Session 016: Report

General Summary

Your path to the lava-flooded ruins was blocked by a stranger dressed in dark robes, his face hidden by a silver mask. He warned you not to approach further, and you spent some time in conversation instead. He told you that Prince Breccan, the leader of the shadar-kai had led his people there at the behest of some new master.
The Prince had forged some pact with this entity and its followers, in order to free his kind from the Shadow Curse. The artifact stolen from the Shadowmane apparently played an important part in bringing their new benefactor into the Material Plane. Ultimately, the robed man presented you with a choice: Turn back the way you came, or face death. You decided to heed his warning, and turned your back on the ruins, intent on returning to Ashmane Hold for reinforcements.
Wispy clouds of darkness coalesced towards the ruins as you made your way back west, towards the city of the dwarves. You fought against the exhaustion of your forced march, but were able to avoid any incident, until you met Nine-Claws and her group, The Ragged Hand. Somewhat surprised by your early departure, they asked you about your findings. As you shared information, you warned them not to go into the ruins alone, but failed to convince them, and watched as they retraced your steps towards the ruins.
You decided to make camp and rest at The Nexus, while End and Vethykos made their way towards the city to warn of the danger. The two met with the high priestess of the dwarves, and told her they had found the artifact, and how important it was to act now to reclaim it. She promised to bring it up with the council, but was either unable or unwilling to act quickly on your information.
Frustrated by her inaction, you decided to go to the Broken Tooth inn and rally the mercenaries for aid instead. However, you only managed to discourage and anger the patrons with your words. Even the innkeep turned against you, and you were driven out, forced to return to the rest of your group with empty hands.
With your party back together, you took some sorely needed rest before traveling - yet again - towards the ruins. The darkness that was previously faint and wispy had amassed into a massive black vortex. After hatching a plan to get closer disguised as cultists, you approached the structure at the edge of the lava pool. You saw that the front gate now stood unguarded, and the hawk belonging to Nargol, one of Nine-Claws' companions circled overhead.
You opened the gate, and surprised The Ragged Hand who were busy collecting their bounties, one head at a time. After a brief but tense discussion, they agreed to help you stop the ritual, for a lion's share of the bounty on the artifact. As both groups prepared themselves to storm the inner sanctum and stop the ritual, Vethykos offered to buy the rest of the shadar-kai to try and save them from beheading. With no time to bargain, the Tabaxi hesitantly agreed.
Using a stick of dynamite recovered from the destroyed caravan, End forced the barred gate open. With your ears ringing from the explosion and a cloud of dust billowing past your eyes, you charged into the chamber, to stop Prince Breccan and his attempt to bring back The Guardian.

Session date:
17th of Mawrth (III), 1533 P.E

Report Date

08 May 2022

Hastum

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