Session 339 - Dark Elf Ambush
General Summary
Summer 727TR
The Story So Far
The King is dead. Long live the King.
King Minigath had ruled the Kingdom of Kaldor well for thirty-three years, has been assassinated. Sir Conwan Elendsa has been crowned King, but this is contested by the former King's bastard sons. Meanwhile, in the background, the mysterious Esoterical Order of Lothrim is up to no good.
Dryueh plans to find and bring justice to the last of the trio of murderers, the wizard Incabulos, who kills innocent elves in a brutal ritual to gain immortality. However, other forces also want this wizard dead and have laid a deadly trap, which the heroes inadvertently walk into.
This is the continuation of Session 338 - Murdering the Thardic Envoys.
Location - Trobridge Inn on the border of the Kingdom of Kaldor.
6th Nolus 727TR
Part 1 – Infiltration
At Trobridge Inn, the young glass worker's apprentice seeks out Dryueh. His mistress, Trobridge's glassworker, wants to meet with him.
Glassworker Lysa of Amael's business is well protected. The bottom floor of her shop has no windows, thick stone walls, an intricate metal door (likely of elven origin), and two alert, tough-looking guards. This is a small fortress. Inside is sold glassware, expensive jewelry, gems, and a small section of valuable elven-made goods. Lysa of Amael is the only tradesperson in Trobridge the elves deal with, and they have asked her to pass on an important message to Dryueh.
The elven potter Lia Lanthia has not returned from this year's expedition to Ambieal island on Lake Heras. The potter collects a rare mineral from this small islet, which provides a shiny glow to her porcelain. Her disappearance is uncharacteristic, and the elves suspect foul play. This may be related to the disappearances of other elves, which Dryueh’s friends in the elven kingdom have asked him to investigate.
Part 2 - Ambrial Island
After gaining a detailed description of the missing elf and her belongings, the party heads out to the nearby Lake Heras and crosses over a sand bar to the small Ambrial Islet. Looking around, Valeria's bird Companion spots something big moving among the trees but loses track of it after nightfall. Also, Valeria’s Locate Object uncovers a distinctive necklace matching that Lia Lanthia is known to wear nearby in the sand between two small hills.
As the party approaches, they are ambushed by a strange amalgam of rune-covered boulders held together by thick, thorny vines. The monstrosity catches Valeria by surprise, and the vines wrap around her. Fully immobilized, she can't use magic to escape. When Rycon and Dryueh attack the monster, they nearly get impaled by its thorns.
While the horror batters Rycon, Valeria attempts to break free and, after several failed attempts, narrowly manages to squeeze out after Dryueh provides a welcome distraction. Now free, she uses her sorcery to burn the creature, eventually magically pushing it over a small cliff into the lake. This buys time for the party to catch its breath and heal the injured Rycon. As the plant creature crawls up the cliff face to attack again, Valeria blasts it with Fire Bolts, and Dryueh cuts its central vines in two, destroying it.
When examining the remains, Dryueh notes the runes caved in the rocks are, in fact, an arcane elven scrip, but slightly modified. The Morsindari or Dark Elves created this horror.
Part 3 - Dark Elves
The party continues forward, spotting an female elf standing in a sandy inlet near where Valeria sensed the lost elf’s necklace. However, this elf does not match the description of the missing potter. Observing closely, the heroes spot inconsistencies. The elf’s foot merges with the sand, her clothing does not move in the wind, and her shadow is not quite right. This is an illusion.
Sneaking forward, Valeria, unfortunately, triggers a magic trap. A runestone hidden under the sand ignites, and Valeria suddenly feels ill when her flesh becomes malleable and changes. Luckily, through years of magical training, she resists being transformed into a helpless animal by the powerful magic. Then, emerging from the muddy river, a swarm of disgusting insects and other vermin takes a sinister, almost beastly shape and attacks. Valeria backs off while Dryueh investigates the illusion further, and surprisingly he is unaffected by the insidious trap, later learning this is due to him having an elven ancestor. He hears whispering; two nearby people are speaking in elvish. As they have not detected him, he sneaks through the underbrush, and his superb senses reveal two well-concealed dark elves scrutinizing Valeria and Rycon fighting the vermin.
The dark elves seem to be expecting the heroes, and Dryueh initially believes it to be a trap for him and his friends. However, it soon becomes clear this is a case of mistaken identity; they want to kill someone else. They incorrectly identify Rycon as an alchemist after he chucks various alchemical bombs at the swarm and snigger when the ferocious vermin swarm engulfs Valeria, unaware that she has created a Mirage for herself, turned Invisible, and escaped. The demonic swarm is eventually dispatched and causes little harm after being fully deceived into spending most of its efforts futilely stinging Valeria's well-crafted illusion.
Then the drow spot the deception and attack. One is a skilled archer whose arrows, when hit, create domes of darkness. Lucky Valeria, the shadow sorceress, is not in any way impeded, but Rycon is pounded by several well-paced arrows, badly hurt, and engulfed in darkness, effectively blinded.
Quickly, Dryueh attacks with surprise, stabbing at the dark elves and darting away only to hide effortlessly, sneak in again, and repeat the process. Dryueh is sure the drow are hunting the same people he is: an alchemist, a wizard, and a physician, and the heroes thematically match the elf murderers closely. This will not save them. He runs his rapier through the archer's heart, and the other elf, a spell weaver, casts Fly and attempts to escape over the river. Valeria is ready and, using her Rod of Negation dispels the spell, and the unfortunate dark elf plunges into the river. Dryueh dives in after him and grapples him, dragging him underwater, all the while pummelling him to unconscious.
Part 4 - Evil Memories
Valeria eliminates the magical trap while Dryueh operates on the unconscious elf. The skilled surgeon opens the evil elf's skull and uses his Mind Sponge to record many of his memories before he dies. He confirms the drow was hunting a human trio who had been killing both elves and dark elves to use their life essence to make them younger. The dark elves, using sorcery, have learned that one of the murderers employs a magical bone flute to travel through Taur-im-Aina or magical fairy circles. The heroes believe this is the same flute stolen from a holy shrine last year (refer to Session 324 - The Troll’s Flute).
The body of Lia Lanthia is buried nearby and exhumed, and the party returns to Trobridge Inn. Lysa of Amael organizes for the remains to be returned to the elven forests. As a reward, the grateful elves gift the party a magical cloak, which muffles sound and helps concealment.
To be continued.NPC Interactions
Lysa of Amael - Glassworker and Trade on fine elven goods.
Related Reports
Player Characters
Valeria - Human - L14 Shadow Sorcerer
Background - Magical Experiment.
Archetype - Beastmaster.
Rycon - Human - L14 Fighter
Background - Rebel Knight.
Archetypes - Liberator Champion/Dual Weapon Warrior/Swashbuckler.
Dryueh - 1/2 Elf - L14 Thief Rogue
Background - Scout.
Archetypes - Vigilante/Medic/Shadowdancer/Wizard.
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