Session 24: Sygmys, Tanyth 2nd

 The party finished the fight with giant spiders and gelatinous cubes.

The party was helped by a Kobold named Scabbers. He was upset at the group for killing his spiders at first, but realized the spiders were out of control

When the fight was over, Scabbers exclaimed:

“so you got here but didn’t trigger my alarm, so I take it none of you are vampires… what do you want??? …. G… g…GO AWAY! I’m a MASTER of the arcane, a MASTER of … uhm…. Trappy things… and I’m not afraid to use my skills!”

The party exchanged words with him for a while, but eventually Halaema heard them, and barged in, asking what Scabbers is going on about. The party then proceeded into the main chamber, where a group of people gathered around an Owl Folk woman performing a song particularly familiar to Armando: the song she used to sing to him as a baby.

Armando immediately recognizes his mother Olena, and joins her in the song. After an emotional encounter, the party finally was able to talk to some of the Hopeful Dawn members and get some answers.

They had a dinner of spider parts, and Armando talked a bit to his mother. She had no idea Rabak was also in this realm.

Kalim handed 3 vials of red dragon blood and 2 vials of gold dragon blood to Halaema.

 

Session 23: Sygmis, Tanyth 2nd

Selune communicated with Lenny through her dreams again. She said the following: "Pain from loss is change. It feels like only loss, but change can bring balance. Your path is the one of balance and the path of others is beyond your control. Trust and seek the darkness inside the mountain, but beware of your steps. You're about to be tested."

Some last minute shopping included Sylvie getting a set of armor custom made at Smelts of Roses. She tipped the armorer there 5 gp for her craftsmanship.

The party traveled to Hopeful Dawn cave without much trouble, since it is a well-traveled and well-known route, especially to Kalim. Kalim also sent out a letter to the Ivtaran Monks with 1 vial of Red Dragon’s Blood. Upon arrival at the cave, the party immediately recognizes the Hopeful Dawn symbol carved near the entrance.

Upon proceeding further into the cavern, the party encounters an area in which the floor is covered in tiles. Some of the tiles triggered poisonous darts, and when attempting to cross the floor through flight, flames were hurled at whomever attempted it. Eventually the party figured out the correct order and made their way past the puzzle.

They now face a path further down the cave full of giant spiders.

Session 22: Cyclonis, Tanyth 1st

The party (minus Hazel) decided to leave the town of Kepios and head to Menell Dilth via the forest. Kalim located two rare plants during their hike through the forest: Lightning Jewel Orchid, and Magic Mushrooms. Still within the forest, Lenny heard commotion up ahead on the path. As the party approached, they saw an eladrin woman surrounded by two disturbing looking unicorns, with red eyes, and a black tar-like substance oozing out of their wounds and nostrils. Additionally, two undead eladrin, wearing tattered seldarine armor accompanied these unicorns. They were moving towards the eladrin woman.

The party fought off these monsters and after some healing, introductions were in order. This eladrin woman’s name is Sylvie, and she was very thankful that the party could help her escape the situation she was in. She also had a severe burn on her leg, which Kalim helped heal. The party also took a closer look at the monsters they just defeated. Armando noticed the smell emanating from the unicorns resembled the smell from the sickness his father had. The party noticed that the unicorns and the undead eladrin were branded with a symbol.

Lenny recognized the symbol as the Symbol of Ganasis – evil deity of darkness, chaos, untimely death, divisiveness and disruption. The party went back to Menell Dilth, where they found the town still holding the “Festival of Life” celebrations. They headed towards Tatiana’s, who was very happy to greet the party once more. She informed the party that she unfortunately only had one room available. Faith offered space in the Thieves Guild quarters, should the party require more room.

Everyone had dinner, gross tomato eating happened, and Armando purchased a pint of Lone Tree Mead Reserve, which Lenny enjoyed responsibly (a.k.a. did not get drunk).

Some of the party members decided to have some deep fried goods again (including a churro sword and popcorn shrimp).

Lenny prayed to Selune, mentioning that she’s trying to still take care of people, but feeling it is very hard to stay balanced with Hazel leaving. It certainly feels unbalanced now.

Everyone had a long rest at Tatiana’s. Lenny and Kalim noticed Sylvie making noises under the bed while they rested. The next morning, Kalim purchased a new recipe for a Potion of Giant Strength, and Armando spent some time studying the book of animal harvesting.

Session 21: Tempest, Volodar 31

The party, currently in Kepios, has had mixed reactions to the letters they received. The most emotional reaction to the letter has been Hazel’s, as she was informed that her young brother was kidnapped, and her friends are currently in Aerie, trying to investigate where her brother could have been taken.

The letter details that they know Ascal Olovalur was involved in the kidnapping, but they don’t know his whereabouts.

The party spent the day at the village of Kepios, Kalim worked on copying and making potions, he purchased ingredients from the local store, as well as a mortar and pestle. Lenny got some holy water, and Armando purchased additional glass containers (in case they ran into more blood samples).

The party met the elder of Kepios Village, Cliphek Hinwyn, an old silver-skinned dragonborn who seems to tend to the Temple of Bahamut. Cliphek told the party that the Pact of Life has been trying to keep the corruption at bay, however the chromatic dragons have been advancing northwest into the forest. The druids of Yigdrasiil have been holding their ground (for now), but just barely. Same with the Bahamut Brigade. They lost contact with the priests of the temple of Yemoja, and only know that the temple sunk into Lake Avaranthia. It used to be suspended on the surface of the lake, protected by a magical shield. With the constant threat of the corruption, the Life Pact cannot afford to loose the support of the priests of Yemoja, and Cliphek asks the party to check on them and figure out what happened, so they can re-establish the hold they used to have in southern Arvandor.

Additionally, Lenny used the scrying spell on her letter seal. She discovered that she has an aunt called Halaema, and that she’s hiding in a cave with the Hopeful Dawn. She managed to escape from Carantharas, where she was held prisoner previously.

The party now has a number of choices for objectives and different routes available to them. After some discussion, the party decided to head towards the Hopeful Dawn cave in search for more allies, deliver the dragon blood, and then continue northeast towards the monastery of Ivtar, eventually making their way to lake Avaranthia.

The party went to bed for the night, only to discover the next morning that one of their party members was gone: Hazel. She left a note, and her construct (Slarty) behind. Her note said:

“Dear Armando, Elenion, and Kalim, I am so sorry to leave you like this without saying good-bye but I didn't want you to change direction just because of me. People's lives are on the line and I won't be responsible for anyone else dying because I was selfish and thoughtless. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine! And I'll try to message you as much as possible. Please be safe!! I'm sending Slarty with you to protect you. He might take some more recalibration to listen to you, but I've done the best I could with that in the time that I had. Please don't follow me, you are needed to the east! I have every faith you will be more than capable to meet whatever challenge is thrown at you. See you later. -HA”

The news weren’t received very well by some of the party members, but the party still agreed to proceed towards the east, as previously planned. 

Session 20: Tempest, Volodar 31

 

Upon handing the Aeli stone to Garth, he immediately got better, but also started transforming, and getting much, much larger. He revealed himself as an ancient gold dragon and apologized for the deception. His life was never in significant danger, he had been observing the party since they entered the forest, and had to be sure they were indeed well-intentioned. Magmarivox had indeed attempted to poison him, but just like the party, she was deceived into thinking he was merely a young dragon and much weaker than he appeared.

He has observed the corruption for some time, and had been tasked by his brethren to investigate its progression in Arvandor, because they are reaching a point where they may have to evacuate the realm completely, as metallic dragons are feeling the adverse effects of the corruption most.

He has noticed that in the last week something caused the corruption’s progress to slow down, and even recede in some areas. This is the first sign of hope he has seen in centuries. He believes the party also brings him hope and he needs to relay these urgent news to his brethren. Maybe they are about to have a chance to fight back soon.

He also gave the party some blood, and Hazel a golden scale, as promised. The scale is the size of a dinner plate.

The party also met Gralkas Yorkul, a recruit of the Bahamut’s Brigade. Sworn to defend the metallic dragons that remain in Arvandor, and sworn to protect the realm from the chromatic dragons.

The chromatic dragons are known to be benefitting from the corruption created by the vampires somehow, and to some degree contributing to it. The corruption seems to expand as the chromatic dragons and vampires grow in numbers.

Gralkas helped the group get to Kepios, a small fishing village inhabited by the Dragonborn, with a temple to Bahamut. On their way, the group came across a few dinosaurs, and fought them off successfully.

Gralkas looks at Elenion with suspicion, and commented on the fact that she’s Eladrin, but she seems different from the rest. When Hazel asked him about that suspicion towards Elenion, Gralkas explained that there was a disagreement between the Eladrin and many of the other groups that formed the “Pact of Life”, to the point that the Eladrin are no longer part of the pact.

The group also found out that this Pact of Life (which is a group trying to keep the growth of corruption at bay) is currently composed of: the Bahamut Brigade, the Druids of Yigdrasiil, and the Priests of Yemoja. The temple of Yemoja hasn’t been heard from in centuries, and legends say it sunk.

Session 19: Tempest, Volodar 31

 The group made their way through the path in the forest they thought would get them back to Garth. They tried their best to do so stealthily, and despite their best efforts and slow moving, they found it quite difficult to move quietly, due to the extensive debris on the forest floor, and thick brush they were constantly running into. As it became darker, the forest looked less and less familiar. Was this the tree we just passed? I don’t remember seeing this rock before, this must be the way! Wait, we just came from here…

The party was lost. After many hours, they realized they had to set down camp, or become exhausted. As they debated what to do, they started hearing noises coming from the forest surrounding them. The noises were getting closer. Within seconds, they found themselves surrounded by a large and hungry pack of wolves.

The group hacked and slashed through the wolf pack with ease, however just as they thought they were almost safe, they were approached by a bat, who then turned into a man, who said: “ah, how I love when food makes its way to me!”.

The party began fighting against this creature. He seemed resistant to their normal weapon attacks, as well as necrotic damage. He also seemed to very quickly heal from his wounds. Luckily, some of the party members remembered that vampires are sensitive to running water, and Lenny also made good use of holy water. The vampire didn’t seem to heal as well after Lenny splashed him with it. Ultimately, the party was able to carry the vampire to a nearby creek and hold him in the water until they defeated him. Hazel spotted some beautiful glowing flowers that grew on the creek’s margins. She picked two of them to try to study later.

After this battle, the party definitely felt like they needed to rest, and set up Lenny’s Magic Hut on the north margin of the creek. They decided to just have a short rest, and while they were doing so, Lenny noticed a person coming out of the tree line on the south margin of the creek. The person looked around for a while and then returned to the trees. When Lenny conveyed this to the group, Hazel got very curious about who this person might be. She decided to infuse some marbles with a magical scent that mimics blood. She then proceeded to throw the marbles across the creek and rush back into the hut to see what would happen.

A few seconds passed. Nothing. And then the person came out again, apparently sniffing the air. And then another. And another. And a total of 7 people came out of the woods looking for something, apparently drawn by the scent of the marbles. One of them picked up one of the marbles and showed it to the others. They seemed to communicate something and then rushed into different directions in what looked very much like a hunt.

Terrified, the party opted to stay in the hut until sunrise, and take a long rest. The night went on. Lenny noticed that some of the people may have gotten fairly close to the hut. But at least they weren’t discovered. Once the group had their rest, they made their way back to Garth the next morning. They rushed. And fortunately they made it back in time. Garth is still alive! He looks in very poor shape, however. Additionally, Garth is in the company of a silver-skinned dragonborn, who seems to be comforting him. Marvin sits beside this dragonborn.

Session 18: Terrane, Volodar 30

The party gathered more information from the gold dragon Garturax, to determine the best way to approach the cave containing the gem that could save his life. They tried healing him with lesser restoration spells, but it didn’t work.

Garturax also mentioned that Magmarivox has a family that usually resides around Yigdrasiil, and that the weapon that Armando carries (Blodrur) is a weapon made from the sick roots of Yigdrasiil (roots that the red dragons tried to destroy to sever its connection to other worlds). These weapons are used by druids of Yigdrasiil to fight off the red dragons.

However, most of the red dragons don’t really inhabit this area of the forest, except for Magmarivox, who is bent on destroying Garturax. The party asked if they could help protect Garth while they are gone. They also came clear about wanting dragon blood as a reward.

Garth asked if Marvin could carry a message to the Silver Dragonborn folk in the town of Kepios. Hazel was able to program Marvin to do so, while carrying a note that could only be read by a silver skinned dragonborn. Garth was happy to learn the party wanted a cure for vampirism to help other people, instead of money. He also offered one of the scales of his elbow, should the party return.

The party made their way west towards the cave by Dragon Eerie Mountain. On the way there, they were attacked by a T. rex, but had little trouble disposing of it. Once they arrived at the cave, they took a short rest inside Lenny’s magical hut.

Lenny used an invisibility spell and flight to reach the centre of the cave and retrieve the Aeli Stone. Once inside the cave, she noticed small creatures skittering and whispering inside the cave. They seemed to live and make nests in the dust and rubble piles.

The cave had unnatural winds coming from large pits that occurred inside the cave. In the centre of the cave, a large circular podium held a pedestal with the Aeli Stone floating above it.

Lenny approached the pedestal and eventually touched the stone. The party isn’t sure exactly how, but she got the stone. Lenny seems worried about the stone, however. Once the party exited the cave, they were approached by a woman who offered to trade the gem for a wand.

The party refused the deal, and the woman revealed herself as a young red dragon. Combat ensued, the dragon became overpowered and attempted to flee, however Armando landed a precise blow with his crossbow, and downed the creature. The party spent a few hours looting and harvesting the dragon for blood, scales, and teeth.

Nightfall approached, and the party decided to head back to Garth presently.