Aldrich Runecarver
A confused but well meaning adventurer seeking to prove himself and conquer his inner demons.
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Rock and Roll Comes to Imre
Unknown, 1374
Unlike the area surrounding Stiljabyr, the land around Imre appears as if in autumn, the air cool but not figid, the leaves still clinging to the trees in fiery reds and oranges rather than the dead landscape pockmarked by blasted obsidian rock and blue flame. Here at least seems to be some sort of haven against the chaos brought on by the Triumvirate of Evil and the Lovelock coven. We approached the man on the road and introduced ourselves. He was a student at the University named Kvothe, and was studying music and magic disciplines there. After some questions he directed us to an inn called the Eolian within the city that housed several musicians and was run by two individuals called Deoc and Stantion. The tower in the city that we saw from a distance was a place called the Archives of History and run by Master Archisist Loren. Kvothe said that he was working on earning his silver pipes from the Eolian, which made Zarruk snort in derision.
We crossed the bridge and entered the city, which appeared to be very affluent and full of musicians and nobles willing to hire them. The people seemed friendly, and while a few shadier individuals could be discerned the area seemed relatively safe and a haven for the arts. Even the air felt clean and fresh compared to the places we had been previously. We eventually found our way to the Eolian and were met by the man Deoc as we entered. He was very gracious and introduced us to Stantion, who served us drinks and invited Zarruk to put on a musical performance. It seemed the inn always had some sort of music playing throughout the business day, and as we arrived a woman named Dina was just beginning a performance playing the lute and singing. Zarruk agreed to perform, but it was clear that he regarded the other musicians as untalented “posers”.
As we waited for Dina to finish her set and Zarruk to take the stage, I sat by Dru and spoke with him, asking why he had suddenly transformed into an eagle and left us alone in the forest. He said that the things that we had been saying made it seem that his contributions to the group were going unnoticed and we were choosing instead to joke about his failures. He then said that he considered me his best friend, and pointed out he had been the first to rush to my defense when the demon appeared even after I had messed everything up so horribly with the gate cube. I felt ashamed, and acknowledged that I had said some unkind things and that I would try to not speak that way again. Then I told him that he was a valued member of our party, and that many times we had survived fights because of him. He seemed somewhat placated, but not yet the old genial Dru. I hoped to find some way to set his mind at ease soon.
Shortly after that Dina’s set came to an end and Zarruk to the stage. He seemed nervous, so Dru cast a spell on him to enhance his musical talents. He then began his performance, and almost immediately the audience was enthralled. The music he played was clearly different than any they had heard before, but they were enraptured by it. He then began a second song, and a third, this time asked us to join in with a rhythmic clap. The crowd was swept up in the performance, and by the end of the song they were applauding loudly and chanting his name. Stantion offered to hire him to play every night and in exchange give us all room and board for free. Zarruk didn’t take the job right away, but agreed to play a few more times so that we could have the rooms at least a few nights. Everyone seemed very taken by the gith, especially the woman Dina, who came up and whispered something in his ear before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.
We eventually all made our way to the rooms Stantion had set aside for us, adjoining rooms on the second floor at the back of the inn. Shiara was relieved to finally have a room with an actual bathtub and hot water, and spent the better part of an hour just soaking. Dru spoke to Stantion about finding somewhere to train with Dre and Stantion told him to find a man called Eladin, Master of Names at the University. I set about cleaning my armor and sharpening my weapons, then when Shiara had finished her bath I set to placing Alarm spells along the windows and doors to make sure we spent the night undisturbed. As I was working, however, there was a knock at the door. It was Dina, and she asked if Zarruk would join her for a drink and a walk. He agreed and left with her.
Shiara came up to me very excited wanting to show me a new spell she had learned. She cast gold coins into the air, which disappeared and summoned a specter. She showed me that she could place items or a message into a box and the specter would instantly transport it to whoever she wanted. This could be extremely useful for keeping in contact with our allies in the future; which reminded me, I really needed to use the Oak Leaf to see if any of our former allies are still alive and able to help us.
Undead and Pirates
Unknown, 1374
The creature Malthraxis was extremely powerful, and his minions no less deadly. He managed to severely wound all of us and knock Zarruk unconscious. But through Shiara’s use of a Laughter spell to incapacitate Malthraxis and our coordination of attacks and weakening spells, we somehow managed to slay our foes. It was the first time one our party had fallen in battle though, and even though I was able to heal Zarruk and get him back on my feet, the experience left its mark on all of us. The power of our enemies has grown, and we can no longer take any fight for granted.
After the battle, Dre told us that the thing we had fought was something called a Nightwalker. She offered to transform all of us into bats to travel the rest of the journey to Calem Port undetected, which we gladly accepted. We spent the rest of our journey flying, eventually arriving at the port and transforming back into our normal selves. The city was a rough place, but we managed to find an airship called the Jagged Grace that was headed to Imre and had room for us. The captain had a very pirate-ish air to him, and at first asked for 8,000 gold in return for passage. Po was able to talk him down to 7,000 instead if we helped to load the cargo onboard. We agreed and after a time found ourselves in the air on our way to Imre.
We arrived outside the city two days later and began making our way to the University. We eventually reached a place where the road crested a hill and below us a bridge stretched over a river, and beyond we could see a shining city with a huge tower in the center. On the road a short ways off was a man with red hair laying a lute as he walked.
On the Road to the University
Unknown, 1374
The lights that we saw on the plain ahead moved towards us and surrounded us, blinking in the darkness. A dark figure stepped forward; he had red hair and was wearing a mask. He said “It seems our paths have finally crossed. You already know my mother and stepfather. My name is Vaerhaun.”
He was a child of Lilith. He spoke to us of rebelling against the Lovelocks and wanting to bring them to destruction. He wanted for us to join with him, since it seems we are the only free beings in the realm, all others have been enslaved by some evil power.
Po asked how we can help him, and he gave Po a scrutinizing look. Then it seemed that he recognized him. Vaerhaun wanted to kill Lilith and her followers. Po seemed torn at this statement, but said nothing. Vaerhaun then said to Po “I recognize a coward when I see him.” Po mentioned something about being in their service, but what he was talking about is very unclear. I called to Dru to rejoin us, and reluctantly returned with Dre, although his sister remained in her bird form. Vaehraun then told us what that his father was an individual named Corellian Lorithian, one of the deities and a ruler of the elves connected to Loth. Arashni transformed into Loth and descended to the underdark, giving rise to the Drow. Vaehraun’s father is the only one who can defeat Lilith, but Vaehrun needed help finding him. He said that we may be able to find information that could lead to Corellian in the University at Imre. He then offered to either pay for an airship to take us to Imre or have his dragon fly us there. At that point the blinking lights converged into the form of a shadow dragon that Vaehraun introduced as Damiel, Lady of the Black. This dragon was about two and a half times larger that Slarkrathel, and was apparently the dragon placed under a curse by the wizard of Stiljabyr. Vaerhaun confirmed that he was the nephew of the wizard that cursed the town and the dragon.
I was reluctant to trust this elf considering his somewhat hostile greeting of Po and his connection to the Lovelocks. I offered the excuse that it would be unwise to be so open about an alliance as to take his offer of a dragon ride when we had just made another agreement with Slarkrathel. Vaerhaun did not hide his disdain for the green dragon, but reluctantly agreed to simply pay for the airship instead, giving us a satchel with 10,000 gold worth of platinum coins. He also gave Shiara a map of the Four Corners of Civilization, then summoned several Yeth hounds for us as mounts. Still distrustful of this Drow, I insisted that Shiara remain on the elk I had summoned, but the rest of us rode the hounds. Vaerhaun and Damiel left and we began our journey once again, this time heading for Calem Port on the Shining Sea to find an air ship to Imre.
We traveled for several hours before stopping for a rest. Dru and Dre separated from the group for some time alone, catching up on all of the time they had been apart. Shiara had mentioned that she wanted a word alone, so I took the time to find her and speak. She was worried that she had joined the group and lost everything when we jumped forward in time, but that we would not need her with us and that she would end up being left behind. I reassured her that we definitely needed her, particularly since the next stage of our adventure would have to be spent doing research and finding as much information on our enemies as possible. I then took the book we had found on Rolf and handed it to her. It was a Tome of Clear Thought, and I told her it would benefit her the most out of the group and help prepare her for the challenges ahead. She seemed grateful, if not completely reassured. She then gave Dru a sketch she had made of Turlang, and he gave her a giant bear hug.
The moment of comradery was interrupted though when several figures appeared out of the dark surrounding us. I sensed that they were undead, and a large figure appeared saying its name was Malthraxis, and boldly announced that it would add our souls to its collection.
Dealing with a Dragon
Unknown, 1374
The ground shook beneath our feet and Tharra and Mirielle pulled us all back into the tent. Braenor went out to meet whatever was out in the fog, but after hearing some muffled speaking his body was suddenly flung back through the entrance of the tent, and we heard a voice booming out “I can smell you! Come out!”
Dru created a wind to clear the poisonous fog, and he and I stepped out of the tent to meet a huge green dragon. It was Slarkrathel. He demanded the other come out of the tent as well, and Zarruk, Po, and Shiara join us. We tried talking to the beast, and he lamented that while he holds power now in the High Forest, there were four others seeking to diminish his power. At least one of these he acknowledged as the god Bane, one of the triumvirate we fought against. He also spoke of seven that he held dear, which became apparent were Lilith and her coven of Damon, Rezic, and the others.
Slarkrathel yearned for the time before the chaos, and wanted to try to destroy these new gods and return to the old balance of power. He said there was a rumor of a great power being unleashed and the old good gods like Silvanus being reverted back to mortal form. He offered a deal to us. He would allow us to live if we would serve him and help him destroy the triumvirate of Baal, Bane, and Merkyl. We were hesitant, especially since it was clear he had already allied himself with the Lovelocks, but we were left with little choice. He demanded each of us sign an agreement with our blood, but Shiara offered her own as representative of the group, showing him her papers of pedigree. Surprisingly the dragon agreed, and although I was loathed to let her do it, Shiara signed her name in blood on a parchment. The dragon said that she would now be responsible for the group and would have to report to him regularly on our progress, but that he would grant us safe passage out of the forest. With a swirl of fog the dragon then took wing and flew away, disappearing beyond the trees.
We managed to recover the gear we had taken from the bandit camp. Tharra and Mirielle had found it and hidden it. Shiara and I spent some time identifying the magical items and distributing the most valuable among the group, then we placed the rest of the items in the bag of holding. Shiara then sent a message by way of a bird, presumably to a family member.
We gave a few of the items to Egert so that he wouldn’t be without some means of defending himself, and then we took our leave. Egert, Mirielle, Tharra, and Braenor stayed behind in the forest. I told Mirielle that if she ever needed a safe place to stay to look for the Shrine of Silvanus in Windholm; she could tell Brother Beocca that I had sent her. Hopefully it is still standing and being maintained against this evil.
I summoned a celestial spirit in the form of an elk for Shiara to ride, since she did not seem well prepared for travel through a forest. As we prepared to depart I asked Dru to take the lead, but he transformed into an eagle and took flight, quickly rising above the forest and disappearing. Dre said she would catch up to him and speak with him, and she transformed as well and followed her brother. That left us to rely on Po to find our way out of the forest. We eventually did find the path and made our way to the edge of the High Forest, but what waited for us was even more disturbing than what we found at Shadowtop. The landscape was covered in darkness, the town of Stiljabyr lay in ruins, black obsidian-like shards covered the ground with faint blue flames scattered in the distance, and the air was frigid cold. Looking ahead, we saw a group of lights moving and begin making their way towards us.
The Gap
Unknown, 1374
Two individuals clothed in brown and green sat near a campfire at the base of the petrified figure of the treant Turlang. A figure appearing to be some type of large dog was with them, and motioned us forward. As we approached the figures walked towards us, and we realized that they were Mirielle and Tharra, and the dog was Braenor! They did not recognize us at first, and nearly shot Dru when he ran up to greet them. They were suspicious, and demanded to know where we had been for the past 16 years. I reluctantly explained what had happened, that we had used the gate cube to escape the Blue Flame and rescue Dre, but when we tried to return something went wrong and we jumped forward more than a decade. Tharra was furious, saying we abandoned them to the hags, and walked up and slapped me.
I fell back onto the ground, and had a vision of the voices in my head battling for control. The dark Lurker said “It seems I have been wrong. The only way to be whole may be to give up the dream of bringing our parents back. Or simply killing Maethok.” The boy argued back that things could still work out, and Lurker slunk back defeated into some dark corner of my mind, allowing the boy to take control.
When I woke from my vision, Tharra had stormed off and Dru was standing over me. It took a few minutes to get everything sorted out, but I was at least able to recognize Shiara and Dre and remember bits of what had passed before, which is better than the other times a switch had taken place. The others had gathered around the fire to eat. As I sat eating with them I saw the same demon we had killed before appear near the treeline. I approached and spoke to him, this time asking his name. He said it was Forzen. Dru and Zarruk walked over, and apparently could not see him. He said something about “This will be fun” then disappeared. It was confusing, but just one more thing to add to the list of strange events over the past few hours.
We asked Mirielle what had been going on in the world during our absence, and it was not good. She and Tharra had spent 5 years in captivity to the hags, but had managed to escape after indescribable torture. The town of Stiljabyr had fallen to the Blue Flame, as had Barad Ellion. The god Merkyl had taken possession of Father Briar’s body and his triumvate of evil deities had finally ascended to godhood. The Splinters were all dead. Rezic and Lilith had somehow managed to unleash the chaos of Limbo on the material plane, presumably from the spawning stone. Zarruk’s uncle Branlyd was missing and Thea Dawnmane had been lost, presumably a high priestess of Loth now.
One thing became clear. The only way to set things right would be to find the Tablets of Fate and restore balance to the material plane.
Dru, concerned about Tharra’s reaction to our return, left to find a flower for her. Shiara, extremely confused but somehow managing to hold things together for the time being, started to make a sketch of Turlang. Po went and talked to Tharra himself, sympathizing with her feelings of abandonment and suffering, and eventually helping her to see that we still wanted to help make things right. She told Po that perhaps we should all flee, and when he asked where she would like to go, she said somewhere called Elysium.
We all eventually laid down to sleep for the night. Dru left the flower outside of Tharra’s tent where she could see it when she awoke. We all met for breakfast the following morning and the topic of traveling to Elysium was brought up. While I could possibly get us there through the gate cube, I was reluctant to use the cube again of the disastrous results of the last use, and pointed out that we don’t know anything about that plane. Shiara suggested that we research the cube and the other planes it connects to at a place called the University in the city of Imre. We all agreed that this would be the best course of action for the time being. But as we began to pack our belongings a thick fog began to swirl around us, following by the stench of poison.
At that moment Braenor rushed up saying “They have found us!”
The Jump
10th Ariel, 1358
As our enemies appeared before us and began to close in, the huge wolf that appear approached me. Time began to slow around us. The wolf, a towering beast at least eight feet tall, spoke to me. It said Silvanus had sent him to protect us and give us an opportunity to escape. His name was Braenor. He offered to carry some of us away, but I said I had a plan to get all of us away in an instant. So he said he would keep the Lovelocks occupied while we retreated. Time shifted back to normal and the wolf turned on our enemies, while I called out to the others to gather around. While they grasped hands and formed a circle, I took out the gate cube that we had taken from the vampires. Having finally identified how to use it, I thought that it would provide us a safe method of escape. I quickly spun it around and selected the side with the symbol of the Feywild and pressed the button twice. As space swirled around us I called out to Lilith "Maethok says you're a bitch!" And the next instant we found ourselves standing in a field in the Feywild.
I barely had a chance to look at our surroundings as questions raced through my mind. My first instinct was that Po had betrayed us and led the Lovelocks to us. Pointing this out, Dru joined in my suspicions, but Po adamantly denied any involvement or knowledge of how the Lovelocks had come to find us. Then as we stood there arguing a thought struck me. Lilith was not in Limbo. Her domain was unprotected. I quickly asked Dru for his sister's full name, then turned the cube to the side with the symbol for Limbo and pressed the button, saying the name Dre Shepherd. A portal opened up and a female firbolg fell through. It was Dre. She urged us to rescue Mirielle’s mother, Thea Dawnmane, but we were faced with a predicament. There was only one more charge left in the gate cube, so we could either attempt to rescue Thea or return home to find Mirielle and Tharra. After some discussion, we decided to return home. I used the cube to cast the gate spell, opening a portal to Shadowtop Cathedral, and we stepped through. At first everything appeared to be normal. Greenwhistle was still in his usual perch in one of the trees playing music. The area was calm and still But as we went over and spoke to the startled fawn, it was apparent that something was different. He seemed to have aged, and spoke as if he hadn’t seen us in a long time. Getting the feeling that something was off, we asked when was the last time he had seen us. He told us it had been 16 years since the last time we had been in Shadowtop. Somehow we had jumped ahead 16 years into the future. The weight of this hit like a ton of bricks. We noticed a thick fog growing around us, and the air smelled of poison. Pressing Greenwhistle we asked what had been going on, and he told us that Slarkrathel had finally come to the High Forest. The entity was not a kraken at all, but a green dragon, and had finished off the last of the Emerald Enclave and taken up residence in Shadowtop.
I walked away from the group as they continued to speak to Greenwhistle, trying to comprehend what I had heard. Suddenly I fell, and felt a hand grasp the back of my head and wrench it back to look up. The demon that had appeared to me before in Stiljabyr was above me. It began shrieking at me, asking me where I had been and threatening to take me back to Maethok. I stumbled to my feet just in time to see Dru crash into the fiend. We fought the demon, and managed to damage it a great deal. In a last effort it attempted to grab me and teleport away to Maethok, but Shiara countered the spell and we killed the fiend.
The others were understandably confused by the sudden appearance of a demon, and I finally confessed that I had made a pact with Maethok and explained the situation. During my childhood my city had been under attack by duergar and my parents were killed. Desperate to get them back, I had found a book in my mother’s library that had a summoning ritual, and had summoned a demon that offered me a deal. The deal was supposed to be my eternal servitude in exchange for ending the siege and bringing back my parents, but while the enemies had been defeated the demon only brought me my parents lifeless bodies. They remained dead. And now my soul is forfeit to a fiend, and his minion had been keeping tabs on me.
Their reactions were somewhat confused, but the situation at hand with having suddenly lost 16 years seemed more pressing, and we were apparently in great danger within Shadowtop. So we quickly left, traveling along a stream away from the cathedral. We eventually came to a place where we saw the petrified body of Turlang standing in the forest, with two figures sitting in the shadows nearby.
More Questions than Answers
13th Ariel, 1358
After the battle we took stock our surroundings. The bandits seemed unprepared for an assault and none of them had been wearing the dragonscale armor that Rolf had worn. Zarruk and Po began searching the camp for loot while Dru and I began interrogating our prisoners. We woke one of them and started questioning him, Dru taking a very aggressive approach while I adopted a more passive, friendly tone. The bandit told us his name was Jasper. He said Rolf was involved with the Court of Eleven in Stiljabyr on some level, and had been spending a lot of time away from the group over the past six months. He presumably would go meet with Rezic to get his orders from the Blue Flame. According to Jasper Rolf kept a lot of secrets from the group, including enchanting their armor to appear as dragonscale. As soon as he died the enchantment broke and the armor returned to its original form.
As we were questioning him we heard a noise, and a young woman emerged from the forest into the camp. She had long black hair and fine clothes, and a large tome strangely similar to my own spellbook. Dru, Zarruk, and Po went to meet her and she introduced herself as Shiara Dussal, a traveler. I was suspicious based on all of our previous chance encounters, and tried to see if she might be hiding something. My insight from Silvanus didn't detect the presence of a fiend in disguise, but I could detect a strong magical illusion aura around her and asked her to drop whatever disguise she had cast on herself. Reluctantly she dispelled the illusion, but not much about her appearance changed. It seemed she simply used the spell to conceal the dirt and stains of long travel. That calmed my fears somewhat, but I still felt somewhat mistrustful of this chance encounter. Dru on the other hand was jolly and welcoming as ever and asked if she was hungry. There had been a large pot of stew in the center of camp, and he went to taste it and see if it was fit to offer our new friend. From the look on his face after tasting it, however, it definitely was not. Dru and I went back to questioning Jasper, who claimed to have no knowledge of what was in the stew. Looking at the cauldron, it radiated a definite evil aura of some kind of foul magic, but we were unable to gain any more information from our prisoner. I decided to cast identify on it and see if I could find out what was going on.
Shiara joined Po in searching Rolf's tent, and discovered that the chest in the tent had a magical aura around it. When they tried to open it they were hit with a blast of energy that sent them flying back. Not to be deterred, Po used his mage hand to open the chest, standing behind it this time. As he held the lid open a disheveled figure came scrambling out of the chest, babbling about climbing stairs and screaming. Po called us into the tent, and I left my ritual to join them along with Zarruk and Dru, leaving Mirielle and Tharra to guard the poisoner. The figure turned out to be none other than Egert! As we gathered around him a symbol appeared on the chest, a white skull and triangle, and a voice began speaking. "I see where Bane did not choose wisely. I choose the dead and win. All things must die, even gods! The reaper is coming for you!" Po slammed the chest shut and we exited the tent.
Upon leaving the tent, however, we realized that Mirielle, Tharra, and the prisoners were all gone. I tried to use a spell to speak to them telepathically, but received a reply from another voice saying "We have them". The voice claimed to be Jasper, or one who had taken the form of Jasper at least. Its true name was Emeline Evil Eyes, and was presumably one of the hags. It taunted us trying to get us to follow, saying we'd know where to find our friends. The ghost Sustar appeared next to Dru as I was talking, and he confirmed that the hags had indeed infiltrated the bandits and had captured Mirielle and Tharra. Dru was obviously upset with the spirit not telling us the extent of the hags' powers or plans. Sustar said the hags couldn't just be killed; to defeat them we would have to banish them back to the feywild.
I finish casting identify on the stew and discover that it was made of human body parts and seemed like part of some sort of sacrifice. There was also a tinge of something like the obsidian material we had encountered so often with the Blue Flame. Just as I realized that the fire itself was extinguished and replace with blue flames, and six figures appeared at the edge of the camp. Among the figures were Lilith, Damon, Sibil, and an ilithid (presumably Rezic). At the same time a spirit creature in the form of a giant wolf appeared beside us.
Midnight Raid
13th Ariel, 1358
Tharra was waiting for us at the edge of the High Forest. We traveled back to Shadowtop Cathedral where we planned to wait until the cover of night before striking out for the bandits' camp. Along the way I asked Tharra about the lights she said she had seen the night she was captured. She confirmed that the lights were not caused by the bandits, but were something different. Dru and I both thought her description sounded eerily similar to the lights we had seen in the distance our first night at Egert's. After dealing with the bandits and the hags, it would probably be a good idea to investigate those more. We arrived at Shadowtop without incident, and already it seemed more peaceful than when we had left it. Repairs were being made to areas damaged by Aerglas and additional defenses put in place. Greenwhistle greeted us; it seemed he had been writing down some lyrics to a new song, but was having some trouble. Zarruk stepped up to help, and after sorting through a few of his entries helped him settle on some that actually sounded decent. The lyrics all seemed to have been attempts at love songs and Zarruk spent some time helping him work out an appropriate melody to go along with them. While they continued working on the song I found a quiet spot to sleep and wait for dark.
Dru noticed that Tharra seemed genuinely affected by Greenwhistle's song and asked her about her it. She admitted to having feelings for the satyr, but said that she had spent her life dedicated to the Enclave and hadn't considered any sort of meaningful relationship. Dru encouraged her to explore her feelings, and although she said she felt torn between her feelings and her duty, she agreed to consider it.
Before leaving Shadowtop, we divided the potions we had found previously. We then set out at night and searched for the bandits' camp, finding it around midnight. Dru cast a spell to muffle our movement and hide our forms, and we scouted the camp for guards. I sent Sypha flying over the camp, watching through her eyes, and was able to make out several individuals gathered around a fire in the center of the camp with a little over half a dozen others scattered around the perimeter standing watch. Po and Mirielle then went to work, quickly sneaking up on the guards and dispatching several before they even had a chance to react (remind me never to let that Drow out of my sight in the future). We then attacked the main camp. Zarruk cast a huge fireball in the center, and Dru summoned several lynxes to fight alongside him. We made quick work of the rest with the survivors attempting to flee, but Po put a stop to that with a sleep spell. Of the twelve bandits, nine were slain and three captured and unconcious.
Voices from Beyond the Grave
12th Ariel, 1358
I quickly called the rest of the group into our room to deal with the specter. The incorporeal figure introduced itself as Sustor, the spirit of a shaman of the Wildcat tribe. He told us that he and the spirits of others in his tribe have been wandering the forest seeking someone to help free them from a curse. The hags we had learned of had come into the forest and woken the spirits of dead, cursing them to wander the material plane again without rest. Sustor begged us to help break the curse so he and his people could be at peace again. We agreed to assist the spirit and he instructed us to wait for him at the camp in the forest where we had stopped with Rolf a few days prior.
After the spirit departed, we discussed what to do next. We decided we needed more information before proceeding, and Zarruk cast speak with dead on the corpse of Rolf. When we asked him about his connection to the town and his plans, he said that the town was just a means to an end. It seems he was planning on taking over the town at some point, and the town's fall was not far off. His contact with the Blue Flame was Rezic, the ilithid, and it was he who gave him the note written in dark speech.
Having gained all the information we possibly could from the corpse, it seemed best to hide the remains. Zarruk cast invisibility on the corpse, and Dru cast it on himself, and he and Po snuck out of the inn. They found a garden close by and buried the body, then Dru cast plant growth around the spot to conceal it for as long as possible. Zarruk tried to follow them out and help, but made too much noise and decided to stay in the inn and pretended to be drunk, hopefully drawing any attention to himself rather than the others. Fortunately no one noticed any of them as far as we could tell, which was surprising considering the amount of noise the bard was making.
While they were gone I began casting Find Familiar from the spell book the demon gave me. I summoned a fey spirit named Sypha in the form of an owl, which should make Dru happy. After the others returned they all went to bed. I finished identifying all of the items we had found, then spent the rest of the night reading the book I had found in the dungeon under Barad Ellion. This one was called "The Spider King". It was a fictional retelling of a portion of history from the Abyssal plane, where an entity called the Spider King was overthrown by a queen with an army of Drow. While it was a fiction, I thought there was probably some truth hidden within the story, and need to research this more. The description of the queen sounded eerily familiar.
I woke the others early the next morning, before the sun had risen. Dru, as I had suspected, was excited to meet Sypha. I may have gained a few points in the druid's opinion by learning how to summon other beings, even if it is a fey. Probably best I don't summon a fiend after our past experiences however.
We went down to breakfast, and before leaving met with Zarruk's uncle once more. He decided to stay in town to wait for our return. He also gave Zarruk a new instrument, something called a Mac-Fuirmidh cittern, which he said should serve him well down the road. After a short goodbye we left the city without incident and made our way once more towards the High Forest.
Dark Revelations
12th Ariel, 1358
Once we made it back to the inn we set to work identifying our items and attuning to our new magical weapons and gear. My first priority was deciphering the note that we had found on Rolf. I made my preparations and began casting Comprehend Languages so I could read Dark Speech. The spell required me to actually hold the note, and as soon as I began casting the spell my head was wracked by incredible pain. I fell to the ground screaming, and something took hold of my mind. All I could think of was rage, death, and how much destruction I could bring to this world. I heard someone call my name, and looking up saw Dru and attacked him. Somewhere in the background of my mind I tried to fight whatever was controlling me, but it had a firm hold. Zarruk and Po rushed into the room and tried to restrain me, and we all ended up fighting. In the middle of the fight a demon entered the room and attacked Zarruk, angry at him fighting Maethok's property. I continued to fight against the mind control and managed to yell out a few words of warning that there was some spell from the note. Dru tried to dispel the effect, but with no result. I was finally able to wrestle control of my own mind away from the primal rage that had seized it, only to find myself still lying on the floor. The fight had taken place only in my mind, thankfully, and I had not actually harmed anyone. But I felt changed, and could still feel that overwhelming rage within myself. I had it under control for now, but I hadn't removed it.
Shaken, I told my friends what had happened. Dru was disgusted and wanted nothing to do with the note. I was still curious, perhaps even more so, and asked for my friends help with deciphering it. Bolstered by their spells, I was finally able to read the words written on the page. I discovered it was a page ripped from a book of evil. There were horrible things written on it, about torture, plagues, and destruction on a massive scale. There were hints within the page also that the book contained the true names of fiends across all of the plains and dark lore to tap into all kinds of evil power. I got the sense that whoever held the book could unearth secrets that no mortal was intended to know.
We discussed what to do with the page. Dru wanted to destroy it, while Po seemed to hold no strong opinion one way or another. I was able to convince them to keep the page and place it within the bag of holding for the time being. Dru agreed reluctantly, but did not want to be responsible for carrying the bad if it contained the page, and gave it to me to carry instead.
I began identifying the other items we had gathered from Rolf, but as I started casting the spell a specter appeared in our room and addressed Dru, asking for help.
Shopping
12th Ariel, 1358
We all managed to rest a bit during the afternoon, then gathered together to discuss our next steps. Branlyd was still missing, so we decided to search for him. We began the search in his room in the inn; Po picked the lock and we did a quick search. The room was full of books and scribbled notes. A cursory scan of scan of the notes showed he was researching the spawning stone and had found that if even the energy of the stone was brought to this plain it could cause catastrophic events. Also mixed in the notes were references to local rumors about tampering with the nearby Leska caves (likely connected to the stone Rolf was carrying).
We left the inn and decided to split up. Dru and I went to the shops to get the components I'd need to identify the items we had collected and cast some of my other spells, while Zarruk and Po went searching for Branlyd in town. Dru and I made our way to the shops and first went to one called the Backpeddler run by a man called Sparrowhawk, where we bought most of the spell components and some supplies for our travels. Dru also found a magical bag of holding, which should prove useful. Then we went to a shop called the Inkpot where I was able to get some ink for transcribing spells and Dru found a book of some sort.
Zarruk and Po searched the town for Branlyd (apparently Zarruk was less than subtle in his searching methods). They met a shadowy figure that was also searching for Branlyd. He turned out to be a githyanki called Salari Kern. Things were getting bad in Limbo to the point that the two factions of gith may be willing to work together again, and the yanki needed Branlyd because he knows something about how to retake the plain. He gave Zarruk a note with directions for how to contact him once they found Branlyd, and asked him to keep things secret.
From there Po and Zarruk went outside of town down to a nearby stream. They found Branlyd sitting on a bench next to the stream, holding the gate cube. He sounded paranoid and worried. He had been looking for a way to get back home and send the illithid away, and told Zarruk that the gate cube was the key to planar travel. Even with the cube, though, he said none of us were ready to travel to Limbo. A witch had set up shop somewhere in Limbo and was creating even more chaos than is normal in that plain. With what we already have learned, I had no doubt this was Lilith trying to set up her own domain on the plain, which will make getting Dray and Mirielle's mother out even more dangerous. He gave the cube back to Zarruk and headed back to the inn.
We all met at the blacksmith shop (run by a dwarf named Jagged) and purchased some better armor and weapons, then headed back to the inn as well.
Reciprocity and Conspiracy
12th Ariel, 1358
Rolf ordered everyone out of the inn and shoved Tharra over to the bar. He acted like he had been wronged or betrayed, which was ironic given our experience with him, and he struck Tharra several times and taunted Dru by jingling the gold purse he had stolen in front of the firbolg. He also ranted about how he had put in so much effort to corrupt Aerglas and we had torched him, ruining Rolf's plans. I attempted to talk to him, but on the last strike to Tharra I decided force was required and fired off a blast of eldrich energy, hitting him in the chest. From there the gloves came off and we all joined the fight. He was a tough fighter, and it took a long time before we were able to wear him down, made even more difficult considering how exhausted we all were. Fortunately Dru managed to summon a giant snake to grapple and hold him and after we all got some good hits in Zarruk finished him off with an arrow to the thigh and he bled out. As he lay dying I looked into his eyes and told him it didn't have to be this way, but he had crossed people he didn't know anything about and this was the result. Dru took his money purse back and jingled it in front of the bandits face, saying he told him we would take more than 100 gold back in payment for his lies. As he lay dying I noticed a crumpled piece of paper in his hands, and inspecting it realized that it was a note written in the same strange shifting text we had found on the note held by the goblin in Wolfrest. The note Bevel had taken. The note about the Blue Flame. I still couldn't read it, but Po identified the script as something called Dark Speech, and above it were crude sketches of the five of us. So Rolf had ties to the Blue Flame and was turning members of the Emerald Enclave. If I had felt bad about killing him any shred of that feeling was quickly removed.
We found several other items on his body, including the lynx head gem (called a Leska stone), an Ioun Stone, an Iron Flask, an unread Tome of Clear Thought, and several potions. We took everything we could find, then discussed what to do. None of us were comfortable with the fact that Rolf had just walked through town with a bound elf and no one had stopped him. He seemed to hold some weight in the town, or at least not insight open hostility with the guard. We asked Tharra how she had come to be captured, and she said she couldn't sleep the night before either. She had seen strange lights at the edge of the forest, and when she investigated she had heard men laughing and talking. She realized it was the bandits who had stolen Dru's coin and decided to try to recover it, but had been caught. Rolf questioned her at their camp, but she had told him nothing. She said he had been acting strange, scratching at his head in an odd fashion and then talking about how he had turned Aerglas and had been promised power and knowledge by his master, who was also looking for us. This confirmed his connection to the Blue Flame, and his strange behavior might warrant investigation. Or it would if he hadn't died. But still, we might need to figure out what caused that erratic behavior. Rolf had left his gang behind to "continue their work" while he dealt with us. She told us that the guards recognized Rolf as they entered town looking for us, but they hadn't stopped him. He had put a cloak over her so they couldn't tell she was bound, and they seemed to recognize him and pay him an amount of deference.
We decided to move the body upstairs where I would try to decipher the note. It was then we realized that Branlid was gone. He had evidently slipped out when Rolf had entered. Zarruk, Dru, and Mirielle went to find Tharkar and see what she could tell us about Rolf and where Branlid might have gone. They found her with the rest of the staff behind the inn, quite shaken. She said that the Blood Drop Crew had been an issue for years, and had some sort of understanding worked out with the town leadership. The guards were never able to catch the bandits in the act of their crimes, and the gang served to keep undesirables such as goblins and orcs away from the town. The townsfolk are very afraid of any newcomers or unknown visitors because of the cursed dragon. The wizard who cursed it had ruled in the area long ago and cursed the dragon not because it was ravaging the land, but to curse his own bloodline, specifically his nephew. Whether he wanted to punish him or keep him out of the town was unclear, but there is definitely more to this legend than we initially thought.
Tharkar warned that the town may not be safe for us for much longer and that Rolf's crew will likely come looking for him. She was also worried about Branlid's mental health, saying he had been rambling while he waited with them outside the inn and then had wandered off.
We all met back up in Dru's room, and while he attuned to the Leska Stone and Po attuned to the Cloak of the Dunamancer, I began the ritual to decipher the Dark Speech note.
A Sleepless Night
12th Ariel, 1358
That night was restless for everyone. I awoke to find a demon in the room watching me. I couldn't move, and the creature walked over and sat on the bed next to me. He didn't give a name, but I could tell from the brand on his forehead that he was one of Maethok's minions. He began telling me that Maethok hadn't forgotten our deal, and that he had plans. He then began drawing a finger across my chest, burning into my flesh the same brand that was on his forehead. He then presented me with a spell book with a crude letter A on it, a gift from my "patron". When I could finally speak I told him I hadn't forgotten the deal, and then asked what Maethok thought of our dealings with Lilith and the others. He seemed more amused than anything, casually remarking that Lilith was simply another pawn in the game. Darneska had been part of her seven, and then decided to create his own "seven" part in imitation and part in challenge to her. The illithid Rezic was one of them. The demon remarked that Rezic was one sneaky bastard, so we'll have to watch our steps around him when we encounter him.
I spent the rest of the night studying the spell book under the demon's supervision, learning how to cast the spells and what components they would require. He left before dawn, remarking on his way out that Maethok was showing some interest in Isyllwen. I told him to tell Maethok that she was not part of the deal and he better leave her the fuck alone. He laughed and said maybe I should tell him myself. I swear if he gets anywhere close to her, deal or no deal I'll kill the fiend.
Dru woke shortly after that from some sort of dream, thrashing about and calling out wildly. I calmed him down and asked him what was going on. He had had another dream about his sister, but this time she was with Mirielle's mother. In the dream they said they were both being held by Lilith in Limbo, and begged Dru to help them soon. He had tried to leave something with them, but realized when he woke that he still had the item on him and appeared to start questioning the validity of the dream. I don't doubt that what he saw was real, at least in part, but there are a lot of questions about what is going on and I was thankful he didn't try to rush off and find a way to Limbo right away. I have a feeling none of us are ready for that experience yet.
I was able to calm Dru down and we went to find the others Zarruk was still in his room, looking like he hadn't slept well either. He also said something about needing to go to Limbo right away. We gathered Mirielle then headed downstairs, where we found Po waiting at a table, also looking the worse for wear. They began talking about their dreams, Dru sharing his but without the conviction of when he had told it to me. Zarruk had dreamed of an illithid with red eyes who taunted him and showed him how his parents had died, then told him he would be waiting for us in Limbo. Po had had a dream about something in his past, but he wasn't in a sharing mood like the others.
We discussed what we should do, and I urged everyone to wait before going to Limbo. We were being pushed to go there as quickly as possible, but the sources were all enemies or threats. My gut told me that this was turning into some sort of elaborate trap, whether to kill us all or for Lilith to capture Mirielle and turn her, I wasn't sure. But it felt like we were being baited, and I was in no mood to bite yet. Fortunately I was able to convince the others to at least wait until we had gathered enough resources and power before attempting a rescue or revenge mission of any kind.
Eventually Uncle Branlid came downstairs and joined us. We began discussing means of getting to Limbo, and Dru brought out the cube he had taken from Jillia and Camila. Branlid told us it was a gate stone of sorts, and could open a portal to the planes with the corresponding symbols. He identified the symbols for the Feywild, the Abyss, Limbo, and the Material planes, but was unsure of the last two. Po seemed interested in the cube and where we had obtained it, and we discovered that he knew Jillia and Camila. He tried to pass it off as just names from the past, but he was hiding something. I tried to press him a little on the issue, but he assured us that it wouldn't be an issue. I didn't inquire further, but my faith in our dark elf friend was very shaken. If he had connections to the sisters, then he might have connections to their mother. He might even be a plant by Lilith in our group. It wouldn't be the first time one of her pets infiltrated a group and betrayed it. I knew I'd have to keep an eye on the elf, but for the time being we still needed him with us. Going to Limbo with him though... That would be another matter.
Just as we finished discussing the matter of the gate cube, the door to the inn burst open and Tharra's bound form was flung into the room, followed by the bandit leader Rolf, wearing an expression like he was out for blood.
Zarruk's Family History
11th Ariel, 1358
We took a short rest and ate some food, then continued on our journey to Stilbjabyr. We asked Tharra about the town as we travelled. She told us the town ews mostly made up of humans and dwarves and had a population of about 1200. Stilbjabyr was governed by an order of knights called the Court of Eleven who are in charge of keeping order in the town. Tharra told us she would not be setting foot in the Wrong Elf in and mentioned something about a bad experience or something, but did not elaborate further. I was concerned that it may have been a racial issue against elves, but she said it was more of a personal matter. Curious, I decided to cast elven guise and see for myself what sort of reaction these people would have to a group with three elves and a half elf coming into town. Zarruk of course thought I was trying to stir the pot; to be fair maybe he was right, but if we were about to enter a place where an elf was unwelcome I doubt they would be pleased to see a fey'ri either.
When we made it back to the road I mentioned something about keeping an eye out for the Blood Drop Crew, and Tharra asked if we had encountered them. We told her briefly what had transpired, and she said that we should check the coin purse that Rolf gave back to Dru. When we looked, it was filled with rocks instead of gold. I already had a bone to pick with the bandit, and that sealed his fate. Extortion is one thing, but switching the coin after a deal had been made rubbed me the wrong way. I've made a lot of deals and while the terms may be stretched or bent, to lie and break the terms in such a backhanded way is heinous and unforgivable. Rolf would die for that.
One the journey Zarruk finally opened up a little about his family, something he had never spoken of before. His whole people were enslaved by a race called illithid or mindflayers. They were able to fight back against their oppressors but fell to in fighting and split into two factions. Zarruk thought his whole family had been killed and had run away into exile, so finding out that an uncle was still alive was quite a shock. Whatever these things were, they had to be pretty powerful to enslave an entire race of people as strong as our gith comrade, which is unsettling to think about.
We eventually found our way to Stilbjabyr and entered the city gates. The first thing we saw as we entered was a massive stone dragon standing in the street. Inspecting it, it did not appear to be a statue as there were no chisel marks and no base or pedestal for it to stand on. Rather it appeared to be an actual petrified dragon. A box had been placed in front of it where passers by were placing coins. We asked Tharra about it and she told us that there was a local legend that a wizard had enchanted the dragon and locked it in stone, but that if any of his descendants passed before it without placing a coin in the box then the spell would be broken and it would come back to life. Everyone seemed to take the story seriously, so we all dropped a copper piece in the box as we passed so as not to draw attention to ourselves.
We found the Wrong Elf Inn, and Mirielle and Dru waited outside with Tharra while the rest of us went in to find Zarruk's uncle. The innkeeper was a dwarf woman named Tharkar, and she told us that he had gone out but would be returning soon. Zarruk asked her what she could tell him about his uncle. She said he had been researching something called the "spawning stone", trying to find whatever books he could on the subject. I tried to play it off as if Zarruk's uncle was a historian chronicling various species and their legends, although I'm not sure Zarruk picked up on the hint. Innkeepers are terrible at keeping secrets, and if there are any Blue Flame cultists in Stilbjabyr I didn't want to give this woman any information about ourselves or Zarruk's uncle.
Dru decided to rejoin us in the in, and shortly after that Zarruk's uncle returned and found us. His name was Branlid Zerth. He greeted us warmly and joined us in a corner booth. Po and I posted up on either side to ensure that the conversation they had would remain as private as possible. Branlid told us that the illithid had in fact killed everyone after Zarruk had fled. He had shown up afterwards and buried Zarruk's parents. One of the illithid was named Rezic; he seemed to be their leader. Branlid said when he arrived he saw a blue fire and seven figures around it all dressed in black. One was Rezic. Another was Darneska. The group was after the spawning stone. This stone was the home of the slaad race and a place where they congregate during their mating season. It was massive, and created huge tidal waves when their eggs hatched. The slaad guard the stone, but if it were ever removed and brought to another plane it could potentially release unfathomable chaos. Darneska and the illithid's purpose seemed to be removing the stone for just that purpose.
Branlid also mentioned a place north of Stilbjabyr called Wired's Folly, a weathered stone archway constructed by an excentric individual named Mesun Wired. No one knows why he built it. I was curious why he mentioned it as it was not connected with anything he had mentioned up to that point. Was it important or just disjointed rambling?
As they spoke we noticed a group of men that looked like soldiers watching us. Branlid thought they may have been part of the city guard, and mentioned because of the dragon legend the town is very wary of new comers. The city leaders take the legend very seriously and have guards stationed to keep watch in case the spell over the dragon is ever broken by a descendant of the wizard passing by without offering a coin.
We decided to get rooms at the inn and rest for the night. We all gathered in Zarruk's room first; I was concerned about him, and he definitely seemed shaken, but resolved to go to Limbo and stop the illithid from taking the spawning stone. We all agreed to go with him, partly due to loyalty as a group, partly because of the illithid's connection to the Blue Flame Cult. If this was part of Bane and Merkyl's plan, we would need to do what we could to stop it.
Before going to sleep, I apologized to Dru for striking him after we had gone through the portal. He seemed to understand, and we reached something of an agreement that he would be more cautious and I would try to be more trusting. I wish I could have told him why I don't trust anyone, even my friends, anymore. Maybe if he knew what Beocca did, what Silvanus had allowed to happen, or how Maethok had twisted everything about our deal, he would understand. I want to spare him that kind of pain; the firbolg deserves to keep his innocence, but facing demons and evil gods I don't know how much longer he can afford to hold onto it.
More Talking Trees
11th Ariel, 1358
Aerglas charged into the clearing mounted on an owlbear with five other owlbears in tow. He was raving about how some kraken named Slarkrathel was going to wipe everything out, or something. Honestly I'd had enough of crazy, egomaniacal, power chasing zealot types by that point and didn't pay much attention, readying myself for combat instead. The fight was intense, by we worked well as a team. Even as the newest member, Po's abilities fit well with the group, and while Zarruk incapacitated the druid the rest of us focused on taking down the owlbears. Aerglas finally did manage to get over whatever spell Zarruk's magic dagger placed him under, but the bard immediately hit him with a fire ball and finished him off.
Once we killed the last of the owlbears Tharra urged us to find Turlang, but we took a moment to recover rather than rushing after her, not knowing what we might encounter ahead. Zarruk retrieved his dagger from the body of the druid and Dru tried to harvest an ear from one of the owlbears, although it was badly mangled by the time he actually cut it off. Once we had caught our breath and gathered our wits again after the fight, we followed Tharra back into the forest. We met a huge, strange creature lying on the ground. It appeared to be almost like a tree but with a face. If he had been standing he might have been nearly 50 feet tall. Roots had already sprung from the body into the ground and appeared to be healing and revitalizing him. Tharra told us this was Turlang. Dru cast plant growth on the creature, and immediately it appeared to hasten the healing process Turlang was already going through and within moments he awoke and seemed more or less fully restored. He rose to a sort of sitting position and spoke with us. Tharra vouched for us as friends and the defeaters of Aerglas, which seemed to please him. Turlang told us that he knew Amara and was the one who allowed her to place a gateway to the feywild in the forest.
In thanks for our service and because our actions had respected the forest (mostly) Turlang offered us an initiation into the Emerald Enclave. We took some time to deliberate on the pros and cons of such an initiation. Turlang told us that there would be some responsibilities as members of the enclave and we may be called on to render assistance with some tasks, but we would mostly be free to continue with our own missions. Inclusion in the enclave would also grant us safe conduct within the High Forest and the Shadowtop Cathedral. I was reluctant to enter into a pact with another group; our experience with the Splinters went less than favorably, and considering how easily Turlang fell to Aerglas, who in turn fell to us, did not inspire me with confidence that these were the types of friends we wanted. In my mind we need more powerful allies. However the group felt that safe passage through the forest would be helpful, and the worst case scenario seemed to be that if we refused a task from the Enclave then we would merely be expelled as members. So we agreed to the initiation. Dru was ecstatic. We all received green brooches with designs of intertwined roots as signs of our status as members of the Enclave.
Turlang told us that Aerglas had held a seat of power within the Enclave, but had been turned by someone to instead serve a kraken named Slarkrathel, and had sought to bring down the Enclave. What a kraken could possibly want with a forest cathedral is beyond me, but the motivations of these entities are muddled and seem driven only by greed and desire for power, whatever the source.
Before leaving us, Turlang asked Tharra to accompany us on our journey. She seemed competent in the battle, so having her with us could be useful. We'll have to see how well she fits in though. I'm wasn't sure that she fully realized what she signed up for though.
Blood Drop Crew
As we arrive back in the material plane and get our bearings, I was furious with Dru for leading us into that circle without knowing what it was and then offering to help a strange unicorn we knew nothing about. Frustrated, I punched the firbolg, the first time any of us in the group had come to blows with each other. Before it could go any further though we realized we were surrounded by a dozen bandits. Their leader stepped forward and introduced himself as Rolf, and demanded 100 gold payment for safe passage along the road. We tried talking our way out of having to pay, but the leader revealed he was wearing dragonscale armor and boasted about how he and his group, the "Blood Drop Crew", had felled dragons and would make quick work of our small party. Dru then offered to pay out of his own pocket with the caveat that Rolf show us the way to the Shadowtop Cathedral. The man reluctantly agreed, and we set out along the road once again.
The trek became difficult as the road grew narrower and the atmosphere darker from the thickening trees. We stopped a few times to rest, and Dru tried to strike up a conversation with Rolf. I'm not sure if Dru was purposefully flirting with him or making very naive compliments, but seeing the bandit's obvious discomfort talking to the druid was quite hilarious and satisfying. We eventually had to make camp for the night at a place the bandits apparently used frequently. I didn't trust that these bandits wouldn't bring us to their camp just to kill us or capture us, so we divided up into watches through the night. Po and Dru took first watch, but all stayed quiet. Dru spoke with an owl that flew close to the camp, and learned that we were close to a place called Leska Caves where a coven of hags lived. Zarruk and I took second watch, and that's when the specters appeared. At first just one, far in the distance just at the edge of sight, then more. They never approached too close to the camp, but circled around the edge of it. We woke the other, but Rolf said they had been appearing recently and so far had not bothered them. We kept an eye on them and the never ventured to close, but it was still unsettling.
In the morning while we were discussing what they could be, we noticed that Rolf had a strange gem cut in the shape of a lynx's head. When we asked him about it he said the expression on the face changed sometimes. Dru took it and cast detect magic, discovering that it could be used to grant some sort of luck. It may have belonged to a local tribe that worshipped the lynx. Dru tried to persuade Rolf to sell him the gem, but he foolishly told the bandit what the stone could do before offering to buy it and the man realized its value and refused. Dru was still holding onto it, and not wanting to give it up. I saw an opportunity and pointed out that having a mage identify a magic item usually cost some sort of fee, and suggested that Rolf pay Dru 100 gold for identifying the gem. He grudgingly handed Dru back his coin purse, and we got back on the road to Shadowtop.
We began to hear whispers in the forest and eventually lost the trail. While looking about for the road, we heard a voice say "Did they notice us?", and Dru recognized that the trees were talking to each other. He began speaking with them and discovered that two of the trees and some of the shrubs were talking. The names we got were Silvia, Banion, and Lindon. Zarruk was getting impatient and wanted to cast fireball to clear the whole road, but Dru was able to convince the trees that he was a servant of Chauntea and they allowed us to pass.
We made it to Shadowtop shortly after that, where Rolf left us. The path forward was lined with trees and music filled the air as a satyr played a set of pipes from a perch in the branches above us. He introduced himself as Greenwhistle, and was trying to compose some sort of love ballad. Zarruk gave what advice he could on the tune, then we asked the satyr about this Turlang person we were sent to meet. Greenwhistle said Turlang had been gone for several days, and as we were talking a female elf ran in and said that Turlang had been attacked by a druid named Aerglas. A kraken called Slarkrathel had corrupted Aerglas and turned him against the Emerald Enclave. He had betrayed Turlang, luring him into a ravine and attacking him.
Then as she was telling us this, Aerglas himself burst into the clearing riding an owlbear, 5 other owlbears in tow.
The Evermoore Road
During Dru's meeting with Chauntea, she asked him to go to the High Forest and find the Shadowtop Cathedral. A friend of hers named Turlang lived there; he was a member of the Emerald Enclave and may need our help. She also gifted Dru with a new staff made from a sappling from the Tranquil Oasis to replace the one that Bane destroyed.
We all met in Zarruk's room after returning from our respective errands. He was understandably eager to head to Stiljabyr and meet his uncle, but we agreed to wait until morning and make the necessary preparations before leaving on that journey. He and Dru knew that we would have to take the Evermoore Road to reach the town, which would take us through the High Forest. Dru then told us of Chauntea's request, and we agreed to try to find the Shadowtop Cathedral on our way to Stiljabyr. Before going to bed I got information from Amara on where we could buy supplies and sell some of the loot we had taken from the dungeon, then I wrote up two letters to send to Brother Beocca and Isyllwen in Windholm, letting them know what had happened since I left and where we would be going next. Amara and I also discussed the dragoneye stones that Bevil/Bane had given us. She said he could potentially use those to track us, so they should be left here for them to destroy. We would be able to contact them instead with the oak leaf that Silvanus had sent while we were in the dungeon. It could be used to send spoken messages, using the phrase "message of the wind".
In the morning we made our preparations, leaving the stones with Amara, sending the letters through a young man named Jaques, and then going to a merchant a Brytha's Masonry to sell some of the extra gear. We then embarked on the Evermoor Road and headed out of the city. We eventually reached the High Forest and entered through an archway made of a living tree. Inside the forest the high canopy allowed little light through, leaving us to find our way in relative darkness. Dru seemed much more in his element here than in the city, so we let him by the guide. As we followed him suddenly a white unicorn crossed our path. Dru decided to follow it since it seemed to be moving parallel to the road. We eventually encountered it in a clearing where it entered a circle of large stones and disappeared. Perplexed, we investigated to see where it might have gone and if this was some sort of trap. Po dropped a rock on the ground at the center of the circle and it promptly disappeared, while I cast Detect Magic and discovered some sort of transference magic on the ground with a distinct Fey aura to it. Dru attempted to call out to the unicorn several times, but receiving no response he stepped into the circle and disappeared.
We eventually followed him, discovering that the circle was a portal to the Feywild. The unicorn was there, standing at an altar with a horn placed in the center of it. A pixie approached us and demanded to know what we were doing there. Talking with her, we discovered her name was Lolatha and the unicorn's name was Althada. The unicorn was mourning her mate, who had been killed by a blue dragon 300 years ago. Dru tried to offer to help the unicorn, but she became agitated and I urged everyone to leave quickly. Stepping back to the center of the stone circle returned us to the material plane, but something felt off...
A Complicated Errand
As the two gods entered the room, we were all struck by a sense of awe and insignificance. Dru and I dropped to our knees before our respective patrons, and Dru made an offering and prayer to Chauntea on the spot. She smiled, and took him to another room for a private conversation. Silvanus spoke to me as well, though not in private, and said "You must figure out if you want to live with two voices in your mind or bring them together. You can't bring balance to the world if you can't even bring balance to yourself." It cut me to the core. I had known something was wrong with my mind, the constant voices clamoring for control and struggling to subdue each other. For the moment I knew that I, Lurker, was the one who needed to be in control. The boy and the child were not ready for what we are facing. But perhaps the god was right. The constant struggle is tiring, and some sort of consensus must be reached eventually. But until I discovered what caused this "split" in myself, there was little I could do to heal it.
Silvanus, Amara, and Fen eventually all took their leave and we were left to discuss what our plans were next. Part of me wanted to stay and see to the defenses of Barad Ellion. But at the same time I felt inadequate to make a difference after seeing the forces Merkyl and Bane controlled in their dungeon, and knew we needed to learn more about how to fight them and grow stronger before we had a chance to win. We also discussed going to retrieve Egert, but again felt that venturing back into the dungeon would be foolhardy. Part of me was also reluctant to risk my life in such a way again while I am so far away from seeing my own goals realized. There are things I must do before I am claimed by my other patron permanently, and I could risk a suicide mission. But I did not voice those thoughts to the group; I was not ready to trust them with that knowledge yet. Fighting demons is one thing...
In the end we decided to find Zarruk's uncle. Zarruk did not say if there was information in the letter as to what he wanted, but it seemed urgent.
We remembered that we had left some of our treasure at the bottom of the well in Scholar's Square, so Po and I decided to go retrieve it. It was night already by the time we left the inn and headed to the square, and it was beginning to rain. As we walked through town it seemed that word of an attack had already begun to spread and people were beginning to make preparations for defense and a possible seige. Upon arriving at the square we found that the well was being guarded by four soldiers. Getting a closer look we found that they had brought our treasure up and piled it by the well. I doubted that the guard would just turn the bags over to us if we showed up, so Po and I devised a plan to distract the guard and allow him to slip close and grab the bags. It went fairly smoothly; I cast a darkness spell to block their view of Po and he cast Faerie Fire to distract them. They almost heard him though and began searching for the treasure when they realized it was missing. I used another spell to disguise myself as a guard in case they came to close, but fortunately he was able to slip away before they saw him. While watching I noticed that these soldiers had the symbol of the Black Fist on their armor. It reminded me that a woman calling herself Aleyid Burral of the Black Fists had offered us a job. Too bad we wouldn't be able to take it; the coin would have been nice.
After Po rejoined me, he told me that he had taken a piece of the obsidian rock that covered the ground around the square and had thrown it down the well to distract the guards. But when he picked it up, he felt like something or someone was screaming in his mind. One more product of whatever corrupted spells the Blue Flame were using to sow chaos in the land no doubt. But we'll need to be careful if we come in contact with it again.
Gods and Their Priests
After fighting Darneska and watching Bane leave, we took a moment to assess the room. There were several large chests on the far side, in which we found a good many useful items, including several sets of armor, some gems, a magic wand, magic boots, a headband, and some gold coins. We made sure to pack everything with us, then began searching for another way out. Dru found a lever and pulled it, revealing a staircase leading up. As we were about to ascend a dark elf entered the room carrying a bound imp. The elf introduced himself as Po, and said that he had been paid to find us. He did not reveal why he had been sent to find us or who had paid him, but apparently killing us was not on the agenda so we allowed him to join. The imp was the same one that had been following us since we entered this cursed dungeon, and Dru decided to dispatch it back to hell in the most expedient way possible. We then quickly began to climb the stairs.
The further up the stairs we went, the colder things became. We almost thought we heard whispers in our minds, and my vision started to swim. I heard a voice inside my mind, a voice I had begun to hear more regularly, and something began to wrestle for control of my consciousness. Exhausted from the fight and the revelation we had just faced, I was in no condition to withstand such a struggle and this alternate identity took control. Egert was evidently in much the same state, as he suddenly ran screaming up the stairs. We all followed him, eventually entering a room at the top.
We found ourselves in a large room full of pews. Mordecai and Tobor were in the room and around them the floor was littered with bodies. They had managed to escape Wolfrest and make it to Barad Ellion, and had then caught up with Father Briar in the House of Ataraxia. They had fought and killed his associates and captured the father himself. I realized looking around us that the dungeon stairs had led us right back into the heart of that black temple. Egert collapsed on one of the pews, completely exhausted. Three other figures entered the room. One was Myria. Apparently she had helped them once they arrived in town and apprised them of what had transpired with the well. One of the other figures was a human clad in armor who introduced himself as Gareth. The other was a red skinned Tiefling called Nyrax. Apparently they had helped Tabor and Mordecai in the fight. Lastly Descartes entered, and explained that he had been the one that sent Po to search for us.
We then explained as best we could what had happened in the dungeon, and that Bevil was actually Bane and had betrayed them. Elodin was dead. One small consolation to me was being able to tell them that that bastard Descartes was also slain, but it seemed to hardly matter now. As I thought back on everything that had happened, all the lies that we had been fed and how much blood had already been spilled by that treasonous scum, I felt rage building up inside me. Then someone reminded us that Father Briar had been capture and was being held in the courtyard at the back of the temple. We all headed out to question him, but with those memories still in my mind I was only seeing red.
Briar managed to fill in some of the blanks for us, doing so in the most condescending way possible. Barad Ellion had been built on an ancient fortress which had once been the home of Merkyl, the god Briar served. Merkyl was set on reclaiming his stronghold and building his strength. The god apparently feeds on the blood of mortals, which explains the strange viscous liquid we found in several places in the dungeon; blood flowing through the fortress to feed its owner. Briar was reluctant to share more, so I cut of an ear to get his attention. He then babbled that Merkyl was bringing an of darkness to destroy Barad Ellion in three days, and that Lillith Lovelock was his chosen queen. We attempted to squeeze any last meaningful information out of the villain, Dru going so far as to gouge one of his eyes out. But it seemed his sanity was failing as he fell into rambling about how he lived to serve his god and all blood that is spilled in the city only makes Merkyl stronger, and how we were all destined for failure and death. I grew sick of listening to the man, and after discussing with the rest we all agreed death was too quick and easy for Briar. So I blinded his remaining eye and cut out his tongue, and told him to go find another way to pray to his precious god as I kicked him towards the road. It did not make anything we had been through any less painful, but it felt good to take one more final stab at the trio of gods that had lead us into this mess.
Myria urged us to return to the Gray Mare Inn and speak to Amara. We began heading that way, Dru and Po staying behind to retrieve Egert. On the road to the inn I talked to Tabor. His wife had been killed by the Blue Flame, and he wept and raged at everything, wanting desperately to get her back. I could sympathize with that feeling. It is a goal similar to my own after all. I told him I too have loved ones I am seeking to have returned, and swore to him that if I ever found the way to bring them back, I would bring his wife back as well.
Po and Dru eventually rejoined us, but when they had gone back into the temple Egert and all of the bodies had disappeared without a trace. We were unsure what that could mean, but continued to our meeting with the innkeeper. We met with Amara and she revealed that Fen was her brother, the Fey prince that we met back in Wolfrest. They are both Fey royalty. Upon learning of Bane and Merkyl's plan to attack the city, they assured us that they would be able to summon an army from the Feywild to defend Barad Ellion. They had brought this city to life; it is not native to this plane, and was built above the fortress as a sort of Seal of Atonement. Amara then told Mirielle that her mother has been looking for her (apparently her mother is Fey), and Amara also had a letter for Zarruk from an uncle. In it his uncle asked him to meet him at the Wrong Elf Inn in Stiljabyr on Mastiff's Way. He said we could contact someone named Tharcar and they would put us in touch with Zarruk's uncle.
Then, just as we thought that we had had all the surprises we could handle for one lifetime, none other than Silvanus and Chauntea entered the room.
**PS** It was not until much later that we realized...Nyrax, the red skinned Tiefling, had not returned to the inn with us and was no where to be found.
Stabbed in the Back
We made our way back to the catacombs again with Egert, who was definitely looking the worse for wear. He managed to tell us that the followers of the Blue Flame had attacked the gate that Elodin was watching over, and among their number was Darneska. In the fight that ensued the gate portal was shattered. The blue flames were actually used but the cult followers as a portal themselves, and he said that he, Bevil, and Elodin followed the cult to this dungeon. Darneska was heard to say something about a scroll and that they were in league with a "Dark King". They were in Barad Elion to meet Father Briar. Whatever the Father was studying is apparently coming to life.
Egert tried to explain that the well was an illusion, not a planar portal as I had thought. The date on the note left by Bevil was apparently some sort of code; he clearly overestimated our ability to decipher it. The 15th really meant 1 + 5, which is 6. Egert explained that there were 6 individuals with Darneska. He then began to babble about how Bevil dreams in algoriths, and I couldn't make much sense of it. Probably incoherent from blood loss.
We made a fire and cooked some of the meat of the creatures we killed. Prestidigitation made it somewhat more palpable, but barely. Dru and Zarruk then took first watch.
(Dru fell asleep on watch and dreamed of his sister Dray. She is being held by an unidentified female somewhere other than the material plane.)
I dreamed, finally the many voices were still, and I only heard one, the voice of Silvanus. "Do you see the balance that's been brought?" I saw him in my dream, an old man with a tree guardian. At his side were two others, both Fey'ri. My parents. He said with all sincerity that they had become close friends and that they were safe with him. I was shaken. Beocca had told me none of my race could enter Silvanus's realm in the afterlife, and I even gave up my wings to prove my devotion and willingness to reject my race and heritage. And yet there they were, completely happy with the Great Oak Father. Could Beocca have lied to me? They told me "Until you face the things that have tampered with who you are, your life will spiral out of control." And my mother looked at me and made me promise "No more deals, and find your siblings".
On my watch I take time to go through my ritual prayers, and use the oak leaf that Silvanus gifted me as part of the ritual. It is different than the others, still vibrant with life rather than dry and brittle, almost emitting an aura. Nothing disturbed our rest, and we eventually all awoke and made the best of the left over meat for a hasty breakfast. Going back to the chamber where we found Egert, we head to the two old wooden doors with brass handles. Dru used his magic staff to open the doors safely, and we entered next into a room with large posts, curved walls, and doors to the south. Bones, cloth, and armor littered the floor. There was the smell of a wolf again, and something was causing Mirielle to be unsettled. While trying to decide which way to go, Dru picked up one of the bones on the floor to throw down a tunnel and apparently set off some sort of magic trap, immediately struck with terrible pain in his mind. Perhaps at some point before we leave this dungeon the firbolg with learn not to touch everything he sees. We eventually chose a path to follow, and entered a tunnel full of insect buzzing around and covered in dark slime. We eventually emerged into a room where a table had been set at the far end, and there are three figures gathered around it. One was the wolf-like creature we had encountered the day before, another was Darneska, and the third was Bevil. All were sitting perfectly still. As Dru moved forward, the wolf and Darneska vanished.
Bevil was pale white, eyes black, his face bearing a slight smirk.
Darneska and the wolf attacked us, and while we had a rough time we eventually killed both of them and Darneska's infernal cloak, in large part thanks to Zarruk's magic dagger taking Darneska out for a large part of the fight. After they were killed however, Bevil remained in a trance-like state. I though he was being possessed by some other entity. He finally roused enough to speak to us, and began talking about how the "ritual" was almost complete. He said strange things like "The farmer should have kept you busy longer" and "Barad Ellion will soon be in ruins". As he spoke it became increasingly clear that Bevil was not who we thought he was. He was in fact the god Bane. Darneska had created some sort of void, and not-Bevil kicked the corpses into it where they were completely swallowed up.
Dru wanted to take the fight to him right then, but I tried to talk him down. I had barely survived the fight with Darneska, and was no where near ready to fight a god yet. Dru pressed the issue though, so Bane decided to make a show of strength and telepathically ripped Dru's magic staff from his hands, crushing it into a black void. We eventually struck a deal with Bane that we would both go our separate ways for now, and he disappeared from sight. Egert did not take the revelation well, and all of us were shaken. If Bevil was actually an evil god this whole time, and Sibil is in the hands of Lilith, the Splinters seem to be done.
A Friend In Need
8th Ariel, 1358
It was our worst fight yet. The two creatures that emerged from the ravine we later learned were called Screaming Devilkin, tormented beings of fey-kind that continuously bombarded our senses with hideous cries and wails. The third beast we could not identify, as it only appeared briefly for a few moments to attack us before disappearing, but it seemed to be some large wolf-like entity. Mirielle attacked with unmatched ferocity at the outset of the fight, but the howls of the wolf left her disoriented and frightened. I wonder if she has encountered a beast like this before and it left some trauma or impression on her, as I have never seen her afraid of any creature we have yet fought. The devilkin fought from the air, lashing out with their tails and making it difficult to land a hit, and Zarruk took a nasty bite from the wolf. Eventually we managed to down the two fey and were about to turn our attention to the wolf, but it taunted us and then fled into the shadows. As it left we caught a glimpse of the imp that had escaped us when we first entered the well, laughing from a small tunnel in the ravine below before disappearing around a corner.
I examined the devilkin, but found little of value on them other than a few copper pieces. I pity the creatures, as they appear to have been tormented and tortured, left in constant agony and pain. As I examined them, something prompted me to remove one of their ears. I don't normally take trophies or tokens of triumph, and I can't say why I did it. I felt compelled by some thought or feeling that it would be important though, and placed it carefully within my pack.
Looking around the room I discovered a book whose title was written in Abyssal, "The Spider King", but after opening it I realized that inside it was written in Infernal. Fortunately Mirielle learned Infernal and gave it a look. It appeared to be about an adventurer who traveled to the Underdark to find a giant spider. As she turned the pages, the words and writing began to shift grotesquely, as the note that we found on the goblin had done. I must learn to read this language as it seems to be how many of the creatures we've encountered communicate; I may be able to find ways of dealing with them more effectively. Dru meanwhile had discovered a coin with the sigil for Acquisitions Inc. on one side. The other side appeared blank, then a single word appeared. We passed the coin around and it seems that the word appears randomly, sometimes "Lucrative", or "Ruinous", or even "Brand Appeal". AI was apparently some sort of organization similar to a thieves guild, somewhat shady in their dealing with adventurers.
The ravine that split this room was deep, but not wide. After deliberating we decided to cross and explore past the door to the south rather than trying to reach the tunnel where the imp disappeared. Opening the door, we entered a long room full of rubble. The walls were of steel lattice, the roof supported by rotting wood posts. In the darkness ahead we saw two sets of eyes twinkling; investigating we discovered they were statues, one on either side of the hall. They were carved in the likeness of ilithid, with eyes that appeared to be made of the same obsidian material that always appears when the Blue Flame cult attacks (also the same material as the ring I found). Further ahead the hall narrowed and there in the center of the passage was a pedestal holding a glass orb. Examining the statues there appeared to be writing of some sort on the base, but it was so old and worn I could not make it out. Dru discovered that the back of the statues' heads were hollow, as if something could be placed inside them. He asked for the ilithid skull we had found on Eladin's body, and proceeded to place it inside the skull. There was a click as it locked into place, and suddenly the room started shaking. The pedestal tottered and the ord began to fall. Dru and Zarruk attempted to catch it, but it shattered on the floor. Instantly webs shot out from the walls. The others managed to dodge out of the way, but I was caught in them. They seemed to be endowed with some magical fire, and burned me as I was held in place. I managed to cut myself free, and we slashed our way through the webs and out of the room. I sometimes forget that as wise and kind as Dru is, he can be a bit naïve about this sort of adventuring and bears reminding of the dangers of traps. I must try to keep him from foolishly setting one off like that again in the future.
The next room we found ourselves in seemed to be a catacomb or burial chamber. There were several large pillars with crypts built into them. All of the crypts had already been broken into and ransacked long ago, and I did not detect the presence of any fiends or undead in the room, although there had definitely been some there in the past. We were able to scavenge some small coins that had been left behind, all in all 2100 copper, 1000 silver, and 30 gold (totalling 151 gold in value). We were going to take a rest, then Zarruk discovered a small alcove with a door. Opening the door, we could hear a sound like someone crying or wailing further down a dark passage. Water trickled down a set of stairs, and faintly in the distance we heard again the sound of an organ playing. While I was wounded more than I have been since the start of this adventure, we decided to press forward for fear that those cries might be from one of our friends. Dru used a healing spell to help patch me up in case we had to fight, and I cast a spell covering my armor in frost (a spell I don't even remember learning, but it came to me as easily as breathing).
We crept down the passage and entered a large room. The water that was running down the passage emptied into a pool, and on the far side of the pool we saw three monstrous creatures huddled around the body of Egert. He appeared to still be alive, so we crept forward as Dru cast a spell to hide our appearance and deaden any sounds we might make. We managed to sneak up and make it to Egert, quickly giving him a potion to get him back on his feet. Dru then launched a thunderwave spell at the three creatures, hurling them backwards to the ground. Two of the beasts appeared to have leathery skin and wings, tear shaped bodies atop chicken-like legs, and large mouths. The third was a fat creature with lanky arms and a mouth that had been sown shut. Each seem to have been created from a different creature at some point in the past, and still bore elements of that past life in their body, though now it appeared grotesquely mutated. We quickly dispatched the monsters, although again seeing their state I did feel pity for them. What horrible evil has contrived to mangle and mutilate creatures into these abominations?
We helped Egert up, and though he was injured none of the wounds were fatal. After telling him of what we had discovered up to that point, particularly Bevil's note and Eladin's fate, we decided to retreat back to the catacombs and rest before continuing forward.
A Monster's Kitchen
8th Ariel, 1358
I fell unconscious, a strange turmoil engulfing my mind. I could hear Dru and Zarruk talking faintly, and was dimly aware of their presence, but they were only in the background of the other voices arguing in my mind. Eventually I awoke to Dru at my side, a different part in control. I feel fine, and actually remember more of the past few days than I ever have when I've experienced these blackouts. But my friends were concerned, noticing the change. We decided to rest after our fight with the pair of demons, and I attuned to the strange new ring I had found.
Dru took the time to study the cube we had found on the two sisters. It seems to be some sort of portal device or imbued with planar magic. One symbol was identical to the trinket Dru carries, which I discovered was a unique symbol given to his sister Dray. He took out a music box with the same symbol on it, and told me about her as the music played. She was an adventurer, a strange trait for one of Dru's race apparently, and left the box with him before disappearing some time ago. We only recognized one other symbol on the cube, that of the material plane. The symbols on the other four sides are strange, but likely associated with other planes as well.
Upon further investigation of the room we are in, the grease or oil that flows from the tunnel we entered through has a trace of blood in it. Fresh blood, as if it is still living. We could not determine a source, but the fact that the maw demons were lapping up Elodin's blood and this area is connected with Darneska, the son of a vampiric demon entity, is troubling. I shuddered to think where this blood could be coming from and what its purpose could possibly be.
The way forward split, and we had to choose between two paths. Choosing the double doors, we discovered the way just beyond the doors blocked by an immovable stone wall. I can attest to the fact that this wall was definitely not an illusion and could not be moved, and Dru could not find any sign of a mechanism for moving it. We were therefore forced to return and try the second passage, and eventually encountered another door. So far we have not encountered any of the traps that Bevil warned us about, so either he is still ahead of us and has successfully disarmed them or we are extremely lucky. The door eventually led to another room, this one brightly lit by lanterns hung from the ceiling. It appeared to be a kitchen of some sort, with broken dishes, crockery, and molding food littering the area and the smell of sulfur growing stronger. We found no signs of Bevil, but did find cages along the walls suspended by chains. The cages were empty save for bones and bits of debris, and a closer inspection revealed the bones to be those of humans, dwarves, and elves. There were doors in each wall, and Dru found another door in the center of the floor. When opened this door had a stair wrapping up underneath, apparently in some sort of weird dimensional anomaly.
We were greatly confused as to which way to go, and could find no sign or symbol to guide us. At a loss, I attempted to pray to Silvanus and ask for help. Strangely, we felt a warm breeze fill the room, and a single oak leaf fluttered down in front of me. Then I heard his voice, the first time I have ever heard him speak so clearly. He said "Remember what you have learned. There is always balance. Doors are made to be opened, and unless you test yourself you won't know if they should remain open or be shut. Enter into the unknown and accept it for what it is. Don't let the darkness take you." His last statement was strange, as he said "I have a wolf to catch". I'll have to ask Brother Beocca what that could possibly mean.
Taking his words as a sign, I walked to the door in the floor and stepped forward. I felt a strange rush as my body adjusted to a new center of gravity, but there were no ill effects so I continued forward. Suddenly ahead of myself I could see as if through a portal from the ceiling of the room we were in. I looked down on Zarruk and Dru, and could almost see myself as well. I continued, but then fell and dropped from the ceiling back into the kitchen beside Zarruk. A strange magical loop. Dru suggested that it was meant to torture prisoners with a false sense of hope if they managed to escape. At first this idea confused me. Then Zarruk tried one of the wooden doors in the wall, the one to the south of the room, and as soon as he passed the threshold he re-entered the room from the door to the east. So the loop is set once one has entered the room. Examining the wall I found a second door to the east, this one made of stone. Opening this one, a passage led down to another set of elaborate double doors below. Apparently this was the way, and we proceeded down the passage. The walls of this hallway were lined with books, and after taking a brief glance I found a few interesting titles and put them into my back.
Reaching the double doors, they apparently were not trapped either, and opened with ease. The room beyond was filled with books also, but there was a gash cut in the floor making almost a ravine-like opening. The cold was completely gone now and replaced by heat and the intensifying odor of sulfur. Down in the ravine there looked to be another passage leading out of the room, and to the far south of the room was another set of double doors, barred with a latch. I am learning to sense these creatures with the Oak Father's divine aid, and I realized that two more fiends were climbing up out of the ravine, while a third large beast lurked invisible behind us. I tried to shout a warning back to the others, just in time for the two in the ravine to rise and spread tattered wings, screeching with furry at our presence.
Into the Depths
8th Ariel, 1358
The room we found ourselves in is of old stone, shaped like a hexagon some 30 feet across. It was cold down in the room as it was in the square, and a dark aura permeated the air. Hide blankets covered the floor, curtains were drawn over what looked to be windows, and another curtain covered an archway in the far wall. Almost everything in the room seemed old and on the point of decay, except for a piece of parchment that Dru and Zarruk found fastened on the wall. It was a letter from Bevil addressed to us. He wrote that he had tracked Darneska down here, and that that devil spawn had many followers with him this time. Bevil feared that Father Briar may have allied himself with Darneska based on what they had been able to learn. The area down here was trapped, and Elodin had been injured. He closed the letter with special words for each of us, and promised to tell us everything if we met again. Strangely the letter was dated the 15th of Ariel, which is one week in the future. I do not believe this to be a mistake on Bevil's part. Wherever this room was, I felt like it was part of some planar portal or dimensional rift. Inspecting the windows reinforced this belief, as drawing the crumbling old curtains revealed a black void beyond. We were no longer simply underground beneath Barad Ellion. Looking more closely at the floor also revealed a pattern of rivets that formed the outline of a dragon. I wouldn't have thought anything of such a symbol if the Boy hadn't seen a dragon flying on the edge of Barad Ellion a few days ago. It seems like too much of a coincidence for a dragon to appear outside of town and a dragon symbol to be on the floor of whatever portal or anomaly this room is.
We were about to continue on when Descartes collapsed, ice shards erupting from his chest. He was not equipped with the cold resistant armor that Bevil had gifted to us, and it did not seem he could withstand the growing cold. As much as I did not wish to lose him as a companion, I suggested he return to the surface and seek for aid, and he reluctantly agreed. We then headed towards the archway on the far side of the room, only to encounter a trio of imps on the other side of the curtain, one of which latched onto my arm. The imp cackled something about its master finding a scroll here, and a "reckoning" that was about to happen. We fought the imps (in the future, imps are immune to fire; my Burning Hands spell had no effect on them) and managed to kill two of them. Zarruk took a nasty sting from the imp's tail, which also apparently can inject poison, and the third imp vanished and escaped down the hallway ahead of us. After making sure the area was clear, we found that the second room we had entered contained several things. I found a magical ring (the Ring of Death Knocking), and the others found satchels containing gold and several gems, all in all about 309 gp worth of treasure. We also heard the strange sound of music playing, an instrument called an organ apparently. Eerie and discomforting to say the least.
The tunnel ahead of us was not trapped and began descending down. It appeared that some portions of the tunnel had begun to collapse and rubble littered the floor, but thankfully not enough to slow our travel. Strange chains lined the walls, and upon examining them I found they were stretched taut. Their positioning and construction reminded me of contraptions used in lifts, or in torture chambers to stretch victims, and I feared that we may face either some restrained beast ahead or one of our allies being held prisoner. As we moved further down a dim light appeared ahead, and Dru noticed liquid like grease or oil running down the walls and along the floor into a room ahead, so we quickly extinguished the torches we had lit. Thinking back to something Bevil had said in his letter, I took a moment to pray to Silvanus. I was unsure of how a prayer from me would be received, but I felt a reply back that simply said "It is not who you are right now that matters. Bring balance."
In the room ahead my worst fears were realized. The room was littered with junk, but in the center stood a pristine bed, and on either side of it a table. Two demonic beasts, with wide gaping maws and bodies covered in eyes, were straining to catch drops of blood that were falling from the dead body of our friend Elodin suspended by chains from the ceiling. A rage filled me at the sight of these two fiends desecrating the body of this kind elf, and without thinking I rushed into the room and attacked. Fortunately the others followed me and gave their support, and we were able to kill the beasts. Zarruk and Dru got into some quarrel over an insult that Zarruk threw at one of the fiends and Dru had taken offense to, but I barely even noticed their conversation. Elodin's body had been cut loose from the chains and fallen during the fight, and I went over to examine it. He had already begun decomposing, so he must have been dead for some time, or the process had been sped along by some foul sorcery. The skull of a mind flayer fell from his robes as I examined him; what that means I have no idea. All I know is that I found another friend dead, and still did not have the means to either prevent his death or reverse it. I did what I could to lay him to rest by placing his body on the bed and wrapping it in the sheets, vowing to find the person that did this to him and avenge his death. But even as I spoke his body began to disappear in tendrils of dark energy, and a light shone through a previously overlooked window made of stained glass. The organ music began playing again. The image of a black hand was embedded in the window, and voice spoke out thanking me for completing the "sacrifice". It said "Through this mortal body I grow stronger. I will take my throne back, and that queen will learn that she should never have crossed us".
I fired an eldritch blast at the stain glass window, shattering it. But even as the glass fell it reversed and reformed itself as if I had never damaged it. Dru challenged whatever entity it was to come down and fight us now, but I told him to wait. Whoever this being was, it was far stronger than us. My initial belief is that it was either one of the three evil gods that stole the Tablets of Fate or one of their undead servants seeking to grow in power by consuming mortals. But we have too little information at this point to know for sure, and none of us have the strength to challenge such a being yet. But I will not allow whatever this entity is to consume one of my companions in such a way again. Such power should be used to restore life, not take it like a parasite.
Weariness overcame me after this, and the last thought I had was a small voice saying "Can I come out now? Why does he get to have all the fun?" Oh little one, if you only knew the pain I have kept you from, you would not think it so fun. But have your own way, I am tired.
The Fight in Scholar's Square
8th Ariel, 1358
Descartes was able to examine Mirielle, and he had a potion that he attempted to administer to her, pouring only a drop or two from a glass vial of some strange liquid. Mirielle stirred, and with some coaxing finally awoke. It seems that she had been having a dream similar to Dru's, entering a tunnel into a mountain and hearing a voice saying "Come, bring me back". She also was unable to locate the voice before waking, however she did see a vision of a woman walking towards her in the last fleeting moments of the dream. The fact that two of our number have now had this dream both concerns and intrigues me. If I experience such a phenomena, I must try to delve deeper that the other two and see what I can discover. Mirielle seemed to have suffered no other harmful effects from our encounter with the Lovelocks, at least for now, which is a relief.
Unfortunately, shortly after Mirielle awoke Myria Highill arrived at the house. How she knew we were staying at Egert's I'm not sure, but her attitude was still as insufferable as before, and this time that cowardly Boy was not in command. She managed to offend Dru with her insults as well, and the two of us came to blows with her. Well actually, it was more of a one sided confrontation as Dru knocked her down and I landed a strike or two with the flat of my sword. The fight may have escalated further if Descartes had not intervened. Upon questioning her she admitted to not being fully informed as to the situation in town with the wells or with the House of Ataraxia Apparently a third party gave her the information to seek Father Briar, which makes me wonder if someone purposefully sent her to the house of someone who had been gone 11 years, but whether it was to put her (or us) off the scent or put us in the path of some harm in that cursed temple I'm not sure yet. She also admitted to being a freelance warrior, not an official member of the guard. She is concerned with the well being of the town, however, and since the others still wish to help in this matter we agreed to accompany her to the well, after an official apology on her part first.
We decided to go to the well in Scholar's Square first. As we left I cast elven guise on myself; it is relaxing to not be forced to hide my form among my friends, but until our purpose is more widely known in the town I thought it best to remain discreet for the time being. Hopefully I will soon not have to be continuously bothered with this inconvenient concealment. As we made our way into town the temperature continued to drop, and by the time we reached the square it was quite cold. The square was empty of villagers, which was strange, and we encountered again the black obsidian-like material covering the ground, jutting up in jagged shards through the pavement around the well. We also saw seven figures. One appeared to be an imp, three were like 8 ft tall maggots, two were like rotting animated corpses, the last like some sort of large humanoid made of clay-like material that I believe might have been some sort of golem. The maggots and imp approached us, while the others moved towards the shops in the square. Being nothing if not direct, we attacked. The battle was over quickly, and we managed to escape unscathed. The same could not be said of Myria, who lost an arm to an attack from the imp. Dru was generous enough to heal her, and although I still do not trust her the fact that she was willing to lose a limb to protect this town means there is at least some strength within her, and that I can respect. The only other interesting thing of note during the battle was that when I yelled "Begone" to the creatures in Abyssal, the imp responded "Ah, one who has been to our realm". As far as I know I have never been to the Abyss, I speak the language that was passed down to me by my parents. But with the memory gaps that still plague me, there is a possibility that there is more to this knowledge of their language than I initially thought. I shall have to keep this in mind and seek an answer in the future.
Upon investigating the well, we again smelled sulfur coming up from the well as before, and this time there was a faint light glowing at the bottom. Claw marks and slime covered the walls, and although I did not detect the immediate presence of any fiends, I could sense their aura coming from deep below. We tied a rope to the side and descended into the well. Instead of water at the bottom, a large room opened off to the side. We decided to rest there before seeking for what was allowing these demons entrance into our world.
The Cat on the Cold Frosty Lawn
8th Ariel, 1358
After leaving the barn we gathered Zarruk and made our return to Egert's house. We caught Zarruk up on what happened while investigating the barn. Mirielle was still out cold. She does not appear to be sick fortunately, but it still worries me. The vampire was certainly not bluffing about wanting to turn her into another undead minion, but I worry that they might have placed some spell or curse that is already beginning the process. If she is not recovered by tomorrow I may be forced to seek aid from the temple of Silvanus we passed in the Churches. Still frustrated with my choices during that conversation I went outside and let out some frustration on one of the splitting stumps by the house. I got carried away and woke Zarruk. He seemed sympathetic, and tried to encourage me, but the failing is still fresh in my mind. I am glad of his words though.
During the night Dru began tossing and turning, and eventually fell off of the couch and began crawling on the floor in his sleep. I tried to wake him, and he seemed to come to briefly and said something like "I'm coming" or "Where are you?" before falling asleep again. After that he was still, though, and Zarruk and I moved him back onto the couch for the night. Dreams are strange things, and may carry many meanings. While I had it on my mind I told Zarruk of the dream I had of Darneska a few nights ago, going to see his "Mother". I don't know if it has any significance or not, but I would rather tell someone before I lose control again and it is forgotten.
The next morning it was cold outside, with a hint of frost on the ground. Mirielle was still unconscious, so that's not good. I decided to give her a little more time, and since there was still no food in the house we went down to the river close by to try to get some fish. Dru used his nature abilities to convince the fish to jump into the net, and we caught around 20. I was impressed; a very practical use of a seemingly superfluous spell. As we were about to head back the tabaxi Descartes showed up. We obviously had to catch him up on a few things, from meeting the sisters to the demon and the Lovelocks to finding out what I am. Fortunately he took it all in stride. It seems from what he said that Bevil has been withholding some information from us however, or at least not letting us know the extent of the dangers we are faced with. Whether this is intentional, or even nefarious, on Bevil's part I'm not sure, but it does not help me trust him any more. Descartes filled us in on some of the information we were missing.
The vampire Lilith is actually a demon lord named Loth. She created something called the demon web pits in the Abyss, where she usually resides. She also created or turned several individuals to become her family; these include her husband Damon, the two daughters we killed, and Darneska (confirming my suspicion that there was a connection). Because they are demons taking the form of vampires, it is unlikely that we permanently killed Jillia and Camilla. They probably returned to their natural plane to recover and reform.
Loth has been fighting against the Splinters and their predecessors (the Protectors of the Tree of Life) for years. She is believed to be in league with the three gods Bane, Merkyl, and Baal, and likely came up with the plan for them to steal the Tablets of Fate from Iou, the Hidden One. She longs for power and has been called the Weaver of Chaos. Her threat to turn Mirielle probably comes from greed to have more followers than actually replace any daughters, since our pitiful weapons could not permanently kill Jillia or Camilla. Her son Darneska is the leader of this Blue Flame cult. The blue fire is a calling card of sorts, signalling where they intend to strike. Descartes mentioned that Darneska followed a group called the Changrian; I may need to ask for more details about this later and find out who they are and if they would be friend or foe to us.
I showed a drawing of the symbol we found in the House of Ataraxia to Descartes, and he recognized it, but said little about its significance. Apparently to his knowledge Father Briar and his followers are not directly connected to Loth or the Blue Flame. Briar was a follower of Bane though, and it may be worth our while to find him and see if he has any information on where his god may have hidden these tablets. But for the time being he is more of a rogue force than a direct threat.
Dru understandably began to question what we could hope to accomplish against such odds. Descartes gave some high worded speech about duty and hope, which seemed to restore Dru's resolve to fight these beings. But after my mistake last night, I am not so sure how involved I should be now. I have my own plans and goals. I am reluctant to risk my life fighting one demon lord when I still have a reckoning to make with another. Descartes spoke of the greater good, and fighting for unselfish motives. If he only knew. However, our goals may align more than he thinks. In order to take down this Loth creature and her minions, we are going to have to become stronger and gain weapons that will actually hurt her. And if I can injure one demon, why not another?
Funky Dunky Undead (part 2)
7th Ariel, 1358
Mirielle and I found Trevor's barn and began investigating inside. After lighting the interior, we found 10 fully boarded up stalls inside. 9 were empty, and one was shut up tight with a padlock on the front. Searching further we found the far end of the barn was furnished like a living space, with luxurious arm chairs and table, a set of dressers, and a fireplace with a mantelpiece. There was a portrait on the mantel of an elderly man and woman, who resembled Trevor enough to be relatives. On the table was a small chest, and opening it we found key inside. On a hunch we tried the key in the padlock to the stable stall, and it opened.
Dru joined us at that point. Divine sense did not pick up anything inside the stable, but instead registered two undead behind us. Dru's detect magic spell also picked up some sort of dark energy, and the key that opened the padlock suddenly disappeared. The chest we found the key in slammed shut and the fireplace roared to life with blue fire.
Sensing the two entities were still in the room, I tried to talk to them. Not getting a response I decided to try to make myself appear as friendly as possible and went to sit in the chair to the left of the fireplace. As soon as I sat down three goblets appeared, two on the table and one on the mantel, and I could see the cushions on the chair opposite me depress as if an unseen body had just taken as seat. I felt a sharp touch along my cheek as if it had been stroked by someone's fingernail or a claw. The doors all slammed shut and an icy wind blew through the building. (Mirielle told me later that at that moment she saw the interior of the building shift in appearance from a wooden barn to a stone corridor lined with locked doors.)
Finally our hosts appeared, a man and woman, both dressed in elegant black, both with pale skin and long silver hair. The man introduced himself as Damon Lovelock; the woman was his wife Lilith. They were the parents of Jillia and Camilla, and were not happy that we had ended their daughters' lives. In total they had seven daughters before those two died, and apparently the wife seemed particularly obsessed with replacing those two and completing the group of seven again. They mentioned that they have been watching us since we were children, and they have "plans" for us. They also told us that they have been fighting against the Splinters, and decided to turn one of their own against them. Damon brought out Sibil, skin pale like theirs, dressed in black, and unresponsive to our presence. She was a replacement for one of their daughters, and they want Mirielle as the second. Arrogance and sadism were rolling off of these two in waves, and we had all three had about as much as we could take. Dru nearly challenged them, but was able to restrain himself. Mirielle recoiled from Damon's touch and sounded like she was about to try to take his head off by herself. I tried to unsettle the vampiric couple by bringing up the details of their daughters' deaths, but I think I may have overplayed my hand. They told us of their plans for Mirielle and gave us a choice: stand back and allow it to happen or die as hunted beasts. I foolishly informed them that they would have to kill me if they tried to turn Mirielle, and Dru echoed the sentiment. Rather than attack us right there, however, they informed us that they would be following us and hunt us when they were ready. They then left, taking the still silent Sibil with them.
Mirielle fell unconscious as they left, whether from a spell of theirs or some other influence I don't know. She seemed unharmed, and I did not find any of the black veins I had seen on Sibil when she fell sick in Wolfrest. We carried her out of the stable, and after retrieving Zarruk from Trevor's house we returned to Honeyreach and Egert's home.
We are left with more questions now than answers, but one thing is very clear. We have made some very powerful enemies who want us all very dead.
The House of Ataraxia (part 1)
7th Ariel, 1358
After the farmer Trevor left us, we decided to rest at the House of Ataraxia before going to his farm. We split up briefly. Zarruk and Mirielle went around one side of the building to the back and found a courtyard with a disused fountain, surrounded by four buildings. Upon closer inspection the buildings seemed to be some sort of living quarters, but were long abandoned and empty. The vegetation around the area also appeared to become yellow and sickly the further back along the property we went, until everything around the courtyard was completely dead.
I was heading to the back of the building as well when I heard Dru cry out behind me. He had apparently stayed behind and broke a hole in the wall. Something flew out and frightened him. As I checked on him I heard another cry from the rear of the building and dashed back to find Zarruk had opened the door to the temple. Something touched Zarruk (which was the cause of the scream while there may not be any human occupants here, there seem to be quite a few smaller creatures who have taken up residence and were disturbed by our attempts to enter the dilapidated building. After making sure he was alright, we all entered through the door he had opened. Inside was dark, but we saw a circular emblem of a skull with glowing eyes encircled by blood droplets (the emblem was large, about 6' in diameter). I used Divine Sense and while I did not detect any fiendish occupants, there was a definite fiend-like aura emanating from the emblem. Dru said he was able to detect some sort of planar magic from the building. All in all it was unsettling, and we quickly made our exit.
Outside we decided to rest and attune to our newly acquired items while Mirielle contacted Bevil through the dragoneye stones he had given us. He and Egert and Elidin all appeared to be in the middle of fierce fight, and it sounded from the bits of conversation that I picked up that they were busy defending a gate of some sort (perhaps the teleportation "gateway" that Elidin mentioned he guards). Mirielle let them know what we found and what Trevor had told us, and Bevil and Egert warned us to stay away from the House of Ataraxia for the time being. He also mentioned that the skull emblem was the symbol that Father Briar and his followers used.
We then left for Trevor's farm. On the way out of town I spotted one of the symbols of Silvanus on a building, so there may be other followers of the Oak Father in this city who could give us aid. Seeing this led Dru to ask about my service, and I told him some about my life up to that point. He was sympathetic to my story and encouraging, and even used a spell to change his form briefly to mirror my own as a Fey'ri. I have not experienced acceptance like this in the 40 plus years I served at the temple; I actually dropped my elven guise and appeared as my natural Fey'ri form, something I have not done willingly in public since I was a child. These people are strange, but I have grown fond of them and think I may be able to actually trust them.
When we reached Trevor's house, he was quick to invite us inside. But my Divine Sense picked up a fiendish presence nearby in the field, and I insisted we go investigate right away. We crept closer and were able to finally see the creature. I attempted to speak to the thing in common, then again in Abyssal. It responded to this. The conversation was brief, but it did mention that a "master" had called for it and "they" answered the summons. Then it spread huge wings and took to the air above us.
The fight was over quickly. I thought I would need to defend our bard, but after Dru knocked the fiend out of the air with a thunder spell Zarruk rushed forward and stabbed it with the knife he found at Egert's house. Some strange magic from the blade held the fiend in place, and I was able to finish it off. The beast was a quasit, but larger by far than any I had ever heard about, standing a good 10 tall. These demons are usually small venous creatures, used as spies or advisors by the sorcerers who summon them. Based on what it said about others answering the summons, this may have been a scout for some enemy. Shortly after I cut off its head, it shrank back to the size I'd expect a quasit to be, and we found a small necklace that apparently belonged to the donkey Burt. Something about this whole thing did not sit right with me, and I suggested that our next move should be investigating the barn.
New Toys and Old Lies
7th Ariel, 1300
It had been a full day, and we all felt the need for sleep. I left the group and went upstairs in Egert's house, finding a small study on the second floor. I tried to draw to calm my nerves after everything that had happened, but I fell asleep at the desk after only a few minutes.
Zarruk also ventured upstairs and fell asleep in the music room, casting magehand to play the instruments as he drifted off. Mirielle passed out on the couch, but Dru decided to investigate the house before going to bed. He found a magical staff above a doorway, and was draw to it (literally). He noticed as he took the staff that Egert began to levitate. Egert woke up and Dru panicked, and in his attempt to fix the situation he ended up knocking Egert unconscious again. I came downstairs after all the ruckus, helping him to place Egert back in his chair. Dru was still transfixed by the magic staff and decided to keep it for himself, hiding it in his bedroll and putting a broom above the door in its place. But before he drifted off to sleep, the staff spoke to him. It is apparently called Singul, and the magic associated with it is similar to a black hole. Hopefully this magic item's intentions are not nefarious, or I may have to stage an intervention for our new friend.
We woke the next day in the mid afternoon, and met together in the kitchen. Egert and Bevil were no where in sight (probably for the best). After eating a hasty breakfast, we gathered all the items we had obtained over the past few days and I cast Detect Magic to try to identify them somewhat. The cube Dru found radiates a strong magic aura, as does the staff. Interestingly enough the tassel of ears we found on the goblin captain also has a faint magic aura (giving me the satisfaction of telling Zarruk "I told you so" it may be a part of a summoning ritual. I remember reading of a ritual that involved gathering 6 ears and enchanting them somehow, and this tassel has 5. Notably missing are any goblin or fiend ears. I am interested in what we may be able to summon using this ritual. The dagger was the last item, and it gave off a hint of magic, possibly some poison coating or enchantment. To be honest, the whole house gave off a magical aura; I am wondering if it possibly has wards on it similar to what our mage friends said were on the Wolf'sbane and Graymare Inn
We decided to head to the Churches to look for the House of Ataraxia and speak with this Father Briar about a purification ritual. As we gathered our things, I noticed a cloak in the study gave off a magic aura, and Zarruk found a magic dagger in the music room. We decided to borrow these in case they may be useful against whatever devils or fiends we may face trying to cleanse this well.
We were able to find our way to the Churches and eventually found the House of Ataraxia, and compared to the rest of the buildings in the area it was a dingy shack. We knocked on the door, but there was no answer. We were about to look for another way in or see if we could open the door (discretely of course), when a farmer named Trevor approached and informed us that no one had entered the building for 11 years. Apparently this Father Briar took a few priests or followers with him and entered the House 11 years ago but they never came back out or were seen again. Upon further questioning, he also told us that our contact Myria Highhill is something of a nutjob. She is barely a member of the city guards and holds no influence here. She is paranoid and obsessive, which has led to severe sleep deprivation, and he mentioned something about a possible affair with or crush on the brother of a fighter. She not only gave us bad information about the House of Ataraxia and Father Briar, but also failed to mention that there was a second well in town that has suffered the same strange damage as the other. The water from the river seems to be fine, but the water from the wells are "bad". Finally he told us that his donkey transformed into another creature after drinking from the well, a creature which stood on two legs, had wings, and ate other animals. After a brief discussion we learned the location of Trevor's farm and told him we'd meet him there after we took a short rest.
Personal thoughts:
So the danger of an infestation of demons or fiends of some sort is real, but Myria gave us a load of complete bullshit. Due to this change in circumstances, in my opinion we need to reevaluate our involvement in this matter. I am willing to help these people, but I don't wish to risk my neck without some compensation, and I don't want to stir up trouble with the locals by poking our noses in their business uninvited. We seem to have enough problems to deal with without making the leaders of this city angry at us. However this Myria has a great deal to answer for. I don't take threats to myself or lies to coerce my involvement lightly, and if I don't get a satisfactory answer from her she is a dead halfling.
To War With Gods
We left the Graymare Inn and headed to Honeyreach. While on the road, I happened to notice something flying in the distance; it appeared to be a dragon. The rest of the group had mixed reactions, some were skeptical, others seemingly indifferent, and in the end I lost sight of the beast and we continued to our destination. The sighting was strange though, as no dragons have been seen in years. We must remember to be wary if we venture into the wild in this region.
We arrived at Egert's home after dark. There was a bonfire with several people gathered having some sort of party or celebration. I saw among them humans, halflings, and elfs, and tried to hide my appearance as much as possible until I can recast my illusion spell.
Egert seemed to be an ex-soldier. He welcomed us into his home, and immediately began a drinking competition with Dru. Fortunately Dru came out on top, although this competition seemed to have less to do with how much one could drink as it did with how much of a beating one could take while drinking. The folks of Barad Elion are a strange lot.
Bevil gathered us together and showed us the note we had found on the goblin captain (apparently he went through our things while we were out this morning). He said it was written in Dark Speech, and speaks of the gods Bane, Myrkel, and the Tablets of Fate. Our world was once joined to another, but the gods separated them when the primordials attempted to destroy them. The Tablets of Fate kept the balance between the worlds. Bane and Myrkul (and possibly one other) removed the tables so that they could gain power. (Bane was the leader of the group; Myrkul was possibly a necromancer who ascended to godhood, and is now some kind of god of death. I need to look see what I can discover about their followers and how widespread their worship is)
Bevil wants us to help in a fight against the gods and recover the tablets. While I acknowledge that I do not feel adequate to the task, my vows to Silvanus require me to give assistance however I can to restore the balance of nature and civilization, so it seems I will be joining this fight. The others also agreed.
Before going to bed, Dru took off Egert's books and poured ale in them (I like this Firbolg), then he and I went out to the bonfire to look for food. While outside, we noticed lights in the distance seeming to move through the trees. They were too far away to make out what they were, and with everything we have been given over the past 48 hours we were reluctant to venture away from the others to investigate. We should probably ask Egert about it in the morning and get his input.
Breakfast and Bakeries
We attempted to search the bodies of the fiends, but they turned to soot almost immediately. Dru was able to find a metal cube on Jillia. Each side of the cube was about 6" and had a red circle on it along with various symbols, and emanated a strong magic.
Bevil found us shortly after our fight with Jillia and Camilla. He was upset that I had broken my bonds, and that Mirielle and Zarruk had not contacted him when we encountered the fiends. I left and went to my room for the rest of the night. (side note: Bevil serves the goddess Yondola; need to see if this will cause any conflict of interest with my deity)
In the morning I had an errand to run and left early before the rest of the party awoke. Eventually they all made their way to the common room of the inn, where Dru proceeded to take over the breakfast buffet in a hilariously entertaining manner. Bevil joined them a short time later, and brought them back to the great room we had been in the evening before. He informed them that the wards had been breached, and that our enemies seem to have found a way to track our movements. He had found some other items on the remains of the fiends, and placed them out on the table. One was a sphere made of what looked like rusty iron; it is some kind of ensnaring sphere which can answer a magic command to trap an enemy. There was also a red candlestick with an ornately inscribed base, a dagger with a poison blade, and a map of Barad Elion.
With the enemy hot on our heels, Bevil suggested that we find other accommodations; he also let us know that Sibil still has not recovered from her illness back in Wolfrest Keep. He sent Zarruk, Mirielle , and Dru back to Hot Buns Bakery to meet with Eladin.
When they got there and speak with Eladin, he told them he is a type of "gatekeeper" for this region (Bevil is apparently something called a "caretaker"; he makes the gates while Eladin watches over them). A group entered the gate to Barad Elion recently, bypassing Eladin's safeguards. He asked that we be his eyes in the city; he mentioned there has been some trouble with the city well, and some force is establishing itself to the south.
Everyone returned to the Inn, where I revealed that I am actually a Fey'ri. I keep an illusion on myself for protection, as many other races would hunt my kind down if I revealed myself. I am a knight of Silvanus and trying to prove my worth, though I am ashamed of my heritage. I also suffer from strange bouts of amnesia, where I lose all memory of events during a period of time and have no idea what triggers this change. I don't remember what happened yesterday after we left Tabor, and this morning a halfling woman named Myria Highhill confronted me, knowing what I am and wanting me to do her dirty work for her or she'll have me cast out or killed. She wants the well in the town purified and the demons around it dealt with; we are to speak to a Father Briar at the House of Ataraxia for the purification ritual, and then meet her the next day at sunset at the well. I also bring up that another soldier asked for aid in investigating a series of robberies, but the well situation seems more pressing since Myria was very insistent that it be completed or I would be in danger.
The group was understanding and much more supportive than I've ever experienced. We gathered our things and are now headed to the home of one of Bevil's friends named Egert in Honeyreach. However Bevil reacted strangely when I mentioned the name Father Briar. When Zarruk and I asked about it, he mentioned that he has known Briar for 300 years and had worked with him previously. Some time ago the two of them had found an ancient manuscript written in a strange language. This Father Briar became obsessed with deciphering the manuscript, but Bevil believed it could hold dark secrets (it may be best to speak with this Father Briar personally without bringing Bevil into it, at least until we know more about his involvement with Myria or any of the other strange goings on here in Barad Elion).
Two Fiends and a Firbolg
We gathered in a room in the Graymare Inn, but before Bevil could ask his questions we heard a noise upstairs. It sounded like someone was talking. Bevil seemed disturbed and asked Mirielle and Zarruk to investigate while he checked the wards. He commanded me to stay and wait for him, and magically bound my hands to the table. He also gave Mirielle and Zarruk magic eye stones which he said could be used to get in touch with him.
Zarruk and Mirielle went upstairs. The hallway was ice cold, and all the doors were locked. They continued to search and eventually found the source of the voices. Two females were in a room at the end of a hall. Listening in on the conversation, they were discussing the prospect of eating a Gith. Zarruk was obviously disturbed by this.
After waiting for a time, I decided my friends needed my help more than I needed to obey Bevil, so I broke the table and released my bonds to it (although my hands were still bound together) and headed upstairs to join them. They explained what they had heard, and I decided to confront the situation head on by announcing our arrival and saying we had brought the Gith.
Meanwhile, they were holding a Firbolg captive and unconscious in their room. He woke up while the two women were discussing what to do. Not fully understanding the situation, he decided to strike up a conversation with the women. It took a definite suggestive turn, and seemed like one of the women was about to have some kind of romantic interlude with the Firbolg, while the other entered the hallway we were waiting in.
The woman teleported right beside me; Divine Sense revealed that she was a fiend, so I attacked. I managed to land a hit, but after that she went invisible. Combat ensued, and though difficult to locate the invisible fiend, Mirielle was able to slay one through a use of Hunter's mark, and we managed to subdue the other one. We learned that the women were called Jillia and Camilla, but learned nothing about them or their intent in coming here before they were killed.
The Firbolg was named Dru, and seems very new to the world and somewhat naive. He made a good account of himself during the fight however, and could make a good addition to our little band.
Leaving Wolfrest
There is no turning back now. We have all committed to this fight.
After Bevil gave us the armor, we were to return to the stables at the tavern for our horses and gear. As we entered the streets, we could hear shouts all around us and see dark shadows passing through in the distance. Goblins have arrived in town! We tried to sneak our way through town, but my armor is too noisy and gave us away. We encountered a goblin captain and two soldiers and were forced to fight. Mirielle and I defeated the captain, while Zarruk frightened the others away with a thunder spell. Before killing the captain, he mentioned that they were part of the Blue Flame somehow (is it a cult???), but as he was not forthcoming with any other information I removed his head. Looting his body gave us 10 gold pieces (which we divided), a tassel with ears on it (I kept that), a note in a language no one could read (Mirielle kept it), and a scimitar which we left behind.
We managed to retrieve our horses and belonging and return to Bevil without further incident. He cast a teleportation spell and we found ourselves in a town called Barad Ellion in Imre. We arrived in a courtyard, Bevil left to go make arrangements for accommodations while we explore. We found a bakery called Hot Buns (also saw another establishment called "Sweets by Zap and Colby", but Zarruk said it was not the sort of place we wanted to visit), and went there to eat and drink. The server we met was an elf called Eladin. Zarruk decided to try a concoction of all of their ales mixed together, and after tasting it he promptly passed out. After eating, Mirielle and I decided to have some fun and woke Zarruk up, convincing him in his intoxicated state that he was supposed to be performing. While the performance was successful, Mirielle's attempts at dancing were less so, as was my attempt to solicit donations from the patrons.
Bevil arrived after that, and seemed amused at our antics. He had made arrangements for us to stay at the Graymare Inn. But on the way there I noticed that my elven guise was beginning to slip, and separated from the group to hide. Unable to recast the illusion, I decided to risk it and headed to the Inn myself. I met Bevil on the way, and at first he did not recognize me. Eventually he began to have some suspicion of what was going on, and gathered everyone in a private room for a discussion, demanding to know what I was hiding.
Encounter with Darneska
We hid behind the counter of the tavern. The cloaked figure moved closer, sensing us. He mentioned something about being there when Zarruk's people died. Zarruk responded that "He needs to die", so we attacked.
During the fight, Descartes entered with a half-elf woman and joined the battle. We landed some solid hits, then the enemy's cloak seemed to come to life and attack us. It actually spoke, and called the unknown enemy by the name "Darneska". I managed to cut Darneska's hand off, but before we could kill him he and the cloak teleported away and escaped. As he left he said something about this being the beginning of "his" rule (not clear who he was referring to, will have to investigate).
The half-elf woman is a ranger named Mirielle. She was hunting Darneska for years, and during the fight he referred to her as "princess". Haven't had time to ask her about that. Apparently Darneska is a creature called a Darkling and has wrought destruction on the area Mirielle is from.
We released Sibil from her bonds, but she was still unconscious and seems to be suffering from some disease. Black veins appeared on her neck; I remember reading about a condition similar to this in a book from about 1200 years ago. Did Darneska cause this or some other infection/curse?
Looking around, the bodies on the floor have disappeared. Asking about it, this was apparently an illusion spell used to ward and protect this meeting place. Darneska somehow managed to get past the other wards and protections that have been placed here.
The fire in the fireplace is still blue. We could not put it out, and it did not create any warmth. At Zarruk's suggestion I threw Darneska's severed hand into the flames, and it was immediately consumed and destroyed. If we encounter this blue flame in the future, Do Not Touch!!! It is likely a magical fire that will need to be dispelled with magic somehow.
We returned to Tabor. He was being tended to, but still seemed in good spirits despite his injuries. He told us that he was part of a group that used to be 11 strong, entrusted to guard something called the Tree of Light and Dark. Of this group, there are only 4 members left (presumably Tabor, Descartes, Mordecai, and Sibil they were forced to go into hiding and have become known as the Splinters. (Pondering: they were tasked with guarding a tree, but also said they released something powerful long ago. Did they fail to guard the tree? Did they know what they released before acting, or was it released in ignorance? Were the other members aware of everything? Could there have been betrayal from within? Must research Tree of Light and Dark and ask one of the Splinters about this history more later...)
They need our help, but it is somewhat unclear how we can help them when a being as powerful as Darneska can bypass their defenses.
We went to Bevil's house again; he apparently has more direction for us as to how we can help. After we arrived, he gifted us with cold resistant armor. Whatever this blue flame is, it seems to create frigid conditions wherever it appears. On the way to his house we also noticed that the white snow outside has turned to some dark obsidian-like substance. Apparently conditions here are worse than we initially feared.
Entering Wolfrest Keep and Meeting the Splinters
Session 001
Aldrich and Zarruk enter the gates of Wolfrest Keep. Weather acting weird within the last year, year and a half. Changed from moderate climate to very frigid. Entered the main gate, looking for a place to stay.
The tavern in this town is called Wolf’sbane.
Found a place called Hobnob’s, see lots of hand made doors. A whisp disappears behind the counter, turns into a halfling, Bevil Left. Acting very odd, but gives us directions to the tavern.
Found Wolf’s Bane Tavern, paid 5 copper for stabling for Big V, stable has a reverse 7 symbol. 2Cp for drink, 1 sp per night, free meal for listening to story from inn keepers old man, a dwarf named Tabor. He begins telling a story about the world of Temerant and its war with the Fey. (Different barmaid Margerie brings drinks during the story, she has a beak.)
Man rushes in, whispers to Tabor, pick up the words “blue flame”, “meeting”, “council”. Tabor leaves, disappears behind a corner, saw a brief flash of color as he went out of sight.
We get the feeling we are being watched, but I picked up no presence of fiends, undead, or celestials presence from Divine Sense ability. Still feeling uneasy, try to create a distraction and give Zarruk a chance to check the room. Made a speech asking for information. Afterwards a young man tell us he needs to talk and asks us to follow him. We follow, but I noticed as we left there was a foreboding figure by the fire in a black cloak staring at us. Follow where Tabor went and pass thru an illusory door (possibly the cause of the flash I saw as the dwarf disappeared). The young man's name is Fen Ulvcreen (he is definitely not human), goes by Neil in the town. He leads us into a tunnel and to a door which he opens. We all enter a room with a large table and four individuals seated around it, Tabor is among them. The others introduce themselves; one is named Mordecai (a blue vedalkan, amphibious) and Sybil (a shifter, were-touched, more human with hints of beast elements) and Descartes (a tabaxi, wanderer race).
They seem to be the last members of some ancient powerful order, now call themselves the Splinters. They tell us that a the weather has been doing strange things, then a blue flame appeared near the town a week ago. These 4 encased it in ice and are hiding it and studying it. It is tied to the weather changes somehow. They admit to releasing something 150 years ago that is resurfacing, likely connected.
We find out that Fen is a prince of Feyrun. Possibly here protecting a life giving tree? He seems a little vague and aloof. The group begins to break up and leave separately, Sibil, Tabor, and Fen first.
Suddenly the lights go out in the room. We are going to follow Mordecai. We mention seeing a shadowy robed figure upstairs that acted suspicious; he may be involved in this strange intrusion.
Made it upstairs, find Tabor lying wounded, missing an arm, and Descartes tending him. Something strange is going on. We sneak back into the tavern common room behind the counter; I use Divine Sense again but detect nothing definitive. Zaruk took a look and saw the dark figure we saw before is now in the door and Sybil staked to the wall, the fire in the fireplace turned blue. All other patrons are lying slain about the common room! The figure teleports to the counter we are hiding behind and can smell us, is looking for us.
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