Fern
Info
Rogue, Arcane Trickster
Background: Penetration Tester
| § | Interactions |
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| 37 | #DestructionsLight They had few hours, enough for a short rest. But more importantly, they needed to prepare. The skies had cleared, and so Tetro cast Skywrite notifying all towns of the imminent attack. Panicked townsfolk were rushing to shelters. A wounded man and his animals were aided by Oona's strength. Fern helped a child look for his mother as a crowd crush was broken up by guards in the market alleys. Gadget and Crank sought the militia armorers, demanding iron nets for the ballistae. Azgul found a harried Speaker Waylen, and after getting the lay of the town's defensive capabilities, he forced the Speaker to take cover with trusted men. Azgul then sought out Captain Imdra Arlaggath at the town's southern watchtowers. |
| 37 | #battle #DestructionsLight With cries for arms, the tumult turned to terror, as cries of battle rang out. Oona, Crank, and Azgul rushed to the watch tower, only to see a knifed Imdra Arlaggath fall from the tower. Across the city, the duergar assault had begun. By the time our heroes felled the fire lance wielding duergar xarrorn, Captain Arlaggath had died. With the dust of the ground battle settling in their vicinity, shouts of fear arose. The Chardalyn Dragon was approaching and fast. Fern and Gadget prepared a ballista for a clean shot, entrusting the stalwart Tetro to its aim as the pair ran for cover. Soon, the skies flashed alight, dragon's breath rending the southeastern expanse of Easthaven in a radiant beam. Ballista shots pierced the dragon's armor but did not pin the behemoth to the ground. It took off for the eastern districts, toppling a structure in the distance. |
| 36 | #ADuergarPlot There was a chance that Muzgardt aligned duergar resided on the forge level, and it would be better to have their help sooner than later. Fern donned the hat of disguise, masking herself as a duergar soldier. Putting on her best gray dwarf impersonation, she went to pry around the barracks. There were at least a dozen of them, several duergar playing cards with many more in their quarters. After a confused duergar began to prod a bit at her presence, she made an excuse to leave. Snooping around the forge watch towers nearest to them, she was able to suss out that one of the three at each post was Olpha's plant. Returning to Olpha's chambers, the old dwarf princess and her right hand Ulkin said they were running out of time; the soldiers in the command level were about to dine and a shift may head below. |
| 36 | #battle #ADuergarPlot #DestructionsLight Our heroes stormed the forge through every possible avenue. Crank jumped into the pit and rushed for Xardorok Sunblight, Azgul and Tetro fired spells from the cleared guard towers, Fern masked their casters with darkness, Gadget led the vanguard of Muzgardt duergar, and Oona flanked the quaggoth warriors through the Temple of Deep Duerra. An enemy forewoman rushed to the Chardalyn Dragon's iron service platform but was enwebbed and died in flames. Xardorok, briefly stunned by the bugbear monk, went invisible and began monologuing to the interloping heroes about his imminent victory. As the party lost sight of him, they cut through several more quaggoth until they heard the click of a lever. Through the hiss of steam, the dragon spoke NEW DATE. TONIGHT IS THE FEAST OF THE MOON. PREPARING SYSTEMS FOR ANNIHILATION. Xardorok had reset his dragon to attack this evening, though the true Feast of the Moon lie two nights ahead. HOSTILITIES DETECTED. MALEVOLENCE PROTOCOL ENGAGED. A radiant beam disintegrated two duergar and felled Olpha before the dragon clawed up the exit shaft, pushing off towards Ten Towns. |
| 35 | #ADuergarPlot The chardalyn smoke was taking its toll on the party, Oona and Fern felt paranoid from chardalyn corruption. To prevent further setbacks, the party decided to imbibe Muzgardt's quieting angel brew, leaving Oona retching from the noxious ingredients. |
| 35 | #battle #TheDevilYouKnow #ADuergarPlot Tetro's firebolt seared a hole through the wood door, causing the priest to jump back. Collecting himself, he grabbed the burning remnants, flesh unharmed, and approached the party. Pleasantries were barely exchanged. Hostilities ensued. The priest doffed his miter, transforming into a barbed devil. After considerable punishment, Klondorn remarked that the will of Baator will prevail and vanished with a puff of smoke. The back room where he was lurking was filled with 92 stone tablets, whose text on touch rearranged into Infernal. Fern took a look. Each tablet was a prayer to Asmodeus. |
| 35 | #battle #ADuergarPlot Following a secret passage, Jarnathan the rat witnessed two duergar mind masters torturing a duergar woman tied to a table in a room filled with compellingly sharp implements. The rat was grabbed by a mind master and put on the victim's chest under a tin cup, which was then heated. Fern snapped the familiar into its pocket dimension, and the party charged the room, fighting the psionic duergar pair. The tortured woman was identified as an evil duergar captain. Oona massaged her neck and severed her spine. |
| 35 | #battle #ADuergarPlot Stealthing by patrols and staying away from the forge level's barracks, the party fought past two more hammerers before barricading themselves in Sunblight's treasure room. Outside they hear chatter from duergar patrols, one of which greets the Muzgardt princess. As Fern fuddled with the complicated vault locks, Gadget recalled the passphrases they found in Xardorok's chambers. And so the party looted the fortress. |
| 35 | a decorative ruby saber, valued at 75 gp ~ Sunblight Fortress ~ Fern |
| 35 | Hat of Disguise ~ Sunblight Fortress ~ Fern |
| 34 | #ADuergarPlot The automated elevator led from the Forge to Command to Ice Gate Levels. The party rode the west elevator upwards to the Command Level and was told the east elevator on the other side of the fortress would be their best access to the forge. Bruvo, asked about the chardalyn dragon, says the launch date is in two days, prompting the party to send warning to Captain Imdra Arlaggath via their sending stone. Pointing to an empty office that Fern wandered toward, Bruvo notes that the duergar guard captain had been taken to be "interrogated" for treachery. Was she one of Olpha's? No, Bruvo replied. She was set up by them. Olpha's supporters have multiplied in the castle with most at the forge level, but their loyalty is conditional, he says. More interested in survival than Sunblight, they would likely support the heroes if they deemed their mission's success probable. Otherwise... they may as well be enemies. |
| 34 | #ADuergarPlot Avoiding patrols from on the Command Level and steering clear of the barracks, the party stealthed into Xardorok Sunblight's war room. A model of Ten Towns was mapped out with a miniature chardalyn dragon was present on the war table. Operated by a lever, it demonstrated the programmed flight path of the construct, as it swept counterclockwise over the towns. Gadget pored over a table of runes to try and reset the dragon's programming. With Fern assisting in arcane decoding, and the rest keeping watch, they managed to swap a couple towns in the order, locking in: Caer Dineval - Bremen - Easthaven - Dougan's Hole - Caer Konig - Termalaine - Lonelywood - Good Mead - Targos - Bryn Shander. |
| 34 | #ADuergarPlotXardorok Sunblight was not in his war room, nor was he in his bed chamber. Fern gingerly cracked open a hefty iron padlock on a chest. While Azgul was unable to detect any magical trap, something was amiss about its base, which bobbed up and down while they lifted out an extremely expensive platinum and star sapphire hookah. It spooked them out enough to leave along, and they shouted at T-Rex when he poked around the gem-encrusted dwarven smoking jacket, causing the chest's base to rattle further. |
| 34 | #battle #ADuergarPlot Entering the dining hall, Fern locked eyes with Olpha Muzgardt and one of her companions. They were dining with several other duergar. The companion, Ulkin, took note and Fern noted him slowly wrapping his fingers about his war hammer. He started making some loud, pointed statements, asking each of the Sunblight-aligned duergar in the room how their meals were, identifying the enemy for the party. A member of the kitchen staff walked out, dropping a tray with a clatter, upon which Ulkin swung at the dwarf across the table. The party rushed in and took care of the rest. |
| 34 | Platinum Star Sapphire Hookah worth 2500 gp ~ Sunblight Fortress ~ Fern |
| 32 | #UnderdarkExpedition The party neared the duergar mining colony, whose lamp lights were seen a mile down in the cavernous valley's floor. Sensei worried that their own presence would be met with possible hostility, since some duergar were known for prizing myconid flesh. Therefore the party took efforts to conceal themselves. They told Sensei to play dead, as they carted them in through the town's outer guardpost, claiming they had myconid for sale. Tetro took the form of a mule, and Fern decided to conceal her tiefling self, though tucking the tail proved troublesome. She applied some grey tint to Gadget so that she may appear to be a deep gnome. The half-orcs, Oona and Azgul, along with the bugbear Crank felt their presence was fine, given that the town below was reputedly frequented by other Underdark dwellers for trade. |
| 32 | #UnderdarkExpedition The party managed to rest while staking out the Muzgardt tent. They counted five guards and, as the curtained door fluttered, a duergar woman inside. The guards wore different regalia than the Sunblight. Chancing a meeting, Fern and Oona went to the tent, asserting to her guard that they had an appointment to discuss fungus trade with the brewer princess. While the guard let them in, the duergar princess - who turned out to be nearly 300 years old - saw through them quickly, wondering why the tiefling was poorly attempting to hide her tail. She conjured tea leaves and asked them to sit. Discussion led to understanding: Olpha Muzgardt saw Xardorok Sunblight as a threat. Hovering near the women was a toy chardalyn dragon made in Xardorok's forge, which pulsed with the magic of a red dragon's heart. It was a gift of courtship she said. But she saw through Xardorok. He fervently attested to his connection to Deep Duerra, though chardalyn deranged his every thought. Not only was he a foolish warmonger, he was a threat to the Underdark. Xardorok was bent on conquering the Northdark in its entirety and all the lands that lie above. |
| 32 | #UnderdarkExpedition Oona couldn't help but feel sorry for T-Rex, despite Crank and Azgul pleading with her to leave the issue. Fern had to chime in that an indentured servant at their newly deeded inn in Bryn Shander might not be a bad thing. And so it went that the party took T-Rex into their fold, for the meager cost of 50 gp. |
| 30 | #UnderdarkExpedition Standing before a Sussur Tree emerging from a petrified phaerimm, the party decided to harvest some of its leaves to take advantage of its antimagical aura. Azgul advised caution, as the elven scriptures surrounding the site both heralded the creature and served as a warning of its calamitous power. Oona, Crank, and Fern each managed to walk away with a piece of its foliage, but only after reckoning with the perturbations of the entombed monster. Neither decidedly alive nor dead, whatever seals which held this phaerimm showed the slightest of cracks, spurring Crank into madness, driving him to attack Tetro until Gadget deduced that even slumbering fossils could concentrate on their magicks. |
| 29 | #ADuergarPlot #UnderdarkExpedition Over several days, the Heroes of the Cairn took care to prepare for the forthcoming expedition, a journey into the Underdark to infiltrate Sunblight Fortress and apprehend the duergar warlord Xardorok Sunblight before his army marches on Ten Towns with chardalyn siege weaponry. Gadget used her time to research the capabilities of the duergar military, while others convened with members of the council. Fern found a local stylist to polish and primp her horns. Azgul wandered off, then returned after picking up several potions of healing. Tetro was overheard chatting to three kobolds in a trenchcoat about fungi of the Underdark. |
| 29 | #TheRimeoftheFrostmaiden On the third day, Crank was taking inventory and noted that of their two diamonds they created in the Lost Spire, only one remained. The other had moldered into a black ooze. Piecing together that their illusory items may be fraying, the party looked things over. Fern's studded leather seemed intact. Sparks was okay, tail wagging happily. Oona's great axe couldn't be found, though. Worried that their diamond may disintegrate, the party paid Copper a visit. The gnome, assessing the gem, believes he could repair the Summer Star, consecrating the chardalyn core and providing at least another charge. He would need a tenday. Thus, it should be ready when the party returned from Sunblight Fortress. |
| 29 | #battle #UnderdarkExpedition A voice pervaded into Fern's head. "Miss your son do you?" Something was watching them. Intimately. Unable to locate the source the party ventured forward. After a stumble, Azgul saw straight into the creature's eye. Feeling its rotting gaze burning his lifeforce away, he was able to recall what this twisted creature was. It was a nothic - a gollum of sorts, a mage or weavebender that went a bit to far and a bit too mad and turned into a one-eyed wretch. Battle ensued, as the caverns gave way to an old ruined city. The party defeated the nothic as well as several drow skeletons whose bones were awakened by the clamor. |
| 28 | #Prisoner13 The party headed to the Dwarven Valley in order for Fern to complete the penetration of the Axebreaker Vault, the mission she had undertook to bring her to Icewind Dale in the first place. Here they ran into Hruna, the Foaming Mugs miner whose sled-fulls of lost ingots they had recovered many tendays ago. She guided them in through the Dwarven enclaves to meet Varrin Axebreaker, Fern's contact. |
| 28 | #Prisoner13 #TheVault Varrin Axebreaker along with two dozen eager dwarves, set out with the party to the Axebreaker vault, a masterwork of craftsmanship and a lonely, forgotten site that had remained sealed for decades. Fern presented the lockbreaker tattoo to the doorway's glyphs, which ebbed with light and bore entry into a hall filled with weapons and treasure. Varrin quickly began a search for "the cube," as he called it, while instructing Fern and company to take her promised magic item rewards. |
| 28 | #TheVault #FrostburnBlade Fern was rewarded her expected trophy, the Frostburn Blade. It was a gift for her son, she said. The Frostburn Blade was a very rare longsword embued with magics of both ice and fire, but the fire was missing in this. The heart of an adult Remorhaz was needed to empower it. That being said, the party was given a chance to look over some other items as well, receiving a Ring of Jumping and the Axe of Hurricanes. |
| 27 | #TheLostSpire Fern used her new minor illusion cantrip to begin testing the rune chamber. She first attempted studded leather armor, but it burst into a black, corrosive goo. Gadget identified it as part of the ooze monster genus. The cracked runes were seen arcing during this attempt. On Fern's second attempt, the studded leather armor manifested, real as day. |
| 27 | #TheLostSpire #DzaanIsDead As debate ensued over whether the rune chamber was truly safe, Fern decided to test a living creature. A rat was born and scurried away. She tried again, wanting to keep the rat for herself, and black ooze was the result. It began to unnervingly creep around the golden platform but was not an immediate threat. Dzaan's simulacrum wasn't dissuaded by this result, yearning to become real. However, first, Crank wanted a dog. After two attempts and several sparking, Sparks was happily wagging its tail. Finally Azgul put his foot down. This was enough of a risk. The party told the simulacrum to fuck off, and the group ascended to the surface, Azgul staying behind to have a last word with his mentor's illusion. |
| 27 | #FourReghedTribes #Prisoner13 Their shaman, Ulkora Weavebender, was able to replicate the lock-breaker tattoo for Fern for a modest trade of 60 gp alongside sea hag blood. Oona, intrigued by the Bear Tribe's tattoos, asked to receive the markings. It would cost an outsider, said Ulkora, but after finding 500 gp of trade, alongside some mayonnaise from Gadget's alchemy jug to fatten the deal, Oona sat down to receive the Bear's Eldritch Claw. Ulkora removed her bear mask, revealing the glowing, ruddy face of a middle aged Reghedswoman, and set to work. |
| 26 | #TheLostSpire The Lost Spire was upside down, buried in the tundra with the jet black stone of its base jutting upwards. A tunnel in the snow descended to its entryway, which appeared to have broken off a larger structure. Fern used Jarnathan the familiar in rat form and noted a sealed entrance guarded by inverted, blindfolded wizard statues.Tetro slid down on his shell, and after affixing a rope, others followed. Azgul comprehended the language of Loross, noting that the statues depicted the head wizard of this particular tower, an illusionist named Lorietta. The statues hinted the solution to enter - those who didn't watch the door could freely pass. |
| 26 | #TheLostSpire Traveling within the inverted Lost Spire, the party took note that many items and books had been recently removed. Picking through the remnants, they read through accounts of the magic-hungry creatures called the Phaerimm, histories of Netheril before Karsus's Folly, and observations of extra-planar species in old wizarding laboratories. This tower once served as a place of learning. Standing piggyback atop Crank and then Oona's shoulders, Fern opened a chest on the inverted floor causing resistance potions to tumble down and later touched an altar of Mystryl, manifesting a divine elixir giving her the minor illusion cantrip. |
| 26 | #battle #TheLostSpire Crank swigged down a Potion of Cold Resistance and dropped below. There, the party fought a cornered ice salamander, an inhabitant of the Plane of Ice that had wormed its way into this realm due to the endless winter. As the battle came to a close, Tetro dispatched Krintaas who was barely hanging on. Very soon after a second battle started when remains of the forgotten tower's wizards manifested as sorrowsworn. Battered, the Gadget rescued a dying Fern while her homunculus Finn struck a killing blow to dispatch the shadow creature. Thus the party was able to step into the tower's rune chamber. |
| 25 | #battle #RevelsEnd Lights sputtered against black hallways as the siren blared in Revel's End. Gadget, Tetro, and Fern were caught in combat with a red slaad as prisoners and guards clashed against other threats. Vaelish Gant was seen looking for spellcasting reagents. Prisoner 13 was attacked by a red slaad and defended herself with her river tattoo. Azgul was lost in the fray. Oona and Crank awoke to chaos and soon found themselves fighting off another red slaad near the mess hall. |
| 25 | #RevelsEnd The warden's responses about the slaad threat were mostly nonsense. Lieutenant Stone was concerned that Marta would activate the facility self-destruct and was doubly concerned when the warden said nothing about the Wand of Binding, which was meant to control threats like these. Fern and Stone went to search the warden's chambers for the wand, while the remaining party headed to the roof. Crank scooped up the dazed warden and took her with. |
| 25 | #RevelsEnd Simultaneously, Fern and Stolga Stone were ransacking the warden's office. Fern found the Wand of Binding in a hidden compartment of the warden's desk... and soon found the warden, dead and stuffed in a closet, heart ripped out. They bolted for the roof, almost colliding with Oona. |
| 25 | #battle #RevelsEnd Stolga Stone ran up the stairs and immediately attempted to shove the supposed warden off. She failed. The warden transformed, and the battle with the true grey slaad ensued on the rooftop of Revel's End. Tetro assumed constellation form to bolster the party, as Fern and Gadget laid into it with knife and fist.Oona, having come to her senses, hurled the slaad off the tower. It landed 140 ft below on the lower roof. Crank jumped down after, tossing a lightning javelin and slow-falling not a moment too soon. The rest of the party continued their assault from roof top and tower windows. The slaad, though, was able to take flight, and fireballed the roof. Dodging the blast, Oona opened her eyes to see Stolga Stone incinerated and falling to her death. But the slaad couldn't last. It died midair and fell once again, the resulting splash soaking Crank in slaadi guts and goo. |
| 24 | #RevelsEnd Azgul, Fern, Tetro, and Gadget waited in the mess hall while Oona and Crank took a nap in the guest rooms. Tetro befriended some of the kitchen staff, while Gadget took a look at the Dwarven artificing used to heat Revel's End to a balmy temperature. One guard was muttering about stomach pains when the half-orc Lieutenant Stone arrived to bring the party to Warden Marthannis. |
| 24 | #RevelsEnd #Prisoner237 #Prisoner13 Azgul and Fern spoke with the stern and cool-headed mage, Warden Marta Marthannis. Once it was sorted out that the party were not Arcane Brotherhood operatives, but, rather, adventurers who had found themselves at the center of all things Icewind Dale, the warden eased up a bit. Fern was able to arrange a meeting with Prisoner 13, though the cautious warden refused an immediate audience with Prisoner 237, Vaelish Gant. Bringing up their collaboration with Easthaven's speaker Danneth Waylen and captain Imdra Arlaggath, they asserted that speaking with Vaelish would be vital for the safety of Icewind Dale. Azgul promised to relay a sending stone message and replay it for the warden. |
| 24 | #RevelsEnd #Prisoner13 Fern and Azgul met with Prisoner 13 - Korra Glintstone in the same interrogation room. The tattooed dwarf initially played coy with Fern, denying the knowledge of the Axebreaker Vault's magical seal. The prisoner said she was quite comfortable with life behind bars, given the protection it offers from her enemies. She eventually said she'd help the party if they brought her a ledger of prisoners - a detailed roster of names and crimes. During this interrogation, Fern noticed a tic. Prisoner 13 was constantly rubbing her knuckle on her right hand. It dawned on her that this hand's tattoo was a lock-breaker. This was the key to the Axebreaker Vault. |
| 24 | #RevelsEnd #Prisoner13 Through a clever use of her rat familiar, Fern was able to safely study Prisoner 13's hand long enough for her to trace a copy of the arcane lock-breaker. It seems the prisoner is no longer needed. All that is left is to replicate the tattoo and head to the Dwarven Valley. |
| 24 | #battle #RevelsEnd Waiting to speak with the warden in the morning to get access to Vaelish Gant, the party retired for the evening. They woke up in the dark of morning to red lights and sirens. Lathander's Blessing had also weakened to 8 temporary hit points. A voice on the communication system directed guards to the northwest storage room where the "blue target" had been cornered. The kitchen staff and council members, including the retrieved Jarnathan, were told to quiet down by the party as they crept out of the mess hall and toward the guard room where their weapons had been cached. There was one guard in sight, slumped in the corner, missing the lower half of his body. As the party asked what happened, a second guard was flung into the doorway, neck snapped, and a red slaad appeared. The creatures claws caused eggs to fester under Gadget's skin, but Tetro and Azgul kept it at bay as Fern picked the lock on the chest where their armaments were stored. |
| 24 | #battle #RevelsEnd The conversation with Vaelish was cut short, as two red slaad and a green slaad attacked. The green used its magic to assault the party, after which it changed shape and entered the vents of the prison. Guards from the central command tower lent their firepower to take down the red slaads, but soon they stopped responding and messages over the intercom by the Warden, who was activating safety protocols, ceased and turned to static. As the battle ended, and Fern scratched at the eggs under her skin, it became apparent that several prisoners were dead with chests ripped open. Then the lights cut out, and all the cell and tower doors creaked open. |
| 23 | #RevelsEnd #Prisoner237 #Prisoner13 While mulling over options, Fern revealed that she had business at Revel's End. She had been hired by a clan from the Dwarven Valley to open a magically sealed vault. The only known key rested with a dangerous associate of the dwarves, Prisoner 13, whose true name was known to a few as Korra Glintstone. The party agreed to delay adventuring on Angajuk to head to the famed prison, given that another prisoner, Vaelish Gant, could be of use to them. Vaelish, they recalled, was a disgraced Arcane Brotherhood member. Vellynne wished to pry information out of him about a possible entrance to the Netherese city of Ythryn but had been rejected a meeting given her wizarding affiliation. |
| 23 | #battle A frigid battle was fought against three frost druids and an awakened tree. Fern was knocked out after repeated ice storms but was quickly healed by Tetro. As Crank chased a fleeing frost druid and a pack of conjured wolves held Oona, Azgul, and Gadget at bay, Fern returned to deal the killing blow. The party was victorious. |
| 23 | #RevelsEnd The imposing prison loomed above icy cliffs that plunged into the darkness of the Sea of Moving Ice. The party saw guards posted at each tower and decided it best to announce their presence clearly. Still, they thought to don some disguises, with Fern and Azgul acting as emissaries of Vellynne Harpell and the remaining party tending to the dogs as if they were porters. The guards thought the unexpected visitors to be intriguing. After conferring with Warden Marta Marthannis, they brought them inside for shelter, stabling the dogs. The party surrendered their armaments, after which they were led down a corridor lit by many continual flame spells. The guards gave them lodging and told them to wait inside the mess hall. The warden would like a word with them. |
| 22 | #DarkDuchess Arriving at the Dark Duchess, the party couldn't help but feel like they were being followed in the last hour of their journey. Nevertheless, the presence had not appeared and the icy, rimed shipwreck loomed before them. Exploration of the main deck revealed a collapsed hole in the center and freshly battered railings along the forecastle. A large creature was heard stumbling about the hold. It was identified to be an ice troll by Oona and Fern. Meanwhile, Tetro was spending time thawing the frozen door to the captain's quarters, and Azgul used his unseen servant to pry through the rear captain's windows, reaching his logbook. |
| 22 | #AngajuksBell Stepping out on the ice, Angajuk's Bell stood glimmering in the soft snow. Hazel felt compelled by it. The bell, when struck, rang solemnly. Keeling over but standing, Hazel's vision tunneled. She did not feel her companion Fern's hand brace her. She instead saw herself, not as herself but as another. A hundred years of history. A trek to the north but not her journey. Or was it her journey? Her hands but not her hands, young but weathered from the wilds. A blizzard. Exhaustion. A meeting. Frost laden druids. An island. Solace. Contemplation. Sitting in the snow, smiling at the beauty in each unique crystal. A great whale. A better friend. An unexpected community. Her hands, aged and aching. Her woolen blanket, a gift. |
| 20 | #battle #BlackSwords With the prisoners now in the north west tower, the party now realized their hospitable lodgings were under lock and key. Both doors were barred from the outside, and at least one was guarded. Azgul and Fern combined an unseen servant and mage hand to lift the bar and distract the guard, but the shadow servant fumbled with the wooden barricade, causing it to clatter to the ground. The party held their breath, and the Black Swords guard blew his horn. As the keep came alive well past midnight, the party held back the cultists while rappelling the servants over the castle wall. Fleeing into a blanketing blizzard under a hail of arrows, all but one made it out alive. Elprekt Norbrav, the half-elf butler and husband to Mylbara Norbrav, was pierced through the heart. Oona scooped up Mylbara, who stood in shock, while Tetro shouldered what remained of Elprekt as they fled. |
| 20 | #ADuergarPlot With the purchases made from Frozenfar Expeditions, Jarthra, on axebeak, guided the party through the foothills of Kelvin's Cairn without incident. With fresh powder and a light flurry in the skies, the party scouted the outpost that was chiseled into the mountainside. Fern conjured a spider familiar, which crept into a bunker, detecting two duergar sentries before getting squashed. They huddled to hatch a plan, eyeing the main gate. They messaged Captain Arlaggath their rough whereabouts. They were going in. |
| 20 | #ADuergarPlot Disguising Crank and Azgul as handsome Underdark mercenaries, the party concocted a ruse. Tetro wild-shaped into a war horse hauling a sled full of "chardalyn." Under the wrapping, of course, were Hazel, Fern, and Oona poised to strike. The ruse gained them entry, but pressing the duergar flunky, who insisted Nildar Sunblight was busy in his lab, only arouse suspicious. Tetro charged hoof first into a duergar, sparking a brutal offensive as alarm bells went off. A dozen dead duergar and several splattered spore servants later, the party breathed a collective sigh of relief. Nildar Sunblight was dead. Now to see what he was plotting. |
| 19 | The party started in Easthaven, doing some shopping. Tetro had picked up an illuminator's tattoo from a pair of Reghed tribesmen he had ran into who thought him a spirit animal. At Peona's Potions, Oona and Fern each purchased two potions of healing, and Tetro bought a periapt of wound closure tucked away on a shelf. |
| 19 | #BlackSwords As Oona and Crank entertained the excitable dullard Thoob over one of Chef Karou Chorizo's 50 trout recipes, Fern and Azgul would make use of spare robes and disguises. Fern would pose as Mere and bring the speaker his dinner. Hazel preoccupied Mere in the kitchen, persuading her to leave the cult if she could find a place to go. Tetro was eyeing the chef's delectable knucklehead trout preparation. With a harsh yell from Thoob for Mere to bring the speaker his trout, the two Meres were about to collide. Some clever talk from Hazel stalled the inevitable. Fern, as Mere, took a plate of fish from the cook. Tetro took the real Mere's fish off her hands, offering to deliver it himself. He, of course, just ate it. |
| 19 | #BlackSwords Speaker Crannoc Siever had a luxurious room. It was downright kingly. He, on the other hand, was not. With Fern as Mere and Azgul as a new cultist, the two spoke with Crannoc about the Black Swords' takeover of the keep two months back. Crannoc seemingly sold out his men, hoping to profit from giving the position over to Kadroth, but the bargain bit him in the ass. He was now living in a gilded cage, signing his name off on Ten Towns documents as Kadroth managed the day-to-day affairs. He beseeched the new cultist, Azgul, to rebel and let him take control. He also kept asking Mere for fish sauce. |
| 19 | #BlackSwords Unsealing a marble slab that opened to the rear area of the cistern, Oona and Fern rowed down, seeing a final room. Meanwhile, Azgul caught a glimpse of metal in the water. His unseen servant pulled up a chain of bloated, but otherwise preserved corpses - the former guardsmen of Caer Dineval. As Oona entered the back room, which reeked of filth, a man jumped on her back attempting to grapple her. She tossed him off like a sack of potatoes and then looked at her surroundings. Five of the Caer's former servants were imprisoned here. She swore to free them and brought news to the party - loudly. The wizard Avarice surely overhead them. |
| 17 | #CauldronCaper At the Easthaven Town Hall, a large three story building with several guards and attendants that serves as both political offices and a community center for the city, the party split into two groups. Tetro, Hazel, and Oona chewed the chud with the town guards in the reception hall while watching the cauldron. Azgul, Crank, and Fern headed into the administrative office where a young, nervous clerk named Prudence waited on them. They asked to see Captain Imdra Arlaggath regarding the missing fishermen bounty. |
| 17 | #CauldronCaper In the rear atrium of the Easthaven Town Hall stood a tall demonic figurehead of a ship. Prudence urged party members not to touch it, as Speaker Danneth Waylen had instructed. The figurehead was made of black ice, known as Chardalyn, which was known for absorbing magical properties. Much of the cahrdalyn in the region was known to be tainted. This particular figurehead had been hauled up a month ago by adventurers scouting a shipwreck at Lac Dinneshere. A strange presence fell on the party, and Fern saw the White Lady strapped to the figurehead. |
| 17 | #ChardalynCaper Looking for clues, Fern cast detect magic on the remnants of the chardalyn figurehead, which hummed with a dark aura of enchantment, and Azgul sought tracks. The party noted that chardalyn speckles were glowing in a band of several stout humanoid footprints, hurrying about the figurehead statue before taking flight to the west of town hall. The party followed the tracks before losing sight of them near the waterfront. |
| 16 | #battle #ToilAndTrouble The party followed the tracks of the four fisherman along a frozen river into one of four entrances into Lac Dinneshere's cliffside. They soon they came across a frozen waterfall about 10 feet in height. Hazel nimbly climbed up, peering into the darkness to see the frozen waters continuing but also a large stonecarved entrance to her right. She had the party follow, but the ice crumbled under Fern, leading to a battle with a dual headed water weird that broke free and attempted to drag members under. |
| 16 | #ToilAndTrouble The stonecarved walls were glowing blue. Tetro couldn't identify any fungus or mineral making the effect, curiously enough, but the height and width of the passages suggested giant origin. Coming to a wider chamber, Fern snuck ahead. The walls were adorned with ancient flatware and goblets of giant make. |
| 15 | #DzaanIsDead At the White Lady Inn, the party secured rooms and supper from the innkeeper Bartaban for 2gp a head. Dzaan's former room had been completely tossed and searched. Upon investigation, a note with four names was found under a dresser: Hank Berylbore, Meryl Diane, Gurth Miodal, and Faith. Fern believed the last name was typical of a tiefling. No, not Astrix. |
| 14 | #battle #TheMeadMustFlow Fern had the charmed Duhg lead her to the interior of the cave, where he had kept Good Mead's casks. Unfortunately, an ogre, affectionately nicknamed Friend by Duhg because the lunk never remember his own name, was asleep back there and soon became roused. This led to battle and a beast war between wild-shaped great ape Tetro and the cave bear Yogobor that Duhg kept as a pet. Hazel developed a signature attack, boosting off of Crank's mitts to crack the ogre dead. He dubbed it the Hazel Nutcracker. |
| 14 | #TheMeadMustFlow The last chamber featured a frozen pool. Under two feet of ice was a crystalline clear spring of water, and at the bottom was a stone statue of Silvanus, god of nature. After Fern detected abjuration magic, Azgul blasted through the ice, and Tetro shaped the waters so they could investigate, it was revealed that the pool's waters were blessed by Silvanus, providing the benefit of Greater Restoration. This relieved the cursed party members. Fern filled a waterskin, hoping the water would retain its properties away from the spring. |
| 13 | #ColdHeartedKiller Passing through Bryn Shander, Fern kept her hood up, perceiving a wanted poster describing a duo of tiefling and bugbear dog thieves. Seeking Hlin Trollbane, the bounty huntress who hired them weeks prior to find the killer, the party, less Fern, went to Town Hall. Here Sheriff Southwell greeted them. Trollbane had given the sheriff the bounty to dole out to the adventurers... which he would have granted if Hazel didn't let slip that she was friend with the dog thieves. Deception failed, the two parties agreed to let the payment slide and call it all water under the bridge. |
| 13 | #TheMeadMustFlow Stealthily moving through the cave, Fern managed to cast Charm Person on the verbeeg, who was named Duhg. "Fern is friend, right Duhg?" "Oh yeah, totally friend." "Fern can see the casks of mead, yes?" "Oh yes. Yes. I have casks, come partake!" "Duhg, I'm the only friend here, correct?" "Only Friend is here!" As Fern followed Duhg into the cave with the party a fair distance behind, several goats bleated. "Duhg took these from a farmer. He's dead now! Ha ha!" |
| 12 | #battle #ColdHeartedKiller Torg's warehouse thinned out later in the evening. When asked about his time on the ship, Sephek attested that those days were in his past life. When asked about the girl, Sephek praised the winter goddess, and spoke of his valiance in honoring her quarry. Battle ensued, and Sephek's true nature was exposed, as he dueled with sword and dagger of ice. He tested the strengths of Crank, Oona, Azgul, and Fern, but was hopelessly outmatched when Hazel and Tetro arrived as reinforcements. Moments before his total demise, Sephek called for Auril to witness him. Sephek slit his throat and his curdling scream began to intertwine into of a woman. In the cold Targos night, Azgul picked up Sephek's now inert longsword, noting its etched runes: Isolation, Cruelty, Endurance, and Preservation. |
| 11 | #TheRimeoftheFrostmaiden Auril demanded to see the Summer Star, whose magic she detected when its radiant burst fired. When the party resisted, she froze Crank and Oona and used the time to hone her detection of the magical item. She found it, teleporting besides Tetro and clutching the "useless trinket." Her frost began taking it over, the magical creaking and craftsmanship coming undone. With quick thinking the party set up a diversion, Fern using Jarnathan as bait, Azgul creating mirror images of himself about the Frostmaiden, and Tetro casting heat metal on the Summer Star before wild-shaping into a velociraptor and dashing into the woods. The party fled Auril, who looked through the remaining Azgul before teleporting onto the back of her Roc and flying away. |
| 10 | #TheGoldenDawn The Black Cabin was a dilapidated, abandoned structure on 20 foot stilts, creaking and groaning in the wind. A soft, thick snow had blanketed the area, removing all sight of tracks, but some lush vegetation and greenery appeared to be present in a close radius to the cabin. Tetro and Fern assessed the integrity of the building, finding some weak stairs and flooring, so Fern shattered a window and Hazel led the way, light-footed, to secure a rope and passage to the interior for Crank. In the meantime, Oona and Tetro looked through what seemed to be a workshop with smith and tinkerer's tools. Oona entered the main area by hacking through a wall. |
| 10 | #TheGoldenDawn As the party pieced together clues in the Black Cabin, strange occurrences occurred. Loud knocks, three in a row, would bang as characters interacted with the items of the house. Rugs and curtains would shift, tools would fall off tables, and Copper's letter, in the hands of Crank began to tug him in different directions, like a dowsing rod. A bottle of wine Fern found was nearly tugged from her grasp. Oona was fed up with this nonsense and smashed her axe into the cabin in a rage. Eventually, the party uncovered that they needed to forge a third ring, etch it with the appropriate runes, and reconstruct the Summer Star. With Crank smelting a new ring and Fern forging the runes under Azgul's guidance, they pieced it together. |
| 09 | #TheWhiteMoose Vurnis's body laid peacefully atop a closed Elven Tomb sarcophagus, surrounded by four druidic rune stones and clutching a crystal of raw ice. On investigation, Fern noticed Vurnis's throat had been cut and deduced it to be the cause of death, seeing no other markings. The wound must have occurred within the past two moons. While there were ligature marks along the bottom of the body, there was no frost nor evidence of the cold affecting her vitreous humors. Looking at the runes, Hazel recognized them from markings on local shrines of offering she had passed by in Ten Towns. Azgul recalled from his studies that the runes stood for Auril's four tenets: Isolation, Cruelty, Endurance, and Preservation. |
| 09 | #TheWhiteMoose The northern half moon tomb also contained a rack of drying herbs and charcoal the druid had been utilizing, from which Fern took enough samples to use for a future Find Familiar summoning. There was also an awakened shrub that the party named Joey the Shrub. It was terrified, both of Ravisin and of being sentient, and it had some tasty berries. The shrub told of how Ravisin had traveled around the lakes and forest of Ten Towns awakening animals to do her bidding. The white moose is one of these creatures, though it eventually took a far more frightening form. Ravisin blamed the powers of the Elven Tomb or the elvish banshees of the forest for this. Tetro tried to convince Shrub Joey to climb on his back, but the shrub was too overwhelmed to accept. |
| 09 | #battle #TheWhiteMoose A thick fog began to blanket the area, and sounds of a moose were heard in the distance. The party bunkered in the tomb for a quick rest, but then heard the pwah! noise of Chwinga. Slowly scouting the perimeter with Hazel keeping watching from atop the gnomon and Azgul stepping towards the southern forest, more voices began appearing: those of hunters in need for instance. Sensing a presence behind one of the tall elvish statues, Azgul Eldritch Blasted through it revealing a wendigo horror. The battle was one of light and shadow with the wendigo suddenly shifting between trees and behind bodies in the dimness of the fog as Tetro and Hazel lit up the grounds with spellfire and Fern cloaking herself in the occlusion of the twilight to strike. The party wrecked the distorted moose, which shriveled to its former form. |
| 08 | #TheWhiteMoose A puzzle at the Elven Tomb involving a brazier, magical glyphs, and a sealed sarcophagus was solved - with minimal injury to Fern's scorched hand. A mummified priestess of Selune, goddess of the moon, arose from the granite and marble crypt. The mummy did not appear hostile and spoke ancient Elvish, but Tetro managed to communicate with her using telepathy granted by the psi crystal. Her name was Sahnar, and she is a guardian entity of the shrine. Her decayed form lacks much memory and cognition, but she seemed amenable to following the party's commands. Sahnar noted that the site has been descrated, but she sensed not why. Sahnar was wearing an ornate cloak in pristine condition, a magical contrast to her otherwise decayed wrappings. |
| 07 | #ArcaneBrotherhood On their third morning in Termalaine, the party waited for Oarus Masthew to return from the mines to declare them free of kobold. He paid the party their 60g and thanked the party for a job well done, leaving into The Blue Clam while the party talked amongst themselves outside on adventure plans. A short while later, Oarus returned, awkardly thanking a maternal white-haired human woman escorted by two undead kobold, freshly resurrected from the party's work in the mine. The woman's name: Vellynne Harpell. Vellynne, according to Oarus, had financed clearing of the mine and inspected it this morning, seeming a bit dismayed as if she was searching for something but didn't find it. Vellynne proceeded to head to her undead sled dogs at the outskirts of town, when she asked the party why they were following her. Vellynne it turns out, much like Fern, also has an owl familiar. |
| 07 | #TheWhiteMoose Visiting The morning prior to heading out into the Lonelywood forests, the party stopped at The Happy Scrimshander, whose owner is the doughy spinster Iriskree Harrowhill. The shop sold scrimshaw tool kits, which Oona and Fern picked up for a 2g a piece. Iriskree mentioned that her last lover, dead now and having bequeathed her a nice sum, was hell bent on hunting the white moose, saying that he could speak to animals and that listening to the forest would guide his path. |
| 07 | #battle #TheWhiteMoose Three banshees, spectral female elves, surprised the party in the thick of the misty woods. The less-than-corporeal banshee resisted the party's physical onslaught. Old Huntsman Clive fell first, a banshee's phantasmal grasp bringing blood to pool in his mouth. After repeatedly being afflicted by the banshees' wails, Fern collapsed and Oona all but fell, relying on her orcish ancestry to keep her afoot. The party was able to thwart them in the long run, dragging their battered selves further into the wood. |
| 04 | #ArmoredCorps Knocking on the rear entrance of The Hooked Knucklehead caught the half-orc and Zhentarim ruffian Zarruk off-guard. Surrounded by the six party members, he fessed up that some stolen crates of shortsword, daggers, and light crossbows from Bryn Shander Armory were still in his custody and due to head to Targos. The party wanted in on their transport. Intimidated by Fern and company and tithout another option, Zarruk complied, telling them to drop it off at The Luskan Arms for the usual remunerations. |
| 03 | #FrostedMugs Continuing their long rest, Fern fell asleep during her watch and was startled awake after a mysterious visitor stole a couple ingots, their boots growing in size as they fled. On the third watch Oona saw a chwinga! |
| 02 | #ArmoredCorps After asking around town, you deduced that a tavern, The Hooked Knucklehead, was a Zhentarim hangout. Fern overheard the half-orc tavernkeeper and a cloaked figure speak in Thieves Cant regarding moving supplies from the armory. She acknowledged their speech and asked for "work." They considered the request warily. |
| 01 | #SpecialDelivery Azgul, Tetro, Hazel, and Fern were all either being guided to Icewind Dale or happened across the traveling party. |
