Session 12: The Road to Eidover

General Summary

A quiet few days pass with the daily duties of running a fort taking up Hanuraks time and the others preparing to head to Eidover. Astraea and Andre study what they can about the room with the troll and Faen learning about teleportation circles with Keyleth. As Hanurak is busying himself in the throne room with the others an Orc comes in with a wizard which he claims to have found wandering around outside. Faen and Keyleth recognise him as Gwydion a childhood friend and they have a good catch up with Keyleth telling him of the monastery's destruction.
Luckily Gwydion was out picking mushrooms at the time and managed to stay out of trouble. He agrees to join the group to head to Eidover and Faen explains that he believes there must be a teleportation circle in the troll room as he feels a calling from there.

Gwydion (Fladang)

Just then Thrisk returns from a mission from his mysterious contact Aunt Beth while Artorias gives a fond farewell to the group as he is ordered by Ninki to find Solaire to aid the Church.
Astraea decides to call Halin to see if he has any information about dealing with trolls. After a chat he tells them that fire will stop them from regenerating and as they enter the pitch black room even those with dark vision are struggling to see where the troll is. Gwydion casts light on a nearby stone which Hanurak tosses into the room but it fails to get further then halfway in, so Thrisk notches an arrow which Gwydion casts another light spell on and shoots it but due to his lack of darkvision he misjudges the range and buries it in the ceiling of the troll's chamber.
Fed up with this Astraea walks into the room and as she does the troll wakes and rushes at her, she quickly casts shield and avoids any damage as it strikes down at her. Faen casts chromatic orb while Hanurak rushes in and starts striking at the troll. Suddenly the runes around the room begin to glow and they can see the injuries on the troll healing, so Astraea quickly moves away but takes a hit while casting haste on Hanurak and Andre. Thrisk fires an arrow into the troll's unarmoured armpit while Valanthe tries to hold the troll with magic but fails.
Gwydion casts fire bolt but just misses because of the dim light. The runes glow again and heal the troll once more. Faen manages to blind the troll

Now frightened by the overwhelming odds it retreats with Hanurak giving chase. Cowering the troll puts his hands up
"Please... No... Hit..." Gwydion who can speak giant understands the trolls native language and asks everyone to put down their weapons and approach.
Gwydion tells the troll he won't be hurt anymore and asks how he got there. The troll introduces himself as Xagrus and says that he discovered a fountain in a cave with a dragon then woke up in the current room he doesn't know but he does teach Faen the symbols he saw in the cave. After further discussion he tells Gwydion he is happy to stay here if he is fed regularly.
Hanurak agrees liking the idea of a troll guard wandering around his fort so puts a plan into action with Ishak to widen the doorway into the rest of the fort. Faen notices a broken fountain which Cuivie tells him once fixed could be used again as a teleportation circle. Faen believes that the runes on the walls are the address for the fort and after a few days the fountain is fixed and they prepare to leave for Eidover leaving Rodney to sleep off a particularly severe hangover after challenging some of his former Orc guards to a drinking contest.
The next morning Faen opens the portal and they step through to find themselves in a dark room. They immediately at start struggling for air. Realising they are under water they follow Faen who spots a dim light, after fighting a very strong current everyone emerges onto dry land apart from Thrisk and Astraea who are both struggling to surface. Hanurak makes a grab for Thrisk but his hand slides off the slick feathers while Andre yanks Astraea onto land. Feeling rage build within him Hanurak makes another grab and manages pull Thrisk out by his beak.

Leodar Temple Entrance

As everyone looks around they see they are in a room with a blood soaked altar along with the perfectly preserved corpse of a man and a skeleton next to him on the floor dressed in robes. Between them is a dagger with runes etched into it and as Hanurak approaches the runes on him and the dagger begin to glow gold instead of his usual blue.
Hanurak is unable to pick the dagger up but Thrisk does and hears a whisper, "Command me". Faen hears the same thing when he holds the dagger and together learn that they can control Hanurak with the dagger. While they both decide to mess around with the dagger trying to get Hanurak to dance, Astraea looks around and finds some gold coins and old runes from the The Church of Sunlight pointing this out as the tomb of Leodar. Thrisk notices 3 circles in a triangle around a nearby circular door which glows when the dagger is used and there are three holes in the centre of the circles. Andre being Andre gets bored and decides to drink the water and for his troubles begins sweating a red liquid. Gwydion picks up the dagger and places it on the altar which causes the fissures which were dripping water to open allowing more in. Thrisk sees a poem which appears to be a clue to how to open the door and Astraea remembers that the trial for this tomb was compassion so Faen stops messing with Hanurak and the door opens revealing another door with another part of the poem and while everyone is pondering what the answer is Hanurak examines the water the group emerged from when suddenly 6 water elementals rise up and attack.

Water Elemental Rises from the water.

Faen quickly casts lightning while Hanurak starts chopping away at them managing to slice one with his greatsword. Gwydion hits one with magic missile and Astraea casts haste on Faen while Valanthe casts blight killing another. Andre decides to drink one of them and becomes afflicted with slow spell as he was in Sord.
Hanurak shouts a battle cry and hacks away again while Gwydion tries to cast withering but trips over his robes falling prone and Thrisk uses his bow which snaps and hits him in the eye. In the middle of this string of bad luck Faen casts chromatic orb which kills 2 more of the elementals in a burst of lighning damage with Valanthe finishing off the others with blight.
As the battle ends the cavern begins to shake more as the fissures widen, destabilised by the fighting and water begins pouring in, Keyleth who has been sitting in the corner all this time suddenly cries out a spell as everyone is swallowed by the water but the group finds they are all able to breathe underwater.

Faen's Lighting Strike

The Gorgon's Grace

Reaching the surface Thrisk notices a ship approaching them so Faen sends up fireworks which the ship spots and pulls alongside so they can all board. As the group recovers on the deck a debonair man approaches, he is obviously the captain from his lavish dress and asks what they were all doing so far from shore. Thrisk answers with swimming and the captain laughs introducing himself as Sir Finius Cursed. He invites them all to his quarters where he regales them with stories of his adventures while they eat and drink.

Sir Finius Cursed

After a few hours the ship docks in Eidover the bustling capital of the Kingdom of Tronde and Astraea asks Flynn if he knows of any inns. He points out the way to the Nine Hells Pantry as well as the Dragon and the Wolf which the group recognise as a place Thubrith mentioned to visit while they were in the city.
They take their leave and head toward the Dragon and the Wolf as they enter it has the same homely feel as the The Two Brewers in Breah. They sit at a table and order some drinks when a man kicks open the door and enters in grand fashion and sits at the bar. Thrisk approaches and tries to start a conversation but is pretty much ignored as it seems the man doesn't take fools lightly. Astraea looks around and notices an old couple sitting in the corner and recognises them as the same couple from the two brewers and the Pirate and Pipe. Deciding the group need information she heads over towards the man at the bar who says he is Alistair Siddig the owner of the tavern. Astraea says she was told to come here for help by Thubrith and after being questioned as to how she knows him and The Vult Alistair does allow them rooms for the night. He seems not to believe the story of them saving Saresh from the Oni and Astraea comes to the conclusion it may take some time to fully win this man's trust.
Astraea who has been hiding the fact that she has received a message from Orryn for her to meet him alone does tell the others over dinner and Faen decides to go with her to the university and perform a simple scrying spell so he can see what Astraea sees in the meeting. The others decide to stay at the tavern and question the old couple who they learn are somewhat experts on Leodar ad learn that the temple was lost when the bay was flooded during works on the bay around 200 years ago. The couple tell them there were 3 keys one which were given to the three most devout families. One was taken by a sea hag from her family when she turned to spite her parents. One is kept with the Grover family in the Temple district and the third is believed to be with with a mysterious figure of the Eidover underworld simply known as The Master which causes Thrisk to gulp audibly.

Orryn's Office

Astraea and Faen arrive at the university and are allowed past the guards and after a brief but annoying conversation with the receptionist they are finally able them to proceed. Together they walk down a lavish hallway and Faen heads to the nearby library and begins the scrying spell while Astraea enters Orryn's office. It is modestly decorated but she can tell it is an office of a respected professional. She approaches the desk and sees a sealed letter left for her. In it Orryn wishes things could be different and that Cuivie cannot be allowed to return as Ma'lak must be stopped at all costs. He promises to return her body to her parents and hopes for her forgiveness. Suddenly a voice from behind her says, "Hello Sister I think it's time we talked."

Session 12 Audio Log

Report Date

08 Oct 2018