Dream Thief's Journal - Part 2

Wherein the Doom Slingers find themselves on a mission before they know who they are benefiting.

At one time we were outsiders even though some us us (Laika and Nix) had grown up in the area in relative obscurity. I think I liked it that way. Noteriety and success in the outskirts of Drakkenheim has brought nothing by insincere relationships.

This is the mood the whole party was in as they departed for a day trip to visit the Shrine of the Old Gods and a Druid who lived there. Getting closer, the party witnessed trees with leaves still on the limbs... sick leaves, but the trees still clung to life.

The figure of a druid incanted the words of the old gods near a central altar surrounded by primitive, upright stone menhir. Cokolkhan was careful not to worry him and instead identified a treant standing on the other side of druidic circle. They conversed as Nix inspected the curious carving on the menhir, crows and spirals. 

At length, the druid finished his ritual and asked that we depart for he did not want visitors.

Laika filled a pot with water, and Nix heated this water until steam rose from and Cokolkhan dropped a serving of the special tea he had retrieved from Sara who assured the Dom slingers it was a favorite.

"How did you find this? How did you know," the druid queried, some of his earlier reticence melting away as he sipped on a soothing cup.

And then Cokolkhan asked him many questions about. Some about a means of transforming into a dererium contaminated beast instead of a wholesome natural creature. The Druid said this was apostate and not to be attempted. It would surely cause one to be expelled from his circle.

Cokolkhan told a story of how his circle was no more and how he wanted revenge on those who had done this that he thought his circle would understand. 

There was more conversation, but it was lost on Nix who was being circled by a kindness of ravens, pecking and pulling at his clothing some even defecating on his cloak. Three giant crows landed on the Menhiri and they, one at a time locked eyes with Nix imparting, not so much a message, but a reminder that the Raven Queens holds court in many places.

When they returned to town they were met with a full court press as Queen’s Men, Knights of the Silver Order and finally Candy representing the Followers of the Falling Fire each appealed to them to recover the Scepter of St. Vetruvio and ancient relic prised by all of them except perhaps the Queen of Thieves who would likely auction it off to the highest bidder.

We got the impression that was no right answer, but departed all the same intent on accomplishing the mission before the other factions could.

And so it was, Cloaks of Elvenkind hiding progress through outer Drakkenheim we were nearly there when ambushed by Gnolls and Hellhounds. A fierce battle ensued where the Hellhounds nearly roasted us. Had it not been for an inspiration speech from Elivalor prior to the battle some of us may have fallen for fire is a dreadful enemy of those not of infernal descent.

Cokolkhan summoned a storm and transformed into a Hyena tearing into them.

Slick marshaled our attacks to the those dogs for they were the greatest danger.

Elivalor fought with battle-ax smiting them with much improved powers. At one point the hellhounds breathed fire on him again, but he demonstrated his mastery of his shield and deflected it all before destroying the foul doglike creature.

Nix blasted them with a new spell of thunder step, teleporting away, but damaging the hellhounds in the process

before long they were destroyed and a few very nice items of value were discovered. The party completed the final walk to the chapel in relative peace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the chapel, @Slick took the lead exploring the surrounds until he hand signaled the party to stop.... and scribed a message with a cantrip that we were to remain silent as a mouse. The Queen’s Men were in the garden.

We could hear their voices as they timidly egged each other on to press a button on a small rod, but they were too afraid. This is exactly what Slick was taking advantage of, for he prepared a spell of darkness and when one of them finally did summon the courage to press the button the lights went out and chaos erupted as the fled, frightened children away from the chapel.

Doom Slingers, giggling like children who just pranked their siblings investigated the scene finding the rod to be a magical and immovable rod held in the hands of a statue of St. Vitruvio. They claimed it and found a hole leading down into the depths.... which they did not explore.

Instead, they sent Laika and Slick to explore the chapel proper, which upon entering they found illuminated by magical candles. Soon everyone was inside, exploring the ruins, seeking the Scepter of St. Vetruvio, only Nix held back, studying his book of ancient secrets. When his ritual spell was cast, he advanced into the center of the room and slapped the book closed.

From the center he pointed to the the entry way where a stone contains held the following treasures:

• a Silver ewer
• Scroll of Bless
• Scroll of Farie Fire
• Two scrolls of continual flame
• 3 vials of holy water
• two potions - unidentified
• various blocks of incense

But no silver scepter.

Slick quieted the Nix who was babbling on about the magical trinkets just discovered (Session 13), for he was hearing sound down the spiral staircase, metal clanking sounds.

He crept down the stairs to hear better.

"Go upstairs and investigate," the voice said, and on elfin toe, Slick returned motioning for us all to act nonchalant.

A knight of the Silver Order emerged, huffing an puffing up the stairs from carrying his armor.

"We've been waiting for you," said Slick, and the rest of the Doom Slingers aped frustrated faces as the guard apologized for getting there before them. They all went downstairs to find Ser Bryce Landry struggling with a metal gate unable to get it opened.

"No one is to desecrate this holy place," said Bryce, "We aren't using crowbars, hammers and mayhem."

Slick picked the lock with a jest, concealing his actions in case lock picking was desecration, and the Doom Slingers passed within.

Winds swirled and a nearby pool formed by water intrusion burbled as they all rolled for initiative. Mephits, it was, lava, steam and dusty demanding gems, but as Nix read off the inventory that we'd only 75gp gems, Laika Reyndzher lit into the nearest, exploding it with a burst that temporarily blinded her. Elivalor blocked his eyes with his shield and put a hand on the blinded Laika.

Cokolkhan cast stary wisps, and Nix let loose with eldritch blasts to dispatch the lava creature before it was close enough to cause damage, but as the party defeated the remaining creatures they did some level of violence in the now calm basement of St. Breanna's, leaving only a blustering Bryce inquiring what mayhem we'd caused.

"None, dear knight," said Nix, "Apparently, the water incursion has allowed unwanted guests in the form of salitre and mephits we merely dispatched them."  And with that the Knights of the Silver Order and the Doom Slingers took up separate paths within the basement looking for answers and clues.

Slick now had a knack for opening the old doors which only resisted his skills through rust and dust in the mechanisms and the Doom Slingers advanced first into a room with a metallic winch mechanism, but there was no handle in sight. Curiously, the apparent handle opening was exactly the same diameter as the "Immoveable Rod" they'd discovered in the hands of Saint Tarna's statue they found in the gardens above. Slick deftly inserted the rod, which was the perfect fit.

Eli turned the crank with Nix's hand on his shoulder, "May the talon of the Raven Queen lend strength to your grip" he said, the winch broke free. Eli turned until it hit a natural stop.  The Doom Slingers heard a rumbling grating sound coming from. below. Slick immediately activated the rod with a shrug, "Just in case.".

In a side room the party found other treasures, but no scepter.

• 6 vials of sacred oils
• Scroll of Lesser Restoration
• Scroll of Dispel Magic
• Scroll of Remove Curse
• 2 Healing Potions

7 empty vials - which the party filled with Holy Water from a sacred fountain.

Too, Nix filled his water skin with the oily waters, unsure it would maintain it's celebrated properties, but all the same, he did this thing.

Down a passage the Doom Slingers fought through cobwebs and musty smells emerging into a sacred chamber where the elite clerics and paladins were laid out atop their tombs and while they party investigated these none held any object even vaguely resembling the Scepter of St. Vitruvio so they continued.

In the next chamber they discovered the final resting place of the great St. Brenna, her mummified form soaked by the seeping water from above. Nix's familiar jump atop the tomb and was shooed off by Eli, for none of them wanted to offend.

And finally they entered  a circular chamber with a large unlit pyre in the center, and a statute of Saint Vitruvio, flanked by candle to the side. Holding high in his hands was the Scepter of Saint Vitruvio.

Nix lit the candles and approached to take the scepter when voice filled his head:

Darkness leaves a heavy burden on the heart.

The light brings freedom from the weight of sin.

If you would take up my scepter,

it is not enough to merely bear the light.

You must illuminate yourself.

Nix drew his hands away and shared this verse with the others, "My soul, perhaps my very nature as a creature spawned in the taint of Hell makes me a bad candidate for this," he said.

All eyes moved to Eli, who while prone to grossing clearly had the purest of intentions. Laika removed her amulet of light and gave it to him and the paladin spoke the words to illuminate the gem he placed around his neck. With some reverent words to St. Vitruvio, he lifted the staff from the statue's arms. Several of the party thought they heard the words "rightful owner" in Eli's supplication. Eli tried to hand it to Nix to cast an identify. It was impossibly heavy in Nix's grasp.

It had chosen Eli.

Satisfied that this item was the relic they sought, they retreated up the stairs just as the curious  Kinghts of the Silver Order pursued them, thinking they'd found something. Nix darkened the stairs to slow the knights and Cokolkhan shrank the staff so that Eli could discretely place it into a Delerium bag. Nix lifted the darkness and the Knights emerged.

"We've found nothing but that impossible winch," spat Nix, "Everything we try has failed, daggers, crowbars, poles and stakes all busted. We need to find something stronger."

"The same," said Bryce, "The weight is too much for everything we've tried."

As the Doom Slingers emerged, it seemed a regular convention of rogues and religious orders was in progress. Followers of the Falling Fire and the Queen’s Men were nearly at blows.

Slick cast an image of the Scepter into the space between them and pandemonium erupted. In the Chaos the party quickly moved away with only a woman guarding the horses asking about dear Bryce Landry.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Attempting to make haste the Doomslingers wandered into haunt of a Warp Witch who like a spurned lover came upon them with malice and hatred, Screaming a saving throw their way.  High rolls prevailed and Laika threw her boomerang which hit.... then firing her crossbows it became quickly apparent that only magical weapons could score damage.

Nix fired a critical hit with eldritch blasts as Slick cast Faerie Fire and Cokolkhan dropped lightning bolts from Drakkenheim's ever darkened skies. 

But, the witch screamed again this time incapacitating Eli and Nix.... and too the witch rushed at Laika filling her small halfling form with the spiritual energy of some hateful past wrongs.  Laika turned upon her friends and attacked.

In the ensuing battle, with unsure hearts, the party attacked Laika until she dropped to zero hit points just as Eli cast his paladin abjuration on the witch who'd emerged once again.

The witch froze... not moving

The party fled and no more encounters were to be had before they returned to Emberwood Village. 

After the stopping the Warp Witch, the Doom Slingers's journey back to Emberwood Village was uneventful, if not cloudy and drizzly the entire way, but on arriving on the outskirts they heard voices lifted in barely contained anger.

"You lot always going on about the meteor and holy prophecy.... The only thing holy around here is the Scepter of Vitirvio," one voice shouted.

"Your lack of faith astonishes, me as much as you close-mined, jack-booted thuggery," a second voice yelled back.

"Um," started Laika, "Town seems to be a bit loud today."

"Indeed," said Slick, "and since we haven't made up our minds on the proper owner of this Sceptre, I think it's wise to pause here."

Nix, his goat-face an image of guilt call their attention. "You guys know I care about Candy alot... and when she asked me to retrieve the Scepter of St. Vitruvio, I pretended it didn't affect me, but in reality it's all I've been thinking about, since.  But, well, this relic is powerful. I mean, It cannot fall into the wrong hands powerful. And if they get multiple relics, then it's worse."

"If I'm hearing your correctly, Nix, the relic should go to the Knights of the Silver Order," asked Eli.

"Right," said Cokolkhan, "they, at least, don't want to shove delerium crystals into the hearts of their followers."

They skirted the disturbance and soon found themselves resting in Laika's house and in the morning, Eli attuned to the Sceptre, now able to shoot fire and drop columns of flame on anyone who caused trouble in town.

• Magic +2 quarterstaff (1d6/1d8) - 10 charges. 
• Guiding Bolt (1) 4d6 next ask = advantage
• Flaming Sphere (2) 2d6 - mini AOE
• Flame Strike (5) 8d6

In the temple, they found Ophelia Reed and struck a bargain. The knights would secure the scepter.... And if they could be believed reunite the remaining relics to summon a dragon who would remove the scourge of delerium on the city of Drakkenheim. One slightly shocking thing she said was they they could muster 400 knights in the protection of the relics.  Not a small order of knights (lowercase) but a LARGE Order.

For this they received a battle-ax know as "Hew" , various potions and a disappointing amount of gold.

Later shopping, Slick found a +1 rapier and had Tobias Crow sliver a few weapons. Nix, too, silvered his longsword with the symbol he thought to be of the Raven Queen, but accept not substitutes, Nix, it's the Triskele of Morrigan, an entirely different diety of the old gods.

Knowing that they need to track down the Malfeasant wizard and that River had put out a warrant on the dude, they went to talk with her next. Over french toast and ample bacon, they listened to her request to bring back the knowledge, or at least the head of Oscar Yoren. So, kind of a gruesome bounty on his head.

Into Drakkenheim they travelled encountering little more than a false snail creature that proved messier than it was dangerous, and before long they were at the front gates of the "Reed Manor" regaling the front gates and eventually, the apprentices with how impressive we found Oscar Yoren and how his work with Aqua Expurgo was why we were here. 

We wanted to support his work with a shard of Delerium and a monstrous mollusk shell in hopes that we might one day be able to make the journey into Inner Drakkenheim without harm.

One apprentice trundled off to find him and we followed his tracks into the library, where curiously there was no other door... but instead a well trodden path from which all detritus was cleared.  Turns out there was a stairway down.

Nix sent Armand, his black cat familiar down into the darkness where he found a passage splitting two way and in the drier of the two (because even infernal cats dislike puddles) he found a locked doorway. Sniffing, he detected the smell of death and unwashed human... a scent that turned out the be Oscar Yoren.

Yoren, when he arrived, responded well to the gift of delerium and the flattery and he asked that the party retrieve a final ingredient necessary for the Aqua Expergo.... some kind of flower, doubtless glowing with octarine magnificence.

"As you know, my goal with my experimentation is to learn how to arrest and even reverse the transformation caused by Delerium and for that I'll need Eldritch Lilies," said Oscar Yoren, a man who you just knew was experimenting on himself.

"I think we've agreed in principle, Mr. Yoren, but earlier you mentioned that there were more ingredients involved in "Aqua Expurgium, if I'm saying that right. What other ingredients are there, I mean, if we happen to walk right past them, it would be a-shame."

"Aqua Expergo is the proper term....," he started, but at that moment, one of Oscar's apprentices came into the room and whispered something into his ear while darting suspicious glances at us. Oscar Yoren's eyebrows raised and he left the room.

Armand the fiendish cat followed on padded feet to eavesdrop on the conversation which was essentially the apprentices expressing distrust while the voice of Oscar Yoren agreed with them. They decided to send their familiars, a bat and a rat into the room with us to eaves drop.

As Armand heard the footsteps he darted back into the Potion Lab with the Doom Slingers and settled beneath a table, nonchalantly lickling his arsehole as if nothing had happened.

As the magical familiars entered the room, Nix and Cokolkhan put on a show.

"How much do you do you think they charges for these potions," Nix asked Coko.

"Probably the going rate, I'd think," replied the druid, "But I'd hate to cheat them."

"Yes," added Slick, "The work Mr. Yoren is doing is important that the sale of these potions is supporting that fully legitimate science."

<>

The door opened and Oscar Yoren walked in, letting out a breath to indicated he come to a decision. "Follow me," he said. And he led the party down into the basement, past a hexagonal room emanating unspeakable evil and as they walked the wall of the hallway seemed to close in on them.

This place was more of what is wrong with Drakkenheim.

Inside, the lab featured two slabs with "works in-progress" atop them. Armand purred and jumped up on the slab with a fish-person as the rest of the party stood in horror taking it all in.

Devices for cutting, pulling, magnifying, ripping and crushing extended from mechanical armatures from the ceiling. Notebooks, tinctures, severed hands, eyeballs and alembics, some filled with what must be brains and others.... Others, unspeakable substances.

Slick eyed the desk while feigning disgust at the arcane lab. He'd spotted evidence of demonic summoning upstairs and now again in the writings on the desktop that he desperately wanted to examine.

Eli, not entering the room stood tensed just outside the door, halfway between the horrors of the claustrophobic hallway and the terrifying surgery of Dr. Yoren.

Cokolkhan approached the fish person and shooed Nix from the slab and as he approached, a sort of peculiar wild magic from his chest area shot forth into the hacksawed form of the Deep Siren.

She bolted upright and grabbed Coko's face. What passed between the two is not know to Nix, but as Coko drew away in horror Nix thought he heard two words.

"...unmatchable power!"

And then is screamed, a piercing lamenting cry that stabbed into the doomslingers ears, rending Laika Reyndzher stricken.

<>

Toxic mash poured from the creature striking many of the doomslingers, but they too struck back but it was not magic that defeated the creature, for both Nix and Coko felt their magics fizzle in this room... Nix with the added curse of raven scat upon his head as he invoked the eldritch blast.

Eli, Slick and Laika finished the creature.

A baffled Oscar Yoren now appeared to fully trust the party and he handed them the following:

• Two syringes of Aqua Expurgo (3 doses each) - for use in the deep haze, said to last 6 hours... but with dangers.
• Two potions of healing - Possibly contaminated (intentionally, to experiment on hooded lanterns?)
• One Notebook and three sheets of paper - that Slick took as he left the laboratory.

Oh... and Oscar shared that he would like monster parts..... Particularly the brains of monsters. This was to come back an bite the party in the but about an hour later.

The doomslingers departed toward the Queen's Park, for that is where the Eldritch Lilies were said to bloom in the delerium filthy ponds. 

Before long they came across a group of Hooded Lanterns and decided to walk together to the Shepherd's Gate but as they walked the Lanterns heard an eerie sound.

"I hope it accepts the sacrifice this time," said one nervously and in that moment the Chimera topped the nearby building and roared approval watching the rats corpse fall to the ground.

Nix knew this was precisely the sort of creature Oscar Yoren needed to continue us experiments and he urged the party into battle as the Lanterns disappeared up a side street.

<>

The battle was brutal and the Chimera, it's many mutated heads not at all frightened of the Doomslingers, for as first Laika and then Slick struck what might have been devastating blows the creature seemed barely injured and worse, it responded with swiped of it's tail, thunderous buffets from it's wings and horrible mind-bending roars from it's lungs. All the doomslingers took damage.

With the beast now flowing with faerie fire from Slicks invocation, Eli 'misty stepped' up to it's level and cut at the creature with his axe only to find himself entangled in it's great claws.

Nix formed an ill-fated rescue plan, as he watched Slick fall to the ground incapacitated. Reaching into a pouch he withdrew a delerium crystal and invoked a special spell called "ride the rift" and a lightning bolt shot forth striking at the heads. In that same moment Nix teleported along the lightning energy and grasped Eli... if either survived, he would have case ThunderStep and ported the two of them to safety... to Slick's side where they could revive him.

One-by-one the party fell, Slick, Nix, Eli and Laika, each suffering the consequences of every blow they delivered as the beat weakened, but did not die.

Finally, there was only Cokolkhan who fought in the form of a bear until with the bear defeated he fought briefly as man and finally as a bear again.

It was at this moment, as the life breath was leaving Laika and Nix that Coko's bear-form made one final swipe and dropped the Chimera.

Slick and Eli were brought back with healing spells, Nix with a revivify spell, but Laika was a problem for they had neither the material component nor the spell slots to bring her back. 

Nix handed his book os secrets to Coko and as he read the spell of "Gentle Repose" from the page, the golden letters vanished from the book... but Laika was corpse was preserved for later restoration.

New glanced back frequently to see the form of Laika resting on the floating disk that followed Nix wherever he walked. She was not dead, but she was not far from it. She'd be in the shadow realm now, the land of the Raven Queen and Nix very much hoped his wobbly relationship with his patron would make her journey easier.

The others walked in a half haze, unaware that a just around they corner they'd see the squad of Hooded Lanterns again... this time trapped along with a vicious monster called a "Cloaker," its claws holding the head of one guard in a painful embrace.

But the whole thing was odd. None of the Lanterns moved and neither did the cloaker, instead they lot of them stood enrapt by an hypnotic pattern of ocarina images flooding their senses and incapacitating their bodies.

Suddenly, 3 images from the Cloaker assailed Slick, Eli and Nix in succession. Only Eli was able to fend of the creatures attacks and both Slick and Nix were brought low in a matter of moments. It was Eli who with a divine smite struck and dispelled what turned out to be phantasmal images projected by the Cloaker to protect itself.

The leader of the Lanterns struggled free and managed to break the grasp the Cloaker held on his friend as Eli and Slick engaged the creature dealing blows that were the best they could offer.

Nix, seeing his companions reduced to near death drew forth his penultimate delerium crystal and cast a desperate spell, Warp Bolt and the creature was struck by a bolt of electricity as an horrific bolt ripped through the air... but not without consequence. Nix was touched again by contamination and the effects showed around his eyes.

Eli dispatched it with an additional divine smite and the lanterns were one-by-one released from the hypnotic pattern. They were grateful and frankly shocked that the Doom Slingers had dispatched the monsters that haunted their nightmares.

As a group they returned to the Shepherd's Gate, Laika still weighing heavily on their minds.

Inside they found solace, but not the required diamond to bring back Laika, so after a meal and the required rest, Cokolkhan used a chunk of Delerium to raise revivify her. She was not quite right in the head. The druid said she'd had a difficult journey and we should give her time.

Summoned to the Lord Commander’s office, Eli arrived in a foul mood and as Elias Drexel looked at him a flash of recognition danced across his eyes before he hid his shock. But shock it had been and after a moment, the Lord Commander looked up again.

"Who are you," were his only words.

"You know who I am," Eli replied.

"Perhaps, but I'd like to hear you say it," he said resolutely, "The past has a funny way of following a man."

"I am Eli, you killed my family, prepare to die," spoke Eli mechanically and from one heartbeat to the next, Elias' skin went ashen white.

What followed were moments of confession, half apology and finally Slick saying we need witnesses, so the Doom Slingers summoned Petra Lang into the room and as she met the eyes of her leader and the man who had been a father to her, Elias spoke again.

"I killed the members of the royal family. I killed Eli's family. I will not deny this."

What happened next was fated and it was justice, but it was also very shocking. In the courtyard, Elias' men spoke up for him, but Eli, a man of his word executed the lord right then and there.

Eli was given one of the six seals of Drakkenheim and the respect of almost half of the Hooded Lanterns. Others seemed embittered, but kept it to themselves and small groups. Eli appointed Petra Lang as the new Lord Commander of the Hooded Lanterns and a silence fell upon the lanterns.  

The Doom Slingers departed that morning for the Queen's Park and to secure the Eldritch Lilies  that Oscar Yoren required for his work in developing an inoculation (Aqua Expurgo) against Delerium. They didn't like him and were deceiving him, at least to some extent, but for now their interests were aligned.

Before long they came upon an open sewer from which issued a gaggle of fish folk who were both angry and armed with spears. Eli was cautious.

"These are the folk who might be the Coko's circle of friends," he posited as a spear glanced off his shield. For, indeed, it was know that besides himself, his entire circle had been lured to River Drann and transformed to these beasts.

With sadness in his eyes, Coko summoned the power of the moonbeam for as legends tell a creature transformed could be brought back to its original form when struck by such magics. Sadly, this did not work.

Eli and Slick advanced beneath a hail of spears and engaged them, Eli smiting and the swashbuckling Slick taking the clumsy fish with speed and surprise. 

Nix flung Eldritch Blasts, side by side with Laika and together they took more until the remain creatures fled.

Inner Drakkenheim seemed to fill their lungs even with the respirators pulled tightly into place. The haze irritated their skin. It even seemed to get into private places and Nix now found himself with a level of contamination as he scratched away, indecorously the hilt of a dagger at his itchy butt crack.

"This is ba-ba-baad, Worse that I expe-ee-eetced," he complained.

It was uncomfortable and distracting to the point that they nearly walked straight into a monstrous eldritch gas bag floating in the middle of the street, tentacles reaching toward Slick who batted and dodged from it's grasp. It disappeared with a pop sound to appear on the other side of the party.

Laika found herself transfixed and frozen. Its unspeakable grotesque nature stunning her mind as she tried to take strange non-euclidean geometries and impossible movement of the primordial  creature.  Ranged weapons won the day, but others found thenselves touched by the haze.

It seemed that anything they did was perilous within the inner city.

It was in the third hour that the Doom Slingers found themselves in the Queen's Park, but it was shockingly large and the mist made it eye-wateringly difficult see.

Eli felt a sense of ill ease as he walked the park, sure that the trees were watching him. His axe (hew) briefly glowed and Eli smiled a knowing smile. It was Hew they watched and hew they feared.  This was good, for it seemed nothing lived in the park that was not a plant.

It might have been luck that brought them to the lilly pond, or maybe they architects to designed the park in nicer times had built the park so that eventually all traffic ended up in this many leveled area to view the water feature.

The only movement seems to be dryads, waiting within the waters, singing some sort of song to enormous Lillies that floated on foul waters. They seemed not to care, nor did their leader, a blue haired woman.

Laika froze for half a second on seeing this woman, a snarl twitching across her juvenile face, "Mother!"

Nix, Cokolkhan and Slick all entered the water, ready to "help" the dryads with their work, but apparently their songs were not for the Eldritch Lilies, but to assure the more sinister, yellow hypnotic lotus flowers that now assailed their senses. Pollen shot forth, directed at their faces threatening to immobilize them.

Arrow and crossbow bolts flew, eldritch blasts struck the water and all trace of yellow was blasted out of the water, but now it was clear they'd upset the dryads.

"No, we must harvest these for the Queen Lenore," the outraged fey creatures snarled appearing more fiend than fey now.

Eli and Laika harvested two of the five Lillies as the hostilities began. It wasn't at all clear if a battle in the pond wouldn't destroy the precious blooms, so this seemed prudent. Laika's mother shot her an outraged glance as the older dryad summoned two Shambling Mounds

Coko soon found himself trapped in a morass of leaves, vines and sticks, held tightly and unable to move or breath freely. Nix went to free him, but the dryad nearest him placed a hand on the goat's shoulder.

"You must not harm the Queens creatures," and Nix was compelled to follow this suggestion.... Instead he cast darkness on the pond so that no one might be harmed.

Eli waded into the dark waters with Hew and dropped two dryads, including the one compelling Nix. It seemed that 'Hew' was uniquely designed for these situations and combined with divine smite they fell to the woodsman axe. Nix removed the darkness spell.

Slick aggressively attacked the mound holding Coko who had turned into a brown bear in an attempt to struggle free. Nix too fired, but the creature was little affected though stabbed, slashed pierced and struck by magical blasts. At one point it struck Nix who retaliated with hellish rebuke.

"Dance in flames," he snarled, but only the smell of wet leaves filled the air.

"Stopped that, Laika. Put those Lillies back. They are for the Queen," chided Laika's mother.

Laika said not a word, but instead held eye contact with the mother she apparently hated. just waded in and took two more Lillies for her growing collection.

Eli was the one who turned the tide, for as he smote the creatures, Hews seemed to positively sing and soon there was no one left making noise except Laika now enraged mother.

"STOP, You petulant wretch," she yelled, as Laika took the last lilly. 

"Are we to kill her," Slick asked Laika.

"One Lilly at a time," replied Nix.

But the battle now was over, the Lillies harvested and Laika' mother was ignored as she babbled about how the queen with be most upset.

Suddenly, the air becomes cold—unnaturally cold—and the flickering fire dies in its brazier, sputtering out into darkness. The shadows around you shift unnaturally, sharp and jagged, stretching and crawling across the walls.

Then, a voice—not a bellowing roar or a shriek, but a whisper, sharp enough to cut through the silence—echoes around you.

"You dare test My dominion?"

The shadows come together, gathering in a column of inky blackness. From within, a pale face framed by an impossible cascade of raven feathers emerges. The Raven Queen stands before you, her dark eyes like twin bottomless voids. Tiny black-feathered ravens cling to her shoulders, and as you notice them, one hops off and perches on your outstretched weapon, staring unflinchingly.

"Is she worth it, mortal? This… fragile scrap of flesh and fleeting breath. You stole her from Me. You used the gift I granted you not in reverence, but in defiance."

Her glowing gaze settles directly on you. It feels as though the entire plane hangs on her judgment.

"I hold dominion over the dead because they understand what you apparently do not: All debts must be paid."

She steps closer, though her feet do not touch the ground, her form simply pressing forward as though gliding through water.

"Return what is MINE. The halfling belongs to the Shadowfell. Laika’s thread has been cut—her time is OVER. Return her willingly now, before her soul ripens and unravels into something worse. Release her…"

Her tone shifts to something cruelly playful, her phrase razor-tipped:

"…or stay and make yourself useful. I have plenty of room in MY kingdom for another well-meaning fool."

The room feels suffocating in her presence. You can tell she’s holding back all of her divine wrath, though barely. A heavy pause settles—this is your moment to respond.

Nix was. in a dream wherein the Raven Queen demanded he kill Laika. He woke repeating her words like a mantra, "Return what is MINE. The halfling belongs to the Shadowfell. Laika’s thread has been cut—her time is OVER..."

The others are shocked, but know that Nix has struggled with his patron relationship. And it was with that mood that they set out for Oscar Yoren's  lab in Outer Drakkenheim, unaware that they would soon encounter a monstrously hungry plant.

The plant grabbed Eli in its tendrils and ate him, even as Laika peppered it with crossbow bolts and boomerang hits and Slick pierced it with his rapier before being blinded by acidic spittle. Nix too, was blinded. Cokolkhan did his best, but the plant was ultimately defeated by Eli and his great ax named "Hew" who smote the plant from the inside forcing it to disgorge him.

the party advanced another hour through the city of wandering monstrosities.

The DoomSlingers saw it first and attempted at dash across the remaining distance to Oscar Yoren's mansion.

"Prepare to be consumed by darkness," Nix incanted and momentarily the beast was confused, but fast it moved and was upon them before they could escape.

Cokolkhan was seized in the daggery maw and shaken brutally, but still moving. Everyone knew the bite would finish him... the ravenous beast swung his massive tail unfooting Eli and sending him flying across the cobbles.

Laika, her crossbow slung over her shoulder, first flung her boomerang and then fired a bolt at the monstrous alligator, a venomous glint in her eyes. "You think you can just eat our friend and get away with it?" she snarled. She reload with an unparalleled dexterity.

Nix was angry at himself for even thinking it, but it might be better if Laika was swallowed by the creature instead of Cokolkhan.  The warlock moved forward grabbed at Coko's arms "Thunderstep!" he roared, the two of them vanished in a flash of light. They reappeared many yards away and landing with a wet thud.

The alligator, enraged, snapped its jaws, where Cokolkhan had been and then latched onto his next target, Slick. To the horror of all the beast plunged into the sewer grate and Slick disappeared along with much of the alligators body leaving a panicked party making one last effort, slash, stab, etc.

Slick had been alive long enough to see the opportunity as the beast was forced to slowly wriggle thought the narrow space and he plunged his rapier deep into the beast's eye. The creature roared in pain, thrashing violently.

"That should do it," Slick panted, wiping sweat from his brow. "Now, how do we get out of this… delightful little creek?" But the other could barely hear him.

"We need to move this thing," Said Eli, "Work together."

"Easier said than done," Laika observed, surveying the scene. "That thing weighs more than all of us combined."

"Leave it to me," Nix said, a grim determination hardening his features. He turned to the nearest zombie ogre, its vacant eyes staring blankly ahead. "Friend," he said, his voice surprisingly gentle, "a small favor. Help us."

To their astonishment, the ogre, seemingly roused from its stupor, lumbered towards the alligator, its massive hands gripping the creature's leathery hide. With a grunt of effort, it began to haul the beast from the grate.

The others, working in tandem, assisted the ogre, pulling and pushing, casting spells and invoking cantrips until, finally, the alligator's massive body was dragged clear of the sewer.

"Well," Laika said, wiping the grime from her face, "that was… eventful."

"Indeed," Slick muttered, nursing his aching arm. "Never thought I'd be wrestling a giant alligator in a sewer."

Cokolkhan, coughing and sputtering, sat up. "Thanks," he croaked, his voice raspy. "You saved me."

Nix, still haunted by the Raven Queen's demands, simply nodded, his mind a whirlwind of conflicting emotions.

In Oscar's Lab they found him locked in the creepy room in conversations with someone named Orcus. He was reluctant to come out, but eventually he joined them, his eye dancing a paranoid tango across the faces of the Doom Slingers.

"We brought you three eldritch lillies, Dr. Yoren," Nix spoke first.

"No, we found five and monster parts as well", said Coko enthusiastically and the rest of the party gave him an icy stare for they'd wanted to keep two for themselves.

"Do you see what they've done to my house? It's exploded and it was those jealous fools from the Amethyst Academy. They are out to get me.... You are with them, I know it."

"No," spoke Eli the the soft but authoritative voice of reason, "we serve no masters buy ourselves and your noble research."

As Oscar's paranoia consumed him, the tension in the room thickens. The shadows flicker with the light of a nearby torch, casting eerie shapes across the walls. He wrings his hands, a tremor in his voice emerging as he leans closer, his eyes darting around as if expecting someone to pounce from the darkness.

"You don’t understand, do you?" He whispers, forcing himself to keep his voice low. "I must finish my work! But the academy? They want to destroy me and take it for themselves! I must finish the reversal process. The siphoning of monstrosities is the next step."

With each word, the party can sense deeper layers of dread settling into the atmosphere. Coko, wanting to calm the situation, steps forward, the icy glares shifting to concern for he'd proven loose with his words.

"Oscar, we’re here to help you. How can we prove our loyalty if you will not let us?"

Nix felt a strange sensation growing at the back of his mind. It was hope. 

"You can reverse the transformation," he heard himself saying, "Not just contamination? This could save Jake, my friend?"

"Yes, yes. but I need time and you need time to learn. There are other components as well," said Oscar

"You, Cokolkhan the druid," he added, "I can help you with your.... unique problems"

Cokolkhan, taken aback by the directness of Oscar's words, shifted nervously. His eyes flaring with both excitement and skepticism. "My... unique problems? Do you mean to say you can help me control my transformations? I’ve struggled so long with this... this curse. What do you need from me?"

Oscar's demeanor softened, a glimmer of humanity returning to his face. "Yes, Cokolkhan, together we can harness the power of the otherworldly essence you've tapped into. With the right combination of components and your innate connection to nature, you could not only stabilize your form but enhance your abilities."

He steps closer, lowering his voice conspiratorially. "But all of you must follow my guidance precisely......"

And he set forward task and rewards for all of them to pursue over the next 4 weeks and in exchange the following was promised:

• Aqua Expurgo so that each member of the party has their own syringe.
• Training for Cokolkhan - to master his 'new' abilities so that he may pursue Cokolkhan's Revenge
• Training for Nix - A spell called "Siphon Contamination" but the spell it too high a level for Nix's mind to contain.
• Delerium Crossbow Bolts - for Laika and Slick that deliver an extra 3d6 of damage on impact.
• Skymetal Shield - for Eli which absorbs attacks and reflects them damage back in a massive blast

And so they rested in the uneasy place previously known as Reed Manor, Nix wondering if this place was somehow the childhood home of Ophelia Reed.

The air in Oscar Yoren's basement hung heavy with the putrid scent of foul incense, a lingering unease clung to the walls. As the party readied themselves to depart, a low, guttural voice echoed through the open doorway, sending shivers down their spines. 

"I am He Who Laughs Last," the voice boomed, "I have arrived!"  The chilling cadence sent a tremor through Nix. He paled, his goat-like features contorting in a mixture of fear and disbelief. 

Eli's hand instinctively reaching for the axe, growled, "What in the Nine Hells was that?" 

Laika, ever the pragmatist (or at least, as pragmatic as a fifteen-year-old with a penchant for dramatic sighs could be), scoffed, "Probably just some old man rambling. Oscar's getting on in years, you know." 

Slick, his eyes gleaming with a mischievous glint, leaned closer, his voice a conspiratorial whisper, "Orcus? Now that's a name with a certain ring to it. Sounds like trouble, wouldn't you say?"

Cokolkhan, mid-chew on something that vaguely resembled a particularly unfortunate-looking rodent, mumbled around a mouthful of fur, "Trouble? Trouble's my middle name. Besides, a little chaos never hurt anyone." He then proceeded to swallow with a disturbingly loud gulp.

Nix, however, remained frozen, his gaze fixed on the closed study door. "That… that was Orcus. He wouldn't… he couldn't…" His voice trailed off, fear giving way to a chilling certainty. "He's back."

Eli's grip on his axe tightened as he resolutely marched out of the oppressive basement and into the Drakkenheim gloom. It has been many weeks since they had a proper rest, and perhaps this was getting on their nerves. 

The tension that had gripped them began to dissipate as they put some distance between themselves and the unsettling demonic voice. The Doom Slingers, though still pale, seemed to be recovering from the initial shock. 

Suddenly, a thud broke the tranquility. An arrow, feathered with obsidian and tipped with a wickedly barbed head, landed at Eli's feet. Attached to the shaft was a small, intricately folded piece of parchment. Eli, his brow furrowed, carefully retrieved the message and unfolded it. 

The message was short and to the point, written in an elegant but chilling script:

 “The seal, imbecile. Or face my wrath. I am losing patience quickly.”

The Doom Slingers exchanged nervous glances. 

"Well, that's… direct," Slick commented, a mischievous glint returning to his eyes. "Who does this 'Queen of Thieves' character think she is, anyway?"

Laika, her humming abruptly ceasing, scowled. "And what exactly is she talking about? What 'Seal of the Lord Commander'?"

Eli, his face grim, held up Badge, "It's one of the six seals of Drakkenheim, powerful artifacts. This is the badge... Big trouble... small package," he winked at the short halfling and they chuckled together.

Cokolkhan, who had been unusually quiet, suddenly spoke, his voice low and gravelly. "Perhaps… perhaps this 'Queen' knows more about the… the seals than we do." He gestured vaguely at Eli, a feral glint in his eyes a stark contrast to his usual jovial demeanor. "But I hope we don't meet her anytime soon."

"Yes," said Eli, "But there is an order we must follow. We need to get proof of my inheritance from Sara, punish Ansom and the others oath breakers and then restore the throne."

CokolKhan shrugged, a disturbingly animalistic sound escaping his lips. "Let us hope she follows our plan."

The Doom Slingers marched on and eventually came upon the rhythmic skittering of countless tiny paws scraping at wood and perhaps a the corpse of a horse, a cacophony that sent shivers down Laika's spine. "Ratlings," she muttered, wrinkling her nose. "Lovely."

Eli, however, saw an opportunity. "Perhaps these creatures can help us," he said, his voice low and commanding. "We need to get into the inner city, and I've heard the Rat Prince has tunnels that run beneath the walls."

Slick stepped forward, a charming grin plastered on his face. "Greetings, esteemed rodent royalty!" he announced, his voice dripping with exaggerated respect. "My name is Slick, and I believe we have a proposition for you." As he approached he handed them rations.

The two ratling lieutenants, creatures of surprising intelligence with beady black eyes and long, twitching whiskers, regarded Slick with suspicion. One, larger than the other, let out a series of high-pitched squeaks, his voice a torrent of rapid-fire clicks and whistles.... and a voice that seemed to say: 

"Go on?"

Slick, undeterred, continued his spiel. "We understand that you have extensive knowledge of the city's underbelly, and we require your assistance in navigating these treacherous burrows. In return," he paused, "we offer you this… token of our appreciation."

The larger lieutenant, after a moment of intense deliberation, reached out a clawed paw and snatched the food. He examined it closely, before consuming it.

"Entrance to the city… through the sewers," he squeaked, his voice surprisingly clear despite the rapid-fire delivery. "But… first, eat, eat, eat." He gestured towards the corpse of a horse and as if on command the ratlings descended on the equine feast.

But as they did, a creature emerged, Spider-like, but dripping with acid, teeth, claws and chitinous legs propelling its form away from the Ratling into the midst of the party.

So surprised were they, that the creature known as the Bojack was Slick and Laika with only the ranger able to fling her boomerang and fire a crossbow before it began spitting acid.

In the confusion that followed, it spat and hit both Eli and Coko leaving a horridly burning spittle dripping down their front and sides.

As Eli attempted to strike the creature emitted a strange force-field, a shimmering protective field that stopped all attacks. This left them momentarily confused as did the sudden attacks from behind by the Ratlings who, as a pack backstabbed Slick and Laika.

Slick faired okay, but Laika was swarmed and took more than one critical blow (41 HP) scaling her confidence.... But as quickly as the little buggers engaged them, they disengaged scurrying away.

Slick kept his attention on the Bojack and summoned an illusionary wall to separate the party of the creature, and this slowed down the barely sentient creature to attempted to climb the wall for a few critical seconds. This bought time for the rest.

Cokolkhan ignored the acid searing his flesh and invoked a chthonian sigil, lines glowing in the air and forming into massive cube. The Bojack and two lieutenants stood dumbfounded and unable to move.

Nix, paused, watching the now immobile Bojack, and took a deep draught of water before spitting it into the air.  A rime of frost settled over his Tiefling form, a layer of dangerous armor. And in that moment, a horde of ratling descended on Nix, but as they stabbed they found the damage reflected back and they all froze solid, dead.

Eli backed away from the now contained Bojack and cleared his eyes as he marched with angry intent toward the treacherous rat creatures and Nix used his magic to pull the acid from Coko's body... Nix did not want anything breaking Cokolkhan's concentration.

It was in that moment that Slick ended the combat with a decisive blow. The Bojack, unable to protect itself took his rapier up to the hilt and died in a convulsive gasp. The ratlings, previously under an enchantment cowered from Eli as he approached and they

Before long, Slick negotiated a proper deal with the remaining 'lings and they found themselves back in Emberwood Village, a place that had once offered a semblance of safety. Now, however, the familiar sights seemed to hold a sinister undercurrent.

Crudely drawn sketches of each of them adorned hastily made posters plastered on every wall and tree. A chilling inscription accompanied each image: "Wanted: Alive." Eli's poster, however, stood out. Beneath his likeness, a hefty reward was offered: 3,000 gold pieces.

Laika scoffed, "300 gold pieces? For me? Why is Eli worth 3000. that's nearly 10 times mine?"

Eli, however, felt a cold dread creeping into his bones. 3,000 gold pieces was a significant sum, enough to incite even the most hardened mercenaries. It was clear that their actions in Drakkenheim had not gone unnoticed.

Nix, his eyes narrowed, studied the posters with a grim expression. He reached into his bag of tricks and pulled out a small, obsidian dagger. With a swift, practiced motion, he began to meticulously alter the posters, his magic weaving into the crude sketches, distorting their features beyond recognition.

"Dusk Wardens?" he muttered, his voice laced with disdain. "Such an amateurish name." With a flourish of his hand, he infused the posters with his magic, the crudely drawn figures morphing and twisting, their faces becoming grotesque caricatures. The changes were subtle, yet profound. He had bought them a little more time in town without being recognized.

The rest of the party gathered rumors. Cokolkhan, transformed into a rat and learned that the Amethyst Academy was angry with the party for the long delay. At the Bark and Buzzard, they learned that Petra was no longer at Shepherd's Gate but instead holed up at the Emberwood Watchtower with 100 men... The remaining 300 oathbreakers still remained at the Shepherd's Gate.  And Sara was at Camp Dawn with the Knights of the Silver Order.

The party visited them all.

To the academy, they discharged their duty, delivering the recipe for Aqua Expurgo and notes of demonic summoning along with the name Orcus. They seemed unsettled that demons were arriving, but Eli reminded that, while they said they "might" need Oscar's decapitated head, they most certainly did not require it. - The Doom Slingers did not receive payment for this service and both parties were dissatisfied.

The Watchtower, a hulking edifice of grey stone, stood solidly in the huddled village of Emberwood like a brooding sentinel. Inside, the air was thick with the smell of woodsmoke and the nervous energy of a hundred men and women. They were the Lanterns, a proud band, their faces obscured by the shadows cast by their hooded cloaks. They seemed nervous and unsure because of the schism in their organization with Ansom Lang holding the Shepherd's Gate. But they were the oath keepers and they followed Petra Lang.

Petra, a young ranger with eyes that held the hard gained wisdom and the fire of rebellion, stood before Eli. Her gaze, though wary, held a flicker of hope.

Eli confirmed their oaths, meeting all of them that day. His voice resonating with a newfound authority, stepped forward. He raised his hand, the moonlight glinting off the silver of his sword. "I swear to you, by the ancient blood of my ancestors, that I am Eli, true heir to the throne of Drakkenheim. I will reclaim my birthright and bring justice to this land."

He paused, allowing his words to sink in. Then, his voice softening, he added, "But I will not rule alone. I will serve you as fiercely as I expect you to serve me. We will fight for freedom, for justice, for a Drakkenheim where the people are not slaves to fear."

The Lanterns, stirred by his words, began to murmur amongst themselves. Petra, watching Eli, saw a flicker of something genuine in his eyes – a determination that transcended ambition, a desire to truly serve his people.

One by one, the Lanterns stepped forward, their voices echoing through the Garrison. "We swear allegiance to Eli, true heir to the throne!" they chanted, their voices rising in a powerful chorus. "We will fight for freedom! We will fight for justice! We will fight for Drakkenheim!"

As the oath echoed through the Garrison, Eli felt a sense of purpose suffuse him, but also some self doubt. This was an impossible oath to keep... and yet it was his.

The air crackled with anticipation as the Doom Slingers, approached Camp Dawn. Situated on a hill, it was a fortress of timber, a testament to the Knights of the Silver Order's dedication to their cause, for much of this construction was clearly transported from miles away.

Within the walls, they met Sarah, a woman of quiet strength with sympathetic eyes and she at once saw the change in Eli. She presented Eli with a small, leather-bound box. Inside, he found irrefutable proof of his lineage: a faded marriage certificate bearing the seals of his parents, his own birth certificate, and a small vial containing a sample of blood.

"These, your lordship are yours," she spoke, "may they serve you well as you work to restore order to these lands."

Later, they were summoned to the presence of Theodore Marshal, the leader of the Silver Orderr. A man of imposing stature, Marshal was every inch the warrior he was born to be Athletic and bronzed, his eyes holding a steely resolve.

"The seals of Drakkenheim," Marshal declared, his voice booming through the fort, "are the key to eradicating this blight. We will find them, and we will use their power to cleanse this land of the Delirium."

Eli, however, felt a pang of unease. "But at what cost, Marshal? What will become of Drakkenheim itself?"

Marshal's expression hardened. "The destruction will be absolute, Eli. The land will be purified, but it will be a rebirth. A new Drakkenheim will rise from the ashes, stronger, purer."

He paused, his gaze fixed on Eli. "But you must understand. Drakkenheim will be uninhabitable. You will need to find another place to rebuild, a place where your people can find refuge until the land heals."

What Eli thought in that moment is a mystery, but the leader of the Silver Order saw promise and resignation. The Delirium was a threat that could consume the entire land, and drastic measures might be necessary.

There we paused.... With the intention of meeting the Rat Prince and parlaying passage into Inner Drakkenheim, then discovering the mysteries of the Cosmological Clocktower, a place said to hold the key to resting within the inner city.

Nix didn't necessarily buy into the goals of Camp Dawn, but the vibe was nice. Sara and Ophelia were friendly and Theodore Marshal was refreshingly forth coming with answers to questions the Doom Slingers posed. They even gave the party a pig they could use to negotiate with the Rat Prince who is highly motivated by food and his devotion to the Rat God.

So, as they left, there were friendly waves from the members of the Knights of the Silver Order even as they cast regretful glances at the pig on a leash that the party passed around in a sort of "not-it" game. The pig was not happy no matter who held the leash.

It wasn't raining in Drakkenheim and that did weird things to their mood. It made Nix moody.  When not herding the Rat Prince's porcine gift he sulked and composed a poem lamenting the current state of his relationship with the Raven Queen. As a matron she left something to be desired.

It went something like this:

She speaks not, does not chide, 

    no words of blame or scorn, 

But the magic bleeds away, 

    like petals from a thorn.

A silent, chilling judgment, 

    a punishment unseen, 

A pact completely shattered, 

    a broken, withered dream.

Oh, Raven Queen, what sin

    have I committed, dark and deep? 

What transgression haunts my soul, 

   while I in shadows weep? 

This silence is a torture, 

    a torment I must bear, 

A constant, chilling dread, 

    a suffocating snare.

He felt a coldness enter as his heart skipped a beat, for in reality there was a transgression. The Raven Queen had asked for one thing:

Laika!

She was dead and her soul belonged to the matron of death, but Nix had tethered Laika’s soul to her body and later participated in bringing her back to life.  The Raven Queen wanted her dead and Nix had ignored this demand. Now she sapped his powers at critical moments the timing of which was liable to get them all killed. He could not kill Laika, he had no choice but to rebuke his matron. These words came to his lips:

Leave no black plume as a token

    From that lie, once freely spoken

Now my heart is full woken

    Laika's line shall not be broken!

Nix was visibly sweating as they arrived at the entrance to Rat Prince's realm with its trapped entrance; a muddy slide decorating a curvy path into hidden pit trap. Quaint.

They descended with a bit of nostalgia, joking about how difficult the whole ordeal was and how now, with cooler nerves, the whole thing seemed.... Smaller.

"Foodz... stop, foodz," squealed the voice, "wat you do here?"

Cokolkhan stepped forward and as the Doom Slinger's watched, something about his demeanor changed. Something he'd endured recently made the rest of the party nod their heads…. rats are gonna understand this guy. Both of them are constantly eating.

"Rat Prince say Rat God," said the druid and then repeated it for good measure.

The furry diminutive guards consulted together, forcing Coko to repeat his magic words until finally the party, pig gift in tow, were escorted into the presence of the Rat Prince and his Seer where Slick presented the pig.

They made quick work of the pig and in the moment Slick convinced the Prince to guide the Doom Slingers under the walls of the Inner City into Drakkenheim proper, which was good because the part of the rat's nest the Doom slingers had explored was a tiny portion of the subterranean environs that they Rat Prince led them through until eventually they were confused about left and right and sometimes up and down.

So, it was with minds half-reeling that they stepped out from the shadowy confines of the twisting tunnels into a wide, open space, a stark contrast to the oppressive labyrinth they just endured. The room was massive, an eerie cavern that seemed to pulse with its own kind of life. The floors, blanketed in a peculiar loamy-green carpeting,  compressed like memory foam beneath their boots but had the unmistakably damp texture of fungal growth. Every step seemed to release a faint puff of spore-laden air, gently swirling in the dim, phosphorescent glow cast by bioluminescent mushrooms sprouting along the walls and ceiling like an alien canopy.

Slick cast 'Dancing Lights' to illuminate the distant end. and this revealed the Giant Troll Hag.

She stood an enormous, hunched, her presence as commanding as it was grotesque. The Troll Hag loomed nearly 4 meters tall, her oily, gray-green skin mottled with warty nodules and patches of fungal growth that seemed to sprout straight from her body. She wore a ragged patchwork dress made from stitched-together monster hides and rotted burlap, the fabric hanging from her bony frame like layers of peeling bark. Wild, matted hair cascaded down her back in a tangled mess streaked with patches of white fungus, her gnarled claws, flecked with mud and moss.

She stirred a massive cauldron of blackened iron, bubbling and steaming with an unholy green soup. The noxious smell of sour fungus, and acrid chemicals filled the air.

"Ahhhhh, new friends from the tunnels, are ye?" she croaked, her voice low and gurgling, "I am brewin an old family recipe, aye. Takes the sting right outta yer aches, it does. Softens up the insides before they git too tough, if ye catch me meanin’..." 

Her head swiveled between the members of the party, her grotesque smile widening, "Care for a taste?"

Slick was having none of it and confidently strode forward firing crossbows and scoring hits on the Hag just as Eli loosed a javelin, but to their consternation as the missiles pierced her skin, Myconoid giants sprung forth from the carpeting forming half a dozen new enemies of new enemies. This pattern was to be repeated as the Doom Slingers continued their onslaught.

"By all that is wicked and foul," spat Eli, "I command you to hold!" This was Eli's attempted to abjure the Hag, but she shrugged it off.

Cokolkhan's visage transformed into something most horrifying and none of the party dared approach him now for he emitted a poisonous aura. Those myconoid giants who did, now attacked at disadvantage, but still they scored hits as they surrounded him.

Nix dropped his black cat familiar, Armand, who circled one way following Laika as he shouldered his way past Eli to stand by his side and fired fizzling eldritch blasts which, owing the fickleness of his matron spiraled into the air forming a harmless light show.

The hag spat acid across the room, forcing those struck to remove it to burn, and she forced the "Addled" condition on Eli... who relied rarely on his brains and continued to hack and slash with "Hew" his axe and Slick disengaged, reading for retreat.

In that moment, Nix clutched a delerium fragment in his hand and began casting, fortune favored the bold and a line of 4 of the mushroom creatures and the hag formed a straight line as Nix released the purple bolt of lightning. His fingers sizzled from the electrical charge until he disappeared the myconoid menace exploded into dangerous spores. Nix had teleported to the other end of the lightning bolt, behind the hag.

"Hahaha," cackled the Hag.

And in that moment they knew. Laika burned with acid and coughing from spores, Slick feeling the necrotic damage and Coko taking the brunt of damage from close contact with the Myconoid Giants as they exploded. All of this might have been great news, but the hag had laughed.

It was time for retreat.

"Hey, Green Hag," shouted Nix as he maliciously kicked over her cauldron spilled the acidy contents, "I'm over here."

She spun about meeting the Tiefling's eyes with malevolent intent and uttered an unspeakable curse. Nix's will faded and he found himself "addled," unsure he could cast spells, alone and on the wrong side of the room to flee.

In his periphery, Nix saw Cokolkhan flying two middle fingers toward the hag as he winked out of existence on this plane and into the space between. Their friend was weird now.

It was an orderly retreat, except, Nix remained behind.

We left the Doom Slingers in the middle of a combat with a giant (4m tall) troll hag. The party was retreating, owing to the fact Elivalor and Nix were "Addled" and unable to use abilities that required INT, WIS or CHA and other factors like her ability to spawn and impossible number of exploding minions causing psychedelic effects. 

All had retreated except Nix who, 55 feet away was locked in combat with the Hag. No easy way to escape, and the spongy floor difficult terrain that would slow him to half speed.

"By Blackrazor, Nix... run," shouted Slick!

But their friend seemed addled and confused. Instead, he turned toward that Troll Hag, a look of recognition entering his eyes and then something else, but what?

"You, you!" spat Nix, "Why are you here, Raven Queen? You are not welcome."

The Hag showed terrible teeth as she spat a bilious blob into her hands forming it into an acidic bowling ball sized missile. She paused before throwing a knowing look on her face, if you could call it a face.

"Just as Eli abjured the Hag, I now abjure you, Raven Queen. Be gone!"

And as he spoke his eyes rolled up in his head and his arms stretched out to making himself vulnerable.

Leave no black plume as a token

    From that lie, once freely spoken

Now my heart is full awoken

    Laika's line shall not be broken!

Two things brought Nix back, the first was the Hag's spitball striking his scale armor square in the chest, it burned and shook the Tiefling, but the second was more important, more urgent. It was Slick's voice.

"Nix, we've got Candy!" he shouted, and this caused the Dream Thief's feet to begin moving.

Slick cast "Darkness" on the Hag allowing Nix to run even though the spongy floor impeded his full speed and Cokolkhan invoked great white hands that grabbed Nix and pulled him forward, struggling in there powerful grasp that crushed the wind from his lungs. He was with them again.

The hallucinogenic Myconiods bobbed toward them as they began fleeing up the spiral stairway.

Laika fired partying shots dispatching one with bolt and boomerang, but she seemed shocked Nix had spoken her name and regarded him with curiosity as the longer legged tiefling passed her on the stairs.

The Rat Prince shouted, "Close the door, Close the door!"

It was Slick who remained behind and timed it perfectly. His illusion was one of a wall of oaken planks bound in iron and as the Hag flung herself against it, it faltered, but so did the Hag. Something held her there and they were all able to flee. Perhaps she was a creature of the fungal carpet where they'd encountered her the previous session.

Slick wiped acid from Nix, but his armor was... compromised.

The Rat Prince and his Seer lead them onward as Cokolkhan scrounged for bits and bobs of things to eat. It' seemed he had abandoned the first rule of Drakkenheim, "Don't eat Delerium." and he no longer favored the food Laika produced.

In the lead, suddenly, the Prince squealed in dismay and not a half a round later he was pulled into a transparent gelatinous cube that stifled his squeaking appeals for assistance and began to suffocate him.

Laika, with the fastest reflexes took the risk that her boomerang might not return, but it struck and plucked itself out.

Cokolkhan summoned those ghostly hands and shoved it off the path and into the contaminated sewer water, while others struck with javelin and rapier, but it was Nix that effected the rescue. He was nearly distracted when he saw Cokolkhan consume delerium and fire three exploding comets into the cube, but he screwed up his courage.

Nearly at a run, he plunged his arms deep into the jellowy cube and grasped the overgrown ratling as he shouted the words for "Thunderstep." Chunks of gelatinous goop splattered the surfaces around the creature, if you can call it a creature, and Nix and the Prince, gasping for air appeared a dozen meters away.

The party dispatched the cube, but wondered exactly how well the Rat Prince understood "his" warrens.

Why did Cokolkhan have the ability to climb walls now? It seems that strong hairs emerged from his arms. The closer they got to Inner Drakkenheim the weirder things got. 

Nix, looked at his scale mail and shield, melted by acid and the cube and he removed them. The ability to wear decent armor was something he had as a gift from the Raven Queen and he wanted no reminders of her influence. He was now armor class 11 :(

The creature was the size of a small cottage able to span the width of a tunnel and not get wet from the contaminated waters and it came at them with malicious intent. The ratlings fled up a narrow passage and relied on the party of heroes to handle the fight.

As the party started piling up damage, on this gibbering house of a creature, Eli strode forward and struck two blows and one with critical accuracy. He'd nearly cleaved the right arm from the beast with his great axe, "Hew" and this opened an avenue of attack for Slick whose rapier struck true, into the heart of the beast.

Slick spoke the booming blade words and the creature convulsed once before dropping with a splash into the sewers.

Eli and Cokolkhan received a level of contamination, with the druid gaining a hungry maw in his mid section and the paladin sprouting tentacles from his shoulders. How much more of this could they endure.

They took a short rest, during which Cokolkhan was unable to recover any hit points owing to the 3rd level of contamination he'd suffered.

They were nervous as they emerged from the sewers and bid goodbye to the ratlings, but also happy to see them go. These ratlings were either cursed, or intentionally leading them into ambushes.

Not 300 meters away they could see the Cosmological Clocktower, the hands stopped at 11 hours, 11 minutes and 11 seconds, 100 years before the meteor struck Drakkenheim. It was strange, but also their destination.

As they regarded the edifice, a stone fell from the sky, wrapped in paper, it rolled to Eli's feet and he reached down to unwrap it.

"My patience is gone," was all it said.

Laika got a strange sense of foreboding. She knew these message to be from the Queen of Thieves but they'd always been delivered at a greater range, with paper wrapped arrows. This was a rock...  close range. She unlimbered her boomerang and crossbow as they attacked.

A fireball landed behind the party, a warning shot followed by poisonous bolts that struck Eli, Slick and Laika before a half a dozen assassins surged forth, short swords searching for vital organs.

"How the hell did they know we'd be here?" screamed Laika in a rage as she returned fire.

As the fireball cleared, the Queen’s Men were upon them, their poisoned blades seeking vital organ's, their eyes fixed with deadly advantage. Laika flung her boomerang at the first one, knocking his blade aside and eliciting a grimace. Slick's rapier darted forth striking another.

Nix's hand darted to the scroll he'd been fingering and quickly he unrolled it.  He read the couplet aloud, each word a shard of ice: "From starlit void, a hunger vast descends, / To icy grasp, all warmth and light will end."  

The air crackled with cold energy.  A swirling portal of absolute darkness opened before him, sucking in the light and warmth.  The wounded Queen's Men were trapped within its frigid embrace, their screams muffled by the howling winds and the gnawing cold that bit at their exposed skin.  They stumbled blindly, disoriented and terrified and milky tentacles fell about them.

Frantically, they attempted to emerge.

Cokolkhan's throat erupted into a meaty roar as he dropped to all fours.  But this was no ordinary bear.  His transformation was twisted, unnatural.  Extra limbs sprouted at odd angles, tipped with razor-sharp claws.  His fur was matted and patchy, revealing glimpses of raw, pulsating flesh beneath.  A second maw opened on the side of his head, dripping with viscous saliva. He pushed them back horrible space between the stars.

One assassin slipped from the shadows and with a cunning slice he slipped a poisoned blade into Eli's undefended back.

Eli's grimaced, and recited the words to 'searing smite' and as his great axe "Hew" struck the assassin flames left forth. 

The goblin caster, a clever fellow, ran from the effect of Hadar, as tentacles attempted to restrain him, he emerged, and eyeballed Nix, who help the battlefield controlling spell that must be broken... 

Nix felt the presence enter his mind, insidiously insisting on a parlay with the Queen of Thieves, but he refused, casting Counterspell as his reaction, instead. He hated these jerks and wanted nothing more than to scare the piss out of them. Doom Slingers did not need them. He held the black spell in place and heard them suffer as milky tentacles wrapped around their legs

Slick dashed forward placing a rapier into the ribcage of Jerry Riggs and felled the Goblin. They all breathed a sigh of relief.

Cokolkhan roared as a poisoned blade caught him. He reverted to true form and moved to Eli's side as Eli, Laika and Slick dispatched them one by one. As the last one fled, Nix dropped his spell allowing the others to get a parting shot, but bastard escaped.

Curiously, as the Hunger of Hadar left the battlefield, Nix felt oblivion rushing towards him and with it a message, "Trust the shiny Ravens, Nix." He drew his longsword a little way from the scabbard, fingering the designs that Tobias Crow has inlaid into it.

Perhaps, they thought, letting one survive was a good thing. The tales of horror he would share might finally put a stop to these Queen's schemes. It was well known that the Queen demanded tribute and kickbacks. The only way to stop her was to stand up to her.

The party stumbled through the Market Square Plaza, the heart of the ruined city, just as a piercing cry echoed from the sky. Laika, the halfling ranger, squinted at the swirling haze above. "A griffon," she murmured, her eyes fixed on the source of the sound.  The cry, sharp and insistent, seemed to emanate from the towering structure before them. Slick joined her on lookout.

"The Cosmological Clocktower," Laika announced, reciting from memory, "built on the Market Square Plaza at the heart of Drakkenheim. Created at the behest of an eccentric monarch, this mechanical wonder mysteriously stopped one hundred eleven years ago. It is rumored that the higher levels contain have a bivouac site where a long rest may be had. Yet the highest spires of Drakkenheim are no safer than the streets below, especially since a bloodthirsty flock of harpies are rumored there."  

The imposing structure loomed over them, its intricate clockwork frozen in time, a silent testament to the city's fall.  The bird's cry echoed again, closer now, and a sense of unease settled over the group as they prepared to enter the haunted clock tower.

As darkness descended, Eli, pushed open the large double doors, They'd been too long in the haze and need rest. A large bell, obviously fallen from above lay cracked and crumpled on the stone floor.

Eli heard groans of pain in the far corner, but still they proceeded slowly. 

As Slick entered, still looking up and his superior vision told a frightening tale. Far above was a nest, a rookery for enormous flying creatures, likely the harpies, the others reacted with measure caution, all except Eli who now found himself striding across the room.

In the corner he found a wounded man, blood spreading across the floor from a wicked wound. He mumbled something about his companions, asking if he'd returned... and then realizing Eli was not a returned companion asked.

"Who are you," his single eye locking on Eli face.

I am "Elivalor Højfødt Ridder," and as he spoke he watched a shocked recognition play across this exsanguinate face.

"Eli, is that you?," he managed, "It's me, I'm your father, Eli"

That was when they heard her song.

It started as a chilling laugh, her voice a siren song that seemed to slither into Nix's very soul. "Come, little tiefling," she cooed, her eyes gleaming with an unnatural light, "join me in the heights. We'll soar above this dreary city, free from its earthly chains." Nix, his eyes widening, found himself inexplicably drawn to the harpy. He began to climb the stairs, a trance-like state overcoming him.

Laika, ever vigilant, noticed Nix's strange behavior. "Nix!" she called out, concern lacing her voice, but she stared upward as a while of wing signaled incoming targets.

The harpy, sensing the danger, turned her gaze towards the others sensing the dizziness washing over them, but they resisted.

Slick, ever the pragmatist shouted "Nix!" he yelled, his voice sharp and commanding. "Snap out of it!" Nix was having non of it.

Eli limbered his long bow and took shots as they descended, a tornado of wings and feathers at the command of the charming harpy, but after each shot he returned to his father to witness his condition worsening.

Cokolkhan spent a 3rd level slot to summon the bestial spirit of an eagle, the unspeakably contaminated bird swooping to intercept Nix, its claws catching him unaware shook him from the siren song of the Harpy.

"Damn," he shouted wiping blood from his eyes. Coko's creature had hit him hard.

As the creatures entered range Laika became effective, peppering the birds with shots... they landed and moved to surround the party.

Nix, now free clutched Delerium in hand and summoned the "Warp Bolt" which this time found two birds.

Cokolkhan invoked an aura of pestilence and pushed himself into the scene and angry squawking answered his presence. His bestial eagle attacked, but this time not a party member.

And then the harpy fell. Who finished it, Nix did not know for he'd been focused on the warp bolts and frying these giant chickens. With the leader down they tried to flee, but the Doomslingers were ruthless.