Quests
Quest Tag Overview
Quests are represented by tags throughout this vault. Here are all the tags, sorted by recency.
Active Main Quests
Kuldahar
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The Chosen
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| 39 | #FeastOfTheMoon #TheChosen Singers, clad in snow-white fur gowns, took to the stage. Their harmonies were difficult to discern, but several verses were picked up. Ice kissed flowers caught mid-bloom/Beauty kept in all its grace/Summer's gone to its silent tomb/Stilling in her cold embrace. These were worshipers of Auril. While many Dalefolk looked on in common interest, several were seen reaching into snow banks and anointing their faces. Sovereign of summers lost/General of winter's war/Long live the queen of cold and frost/May she reign forevermore. Praising the Frostmaiden, especially on a winter holiday, very well falls in line with the traditions and religiosity of the region. But the party was unnerved. After the carols ended, the singers were seen speaking excitedly to a hooded woman. Turning to the side, they saw the fair skinned face of Vurnis, once thought dead. |
| 39 | #TheChosen The singers moved up the northern streets of Bryn Shander, away from the main crowds of the market. Fern and Crank quickly and quietly worked through the crowd, the rest of the party in tow, to catch up with Vurnis. They found her brushing snow off a child's face, near a small family's shrine to Auril. At first they beat around the bush, but then Oona had enough. "Aren't you dead!?" It seemed that Vurnis believes that some things are miracles. "Those of us who believe, persevere. I hear there are many stranded here in the cold of winter, some wishing to journey to the mountains for Kuldahar. Indeed, they are suffering as they are. It is a cruel world. Remember to endure." Gadget remembered stories the parties told of their first encounter with the dead Vurnis: how she was laid nude and surrounded by runestones on a dais by her sister Ravisin, how her throat had been slit in what was believed to be suicide, and how in their encounter with Sephek Kaltro the possessed sailor also slit his throat yelling in a mixed voice "Witness me!" before turning into slush. Vurnis was a midwinter child, but here she was swaddled in scarf and robe. Whatever this woman before them was, she was certainly alive in service of Auril. Still, in the busy street of a wounded city, without a good idea of her plans, the party had little choice but to let her walk away. Vurnis assured them they would meet again. |
| 39 | #TheChosen Asking Vellynne about the once thought dead Vurnis, the wizard did not know. Necromantic powers of that level in Icewind Dale were unknown to her. Vurnis was alive either due to the divine or out of pure vengeance. And if her resurrection was through the divine, there was a good chance she was a Chosen of Auril. In other words, she was a direct representative of the Frostmaiden instilled with a fragment of her power. |
The Rime of the Frostmaiden
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| 11 | #TheRimeoftheFrostmaiden Opting to shelter for the night in the Black Cabin, the party feasted on moose meat and drank Macreadus's wine. The surrounding mile had turned green and warm form the Summer Star, though a chill still blew in on the wind and snowflakes intermittently fell. Nearing midnight, Azgul perceived voices on the wind, like the sound of frost. Tetro saw no aurora in the sky and took note of a bird of prey passing the moon. |
| 11 | #TheRimeoftheFrostmaiden The bird was no storm eagle. It was a legendary Roc, and it landed on the roof of the Black Cabin and began preening its wingspan of at least a hundred feet with its raptor beak. Soon a voice prompted the party to exit, and after an attempt to stealth away, they soon met with Auril the Frostmaiden. She appeared as a 7 foot tall humanoid with the head of a snowy owl, black talons, cloven hooves, and great curved goat horns protruding from her head. Her cloak and cowl appeared as part wolf fur and part pristine snow. The party later heard legends that this appearance has led to her being called the Cold Crone. |
| 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. |
| 11 | #TheRimeoftheFrostmaiden #LakeMonster Re-cooperating in Lonelywood from the events at the Black Cabin, the party took stock that they lost their sled dogs and that the Summer Star was damaged, though perhaps not irredeemably. They decided to quest to Bremen to take care of the supposed lake monster in Maer Dualdon for now. |
| 20 | #TheForgottenRealm #ADuergarPlot #TheRimeoftheFrostmaiden Avarice was not all about threats, though. The prodigal wizard was keen to note the party's strength. Perhaps they had aligning, if not similar, goals: She too was after the High Netherese magicks buried in the fallen city of Ythryn; the duergar threat to Ten Towns posed a thorn in her expedition; and Auril's worsening winter made a hostile landscape even less navigable to her pursuits. |
| 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. |
| 39 | #TheRimeoftheFrostmaiden #Kulduhar Azgul, accompanied by Oona and Fern, sought out Vellynne Harpell. The necromancer was seen packing her sled with the help of a zombie Bartaban. She was heading to the tundra to investigate a nagging thought. Something felt wrong with the Weave, she admitted. The cold was colder and the Dawn did not stir in her magical equipment as it should. The party recognized a similar passing, as their Boon of Lathander had diminished with time. In a previous travel, she and Azgul II, who had since turned into black ooze, encountered a frost salamander. Such a creature was native to the Plane of Ice, not of the Prime Material Plane. The party too had fought one of these, back in the Lost Spire. They had also been thrown briefly into the Plane of Ice itself, when Varrin Axebreaker attempted to use a Cubic Gate. When asked about Kuldahar, Vellynne encouraged them to go. The Great Oak was known to be a wellspring of divination magic. Perhaps its druids could see what was wrong with the Weave in Icewind Dale. Sharing now between them that the Reghed Glacier held the entrance to Ythryn, she revealed that the key to crack the rimed waterfall, whatever that key exactly was, was likely held on Solstice Isle. Vellynne would like to band together to head to retrieve this key. |
The Forgotten Realm
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| 17 | #TheForgottenRealm #Prisoner237 That night the party took to some downtime at the White Lady Inn, Crank gambled, Oona armwreslted, and the crew chatted up the locals. Vellynne Harpell, who had been staying in Easthaven was present. She humored the party's questions regarding the Arcane Brotherhood, Chardalyn, and Netherese magics. In short, she was investigating the presence of a lost Netherese city and wanted to beat her colleagues to the find. She had one lead that she shared: A disgraced member of the Arcane Brotherhood and prisoner at Revel's End, the wizard named Vaelish Gant. Vellynne was willing to hire the party to extract information from Vaelish, given that she herself was not welcomed at the prison. |
| 20 | #TheForgottenRealm #ADuergarPlot #TheRimeoftheFrostmaiden Avarice was not all about threats, though. The prodigal wizard was keen to note the party's strength. Perhaps they had aligning, if not similar, goals: She too was after the High Netherese magicks buried in the fallen city of Ythryn; the duergar threat to Ten Towns posed a thorn in her expedition; and Auril's worsening winter made a hostile landscape even less navigable to her pursuits. |
| 20 | #TheForgottenRealm #DarkDuchess #ArcaneBrotherhood As told by Avarice, an apprentice of the Arcane Brotherhood named Nass Lantomir had stolen a valuable bauble from Vellynne when they first left Luskan. Nass fled aboard the Dark Duchess, the very ship whose wreckage has since been reported. Hoping the bitch died, Avarice suggested the party investigate the matter. The bauble knew things, she said. Many thing. Things that may uncover Ythryn. Things that may weaken Auril. Avarice insisted she'd gladly guide the party to the core of Ythryn itself if they were to ally. |
| 21 | #TheGoldenDawn #TheForgottenRealm Stopping in Bryn Shander, the party made their way to the Temple of the Morninglord. Here they ran into Perilou, the acolyte of Yolanda they rescued from Kelvin's Cairn. She had been studying in service of the priestess Mishann, who was in prayer and who the party did not speak with. After a bit of persuasion about the gnomish artisan Copper, Perilou relented and brought them to the grouch's lodgings in the attic. Copper was dressed in a furry bear suit, had the deepest possible voice, and was oscillating varyingly between grousing and sobbing when pressed about Macreadus. He explained that the Summer Star was a tiny model of a Netherese Mythallar, a weave conduit and engine that powered their magic cities. Macreadus had become obsessed with the idea of controlling the weather to hush the Endless Winter, despite Copper's protest. The Summer Star's core was consecrated chardalyn but had lost its charge with use. Copper admitted he may be able to fix and recharge it with a shiny diamond, but he feared how you dare challenge the gods with such a device. |
Active Side Quests
The Devil You Know
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| 33 | #ADuergarPlot #TheDevilYouKnow As Azgul grasped for footing, he felt a familiar darkness overcome him. His mind was no longer at the cavern's waterfall, but in the icy waters of Stygia, the fifth level of the Nine Hell, as his patron Levistus spoke directly to his mind. "Dear Azgul, so desperate for life. Let's reconnect, shall we? I've been watching you these last months. Have these northern lands and Netherese ruins delighted your interest? I hope they have. You may thank me later for leading you north... for sending you to Icewind Dale. Oh. Were you not aware? Of course it was I, the prince of frost and the shepherd of the lost, who guided you through the darkness. You have been up to so much since then, dear Azgul. Quite the hero you've become. Did you think you were fooling me, cutting your soul into thirds? It should interest you that one has died and thus two of you remain. But I digress, for it seems your current predicament lies in dire straits. Letting these icy waters carry you to your doom seems to be such a tragedy. The soul is yet ripe for the taking! While a lesser devil would let nature run its course, I am far too genteel to see a man of your stature drown so pathetically. So you will live, for today. But this gambit of mine will prove useful, yes. You see this duergar stronghold you near? I smell his rancid stench about it. I demand you end the duergar warlock within. Destroy his petulant mongrel." |
| 34 | #TheDevilYouKnow #ADuergarPlot Azgul's patron, the archdevil Levistus, once again reached into his psyche. The speech was fragmented, as though the chardalyn dust in the air disrupted his concentration. "There's no mistake. I taste his acrid vileness permeating the very smoke. Such ego! End his foothold in the North, and I will deliver you to power. To the doorstep of the Netherese." As the chardalyn smoke filled his lungs, he felt his connection weaken. And, for now, silence. |
| 35 | #battle #TheDevilYouKnow #TheSignal #ADuergarPlot Duergar hammerers with spring-loaded reactions awaited the party at the elevator's base. The party battled through, knowing the forge was certainly near. Busting in the next room in a rage, Oona spotted a vivisected mind flayer chained to a tall statue. She demolished its brain, causing Tetro to reel as his telepathic link flashed memories of the mind flayer's tormentor: a grinning duergar priest named Klondorn with ruby red eyes. Calming down, the party noted that they were in a temple. The statue was a depiction of Deep Duerra and the mutilated mind flayer appeared to be an offering. There were several doorways here, and behind soot smeared stained glass, they saw the glow of the forge. Using Jarnathan the familiar to explore, it became clear that they were being observed. As the rat crept under a back room doorway, it locked eyes with a red-eyed duergar priest in a miter hat. |
| 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. |
| 37 | #DestructionsLight #TheDevilYouKnow Azgul, Oona, and Crank started making their way towards Imdra Arlaggath, while the remaining party tended to preparations near the East Way. A cloaked figure was tending to her sled. Upon recognition, the party stopped abruptly. That was Vellynne Harpell. A shrewd Vellynne queried Azgul, wondering whether he was going to turn into a black ooze like the illusion who had been accompanying her for the last week. Crank took out the sample from the Lost Spire and Vellynne nodded in confirmation. Yes, that ooze. With the pressure of the dragon on everyone's minds, the wizened wizard acquiesced to lend them a hand, noting that despite the warlock's mysterious plans, they all had commanded several acts of heroics. She kept her one good eye on the half-orc warlock, nonetheless. |
Frostburn Blade
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| 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. |
Nature Spirits
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| 12 | #NatureSpirits Tali introduced the party to Dannika Graysteel, another half-elf scholar who has been staying in Bremen for months searching for hints of Chwinga activity. Dannika's nose is more in her books than her legs are in the field, though. She gives the party a lantern of tracking that supposedly glows greenish-blue in the presence of the nature spirits. |
The Signal of the Id
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| 06 | #ABeautifulMine #TheSignal An ancient illithid skull was found well-preserved at the base of the Termalaine gem mine. Inside the skull was a Psi Crystal, which Tetro took and began pondering, attuning to it. |
| 12 | #TheSignal Amidst talking about the Spine of the World, a ping rang out in Tetro's head. "Find us!" it said. |
| 34 | #ADuergarPlot #TheSignal Opening Xardorok's closet, Tetro discovered a shrine. A chardalyn idol of the duergar demigoddess Deep Duera was central, surrounded by six skulls. The tortle druid quickly identified them by their anomalies. These were mindflayer. Recalling the ancient illithid skull he removed the psionic crystal from in the Termalaine mines, Tetro focused on the crystal. He was able to hear the distress call he heard earlier... that ping and warbled plea for help. And suddenly, a more proximal feeling penetrated his head: pain. There was someone, or something, within this fortress anguishing. Tetro felt as if his brain was literally being cut in half. As quickly as the sensation came, it ended. Tetro was unharmed. |
| 35 | #battle #TheDevilYouKnow #TheSignal #ADuergarPlot Duergar hammerers with spring-loaded reactions awaited the party at the elevator's base. The party battled through, knowing the forge was certainly near. Busting in the next room in a rage, Oona spotted a vivisected mind flayer chained to a tall statue. She demolished its brain, causing Tetro to reel as his telepathic link flashed memories of the mind flayer's tormentor: a grinning duergar priest named Klondorn with ruby red eyes. Calming down, the party noted that they were in a temple. The statue was a depiction of Deep Duerra and the mutilated mind flayer appeared to be an offering. There were several doorways here, and behind soot smeared stained glass, they saw the glow of the forge. Using Jarnathan the familiar to explore, it became clear that they were being observed. As the rat crept under a back room doorway, it locked eyes with a red-eyed duergar priest in a miter hat. |
The Ramshackle
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| 07 | #TheRamshackle The party learned of the Ramshackle Inn, an inn whose owner DeGrootz Ramshackle died of an alleged hanging-suicide a year prior. The inn, unfortunately, has had its roof collapse since the relentless winter began. |
Completed Quests
Feast of the Moon
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| 39 | #FeastOfTheMoon In the aftermath of the Chardalyn Dragon's destruction, the party accompanied a caravan of survivors from Easthaven to Bryn Shander as Ten Towns gathered for mourning during the Feast of the Moon, the holy day bridging the 11th and 12th month. In their company, Danneth Waylen relayed all the information he could. Bremen and Caer Dineval had fallen, though the caer itself was surprisingly unscathed. Easthaven, while standing, was a wreck. Duergar attacks were put down in the remaining of the cities with minimal casualties. |
| 39 | #FeastOfTheMoon Outside the gates of Bryn Shander, the corpse of Morin Sunblight was strung up as an offering to the cold. Vellynne Harpell looked upon it and paused, while the party moved towards the markets, now bustling with refugee tents. The cauldron of plenty had been moved from Easthaven into town for the gathering, many a table quickly set up for the feast. Dalefolk were taking to a stage, reciting lineages and recounting history. Crank caught Naerth Maxildannar's eye. The Targos speaker quickly abandoned his conversation with Duvessa Shane to rally the crowd behind our esteemed heroes. Speakers, or representatives members from the towns, addressed the masses on each of their homes. |
| 39 | #FeastOfTheMoon Speaking for Bryn Shander, Duvessa Shane remarked at her town's fortitude. Now a center for several hundred refugees, she committed her city to the survival of all Dalefolk in this everlasting winter. She applauded the efforts of Termalaine, where a large duergar vanguard was combated by the mining guilds, leading to the capture and death of Morin Sunblight. |
| 39 | #FeastOfTheMoon Speaking for Termalaine, Oarus Masthew could not hold back tears. In his stead, Marta Pekryk spoke of the miners guild's victory as well as the sacking of the Blue Clam. Chef Vernon Braig was noted among the dead. |
| 39 | #FeastOfTheMoon Speaking for Easthaven, Danneth Waylen recounted the grim happenings of the dragon scourge, as well as the heroics of the Heroes of the Cairn. His captain, Imdra Arlaggath was counted amongst many other dead. |
| 39 | #FeastOfTheMoon Speaking for both Caer Dineval and Caer Konig, Danneth Waylen continued, relaying reports from their scouts. The people of Caer Dineval stood no chance. Among the dead were tavernkeeper Roark, the deposed speaker Crannoc Siever, and his contentious hand Kadroth. Caer Konig, it seems, was not a target of attack. Trovus had been sobered up somewhat, and the veteran was currently entrusted with the town's security. What worried the scouts, though, were sightings of coldlight walkers - standing as if in wait - amongst the outer ruins of the towns. |
| 39 | #FeastOfTheMoon Speaking for Targos and Bremen, Naerth Maxildannar lamented the suffering of Ten Towns. The destruction of Bremen was total. Targos was standing strong and was taking in Bremen and Easthaven refugees, as well as providing resources to Speaker Waylen for reconstruction efforts. The dead included Torg, Grynsk Berylbore, Tali, Dannika Graysteel, Cora Mulphoon, and the missing but presumed dead Huarwar Mulphoon. The aged speaker, Dorbulgruf Shalescar, lived, and could be heard muttering Ol Bitey's song. |
| 39 | #FeastOfTheMoon Speaking for Lonelywood, Iriskree Harrowhill had been sent by Nimsy Huddle. Iriskee was lauded as a hero. The scrimshaw shop owner was once a famed assassin. She had protected the town from a small contingent of duergar single-handedly. In good news, a missing woman had been found. Vurnis, the granddaughter of Old Huntsman Clive, was alive and well. |
| 39 | #FeastOfTheMoon Speaking for Good Mead was actually Speaker Edgra Durmoot of Dougan's Hole. Nobody ever went to Dougan's Hole, so when they saw the sky-written warnings, they went north to the fight themselves. Good Mead owes them ten times over, she boasted! Olivessa Untapoor sent her thanks along with a cask of ale for the feast. |
| 39 | #FeastOfTheMoon #TheChosen Singers, clad in snow-white fur gowns, took to the stage. Their harmonies were difficult to discern, but several verses were picked up. Ice kissed flowers caught mid-bloom/Beauty kept in all its grace/Summer's gone to its silent tomb/Stilling in her cold embrace. These were worshipers of Auril. While many Dalefolk looked on in common interest, several were seen reaching into snow banks and anointing their faces. Sovereign of summers lost/General of winter's war/Long live the queen of cold and frost/May she reign forevermore. Praising the Frostmaiden, especially on a winter holiday, very well falls in line with the traditions and religiosity of the region. But the party was unnerved. After the carols ended, the singers were seen speaking excitedly to a hooded woman. Turning to the side, they saw the fair skinned face of Vurnis, once thought dead. |
| 39 | #FeastOfTheMoon Back in Bryn Shander's town center, Duvessa Shane thanked the party and handed them a key. The Hooked Knucklehead tavern was theirs. She noted that a, uh, ugly friend of theirs was waiting for them. Their friend, of course, was T-Rex. Meeting them with a stupid grin, he had been busy cleaning the inn and chasing away miscreants, like a teddy bear man. The party settled in, and over the next few days Fern went shopping for supplies, Oona called in favors to get their dogs brought from Termalaine, and Crank reunited with Sparks. Tetro, experiencing his first home outside his shell, recalled rather entrepreneurially that Nimsy Huddle may have promised them the dilapidated Ramshackle Inn as well. |
Destruction's Light
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| 36 | #battle #ADuergarPlot #DestructionsLight Our heroes stormed Home | Calendar | Characters | ❮ 36 · Chronicles · 38 ❯ | Loot | Quests | XPthe 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. |
| 36 | #DestructionsLight Quickly tending to the wounded and freeing prisoners, including the goliath Kapanuk Talltree, the Heroes of the Cairn consider the calamity now flying towards Ten Towns. |
| 37 | #DestructionsLight Catching their breath in the blood-stained forge, our heroes laid out the maps and debated on their best course of action. The Chardalyn Dragon was en-route to Ten Towns. First it would strike Caer Dineval, then Bremen. Gadget asked the duergar engineers for weaknesses. There were none. In fact, the construct was designed to resist the cold, and as a construct, it was immune to typical charms and fears. The beast could even absorb magic, up to a limit. Their best bet would be to ground it. As for traveling to Ten Towns, the goliath Kapanuk Talltree was willing to return a favor. His scrimshaw horn in hand, they headed to the ice gate atop the fortress, and the goliath called for the griffons of Wyrmdoom Crag. |
| 37 | #DestructionsLight The griffons' flight to Ten Towns was met with the piercing winds of the tundra. The dim skies and light snow obscured their vision, but Azgul spotted the dragon heading off towards Bremen. Perhaps the griffons could beat it and save some lives. Gadget would entrust Kapanuk Talltree with tinkered stones depicting clear evacuation and battle instructions for the towns. They themselves would land in Easthaven and prepare for battle. A sunrise shone across Icewind Dale as they closed in, dying as quickly as it rose. Inspired by the brief light, the heroes steeled themselves. They were going to fight a dragon. |
| 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 | #DestructionsLight #TheDevilYouKnow Azgul, Oona, and Crank started making their way towards Imdra Arlaggath, while the remaining party tended to preparations near the East Way. A cloaked figure was tending to her sled. Upon recognition, the party stopped abruptly. That was Vellynne Harpell. A shrewd Vellynne queried Azgul, wondering whether he was going to turn into a black ooze like the illusion who had been accompanying her for the last week. Crank took out the sample from the Lost Spire and Vellynne nodded in confirmation. Yes, that ooze. With the pressure of the dragon on everyone's minds, the wizened wizard acquiesced to lend them a hand, noting that despite the warlock's mysterious plans, they all had commanded several acts of heroics. She kept her one good eye on the half-orc warlock, nonetheless. |
| 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. |
| 37 | #battle #DestructionsLight Our heroes rallied their wounded and reloaded the ballistae, picking off the remaining duergar stragglers who were fleeing past now burning buildings. Finn the puffin homunculus was notably back with a vengeance. Casting Fly, Azgul spotted the Chardalyn Dragon attacking a dockside fortification. Two Eldritch Blasts later and the chase was on. No match for the dragon's speed, Azgul was whipped hard enough to lose control over his spell, falling through a rooftop below. The ruse was effective, however. Entering range of the party's bolt shooters, another ballistae round cracked into the dragon. Landing in front of Vellynne Harpell, her cast of Bigby's Hand proved its might, grappling the beast by the throat. |
| 38 | #DestructionsLight DISENGAGE FROM HOSTILITIES. RESUME PROTOCOL. The Chardalyn Dragon broke free of Vellynne's cast of Bigby's Hand as it was pelted by lightning, fist, and steel. Oona vaulted onto the beast, chinks of chardalyn cracking off as she mounted its back. Having sustained considerable damage, the dragon took flight nearly a hundred feet in the air, unleashing its radiant breath beam. Oona held on, sinking her axe twice into the wing joint. On the second blow the metallic joint gave, causing the dragon and barbarian alike to plummet down into a ruined Easthaven. |
| 38 | #DestructionsLight ENGAGEMENT CONTINUED. MALEVOLENCE CONSIDERED. Exhausted but unrelenting, our heroes continued their assault on the dragon. The dragon released its stored spell energy, recasting Shatter on Tetro who was aiding an unconscious Oona. The tortle fell beside her. Its wing and tail ripped across Crank's chest, tossing him aside as well. Azgul ran to the battlefield, past dying villagers, and fired blasts of force at the behemoth. RESUME PROTOCOL. Once again, the dragon took flight. Before it could get far, Fern and her cunning mage hand loaded and shot a ballista through the damaged wing, grounding it once again. |
| 38 | #DestructionsLight MALEVOLENCE AURA ACTIVATED. Our wounded heroes were just picking themselves up when their minds reeled, awash with the malignance of raw chardalyn. They took arms to each other as the Chardalyn Dragon, now damaged beyond repair, began picking off party members. Eyeing her suffering comrades, Gadget launched arcane bursts at the dragon, tearing off several scales. The dragon loomed over them now. Out of options, Fern loaded another bolt and re-fired the ballista. It missed. Breaking the hold of the malevolence, Azgul sent two Eldritch Blasts through the chest of the dragon, shearing chardalyn plate and rending its core from its torso. The dragon was felled. Scrambling to their allies as onlookers came out of the burning woodwork, the party was forced to rest, entrusting their preparations to secure the safety of Ten Towns. |
A Duergar Plot
| Session | |
|---|---|
| 18 | #ChardalynCaper #ADuergarPlot The two standing duergar were coerced into talking. The mind master that the party just killed was named Durth Sunblight. He was one of the remaining sons of Xardorok Sunblight, a duergar lord with a mountain fortress in the Spine of the World. The duergar race, known for having lived in the Underdark for centuries, were descendants of dwarves turned grim and having developed psionic abilities after eons of influence by mind flayer colonies. Xardorok's intent is to bring his people to the surface, raze Ten Towns, and establish a footprint for his own people to live in the dim twilight of Icewind Dale. He has dispatched two of his sons, Durth and Nildar Sunblight, to scout ahead. Durth is now dead, and Nilder is in charge of an outpost on the eastern face of Kelvin's Cairn. The stolen chardalyn from East Haven Town Hall was meant to be hauled back to Sunblight Fortress to be forged into siege weaponry. After confessing, the two duergar made a getaway, narrowly avoiding an axe to their necks as they turned invisible and bolted. |
| 18 | #ADuergarPlot Crank took out Durth Sunblight's missive to his brother Nildar and handed it to Captain Arlaggath. The party explained what they learned about the duergar during the encounter on the ferry. The speaker and the captain took the threat seriously, remarking that rumors of duergar have been brewing. Reghed Nomads and Goliath trading parties have brought stories to Easthaven of scorched swathes of tundra in the foothills of the Spine of the World. Speaker Waylen mulled over his need to discuss the Duergar threat at the next Council of Speakers, typically at the end of the month. The next slated date is the 30th of Uktar, but Waylen expressed a desire to push for an earlier meeting. He urged the party to deliver their report at this next meeting to notify the speakers if there are any new sightings - for the safety of Ten Towns. In order to remain in touch, Speaker Waylen secured a sending stone for the adventurers. |
| 19 | #ADuergarPlot The party was also interested in the Duergar threat, to which Roark admitted he hadn't heard of but that the northernmost town of Caer Konig had problems with unseen thieves. He expressed doubt that the thieves would get caught, because the villagers were spread too thin to form a proper militia and because Konig's Speaker, "war hero" Trovus, was a drunken mess. |
| 19 | #BlackSwords #ADuergarPlot Thoob grimly greeted the party through a slit at the barricaded wooden gates of Caer Dineval. The speaker was ill he said. A bit of lackluster deception with Hazel posing as a doctor didn't move the black-hooded guard. What perked his interest was talk of the Duergar. "This would appease the master. I will come back to you." The party was left unattended for a while, during which Tetro boosted Crank up the eastern ramparts. Thoob did return and led the party though the barbican's gatehouse, past the raised courtyard, and into the great hall of the keep. Passing a tiefling servant girl, Mere, that Thoob hassled to clean up dishes, the party was led to a sumptuous sitting room to meet Kadroth. |
| 19 | #BlackSwords #ADuergarPlot Kadroth was a middle-aged tiefling man in well-kept garb. He assuaged the party that he was the right hand of Speaker Crannoc Siever, that the poor speaker had kept to his bedchambers due to a malaise of the mind. Insight proved that he was indeed acting as the right hand to an extent, but that his "care" for the speaker was a equivocal at best. Nevertheless the party heard him out, as his men had indeed tracked the Duergar menace and located an outpost. Kadroth, clutching his black sword chardalyn pendant and extolling the virtue of stopping the duergar threat, was happy to arrange an alliance. He boasted that he had a wizard named Avarice under his command - though the insightful could tell he feared the conjurer - and that he would gladly assist the party if Sunblight Fortress's whereabouts were uncovered. When pressed about the "faith" of these apparent cultists, Kadroth praised the Archdevil Levistus, Lord of Stygia, the 5th level of the Nine Hells. Levistus spoke to him, he claimed. Levistus, patron of the desperate and forgotten, had brought salvation to most members in his fold. Kadroth was merely his envoy. The cult was named after their lord: the cult of the Black Swords. |
| 20 | #TheForgottenRealm #ADuergarPlot #TheRimeoftheFrostmaiden Avarice was not all about threats, though. The prodigal wizard was keen to note the party's strength. Perhaps they had aligning, if not similar, goals: She too was after the High Netherese magicks buried in the fallen city of Ythryn; the duergar threat to Ten Towns posed a thorn in her expedition; and Auril's worsening winter made a hostile landscape even less navigable to her pursuits. |
| 20 | #ADuergarPlot The ruins at Caer Konig greeted them at entry, along with a drunk silver-scaled dragonborn. This was Trovus, the town speaker. A veteran of war, reduced to a veteran - and ridiculously chatty - teetotaler. At least he was in good spirits. He "guided" the party to The Northern Light inn, The Hook, Line, and Sinker tavern, and Frozenfar Expeditions. They got a room from the Shorard sisters, Allie and Cori; they grabbed a pint from Eglendar; and they purchased six dogs and three sleds from the stout Jarthra and wisened ranger Atenas, for which Crank traded an aquamarine gem. |
| 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. |
| 21 | #ADuergarPlot After the battle, the party investigated Nildar Sunblight's Duergar Outpost. It seemed that Nildar had been experimenting with myconid spores, infecting Dalefolk in the hopes of creating a small army. A letter to his father, Xardorok Sunblight, beseeched his father to listen, dissuading the father from his chardalyn obsession. Nildar believed that his spore servants could be the path to victory, not the behemoth his father was constructing. Nildar even expressed some worry at the pervasive effects of chardalyn. That being said, the duergar was no stranger to cruel methods of war, as noted by his duergar screamer's painful, psionic mech suit. Oona and company tossed their storage area, as well as Nildar's chambers, recovering 70 sp and the missing items from Caer Konig. |
| 21 | #ADuergarPlot The party returned to Caer Konig to rest up, surprising the Shorard sisters with their colorful magic lantern for the inn. They had also recovered Jarthra Farzassh's heirloom pearl beads and two missing sheep. |
| 25 | #RevelsEnd #ADuergarPlot Tetro used the sending stones to inform Danneth Waylen about the scenario. Danneth's earlier response was played: it put in a good word for them for the warden. The message also informed the party that the speakers were in Bryn Shander for a series of meetings. New tidings about the duergar had been unearthed, and the party's presence at a meeting within the following week could be fruitful. |
| 28 | #TheCouncil #ADuergarPlot Sunblight Fortress has been located, and leading an army there looked grim. Scouts have identified an imposing fortress and signs of duergar warrior deployment were seen. In related news, supposed dragon attacks destroyed a homestead, setting it ablaze in Dougan's Hole, as heard but not seen by Edgra Durmoot. This dragon cannot be Arveiturace, a white wyrm, and seems linked to the duergar activity and scorch marks witnessed across the southern tundra. Eight ballista have been commissioned by Bryn Shander. At the party's behest, four were diverted to Easthaven, and a potential evacuation plan was concocted for the greater Ten Towns. |
| 28 | #TheCouncil #ADuergarPlot The party was tasked with infiltrating the fortress and offered the deed to Bryn Shander's Hooked Knuckled as adventuring compensation. When balking about the dangers, Nimsy Huddle of Lonelywood questioned that if this quest failed, to where could the party even go in such winter? With the limelight on the heroes, they acquiesced for the greater good, on the condition that Kadroth lose his seat at the table. This condition was accepted. Naerth, who now more or less held control over a quarter of the council's votes, offered a standing ovation for the heroes, commending the party's bravery against evil: "The journey is its own reward. A round of applause for our heroes, my dearest friends." |
| 28 | #TheCouncil #ADuergarPlot When considering the approach to Sunblight Fortress, Oarus Masthew suggested the Underdark. It seems that mining activity has determined that the central shaft of the Termalaine mine, once thought to be a bottomless pit, opens up into the vastness of the deep. While duergar activity has not been spotted there, a pathway to their supply lines ought to be inevitable. |
| 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 | #ADuergarPlot The latent psionic abilities of duergar may give them an edge of working with the black ice chardlayn, which tracks with several ore deposits being tapped across the tundra. Chardalyn, despite its corrupting influence, is still a malleable metal in the hands of skilled duergar metallurgists. Talking with the council about the size of the duergar offensive, estimates are shaky, but several hundred of the grey dwarves must be equipped at the least. Even worse, a scorched and razed homestead in Dougan's Hole alongside testimonies of roars and beating wings all point to a dragon under duergar control. |
| 29 | #UnderdarkExpedition #ADuergarPlot The party stabled their dogs in Termalaine. Accompanied by Oarus Masthew and Copper, they made their way into the mines, whose central shaft was now known to connect to the Underdark. A crude kobold map was given to them, barely decipherable, but containing a marker for a "glow tree", another for "grey folk village," and several dots warning for "bad things." On descending via a pulley, the temperature rose to a comfortable cool and the air went from icy dry to moist. Minutes later, they reached soft earth. At their feet were two kobold corpses, seen alive weeks ago, and now blooming with fungi. In front of them laid a fissure. Beyond that an endless cavern. It would be 20 miles to Sunblight. |
| 30 | #ADuergarPlot Sloopidoop and his colleague Pleuruta, a myconid and another Society of Brilliance member, had been captured by the duergar while they were on a field trip in the Northdark. Sloopi was able to teleport out of Sunblight Fortress, but his escape should have landed him back at the Society. Instead, he was hurtled through ice and snow beyond belief before landing outside the fortress near a duergar mining colony. While his colleague was still detained, his teleportation brought along Pleuruta's former aide, Sensei, as well as Aruk Thundercaller. Both Sensi and Aruk were inspired by the party, deciding to join them back towards the fortress to rescue their companions. Sloopi wished to remain to study the Phaerimm and hesitantly considered exploring passage towards the now twilit Icewind Dale. |
| 30 | #ADuergarPlot The duergar mining colony, as retold my Sloopi, was under Sunblight control, and yet it still received traffic from merchants and other denizens of the deep. That's how they met a deep gnome, Mev Flintknapper, who aided their escape. Importantly, there appears to have been a duergar princess in town, a woman from another clan who Xardorok Sunblight appears to have summoned in order to court. The rumor is that she is of an independent allegiance to that of the Sunblight clan. Whether or not she will prove to be useful to the party will remain to be seen. |
| 33 | #ADuergarPlot The party took off into the mines bordering Thizrun, tailing Olpha Muzgardt as planned. Waiting for her convoy to pass by a checkpoint, the party then befuddled the guards using Gadget's stinking rock trick and some minor illusions. Chardalyn dust permeated the air of the mines as the rumbling of machinery twisted around in the dimly lit caverns. The party snuck by several working duergar miners, soldiers, and foremen, as well as bypassing a duergar who appeared to be in a dazed prayer at an alter. |
| 33 | #ADuergarPlot A water-logged passage was found on the outskirts of the mines. What began as a low pool of cavewater grew waist high as the source of the melt was found, rushing down a crevasse into the deep dark. Through a careful line of rope and frozen blockades established by Tetro as a wildshaped knuckledhead trout, as well as the use of Tensor's Floating Disc by Azgul, the bulk of the party made it safely across. Azgul, though, was caught in the rapids and swept over the side of the falls. |
| 33 | #ADuergarPlot #TheDevilYouKnow As Azgul grasped for footing, he felt a familiar darkness overcome him. His mind was no longer at the cavern's waterfall, but in the icy waters of Stygia, the fifth level of the Nine Hell, as his patron Levistus spoke directly to his mind. "Dear Azgul, so desperate for life. Let's reconnect, shall we? I've been watching you these last months. Have these northern lands and Netherese ruins delighted your interest? I hope they have. You may thank me later for leading you north... for sending you to Icewind Dale. Oh. Were you not aware? Of course it was I, the prince of frost and the shepherd of the lost, who guided you through the darkness. You have been up to so much since then, dear Azgul. Quite the hero you've become. Did you think you were fooling me, cutting your soul into thirds? It should interest you that one has died and thus two of you remain. But I digress, for it seems your current predicament lies in dire straits. Letting these icy waters carry you to your doom seems to be such a tragedy. The soul is yet ripe for the taking! While a lesser devil would let nature run its course, I am far too genteel to see a man of your stature drown so pathetically. So you will live, for today. But this gambit of mine will prove useful, yes. You see this duergar stronghold you near? I smell his rancid stench about it. I demand you end the duergar warlock within. Destroy his petulant mongrel." |
| 33 | #ADuergarPlot Deeper into the mines, several duergar were found with full appendages crystallized by chardalyn, some dead and some alive. Like the chardalyn berserkers, the black ice embedded in these poor souls was volatile, oozing its corrupting presence and easily exploding with a high pitched shatter. |
| 33 | #ADuergarPlot The escape route into Sunblight Fortress's throne room was found. Its door lay locked behind a dwarven passphrase puzzle. While the party tried their best to avoid attracting a lumbering chardalyn bulette, the beast eventually sensed them. Cracking the code and uttering the word THRESHOLD, the party tumbled into the open passage just as the bulette erupted into a beam of searing radiant light in its death throes. |
| 34 | #battle #ADuergarPlot The trapdoor led to an alcove behind Xardorok's Black Ice throne within Sunblight Fortress, sitting in a long, desolate great hall. Black dust and soot covered the upper walls as smoke hung below the tall ceilings. A set of high windows set in the brutal architecture hinted at two scenes outside the hall: the cavernous expanse of the Underdark to the west and the red bellows of a forge on the east. Two duergar entered from the west doorways at the rear staircases, leading to a scuffle that was eventually settled as a misunderstanding. These two were Olpha Muzgardt's men. They retold how a manic Xardorok had taken made preparations for Olpha to dine on the central Command Level of the fortress. The throne room was on an isolated side of the lowest level, the Forge Level, though direct access to the forge would require breaching a fortified portcullis from the outer yard. Instead, the duergar named Bruvo warily suggested they hurry to the elevators. He was worried because some of Xardorok's newer recruits were only a room away: quaggoths, low intelligence, hyper-violent humanoids from the Underdark which Xardorok was able to subjugate. The heroes took his advice, heading to the lift. |
| 34 | #TheDevilYouKnow #ADuergarPlot Azgul's patron, the archdevil Levistus, once again reached into his psyche. The speech was fragmented, as though the chardalyn dust in the air disrupted his concentration. "There's no mistake. I taste his acrid vileness permeating the very smoke. Such ego! End his foothold in the North, and I will deliver you to power. To the doorstep of the Netherese." As the chardalyn smoke filled his lungs, he felt his connection weaken. And, for now, silence. |
| 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 | #ADuergarPlot #TheSignal Opening Xardorok's closet, Tetro discovered a shrine. A chardalyn idol of the duergar demigoddess Deep Duera was central, surrounded by six skulls. The tortle druid quickly identified them by their anomalies. These were mindflayer. Recalling the ancient illithid skull he removed the psionic crystal from in the Termalaine mines, Tetro focused on the crystal. He was able to hear the distress call he heard earlier... that ping and warbled plea for help. And suddenly, a more proximal feeling penetrated his head: pain. There was someone, or something, within this fortress anguishing. Tetro felt as if his brain was literally being cut in half. As quickly as the sensation came, it ended. Tetro was unharmed. |
| 34 | #battle #ADuergarPlot A duergar patrol was up ahead in the long corridor of the Command Level. As the party advanced, they saw one duergar begin to turn around. Tumbling into the privy, the party set up to ambush the soldier. As his patrol companion came to investigate, their cover was blown. The soldier ran down the corridor to call for reinforcements, dodging nearly every attack thrown at him. Thrown off by an illusion of his dead companion, the party managed to land an attack to put him down in the nick of time. |
| 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. |
| 35 | #ADuergarPlot It seems that Xardorok Sunblight had left Olpha Muzgardt in the dining room, storming off in a religious fervor, maddeningly focused on his chardalyn dragon. Olpha saw little salvation in Sunblight's eyes, commenting that appears a possessed man. With soldiers due to dine in the bloodied mess hall in a few hours, Olpha and her guard Ulkin encouraged the party to continue, as they themselves began to instruct the kitchen staff to hide the bodies. Time of the essence, the party told T-Rex and Sensei to hang back while they moved towards the forge level. |
| 35 | #ADuergarPlot Approaching the east elevator, the party did look into some rooms. The first door was locked. The second was open. The room belonged to Nildar Sunblight, the myconid obsessed duergar they killed at his outpost near Kelvin's Cairn. It was a moldering room with many heads and trophies mounted to the walls and a dreary chest at his bedside. The furthest room was that of Morin Sunblight, whose desk was littered with journals of his foolish brothers and his own supremacy within the Sunblight clan. The fastidious room contained a chest of well packed garments and a decorative ruby-encrusted saber. |
| 35 | #battle #ADuergarPlot While others probed the bedchambers, Oona glared warily at a set of armors in the training quarters near the east elevator. The armors looked alive. Tetro lit the room with faerie fire, catching several aglow. They were indeed alive, but left alone they stayed inert. In the meantime, the elevator descended, and on it was a witless duergar who fell to the party. Looking up and down the elevator shaft, as well as out through the arrow slit windows, the party suddenly froze as the clanking of chains began on the floor overhead. The top level's ice gate was open. What then sounded like a freight train of glass and iron roared through the central shaft of Sunblight Fortress, descending into the forge level below. There was no doubt in their minds. This was the dragon. With the elevator taking off, the group committed to descend. |
| 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 #TheSignal #ADuergarPlot Duergar hammerers with spring-loaded reactions awaited the party at the elevator's base. The party battled through, knowing the forge was certainly near. Busting in the next room in a rage, Oona spotted a vivisected mind flayer chained to a tall statue. She demolished its brain, causing Tetro to reel as his telepathic link flashed memories of the mind flayer's tormentor: a grinning duergar priest named Klondorn with ruby red eyes. Calming down, the party noted that they were in a temple. The statue was a depiction of Deep Duerra and the mutilated mind flayer appeared to be an offering. There were several doorways here, and behind soot smeared stained glass, they saw the glow of the forge. Using Jarnathan the familiar to explore, it became clear that they were being observed. As the rat crept under a back room doorway, it locked eyes with a red-eyed duergar priest in a miter hat. |
| 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 | #ADuergarPlot The duergar temple otherwise housed several storerooms with common sundries and weaponry. Notably though, a goliath's axe and scrimshawed horn were among the possessions, possibly those of the captive goliath Kapanuk Talltree. Oona picked both up. |
| 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 | #ADuergarPlot Walkways leading to the forge were now visible from a long hallway. Several paths went to guard towers, and another went to a guest chamber, where Tetro received both a poison dart to the neck and took a yeti rug to wear as a cloak. It appeared the guest chamber had been in use by Olpha, given the mushroom ale casks present. |
| 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. |
| 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 | #ADuergarPlot The forge level barracks had to be dealt with, decided Crank. Back by Oona and the others, they waltzed in and flashed the Muzgardt symbol. It took some persuasion but quickly duergar were taking arms against duergar in a battle royale. Gadget dispatched several with a thunderwave, whose blast brought the attention of the duergar on the guard towers. Mopping up the remnants, the party had added a cadre of bruised but determined Muzgardt soldiers to their ranks. While regrouping, Crank crept down a tower walkway, taking in the full view of the dragon heart forge from which pools of molten chardalyn flowed. Present below were two armed guard towers, a cabal of quaggoths, and Xardorok Sunblight, standing near his gargantuan obsession, the Chardalyn Dragon. Xardorok's eye met Crank's as the monk stepped back to inform the party to get ready. |
| 36 | #battle #ADuergarPlot #DestructionsLight Our heroes stormed Home | Calendar | Characters | ❮ 36 · Chronicles · 38 ❯ | Loot | Quests | XPthe 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. |
| 36 | #battle #ADuergarPlot Picking themselves up, our heroes pushed back as three duergar hammerer units made their way from the far side of the forge. Olpha polymorphed a duergar into a chicken atop one guard tower, inspiring her comrades up top to fight back. The front lines of the quaggoths began to fall under the pressure on the main floor. Alit by Tetro's shooting star, a bloodied Xardorok's eye stumbled as Crank shoved a sussur branch into his eye. It shattered, as eye puss trickled down, and he began to cackle. Enlarging himself in an agonizing shout, chardalyn growths rapidly spurted from his flesh. Xardorok, subject to the sussur branch's influence, had little control over what happened next. Pillars of earth randomly erupted. Gadget and Ulkin were pinned to the ceiling, some 30 feet high, and Azgul dodged away from a tower of the black earth as he was shut out from the guard tower. The numbers soon turned on Sunblight, however, and he died in rapture, as Azgul's spectral servant severed the last chords binding his soul to his flesh. |
Underdark Expedition
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| 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 | #UnderdarkExpedition #ADuergarPlot The party stabled their dogs in Termalaine. Accompanied by Oarus Masthew and Copper, they made their way into the mines, whose central shaft was now known to connect to the Underdark. A crude kobold map was given to them, barely decipherable, but containing a marker for a "glow tree", another for "grey folk village," and several dots warning for "bad things." On descending via a pulley, the temperature rose to a comfortable cool and the air went from icy dry to moist. Minutes later, they reached soft earth. At their feet were two kobold corpses, seen alive weeks ago, and now blooming with fungi. In front of them laid a fissure. Beyond that an endless cavern. It would be 20 miles to Sunblight. |
| 29 | #UnderdarkExpedition After hours in the dark, the party came into a large fungus grove. Tetro's study of nature came to be useful as several specimen were collected, from varietals providing a source of sustenance to others like the timmask spore that were maddeningly hallucinogenic. See Fungi of the Underdark for details. |
| 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. |
| 29 | #UnderdarkExpedition Walking through the drow ruins, they took note that this city had long since been abandoned. Its structures were bereft of treasure, and were instead blossoming purple foliage and growth. A soft blue light in the city square grabbed their attention. Approaching, all but Oona and Crank felt amiss - half calm and half mute. They arrived to see a large sussur tree, blue petals glimmering and dispelling the surrounding weave, silencing all magic. It was growing out of a corpse, the body of an ancient phaerimm. |
| 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. |
| 30 | #UnderdarkExpedition The party had been watched during this encounter. There were kobolds who lived in the desolation of the drow ruins. Those ran away. There was a party up ahead, however. On meeting them, an exasperated sahuagin fishman, notably articulate and adorned in robes, chastised the group for disturbing not only such a creature but such a wonderous ruin. This fishman introduced himself as the Society of Brilliance scholar Sloopidoop. He was accompanied by two travelers, a goliath with a concussion named Aruk Thundercaller and a myconid who missed its sovereign named Sensei. |
| 30 | #battle #UnderdarkExpedition Forging their way deeper into the Underdark, the party ran into a cavern of ropers, ferocious stalagmites lookalikes with grasping tendrils. Chaos roiled as a Mev Flintknapper appeared screaming for them to watch out, as a shambling mound was on his tail. The party, after slogging through the rock skinned ropers, managed to overwhelm the shambling mound. Taking a short rest before continuing their expedition, they eventually found themselves at a precipice with a great bridge before them. |
| 31 | #UnderdarkExpedition Mev Flintknapper told the party they're crazy to head towards Sunblight Fortress, but, as they stood on one face of a chasm spanned by a lone bridge spanning a river of lava, he did warn them to take heed of awakening any stirges. Stirges, they recalled, are rat sized flying bloodsuckers, and the far cavern walls seemed to be pocked with their nesting holes. Across this bridge was the duergar mining colony where Sloopidoop, Aruk Thundercaller, and Sensei landed when teleporting away from Sunblight's prisons. There, the party was told, was a Duergar princess from the Muzgardt clan. Xardorok Sunblight had summoned the woman to court her, but the rumor in the mining colony, which sounded like a somewhat open city for Underdark trade despite the presence of the Sunblight clan, was that the princess was of an independent mind. |
| 31 | #battle #UnderdarkExpedition If crossing the ancient dwarven bridge wasn't foreboding enough, the large creature's shell in the middle of the pathways certainly proved ominous. Jarnathan the familiar nearly singed its whiskers off when scouting. The party decided to push through, calling out the magma whelk within the shell. As the foe delayed their transit, the sounds of battle stirred the cave walls. An exponentially growing number of stirges poured into the air. Crank, the first to cross the chasm into the cool crevasse on the other side, noted that the stirges did not pursue. He called for his companions to run. Felling the whelk, the party dashed to safety, and as they collapsed into the crack in the wall, the swarm of stirges descending on Aruk Thundercaller at the rear. Enveloped in a hundred stirges, Aruk beseeched the party to save his captive brother, the goliath Kapanuk Talltree. Aruk then fell from the bridge, lifelessly. |
| 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 duergar mining town had Sunblight soldiers positioned as guards. Past them, the party saw a series of dingy shacks and grimed shanty houses leading to a busy market square. The guards were deceived by the party's tale of being adventuring merchants with fungus for sale. Used to exerting their power, the older guard pressed them for a bribe. With a deft slight of handle, Crank took a fake cut of Sensei, and handed the duergar a tongue of madness. The guard began rambling, one thought after the next. He not only granted the party passage, but revealed that Sunblight merely controlled the town, that other duergar had to be kept in line, and that a duergar princess from the Muzgardt clan was staying at the other end of the markets, awaiting an invitation to dine and be courted by Xardorok himself. She was known to come from a line of merchant brewers in the distant cavern city of Gracklstugh. |
| 32 | #UnderdarkExpedition The ashen and dirtied local duergar miners kept to themself, avoiding the party, as they moved into the busy markets of the town, now known to be called Thizrun. Several deep gnomes pandered mining technology, shoved along by the occassional Sunblight soldier, and hooded drow were seen making deals in alleys with savvy duergar artisans. The town numbered one to three hundred it seemed, and one roadway appeared to lead towards the duergar's mining activity. The party noted an opulent tent as well, with several armed duergar moving in and out. This must belong to the princess. As they were milling about, they heard a croaky whisper, "Hey! I know you!" T-Rex the kobold was in a cage, his snout and eyes poking out from under a cloth. A cock-eyed duergar slaver and his bugbear bodyguard manned the booth. It seems like T-Rex fled back into the Underdark after the party took care of his cronies in Termalaine and was caught thieving. He was now for sale. |
| 32 | #UnderdarkExpedition Weariness began to set in. The party had been adventuring for nearly a full 24 hours. They found a roadside duergar bar, where several anxious miners tried their best to ignore them. Oona clapped one on the back and massaged the tired worker, but was taken aback when chardalyn fragments flaked off their skin. The party discovered that the mines were once brimming with the black ice, before the duergar sought out purer sources on the surface. While the dwarves were somewhat more tolerant of its corrupting effects, the party began to sense its malignant presence in the area. Azgul toyed with the stone in his pocket, his grip tightening. These duergar were downtrodden, but eventually one directed them to an inn of sorts. |
| 32 | #UnderdarkExpedition The inn had seen better days. Its duergar owner, Girt, did not receive the guests with open arms. He didn't care for the travelers. He didn't care for the Sunblight. He wanted to be left alone. When pressed about Sunblight, he admitted that the duergar warlord was mad, worshiping Deep Duerra, the duergar demigoddess known as the Axe of Conquest. Deep Duerra, though, had disappeared a hundred years ago. On top of that, once a nameless hovel, the very village they were in was annexed by Sunblight after the discovery of chardalyn ore. It was renamed Thizrun, the name of Xardorok's first wife who he executed. Xardorok's fortress was built up on the opposite side of the mines. Girt demanded 300 gp for the party to stay the night, since he was risking his neck. Girt, too stubborn to be swayed, convinced the party to acquiesce. |
| 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 Xardorok Sunblight had been married three times, according to Olpha, siring nine children. He killed his first wife, Thizrun. His second wife, Yrraska, was killed in a tunnel collapse along with two of their daughters. His third wife, Marral, was killed during a raid against a mind flayer enclave, along with another daughter and three sons. Xardorok killed his eldest son, Ulthoon, son of Thizrun, for plotting to overthrow him. His surviving offspring number three, Durth, Nildar, and Morin. Xardorok wears a crown of chardalyn with nine spires representing his children, six of which he had since broken off. Now he wished to wed Olpha, seizing the Muzgardt Clan's merchant enterprises and mushroom ale factories. |
| 32 | #UnderdarkExpedition The candid Olpha Muzgardt's expression turned serious. After this discussion, it was clear the party's goals aligned with her own. They would help her depose Sunblight, she threatened, as her guards poised themselves behind our heroes. In return, she would reveal to them a hidden entrance into the fortress into its throne room, which they could take advantage of while she was dining the warlock himself. She vowed to have no interest in the surface folk following the coup, attesting to care only for the preservation of her clan. |
| 32 | #UnderdarkExpedition Speaking of mushroom ale, Olpha Muzgardt provided the party tinctures that would delay the onset of chardalyn corruption. The duergar were naturally resilient to poisons, including the malignant influence of the black ice, though it certainly affected them over time. This brew, she said, may help the party. Or, maybe it wouldn't, if their constitutions failed to handle it. |
| 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. |
The Council
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| 28 | #TheCouncil Returning to Bryn Shander, our heroes headed to the town hall to contribute to the discussion on the duergar menace. In the lobby, they ran into Kadroth, the defacto leader of the Black Swords, who assuaged them that the hostilities of the freed prisoners at Caer Dineval were, well, a misunderstanding, and that perhaps they could work together to act against the duergar. |
| 28 | #TheCouncil The Ten Towns Council of Speakers were in debate when the party arrived to the open meeting. Naerth Maxildannar had brought forth the proposal to bring Bremen under Targos control, given the debts of the Five Tavern Center and the senescence of Bremen's doddering speaker Dorbulgruf, who was nodding off in his chair under the folds of his beard. The votes narrowly passed in his favor as he smugly grimaced at Crank and his compatriots. |
| 28 | #TheCouncil The Council of Speakers, chaired by Duvessa Shane, then began discussion of Kadroth's authority. It seemed that Speaker Crannoc Siever had willingly passed his authority to his newly appointed hand, Kadroth. Here, the party balked. Fuck that guy! Oona had none of that. Even Tetro sneered a turtling sneer at the impish tiefling cult leader. The council was moved after hearing accounts from the party, which Easthaven's Danneth Waylen corroborated. Despite Crannoc selling out his men, though, Kadroth did seem to be the local authority. The matter was tabled momentarily, as talks of the duergar arose. |
| 28 | #TheCouncil #ADuergarPlot Sunblight Fortress has been located, and leading an army there looked grim. Scouts have identified an imposing fortress and signs of duergar warrior deployment were seen. In related news, supposed dragon attacks destroyed a homestead, setting it ablaze in Dougan's Hole, as heard but not seen by Edgra Durmoot. This dragon cannot be Arveiturace, a white wyrm, and seems linked to the duergar activity and scorch marks witnessed across the southern tundra. Eight ballista have been commissioned by Bryn Shander. At the party's behest, four were diverted to Easthaven, and a potential evacuation plan was concocted for the greater Ten Towns. |
| 28 | #TheCouncil #ADuergarPlot The party was tasked with infiltrating the fortress and offered the deed to Bryn Shander's Hooked Knuckled as adventuring compensation. When balking about the dangers, Nimsy Huddle of Lonelywood questioned that if this quest failed, to where could the party even go in such winter? With the limelight on the heroes, they acquiesced for the greater good, on the condition that Kadroth lose his seat at the table. This condition was accepted. Naerth, who now more or less held control over a quarter of the council's votes, offered a standing ovation for the heroes, commending the party's bravery against evil: "The journey is its own reward. A round of applause for our heroes, my dearest friends." |
| 28 | #TheCouncil #ADuergarPlot When considering the approach to Sunblight Fortress, Oarus Masthew suggested the Underdark. It seems that mining activity has determined that the central shaft of the Termalaine mine, once thought to be a bottomless pit, opens up into the vastness of the deep. While duergar activity has not been spotted there, a pathway to their supply lines ought to be inevitable. |
The Vault
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| 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. |
| 28 | #battle #TheVault Varrin found what he was looking for - a Cubic Gate. This was an extremely rare item, gifted from the elves to his dwarvish ancestors, it held portals up and down the Sword Coast from Amn to Ironmaster. Varrin was excited to promise a better future for the Valley's clans with these gates, allowing an influx of trade and opportunities to alleviate the ever-going winter. Eager to show it off, he opened a portal to Baldur's Gate, but a fierce and piercing cold instead ripped through the vault. Glacial blue ice spliced between the columns and metalwork. The party was thrusted halfway between planes, in an interstitial space between the Material Plane and the Plane of Ice. Gadget was a translucent figure yelling at the party to get back from a vault that appeared far away, but the remaining five were delayed by two looming rime hulks, primed for battle. As huge cubes of frost crashed to the ground, Azgul was pinned while the portals began to collapse. With a quick rescue by Oona and company, they made it safely back to the vault. It appeared, though, a few dwarves were missing. Azgul promptly intimidated the shaken Varrin to grant them another item for the mess they were dragged into, obtaining the group a Circlet of Blasting. |
| 28 | #TheVault Back at a dwarven tavern, tiki themed and aptly named The Hurricane, stories of Varrin's Blunder were percolating within the crowd. One old timer shared talk about Chult with Tetro and gave him a Cloak of Billowing. |
Prisoner 13
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| 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. |
| 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. |
| 27 | #Prisoner13 #FourReghedTribes The Heroes of the Cairn wished to head back to Ten Towns within the tenday to attend the Speaker's Meeting, but in order to open the Axebreaker Vault with Prisoner 13's arcane lockbreaker, they first thought to locate some Reghed Nomads skilled in the art of magical tattoos. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
Dzaan is Dead
| Session | |
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| 15 | #DzaanIsDead An execution was taking place in the town square. Throngs of Easthaven residents were gathering near a wood pile just set ablaze, relishing in not just its heat but the death of the Red Wizard Dzaan, who the party caught sight of as he went up in flame. Dzaan's eyes frantically scanned through the crowd, glazing over his Arcane Brotherhood colleagues, Vellynne Harpell and another, soon to be introduced as Avarice, before locking on Azgul's. Perceptive party members saw Azgul's eyes widen and pupils dilate ever so slightly. |
| 15 | #DzaanIsDead #ToilAndTrouble The elvish Captain Imdra Arlaggath and human town speaker Danneth Waylen were overseeing Dzaan's execution. Waylen left soon after the fire was lit, but Imdra remained with her town guard. Azgul approached the captain with Hazel surreptitiously shadowing him. Azgul learned from Captain Arlaggath that Dzaan was executed, using wood no less, as a warning against evil in the realms. The red wizard had been convicted of murdering four Easthaven adventurers, who he had reportedly hired several weeks ago for expeditions into the tundra. His belonging were confiscated from his lodging at the White Lady Inn and taken to the Town Hall, though Arlaggath kept two magic items for herself as a prize for his arrest. Arlaggath was willing to part with an item as a reward for investigating the missing sailors of Lac Dinneshere. |
| 15 | #DzaanIsDead Azgul approached Vellynne and Avarice, searching for answers about his former tutor's death, and specifically, about the whereabouts of his books. How Dzaan had been arrested seemed to make Vellynne uneasy. She had come to town to parley for a mitigated sentencing and to speak with Dzaan about his findings, both of which attempts had been denied. Avarice laughed that the well-read illusionist must have been a fool for meeting such a fate, and seeing that the event had ended, took her leave. Azgul thought her an asshole, and Vellynne admitted she was a haughty but powerful prodigy. Vellynne was staying at the White Lady Inn |
| 15 | #DzaanIsDead Hanging in the back of the crowd, Oona, Crank, and Tetro minded their wallets. Crank did notice several black cloaked figures in the crowd with silver necklaces. He didn't recognize them. |
| 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. |
| 18 | #TheLostSpire #DzaanIsDead In the Easthaven Library on the third floor of the town hall, the party rummaged through the shelves. Azgul was interested in the books claimed from Dzaan's inn room. One hefty tome, The Girthy Sex Lives of the Goliath Tribes: An Illustrated Guide by Volothamp Geddarm, turned out to be an illusion. Through clever use of identification magic, the vividly accurate depictions of Goliath lovemaking faded and were replaced by a Dzann's spellbook, within which was a map. The map marked an inverted building captioned with "A Lost Spire!". |
| 26 | #TheLostSpire #DzaanIsDead #GolemGuardian On the third floor of the Lost Spire, Tetro opened a door into a makeshift office. Behind the desk sat Dzaan and his wight bodyguard Krintaas. On the desk was a shield guardian's amulet, which Dzaan could not make sense of because, well, Dzaan was not Dzaan. He was a simulacrum. A copy of sorts, conjured of snow and ice. Azgul made his way into the room to interrogate the wizard, who admitted to have no idea why Azgul was in Icewind Dale, something the amnesiac warlock had been trying to piece together himself. The simulacrum only knew what his master did up until the time he left the spire, and carried out his master's will to watch over it. |
| 26 | #TheLostSpire #DzaanIsDead The simulacrum had not heard from his master in a ten day, evidently because the real Dzaan was executed in Easthaven. Alarmed by news of his master's death, Dzaan expressed a desire to replace him. See, in the fourth level of the tower was a rune chamber that could turn illusions into reality. The party was intrigued. Azgul was alarmed. He did not wish his former tutor to regain his flesh, ever since he himself had a mark of suggestion placed on his neck when he first approached Dzaan for knowledge. Flummoxed, Dzaan's simulacrum urged the party to consider the matter, lending them Krintaas as they headed into the fourth level, knowing ahead of time that the spirits down there were restless and an ice salamander had been seen crawling about. |
| 27 | #TheLostSpire #DzaanIsDead Dzaan's simulacrum urged the players to consider activating the rune chamber, despite Azgul's apparent hesitation. It couldn't hurt to look, they said. The rune chamber hummed with arcane energy as a holographic illusion of its creator beckoned the party in Loross to set an illusion on the golden platform and grant it a touch, to transform thought into reality. Gadget took note of the fissures in the walls on which the byzantine runes were etched. They seemed to crackle and spark, having seen better days. |
| 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 | #DzaanIsDead #TheLostSpire As the party packed up the sleds, they heard two eldritch blasts ringing out from within the tower. Azgul joined them after several minutes, stating that Dzaan was truly dead, simulacrum and all. |
The Lost Spire
| Session | |
|---|---|
| 18 | #TheLostSpire #DzaanIsDead In the Easthaven Library on the third floor of the town hall, the party rummaged through the shelves. Azgul was interested in the books claimed from Dzaan's inn room. One hefty tome, The Girthy Sex Lives of the Goliath Tribes: An Illustrated Guide by Volothamp Geddarm, turned out to be an illusion. Through clever use of identification magic, the vividly accurate depictions of Goliath lovemaking faded and were replaced by a Dzann's spellbook, within which was a map. The map marked an inverted building captioned with "A Lost Spire!". |
| 26 | #battle #TheLostSpire Departing from Revel's End, the party set a course towards the Netherese Lost Spire that had been unearthed by Dzaan prior to his execution. Along the way, the party encountered a skirmish between chardalyn berserkers and a pair of Reghed Nomads from the Tribe of the Bear. The berserkers had lost their minds to chardalyn corruption. Azgul began feeling his stone's perturbing presence, as well, and though he was capable of parting with the stone, he nevertheless kept it. As the parties clashed, black ice javelins exploded with shatter magic. The two Reghedsmen died in battle while the final berserker vanished in a blue flame as he adjusted a sapphire blue ring on his finger. |
| 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 | #TheLostSpire #DzaanIsDead #GolemGuardian On the third floor of the Lost Spire, Tetro opened a door into a makeshift office. Behind the desk sat Dzaan and his wight bodyguard Krintaas. On the desk was a shield guardian's amulet, which Dzaan could not make sense of because, well, Dzaan was not Dzaan. He was a simulacrum. A copy of sorts, conjured of snow and ice. Azgul made his way into the room to interrogate the wizard, who admitted to have no idea why Azgul was in Icewind Dale, something the amnesiac warlock had been trying to piece together himself. The simulacrum only knew what his master did up until the time he left the spire, and carried out his master's will to watch over it. |
| 26 | #TheLostSpire #DzaanIsDead The simulacrum had not heard from his master in a ten day, evidently because the real Dzaan was executed in Easthaven. Alarmed by news of his master's death, Dzaan expressed a desire to replace him. See, in the fourth level of the tower was a rune chamber that could turn illusions into reality. The party was intrigued. Azgul was alarmed. He did not wish his former tutor to regain his flesh, ever since he himself had a mark of suggestion placed on his neck when he first approached Dzaan for knowledge. Flummoxed, Dzaan's simulacrum urged the party to consider the matter, lending them Krintaas as they headed into the fourth level, knowing ahead of time that the spirits down there were restless and an ice salamander had been seen crawling about. |
| 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. |
| 27 | #TheLostSpire #DzaanIsDead Dzaan's simulacrum urged the players to consider activating the rune chamber, despite Azgul's apparent hesitation. It couldn't hurt to look, they said. The rune chamber hummed with arcane energy as a holographic illusion of its creator beckoned the party in Loross to set an illusion on the golden platform and grant it a touch, to transform thought into reality. Gadget took note of the fissures in the walls on which the byzantine runes were etched. They seemed to crackle and spark, having seen better days. |
| 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 Oona immediately wanted a greataxe. The machine whirred and weave energy coursed across the runes, slightly arcing, but nevertheless the greataxe formed. But, what about a diamond? Two were made. The first arcing, while the latter had minimal sparks. Crank began to mention the possibilities: why not a whole chest of treasure? |
| 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 | #DzaanIsDead #TheLostSpire As the party packed up the sleds, they heard two eldritch blasts ringing out from within the tower. Azgul joined them after several minutes, stating that Dzaan was truly dead, simulacrum and all. |
| 27 | #TheLostSpire Crank was still mulling over the black ooze they saw earlier. Wanting to bottle some up, he returned to the rune chamber. Descending the first floor, he passed Azgul. Descending the second floor, he passed Azgul. Descending the third floor, he passed Azgul. Crank bottled up some ooze. Then he asked Azgul, "didya clone yerself?" Azgul had no idea what he was talking about. |
Prisoner237
| Session | |
|---|---|
| 17 | #TheForgottenRealm #Prisoner237 That night the party took to some downtime at the White Lady Inn, Crank gambled, Oona armwreslted, and the crew chatted up the locals. Vellynne Harpell, who had been staying in Easthaven was present. She humored the party's questions regarding the Arcane Brotherhood, Chardalyn, and Netherese magics. In short, she was investigating the presence of a lost Netherese city and wanted to beat her colleagues to the find. She had one lead that she shared: A disgraced member of the Arcane Brotherhood and prisoner at Revel's End, the wizard named Vaelish Gant. Vellynne was willing to hire the party to extract information from Vaelish, given that she herself was not welcomed at the prison. |
| 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. |
| 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 | #Prisoner237 #RevelsEnd As the prison entered lockdown, the party took the opportunity to talk to Vaelish Gant directly. Azgul got the pompous wizard to talk about his misdeeds - how he masked himself as a merchant and served as Duvessa Shane's aide in Bryn Shander before he tried to overthrow the local government. He was not only imprisoned because of this stunt, but the Arcane Brotherhood had turned their back on him as well. Vaelish still insisted he would've been great for Ten Towns. The best, even. Regardless, Vaelish had learned a thing or two in his time in the north. First, ten years back Auril had a Chosen, a Reghed woman named Hedrun who was dubbed as the Ice Witch. Hedrun had amassed chardalyn weaponry and converted barbarians into a frenzied cult to attack Ten Towns and cow its peoples into worship of Auril. Adventurers had thwarted her at her tower of black ice near the sea Second, during this time Vaelish's study of Hedrun and Auril's cults revealed the presence of a frozen waterfall at the Reghed Glacier. The frozen fall marked the entrance into the depths and a passage to the Netherese ruins of Ythryn. |
RevelsEnd
| Session | |
|---|---|
| 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 | #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. |
| 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 During the meeting with the warden, all the magical lighting turned deep red and an alarm began to blare. A guard came in and conferred with Warden Marthannis. Apparently two prisoners, Edgin and Holga, had escaped, taking Absolution Council Member Jarnathan with them. Warden Marthannis assumed the two prisoners would die in the ice fields, but sent a search and rescue team out for them and Jarnathan regardless. She had other matters to attend to... dragon sightings, a sick guard in the prison hospital, and food shortages. |
| 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 Gadget and Tetro chatted up the staff, who told them some rumors. Apparently prisoners occasionally manage to sneak in contraband through unsavory means. These items are held in the tower's evidence chest. The heating in the prison is less of a luxury than it seems. Prisoners, who wear plain clothes, are essentially dead if they manage to escape. Either the cold or the wild life will get them. In the past even Arveiturace once brought back a prisoner, and now the dragon hounds the warden for bribes. |
| 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 Making their way to the storehouse, the party met with Lieutenant Stone and fought the cornered blue slaad alongside the guards. It seems this slaad burst out of the hospital patient's chest last night, crawled in a vent, and rapidly grew. The guards reassured them that this was the only slaad detected. Slaads are chaotic abberrations from the Plane of Limbo, a rare sight in and of itself in Faerun. The warden knew that slaads took time to reproduce, but had begun emergency lockdown preparations anyway. The party, though, had just encountered a red slaad. The blue slaad's chaos phage was replicating much more quickly than normal. The lieutenant ran to alert the warden and ordered the party to lock themselves in their rooms. Tetro cleared out the chaos phage from Gadget, who was slightly questioning her decision to join the Heroes of the Crag. |
| 24 | #Prisoner237 #RevelsEnd As the prison entered lockdown, the party took the opportunity to talk to Vaelish Gant directly. Azgul got the pompous wizard to talk about his misdeeds - how he masked himself as a merchant and served as Duvessa Shane's aide in Bryn Shander before he tried to overthrow the local government. He was not only imprisoned because of this stunt, but the Arcane Brotherhood had turned their back on him as well. Vaelish still insisted he would've been great for Ten Towns. The best, even. Regardless, Vaelish had learned a thing or two in his time in the north. First, ten years back Auril had a Chosen, a Reghed woman named Hedrun who was dubbed as the Ice Witch. Hedrun had amassed chardalyn weaponry and converted barbarians into a frenzied cult to attack Ten Towns and cow its peoples into worship of Auril. Adventurers had thwarted her at her tower of black ice near the sea Second, during this time Vaelish's study of Hedrun and Auril's cults revealed the presence of a frozen waterfall at the Reghed Glacier. The frozen fall marked the entrance into the depths and a passage to the Netherese ruins of Ythryn. |
| 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. |
| 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 A weak-voiced Stolga Stone announced over the intercom that the warden was facing a threat on the roof of the tower. Entering the central tower, Stone was seen bleeding out near the facility control panel. Tetro healed her up, so she went with the party up the tower, passing a demolished guard barracks, before arriving on the third level's Absolution Council Room. Here, warden Marta Marthannis was sitting with her face in her hands, a hopeless, deranged smile across her face. |
| 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 On the roof, in the chill of heavy snowfall, a gray slaad was prowling. Gadget sent an attack right into the creature, whose image only twisted and sputtered. It was a powerful illusion, but for the moment only she could tell. Crank continued to attack, as the warden who he just sat down unhinged her jaw, a black cone of fear magic emanating from within. Enraged and frightened, Oona sprinted down the staircase, getting nicked by the warden's fingernails. The warden laughed at her own feeble human hands. |
| 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. |
| 25 | #RevelsEnd The slaad threat had been squashed. A good number of lives were lost for both guards and prisoners, and a guard captain named Clay sought to keep the peace as our adventurers rested. Both Stone and Marthannis were dead. |
| 25 | #RevelsEnd #ADuergarPlot Tetro used the sending stones to inform Danneth Waylen about the scenario. Danneth's earlier response was played: it put in a good word for them for the warden. The message also informed the party that the speakers were in Bryn Shander for a series of meetings. New tidings about the duergar had been unearthed, and the party's presence at a meeting within the following week could be fruitful. |
The Whale Hunters and Angajuk's Bell
| Session | |
|---|---|
| 12 | #WhaleHunters #DarkDuchess The party banters with a group of thuggish seamen at the Black-Bearded Brother, the lot of whom are already soused before midday. They're conspiring to head north to the Sea of Moving Ice to capitalize on the whaling colonies' incompetence over hunting a particularly large whale. They also talked about the wreckage of the Dark Duchess, a Luskan merchant vessel. |
| 18 | #AngajuksBell Hazel also took a gander at the Easthaven Library collection, looking for histories about the Sea of Moving Ice. She learned of Anga, a wisened druid, who had journeyed from the south and took hermitage by the sea decades ago. Each dawn she would ring a bell that would call-in sea life. Whalers in the nearby settlements, who otherwise led a harsh life, came to recognize Anga and enjoy her presence as she set out on her daily meditations. Though she continued her hermitage, the whaling community in the area became known as Angajuk's Bell. |
| 22 | #AngajuksBell Hours later, the party arrived at Angajuk's Bell, a druidic hermit's enclave turned fishing outpost in the middle of nowhere along the Sea of Moving Ice. Here they beseeched a local, Tinjong, to grant them shelter. This being the night of the full moon, Tinjong let the party know he would be putting the fire out soon, a sacrifice honoring the Frostmaiden. Azgul intimidated the fisher, who did not budge on this practice but relented that they could stay in Anga's cabin and use whatever wood they find if they wished to defy the gods. The party decided to stay the night at Tinjong's in the end. |
| 22 | #AngajuksBell #WhaleHunters Tinjong told the party that a brusque group had arrived, determined to kill the sperm whale Angajuk. Angajuk was a local legend, known in Ten Towns for having bonded with the druid Anga. The whale, along with other regional animals, would come to Anga when she rang the copper bell in the frozen harbor. This was decades ago, though, when Anga was still alive. Now her stone hut lay dormant and the bell rimed over. The fishers of Angajuk's Bell, once a village reared on the philosophy of balance, were challenged by these newcomers. On one hand, slaughtering the whale would be sacrilege, but on the other, the whale oil and ambergris could sustain them, especially as the cold grew ever-challenged, almost hellbent on ending life on the coast. |
| 22 | #AngajuksBell Anga's hut lay quiet. The locals had left it alone in honor of the druid. Or was it a monk? The party heard mixed stories. The hut itself was coated in frost from seawater spray. An old wool blanket lay iced and rigid on a bed, and firewood still remain in the hearth, usable but wormed over. Above the hearth, Oona noted exactly three runes: glyphs marking the tenets of Isolation, Preservation, and Endurance. |
| 22 | #battle #AngajuksBell #WhaleHunters The day's blizzard kept most locals inside, but a cadre of Dalefolk were outside by a large barrel, pointing at the break in the ice near Anga's copper bell. They were the ruffian whalers that Tinjong warned the party about. The thugs told the locals they would hunt the whale. What the locals didn't know was that this band intended on poisoning the waters to do so, using the famed bell to lure their prize in. Hazel had no patience for these fools and their disrespect of the wilds. The party struck the barrel with a flame, intending to stop them. The barrel exploded and a skirmish ensued. The incensed thugs put up fight but met their end on the water's edge. The locals seemed to care more about the dead bodies than the scuffle, worried that the "tundra would take them." Concerned about undead rising, Oona, Crank, and Tetro not only buried the corpses, but dismembered them. |
| 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. |
| 23 | #AngajuksBell Hazel, coming to from the deluge of memories, was split between her own memories and that of Anga, a monk who ventured to the Sea of Moving Ice and found harmony in some, but not all, of the frost druids' teachings. Hazel awakened and reconnected with Angajuk, the great sperm whale. Ultimately, Hazel decided to stay at Angajuk's Bell to dwell on these new and old memories. Gadget Gearspark, an gnomish artificer armorer who had been following the adventures of the party, caught up with the crew moments later. She was seeking knowledge to invent armors in an effort to advance people's conditions in the cold of Icewind Dale and had heard of the party from Copper. The party gladly invited her in on their travels as they said their goodbyes to their friend Hazel for now. |
| 23 | #AngajuksBell Angajuk knew much of the stirrings in the Sea of Moving Ice. Notably, she mentioned three things. One, Angajuk was afraid of a kraken - most probably a juvenile but still a gargantuan sea beast - that was encroaching on her territories, posing a large threat to the underwater mammalian life and their travel. If left to fully grow, the results could be calamitous. Two, she reminisced how Anga had traveled to the Frostmaiden's island, Solstice Isle, many moons ago. Approaching that island was a fell task now, given attacks by the Roc and an increasing aura of cold. Third, Angajuk mentioned that a long lost underwater temple had been recently inhabited by sahuagin. She only knew of the ruin as the Temple of the Four Gods. |
| 23 | #AngajuksBell A group of Reghed Nomads had returned to the village with a slaughtered reindeer. They returned just in time to watch Crank try to feed Angajuk a human foot. Tensions flared. After some explanation from Oona, the displeased Reghedsmen told the party to bury the dead with rites to the Maiden if they're worried they'll rise up... and perhaps reconsider dismembering corpses in the future. The Reghed hunters, whose main camp was apparently nearby, made it clear that the travelers should move on. |
The Dark Duchess
| Session | |
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| 12 | #WhaleHunters #DarkDuchess The party banters with a group of thuggish seamen at the Black-Bearded Brother, the lot of whom are already soused before midday. They're conspiring to head north to the Sea of Moving Ice to capitalize on the whaling colonies' incompetence over hunting a particularly large whale. They also talked about the wreckage of the Dark Duchess, a Luskan merchant vessel. |
| 20 | #TheForgottenRealm #DarkDuchess #ArcaneBrotherhood As told by Avarice, an apprentice of the Arcane Brotherhood named Nass Lantomir had stolen a valuable bauble from Vellynne when they first left Luskan. Nass fled aboard the Dark Duchess, the very ship whose wreckage has since been reported. Hoping the bitch died, Avarice suggested the party investigate the matter. The bauble knew things, she said. Many thing. Things that may uncover Ythryn. Things that may weaken Auril. Avarice insisted she'd gladly guide the party to the core of Ythryn itself if they were to ally. |
| 21 | #DarkDuchess The party considered their next steps, unfurling a map and eyeing possibilities near the Sea of Moving Ice. They decided to begin at the west, heading towards the Dark Duchess in search of treasure. They learned that the vessel was supposed to be carrying ale, even, with a bounty set by the Five Tavern Center in Bremen. Moreover, they recalled that Sephek Kaltro had rode that ship, as did the Arcane Brotherhood apprentice Nass Lantomir, who stole a magic bauble from Vellynne Harpell as she was setting out from Luskan many moon ago. Specifically, Avarice had told them this tidbit, and noted that the item's recovery would grant the party a great deal of favor in her eyes. |
| 21 | #battle #DarkDuchess Tremors were felt in the tundra as the party took a short rest for the sake of their sled dogs. Several chwinga were spotted atop a nearby snowy mound. On approach, the mound was discovered to be a mammoth corpse. Large claws had grappled it recently and sizable chunks of flesh were torn out by an even larger maw. The markings tracked with that of a dragon. The tremors they had felt increased in intensity until the ground surrounding the mammoth carcass caved in. An adolescent remorhaz reared its head, grabbing at the corpse to scavenge. The party attacked, and thus the beast retaliated. Eventually the remorhaz was slain, but only after it swallowed Oona and began to tunnel away. Thankfully, she cut herself out of its dead belly before its acids could burn her to the bone. Several hours later, the party arrived at the wreckage of the Dark Duchess. |
| 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 | #DarkDuchess The captain's log hinted that the ship had sighted Iceclaws, the famed white wyrm of the north. “That damned white dragon is back, circling above me like a vulture. Reckon she could carry this ship back to Luskan were she of a mind to. To die from starvation, bitter cold, or a dragon? Choices, choices.” The dragon apparently attacked a few days later, mooring the ship in an ice floe. Facing doom, the first mate, Sephek Kaltro, and the ship surgeon planned to head out with dogs to find help while Captain Bluebeard remained on board to guard their cargo and rum. Unfortunately, a passenger referred to as the mage Nass, stole off with the dogs before dawn broke, leaving Sephek and the unnamed surgeon on foot. In the captain's quarters they found a chest within which was some loot as well as an Eyes of the Eagle, which the captain had used to spot threats on the horizon. The captain himself lie dead in his chair, frozen stiff. The rum, the party later found, was largely missing from the holds. |
| 22 | #DarkDuchess In the first mate Sephek Kaltro's cabin, they found a journal chronicling the Luskanite's travels. He wrote about his child, back in Luskan. He wrote, in worry, about the increasingly icy seas and Captain Bluebeard's dragon sighting, thinking to increase his prayers to whichever gods may help his passage through the Sea of Moving Ice. His final journal entry, dated at the beginning of the Fading, the 9th month, a month or two before the party arrived into Icewind Dale, was grim. He remarked that he and the ship surgeon would be setting out into the tundra, hoping to reach Ten Towns, forced to walk into the wilds after the majority of their dogs were stolen by Nass Lantomir. He wished for the endurance to bear this trial. |
| 22 | #battle #DarkDuchess The ice troll was a fierce opponent but no match for the party, who jumped into the hold in a blitz attack. It's cold aura left a few heroes licking their wounds, but its vulnerability to fire was quickly exploited to bring it down. |
| 22 | #battle #DarkDuchess The hold contained several longboats and a massive treasure hoard, frozen in laminated sheets of ice. While some picked away at this icy treasure, Crank busted down the door to the galley. A gang of kobolds had barricaded themselves inside, attempting to ward off the ice troll. Alarmed, they attacked Crank on instinct. This resulted in their deaths. The party managed to glean that the kobolds were present in service, or perhaps reverence, of the "big one." That big one was the ancient dragon Arveiturace. |
| 22 | #DarkDuchess The Dark Duchess had been wrecked by Arveiturace, a thousand year old white dragon. The treasure inside was a part of her hoard. Upon this realization, the heroes made a concerted effort to leave as quickly as possible, taking with them furs and the items found in the captain's and crew's quarters. With the clock working against them, the party was fastening their cargo onto sleds during their final preparations for departure on the edge of the frozen sea when Arveiturace landed on the splintered prow of the ship. The heroes fled into the snow. |
Black Swords
| Session | |
|---|---|
| 12 | #BlackSwords Wrapping up their lodging at the local inn, Buried Treasures, they took note of the distraught and nervous innkeeper, Cora Mulphoon. Cora beseeches the adventurers to bring news of her missing son, Huarwar Mulphoon. Huarwar went missing during a blizzard while searching for the town's doddering elderly speaker, Dorbulgruf. Huarwar returned days later, but was cold and distant. Cora found what looked like a shard of black ice in his room. Huarwar snatched it back and threatened her to never touch it again. The next day two tieflings with black amulets came to town and offered Huarwar sanctuary at their castle. He left with them two months ago. |
| 19 | #BlackSwords At The Uphill Climb, the tavernkeeper Roark reluctantly served the guests. The large tavern, a prominent structure in and of itself, was nearly devoid of patrons - just a dour old man and a quiet couple with a young child. When asking about lodging, Roark said he couldn't have room to spare. When asking about vitals, the innkeeper brought chowder but no ale; shipments of such goods had all but died this last month. The town's speaker, Crannoc Siever, had fallen "ill" and kept to himself in the Caer. Roark didn't want to talk about it. The quiet couple eventually slipped over a note before leaving in a hurry. The note stated that the speaker was not ill and that something odd was afoot in the Caer. |
| 19 | #BlackSwords #ADuergarPlot Thoob grimly greeted the party through a slit at the barricaded wooden gates of Caer Dineval. The speaker was ill he said. A bit of lackluster deception with Hazel posing as a doctor didn't move the black-hooded guard. What perked his interest was talk of the Duergar. "This would appease the master. I will come back to you." The party was left unattended for a while, during which Tetro boosted Crank up the eastern ramparts. Thoob did return and led the party though the barbican's gatehouse, past the raised courtyard, and into the great hall of the keep. Passing a tiefling servant girl, Mere, that Thoob hassled to clean up dishes, the party was led to a sumptuous sitting room to meet Kadroth. |
| 19 | #BlackSwords #ADuergarPlot Kadroth was a middle-aged tiefling man in well-kept garb. He assuaged the party that he was the right hand of Speaker Crannoc Siever, that the poor speaker had kept to his bedchambers due to a malaise of the mind. Insight proved that he was indeed acting as the right hand to an extent, but that his "care" for the speaker was a equivocal at best. Nevertheless the party heard him out, as his men had indeed tracked the Duergar menace and located an outpost. Kadroth, clutching his black sword chardalyn pendant and extolling the virtue of stopping the duergar threat, was happy to arrange an alliance. He boasted that he had a wizard named Avarice under his command - though the insightful could tell he feared the conjurer - and that he would gladly assist the party if Sunblight Fortress's whereabouts were uncovered. When pressed about the "faith" of these apparent cultists, Kadroth praised the Archdevil Levistus, Lord of Stygia, the 5th level of the Nine Hells. Levistus spoke to him, he claimed. Levistus, patron of the desperate and forgotten, had brought salvation to most members in his fold. Kadroth was merely his envoy. The cult was named after their lord: the cult of the Black Swords. |
| 19 | #BlackSwords Crank, meanwhile, had snooped through a guard tower. Overhearing some dialogue, he heard that the Black Swords cultists had performed burial rites for a tiefling named Faith. One cultist wondered if she was related to that albino witch Avarice, to which another replied that Faith was much sweeter than the frightful wizard. As a guard came upstairs, Crank surprised him. A bit of smooth talking had the cultist lead Crank to the main hall, where others had since gathered as a meal was soon to be served by the caer's incumbent chef, Karou Chorizo. |
| 19 | #BlackSwords Kadroth had gleefully urged the party to speak with their soothsayer, the old and heartlessHethyl Arkorran. Hethyl knew each party member by name. She had dreaded this day, as she knew it would be her last. She was to die, and her soul was bound for the Nine Hells. She did so only after prophesying carnage at Ten Towns at the hands of the Duergar and the party's role in mitigating it. "Try, try, try... amidst countless screams." With a deep-set hatred for Duergar, she envisioned Sunblight Fortress nestled in the mountains: one entrance by ground, yet exhausts open to the sky as well. The fortress hosted a forge powered by a red dragon's still-beating heart, and a great weapon was being forged from black ice for Xardorok Sunblight's paranoid campaign to raze and conquer Icewind Dale. Hethyl's near-blind eyes grew dim after the conversation. Her heart stopped, and she fell dead. |
| 19 | #BlackSwords Thoob was elated that Hethyl died. Master Kadroth was jealous of her status in the cult, and Thoob hastily left to tell the master the good news. The party took a chance to deliberate. They needed to find the true Speaker, and they debated how far they could trust the hospitality of the Black Swords. Asking the servant girl Mere, she led them to the speaker's room, and immediately they were told off by a Black Swords guard. With dinner calling, they needed to hatch a plan. |
| 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 The party was comfortable enough to take the Black Swords up on an offer of lodging. It was past midnight when they heard a hatch bang shut. Investigating, they worked their way down into the caer's cistern, which was partially torch lit. A small rowboat helped navigate. They first found a room of wrapped corpses: Hethyl, Faith, and several other Black Swords cultists who had suffered battle wounds. |
| 19 | #BlackSwords Down a hallway, they came upon a shrine to Levistus, a frozen mannequin in a column of ice wrapped in chain. Behind it was brown mold, a volatile substance keeping it cold. Avarice was in a room to the side of the shrine. She rebuffed Crank and told him to get out, telling them that Kadroth wouldn't like them snooping around. She seemed almost amused and irreverent of Kadroth himself, though. |
| 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. |
| 20 | #BlackSwords Five captives had been held in Caer Dineval's cisterns. These were Speaker Crannoc Siever's former scribe, butler, translator, dog keeper, and servant. Lanthis, the scribe, needed convincing that the speaker sold them out. Incredulous but resolute, they pleaded for the party to assist their escape, even if they lacked a clear destination. |
| 20 | #BlackSwords Avarice questioned the "do-gooder adventurers." The conjurer couldn't care less about the prisoners, but she did care if blood was about to spill. TheBlack Swords were useful assets, after all. Clutching her staff of frost, Avarice kept her distance as she weighed the next words carefully. She had notified her pet gargoyles atop the keep via a telepathic bond. They would keenly watch the party's next moves. |
| 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 | #BlackSwords It was decided that the free folk may not be safe in Caer Dineval's small village. With some provisions, the party insisted they tough out the march to Easthaven. Using their sending stone, they notified Imdra Arlaggath about the situation at Caer and requested a crew to meet the refugees halfway. They then trudged through the night, making their way to Caer Konig by dawn. |
| 21 | #BlackSwords Stopping in Bremen, Hazel delivered Huarwar Mulphoon's scrimshaw necklace to his mother, who was happy to hear he was alive, devils or not. She rewarded the party with the promised potions of healing. |
Chardalyn Caper
| Session | |
|---|---|
| 17 | #ChardalynCaper In the morning, the party showed up to a desolate Town Hall. The chardalyn figurehead was shattered and the bulk of it had been removed from the premises. There were signs of a struggle. Hearing shouts from the basement, the party found the jailers and guards shoved into the cells alongside some new ruffians! The guards, freed by the party, explained that the ruffians attacked them. As they were fighting the thugs, both friend and foe were knocked out cold by invisible combatants. One guard also saw Prudence with the first set of vandals, whispering something to one of them before fleeing the scene. |
| 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. |
| 18 | #ChardalynCaper Following the aura of chardalyn dust on a set a stocky footprints to Easthaven's waterfront, the party questioned a drunkard about whether he had seen any happenings. The drunkard swore that the Easthaven Ferry was haunted, and that spirits were hanging about its cabin. Upon investigation, the ferry seemed to be closed down due to the harsh winter, as per a sign on the harborside written by the ferry-master, Scython. The dock itself told a different story. The boardwalk seemed like they were well-trodden on, as the snow and ice had been stamped down. |
| 18 | #battle #ChardalynCaper Aboard the Easthaven Ferry, as the party creaked onto the quiet ship sloshing in the icy waters, Tetro peered into the cabin and saw several bedrolls and the makings of a camp. He lit the area with Faerie Fire, revealing two Duergar warriors and a duergar mind master. The party exchanged blows as several more duergar, invisible up until this point, attacked them as well. With Oona felling their mind master leader, the party was able to subjugate the grey underdwarves, forcing the final two to surrender. |
| 18 | #ChardalynCaper #ADuergarPlot The two standing duergar were coerced into talking. The mind master that the party just killed was named Durth Sunblight. He was one of the remaining sons of Xardorok Sunblight, a duergar lord with a mountain fortress in the Spine of the World. The duergar race, known for having lived in the Underdark for centuries, were descendants of dwarves turned grim and having developed psionic abilities after eons of influence by mind flayer colonies. Xardorok's intent is to bring his people to the surface, raze Ten Towns, and establish a footprint for his own people to live in the dim twilight of Icewind Dale. He has dispatched two of his sons, Durth and Nildar Sunblight, to scout ahead. Durth is now dead, and Nilder is in charge of an outpost on the eastern face of Kelvin's Cairn. The stolen chardalyn from East Haven Town Hall was meant to be hauled back to Sunblight Fortress to be forged into siege weaponry. After confessing, the two duergar made a getaway, narrowly avoiding an axe to their necks as they turned invisible and bolted. |
| 18 | #ChardalynCaper #CauldronCaper Returning to the town hall, the party reconnected with Speaker Danneth Waylen and Captain Imdra Arlaggath, who had sorted out their guards. It appears that a town clerk,Prudence, betrayed them and let in several ruffians and possible Zhentarim who were targeting the Cauldron of Plenty. Fortunately for the party, the duergar chardalyn thieves walked in on this scuffle and capitalized on the mayhem, knocking out both Easthaven guards and their assailants before taking off with the black ice. With great thanks, the speaker was able to finally pay the party for the cauldron. |
Cauldron Caper
| Session | |
|---|---|
| 17 | #CauldronCaper Tetro dragged the cauldron back to Easthaven. Along the way, the party encountered a band of Goliath warriors. They kept their distance, and the surly lot seemed disinterested in them as they headed into town. |
| 17 | #CauldronCaper At the White Lady Inn, Hazel began prying the proprietor Bartaban about whether he'd be interested in a magical cauldron. The overly eager Bart, almost salivating at a chance to create ceaseless soup for his tavern, was eventually dismayed as the party decided to gauge the value of the vat elsewhere. Eventually this led them to the Easthaven Town Hall. |
| 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 | #CauldronCaper Prudence led the party members into the basement in the city jail. Crank noted a dour, red-haired Shandar Froth in one of the cells. In the jailer's room, the party met with Imdra Arlaggath. In return for the finding the fates of the Bunch of Knuckleheads fishermen, Imdra presented the party with a choice of a reward: a Grey Bag of Tricks or a Well-Triggered Scroll of Fireball. Azgul chose the latter. |
| 17 | #CauldronCaper The party intrigued Captain Arlaggath to take a look at the cauldron. She, in turn, notified Speaker Waylen. The dry, tired, but direct politician was happy to trade. He offered six gemstones, appraised at roughly 500 gp a piece, which he would retrieve to complete the trade in the morning. He offered to watch over the cauldron, and the party obliged him, asking for it to be locked in a free cell. |
| 18 | #ChardalynCaper #CauldronCaper Returning to the town hall, the party reconnected with Speaker Danneth Waylen and Captain Imdra Arlaggath, who had sorted out their guards. It appears that a town clerk,Prudence, betrayed them and let in several ruffians and possible Zhentarim who were targeting the Cauldron of Plenty. Fortunately for the party, the duergar chardalyn thieves walked in on this scuffle and capitalized on the mayhem, knocking out both Easthaven guards and their assailants before taking off with the black ice. With great thanks, the speaker was able to finally pay the party for the cauldron. |
White Lady Seance
| Session | |
|---|---|
| 15 | #WhiteLadySeance A bard named Rinaldo was reciting a campy, spoopy poem about the White Lady, Lac Dinneshere's resident cryptid ghost. He was holding a seance this evening and invited the party to join, for the White Lady knows much. After haggling him down to 4gp a head, they accompanied three townsfolk to the back to watch the seance unfold. |
| 15 | #battle #WhiteLadySeance #ToilAndTrouble Rinaldo's seance could have gone better, but I guess it could have gone worse. The spirit of the White Lady attacked the crowd, its wails literally aging one poor commoner by forty years. The party fought it off, after which it answered questions pertaining to happenings around the lake. She noted that a hag lived in the south eastern cliffs bordering Lac Dinneshere and that she had a magic cauldron capable of feeding an entire town. When asked about the treasure of the lake, she said the hag knows best. When asked about Dzaan, it seemed her knowledge outside the lake was minimal. |
The Mead Must Flow
| Session | |
|---|---|
| 02 | #TheMeadMustFlow You learned that the mead from Good Mead is pretty darn good, except that supplies have shrunk ever since their speaker got himself killed by... a polar bear? A yeti? A barbarian? Word of mouth sucks. |
| 12 | #TheMeadMustFlow Naerth noted such immense grief over the loss of Good Mead's speaker. He said he was diligently working on providing a new speaker for the town. |
| 13 | #TheMeadMustFlow Good Mead's ever dwindling supply of honey ale just didn't sit right with the party. Between the righteousness of beer and a possible Zhentarim replacement for their Town Hall speaker, the party hoofed it to the town. On arrival, though small in stature, the village was literally buzzing from the ice bees in the main mead hall. Here they met Olivessa Untapoor, eldest cask-maker of the town's Chultan families. Oli woefully admitted that she was indeed running for speaker, ever since Kendrick Rielsbarrow had been speared to death when a verbeeg assaulted the town and stole three casks. Kendrick's corpse was laid down for mourning in the Shrine of the Flaming Sword, an aged local hall once dedicated to Tempus. |
| 13 | #TheMeadMustFlow The opposition to Olivessa Untapoor was a relative newcomer to the village, a brusque red-haired dwarf and logger named Shandar Froth. Shandar had relocated to Good Mead only a couple years back from Mirabar, a wealthy mining city south of the Spine of the World. The party found him near the logging lodges, and, while gruff, Shandar put his foot down that he is running because he needs to... and that the town needs a leader too, damnit. The insightful Tetro felt there was truth to his words, but that a bit more remained unsaid. |
| 13 | #TheMeadMustFlow The verbeeg was last sighted in the northern woods and a search party had gone missing. Heading to the forest, the party ran into Fef Morwyn, a terrified scout. Fef had found the search party: the lot of them clubbed to death in a grove. Following the large footsteps at the scene, the party found a cave network, part of which was connected to indigenous ruins and crypts. |
| 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!" |
| 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 party recovered two full casks of Good Mead's honey mead alongside an assortment of loot from Duhg's belongings. They continued to explore the cave, though they had learned that Duhg had a date with a female verbeeg named Gahg later in the evening. |
| 14 | #TheMeadMustFlow The cave system hosted a burial chamber for an ancient indigenous tribal chieftain of Icewind Dale's past. Pictograms depicted the clan's journey across the Spine of the World, a clash with giants, and the powers of a lightning infused weapon. Opening the sarcophagus, the party found a Pearl of Power and Javelin of Lightning in the hands of the female chieftain's skeleton. Taking the items cursed Azgul, imposing a severe lethargy, though returning them to the skeleton recovered the condition. Eventually, Tetro and Crank picked up the two items respectively and sluggishly followed the party as they explored the final chamber of the cave. |
| 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. |
| 14 | #battle #TheMeadMustFlow At dusk the party left the caves with a rickety wagon loaded up with good mead casks. Soon, they ran into Duhg's woman, the verbeeg Gahg. While they avoided her at first, she returned with a vengeance, nearly killing Hazel before falling in battle to Azgul's witchbolt and Oona's axe. Gahg carried a basket of strange metal shards, seemingly scavenged as gift for her lover. The party members deduced this metal was completely foreign in nature and perhaps valuable. |
| 14 | #TheMeadMustFlow Back in Good Mead with the casks in hand, the party received praise, lodging, and, of course, fresh drink from Olivessa Untapoor. The next morning the company awoke at noon to an argument between townsfolk about the election for speaker. News travels fast in small towns. With the returned casks, support had magnified to promoting the reluctant cask maker Olivessa. Gossips also noted that her opponent, the popular yet surly Shandar Froth, had left on urgent business immediately before dawn. Where did he go, and who is to become speaker? |
| 15 | #TheMeadMustFlow As the party was preparing to leave town, a scuffle broke out at the Good Mead hall. Several thugs were running away, licking their wounds as Shandar Froth and his loggers hollered at them to get lost. Oona grappled a thug.Crank clotheslined another, picking him up with an arm for questioning. Crank recognized the Zhentarim flunky, and it was soon revealed that these thugs lost on purpose by the orders of Naerth Maxildannar to make Shandar look good. With onlookers watching the scene, Shandar was exposed. He admitted to the deception but said he did have the town's interest in heart and that, in truth, the Zhentarim had been blackmailing him to keep his past from catching up. He was a man wanted for murder in Mirabar. With Shandar outed, it seems Olivessa Untapoor will become speaker. |
Cold Hearted Killer
| Session | |
|---|---|
| 01 | #ColdHeartedKiller Hlin Trollbane had entered the tavern. Observing the party for a while, the veteran bounty huntress approached the party with a warning and request: murders were occuring in IWD. One in Easthaven a month back, another here in Bryn Shander two weeks ago, and one recently reported in Targos. |
| 02 | #ColdHeartedKiller A murder victim had been discovered on the steps of the Council Hall. The victim was a commoner, who had no business in the area. It seems someone is sending a message. But why target a commoner? |
| 04 | #ColdHeartedKiller The murder in Targos appeared to be a man who fled the results of the lottery. |
| 12 | #ColdHeartedKiller The party headed to Targos to investigate the string of murders that they were initially hired for by retired bounty hunter Hlin Trollbane. At the Luskan Arms, the depressed innkeeper Owenn Tarsenal discussed the lottery with them and, after remembering that this party were the ones who delivered the stolen armory goods, that Speaker Naerth may be worth speaking with. |
| 12 | #ColdHeartedKiller At the local tavern, Targos's Three Flags Sailing, the warm tavernkeeper Ethen Ma Tarbroul noted that the lotteries conducted by Naerth and Skath must be for the greater good of fending off winter's wrath. They tie up the lottery winners outside the walls for the cold to spirit away during the night. The last lottery winner ran away, though, and was found hewn nearly in half in the snowfields. This most recent winner also ran, but was caught by mercenaries working for Torg's merchant company. |
| 12 | #ColdHeartedKiller The party met Naerth Maxildannar in his lodging on the second floor of the Luskan Arms. Captain Skath stood guard and was about to turn the party away, but Naerth, who was feeding his pet flying snakes, heard Crank outside and let them in. Naerth was so pleased to see "his boy" Crank, though, perhaps, the feeling wasn't mutual. Naerth extolled the virtues of the current lottery, the strength and importance of Targos, and the dire straits that he believes Ten Towns is in with the current winter. He so warmly offered his services to the party. He and Skath were off to meet Torg over the lottery escapee, and the party decided to accompany them. |
| 12 | #ColdHeartedKiller Following Naerth to Torg's Targos warehouse, the adventurers saw the teenage girl fugitive. While Torg was negotiating with Naerth, a mercenary in his hire, Sephek Kaltro, demanded that the girl meet her immediate end for her crimes. This escalated quickly, culminating in Sephek's execution of the girl and Naerth's digust with Torg's enterprise. Torg, in a rage and panic, told his crew to clean up this mess. |
| 12 | #ColdHeartedKiller In Torg's Targos warehouse, the adventurers were able to discern that Sephek was a recent hire of Torg's. He was a former sailor from Luskan who served on the Dark Duchess. Sephek seemed to be a Midwinter Child from his lack of warm attire. He had ice blue eyes. Tetro and Hazel offered Torg assistance in removing and burying the nameless body and left the scene. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
Lake Monster
| Session | |
|---|---|
| 11 | #TheRimeoftheFrostmaiden #LakeMonster Re-cooperating in Lonelywood from the events at the Black Cabin, the party took stock that they lost their sled dogs and that the Summer Star was damaged, though perhaps not irredeemably. They decided to quest to Bremen to take care of the supposed lake monster in Maer Dualdon for now. |
| 11 | #LakeMonster At the docks in Bremen, the party met Grynsk Berylbore who mistook them for fishers he drunkenly hired the night before. After a heated exchange with the lout, a half-elf named Tali interjected that Berylbore was dooming the fishermen due to the lake monster. The party shocked them when they admitted they were seeking the beast. They convinced Tali, who is a researcher of the local fauna, to join them and for Berylbore to give up his two rowboat for the journey. |
| 11 | #LakeMonster After some hours navigating the ice floes on Maer Dualdon and fishing - Tetro caught a spotted eel and Hazel caught a 40 lb knucklehead! - the party encountered a plesiosaurus, the lake monster. Azgul had readied a blast, so he fired. |
| 11 | #battle #LakeMonster The party fought the plesiosaurus from their rowboats as well as from nearby ice floes after Crank netted it. They were surprised when the beast spoke! It had been awakened by Ravisin to terrorize Ten Towns and convinced by her that if it failed to kill in reverence of the the Frostmaiden, then she would revoke its new-found intelligence. The party, with mixed-feelings, decided it was best to neutralize the murderous beast. |
| 12 | #LakeMonster Having hauled the carcass of Maer Dualdon's awakened plesiosaur back to the Bremen docks, the party carved out a plesiosaur hide and 12 rations of meat. Tali was given the head of the beast to study and offered to introduce the party to a friend of hers who studies local fauna. |
The Golden Dawn
| Session | |
|---|---|
| 05 | #TheGoldenDawn "The view from the mountaintop would have been crisp if the cloudcover hadn't taken hold," said Garret. He spoke a moment too soon, as a blinding light of gold burst from the forests to the west, ripped clouds and fog asunder. The blast echoed off Kelvin's Cain, shifting the snows below, and leaving a wide hole in the midnight sky. The party felt or perhaps imagined, a brief vision of Spring, as the crackle of magic pulsed through the air. Unshielding their eyes, the stillness of the night sky lit up by the Rime immediately removed all sense of heat, frost creeping into their marrow. In the distance, riding the aurora, was a great beast... perhaps the Frostmaiden herself. |
| 05 | #TheGoldenDawn The party took shelter in the yeti cave until dawn and made their way down the mountain, having grown exhausted from exposure. During that night, at least Tetro dreamt of the golden light they'd witnessed. He visioned the visage of an owl, and he felt no warmth from neither it nor the glow. |
| 06 | #MountainClimb #TheGoldenDawn The party returned from their mountain rescue with Garret Velryn and Perilou to Termalaine. Having a late supper at Termalaine#The Blue Clam, they overheard local miners as well as hunters from Lonelywood chattering about both the kobold infestation at the local tourmaline mine as well as the bright flash of light that filled the night sky. There are some old hunting cabins that Lonelywood trappers used in those woods, though few remain in service as outposts. |
| 06 | #MountainClimb #TheGoldenDawn The party lodged at Termalaine#The Eastlook. The next morning they bid Garret farewell as he made plans to find a convoy heading back to Targos so he could rejoin Keegan Velryn. Insightful party members noted his grim disposition, as he eyed the oncoming full moon that coincides with Targos's lottery. Perilou, on the other hand, made plans to return to the Bryn Shander#House of the Morninglord, where she engaged in religious discourse. Perilou thought she might have a lead on the cabin: her acquaintance at the House of the Morninglord, a gnome named Copper, had a wizarding friend who was said to be a recluse in the Lonelywood forests. |
| 07 | #TheWhiteMoose #TheGoldenDawn Visiting Lucky Liar, the party learns little from boastful local hunters. The party does recruit Old Huntsman Clive to help them track the white moose, offering 15g for a job done. The innkeeper, Danae Xotal, seems to know a good lot of secrets. She apparently arrived in Lonelywood about ten years prior and set up the Lucky Liar that she has operated since. When pressed on the events of the golden light and of mages in the woods, she hinted that she certainly knew about magical meddlers, glaring pointedly at Azgul. |
| 08 | #TheWhiteMoose #TheGoldenDawn A silvered elvish magic mirror was found adhered in the full moon chamber of the Elven Tomb. Each party member, as well as Old Huntsman Clive asked the mirror a question, after which they communed with avatars or aspects of various gods and received cryptic answers. |
| 10 | #TheGoldenDawn The party mulled over their leads at the Lucky Liar. From atop Kelvin's Cairn, they had seen a burst of golden, warm light coming from the forests of Lonelywood. Nobody seemed to live out there. Perilou knew of a gnome named Copper who lived in the temple at Bryn Shander, though, and this Copper spoke of a former friend, a sage of sorts, who took to hermitage in the outskirts of Lonelywood. One ole crone hinted that the sage may live in a Black Cabin, a haunted place overlooking the forests. |
| 10 | #TheGoldenDawn Overhearing the conversation, ever-knowing tavernkeep of the Lucky Liar, Danae Xotal, said she knew of the sage who lived out there... and hinted that the old fool was probably dead out there anyway. The sage had used Arcane Brotherhood networks to get a #SpecialDelivery several weeks ago. Intimidated by Azgul, Danae relented and gave the party guidance to follow the ridge around Maer Dualdon to its western reaches, where the Black Cabin loomed over the forest. |
| 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 In the Black Cabin's main room all the furniture was blackened with ash. There were broken wine bottles, a charred book, a burnt skeleton of a human male, and a six inch diameter device: two concentric rings with a black stone inside. While Azgul used magic to look over some of the ancient Giant runes, Tetro picked up the device. He gazed into it as it illuminated. Looking steadfastly into the light, a radiant burst enveloped the party. All that left of poor Tetro afterwards was turtle dust. |
| 10 | #TheGoldenDawn The party, stunned by Tetro's demise, resolved to uncover the mysteries of the Black Cabin. Oona swept some turtle ash into a leather pouch as a remembrance. The party discovered blueprints of what is called a Summer Star, a reproduction of an ancient Netherese device to control the weather. The blueprints and runic scrawlings seemed to be the work of a madman obsessed with the Summer Star. They found a scroll sent to the sage by Copper. The scroll confirmed the man to be Macreadus, detailing his maddening obsession as well as Copper's opinion that the device required three of something for stability, not two. |
| 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. |
| 10 | #TheGoldenDawn Hazel picked up the Summer Star and attuned to the orb, as the same radiance began to fill the room. Some party members ran for cover. But the light's warmth healed their wounds, a vision of gold filled their hearts, and they felt an extra-planar voice admit, "Well Done." Tetro stood blinking and alive in the middle of the Black Cabin, and for a brief moment, the spirit of Macreadus could be seen laughing in celebration of the Summer Star's successful construction. The party received a Blessing of the Morninglord, 10 temporary hit points at dawn from Lathander. Outside, for a clear mile by sight, the winter had vanished and the hills had a verdant green, yet a chill wind seemed to follow the warm breezes. On the wind, sibilant whispers were heard, like the crackle of frost. |
| 21 | #TheGoldenDawn #TheForgottenRealm Stopping in Bryn Shander, the party made their way to the Temple of the Morninglord. Here they ran into Perilou, the acolyte of Yolanda they rescued from Kelvin's Cairn. She had been studying in service of the priestess Mishann, who was in prayer and who the party did not speak with. After a bit of persuasion about the gnomish artisan Copper, Perilou relented and brought them to the grouch's lodgings in the attic. Copper was dressed in a furry bear suit, had the deepest possible voice, and was oscillating varyingly between grousing and sobbing when pressed about Macreadus. He explained that the Summer Star was a tiny model of a Netherese Mythallar, a weave conduit and engine that powered their magic cities. Macreadus had become obsessed with the idea of controlling the weather to hush the Endless Winter, despite Copper's protest. The Summer Star's core was consecrated chardalyn but had lost its charge with use. Copper admitted he may be able to fix and recharge it with a shiny diamond, but he feared how you dare challenge the gods with such a device. |
The White Moose
| Session | |
|---|---|
| 06 | #ABeautifulMine #TheWhiteMoose Upon return to Termalaine, Oarus Masthew assuaged the party to rest up for the next day on the house while he inspected the mines. In the meantime, the party heard that both Garret Velryn and Perilou had departed with a passing merchant caravan - one named belonging to a Torg. The party also overheard of troubles in Lonelywood, a white moose that seems bent of slaying men. |
| 07 | #TheWhiteMoose The party arrives in Lonelywood for the first time, a small hunting, logging, and fishing settlement of once-scoundrels and assassins and, as the town speaker Nimsy Huddle put it, bastards. The speaker gave the party lodging in her attic alongside her four halfling children. She recruits the party to hunt the killer moose that's killed |
| 07 | #TheWhiteMoose #TheGoldenDawn Visiting Lucky Liar, the party learns little from boastful local hunters. The party does recruit Old Huntsman Clive to help them track the white moose, offering 15g for a job done. The innkeeper, Danae Xotal, seems to know a good lot of secrets. She apparently arrived in Lonelywood about ten years prior and set up the Lucky Liar that she has operated since. When pressed on the events of the golden light and of mages in the woods, she hinted that she certainly knew about magical meddlers, glaring pointedly at Azgul. |
| 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. |
| 07 | #TheWhiteMoose Chwinga appeared by the dozen and began playing around the party's sled, playfully pelting Azgul with snowballs while Crank and Hazel watched over the recuperating party. The chwinga tugged at the party's cloaks and led them to a clearing. Time seemed to ebb a bit differently for the next couple hours. Almost as quickly as the clearing came into focus, the chwinga disappeared. The party had arrived at Elvish ruins. A row of six statues faced a 10 ft berm, over which a massive crystalline gnomon sat in a wide circular depression. They had came across a massive moon dial. Upon further scouting, they noted a sarcaphogus flanked by blue heiroglyphic pillars, a marble gazebo on the other end of the berm, and a hole broken into the nearby cliffside, tunneling into darkness. |
| 08 | #TheWhiteMoose The party explored the Elven Tomb found in Lonelywood Forest. Several tall elven status surrounded the berm and central moon dial, and they buzzed with magic as Azgul investigated them. |
| 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. |
| 08 | #TheWhiteMoose The moon dial's gnomon was illuminated by the full moon and was refracting a moonbeam onto a full moon glyph, which was actively glowing. Out of the other glyphs on the dial, the two half moons displayed elvish script on them. Tetro deduced that his moonbeam spell could activate these glyphs, and the party later found that the illuminated moon glyphs unsealed chambers inside the elven tomb. |
| 08 | #TheWhiteMoose #TheGoldenDawn A silvered elvish magic mirror was found adhered in the full moon chamber of the Elven Tomb. Each party member, as well as Old Huntsman Clive asked the mirror a question, after which they communed with avatars or aspects of various gods and received cryptic answers. |
| 08 | #TheWhiteMoose The half moon chambers of the Elven Tomb contained sarcophagi. In the southern room, the sarcophagus was opened and disheveled. In the north room, Crank saw a drying rack of herbs, druidic implements, and a nude, intact body of a recently dead woman lying atop the sarcophogus. A berry bush in the corner of the room seemed to move as well, but before Crank could react, Ravisin, a frost druid who was skulking in this room could no longer stay hidden. An altercation erupted between her and Crank, leading to battle. |
| 08 | #TheWhiteMoose Old Huntsman Clive called out to his granddaughter, but Ravisin responded only in derision. Clive gasped at the body of Vurnis, who had long gone missing and was presumed dead. Ravisin blamed the Ten Towners for Vurnis's death, cursing the moral failings of humankind and seething about the need to return the world to nature. Worshiping Auril breathed new life into her, Ravisin said, and it was Vurnis who showed her this faith. Vurnis, who was abused by the men of Ten Towns, was more alive in her death than the party could imagine, Ravisin raved. When the party asked about the moose, Ravisin jeered at them. The so-called moose, she said, was doing a splendid job ridding the Dale of the blight of its human occupants. |
| 08 | #battle #TheWhiteMoose Ravisin conjured a dozen wolves to attack the party. The party managed to fend for themselves while they broke the frost druid's concentration, dispelling the wolves. Ravisin wild shaped into an owl and attempted to flee, but was caught by ranged attacks and came crashing into the moon dial. Calling out to her dead sister Vurnis and beseeching Auril to witness her, she cast a maelstrom of ice onto the party and herself, ending her own life. |
| 09 | #TheWhiteMoose A dying Ravisin seemed pleased with her fate. She explained her malcontent with the Dalefolk for the mistreatment of her sister Vurnis, which Old Huntsman Clive later expressed was most likely her rape. Vurnis was a Midwinter Child, a blessed girl and the fairer of the two sisters. She had left Lonelywood months ago to seek her destiny only to meet mistreatment. She turned to the cult of Auril, becoming a frost druid. Ravisin in her youth was the less fortunate of the sisters: lesser in wits, achievement, and charms. She followed Vurnis everywhere, and thus followed her sister into a radicalized worship of the Frostmaiden. |
| 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 | #TheWhiteMoose When queried, Sahnar suggested they bury any new dead and return any other dead to their crypts. Hazel accompanied Old Huntsman Clive and put the two sisters to rest with her trusty halfling shovel. Some time later, Joey the Shrub was planted near them to stay in the light of the forest. |
| 09 | #TheWhiteMoose The southern half moon tomb contained an opened sarcophagus with two elven skeletons inside. Inside were a hunting horn and a silvered arrowheads. Azgul picked up the horn, discerning it to be magical, while Tetro objected but ultimately let Azgul proceed. After a short rest, Azgul realized the wondrous object was a Horn of Silent Alarm, though he refrained from using it yet. |
| 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. |
| 09 | #TheWhiteMoose The party made their way back to Lonelywood, parting ways for Old Huntsman Clive and lodging at Nimsy Huddle's residence well past midnight. Each party member earned 13 gold for their efforts in the end, as well as a sled full of moose flesh. |
A Beautiful Mine
| Session | |
|---|---|
| 04 | #ABeautifulMine Miners had been returning back from work in Termalaine. A boy on a soapbox was announcing that a monster infestation in a gem mine, and that the town speaker, a half-orc named Oarus Masthew, had posted a 50g reward. |
| 04 | #ABeautifulMine Speaker Oarus Masthew is a gregarious, seemingly liked half-orc. He detailed the troubles with the tourmaline mine. Since the mines eventually connect to the Underdark, occasionally some denizens of the deep creep on upwards. Currently, a population of kobold seem to have taken root in the mine. There have been hosilities, but no deaths. The reward for clearing the mine is 50g, and he'd turn a blind eye to any gems the party picks up while in the mine itself. |
| 06 | #ABeautifulMine Talking to speaker Oarus Masthew, the party agreed on a 60g reward (fair splittings!) to tackle the mine problem. The Termalaine mine descended deep into the Dale and glittered with gemdust. The place was filled with kobold tracks and signs of struggle were seen. |
| 06 | #battle #ABeautifulMine Several encounters unfolded in the gem mines, mostly against easily dispatched kobolds, but also against a set of grells that had preyed on weaker beings and caused significant tension in the mine. The party eventually encountered a well-spoken kobold leader with fake dragon wings named T-Rex, who was found out to have been possessed by the Ghost of Janth, a sage who had succumbed to exposure on the iceplains. The kobolds had been seeking refuge and a better life, though through a lot of skullduggery. The ghost wished to infiltrate society and, while rational, had less-than-good aspirations. The ghost was exorcised. The party, tired of shenanigans, told T-Rex and two surviving kobolds to take a hike. |
| 06 | #ABeautifulMine #TheSignal An ancient illithid skull was found well-preserved at the base of the Termalaine gem mine. Inside the skull was a Psi Crystal, which Tetro took and began pondering, attuning to it. |
| 06 | #ABeautifulMine At the very base of the mine was a large vein of tourmaline! The aprty set to work with pickaxes, raking in 480 gp total worth of gems, which they later traded in town. |
| 06 | #ABeautifulMine #TheWhiteMoose Upon return to Termalaine, Oarus Masthew assuaged the party to rest up for the next day on the house while he inspected the mines. In the meantime, the party heard that both Garret Velryn and Perilou had departed with a passing merchant caravan - one named belonging to a Torg. The party also overheard of troubles in Lonelywood, a white moose that seems bent of slaying men. |
Mountain Climb
| Session | |
|---|---|
| 04 | #MountainClimb A dog, Boy, got the attention of the party and dragged them to the house of Keegan Velryn, a schrimshander and former mountaineer. His husband Garret was a mountain guide and had led a small expedition to Kelvin's Cairn. Boy never leaves his master's side unless there is trouble. At Keegan's request (and a promise of free rooms at the Luskan Arms through his friend Owenn Tarsenal), the party decided they would go on a rescue mission for Garret and company, traveling up through Termalaine. |
| 04 | #MountainClimb Arriving at Kelvin's Cairn the next morning, the party found Garret Velryn's dog sled and hungry dogs. Having fed them, they traveresed the icy cliffside, saw mountain goat, and eventually found Garret, knocked unconscious after a fall. He had lured a violent yeti away from the group of four he was guiding. Garret is a scout by training, and while exhausted and wounded, is still able-bodied. |
| 04 | #battle #MountainClimb Three crag cats pounced on the party. Garret fought alongside them. These were big, mean kitties. |
| 05 | #MountainClimb Having rescued Garret Velryn the party continued up Kelvin's Cairn seeking the remaining three members of the climbing expedition: a male goliath named Mokingo Growling Bear who was in search of the legendary Winter Walker Oyaminatorok, a female halfling acolyte named Perilou, and a brooding, reticent female Tiefling named Astrix. |
| 05 | #MountainClimb Approaching a yeti den, the party sought the adult male yeti that attacked Garret Velryn and company. Finding blood and several large but muddled footprints, they snuck into a cave, where they found the eviscerated torso of Mokingo Growling Bear in a crude trophy room. Two other severed heads could be well-discerned, one belonging to Oobok and the other belonging to an unknown red-haired shield dwarf. |
| 05 | #battle #MountainClimb In the darkness, they found a yeti and two smaller indistinct forms. The party took the opportunity to attack the beast and lure it out. In the following confusion, they realize a yeti tyke had been batting around Perilou, who exhausted but unharmed, in the corner and that they were fighting the mother. As the party and Garret dispatched the monstrosity, the father approached with a slewn goat. Putting the yetis to rest, the party decided to push for the mountain-top to look for Astrix. |
| 05 | #MountainClimb Atop Kelvin's Cairn was a ruined astronomers hut from times well before the present. It was a common destination for climbers, and in its fallen walls the party found the frozen body of Astrix hunched and forlorn. She had been gazing at a frozen, headless and red-haired dwarven corpse - the poor bastard whose head they had seen in the trophy room. Astrix had a Potion of Invisibility and a leather-bound spellbook in her posession. |
| 05 | #battle #MountainClimb Before they could lash up the dogs and leave, an avalanched swept through the hillside, ensnaring Garret Velryn. Soon after, a chill wind summoned three Cold Light Walkers, who the party and Perilou dispatched. |
| 06 | #MountainClimb #TheGoldenDawn The party returned from their mountain rescue with Garret Velryn and Perilou to Termalaine. Having a late supper at Termalaine#The Blue Clam, they overheard local miners as well as hunters from Lonelywood chattering about both the kobold infestation at the local tourmaline mine as well as the bright flash of light that filled the night sky. There are some old hunting cabins that Lonelywood trappers used in those woods, though few remain in service as outposts. |
| 06 | #MountainClimb #TheGoldenDawn The party lodged at Termalaine#The Eastlook. The next morning they bid Garret farewell as he made plans to find a convoy heading back to Targos so he could rejoin Keegan Velryn. Insightful party members noted his grim disposition, as he eyed the oncoming full moon that coincides with Targos's lottery. Perilou, on the other hand, made plans to return to the Bryn Shander#House of the Morninglord, where she engaged in religious discourse. Perilou thought she might have a lead on the cabin: her acquaintance at the House of the Morninglord, a gnome named Copper, had a wizarding friend who was said to be a recluse in the Lonelywood forests. |
Armored Corps
| Session | |
|---|---|
| 02 | #ArmoredCorps Met Markham Southwell at Bryn's Armory. Supplies have gone missing and the sheriff is suspicious of Zhentarim in his ranks. He agreed to help you out if you recover supplies. |
| 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. |
| 03 | #battle #ArmoredCorps The party fought four Zhentarim thugs in a Bryn Shander alley. They got one to talk after they discovered a The Hooked Knucklehead tavern flyer on him with a note ...-.-.. on the back. It was a knocking passcode for the backdoor of the tavern, where the Zhentarim have been fencing stolen goods from the armory. |
| 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. |
| 04 | #ArmoredCorps Half the stolen goods were restored to Markham Southwell's control. Hazel managed to persuide the sheriff to let them take the other half to the Zhentarim in Targos and act as double agents. |
| 04 | #ArmoredCorps The party dropped off the crate for Zhentarim pickup in the shed at the rear of the Luskan Arms. The tavernkeeper, Owenn Tarsenal, seems to turn a blind eye to these dealings. He paid the usual sum he is instructed to give, 60sp, alongside an evening's swill and meal, some fish sausage. |
Frosted Mugs
| Session | |
|---|---|
| 02 | #FrostedMugs A sad, dazed dwarf was nursing a morning ale at Kelvin's Comfort. He was part of a mining caravan that was ambushed in the night. The dwarves were forced to flee, and lost their cargo of iron and ingot. |
| 02 | #FrostedMugs Blackiron Blades. They had no medium armor, but could make you some if you help their supply chain along. They were expecting iron ingots, but the dwarves were ambushed. The dwarves are lodging at The Northlook. |
| 02 | #FrostedMugs The remaining dwarves from the mining caravan were here at the The Northlook. They are Hruna, Korux, and Storn of the Dwarven Valley. It turns out they weren't simply ambushed: a rogue yeti plowed through camp and ripped a dwarf in twain. They fled and when returning for their supplies, saw only blood and goblin tracks. They need help recovering their goods. |
| 03 | #FrostedMugs Dogs and sleds were rented from Bryn Shander Stables for 30 gp to set out towards the tundra towards the Dwarven Valley to find the missing iron ingots belonging to Hruna and the remaining Foamings Mugs dwarves. |
| 03 | #battle #FrostedMugs Six goblins, a goblin boss, his pet hawk, and two wagon-laden polar bear were encountered. Two potions of animal friendship, a bone whistle, and 60 sp were found afterwards. The polar bears were set free by Tetro. The hawk was charmed by Crank and later sold to Hruna for 5 gp. |
| 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! |
| 03 | #FrostedMugs The ingots were successfully returned to Hruna et al who paid them each a 50 gp bloodstone - quickly converted to gold. The hounds and sleds were returned, the job finished. |
Special Delivery
| Session | |
|---|---|
| 01 | #SpecialDelivery Oona and Crank have been working gigs for the Luskan Deliverers, a merchant and courier guild. The were tasked with delivering a small parcel - an unmarked, unhinged metal box - to a Ragammel in the town of Bryn Shander. The commissioner was reportedly an Arcane Brotherhood member named Maccath. |
| 01 | #SpecialDelivery Azgul, Tetro, Hazel, and Fern were all either being guided to Icewind Dale or happened across the traveling party. |
| 01 | #SpecialDelivery Ragammel, who had lodging at the tavern, eventually made his way downstairs for a meal. The package was delivered, a magical sigil illuminating after interacting with Ragammel's dragontooth necklace. The Luskan Deliverers were paid 60g for its receipt. |
| 10 | #TheGoldenDawn Overhearing the conversation, ever-knowing tavernkeep of the Lucky Liar, Danae Xotal, said she knew of the sage who lived out there... and hinted that the old fool was probably dead out there anyway. The sage had used Arcane Brotherhood networks to get a #SpecialDelivery several weeks ago. Intimidated by Azgul, Danae relented and gave the party guidance to follow the ridge around Maer Dualdon to its western reaches, where the Black Cabin loomed over the forest. |
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