Session 27: Solas, Tanyth 3rd

During the funeral pyre events, Sylvie felt sick. Lennie got a blessing from Selune. It is Vilis’ (the moon representing the drow) last quarter and Avalan (the moon representing the eladrin) first quarter – the balance of moons has been reflected in the balance of Lennie’s actions – this has been observed by Selune, so she sent a blessing – a feather fell from the sky right into Lennie’s hand. This feather at first looked like just a small white feather, but Lenny noticed it is very reflective, silvery, and has an unusual energy to it. The party and the 9 surviving monks proceeded to head back to the Hopeful Dawn cave. As they approached, the party came across a group of vampires and drow. After a rather bloody battle, the group convinced the two vampires to join their side. The two vampires, Barbary (a human female) and Ryia (a human male), took the “half-cure”. The party looted several swords and crossbows from the drow. Lennie noticed Sylvie slipping something shiny onto one of the drow’s bodies.

Once they got into the Hopeful Dawn, they noticed signs of battle. As they progressed into the cave, they saw that some of the drow had made it inside and managed to drive wooden stakes into 5 of the sleeping vampires, including Scabbers. 20 Hopeful Dawn members remain (including Olena, Zaru, Bartok, and Halaema).

Halaema offered her quarters for the group to have a private meeting (joined by Olena) to discuss strategies. Halaema watched the entrance (along with a few Hopeful Dawn members and monks), whereas the monks Fir and Willow watched Barbary and Ryia.

Olena and Halaema revealed that there is a mole among the Hopeful Dawn. Elder Qinyarus gave Kalim his staff, as he realized Kalim is a lot more capable in battle, and the Elder feels more helpful in a healing role.

The group meeting topics included:

-     Hopeful Dawn cave is definitely no longer safe.

-     Need to make their way to Menell Dilth to restock.

-     Options of places for Hopeful Dawn to stay in Menell Dilth include:

-     Tanner Farm

-     Faith Fast Fingers (thieves guild or Orphanage – previous casino)

-     When it comes to battle preparations:

-     Olena and Armando will take the sky crew (Garth will join, and bring additional “air forces”)

-     Kalim, Lennie, and Sylvie may disguise as drow, and hopefully have some aid from the thieves guild to do a stealthy ground surveillance

-     Lennie sent a message to Clyphek to set up a meeting with one of the Bahamut Brigade’s Dragonborns (Golemmoth) in Menell Dilth (at Cat’s Cradle Farm) tomorrow. The Bahamut Brigade also informed Lennie that they can contribute with 15 soldiers.

Session 26: Solas, Tanyth 3rd

 Before leaving the Hopeful Dawn to head over to Ivtar, Lenny made a donation to the Hopeful Dawn: she donated 2 fancy gowns and a doublet. Slarty was left in Halaema’s care.

Party leaves Hopeful Dawn cave. Upon leaving, they notice a raven which intently watches them, and as soon as it is spotted, it takes off to the east. Armando shot it with his crossbow, and it went off in a “poof” of smoke.

They proceed to Ivtar. On the way there, it got strangely colder as they approached. At some point they come across a group of goblins. These goblins were carrying a variety of goods, such as pottery, cutlery, old tools, and household items. They were running and had a very scared look on their faces, particularly scared of Kalim.

Kalim, recognized some of the items as belonging to the Ivtar monastery. They revealed that they only took these items because the monastery was a big mess, and there were no monks standing. They mentioned a big scary and stinky creature that caused them to run away.

The group proceeded to Ivtar, Kalim heading in first (sneakily). He saw Ivtar completely destroyed. Every building, tent, or structure was flat. Dozens of bodies of his brothers and sisters were strewn across the area. The area was also covered in ice and snow, and some of the bodies had clear frost damage, some of them with limbs shattered after being encased in ice.

Shuffling throw the rubble and corpses is a Tyrannosaurus. But this beast was not like the one Kalim faced before. This one had parts missing, flesh falling from its body, and exposed bones in several parts. The creature reeked of death and decay. Its ribcage was visible, and from within it several undead hands were reaching out and grasping, in a horrific and revolting scene.

Kalim doubled back towards the group to let them know what he saw. The group approached the monastery grounds sneakily and managed a surprise attack on the Tyrannosaurus zombie. Two snow golems were also revealed as the group started fighting the creature.

Once the battle was over, Kalim found the hatch that used to lead to the pantry underneath the kitchen tent. Inside were Elder Qinyarus, along with 8 other survivors (Fir, Willow, Ash, Acacia, Oak, Aspen, Birch, Cedar).

Elder Qinyarus told the party that the vampire/drow coalition grew more desperate overnight. He felt that the corruption has lost strength, and that must have gotten them more desperate. He overheard some of the drow interrogating some of the monks about where Olena is. But it doesn’t make sense, because nobody at the monastery has seen or heard from Olena in 15 years. The vampires and drow were ruthless, interrogating and executing dozens of the monks in a surprise attack. Once they realized they weren’t getting any information about “Olena and her people”, they moved on and brought in a dragon to finish off the remaining monks.

This dragon (Ugoa, the White) has been known for many generations to inhabit the mountains to the south (Dragon Eyrie). Legends say that she took over a fortress built by dwarves and made it into her hoard. Elder Qinyarus is concerned that with the monastery gone, the vampires and drow have free range within Khaorvandor forest, and easy access to the west. He suggested the group joins forces so that they can take the dwarven fortress and set up a stronghold there to protect the forest and these lands.

Kalim told Elder Q. about Olena and the Hopeful Dawn, while the remaining monks and the group gathered all the bodies of the deceased and started a funeral pyre. Lenny said prayers and blessed the bodies. Sylvie found footprints leading mainly northwest but also some going south.

Elder Q. recognized the importance of what Kalim had started with Olena, and the wisdom in his actions. He also recognized that life is change and evolution, and that hiding behind a mask no longer suits the monks of Ivtar, because that way of isolating themselves from the world nearly brought their extinction. He surrendered his mask respectfully into the fire, an action which was followed by all monks. He also said that it would be an honor if Kalim could lead the monks of Ivtar when the time comes.

The monastery of Ivtar is destroyed, but it can be rebuilt in time. There is no time right now, so they need a safe, defensible place. This may sound crazy, but perhaps defeating the white dragon and taking over the fortress would be a sensible move, especially if we had more allies. The only foe ever capable of taking over that fortress was the white dragon, and only because the dwarves residing in it were fighting amongst themselves for decades and internal betrayal led to their ruin. The dragon would not expect confrontation, or an attack, as she is very arrogant, and underestimates her enemies.

The group is considering this option, and decided to proceed to the Hopeful Dawn to gather more forces and devise a plan. Lenny contacted Gralkas to ask for Kepios’ help, but Gralkas revealed that they are 2 days away from Kepios. Lenny then contacted Elder Clyphek (the Bahamut high priest at Kepios), who responded with the assurance that Kepios will aid in the battle, and that Garturax (the golden dragon) will also be asked to join.

Lenny also contacted Othorion in the Seldarine. He responded by saying that the Seldarine should not be trusted.

The group continued south towards the Hopeful Dawn cave, along with the 9 monks of Ivtar.

Session 25: Solas, Tanyth 3rd

 The group settled for the night at the Hopeful Dawn headquarters. Kalim cooked a tasty soup, which was well-received by the group (as opposed to the spider goo). Armando spent some additional time with his mother. She told her a bit about her journey here, and how Kalim saved her life. She also told Armando that vampires and drow seem unaffected by the corruption, but she didn’t know much about their plans or about Ascal Olovalur and suggested they ask more questions to Halaema, as she spent some time in captivity with the vampires and drow.

Kalim told Sylvie everything the group has been through since he joined them. Sylvie worked on her concoctions for a while alongside Halaema.

Halaema had a conversation with Elenion, in which she revealed a few things:

-     That she is also unseelie, and had to leave Aerie when people started getting suspicious of her, and got transferred to the Seldarine, away from unprying eyes. Othorion always accepted her for who she is (he knows about her unseelieness).

-     She cast a memory spell on Elenion’s parents, so they wouldn’t remember Halaema, or that she left. It was a painful parting for Halaema, but she wanted to spare her sister from the same pain. Elenion’s mother never cared about Halaema’s unseelieness, and always treated her with a lot of love and care.

-     She revealed that there is a secret chamber in the crypt below “Celeste’s Rest” – the place where the Eladrin meditate during the winter (and where Elenion was born), and where Elenion’s mother’s tomb is. The secret passage to this chamber is sealed by blood magic, and can currently only be opened by Elenion.

-     Halaema knew Ascal for a long time in the council, and noticed something was “off” about him as he got transferred to the Seldarine. She never detected any magic on him that would allow him to change his shape, so that was very odd. But it would be explained if he is a creature that can do so naturally.

-     She doesn’t know where Ascal Olovalur is, though he has been on the move. He managed to get a powerful Orc sea captain as his ally, the name of the vessel is “The Sanguine Raider”. There are not many orcs that would ally themselves to really anyone outside of their own kin (who live mostly in Bhogur Ghaz), so this is very odd, and Ascal must have some powerful leverage or bargain with this Orc.

-     During her time in captivity, she noticed the vampires were desperate for an easy way to freely travel between realms. At first their efforts were concentrated on Aerie, because they are the ones controlling these portals, but their interest has recently shifted to the temple of Yemoja (although they’re continuously infiltrating Aerie). They do seem very frustrated at the moment, however. She doesn’t think they have been able to infiltrate it yet. Halaema knows little about the temple itself, much less how to enter it. As expected, very little information was shared between the “Pact of Life” groups and Aerie. However she knows that Yemoja and Yigdrasiil are known to be deities that were lovers, and it seems that their worshippers also seem to get along quite well, so maybe the druids of Yigdrasiil can help with getting into the temple.

-     Halaema has noticed not all drow are invested in the alliance with the vampires. Some seem hopeless, almost as if cornered, without a choice. Which is not surprising, given history…The ones to beware are the worshippers of Ganasis.

By the end of the night, Halaema completed enough of the Dragon blood solution to distribute amoung the Hopeful Dawn, which is currently 25 people strong. They pledged their alliance to the group, and will collaborate in any way they can to fight this crisis. Halaema also handed Kalim 4 extra vials of the solution, in case they come across additional vampires willing to take the cure.

Kalim offered to talk to the monks about this, and get them to join as well. Halaema still had reservations about this, as the monks had shown a zero tolerance towards vampires in the past.

Kalim left her with an additional 2 vials of red dragon blood and 2 vials of gold dragon blood, and succeeded to concoct a potion of giant strength (fire). 

The group decided to head out towards Ivtar in the morning. They also came up with a password to be used in future traps by the entrance to the Hopeful Dawn. Scabbers agreed to use the password “Mildred69”.

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.