soared through the city of Xin-Shalast. He approached the main gate, and made quite the discovery - a large road stretching from the front gate into the heart of the city, paved with gold. That was all Arkrhyst needed to see. He barrel-rolled to shake the heroes off his back, opened his claws to drop those he held, and then banked high into the sky. Everyone managed to hang on except
Kilgor, who fell fifty feet to the street below.
Now three hundred feet in the air, the heroes tried to decide what to do. Just then, a dragon construct directly above Arkrhyst dropped its invisibility and flew straight down at the ancient white dragon. The heroes watched the construct's jaws open wide, and it unleashed its breath weapon aimed directly at Arkrhyst... and them.
