Thurdon the Saviour

Paladin Thurdon (a.k.a. The Saviour)

Intro:
A Human Paladin who assisted in protecting the town of Wuulfrend from a bandit raid. Before the raid, Thurdon had been travelling around, collecting bounties on criminals and helping the common folk.
Thurdon was born in the village of Rhone to his father, Wymar, and mother, Marin. He grew up alongside his brother, Aldus. When Thurdon was nine years old, his father was slain by a monster whilst trying to defend one of the nearby villages. This event profoundly affected Thurdon, leading him to follow in his father's footsteps and join the Knights of Marius to uphold justice and defend the weak.
Prologue:
During the raid on Wuulfrend, Thurdon killed many of the attacking bandits and assisted in taking down the bandit leader, Carver.
During their negotiations with Lord August Golbeck, Thurdon showed little respect for his title and later intimidated him into paying a more significant sum due to his knowledge of the Lord's unsavoury activities.
Chapter 1:
After leaving Wuulfrend, Thurdon travelled with Bazz, Wallace and Emyr across the border into Gothia, following the trail of the escaped bandits. In the Forest of Rhone, the group encounter a gathering along the road. Thurdon opted to hide in the trees, sneak up on the group and find out who they were, however, Bazz overruled him.
Before the fight could start, Thurdon and the others were joined by the members of Clint's Caravan, who assisted them in their ensuing conflict. Thurdon engaged in combat with the thug known as Franz, he took a substantial blow but was healed by the Cleric, Emyr.
Thurdon, along with the others, returned to the caravan camp and found it ransacked. Thurdon would search around the camp, looking for clues on the bandits' motivations. After the oxen has been recovered, Thurdon would drive the wagon towards his home in Rhone.
Thurdon, however, would find his village in ruins. While searching through the village's remains, Thurdon would find the body of his brother, Aldus and the ruins of his family home, his wife and son were missing. Thurdon would mourn his brother, burying him beneath an oak tree near the family home. Thurdon became violent towards the goblin, Peppin, whom he blamed for the attack on the village, but was calmed by the others in the party. Thurdon was recognised by the last remaining villagers; Elise and Adam.
Thurdon, alongside the other party members, agreed to follow Pepin as he led them to the bandit hideout.
After arriving at the bandit's hideout, Thurdon assisted in wiping out the bandits. Through the lair, Thurdon regularly offered to enter rooms first. Thurdon killed many of the bandits and cultists.
Thurdon, at Vesta's insistence, accidentally desecrated a statue of the Sun Goddess, Rydras.
Thurdon, alongside his companions, watched as the cultist, referred to as 'L', disappeared, along with the caravan companions; Claude, Richard and Julia.
Thurdon was distraught to find that he had arrived too late to rescue his wife, Alyne, and son, Wymar, as they had already been moved out of the hideout. His search continues.
After returning to the village, Thurdon and the others recounted what had occurred at the bandit hideout. He would read through the ledger they uncovered in the ruins, finding out that the black hand cultists had orchestrated a series of attacks on nearby villagers and passing travellers to kidnap people, their motives were unclear. It was revealed that the group were also behind the attack on Wuulfrend.
He was displeased when the party agreed to release the goblin, Pepin.
After finding the remains of the wagon on the road, Thurdon would wait behind with the wagon, but would later join Wallace when he return to collect the others to fight the ogre. Thurdon assisted the party during the ogre fight.
The party encountered the broken remains of a bridge crossing a river through the Forest of Rhone. A group of Road Wardens were camped alongside the river and invited the party to join them. Thurdon was initially sceptical of the group and attempted to secretly throw away the drink that was given to him, an action that was caught by Vesta and Bazz.
The following day, Thurdon assisted the rest of the party and the Road Wardens in constructing a bridge to cross over the river. Thurdon worked on cutting lumber down to size. During construction, the group were attacked by a group of undead.
After defeating their enemies, the party and the remaining Road Wardens finished construction and proceeded towards Regensthall.
The caravan arrived at their final destination, the gates of the town of Regensthall. The party said their farewells to Eva and Renard who went to give Jacques his final rites, while the rest of the party made their way into the town.
Thurdon and his companions spent the night in The Shoddy Craftsman. He drank heavily and became very intoxicated, he also joined his companions in some dice games.
The following morning, Bazz and the rest of the party would explore parts of the town, visiting the blacksmith and buying weapons, stopping a couple of thieves from drinking Alchemist's Fire, returning the stolen goods to the Alchemist.
The party visited the Duke of Regensthall after Clint arranged a meeting. They provided their account of the events at the cultist camp. Duke Miles provided the party with information about the cult, stating they were a known problem, but one the Dukedom had been unable to track down. The Duke also provided information on the location of the World Tree and the War of Oxerley Vale. The Duke also stated that he had served in the war alongside Thurdon's father, Wymar, who had left the army after the war and joined the Knights of Marius.
The party visited the Temple of Marius where they researched various topics regarding the island of Hyberia. Thurdon was recognised by the blind High Judge Rust, he warned Thurdon that Marius was displeased with Thurdon's acts of brutality, he advised the young paladin to stick to the tenents of the Knights, as the powers given to him could be taken away.
Upon returning to The Shoddy Craftsman, the party were greeted by Clint, Elise, Eva and Renard, they were also later joined by Sherwin. The party drank ale together, paid for by Clint, and spent one last evening of camaraderie with their companions.
Chapter 2:
The following morning, the party prepared to depart from Regensthall, they made one last visit to Miles, who provided a signed letter of permission to visit the island of Hyberia. They also visited Clint, who was able to introduce them to a Ox Herder who would be willing to sell transport to the party. Believing the price to be too high, Thurdon made a wager with Gil on an Ox Race, if Thurdon won, the party would pay 20 gold for the Ox and cart, if he lost they would pay 50 gold. Thurdon narrowly won the race against Gil's son, Bert.
On one of the nights on the road, the party stopped in a clearing off the side of the road and made camp for the night. Thurdon took the third watch of the night, alongside Vesta. During his watch, Thurdon took some time to pray to Marius, asking that he provide him with the strength to overcome the tasks that were ahead of him and to find his family safe. Thurdon and Vesta spoke for a while, Vesta would reveal some of her past with Thurdon and how she found herself in Clint's Caravan.
After four days of travel, the party arrived at Merchant's Crossing. A merchant approached the party, stating he had the finest swords for sale. However, non of the goods for sale were swords, the party would learn that the merchant had been cursed. They decided to visit the Peddler's Rest at Merchant's Crossing to see if they could learn more about the suspicious pair that had visited the Sword Merchant.
At The Peddler's Rest, Zeph enquired with the bartender about any suspicious figures that may have visited the inn recently, the bartender, however, was of little help. Zeph, Thurdon, Dank and Emyr bought themselves a round of drinks, but just as they sat down they were interrupted by a merchant shouting about being attacked on the road by a beast. The party decided to hear the man out. The merchant informed the party that he had just been attacked on the road, and he had to abandon his cart and all his wares in his flight. Apparently, this was the latest in a string of attacks on merchant caravans in recent weeks. The party asked what the merchant would be willing to pay to deal with the beast, the merchant, however, was uninterested in dealing with the beast, still angered by the loss of his livelihood.
Before bed, Thurdon would start an exercise routine. He asked the bartender to make him a 'protein shake', Old Pappy Daniels diced up some chicken and pork and mixed them with milk. The concoction was undrinkable, leading to Thurdon vomiting up the drink. He would later attempt to drink it again the following morning but wasn't able to consume even a sip. He intend, however, the conquer the drink in the future.
The following day, the party asked around the market, looking for information about the attacks and seeking tools to deal with what they assumed to be a dragon. They bought hooks and rope from a merchant who gave them some information on the attacks, he also directed the party to Martin, a wealthy merchant. The party introduced themselves to the Merchant King, Martin. He offered them 50 gold to slay the beast and bring back its head.
The four continued on foot towards the scene of the attack, they found the charred wreckage of a wagon, and any valuable goods had been taken. Thurdon managed to find a set of tracks leading to and away from the wreckage, leading through the woods. After following the tracks, the party arrived at a cliff face.
Thurdon noticed a scrap of fabric hanging from a branch, which Zeph collected with Mage Hand. Dank noticed an opening 20ft up. The party used the hooks and rope to scale the cliff and enter the cave. Inside they found a maze of tunnels. Along the way to their target, they found the skeleton of a woman. A sigil upon her armour was not one still in use today, Zeph recognised the marking as one from an ancient culture. Beside her lay a pair of earrings, which Zeph collected.
At the furthest end of the tunnels, the party found their target, although not in the form they had expected. A group of Kobolds had been disguising themselves as a dragon and attacking caravans at night. Dank used Thunder Wave to easily slay two of the kobolds. Thurdon threw his torch to the centre of the room to allow him to see. Zeph slew the third kobold. The fourth, a Kobold Sorcerer, proved more difficult to kill, the Kobold managed to inflict critical wounds on Dank, who was helped by Emyr. Thurdon, blind due to the darkness of the cave, managed to strike the killing blow, cutting the head off the final Kobold.
Whilst digging through the treasure, the party gathered some gold and magical equipment. Thurdon would find a magical sheath, which he would later learn the name of and use; the Vengeful Scabbard.
The following day; Dank, Zeph, Thurdon and Emyr told the others about their adventure searching for the beast. The party visited Martin to collect their reward. Martin was happy to receive them and presented them with a bag of gold. Dank attempted to receive additional pay for his injuries but was unsuccessful. Martin wished them luck on their journey and told them to seek him out again in the future. The party then set about asking around about the pair of mysterious individuals who attacked the "Sword Merchant". Vesta uncovered vague details but nothing concrete, the "Sword Merchant" also had nothing else to offer. Emyr suggested asking around the inn again.
At the Peddler's Rest, Thurdon noticed a group of armed men at one of the tables. Zeph made introductions, although rather poorly as pointed out by Emyr. The leader of the men, Lord Garth Redwood stated that he may have some information on the mysterious pair, but would need something in return for the information. He told the party about how he had received a lordship from the Grand Duke, alongside a town at the foot of the Gothian Mountains, however the town was currently occupied by monsters. He asked the party to deal with his issue and he would be willing to share his information and may them in gold.
The party travelled north along what remained of the road, using Dank's experience of finding trails in forests to lead their way, Wallace kept watch as the party entered the forest. After two hours of travelling, Wallace heard the sounds of footsteps in the distance. The majority of the party took cover in the trees, Vesta climbed to a vantage point, Bazz, however, was eager for a fight.
A group of Goblinoids noticed Bazz and made ready to attack. The fighting was tough. Emyr and Bazz were able to kill a few. Thurdon made powerful attacks on a Bugbear but was caught off-guard and knocked down by the swings of its Morningstar. Wallace and Vesta maintained distance, firing volleys from cover and from above. Zeph used fire magic to inflict damage on the opponents, in one such attack he imbued with lightning from his gauntlet. Dank made strong attacks to start but was quickly overwhelmed, choosing instead to retreat and assist his companions, he helped Thurdon when he was first downed.
Eventually, the party defeated the attackers, taking a short break to recover. Dank shared his pipe with his companions.
After continuing their journey for a few more hours, the party reached Hawksend. From the road, Zeph spotted the two individuals guarding the main gate. The party decided, at Zeph's suggestions, to climb the cliffs on the east side of the town and scope it out.
Vesta and Wallace elected the climb the cliffs, using the grappling hooks that Dank and Thurdon had bought previously, Zeph used Mage Hand to plant the hooks at the top of the cliff and the two climbed up. At the summit, Vesta and Wallace climbed separate trees and observed the town. They noticed the ruins state the town was now in, mostly likely from a raid, the manor, however, seemed to remain unscathed. They also noticed individuals occupying the town, but were unable to ascertain how many there were.
The pair climbed down, Wallace doing so with a flourish, and informed their companions of what they saw. With night closing in, the party opted to find a safe spot in the forest to camp for the evening. In the morning they would begin their attack.
Zeph led the party away from the town into the woods to the east. In their search for a suitable spot to camp the party found a cave opening on the side of a small hill. Thurdon opted to check the cave for danger, he found the cave to be empty and relatively small.
With the shelter the cave provided the party decided it would be safe to start a fire, several of the party members set out to gather wood, Dank took charge in crafting a small campfire that would provide warmth but wouldn't create too much smoke that would attract attention.
Wallace decided to venture further into the woods to hunt for game. After some time he managed to find a lone deer. Wallace managed to successfully kill his prey with an arrow but found that his kill was too heavy to transport back to camp alone. Using the earring that Zeph had given him, Wallace contacted the group asking for assistance.
Dank, Zeph and Thurdon set out in search of Wallace, with Dank following Wallace's tracks. Eventually, the trio found their companion and the four successfully carried to carcass back to camp. At camp, Zeph volunteered to skin the deer, however, having never skinned an animal before, Zeph made a messy job of it. Dank (with Zeph's assistance) took over to cook a stew from the meat which the party shared.
When it came time to sleep, Thurdon and Dank offered to take the first watch. The two discussed how they were feeling about the coming days, Dank suggested that he was worried about the prospect of being in large cities. Thurdon and Dank's shift ended and they were relieved by Zeph and Emyr.
In the morning, the party return to the town. Vesta and Thurdon survey the walls of the town but find most of them to still be in good shape making entry via the walls difficult. The party opted to attempt an entry through the front gate.
The front gate was guarded by two hobgoblins, Zeph suggested that he could lure the hobgoblins down from the gate allowing the party to dispatch them more easily. With the rest of the party hidden in ambush, Zeph approached the gates, he called up to the hobgoblins on guard who drew their bows in response. Zeph told the guards that he had come from a wagon that had broken down to the south, he stated that the wagon was full of expensive goods and gold, the hobgoblins were unconvinced by Zeph's ruse but he managed to convince one of the guards down.
Zeph led the singular guard down to the spot where the party were waiting in ambush, however, the hobgoblin spotted the party members before they could attack, and the hobgoblin called back to his companion stating that they were being attacked.
The party members enter a fight with the bandits at the gate. Emyr was injured in the fighting but was healed by Dank. One of the hobgoblins in the gatehouse proved difficult to dispatch, Vesta climbed the walls of one of the towers to kill him.
After defeating the first wave of enemies, the party were able to enter the town and observe their surroundings. From the safety of the gateway, the party spotted more bandits lurking about. Zeph attempted to sneak attack a sleeping Bugbear but managed to wake him instead.
The party is once again engaged in another fight. This time, however, the party fared less well against their combatants. Wallace and Zeph are badly injured during the fighting, Emyr is able to heal a badly injured Wallace and spare a downed Zeph from dying. The Goblin Boss, who proved the most deadly of the combatants, was slain by the Druid Dank driving his scimitar through its shoulder.
After the fighting, Zeph was healed by Dank. The party decided to look for a place to rest to allow the injured party members to heal. The ruins of a nearby inn were decided on. The party spent an hour resting and afterwards began planning how they would deal with the remaining bandits. Zeph led the party members to the northern end of town where they took cover in an abandoned house near to what they assumed to be the former lord's residence. From this building, Vesta was able to see the bandits that were gathered at the entrance to the lord's residence. Zeph opted to attempt to distract the bandits so that the others could enter the building without being seen. However, Zeph was spotted attempting to sneak through the ruined town.
In an attempt to escape his pursuers, he entered the basement of one of the buildings and used his magic to disguise himself as a box. The hobgoblin and bugbear entered the building, the hobgoblin searched the basement but didn't find Zeph. However, whilst searching the house, the bugbear and hobgoblin managed to obstruct the door to the basement with a bookcase, Zeph was now trapped.
Using the magical earrings they found in the Kobold cave, Zeph communicated his predicament with Wallace. Wallace and Vesta decided they would assist Zeph. The two attempted to sneak through the ruins to find Zeph, however, Wallace was spotted in his attempt. Still remaining unseen, Vesta managed to kill the goblin that had spotted Wallace with a shot from her crossbow. One of the hobgoblins in the square spotted the corpse of his companion, noticing Wallace whilst investigating.
Vesta continued on alone, eventually finding the basement Zeph was trapped in. Whilst trapped, Zeph had decided to drink some of the mead he had found in the inn. Together, Vesta attempted to move the bookcase but was unable to lift it.
Noticing that Wallace was being accosted by a hobgoblin, Thurdon decided to help draw attention away from his companion. Thurdon sneaked out of the building they were hiding in and made his way to the ruins of another house on the eastern side of town. Once there, Thurdon assessed the condition of the building and found the weakest point, from there he set about knocking down the house. After a few strikes on the support pillar the house collapsed and Thurdon was able to avoid being crushed by falling debris.
After sneaking back to the building Emyr and Dank were in, Thurdon found that his efforts had been in vain, as the noise of the falling house only managed to draw the attention of one goblin and set the rest of the bandits on high alert.
The hobgoblin that spotted Wallace was beginning to get more aggressive as Wallace continued to refuse to come with him to speak with the hobgoblin captain. Thurdon and company decided to reveal themselves to draw attention off Wallace. Thurdon spoke with the captain and managed to convince him that they were travellers who had managed to get lost. Successfully deceived, the hobgoblin captain informed the party that there was nothing to be found in the town and offered to walk them to the entrance.
Back at the house, Vesta and Zeph attempted to move the bookcase again, this time they were able to successfully lift the bookcase enough to allow Zeph to escape. Once out, Zeph communicated with Wallace who informed him of what was happening on the other side of town, Zeph and Vesta decided to wait in ambush.
The hobgoblin, tired of Wallace's aversion, attempted to force him to come with him, but Wallace was able to deftly escape the grasp of his attacker. This led to the hobgoblin drawing his blade on Wallace. As Thurdon, Emyr and Dank were following the captain out of the town, the captain spotted the corpses of his companions at the main gate, the captain turned on the group and a fight began.
Wallace was outnumbered by his attackers but was aided by Dank who managed to kill both attackers with a thunder wave. Zeph and Vesta who remained in hiding managed to successfully ambush the bandits. Vesta managed to kill the hobgoblin captain with a bolt to the eye. After a hard fight, the party were victorious.
From the corpse of the Hobgoblin Captain, Thurdon collected 'The Handshake', a hookshot mounted on a gauntlet. Thurdon, Zeph and Vesta debated who should keep the hookshot, they decided that Thurdon should hang onto it for the time being.
With the bandits cleared from the main square, the party began to survey the manor at the north side of Hawksend. Concerned with what waited for them on the other side of the front door, Vesta decided to investigate the upper floor of the manor. Climbing up the stonework wall, Vesta peered through a window into a bedroom, for a moment the room seemed to be immaculately furnished like it had been maintained regularly since the town had been abandoned. However, as Vesta continued to observe the room, the illusion began to lose its power, and the image of the room began to warp and distort until finally the truth was revealed. The room was in a poor state, the bedsheets were torn, the furniture was overturned and the painted walls had darkened and cracked.
Whilst Vesta observed the upper floor, Zeph pressed his ear to the outer wall and listened for any noises within. He didn't hear any noticeable sounds from within but his concentration allowed him to also see past the illusion that had been placed upon the manor, he noticed the cracks, scratches and ash that covered the walls.
Vesta climbed down and gave a description of what she had seen to her companions. They decided that it might be safer to enter the building via the upper-floor windows than through the main entrance. Using the newly acquired hookshot, Thurdon ascended up the side of the building and found footing on a ledge below the upper window.
To make as little noise as possible, Thurdon decided to melt through the glass in the window panes rather than break the window. Drawing his sword from the 'Vengeful Scabbard', Thurdon pressed the tip of the burning blade into the glass and carved a circle forming an opening for the party to enter. Vesta climbed back up the building, using the same footholds as she had on her first climb and entered the building. Thurdon lowered down the hookshot and assisted Zeph and Emyr in ascending to the upper floor.
Once inside, the illusion was dispelled from Thurdon and Emyr's vision. The party spent some time investigating the rooms on the upper floor, finding a few coins in one room and a 'Wrought Iron Knot' in another, which the party planned to give to Wallace.
At the end of the corridor on the upper floor was a spiral staircase leading down to the ground floor. Using his hookshot, Thurdon rappeled down through the opening and landed on the ground floor. Vesta, Zeph and Emyr decided to take the stairs.
The stairway led down to another hallway on the ground floor. Peaking a door on the right side of the hallway, the party found a large feasting hall. Vesta sneaked into the main hall but found that it was clear from enemies. Finding the hall to be safe from any visible threats, the party entered. Whilst investigating the room, Zeph approached a throne located on a raised dais near the wall furthest from the main entrance. As Zeph reached out to touch the throne, an apparition appeared. The ghost asked what the party was doing in the hall. Zeph introduced himself and his companions and explained they had been sent to clear out the monsters that had taken residence in the ruins of the town.
The apparition introduced itself as Ulthor Hawksend, the former Lord and founder of Hawksend and welcomed Zeph and his companions, apologising for the poor state of his hall. Thurdon asked Ulthor how he had died, Ulthor explained that he had been killed by a bandit known as "Flint the Hammer" who had come from lands across the sea. Flint had asked for Ulthor's daughter's hand in marriage, he raided the town after Ulthor refused.
Ulthor states that his daughter, Nazan, is still alive and has been forced into the servitude of the witch the party had heard rumours of, he points out a concealed trapdoor in the corner of the room, stating that the witch has taken refuge in the caves below the town. Ulthor requests that the party rescue his daughter, in return he offers them the 'Axe of Hawksend', the weapon Ulthor had carried in life. Reaching out his hand, an axe that was embedded into a piece of furniture flies across the room and into Ulthor's grasp. Zeph accepts Ulthor's request and receives the axe. As the weapon enters Zeph's hands, the vision of the former lord begins to fade, Ulthor wishes the party luck before disappearing entirely.
With the objectives set, the party opened up the main entrance doors allowing Dank and Wallace to enter the manor and reiterated what Ulthor had told them. After clearing some debris, the party opened up the trapdoor revealing a ladder descending down into darkness, Zeph offered to lead the way with the others following behind him. At the base of the ladder was a dark tunnel that led towards an equally dark room.
The first room presented three possible directions to take; north, east and west. Zeph invested the room to the west but found nothing. Vesta investigated the path to the north, finding another room with paths leading east and west. Back in the first room, Dank decided to investigate the path to the east, he found a room containing four chests. Lured by the possibility of treasure, Zeph eagerly entered the room, triggering a pressure plate and causing the ceiling to collapse. In a moment of quick thinking, Thurdon launched the hookshot towards Zeph and managed to pull him out of the room before he was buried in rubble. Zeph was, however, knocked unconscious and badly injured. After being treated by Emyr and drinking a potion of healing, Zeph was back on his feet, the party decided to return later to recover the buried treasure.
The party continued to the northern room which Vesta investigated and decided to follow the path to the east. They found a dark room containing six coffins. Fearing undead, Zeph and Vesta stealthily make their way around the edge of the room and to a door on the north end of the crypt. Inside they found a chape, taking note of their previous experience, they surveyed the room for traps and noticed some pressure plates.
Vesta signalled for the other party members to follow. They almost all managed to make it to the next room, however, Wallace created too much noise, awakening the dead and leading to a fight in the crypts. The party was able to slay the undead and prepared to proceed further.
The party proceeded carefully into the chapel in the next room, keeping close to the walls of the room so as to avoid triggering any traps. Vesta was quick to spot and disarm a trap located near the altar in the chapel. Zeph spent some time investigating the room, deducing that the chapel was dedicated to Provius, the God of Death. Thurdon investigated the altar, finding a button which he decided to press. Unsure of what the button had done, the party members each checked the doors of the chapel; Thurdon checked the south door finding the way they had entered was still open, Zeph checked the western door finding a priest's chambers and Vesta checked the north door finding a storage room.
Vesta searched the storage room but found nothing of note. Zeph and Thurdon investigated the priest's chamber, searching through cupboards but found nothing of note, the display case in the room was locked. Vesta used her thieves' tools to unlock the display case, finding a rapier inside which Thurdon took. Zeph cautiously opened the chest at the foot of the priest's bed with mage hand, finding money inside.
The party returned to the storage room, and Wallace noticed a small crack in the wall. Thurdon attempted to break down the wall with his greatsword but was unsuccessful. Zeph attempted to shoulder barge his way through but injured himself in the attempt. Wallace managed to widen the crack with his hand axe. Thurdon, Emyr, Vesta and Wallace agree to shoulder barge through the wall as a team and are successful in breaking through, finding a cavernous tunnel on the other side.
The party continued on, eventually reaching a large chamber at the end of the tunnel. The cave is filled with large mushrooms of every colour and shape. Thurdon searches the ground around him, eventually finding what he recognises to be Wandercaps, a hallucinogenic mushroom. Thurdon collects some and agrees to share them with Dank.
Whilst Thurdon is collecting mushrooms, the other party members notice the appearance of figures in the distance. Emerging from the fungal forest are several mushroom-like figures, Wallace recognises them to be Myconids and steps forward to speak with them. Wallace begins to feel the sensation of another being entering his mind but does nothing to ward off the feeling.
The Myconid Sovereign greets Wallace and asks who he is. Responding telepathically, Wallace introduces himself and his companions, he asks the Sovereign about the witch they are searching for in the caverns. The Sovereign is not aware of the word 'witch', but states that he knows of a woman who lives in another cave further to the west. Wallace thanks the Myconids for their assistance and they disappear back into the mushrooms. After some searching, the party find the tunnel that the Sovereign mentioned and continues towards their objective, soon they arrive at another large chamber.
Wallace decided to lead the way, he snuck into the chamber but the dim light made it difficult to see. Vesta decided to follow, scaring Wallace in the process. Zeph also followed. From their position they were able to make out the figures of what appeared to be two woman, a man and a skeleton, all in cages. The three snuck up to the women, one of which spotted their approach and requested their help. Vesta freed the woman from her cage, she embraced Vesta, thanking her for the rescue and asked her to assist her friend in the other cage. Vesta also frees the other woman. The two women, Mathilde and Brandy, state that they have been trapped for months by a witch named Ethel.
The group go to check on the man in the other cage. The man is badly wounded with two bloody bandaged stumps where his hands should be and a missing eye, Zeph checks his condition, finding him to be alive but unresponsive. Vesta opens the cage but the man hasn't the energy to move. Thurdon approaches and carries the man with Vesta's assistance. The two women had towards the eastern exit.
As the party begin to follow the women out, two figures emerge from a passage on the northern party of the cave. One of witch the party deduce to be the witch, the other a heavily pregnant woman. The witch Ethel spots Thurdon carrying the wounded man out of his cages. She acknowledges her unwelcome guests and reprimands the man, who she refers to as Daniel, for leaving his cage. Crossing over a wood bridge to an island surrounded by deep ravines on all sides, the witch approaches a bubbling cauldron, from her bag she produces a pair of severed hands, each of which have had symbols carved into, that he proceeds to throw into the pot.
The witch turns towards the party and instructs Mathilde and Brandy to deal with their uninvited guests whilst she completes the ritual. The two women the party freed begin to cackle maniacally as their bodies begin to twist and contort until, finally, their true forms are revealed; a Coven of Green Hags.
Combat begins. During the fighting several of the party members, namely; Emyr, Dank and Thurdon, are badly injured. As the party attempt to fend of two green hags, the third of their coven is able to complete the ritual. The pregnant woman gives birth to a baby. The witch Ethel gathers up the babe in her arms and casts 'Invisible Passage' and disappears. After Ethel's quick departure, Mathilde follows soon after. Brandy, however, is less lucky than her companions. Encircled by four of the party members, she is unable to escape. The party land blow after blow on the hag until finally Thurdon lands the final killing blow. With her final breath, Brandy proclaims that their role has been fulfilled and the prophecy has begun. Thurdon throws Brandy's corpse into the ravines.
With the fighting finished, Zeph and Emyr go to check on the pregnant woman and provide her with some healing. Zeph gently spoke with the pregnant woman, whose name he learnt was Martha. Martha asked about her husband and baby but Zeph was unsure of what to tell her. He told her that her baby was gone but they would do what they could to find them. Thurdon helped her to her feet. The party decided to search the room at the northern end of the room. Dank took the lead, being careful to avoid traps. In the room, they found what they determined to be the sleeping quarters of the hags. Chained up to one of the walls they found a young woman in a lilac dress, her face covered by a white hood.
After the deception of the hags Mathilde and Brandy, the party were initially suspicious of the woman. Vesta interrogated her, she revealed that she was Nazan Hawksend, the woman that had been sent by the ghost of Ulthor to find, Vesta didn't believe her to be lying about her identity. Thurdon uses his sword to cut through Nazan's chains. Nazan asked why they party had entered the caves beneath the city, Zeph informed her that her father had sent them to find her and bring her to safety.
After some prompting from Zeph, Nazan removed her hood revealing the snake hair of a Medusa, she explained that the Infernal Goddess, Pharika, appeared before her during her captivity and offered her a chance to free herself, the potion offered turned Nazan into what the party saw before them. She explained she had made a bargain with the hag, Ethel, she would become their servant for 13 years, in return they would undo her curse.
Zeph decided to search the room. He found three books; an encyclopedia on local herbs, a book on prophecies and a handwritten journal. The book on prophecies was marked on a page about the Witchking, a tale of hag folklore that states a male hag will be born, the first in 3000 years, who will unite the hag covens under a single leader. The journal describes some of the hag's dealings over the last six months. A locked chest was opened by Vesta which contained a pair of magical boots and a wand with 'NAZAN HAWKSEND' carved into it. Nazan was clueless about what the wand did when asked.
Having checked everything in the room, the party decided it was time to leave. Thurdon, Emyr and Wallace assisted Martha, Daniel and Nazan to the entrance. At the ladder, Thurdon used his hookshot to ascend to the hall above and lowered the hook down to help everyone to climb up. Sitting at one of the chairs of the halls was Bazz, Orca sat on a chair beside him, and Bazz enquired what took them so long.
The journey back to Merchant's Crossing took the party a few hours, although they now knew the routes to take, having three injured to transport slowed their progress. They arrived back at the Peddler's Rest as the sun was setting. The couple thanked the party for their help before leaving to seek medical attention.
The party Lord Garth Redwood and his entourage at one of the tables in the inn. Zeph informed the Lord that they had cleared the bandits from the town and about the hags they had found in the tunnels beneath the town, the Lord seemed perplexed by the existence of the coven, and he stated he would keep an eye open. He ordered one of his men to provide the party with their reward. Regarding the information that the party had asked about regarding suspicious individuals, the Lord informed them that he and his entourage had encountered a pair of hooded individuals at the Rusty Plough who spoke of an amulet they had acquired, the two were aggressive with the innkeeper when he had overheard their conversation and began suggesting places they could sell in amulet in the city, Garth and his men pressured the two men to leave, last he saw of them they had entered the city.
Zeph introduced Nazan to Lord Garth but he seemed uninterested in her. When asked if he could send a message for the party to Duke Miles Roche in Regensthall, Lord Redwood responded aggressively, making clear he was uninterested in helping the party with Nazan. With their business concluded, the Lord and his men went back to their drinking. The party would spend the evening at the inn, planning to head towards Draguilforte in the morning.
Before departing, Zeph wrote a letter addressed to Duke Miles, this letter explained Nazan's predicament and asked if he could provide any assistance in the matter, after Thurdon explained about the recently established postal service, Zeph asked Miles if he could forward his response to Draguilforte's Merchants Guild. They managed to find a merchant who was headed to Regensthall, whom they paid to deliver the message. With all loose ends tied up, the party set off towards the capital, Nazan agreed to join them, hoping to find a way to lift her curse.
The journey from Merchant's Crossing to Draguilforte would take the party a day and a half. After the first day of travel, the party set up camp in a clearing away from the road. Thurdon and Dank decided this would be a good time to try the Wandercaps they had found in the caves beneath Hawksend. The two would each experience hallucinations during their trip.
Thurdon would first find himself in a vast ocean as he attempted to keep his head above the stormy waters. After being submerged a hand glowing with warm light lifted him, and he found himself in his childhood bedroom, the hallucinations allowed him to re-experience the last interaction he had with his father when he had given him the pendant he still wore. After this, he found himself at the Honey Moon Festival hosted in his home village during the first date he shared with his wife.
The sweet memories were cut short as the waves washed over him again, this time an icy hand gripped at his leg, pulling him deep beneath the waves. Thurdon found himself in the middle of a snowstorm before a set of tall metal gates. The gates would open and Thurdon was pushed forward, finding a huge camp filled with tents. Slaves in ragged clothing were worked tirelessly by guards dressed in black armour, Thurdon recognised some of his neighbours and people from Wuulfrend among the slaves.
As he is pushed further into the camp, a large half-buried and half-built structure made of black stone stands before him. A set of nails dug into the skin of his shoulder as an icy hand turned him around, revealing the face of the wizard from the ruined manor north of his hometown. The wizard let out a menacing laugh and Thurdon awoke from his hallucinations. He began to feel the side effects of the mushrooms, in the form of a squeezing feeling in his brain and a burning pain behind his eyes.
After a few more hours of travel, the party see the tall stone walls of the city rising over the horizon. They noticed over the last few hours that the forests and woodlands had begun to clear and in their place they found farmland and grazing ground for livestock. At the foot of the city gates is the hamlet of Little Orchard, as the party pass through they notice the villagers returning from the fields. The local inn which they assume to be the Rusty Plough from their conversation with Lord Garth Redwood is preparing for their evening patrons, the innkeeper and his staff are setting up benches and chairs in the square at the front of the inn.
As they reach the gates, they find their path forward blocked by a large caravan of elegantly decorated carriages, Zeph and Vesta recognise the heraldry as noble houses from Aldrestia. An older woman dressed in fine clothing is arguing with the captain of the guard. Using his magical earring, Zeph can hear their conversation. He deduces that the gates have been closed for the evening on orders from the Grand Duke. Emyr suggests that they head to the inn for the evening and try to enter the city in the morning.
As the party turn to leave, Zeph locks eyes with a man he recognises. The man is tall with long blonde hair and dressed in scarlet and gold armour with a large greatsword strapped to his back. The man breaks his conversation with another man and marches over towards the party.
"So this is where you've been hiding, whelp?" the man questions "Father was concerned, he'll be pleased to know you're not rotting in an ally somewhere"
Zeph responded, questioning why his brother was away from the safety of their home. The man responds that he is more than capable of looking after himself, unlike Zephyrus.
"Would you do me the courtesy of explaining where you've been, brother?" This man is Felix Pharmakeia, one of the greatest swordsmen on the continent of Cindras and half-brother to Zephyrus Pharmakeia.
Chapter 3:
Whilst Zeph and Felix are staring one another down, another man approaches and breaks the tension. Felix introduces the man to the party, he is Lord Yves Draguile, the commander of the Vert Cavaliers and the youngest son of Grand Duke Maxime. Zeph takes the opportunity to introduce his companions to Yves and Felix, whom Yves greets, shaking each of their hands. Yves remarks on how wonderful it is to meet adventurers, he states he would be happy to welcome them to the city, however, the gates have been barred by his father's command and there is nothing he can do about it, instead, he offers to buy them all a round at the local inn. The party follow Yves towards the inn.
Situated at the centre of the hamlet of Little Orchard is the Rusty Plough. The tables, chairs and benches that the party saw being set out earlier have begun to be filled by the local residents. As the party approaches, a barmaid notices Yves and directs the party towards an empty table large enough to accommodate everyone. The party take their seats and the barmaid takes their orders. A group of musicians are positioned nearby tuning their instruments.
The barmaid returns with their drinks and takes their order for their evening meal. After the barmaid leaves, Yves proposes a toast to the reunion of brothers and to everyone's good health. The party seem receptive to Yves' toast, Felix is initially hesitant but relents after some urging from Yves. Overcome by his curiosity, Yves enquires about how the party met, each party member has some time to explain how they met the others, some are more forthcoming than others.
After they are finished talking about their backstories, the food arrives and they all begin eating. With a backhanded compliment, Felix enquires why Zeph decided to travel to Gothia instead of returning home, Yves nudges Felix, giving him a disapproving look.
Yves asks the party why they decided to come to Draguilforte. The party shares with him their intention to travel to the island of Hyberia. Yves is taken aback by this revelation, from what he has been told the island is an unforgiving place but he commends them for their courage. Yves states that if they intend to travel to Hyberia they will need to speak with his father.
Yves states that he enjoys hearing stories of adventures and that he would love to travel more but his role as commander keeps him close to the city. He sits pensively for a moment before exclaiming that the party should visit the palace. Yves states they a ball is going to take place at the palace in two days and he extends an invitation to the party. Felix attempts to interject but Yves ignores him. Yves states he would love to hear more of their stories at the ball and suggests introducing them to his father. He jokes that the party will, however, need to find some appropriate clothing for the occasion.
With their meal finished and the band playing their instruments, Yves thanks the party for their time and rises to join the villagers in their festivities, he states that he hopes to see them all in two days at the ball. Felix remains at the table and drinks from his tankard.
The party split off to pursue their activities. Zeph and Dank join the other villagers in dancing to the performing band. Vesta stealthily enters the crowd and successfully manages to pickpocket the villagers, collecting a small sum of silver. Thurdon, being suspicious of Yves' demeanour, attempts to eavesdrop on him, after gaining nothing of note from this, he approaches Yves and asks him where he could go to purchase clothing for the ball, Yves suggests the tailor he visits for his clothing before returning his attention to the young woman he was dancing with.
Thurdon returns to the table and begins to question Felix. After answering various questions, such as, what would be the largest animal he could take in a fight (to which he answered a bear) and arguing more with Zeph, Felix leaves the table and enters the inn to get another drink.
The party decides that it would be a good time to ask the innkeeper about the two mysterious men who had visited the inn a few days before according to Lord Redwood. The party enter the inn and approaches the innkeeper at the bar, he serves them drinks and listens to their questions about the mysterious pair. The innkeeper iterates his version of events which lines up with what Lord Redwood told them, he also describes the amulet that was in their possession. The innkeeper, Jormin, asks why the party are looking for the men and if they are friends of his stating that he "won't serve friends of arseholes".
The party reassure Jormin that they aren't friends of the pair and that they are looking to undo the curse that was placed on the 'Sword Merchant'. Surprised by this development, Jormin calls over the barmaid, Barbara, and tells her about "some fella in Merchant's Crossing's been cursed".
They ask if anyone else might know something, and Jormin directs them to two individuals in the bar; Gareth and Smith. The party found Gareth urinating against one of the walls of the inn, when Thurdon turned him around to interrogate him, Gareth proceeded to urinate on Thurdon's legs and boots. Angered by this, Thurdon grabbed Gareth by the throat and lifted him against the wall. Gareth choked out some answers to the party's questions but was ultimately of little help. Smith, however, was able to provide more information. The farmer provided similar information to what the innkeeper had revealed, Smith also revealed that he had seen the pair a few days later skulking about in the Wharf District of Draguilforte. Having gathered the information they needed the party decided to call it a night and head to bed.
In the morning, the party convene for breakfast at the inn, they find that Yves and Felix are no longer around, and they assume that they have entered the city already. The party finish their morning meal and after thanking Jormin for his help, they head towards the gate into the city. They are, however, stopped in their tracks by the guards at the gate. The guard informs the party that the Grand Duke has prohibited wagons from entering the city owned by anyone other than merchants, farmers, preprocessed dignitaries and citizens of Draguilforte. He informs the party that a nearby stable will be willing to take care of the party's ox and wagon.
Thurdon, undeterred by the guard's denial of entry, decided to disguise himself as a resident of Draguilforte. Using mud and straw to give the appearance of a beard, he tries to convince the guard of his false identity. The guard is not convinced by Thurdon's ruse, he once again directs him towards the stable. The party speak with the stable master who agrees to house the ox for three days, he also offers to relocate Brutus to another stable on the north side of the city when the party decide to leave. With their ox stabled, the party are granted entry to the city.
The party emerge from the gate in Draguilforte's Trade District. Market stalls line the streets and situated opposite the gate is the Merchant Guild. From above the party hears calls warning of an imminent landing, as they move clear a winged humanoid descends from the sky, landing in the square. The Aarakocra apologies for his abrupt landing before heading at pace towards the entrance to the Merchant Guild. The party decide to follow the Aarakocra into the building.
The entrance opens to a chaotic scene, the large hall is filled with rows of shelves and desks, busy merchants and their aides rushing around the building, moving goods and paperwork and arguing with one another. The party glimpses the Aarakocra they follow in heading towards a separate room from the main hall. The words "Skyward Postal Service" are painted on the wall above the door, and the party agree to head inside.
Inside they find an equally chaotic room, Aarakocra and Kenku are busy at work filing letters and parcels in their appropriate boxes and draws ready for delivery. Sat at a desk in the centre of the room is an Aarakocra with a crow-like appearance sporting a monocle and fez. The Aarakocra introduces himself as Ulysses Crow and asks the party what they want. Dank asks if they have received any letters from Duke Miles Roche. Ulysses calls his assistant over who informs him that they haven't. After Thurdon argues with the Kenku who continually repeats what Thurdon said back to him, the party decide to leave.
After leaving the Merchants Guild, the party visited an Alchemist Shop in the Trade Quarter. Bazz intimidated the shopkeeper into offering discounted prices for the vial of alchemist fire Vesta bought and the two smoke bombs Thurdon bought. The party visited a tailor on the Isle of Draguile that was recommended to them by Yves. The party will greeted by the tailors; Luigi and Manuel. Each of the party members, but Zeph and Emyr, purchased fine clothing for the ball. Some of the requests would take longer to produce, as such, a few of the party members would need to return the next day.
On their way back into the Trade District, the party passed by the Silver Stallion. Their attention was caught by two individuals, a city guard and what looked like a drunken "Dragonborn" arguing, the "Dragonborn" called out to the party, stating to the guard that they were his friends. Zeph was receptive to the "Dragonborn"'s deception and decided to play along. The guard interrogated the two for a while but eventually decided to let the "Dragonborn" go. The "Dragonborn" thanked Zeph for his help, however, a second thanks came from inside the "Dragonborn"'s coat followed by a hand reaching out to shake Zeph's hand. The party and the two Kobolds in a trenchcoat parted, the Kobolds shakily wandering in the direction of a different bar.
The party visited a jeweller in the Trade District. Vesta bought a pair of hair pins, she attempted to steal a third but was caught and received a slap on the wrist. Wallace bought three rings. Bazz bought a chain.
The party decided to visit a runesmith. On their way there, they encountered two elderly men arguing loudly. The two men were rival bakers, My Hollywood and Mr Kipling, with shops across the street from one another and both were arguing that they were a better baker than the other. There was only one way to settle this argument... A Bake Off!
The two bakers went away for a while to bake their respective cakes. Once they returned, the party each tasted the cakes, finding that both cakes were awful, the party made their distaste clear and the bakers ran off crying. Feeling bad, the party visited the bakers in their shops. After speaking with Mr Hollywood, the party learned of his love for erotic art after he showed them a room of erotic self-portraits, one of which Dank was given for free, the party convinced him to follow his passion.
As the party entered the square by the Merchants Guild, the party was approached by a Gothian Sheepdog in a wizard hat. Zeph attempted to make sense of the dog's barks. The dog began to pull on Dank's robes so the party decided to follow it. The dog led the party through the streets, in the distance they could hear loud crashing sounds, and finally, they arrived at the cause of the sound. An earth elemental was destroying the runesmith shop.
The party engaged in combat with the earth elemental, they found that their weapon attacks did little damage to the creature, Thurdon's Thunderous Smite, however, had much more effect. The elemental managed to badly injure Thurdon and Bazz before it was defeated by Zeph who launched a fire bolt that caused the elemental to explode into tiny shards of glass, Zeph absorbed the elemental essence of the elemental into his gauntlet. After searching the building, the party found the broken body of the runesmith. Vesta, Zeph and Dank comforted his dog as he mourned his master.
With the day drawing to a close, the party heads to the Curious Imp to find rooms for the night. After speaking with a patron of the bar, Thurdon finds himself in a flirtatious situation with a man called Dan, whose advances Thurdon rejects. After sharing drinks and food, the party heads to bed ready for the party the following evening.
After visiting the tailor again to collect their remaining clothing items for the party, the evening arrives and the party makes their way to the party. The party find a large crowd gathered at the entrance to the ball, slowly, the guards at the gates collect the invitations from the guests. As they reach the front of the crowd, the party are stopped by the guards at the doors who ask the party members to present their invitations, the party, however, do not have physical invitations.
Undeterred, Zeph attempted to persuade the guards to allow them entry, he stated that they had Lord Yves a few days prior who had invited them, Zeph also presented his signet ring and papers as proof of his noble station. The guard was unconvinced by Zeph's story, however, before he could have the party escorted away Felix arrived to calm the situation. Felix explained to the guards that Yves was expecting the party to attend. The guards allowed the party entry and they made their way inside.
Once inside, Felix pulled the party aside and warned them not to cause trouble while they were at the palace. Thurdon heads straight to the bar to get a drink, he begins to flirt with a young dark-haired woman at the bar and offers to make her a drink, the woman, however, seems unreceptive to his advances. Felix approaches and orders a drink, he asks Thurdon if he knows who he was speaking with, informing Thurdon that the woman is Lady Veronica, the daughter of the Grand Duke.
The other party members head to the bar to order drinks and then split up to speak with the attendees. Some of the party members headed to the courtyard where they found Yves conversing with some other attendees. The Prince of Draguilforte greeted the party members and thanked them for coming. He also thanked them for their assistance in dealing with the earth elemental the day before.
Heading back inside, Zeph, Dank, Thurdon and Emyr headed to the parlour room. Sitting at a table by the window was Martin, the Merchant King, whom they had previously encountered in Merchant's Crossing. Martin greeted the party, stating his surprise at seeing them at this gathering. The group conversed with Martin for a time, with Martin making several jabs at their social standing, before leaving to converse with others.
The party headed to the dining hall where they found Bazz participating in a drinking contest with another man. The party would learn that the man was the nephew of the Grand Duke and Lord of the Wharf District, Lord Aubert. Thurdon challenged Aubert to a drinking contest, which Aubert enthusiastically agreed to. Thurdon lost the contest but the drunken Aubert mistakenly paid Thurdon. After violently vomiting near Thurdon, Aubert is removed from the dining hall by the guards.
Thurdon speaks with two individuals sitting in an alcove of the dining hall, the pair introduce themselves as Lord Percival and Lady Simone. Simone informs Thurdon that Percival is the eldest son of Grand Duke Maxime, Percival seems uninterest in speaking with Thurdon. Thurdon's coy attempts at flirting and accidently suggestion of a threesome upset the Lord and Lady and he is asked to leave them alone.
After learning of the location of the vault, Zeph and Vesta set about distracting the guards so that Vesta could enter the restricted areas. Using Mage Hand, Zeph managed to create a scuffle between some of the partygoers. With the guard distracted by the fighting, Vesta is able to sneak a look into the next room where she finds two more guards. Zeph attempted to lure the guards out with a drunken performance but failed, Dank, unaware of what his companions were trying to accomplish, then feigned a heart-attack which only succeded in drawing the attention of the guard breaking up the scuffle and Emyr. The guard and a concerned Emyr escort Dank to the courtyard for some air. Having seen his companions failed attempts luring the guards out, Thurdon (also unaware of the purpose of these distractions) rushed into the room, stating that the Grand Duke had been attacked which succeded, the guard left the room to help. Vesta and Thurdon enter the room, Thurdon barred the door behind them.
Vesta sneaks into the next room, finding the kitchens where the cooks are preparing food for the ball. Thurdon does an impression of a critical highly esteemed chef, as he berates the catering staff for the poor quality of the food, Vesta sneaks by and walks down the stairs to the cellar. Thurdon's berating is so intense that he convinces the cooks to leave the palace In the cellar, the pair find crates filled with food and barrels of wine and ale. Searching around the room, Thurdon notices a seam in the wall in the shape of a door. After he and Vesta push on the hidden door to no effect, they search the room for a way to activate the mechanism. Vesta finds a button on the wall which causes the door to push back and down into the floor, revealing a long corridor.
Thurdon lights a torch and the pair search the floor for traps but find nothing, however, as they are walking Vesta manages to step onto a pressure plate triggering a trap and causing a scythe to swing from the wall. Vesta manages to avoid the trap but receives a glancing cut on her shoulder. The pair are more cautious for the remainder of the corridor and manage to spot and avoid further traps.
At the end of the corridor, they found a large room with three different types of identical statues scattered around the room; a warrior, a soldier and a sorcerer. Above the doorway, they read an inscription "The path of the wise leads to the prize". The two determined that they needed to follow the path of the sorcerer statues. While investigating the first state of the sorcerer, Thurdon pulled on its staff, causing the orb on the end to light up. The two followed the path, lighting each orb as they went. As the orb of the last statue was lit, a trail of light lit up, following the path they had taken, when it reached the doors they opened to reveal the treasure vault.
Once inside the pair surveyed the room for traps. They found that the treasure chests were all placed on pressure plates, Thurdon determined that removing and adding weight to these pressure plates would set off a trap. After searching through the room's many containers they found the ring located in a metal box in one of the cabinets. The ring was golden, in the shape of a dragon, formed to spiral around the wearers finger, with rubies placed in the eyes and mouth. Vesta removed the fake she was given by Talon and easily swapped the real for the fake. Happy that they had accomplished their mission, the two left the treasure vault and returned to the kitchen.
Thurdon and Vesta find themselves in a precarious situation, as they emerge from the cellar, they hear the sounds of the guards breaking through the barricade Thurdon had erected. Rushing through to the next room, they find two more guards. Thurdon attempts to lure the guards out of the room, stating that a fire has started in the kitchen. Vesta attempts to discreetly throw a bottle of alchemists fire into the kitchen, but the guards see her. The guards head to put out the fire, telling Thurdon and Vesta to stay put. The pair decide to flee from the palace. The two sprint out of the palace and head back to the inn. Once at the inn, the party reconvene and share stories of their nights after they were split up. After a final drink together, the party head to bed.
The following morning, the party members gathered together for breakfast and planned out what they would do for the last day in the city. Emyr suggested that they split into two groups to accomplish all of their goals. Zeph, Thurdon, Vesta and Emyr decided to check for a letter from Duke Miles and to collect the reward for stealing the ring. They decided to head to the Merchant's Guild first. After speaking with the postmaster, they receive the letter from Duke Miles who informs them that he can provide safety for Nazan, after relaying the message to Nazan, she agrees to travel to Regensthall alone, not wanting the party to divert from their quest, she thanked them for their help and headed off to find transportation to Regensthall.
After looking around the merchant wares for a few moments, the party spot two guards putting up posters on a notice board, on closer inspection the party realised they were wanted posters for Thurdon and Vesta. Thurdon purchased two masks to disguise himself.
Heading back outside, Vesta found a quiet alley and showed the ring they stole the previous night to her companions. Zeph observed the ring and determined that it is magical, but the magic is unknown to him, he determined it to be very old. Thurdon placed the ring on the middle finger of his right hand. The ring adjusted its size to fit Thurdon's middle finger. Magically energy swelled through Thurdon's body and golden scales cover his finger, ending at a sharp talon. Thurdon tested this new claw on a nearby wall and cuts a clean slash through the stone. However, he found that he cannot remove it, the ring is cursed.
The party decided to head to the Temple of Marius to learn how they might remove the curse. Thurdon is welcomed by the High Judge. Thurdon initially lied to the High Judge about how they came upon the ring, which the High Judge noticed and admonished Thurdon for. After this, Thudon told the full truth and asked the High Judge if he could help. The High Judge inspected the ring and informed Thurdon that a powerful curse has been places on the item which he is unable to lift. He stated that there may be others who might know more. He instructed Thurdon to trust in Marius and he may find a cure for his affliction. Thurdon took a moment to pray to Marius before the party left. With no other options, the party decide to visit Talon and find out if he knew any more about the ring.
Arriving at the gates between districts, the party found that the guards were inspecting those who passed through. Zeph stated he could disguise his companions but he will need to enter first. After being inspected by the guard, who informs him of a disease that is afflicting citizens of the district, Zeph used his magic to change the faces of his companions, Thurdon passes through first who attempted to hide his disfigured hand in his trousers. The guard called him out on this, Thurdon replied that he suffers from testicular torsion, the guard offers his sympathies, stating his brother suffered from the same thing, stating that he "howled throughout the night". Vesta then passed through disguised as an old woman and feigned being deaf.
The party headed to "The Hanged Man". The bartender remarked that the group weren't locals, Zeph stated they were looking for somewhere to sit and a drink, the bartender obliged and poured them four meads. Having remembered the passphrase Talon had given her, Vesta repeated it to the bartender. The bartender pulled a storage cabinet away from the wall and pulled back a curtain revealing a staircase heading down to the cellar, he gestured for Vesta to enter. Vesta asked her companions to follow, the bartender stated that Talon would only allow one to entered, Zeph and Vesta attempted to persuade him. Thurdon showed the effects of the curse to the bartender, to which the bartender laughed and stated that "your in the shit" and he allowed them all to enter.
The party found themselves in a dark and dank room, lit only by candle light. Vesta and the others approached the table where Talon sat, he gestured for her to sit and lit two cigars, offering one to Vesta. Talon questioned why the others had accompanied by, Vesta stated they had all helped, Talon told them to find chairs elsewhere. Talon asked Vesta to order a drink, when she asked for what he was drinking, he poured her a glass from his bottle. He stated that it seemed she had made it out of the palace alive, Vesta responded that they had managed the task, Talon derided her for failing to stay unnoticed in her burglary. Talon asked her to give him the ring, to which Vesta urged Thurdon to approach the table.
After showing his cursed finger to Talon, the crime boss began to laugh. He berated Thurdon for his idiocy, asking if he knew what he was wearing. Talon stated it was a Ring of Draconis, it would slowly transform Thurdon's body and sap away his sanity. Talon decided to allow the party to leave unscathed, finding Thurdon's new affliction to be punishment enough, he told them to leave the city.
Having failed to find a way to cure his curse, Emyr stated that there is a great library in his homeland that may have the answers they seek to prevent the curse from killing Thurdon. The party left the inn and headed to the general store where they purchased rations for the journey ahead.
Heading towards the northern gate, the party passed through the market square, which was now a makeshift hospital for those afflicted with this unknown plague. Emyr approached one of the healers, an older man bearing the markings of a disciple of Inuaria, the two greeted one another warmly, Emyr appreciated seeing a member of his order. The holy man asked about the health of the party. Thurdon explained his condition, the holy man introduced himself as Friar Eslor, and examined the cursed finger, he stated this was outside of his healing abilities but he wished Thurdon luck on his journey.
Zeph asked the friar about the contagion, and he stated he was unsure of the cause, he had travelled with Prince Ceolmund from Wuulfengart after hearing about the disease. The party said their farewells to the friar, and Thurdon and Emyr washed their hands.
Before arriving at the gates, Felix emerged from an alley. Zeph greeted his brother, seemingly happy to see him. Felix, likewise, greeted Zeph. Zeph informed him that they were just on their way out, Felix replied that was why he had come to find them. He stated he had heard about what happened in the palace, although annoyed, he didn't reprimand them, only stating that they needed to be more careful. Felix wished Zeph luck on his journey, telling him he will tell their father that Zeph is well. Zeph thanks Felix and tells him he hopes to see him again back in their homeland. The two shake hands, Felix asks the others to look after Zeph and he heads back towards the Trade District.
The party pass through the northern gate, prepare Brutus for the road and load up the cart.
Chapter 4:
Since leaving Draguilforte, the party have travelling north on the road towards Liris. On one evening the party set up camp away from the road, whilst he was sleeping Thurdon experienced another dream of his wife and son. Thurdon found himself in the Forests of Rhone, it was summertime time and the sun shone brightly overhead, its rays piercing through the foliage above bathing the forest floor in glorious light. At his side, walking with her arm through his is Alynne and his young son ran between the trees, chasing butterflies. Alynne released her arm from Thurdon and playfully chased after her son, she turned and called for Thurdon to follow.
Thurdon began to chase, as he ran flakes of snow began to fall around him, slowly at first but then faster until a blizzard was whirling around him, through the gusts of wind he could hear the sounds of muffled screams and the cold of the snow bites at his skin. From the swirling gusts about him a fist striked him across the jaw, another landed a blow to his ribs and he droped to his knees.
Thurdon felt a bloodthirsty rage fill his entire body as he lashed out at his attackers, he tore through armour and flesh like a knife to butter as he soaked the ground around him in hot red blood, he easily dispatched his first attacker, followed closely by the second, hearing the sounds of footsteps behind him, he turned and sank his claws into a third. Through the rage-filled haze, he recognised the face of his prey, Alynne looked up at him with eyes filled with fear and pain, his golden claws dripping with blood, "Why Thurdon?" she asked.
Thurdon awakened in a cold sweat, looking down at his hands, he noticed the single golden-clawed finger has now become two. Emyr knelt beside him, and he placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him "Are you alright, my friend, you were writhing in your sleep".
After another day of travel, the party began to see the first signs of a settlement, as their wagon crested the hill before them they could see the farming village of Alendar before them. Alongside the road leading up to the village, they found a broken down wagon, upon approaching the wagon they found two men, an elderly elf and a young human, arguing over whose fault it was that the wagon was so heavy. Zeph approached the two men and asked if they could help. The two groups introduce themselves, the elder elf is Athinar, a sorcerer and alchemist, and the young man is Edward, a ranger and leatherworker, the pair are both merchants travelling across Gothia selling their wares. The two accept Zeph's offer of help.
Zeph observes the wagon, finding the rear wheels axel to have snapped under the weight of the wagon. After coming up with the a plan to make a temporary repair, Thurdon, Bazz and Vesta work together to lift the wagon, meanwhile, using materials he found in the wagon, Zeph managed to makeshift repair to the axel, he states that the repair won't be enough to get them to Draguilforte. The party offer to move some of the wares to their own wagon so that the pair can find somewhere in the nearby village to make proper repairs.
Whilst the party is in the process of moving the wares, Zeph hears screams and shouts in the distance. From the sky, a large winged creatures swoops down and kills a farmer in one of the fields, after making this attack, the beast takes fight again and makes towards the party. Dank, Vesta and Thurdon attempted to take cover in a nearby storage shed. Dank tripped and just about made it into the shed, Vesta stumbled and fell outside of the shed and Thurdon tripped over Dank and collided with the wall inside of the shed.
Athinar conjured an illusion of a man to distract the winged beast. Zeph hid under the wagon and conjured grass around him to hide. Bazz, Emyr and Yanna prepared themselves to fight the beast. As the beast, now determined to be a wyvern, swooped down to attack Athinar's illusion, Bazz attacked with his axe. Recovering from their stumbles and moments of cowardice, the rest of the party begin to attack the wyvern. Surrounded by enemies, the wyvern escapes into the sky, flying towards the mountains to the east.
After the fight, the party are approached by a young farmer who thanks them for their help fighting the wyvern, he tells them that the village has been targetted by the wyvern for a few weeks but they have yet to receive help from the Duchess of Liris. The young man suggests that the party speak with the Alderman if they want to know more or wish to help.
After finishing moving the rest of the wares into their wagon, the party head into the village. Edward decides to take the wagons to be stored away and find someone to make the necessary repairs, Bazz and Orca head to the inn. The rest of the party make their way towards the Alderman's Hall. The doors to the hall are guarded by a pair of children, dressed in pots and pans resembling armor. They stop the party before they can enter. Zeph tries to convince the children to allow them to enter, but they seem unconvinced. After this Thurdon steps in, he threatens to hit one of the children if they don't allow them to enter, the child begins to cry. Thurdon attempts to console the child but is unsuccessful and the children run away. Emyr questions Thurdon's methods, suggesting that the children were just playing.
The party enter the hall finding that the Alderman's Hall is humble compared to the manors and palaces they have visited on their journey thus far. Two long tables span near the full length of the hall separated by a long fire pit, at the far end of the hall is a separate smaller table, at the centre of which sits a young man on a chair more elaborate than the rest, beside him an older man, the two are pouring over a stack of papers and books. The young man notices the party enter and beckons them over. The young man introduces himself to the party as Kalen, the Alderman of Alendar, and welcomes them to his hall. The older man introduces himself as Osbern, the uncle and advisor of the Alderman.
The party explain what happened on their way to the village and Zeph suggests that they can help with the village's problem with the wyvern for a reward. Kalen is receptive to his offer and asks how much it would cost. After some back and forth negotiating the price, the two parties agree to 160gp. Kalen explains that the wyvern has been seen flying towards the mountains to the east, the villagers believe that the beast takes refuge in a ancient temple that has been built into the mountain.
After departing the Alderman's Hall, the party split up to explore the village. Zeph heads to a local woodworker and pays to have his staff adjusted. Dank and Yanna head to the blacksmith and pay to have their weapons repaired after their fight with the ooze in the sewers of Draguilforte.
The party gather at the inn and spend the night there. After reaquiring their weapons and making preparations, the party set out for the temple. Athinar and Thurdon spot trails of fight on the ground, likely from the wyvern, which they follow to the temple.
After some walking, the party arrive at the temple built into the base of the mountain. A group of goblinoids have set up camp outside of the temple's entrance. The party spread out into the trees surrounding the goblinoid camp. Zeph attempted to sneak into the camp but was spotted by a hobgoblin, after an argument that led the hobgoblin into experiencing an existencial crisis, Zeph casted 'Burning Hands' on the hobgoblins face and a battle started. Bazz had an intense one on one fight with a bugbear leading to both being badly injured before the bugbear was finished off by Athinar. Thurdon was peppered with arrows by a hobgoblin who he managed to kill by crushing his throat and impaling with his sword.
After taking some time to loot the defeated goblinoids, Zeph began to observe the entrance to the temple. He determined that the temple was very old, likely older than some of the oldest building in the Aldrestian Capital, he was determined that the pair of statues flanking the doors to the temple likely depicted a god that has long since been forgotten. The party searched around the entrance for a way to open the doors, but decided that they needed to be forced open. As a group, the party pushed the great doors open, revealing a long dark tunnel leading into the mountain. Athinar casted 'Light' on some coins and Zeph used 'Mage Hand' to transport the coins into the tunnel, lighting the way ahead. The party carefully made their way through the tunnel, eventually arriving at an entry hall. Vesta opted to step inside to survey the room for danger. She found the room filled with signs of battle and a dying Orc lay against one of the pillars. Zeph approached the dying Orc and attempted to learn more about what had happened, but all he received was a foreboding warning "They're still here... lying still... waiting... don't let them wake", before the Orc died.
As the party turned to return to the tunnel to plan what to do next, Bazz knocked over a barricade, the dead began to rise from the ground and a fight began. During the fight, Emyr cast 'Turned Undead' causing some of the dead to flee the room. After the undead had been defeated, the party searched the room. On one of the bookshelf, Zeph found the remains of a book that was still legible. Although hard to read, he was able to determined that the temple was dedicated to a god known as 'Valir', purported to be a god of libertation, Zeph decided to keep the book.
Having searched everything of worth, the party climb the stairs up to the next floor. Zeph led the way, using his magic earring to listen for noise but he could only hear the sounds of water. Zeph took the lead and looked into the room but found nothing of concern. Dank decided to head inside, keeping close to the wall. Vesta and Thurdon followed, however, Vesta decided to approach the pool of green liquid at the centre of the room. Upon touching it, a mass of liquid rose from the pool and enveloped her.
Bazz managed to pull Vesta out of the Water Elemental's body but is soon engulfed himself, Vesta managed to flee. During the fighting, Bazz is pulled free from the water by Yanna. Athinar manages to kill the elemental with a shock of lightning. In her struggle to free Bazz, Yanna was badly injured by the Water Elemental, Zeph kindly shared one of his healing potions with her.
The party climbed up the next set of stairs, Thurdon led the way this time. At the summit they found a large nave, with rows of benches on either side, divided by a carpetted walkway. Skeleton remains were seated upon the benches. Thurdon casted 'Detect Good and Evil' and determined that the dead in the room would reanimate if disturbed. The party decide to stealthily approach the undead and dispatch them before they can reanimate. Zeph, Dank, Thurdon, Vesta and Athinar get into their position and managed to destroyed the undead. The final enemy in the room, a Wight, is easily dispatched by Thurdon.
With the room clear of threats, Zeph decided to investigate the locked door in the nave. Both Zeph and Thurdon attempted to force the door open but were unsuccessful, Vesta attempted to pick the lock, but found some magical force would push the picks out of the lock. Whilst the others were checking the door, Athinar decided to investigate the altar, he found the ruined remains of various parchments but wasn't able to learn much. Having decided that the locked door wasn't an option at that time, Vesta decided to investigate the room on the left side of the nave where she found what remained of a living quarters. Dank decided to lay down in what remained of one of the beds. Zeph investigated a statue located at the far end of the room, the statue was identical to the others they had seen throughout the temple, however, this statue was situated on a pedestal with an inscription carved into it. The inscription was written in an ancient language, Zeph spent some time translating the text, detemining that the writing took the form of a riddle:
“I live with one, as servant or guest, Nothing holds me when I am at rest. Often five control me at my worst or best; I oft’ face my kind in a final test.”
After sharing his findings with the others, the party spent some time attempting to solve the riddle. Various possible answers were given but Zeph was the one to find the correct answer as 'A Sword'. Upon touching the statue's sword, Zeph determined that the sword could be rotated, together the paty worked to twist the sword which caused the statue to shift back into the wall revealing a ladder leading upwards. After their prior fights, Emyr suggested it may be a good idea to rest for a while before progressing further. The party rest in the beds after Zeph used his magic to make them more comfortable.
Once the party had rested, Dank decided to take the lead and climbed up the ladder first. At the top he found a large cave, located at the centre of the cave was a podium surrounded by candles, floating above the platform was a glowing red orb. Dank also noticed the remains of many skeletons, both old and relatively fresh.
The rest of the party climbed up after Dank, they all began to examine the floating orb, on closer inspection they found that the orb was encasing a broken black sword. Thurdon and Dank decided to throw objects at the orb; a rock and grappling hook, respectively, but found that they just bounced off. Zeph attempted to touch the orb with 'Mage Hand' but magic disipated upto touching the orb.
Athinar decided to investigate the rest of the cave. He went to check a collection of parchments placed on a large rock where he found the body of a man lay against it, when he attempted to check the man's pockets, the man awoke and Athithar stepped away. Dank approached the man, who seemed to be badly injured. The man introduced himself as Steven, a local farmhand who had been grabbed by the wyvern and brought here. As Dank attempted to provide medical attention to the injured man, he felt a sharp pain in his side where Steven had plunged a dagger.
The party drew their weapons as the disguise fell away and "Steven" was revealed to be a Deathlock. As the party prepare to attack, they hear a noise from a cave opening above as the wyvern perched above them. Vesta casted "True Strike" and prepared to attack the Deathlock. Zeph began to speak Draconic in an attempt to communicate with the wyvern and pursued it to help the party, followed by him attacking the Deathlock. The wyvern flew down from it's perch, it responded to Zeph's request by telling him that the Deathlock was its master, the wyvern proceeded to attack Athinar and Vesta.
Conflicted on where his help was needed most, Thurdon decided to come to the aid of Athinar and Vesta, he attacked the wyvern. The Deathlock focused his attention on the already injured Dank. Yanna joined Thurdon in attacking the wyvern, her attacks redirected the wyvern's fury and she was injured by the wyvern's stinger. Zeph managed to kill the Deathlock with a blast of 'Burning Hands', reducing the Deathlock to a pile of dust. Thurdon climbed onto the wyvern and managed to behead it.
With the enemies defeated, Athinar searched through the notes he had seen previously, from them he learnt of the Deathlock's identity as a former Warlock in service to an entity refered to as 'The Dark One' who has sent the Deathlock here to retrieve a powerul relic. He also found an elaborate key.
The party return their attention to the orb. Zeph attempted to summon a 'Mage Hand' inside of the orb but was unable to do so. Finding no immediate solution, the party headed back down the ladder and investigated the locked door. Zeph quickly checked the kitchen again and found a decorated cauldron. Athinar used the key he found on the door and they were able to enter. Athinar found a seemingly simple looking staff, which he felt give off magical energy. Thurdon found a cap which when worn would change the wearers clothing. They also found gold and silver.
Returning to the orb, Zeph began testing other theories on how to deal with the orb. He cut his hand and allowed blood to drip on the orb, this had no effect, Emyr stepped in to tend to the cut, telling Zeph it was a good idea. Deciding they had no other options, Zeph decided to touch the orb. As his skin touched the surface of the orb he was physically repelled. Thurdon decided to try his luck, however, this time Thurdon was suddently transported to the ruins of a throne room. Sitting at the foot of a large ornate black throne was a tall, physically imposing grey skinned man with Elf-like features, with black and white markings on his face and body. The man walked over to Thurdon and began inspecting him. The man commented to Thurdon's physical prowess and decided he would be suitable. He asked Thurdon for his name, his opinion on tyrants and his goals. Thurdon introduced himself, stating that he is opposed to tyrants and that his goals are to find his family and enact vengeance upon their abductors. The grey man was satisfied with Thurdon's answer, stating it had been centuries since someone worthwhile he stood before him. Thurdon was returned to the cave, in his hand was the broken black sword that had been contained within the orb.
Having explored everything they could, the party decided to leave. Using his grappling hook, Thurdon made his way up to the cave that the wyvern had entered through and assisted the others in climbing up. After some walking the party reached an opening that led outside. Carefully, the party descended down the mountain and made their way back to the village.
When the party had arrived back in Alendar, the sun had began to set. The party made their way to the Alderman's Hall, the same children were at the doors as they had been a few days prior, upon seeing Thurdon, however, they ran away. The party made their way inside and Thurdon threw the wyvern's head towards Kalen. The party received their reward, Kalen allowed Thurdon to keep the skull. Kalen offered the party a drink to celebrate. The party spent the evening in at the village inn, Thurdon paraded the wyvern skull around the bar, as a result several of the villagers bought him drinks as thanks.
Thurdon awoken to find himself in a forest, sat before him upon a fallen tree was the man who had given him the sword in the temple. The man formally introduced himself as Valir, the God of Liberation. Valir expresses his admiration of Thurdon for his perserverance in the face of great loss, he states that Thurdon is the exact person he has been waiting for. The two spoke for a while, Valir enquired about Thurdon's relationship with Marius, the God of Law, to which Thurdon responded that he and his order were not on the best terms. Valir suggested that he and Thurdon make an agreement, Thurdon would swear an oath to Valir and Valir would grant Thurdon the power to crush his enemies. Thurdon agreed to the God of Liberations terms and an oath was sworn. Valir also explained the powers of the broken blade and how Thurdon could increase its power.
The following morning, the party were greeted by the Alderman Kalen, he thanked the party again for their help, he also stated that he had agreed to a race with Thurdon and asks the party to follow him outside. The villagers had set up a circuit in the fields for the pair to race on and a large group of villagers had gathered to watch. Before the race began, Emyr approached Thurdon and casted 'Guidance' upon him, a boon that would grant Thurdon a small advantage. The pair mounted up and the race began, although the race was close Thurdon managed to claim victory over the Alderman. Kalen congratulated Thurdon on his win and the pair shook hands.
After the race had finished, Vesta was approached by a pair of young girl, the elder of the two cautiously tugged on the sleeve of her coat to draw her attention. Vesta turned and knelt down to speak with the girls. In a small voice, the older girl asked Vesta if she could help find their mother. Upon seeing the girls speaking with Vesta, Kalen approached and helped to girls to explain their situation. The mother of the two girls, Casta, works as a mercenary, she often leaves the village in search of work, she is usually only gone for a week, two at most. Kalen informs the party that Casta has been away for over a month now, he offers to party a reward for any information they can find about her, he tells them that the Adventurer's Guild in Liris would be the best place to start. Vesta informs Kalen and the girls that she will do what she can.
With their business in the village concluded, the party say their farewells and set off north again, Athinar agreed to join the party on their journey. As they travel along the road, the weather began to change, the clear skies of the morning were replaced by dark rain clouds. A heavy downpour began to set in as the party approached a bridge crossing a fast flowing river. With the adverse weather setting in, the party were eager to cross and find some shelter from the rain, however, as they approached the bridge they were interupted by a pair of trolls crawling out from beneath.
The trolls insist upon the party paying a toll to cross over the bridge. Zeph took the initiative and attempted to persuade them to allow the party to cross for free, the trolls weren't dissuaded, however, and began to demand payment. With diplomacy off the table, Thurdon threatened to cut of the heads of the trolls if they refused to allow them passage, Thurdon was then attacked by an enraged troll. A fight ensued where Thurdon made good on his promise, taking the head of one of the trolls while Bazz took the head of the other. With the trolls dead, Athinar decided to loot the troll's belongings and collected a few coins, which he shared with the party.
The heavy rain had turned into a storm that whirled around the party making travel much more difficult. In the distance they could make out a faint light through the storm. As they got closer they discovered the light to be a small farmstead, Zeph decided to knock on the door. The door was opened by an elderly man who greeted Zeph warmly, Zeph explained their predicament to the man, who welcomed them into his home and offered them use of his barn for Brutus. While Thurdon took Brutus into the barn, the rest of the party entered the house.
The house is small but the benches around the fire at the centre of the room are large enough to accomodate everyone, the man tells the party to take a seat around the fire while he finds some blankets. Vesta is suspicious of a large pot balanced over the fire but find only water inside. The man returns with a bundle of blankets which the party share around. With the water boiling on the fire, the old man brews some hot beverages for the party, while serveral party members are skeptical, Zeph decides to trust the old man, finding the drink to be very rejuvenating, the rest of the party follow Zeph's lead.
The old man introduces himself as Beren, the party follow suit and introduce themselves. Zeph questions the man about his profession, Beren tells him to he works as a farmer and herder although he sold off a large part of his land as he is now unable to work as much as he used to. He tells the party that before he worked as a farmer he served in the military under the Grand Duke. When questioned further, Beren stated that he had served as one of the Grand Duke's commanders during the Invasion of Hyberia. After hearing this, Thurdon asked if Beren had known his father, however, Beren stated he had not met him. Beren informed them that he had served as the Sea Lord of Seapoint for a number of years, as such he had little involved in the fighting itself. The party asked him for advice on routes to Hyberia, Beren suggested that they seek out an experienced captain in Malroux as they would need to chart a safe route as they seas around Hyberia are treacherous.
After the party had finished with their questions, Beren took to his bed and the party followed suit, Thurdon and Dank decided to sleep in the barn. The next morning, the party awakened to find that the storm had calmed although the rain had not stopped entirely. The party said their farewells to Beren who wished them well on their journey and asked that they visit him on their return journey.
On the road, the party were halted by the sounds of shouting and the flapping of wings. An Aarakocra messenger descended from the sky towards the party landing on the back of their wagon. The messenger introduced himself as Beaker and asked if they were the group known as "The Obsidian Fellowship". Beaker handed a sealed letter to Dank before flying away. Dank opened the letter finding that it contained an invitation and directions to a party being hosted by Magister Aleron Veserick. The party decided to attend. On their way towards the location described in the letter, the party noticed a carriage approaching them. The carriage was driven by a man with one eye who introduces himself as Paul. A voice from inside calls out to the party and a well-dressed man steps out and greets the party, he introduces himself as Lord Frederick Ludmar of Eisenwald, he tells the party that he and his wife have received invitations to a party nearby but they now seem to be lost. The party inform him that they will also be attending the party and they agree to accompany Lord Frederick to the party.
On their way towards the party, Lord Frederick tells the party that Magister Aleron hosts a gathering of notable people throughout the continent every year, it is at this point that Zeph realised that he recognised the Magister's name, he tells the party that Magister Aleron was a renowned researcher and lecturer at the Academy of Arcane Excellence for many years before he became an advisor to the Duke of Liris.
After following a path deep into the forest, the party reach a large manor house surrounded by a stone wall. A set of iron gates bar the way into the courtyard. The gates feature a depiction of a pair of lillies. As the party approach the gates, a telepathic voice enters their heads, the voice offers greetings to the party, welcoming them to the estate, as the gates open, allowing the party to enter the large courtyard. As Thurdon and Paul park up their wagons, the group are approached by a butler. The butler welcomes the group to the Court of Lillies, he informs the party of the dresscode, instructing them to change into formal attire and points towards a building by the stables where they change in privacy, he then instructs Lord and Lady Ludmar to follow him inside. Once the party are all changed, they made their way inside.
As they entered the main hallway of the manor, a servant directed them towards a parlor room to the right. Thurdon approached the Dwarven man sat alone, the Dwarf introduced himself as Nefrar Mudhorn, a treasurer from Thil Baduhr. Thurdon, however, misheard the Nefrar and kept referring to him as 'Trevor' to Nefrar's annoyance. Thurdon and Vesta introduce themselves to Lord Alister Thomaine, a wealthy nobleman from the city of Liris, and Captain Berthilde, a captaim of the guard in Liris.
Finally, the host of the party entered the room. The Magister, Aleron Veserick, greeted his guests and thanked them for attending.
The guests were informed that dinner was ready to be served and they proceeded to follow the servants through to the dining room. The party took their seats amongst the other guests. The first course is served; a carrot and leek soup served with rye bread and a glass of Wild Orchid Wine. Zeph, who was seated next to the Magister, discuss life on the road and Zeph shares some of the events they had experience thus far. A second course is served; roasted stag in game sauce with a serving of Tangerine Whiskey.
The Magister rose from his seat and the guests turned to listen to him. He raised his glass in a toast and thanked his guests for attending, he then began to speak about the research he had been conducting. In his desire to learn more about the history of the world he had been delving into the Underdark, into places far deeper than the Mountain Dwarves would tread. He stated that he had found something which he believed was the key to unlocking far greater possibilities than are currently available. From his pocket, the Magister produced a glass jar containing a wormlike-creature swimming in yellow-green fluid. He stated that this creature contained the prospect of powers far greater than those available to mortal creatures and that he wanted to share this gift with those gathered.
The party watched as the Magister's body began to contort, his hands grew larger with long sharp talons protruding from the ends of his fingers. The skin on his face began to peel back and his jaw split open revealing dry grey flesh and a mass of long tendrils. A pair of dark, ominious eyes glared at those gathered. Treasurer Nefrar, Lord Frederick and Martin expressed their horror at what they were witnessing and rose to leave. The Magister stated his disappointment at their decision, but informed them that they could not leave. A ray of green energy burst from the Magisters hand, Treasurer Nefrar had no chance to speak before he was turned to ash.
The Magister stated that Martin would serve no threat and that his corpse would feed the wolves for weeks, he turned to Susannah and asked that she finish off Lord Frederick, refering to her as 'my love', as he cast Control Person on her. Susannah grabbed a knife from the table and plunged it into the throat of her husband. Gripping at his throat and through gurgles and splutters he begged Thurdon for help as he collapsed to the floor. Martin turned to the party members and begged for them to save him. The Magister offered them a choice, eternal life or dying in this hall. The party chose to fight. The Magister grabbed and hold of Susannah as he levitated up to the first floor, he directed the other guests to finish off the party.
A fight breaks out as the other guests turn on the party, each of the guests grabs a knife from the table to use as an improvised weapon. The party emerge victorious, dispacting the other guests, as well as, the Magister's servants whose heads had been infested with intellect devourers, although Zeph and Athinar were badly injured during the fighting, Emyr was able to stablise their injuries and he and Thurdon provided healing. The party took a moment to loot the partygoers, whilst Zeph checked in on Martin who seemed shaken by the events.
The party headed out to the courtyard to collect their weapons ready for a fight with the Magister. Paul, the wagon driver who had brought Lord and Lady Ludmar to the party, was sat by the wagons smoking a pipe. Bazz and Thurdon began to violentlly interrogate him about his involvement, however, he seemed to be oblivious to everyting that had occured during the party. The party took a moment to rest and recover before confronting the Magister.
The party headed back inside and searched room on the first floor. Athinar found the Magister's study where he found Susannah lay out, unconcious, on a table, he went to check on her condition. As he did so, he noticed the Magister standing over a desk on the other side of the room. The Magister acknowledged the party's survival, he expressed regret at losing his supporters, feeling he may have underestimated the party, however he stated that he would find more who would be sympathic to his cause.
Zeph attempted to reason with Aleron, the Magister remarked that Zeph would have made a wonderful pupil. Aleron stated that Susannah's transformation had begun. Vesta fired a bolt from her crossbow towards the Magister but missed, the rest of the party drew their weapons. Thurdon, Yanna, Zeph, Dank and Emyr went to attack the Magister, whereas Athinar, Vesta and Bazz attempted to remove the tadpole from Susannah's head. Athinar attempted to perform surgery to remove the tadpole through her eyesocket, however, he managed to cause injury to her brain whilst attempting to remove her eye. Bazz made a heavy handed attempt to remove the tadpole which failed. Vesta attempted a more careful approach, but she managed to worsen the injury that Athinar caused, killing Susannah. With Susannah dead, the Magister became enraged and the party set about finishing him off.
Thurdon and Yanna dealt massive blows, whilst Dank and Zeph hit him with flames. The Magister cast a lightning bolt, Emyr managed to avoid the attack, whilst Zeph cast a shield upon himself, however, Bazz received the full force of the lightning which instantly downed him, Zeph attempts to stablise him failed, Emyr managed to prevent the barbarian from dying. In retaliation, Yanna cast Divine Smite and dealt a heavy blow to the Magister's neck, decapitating him. Emyr set about healing Bazz.
Zeph searched the magisters desk, finding papers detailing his explorations of the underdark, how he found the ruins of a mindflayer colony and was accidently infected by a tadpole. He describes his transition and the changes in his personality. Zeph also found a dragon claw pendant in the desk draw. Vesta examined another desk, finding more details about his research, the entrance to the underdark is located in Wuulfengart. She also found some books on Local History, Arcane Academy and History Wuulfengart. On Susannah's body she found a locket which contained pictures of younger versions of herself and the magister. Athinar search the alchemy station, finding two potions, one he determined to be a potion of truth, the other may be a potion of aging or anti-aging.
The party searched the rest of the building, finding a temple to Ides, the servant quarter covered in blood, various bedrooms, a kitchen where Zeph found three bottles of Verulamian wine and a library where the party collected various books of interest. Zeph and Thurdon looked for a book on cursed rings, they found a oddities book which contain information on the Rings of Draconis. Vesta searched for information about the Black Hand, but found nothing, she also searched for information about Hyberia, finding information on the discovery of the island 24 years ago by fishermen and that the world tree is located at the centre of the island, surrounded by the ruins of an ancient city. Athinar found a book on arcana.
With their searches finished, the party decided to spend the night in the manor. The following morning, the party awakened in their chosen rooms at the 'Court of Lillies'. When the group had gathered, Zeph explained what he experienced. Thurdon asked if his curse may have some effect on the amulet, Zeph handed it to him, Thurdon, however, felt nothing when he put the amulet on.
Thurdon raided the pantry for food and prepared a bacon sandwiches for breakfast. Having explored the manor fully, the party decided it was time to leave. In the courtyard they found a collection of recently excavated and filled graves, Emyr told the party that he had buried some of the attendants during the night. Thurdon considered burning down the manor, however, Zeph objected, stating they may need to report this incident when they arrived at Liris. The party loaded and hitched their wagon to Brutus, they found that Paul, the driver of Lord and Lady Ludmar, was gone, along with his wagon and horses. Following the path they had taken the day before, the party arrived back at the main road. Once there, Yanna stopped the party. She told them that she had enjoyed the short time that they had spent together but it was time for her to part ways. Dank protested, but relented when Yanna told him that she wanted to return to their village and begin her own investigation. Martin told the party that he would travel with Yanna back to Draguilforte. Dank and Yanna shared a big hug before saying their farewells and parting ways, the party travelling north and Yanna and Martin heading south.
Their journey north was beset by a light rain that continued throughout the hours they spent travelling. Finally, as they began to crest over one final hill, they spotted signs of the city in the distance. Evening had began to draw closer as they approached the gates to the city. As they passed through a small hamlet situated on their approached, they paid to have Brutus and their wagon stored for a week.
Thurdon noticed that the southern gate seemed lightly manned. A pair of guards were stationed at the gate finding cover from the rain beneath the walkway that bridged the two gatehouses flanking the gate itself. The guards greeted the party as they approached, enquiring about what brought them to the city. Zeph stated that they were adventurers here on business. One of the guards remarked that he was an adventurer once. The guards inform the party that the city is ungoing preparations for the 10th birthday of Tristan Duval, the Duke-in-waiting. Zeph offers to his assistance, but the guards tell him that he would need to speak with the Duchess, although the chances of speaking with her are small, as she is preoccupied with her own preparations.
The guards also inform them about a contingent of the city guard being sent north to deal with a group of bandits that have been causing trouble around the town of Woolhope. The party enquire about these bandits, but the guards say they would need to speak with the Guard Commander. At that moment, a man adorned in an impressive set of armor approaches the group, the guards at the gate turn to salute. The man, revealed to be the Guard Commander, questions the party about their identities. Vesta tells him they are 'The Obsidian Fellowship', but the title is unknown to the Guard Commander. Thurdon asks about the bandit problem in the north, but the Commander tells him he has sent men to deal with it. Thurdon tells him about their experiences with the bandit attacks around the village of Rhone and suggests they could provide help. The Commander rebuffs Thurdon's offer, stating his soldiers are perfectly capable of maintaining order in the Duchy. He warns the party to keep their noses clean in his city. Dank tells him they will.
After the Commander had left, one of the guards tells the party that man was Symon Duval, Commander of the Liris' Army and the brother of the former Duke and uncle of Tristan Duval. He tells the party about the rumours about Symon's plans to depose his nephew. The other guard interjects, stating that the Commander is a good man who is looking out for the wellbeing of the Duchy. The party pay the toll to enter the city and the guards wish them well.
After a short discussion, the party decide to head to the market to see if they can gather information and browse the wares available. Upon arriving at the market, they found that many of the stalls had closed for the evening, but some were still open. Dank spoke with a passerby and asked about the fesival, the stranger told him that preparations are still underway and it is expected to start in a few days, he says that a tourney will take place on the final day. After spending time looking around, Dank, Thurdon, Zeph and Emyr decided to buy pies from a pie maker.
Thurdon suggested they head to the Mage's Guild wanted to enquire about the creation of magical item. Inside the guild, they find that place filled with shelves and pedastals displaying magical artifacts, stood at a counter at the centre of the room is a bored-looking young man. Thurdon asks if there are any mages around, the young man tells him that his collegues have left to go out drinking, he asks if there was something he could help with. Thurdon describes an item he wants to be crafted; a magical whistle that would allow him to summon his Ox, Brutus. The young mage ponders the request for a moment and tells Thurdon they could do that, he would require a deposit of ten gold and they could have the order sorted in a week. Thurdon tried to haggle but was unsuccessful. Thurdon asks the mage about the amulet they found, however, after observing the amulet for a moment, he tells Thurdon he doesn't know anything. He tells him that he should come back tomorrow when his associates are around, or they could head to the Adventurer's Guild where they would probably be drinking.
The party leave the Mage's Guild and make their way through the city streets towards the Adventurer's Guild where they find a man throwing up outside. Zeph checks on the man, who through wretches, tells him not to drink the Goldman Cider. The party find the guild to be poorly kept, with broken glass and uncleaned spills on the floor. Vesta spotted a Dwarven man sat alone at a table near the entrance, upon approaching him he informed her that "Everything is gone". The Dwarf is heavily intoxicated with several empty mugs around him. Vesta asks him what he is gone and he tells her everything. Vesta asks him if he has lost two children, to which he responds that he hasn't. He tells her that his caravan was robbed, he managed to make it back to the city but now he isn't able to arrange an escort back to Thil Baduhr. Vesta offers her help for five gold to which the Dwarf eagerly accepts.
Thurdon ordered himself a mead from the bartender and approaches a group of men who he assumes to be the mages from the guild. The men happily offer him a seat. Thurdon enquires about the order he placed earlier, which they tell him they can fulfill. He then asked about the amulet that had found. The mage observes the amulet for a moment with a shocked look on his face, he informs Thurdon that they had found a Time Dragon claw. On hearing this, Zeph approached and listened in on the conversation. Thurdon asked what the amulet does, but the mage seems unsure, he tells him many theories have been suggested but few people are in possession of such artifacts and fewer have had success studying them. Zeph recalls his knowledge of Time Dragons, however he learned little about them during his studies as they were long considered to be mythical creatures, until artifacts were discovered. The mage asks if they would be willing to sell the claw, but Thurdon declines.
Thurdon then showed his cursed hand to the mages, revealing that a third finger had now been affected. The mages are disturbed by Thurdon's affliction, they suggest he speak with someone skills in healing magics if he wishes to cure or prevent the futher spread, they tell him such people could be found in Gran Rydrius or Mysenia.
Zeph bought a Goldman Cider from the bartender, who suggested that he shouldn't. Zeph had two sips, which made him feel unwell. Vesta asked the mages if they knew a woman called Casta, they told her to speak with the bartender. The bartender informed Vesta that Casta visits regularily looking for work, he tells her she was headed to Thil Baduhr when he last saw her, he recommends he speak with the Dwarf in the corner.
A young man with short spikey white hair emerged from a hallway, on his way through the bar he accidently bumped into another of the patrons, causing him to spill his drink over himself. An altercation begins between the young man and the men at the table. Zeph stepped in to resolve the conflict, but when of the men at the table called Zeph "knife ears", which prompted the party to prepare to defend their companion. Thurdon pressed one of his claws to the throat of one of the men. Sufficiently intimidated, the men backed down and a fight was avoided.
The young man thanked Zeph for stepping in and introduced himself as Rainer. Zeph introduced himself and his companions as 'The Obsidian Fellowship', although Rainer hadn't heard of them. Rainer stated that he was a bard who had travelled to Liris to preform during the festival, he demonstrated his sword juggling techniques. Zeph asked if Rainer had heard of the bard, Ricardo the Fantastical, but he hadn't.
Vesta went to speak with the Dwarf again and asked him about Casta. He told her that he knew of her as she would often work as a guard for Dwarven caravans, he suggested Vesta may be able to find her or learn more of her whereabouts at Thil Baduhr.
Zeph spoke with another of the patrons, they discussed the upcoming festival and the imprisonment of Prince Ceolmund in Draguilforte.
The party left the Adventurer's Guild and headed to an inn called 'The Broken Wheel' where they booked rooms for the night.

Physical Description

Physical quirks

The effects of the cursed ring Thurdon is wearing on the middle ring of his right hand, Thurdon's skin has slowly been transforming into dragon scale. Currently, his right index, middle and ring finger have been affected.

Current Location

Merchant's Crossing

Species

Humans

Conditions

• Draconis Curse

Ethnicity

Gothian

Date of Birth

26th of Silent Hunter Moon, 1390

Year of Birth

1390 33 Years old

Birthplace

Rhone

Family

Thurdon's Family

Sex

Male

Gender

Man

Eyes

Blue

Hair

Light brown, swept back

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Tanned

Height

6'2"

Belief/Deity

Valir

Aligned Organization

The Obsidian Followship

Other Affiliations

• The Defenders of Wuulfrend
• The Knights of Marius

Related Historical Events

• 16009
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• 16009
  The Hags Lair
• 16009
  The Party Explore the Catacombs Beneath Hawksend
• 16009
  The Party Meet the Ghost of Ulthor Hawksend
• 16009
  The Party Enter the Hawksend Manor
• 16009
  The Party Defeat the Bandits Inhabiting Hawksend
• 16009
  The Party Take Shelter and Plan Their Next Steps
• 16009
  The Party Infiltrate Hawksend
• 16009
  The Party Make Camp in a Cave for the Evening
• 16009
  The Party Arrive at Hawksend
• 16009
  The Party Encounter a Goblinoid Patrol on the Route to Hawksend
• 16009
  The Party Meet Lord Garth Redwood
• 16009
  The Party Collected Their Reward from the Merchant King
• 16009
  The Party Reunited at The Peddler's Rest
• 16009
  Zeph, Thurdon, Dank and Emyr Investigate the "Beast"
• 16009
  The Party Arrive at Merchant's Crossing
• 16009
  The Party Rest for the Evening
• 16009
  Thurdon Wins an Ox Race
• 16009
  The Party Prepare to Leave Regensthall
• 16009
  The Party Return to the Shoddy Craftsman
• 16009
  The Party Visit the Temple of Marius to Research the World Tree
• 16009
  The Party Meet with the Duke of Regensthall
• 16009
  The Party Explore Regensthall
• 16009
  The Party Arrive at Regensthall
• 16009
  The Party is Attacked During Bridge Construction
• 16009
  The Party Reach a River Crossing
• 16009
  The Party Encounter an Abandoned Wagon
• 16009
  The Party Continue on their Journey to Regensthall
• 16009
  The Party Return to Rhone after Defeating the Cultists
• 16009
  The Party Clear the Black Hand Hideout
• 16009
  The Party Discover the Ruins of the Village of Rhone
• 16009
  The Defenders of Wuulfrend and Clint's Caravan Members Fight the Bandits on the Road
• 16009
  Thurdon's Family are Kidnapped
• 16009
  The Defenders of Wuulfrend Fight Off a Bandit Raid on Wuulfrend
• 15976
  The Birth of Thurdon
• 1423
  The Party Meet the Ghost of Lord Ulthor Hawksend
• 1423
  The Party Search the Manor in Hawksend
• 1423
  The Defenders of Wuulfrend Fight Off a Bandit Raid on Wuulfrend